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Under the direction of William Liberatore, Gunn High School has an over 20-year tradition of choral excellence, and their winter concert took place on Thursday, December 12, 2013.  I was introduced to conductor Bill through his wife Holly, who sings with me in choir. Yes, the Liberatore is a musical family.  Bill especially liked my set of songs A Pentatonic Moon.  So he programmed three songs (Moon, Moonlight, Pavilion) for this December concert.

The Gunn concert choir has 100 young women and men.  The chamber singers have 35, and their treble choir consists of 32 girls, all freshmen and 14 years old.  While my Pentatonic Moon songs are simple, it’s not always easy to tune the dissonant chords, and a cappella, which means without accompaniment, can be a challenge to sing well at the age of 14.  But the girls did a wonderful job.  I was so impressed!

Here’s the Youtube video taken by a parent

A few years ago I met Megan Kurashige at the Clarion Writers’ Workshop, where we were both students of some of the world’s best speculative fiction authors, including Neil Gaiman.  Megan has a magical way with words that reveal a true artist’s way of looking at the world, with a sense of sharpness that is still imbued with wonder.  Though she is a fine writer, Megan’s primary passion is dance, and she works as a professional contemporary dancer and choreographer.  Her dance company, Sharp & Fine, which she co-founded with her sister Shannon, is the embodiment of the sisters’ combined dance aesthetic.  The name says it all.

This weekend Megan, Shannon, and their troupe are performing a dance interpretation of Neil Gaiman’s poem “Queen of Knives,” which can be found in his collection of short fiction Smoke & Mirrors.  I’ve heard about this project for years, ever since it was a dream spark in Megan’s mind. Though this is my busiest weekend of the year, there was no way I was going to miss it, even if it meant sitting in traffic for almost two hours en route to Z Space in San Francisco. It was totally worth it because the dancing was so gorgeous.  I was lucky to secure a seat in the front row, and here are some photos from the live performance on Friday night.  Please excuse the blurriness of my camera phone photos.

During the pre-performance, the four Glitter Ladies (Shannon Kurashige, Shannon Leypoldt, Carson Stein, Megan Wright), dressed in white sleeveless leotards and tulle skirts, step, pose, and dance in the center of the stage.  Not only is there glitter on their clothes, but their white caps are studded with rhinestones that sparkle whenever they move.  Though their primary role is to act as a chorus, much like the core in a ballet company, each dancer breaks out throughout the show to dance a solo.

The three principal characters of Grandpa (Eric Garcia), Grandmother (Katharine Hawthorne), and Child (Megan Kurashige) dance wonderfully. Grandpa & Grandma have an interesting duet around the kitchen table that repeats throughout the show, and when Child arrives, her dance insertions into the duet provided a counterpoint to their movements.  This is a family that clearly love each other but also struggle with fully embracing each other, something that becomes even more evident in the second half.

When the magic show begins, the principal dancers become the audience. Grandfather is constantly scooting his chair closer to get a better view of the Glitter Ladies, while Grandmother and Child are keeping their distance, initially resisting the show within the show.

Yet the allure of the Glitter Ladies is irresistible, and eventually Grandmother and Child join them on stage.

And they move.

And they kick.

And they leap.

Grandfather tries to bring Grandmother back in the audience.

But Grandmother resists him.

To continue dancing.

Grandmother even steps into the box, and the Glitter Ladies Dance around the box while Grandfather, Child, and we the audience wonder what will happen.

Grandmother emerges from the box like a phoenix to dance some more, with complete abandonment and joy.  Then she returns to the box and disappears.  This is not a huge spoiler because at the beginning of the show, Megan said that Neil requested that there be a big box on stage and that someone should disappear in that big box.  I especially loved the narrative twist at the end, which I will not spoil.  Grandfather and Child never knows what happens to Grandmother after the magic show, but the audience gets a clue.

It’s not too late to experience the divine that is Sharp & Fine.  They have two more performances left this weekend, and there are still seats available.  Tickets can be purchased online, so get yours now!

 

I feel so fortunate to have been invited to be a guest blogger for The Pirate Tree, a wonderful group of authors dedicated to social justice and children’s literature.  They regularly post thoughtful reviews of children’s and YA books that deal with progressive issues.  When they heard about my blog series Crossing Cultural Borders, they invited me to contribute.  So once a month for the next several months, The Pirate Tree will be cross-posting an article from my blog series Crossing Cultural Borders on its blog, and my first post is up today.

Read my first article, Writing Crossing Cultural Borders – An Introduction, on The Pirate Tree.

Thank you to the authors who have welcomed me to The Pirate Tree:  J.L. Powers, Nancy Bo Flood, Ann Angel, Terry Farish, Varian Johnson, E. M. Kokie, Lyn Miller-Lachmann, Peter Marino.  It’s my honor to join a great group of people who are passionate about social justice and children’s literature.

In September 2013, Sherman Alexie encouraged authors to be superheroes for their local independent bookstores and volunteer to hand sell books on Small Business Saturday, November 30, 2013, which is Thanksgiving weekend.  This movement to support local independent bookstores has been named Indies First.  According to NPR, over 1,000 authors signed up.  I was one of them, unofficially, since my first book Summoning the Phoenix won’t be published until Spring 2014 (as the debut title for Lee & Low’s new Shen’s imprint!).  To celebrate Indies First, I had a plan to visit five independent bookstores located in San Francisco and its Peninsula, even though I was only committed to selling at one.  In the end, I only could visit four, and I had an absolute blast.

My first stop of the day was Borderlands Books in the trendy Mission District in San Francisco.  Borderlands Books is a particular favorite of mine because its entire selection consists of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, and Mysteries, and its wonderful, friendly staff have all been hand-picked to be extremely knowledgeable about these genres.  Borderlands is constantly hosting events for authors, and can accommodate up to 300 people its bookstore and cafe.

The official Indies First guest author bookseller for Borderlands was Sofia Samatar, author of A Stranger in Olondria, published by Small Beer Press in 2013.  A wonderful fantasy whose main character has a passion for words and for reading, A Stranger in Olondria is Sofia’s first book, and I had the privilege of listening to her read from this book at her first Worldcon reading.  I’m a fan of her elegant prose style, and I highly recommend reading her book.

Sofia currently lives in Southern California, where she works as a professor, so she and her family drove for eight hours to San Francisco just for Indies First.  Sofia is also the poetry and nonfiction editor of the wonderful new online journal Interfictions, and she published my “A Pentatonic Moon” translations and song set in their very first issue.  We all met up for a quick lunch at Borderlands Cafe before migrating to the attached bookstore next door, and we had a wonderful time chatting.  With her permission, here’s a pic of Sofia and me with her awesome kids, who are also avid readers.  It was a delight to talk to them about children’s books and manga, too.

We had a great time selling books at Borderlands and several of the customers came to the bookstore actively seeking recommendations for Christmas presents for their loved ones.  Perhaps the most memorable customer was the woman who came dressed entirely in San Francisco Giants gear.  She was looking for the fifth book in the Game of Thrones series by George R.R. Martin and didn’t even know its title (A Dance of Dragons).  She insisted that the book had to be the paperback version because the book was for her brother, who is homeless in Las Vegas, and he did not want to carry around the heavy hardcover.  So if you see a homeless man hanging around the Vegas strip reading A Dance of Dragons, you’ll know that book came from Borderlands.

My second planned indie bookstore of the day was Booksmith in the popular Haight Ashbury District of San Francisco, where Lemony Snicket and Lisa Brown were hand selling books.  Their picture book The Latke Who Couldn’t Stop Screaming is a fun twist on the winter holidays. I had met them earlier this year at the SCBWI Golden Gate Conference, so I thought I would drop by and say hi and hear about their favorite books.  Unfortunately I spent 20-25 minutes circling Booksmith and looking for parking before I gave up.  I would have tried longer except I had informally promised Kepler’s that I would be a stealth author bookseller for them, and it was at least a 40-minute drive south of San Francisco, even without crazy holiday shopping traffic.  So off I went!

Before I went to Kepler’s, I dropped by The Reading Bug.  It’s one of the newer independent bookstores in the area and it was my first time visiting.  I love the ambiance of the place, whimsically decorated to be an enchanted forest populated with bookshelves.  The staff were quietly friendly and supportive of local authors.  What impressed me the most was that they had two or three bookcases completely devoted to bilingual children’s books, mostly Spanish-English and Chinese-English.  Very cool.  Unfortunately, I missed seeing their Indies First bookselling author Jenni Holmes, author of the popular Babymouse graphic novel series.

After The Reading Bug, I made my way to Kepler’s Books, the oldest local bookstore on the San Francisco Peninsula, and a sentimental favorite.  I was most recently there for the release of Betsy Franco’s Naked, her first novel for adult readers. Out of the four independent bookstores I visited for Indies First, Kepler’s had the most local authors hand selling for them, ten total, and the official list included several authors who write for YA and children: Betsy Franco, Kristin Elizabeth Clark, Jeanne DuPrau, L. Tam Holland, C. Lee McKenzie.  And I also volunteered as a stealth author bookseller.

As soon as I entered Kepler’s, I immediately spotted SCBWI friend Kristin Clark, author of YA novel Freakboy, which features a transgendered teen protagonist.  Kristin is so fun, and it was great catching up with her and meeting some of her friends, one of whom took the picture below:

Other local authors who were also hand selling books during this time were: L. Tam Holland (The Counterfeit Family Tree of Vee Crawford-Wong), C. Lee McKenzie (Alligators Overhead), and Keith Raffel (A Fine and Dangerous Season).  They were all so friendly and Keith even took a cart full of books to sell to people at the nearby Cafe Borrone.

After meeting the authors, I was led by the Kepler’s staff to their secret door (a rolling bookcase!) which hid their unofficial office/break room at the back of the bookstore.  Oh, so cool.  I was invited to help myself to a generous spread of snacks and drinks prepared especially for their Indies First authors.  Then I was given an official red guest bookseller badge and a name tag that mentioned my book Summoning the Phoenix.  Yay!  Here’s proof:

They asked me which books I wanted to hand sell at Kepler’s, and I asked if I was allowed to choose YA & children’s books.  My picks were The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland by Catherynne M. Valente, Goblin Secrets by William Alexander, and Eleanor & Park and Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell.  But I only had time to write one Shelf Talker, which was for Cat’s book:  “This Victorian style adventure story is the love child of The Wizard of Oz and The Phantom Tollbooth.”

The most interesting customer I helped at Kepler’s was not the right buyer for any of these books. She was a 60-something-year-old woman who was looking for comic books for someone who was in the hospital and doesn’t really like to read.  When I asked her the age of the non-reader, I heard “six,” so I instantly thought of Babymouse by Jenni & Matthew Holmes.  Then the customer explained that the book was for her sister-in-law, who was sixty years old (not six) and had trouble reading books with too many words.  So I recommended The Arrival by Shaun Tan, one of my all-time favorite wordless picture books.  When she did not respond positively to that book, I showed her the beginning of Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret, a wonderful hybrid novel whose narrative is divided into alternating sections of only pictures and only prose.  It’s a different format from a graphic novel (aka comic books), where the words and picture are integrated on the same page.  She liked it, but did not think it was right for her sister-in-law.  In the end, the woman left with a graphic novel of Pippi Longstocking, which she found on her own.  Even though none of my suggestions worked for her, she left the store happy with her book, and that’s what matters the most.

 

Finally, even though I was quite tired, I dropped by Books Inc. in Palo Alto.  Books Inc. is the largest independent chain of book stores on the West Coast, and every store I’ve visited always has a nice children’s section.  I had arrived too late to meet their Indies First authors, but I had fun browsing.  Right next to the entrance they had a gift wrapping section with a gorgeous selection of wrapping paper.  My favorite display can be found in the center of the bookstore: a tower of Doctor Who books and gifts to celebrate the show’s 50th year!

Volunteering for Indies First was a lot of fun, though it wasn’t always easy.  It’s fascinating to have a taste of what professional booksellers do everyday.  I had a wonderful time talking books and helping people find the right kinds of books for very specific readers.  Even though I made it to four, almost five, independent bookstores in one day, I wish I could have visited more, especially those that are completely devoted to children’s books, like Linden Tree in Los Altos, Hicklebee’s in San Jose, and The Storyteller in Lafayette.  They are all worth visiting.  Because each indie store is different, with a unique ambiance that reflects the personalities of the people who work there, people who are passionate readers with a wealth of knowledge about books.  While Sherman Alexie encouraged authors to be superheroes for Indies First, it’s truly the independent booksellers who are the unsung heroes of the literary world.

Thanks to all the awesome booksellers for sharing your passion for books!

I love to travel, and I’ve had many opportunities to travel internationally, often with one or more companions who are also from the United States. It’s comforting, that shared experience of exploring a new-to-us culture, sampling the same new foods, navigating unfamiliar streets together, and gazing with wonder at the same breath-taking new landscapes. Plus there’s a sense of safety when traveling with others, especially for wanderers like me, who can get hopelessly lost even when given a map, a compass, and a GPS.

Therefore, when I planned my very first solo international trip just a few years ago, I was quite nervous. Not only would I be a woman traveling alone in Mexico for almost two weeks, but my knowledge of Spanish was minimal, even after three years of classes in middle school. Yet somehow, much to my surprise, I managed. After two weeks, I had visited the gorgeous Mayan ruins in Tulum, Coba, and Chichen Itza. I got lost exploring the streets and beaches of Cancun, Isla Mujeres, Playa del Carmen, and Puerto Morelos. I had swam in fresh underwater reservoirs, snorkled for the very first time, and saw a place where seawater swirled with fresh water, a rare natural phenomenon. Plus, I could order a simple meal entirely in Spanish!

These new experiences, while fun, were definitely challenging as well, requiring me to constantly act outside of my comfort zone. By the end of my trip to Mexico, I had discovered that I was stronger than I’d ever thought I could be. As a result of my travels, I felt like I had found a piece of myself that I never knew I had lost.

Such a journey of self-discovery lends itself easily to the typical coming-of-age narrative so popular in children’s and young adult fiction. It’s why I’m surprised there aren’t more realistic tourist-travel narratives in multicultural literature for younger readers. At the same time, the trope of the young explorer is extremely popular in fantasy, where magical lands offer more potential for exciting adventures than our non-magical world. If I had to choose between visiting the United Kingdom or OZ, just give me a tornado and a house or a hot air balloon and you can keep the Wicked Witch of the East’s silver slippers (they’re ruby red in the movie because the director wanted to show off Technicolor).

For this first topic of Stranger in a Strange Land, Renee and I discussed books where the American protagonist journeyed to other countries. All the books she listed were about ethnic American children traveling in search of their family’s cultural roots. In contrast, I was looking for stories of a white mainstream American child confronting a completely foreign culture, a child’s version of the Lawrence of Arabia story.

So we’re combining our interests. With each new weekly post, I’ll update the list below.

Next Post:
American Girls Educated Abroad

Thanks to a serendipitous exchange of emails with Sharon Levin, I recently met in person the acclaimed poet Naomi Shihab Nye at a private lunch attended by college students and Sharon’s special guests. I’ve long admired Naomi’s poetry for adults and her fiction for younger audiences, and because she lives in Texas, it was an exciting opportunity for me to hear her speak.

Naomi is a very petite woman, wearing her hair in a loose side braid, from which whisps were constantly escaping.  Her light brown eyes sparkled whenever she spoke.  Naomi said so many wonderfully wise quotes, many of which I scribbled down. I was taking more notes than the students.  My notes from Naomi’s talk are full of sayings that I once believed and fully committed to, but over the years I had forgotten. The biggest one for me is:

“Be joyful, even though you have considered all the facts.” (Wendell Berry)

What does this mean?  “Be joyful” seems relatively straightforward, at first glance, so let’s go to the end of the phrase and look at “you have considered all the facts.” This implies to me the act of planning and thinking things through, which often requires the ability to look at a scenario and imagine all possible outcomes, good and bad.

Let’s look at the beginning career path of a writer. The fact is that a small percentage of people who want to be published actually become traditionally published. The fact is that while there are thousands of traditionally published and self-published authors, only a handful make enough so they don’t have to rely on another income. The fact is that even though you might get published, chances are good that most people will never have heard of your book. Considering all the facts can be a truly depressing experience. So how in the world can one “be joyful” after considering all the facts?

“Be joyful, even though you have considered all the facts.”

The key phrase in this sentence is “even though.” It’s the phrase that connects two seemingly differing statements (“be joyful” and “you have considered all the facts”). It’s what makes the statement balanced. The kind of joy that’s encouraged is not a blissfully ignorant nor delusional kind of joy. It’s a joy that is actively chosen, “even though” there are so many other reasons not to be joyful.

Yes, being joyful can be a choice. How do I find joy in writing? Finding that phrase that serves and sings its purpose. Hearing the voice of a character whose dialogue and interior monologues make me laugh, and sometimes cry. Immersing myself into my manuscript and resurfacing back to the real world only to discover hours have passed by and my stomach is rumbling. Re-reading something rough that I had written long ago and knowing now that I can fix it.

“Be joyful, even though you have considered all the facts.”

One thing I’ve learned while working on my picture book Summoning the Phoenix is to take everything in stride since unplanned changes often occur.  Well, this is one change that is a delight to announce.  My publisher Shen’s Books has been acquired by Lee & Low, a wonderful NYC-based publisher of multicultural books for children and young adults.  While Lee & Low is now my official publisher, it’s keeping the Shen’s brand name, and Summoning the Phoenix will be the first book to debut under the Shen’s Books imprint in Spring 2014.

Read official notice at Lee & Low’s site.

I’m grateful to my former publisher who gave this little book a chance, and I’m excited to be working with the excellent staff at Lee & Low.

My publisher Shen’s Books has moved the publication of my picture book Summoning the Phoenix from Fall 2013 to Spring 2014.  While this definitely throws a wrench in my pre-launch planning, I think it’s ultimately for the best because now there is more time for better publicity planning.  Here’s the stunning postcard designed by the fabulously talented April Chu, the illustrator of Summoning the Phoenix.  My contribution was the minimalist text which allows her dynamic art to take flight.