For a conference last year I developed a presentation about my experience as a debut author. I call it “My Journey with The Rock and the River,” and it’s all about the phenomenon I’ve dubbed The Author’s Life Cycle. The evolution of this presentation was pretty unusual, because the topic they had asked me to present on was “My… Read more »
The Rock and the River
On Violence and Racism, Then and Now
I’ve just been reminded of this video interview that I did for Zetta Elliott more than a year ago, after a panel at the New York Public Library. This is one of my favorite videos to date of me talking about the motivations behind writing The Rock and the River. Plus, after my part, Zetta… Read more »
The BIG 3-0!
I just posted this on Chicks Rock!, but want folks to see it here, too: Well, as of this weekend I’ve officially crossed the threshold from 20s into 30s! I always planned to throw a big party for myself on my 30th birthday, but as it happened this year, the American Library Association decided to… Read more »
The Brown Bookshelf: 28 Days Later
I am featured on The Brown Bookshelf today as part of their 28 Days Later campaign, an annual tribute to African American authors and illustrators. Author Kelly Starling Lyons interviewed me on such compelling topics as The Rock and the River, civil rights, what people are saying about my book, why middle schoolers never fail… Read more »
Drumroll Please….
I woke up this morning to a call from my favorite editor (@EditorK) informing me that The Rock and the River and I have won the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent. This is a huge honor in the world of children’s literature and I’m so pleased! More on this to follow later… Read more »
NAACP Image Awards
I always get good news when I’m in the library. When I saw my book cover for the first time, I was in the library. When I heard I was getting a NYTimes Book Review, I had just come from the library. And today, I was sitting oh-so-decorously in the library when I got the… Read more »
ALA Adventures and Free Book Giveaway!!!
Hello, friends. I’m having a magically fun adventure at the American Library Association Annual Conference in Chicago this week. I’ve strolled the conference floor for hours, picking up books an information and talking to people. I’ve met tons of cool librarians, fellow authors and book lovers galore. I will post pics and tell my tales… Read more »
Review at Color Online
Susan at ColorOnline has posted a discussion of some of her favorite books of the year so far, including The Rock and the River! She gives it a nice review, too. Yay! Susan also lists and reviews some other great titles, and she talks about why historical fiction is growing on her. See, there are… Read more »
Spicy Reads Review
An awesome new review of The Rock and the River is up at My Road Trip (SpicyReads.org). The reviewer, Ed Spicer, put in some great reflections about how the book affected him and sparked memories of his own experiences in 1968. Excellent commentary! And it’s not just about the book, so even if you already… Read more »
CCBC Book Discussion – June 24
For anyone in the Madison, Wisconsin area: The Rock and the River will be discussed as part of the Cooperative Children’s Book Center’s June Book Discussion at UW-Madison. Follow this link for more details. If you’re in the area, it sounds like it could be interesting! http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/books/disclist.asp