It appears that novels in verse are now the rage (at least for me), and it's a good rage (as opposed to the other rage I've been feeling lately.) I just finished the dazzling debut YA novel: by Elizabeth Acevedo, longlisted for the 2018 National Book Award for Young People's Literature. In another life, Ms. … Continue reading The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Every once in awhile, a picture book comes along that falls into the deep well of classic reader response literature. A "quiet" book that reverberates for miles underground like the subtlest of seismic tremors. And it does this through the perfect marriage of evocative text and art. The story begins immediately, as the illustrator makes … Continue reading Iver & Ellsworth – Perfect Picture Book Friday
In 2015, I sat in a darkened auditorium in a hotel in Los Angeles, wanting to throw up. I had word poisoning. What was the source? The messenger's message. In that dark room, Shannon Hale, a keynote speaker at the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Conference, was turning the spotlight on gender bias. … Continue reading Who Are You? Gender Bias – #KidLitWomen
Have you ever had an Amy Krouse Rosenthal (AKR) moment? Yesterday, I casually bought Terry Tempest Williams' book, "When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice." I read the title and decided to buy it. I didn't look inside. It just seemed like something I needed to read. When I opened it this morning, I … Continue reading Serendipity Strikes (AKR Moment)
There's an ongoing discussion in the kid lit world about why boys don't want to read "girl books," meaning books that star female protagonists or feature fairies or princesses on the cover or in the title. Is this "preference" intrinsic, or are they steered away from such interests, starting at a very young age? Shannon … Continue reading Reading Gender Into It – Children’s Books and Beyond
In a nation overtaken by arguments about immigration and the building of walls, Shanthi Sekaran's new novel underscores the complexity of the situation. But immigration issues are more than a decorative backdrop in Sekaran's novel. They provide the disturbing context for its premise: two women fighting for the right to raise one child, one of … Continue reading Lucky Boy – Shanthi Sekaran
In honor of National Poetry Month and Perfect Picture Book Friday, I'm shining the spotlight on a brilliant Caldecott and Coretta Scott King Award Winner from 1997: "They took to the road in Waycross, Georgia Skipped over the tracks in East St. Louis Took the bus from Holly Springs Hitched a ride from Gee's Bend … Continue reading Harlem: A Poem by Walter Dean Myers
Summer slips away, leaving room for Fall. The first order of the day is to talk for a moment about a friend's book of poems, Selene by Michael Odom. I see this book as a reflection of an obsession. A woman. A sorceress. A corpse. An eternal ambivalence, love and hate. The cover uncovers, revealing the … Continue reading Return from the Abyss
This past Saturday, a friend and I hosted a women's literary dinner at my home. The guests of honor were Nayomi Munaweera and her devastating new novel, What Lies Between Us. First, a little background. Fifteen years ago, Nayomi was earning a PhD in English Literature when she realized she wanted to write fiction instead … Continue reading What Lies Between Us – Nayomi Munaweera
I was so moved by another writer's beautiful post about grief, including a picture book recommendation, that I wanted to share it for Susanna Leonard Hill's PPBF. Here's the book: And here's the post. Enjoy!! http://joycorcoran.com/2016/03/30/convergence-grief-books-life/ Title: Cry, Heart, But Never Break Author: Glenn Ringtved Illustrator: Charlotte Pardi Publisher: Enchanted Lion, 2016
Jilanne Hoffmann 