On Children's Books--Every Adventure is Possible

Most of my authors live in another state and a few live in another country. Still I've managed to meet all of my authors, except one who lives on the West Coast of Canada. Go figure! But we're still trying. In the interim, this author and I have this wonderful epistolary relationship aka email. I say all this to say, it's uncommon for me to be able to attend one of my author's book events or launch parties because they usually happen far, far away. I'm no less thrilled and supportive, but it's also bittersweet to experience these first moments of my authors' post-publication journey via Facebook the day after. So tonight was a rare treat where I not only was able to support one of my authors in person, but I was able to do so at my author's very first event ever, his very first time ever reading to an audience. It was a thrill, especially as I helped him pick out the section of his book that he read and he did a masterful job. It was exciting to see the audience respond so well to his reading, to watch their faces as he read from a particularly tense section. It was fun and satisfying to see, live and in person, my author hook a reader. This is a moment both author and editor toil away for. The glory and gosh, I won't lie, it felt nice.

My author was on a stage with three other very talented authors and they read and spoke to a most engaged audience of teens, adults, other writers, journalists, at least one editor (me), agents and even a Swedish publisher. It was a varied crowd and we were rapt. I've said in other blogs on children's books how rich and nuanced the writing is and how surprising the subject matters are that writers engage for children. It was nice to see this in action tonight and now I have a few more great books to add to my reading list. You should add them too, especially if you're currently writing for children:

In a lyrical and hard-hitting exploration of betrayal and healing, the son of a Connecticut socialite comes to terms with his abuse at the hands of a beloved priest.

 

 

 

This chilling satire follows one teenager’s efforts to escape from the reality TV franchise financially supporting her large family.

The author of Endangered (2012) introduces another primate species, offering a poignant demonstration of connection between chimpanzees and humans.

 

Because of the varied audience, the questions for the authors were also varied, but a theme in the answers to these varied questions quickly revealed itself. Each book discussed tonight was inspired in part by something really happening in the world and each book connects it to the inner-lives of children. And in each case, it is an organic connection. Why? Because kids think about the world. They think about the ways in which they might move in the world and they think about the ultimate impact they may one day be able to have on the world. Kids think about themselves outside of themselves if that makes sense. They think about the larger world and consider their place in it. And each book, in its own way, engaged that and also explains why so many adults read literature for children. For that opportunity to think outside one's self, to consider something more than the routine we have built for ourselves, to remember when everything still lay ahead and we were not yet on a certain track and that every adventure seemed possible and real. My goodness, do I love children's books.

Stacey