Get to Know Asian American Children’s Authors: Emily Jiang, Author of Summoning the Phoenix: P

The second author in our Asian American author series is Emily Jiang, author of the brand new book Summoning the Phoenix: Poems and Prose About Chinese Musical Instruments.

Here are Emily’s answers to my questions (in poems and prose!):

1) Which of your characters do you most identify with and why?

Emily Jiang: All my characters have a bit of me in them, even the villains.  It’s my personal opinion that the best stories have villains that feel like real characters equal to the main characters.  Because the most compelling antagonists should have motivations that feel real.  While I love my protagonists, I often actively try to make them different from me.  Typically the characters I most identify with are the secondary characters, like the best friend or the aunt or uncle or the music teacher.

All my characters

feel real to me–they are stars

in their own stories.

2) If you could give your Asian American kid readers one piece of advice, what would it be?

EJ: Embrace your artistic passion & stay in touch with your true friends.  Even if you have a day job, art and community of amazing people enriches life.

Create art and build

bonds with people who get you.

Life without regrets.

3) Who is your favorite Asian American children’s author right now (other than yourself)?

EJ: I know and admire so many wonderful Asian American children’s authors, and if I can only choose one, it would have to be the absolutely brilliant Linda Sue Park.  She fearlessly writes for audiences of all ages as well as writing across genres (poetry, contemporary fiction, science fiction, historical fiction).  Not only is Linda Sue Park a wonderful writer, but she is a generous speaker.  One year I heard her speak the keynote speech at three different conferences, and each speech was completely different and completely brilliant.  Even though she’s won the Newbery and other awards, she always maintains an air of openness and is so approachable in person.  I can only aspire to be morel like Linda Sue Park as a person and as a writer.

The best authors are

brilliant, generous, open,

and wholly themselves.

4) Alternate question if one of the above does not appeal to you: Were you a reader growing up? Why or why not?

When I was a child, I was extremely shy and books were my best friends.  I constantly carried a minimum of three with me everywhere I went.  Whenever my mom needed to run errands, I would ask to be dropped off at the library, where I read to my heart’s content.  I cannot imagine being a writer without being a huge reader first.

If you want to write,

Read!  Read everything in sight!

Books are your best friends.

————

About the Author:

Emily Jiang is the author of Summoning the Phoenix: Poems & Prose about Chinese Musical Instruments.  She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Saint Mary’s College of California and a BA in English from Rice University.  She wrestles with words everyday.  Sometimes she wins.  Sometimes, it’s a draw.  She blogs at:  www.EmilyJiang.com.

#SummoningthePhoenix #poem #blogseries #AsianAmericanAuthorSeries #LindaSuePark #EmilyJiang

MG Book Review: A Hitch at the Fairmont by Jim Averbeck

A Hitch at the Fairmont by Jim Averbeck is a middle grade mystery that takes place at San Francisco’s Fairmont hotel in the 1950s. The creepy, mysterious tone of the book is established right from the very first chapter where our main character, Jack, winds up checking out the dead bodies in the basement of the funeral home where his mother’s funeral is being held. When Jack is taken to live with his hideously (and hilariously) evil aunt at the Fairmont hotel, who should he happen to meet but the master of suspense himself, Alfred Hitchcock, right in time to help investigate Jack’s aunt’s very sudden disappearance.

The writing is vivid and cinematic, with witty dialogue, clever theatre-related metaphors, interspersed with action and slapstick comedy. Jack’s pathetic predicament instantly captures the heart, and the eponymous Hitch is a wonderfully fleshed-out character. The text is accompanied by storyboard style illustrations which, while captivating and completely appropriate to the story, were a little confusing in their placement at times. If there is any real drawback to the story, it is the length. At 400 pages, this is a whopper of a book, but for the most part the pacing is good, and the premise is so intriguing it’s fun anyway.

A must-read for cozy middle grade mystery fans.

PS Don’t miss the list of Hitchcock films at the back. I’m going to have to re-watch some of these!

Disclaimer: Review of ARC received free from the publisher.

#AHitchattheFairmont #mysterynovels #Hitchcock #middlegrade #jimaverbeck

Get to Know Asian American Children’s Authors: Padma Venkatraman, Author of A Time to Dance

Our very first author in this blog series is the award-winning and versatile author, Padma Venkatraman. Her latest book is A Time to Dance. (Side note: I absolutely love this cover and have already purchased my copy of the book!)

Padma kindly answered 3 questions for me about her writing.

1) Which of your characters do you most identify with and why?

Padma Venkatraman: I identify with all my protagonists: Vidya of CLIMBING THE STAIRS because I had to fight just

as she had while growing up, because of my gender; Uido in ISLAND’S END because she’s a leader like I was; but, right now, probably Veda of A TIME TO DANCE most of all – because I went “method” when I wrote this book and spent time on crutches and with my leg bound, but also because I almost lost my leg as a teenager, after I was bitten by a snake.

2) Who is your favorite Asian American children’s author right now (other than yourself)?

PV: Laurence Yep, probably. He’s written very different types of stories – and I admire authors who excel at writing a wide variety of novels.

3) Were you a reader growing up? Why or why not?

PV: Absolutely. I had a very tough childhood, one that I wouldn’t wish on anybody, so books were my saving grace. They helped me escape sometimes, but more often, they helped me empathize, and helped me remain a good and kind kid, despite all I went through.

Reading is magical to me, because it involves my creativity (I’m making up a movie in my head as I read, a movie I direct), because books are time machines that transport me to other times and places and worlds, and because well written words cast spells that allow me to become another character and feel as that character feels.

Thank you Padma for taking the time to answer my questions!

————–

About the author:

Padma Venkatraman turned to writing after obtaining a doctorate in oceanography at the College of William and Mary and conducting post-doctoral research in Environmental Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. She has participated on panels at Harvard University and at the PEN World Voices Festival, provided commencement speeches at schools, given keynote addresses at teacher and librarian conferences as well as international festivals, and has been featured on TV and radio, nationally and internationally. She was also interviewed in the documentary Library of the Early Mind. An American, she lives in RI with her family. Her first two novels, Climbing the Stairs and Island’s End, won several honors and multiple awards and her latest (A Time to Dance), was released in May 2014 to starred reviews in Kirkus, Booklist, VOYA and SLJ.

#authorinterview #ClimbingtheStairs #reading #IslandsEnd #ATimetodance #PadmaVenkatraman #YA #LaurenceYep #libraryoftheearlymind #multiculturalbooks #AsianAmericanAuthorSeries