Jenn Baker

[jbakernyc]

Have to say I missed doing Twitter chats for @weneeddiversebooks, so I'm looking forward to this one for @sackettstreet on Wednesday! Feel free to spread the word and join in! #Repost @sackettstreet (via @repostapp) ・・・ Hump day is almost here which means the #sswwchat is almost happening! Seeking an MFA? Thinking about it? Have you gotten one or currently enrolled and want to provide insight? Join in on Wednesday night 8p ET/5p CT with Sackett faculty! Will also Storify it for reference.

[bookriot]

Curious about asexuality in YA Lit?

Here’s a look at 3 young adult books featuring asexual characters.

[soulbrotherv2]

All lost in a book.  Another image that will never make it into the mainstream media.

[libraryadvocates]

The kids are alright.

[jbakernyc]

Love it. 

[superheroesincolor]

Creator spotlight: Floyd E. Norman

Floyd Norman (born June 22, 1935) is an American animator, writer, and comic book artist. Over the course of his career, Norman has worked for a number of animation companies, among them Walt Disney Animation Studios, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Ruby-Spears, Film Roman and Pixar.

Norman had his start as an assistant to Katy Keene comic book artist Bill Woggon, who lived in the Santa Barbara, California area Norman grew up in. In 1956, Norman was employed as an inbetweener on Sleeping Beauty (released in 1959) at Walt Disney Productions, becoming the first African-American artist to remain at the studio on a long-term basis. 

Following his work on Sleeping Beauty, Norman was drafted, and returned to the studio after his service in 1960 to work on One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) and The Sword in the Stone (1963). After Walt Disney saw some of the inter-office sketches Norman made to entertain his co-workers, he was reassigned to the story department, where he worked with Larry Clemons on the story for The Jungle Book. 

After Walt Disney’s death in 1966, Floyd Norman left the Disney studio to co-found Vignette Films, Inc. with business partner animator/director Leo Sullivan. Vignette Films, Inc. produced six animated films and was one of the first companies to produce films on the subject of black history.  

Norman and Sullivan worked together on various projects, including segments for Sesame Street and the original Hey, Hey, Hey, It’s Fat Albert television special conceived by Bill Cosby, which aired in 1969 on NBC.In 1972, a different Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids Saturday morning cartoon series was produced for CBS by Filmation Associates). In 1999, Norman and Sullivan created a multicultural internet site, afrokids.com, designed to present a variety of African-American images to children.

Norman was a recipient of the Winsor McCay Award for Recognition of lifetime or career contributions to the art of animation at the 2002 Annie Awards. Norman was named a Disney Legend in 2007. 

In 2008, he appeared as Guest of Honor at Anthrocon 2008 and at Comic-Con International, where he was given an Inkpot Award. In 2013 Norman was honored with the “Sergio Award” from The Comic Art Professional Society (CAPS). (X)

Websites: afrokids.com / blog / twitter

[hsiaoron]

Hsiao-Ron Cheng

[jbakernyc]

For reference.

[glitterproxy-blog]

so i keep making posts about dresses i would wear to battle

and i have FOUND THE DESIGNER WHO MAKES THEM: ZUHAIR MURAD

I

MEAN

JUST

LOOK

AT

THESE

FUCKING

GOWNS

AND

TELL

ME

YOU

WOULDN’T

GO

TO

BATTLE

IN

THEM

OH MY

GOD

[elloellenoh]

what does it say about me that as beautiful as these dresses are, all I could think about was how incredibly itchy they looked. Except that last one. I guess I’m a comfort before beauty gal.

[jbakernyc]

Gorgeous! Yes to them ALL! Gosh I wish I had an Oscar party or something to go to.

[disabilityinkidlit]

Ten MG/YA novels with disabled protagonists of Asian/Pacific Islander descent

Dive: The Discovery by Gordon Korman A Time to Dance by Padma Venkatraman Young Knights of the Round Table by Julia Golding The Likes of Me by Randall Platt The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi A Really Awesome Mess by Trish Cook and Brendan Halpin The Monster in the Mudball by S.P. Gates The Last Leaves Falling by Sarah Benwell The Shattering by Karen Healey The Islands at the End of the World by Austin Aslan

We haven’t reviewed any of these books at Disability in Kidlit yet, so we’d love for people to pitch in with their thoughts on the portrayals of disability in these books! 

Want more Disability in Kidlit booklists? Want to review one of these titles for us?

[cbcdiversity]

Everyone Wants to be the Hero Sometimes

Contributed to CBC Diversity by Sara Farizan

When I write a story, I often don’t think about diversity. I don’t think about how many characters I should have of a certain ethnic or cultural background, or about whether I meet a quota on how many different types of people I have on the page. I don’t think about if what I am doing is unique or perhaps not as mainstream. If I thought about all of those things, I probably wouldn’t have written the books that I have, or will hopefully, continue to write.

When I do write a story, I think about people I know in real life. I think about issues I would like to explore or think need more attention. I think about books that I wish I had as a teenager and think about the books I appreciated from that period of my life. I think about how I still have so much to learn, not just about writing, but about the world, and people that make the world complex, interesting and beautiful.

Read More

[jbakernyc]

"The more characters that we write as human, no matter what they look like or where they are from, the more stories will resonate with readers who so want to see themselves in books. So let’s do more of that, yeah?"

Yeah!

[thenovl]

ATTENTION PLEASE. We’ve got a book to put on your radar and a sick cover reveal to go along with it.

Meet Scarlett, a smart, sarcastic, kick-butt, Muslim American heroine, ready to take on crime in her hometown of Las Almas. 

When a new case finds the private eye caught up in a centuries-old battle of evil genies and ancient curses, Scarlett discovers that her own family secrets may have more to do with the situation than she thinks—and that cracking the case could lead to solving her father’s murder. Jennifer Latham delivers a compelling story and a character to remember in this one-of-a-kind debut novel.

It’s a voice-driven mystery perfect for fans of Veronica Mars and it’s coming out in May 2015, so mark your calendars. In the meantime, you can check out author Jennifer Latham’s website and chat with her on Twitter. 

[cbcdiversity]

The Dear Book Publishers series is a showcase of letters written by 5th graders from Dothan Brook School. These students were tasked with looking at the diversity in their school library’s picture book collection along with the race of children featured on Kindergarten Second Step cards. Reacting to what they had learned, the students wrote letters to book publishers, the Vermont Agency of Education, the school principal, and the district superintendent. During the month of August, CBC Diversity will showcase all of the letters created by the Dothan Brook School’s 5th grade class.

[jbakernyc]

Minorities in Publishing (MiP) Podcast Logo. Our first episode is live on: minoritiesinpublishing.tumblr.com

[jbakernyc]

Diversity in YA at LeakyCon

One of the most pressing conversations in the YA Lit world is the need for more diverse books. A panel in the LeakyCon Lit Track let us explore that topic with a few of our Leaky Lit authors: Gayle Forman,...