I’m at ALA Midwinter Meeting in Chicago. Last night, thanks to a tip from Sarah Flowers, whom I saw in the hotel eating area, I went to a meeting at my hotel of the United States Board on Books for Young People.<\/p>\n
This is the 10th year that USBBY has made an Outstanding International Books List. They are books published in the United States, that originated in a different country, and they help American children see other perspectives. This year’s members presented the 2015 titles — They definitely made me want to read them.<\/p>\n
Then they had an author speak who has an international perspective. Here are my notes from her talk:<\/p>\n
Sabaa Tahir, author of An Ember in the Ashes.
\n\u00a0
\nShe has family all over the world.<\/p>\n
Her personal history: Begins in the Mojave Desert, grew up at Richcrest in a Motel which her parents managed. She knew from an early age that she didn’t belong. People told her parents to go back to where they came from.<\/p>\n
She was voiceless. Her Kindergarten teacher didn’t think she could talk.<\/p>\n
She escaped to the library. Particularly fantasy novels.<\/p>\n
She was a hero and an adventurer when reading.<\/p>\n
These characters would have the chance to speak out.<\/p>\n
She was working at the Washington Post — reading about the most powerless and voiceless people in the world.<\/p>\n
Also about courage, loneliness, love, family.<\/p>\n
Intersection of hope & despair. The decisions they make define everything that comes after.<\/p>\n
She made the book as authentic as she could — lots of research.<\/p>\n
She interviewed modern day warriors to get the souls of her characters.<\/p>\n
Talked with an FBI agent who fought gangs in San Jose. Psychological matters a lot more than the physical.<\/p>\n
Was told there are people in the police force who should not be in positions of authority.<\/p>\n
West Point cadet had a presence.”Duty Honor Country” – not just words, a way of life for him.<\/p>\n
Researched Ancient Rome – Julio Claudian era. Social stratification based on that. Used Sparta for the academy. Spartans entered at 7 years old.<\/p>\n
Her female character must become a slave. Researched what it was like for slaves in everyday life.<\/p>\n
Also storytelling research. Saw a Persian storyteller, practicing the ancient art of Nakali — which women aren’t normally allowed to practice. Amazing storyteller — even in Farsi. She used her whole body, and without the language she could still understand the story.<\/p>\n
Character names: Each race has its own naming conventions. Each character had a name that fit with them. Elias — a humble Hebrew statement of faith. The names Elias and Alia are supposed to sound like a song when together.<\/p>\n
Why she writes:
\nWriting for her is research, and revision, and frustration. It took her 6 years.
\nShe wanted to tell their story.
\nIn the end, she wrote because of her desire for a voice.<\/p>\n
She wants to speak to those who feel they do not have a voice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I’m at ALA Midwinter Meeting in Chicago. Last night, thanks to a tip from Sarah Flowers, whom I saw in the hotel eating area, I went to a meeting at my hotel of the United States Board on Books for Young People. This is the 10th year that USBBY has made an Outstanding International Books […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[207],"tags":[176,347],"class_list":["post-26286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conference-corner","tag-alamw","tag-alamw15"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26286\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}