Finalists for the 2021 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature Include Many Familiar Faces From Our SCBWI Community!

The finalists for the 2021 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature are:

・Laurie Halse Anderson
・Eric Gansworth
・Meg Medina
・Linda Sue Park
・Mitali Perkins
・Jason Reynolds
・Cynthia Leitich Smith
・Laurel Snyder
・Alex Wheatle

The finalists were selected by an "international jury of accomplished writers and artists... with their sole criterion being the significant achievement of a writer or illustrator, either over a lifetime or in a single publication, as well as an ongoing, positive impact on children’s literature." The winner will be announced in October. Learn more here.

Congratulations, and good luck to all the finalists!

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

P.S. - this does serve as an excellent reading list prompt, as well...

The 2017 National Book Awards For Young People's Literature Longlist!

10 books to add to your to-read list!




Congrats to all!

Find out more (and read synopses of each book) at the National Book Foundation's website page for the 2017 National Book Awards here.

Mitali Perkins Shares Ten Tips On Writing Race in Novels

This article, Ten Tips On Writing Race In Novels is well worth reading.

Many points resonated for me, like

 ...re-read your story with different readers in mind -- some living across borders and oceans, some dwelling on the margins of mainstream culture, and some in generations to come where race and ethnicity will be defined in completely different ways.

Will your descriptions of physical appearance confuse or exclude such readers? What's lost by leaving a few words out or replacing them with others? Do some wordplay with physical descriptions, and think about how the descriptions might empower or limit young readers.

 and #10,

Unleash your creativity when it comes to descriptions of appearance.

It's unanimous: stay away from food metaphors when it comes to describing skin color. Scrupulously avoid cliché when talking about a character's appearance.

Let's invent fresh ways of describing the human diversity on our planet, and set our young readers free to enjoy fresh ways of seeing it.

My thanks to Cynthia Leitich Smith for listing this post among her resources for writers and illustrators!

It's also really interesting to note that Mitali published this post on writing race in novels back in 2008... and yet because it's so useful, it remains a go-to resource, not just a dusty file in an archive.  One of the amazing truths about online content - when it's good, it has lasting power!

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee