kinfolk

I’m sniffling, which isn’t good. Temps are falling here in NYC and that means the running shorts have been put away and out come the fleece-lined tights! I’ve been feeling a bit sluggish this fall and so force myself to keep up with my running regimen; that compensates for how I live when I’m on the road. I’m generally driven everywhere so I don’t get much exercise, and then I eat terribly–all the sweets in the goody bags hosts provide, plus room service, plus bonus cake when I get home from a full day of book talks and need some hot tea to soothe my sore throat. My three days in Illinois were fantastic—the Youth Literature Festival was a great opportunity to connect with young readers and their enthusiastic school librarians. I had the best possible driver assigned to me, and Larry took care of everything—tech problems, directions to the schools, parking, even room set up! And there were those moments when I connected with a kid of color who maybe didn’t even know she’d been waiting to meet an author like me. At one school there were very few kids of color, and when I finished my book talk, a Black girl came up and just wrapped her arms around me without saying a word. After my first high school talk, a young woman who’d been nodding through my entire book talk came up and introduced herself as a Pacific Islander. She told me she appreciated “everything” I had to say and then we talked for a while about Disney’s upcoming film Moana and the problematic Halloween costume they finally pulled after protest erupted online. The next morning I presented at a majority-White high school where the students seemed to be listening but refused to participate…as I walked out of the school, I checked my messages and found one from a student who wanted to know more about self-publishing but was new to the school and too shy to speak up during my talk. So, as always, I hope I planted a few seeds while I was away. I got to see two dear friends—Debbie Reese and Mimi Nguyen—and I connected with authors I don’t generally get to see since I’m not invited to many kid lit events. At the reception for authors held at the university president’s house, I got to meet scholar/author Sonia Rodriguez—once again, she felt like an old friend even though that was the first time we’d met in person. I look at that photo she took and don’t really see a 44-year-old woman, but I’m looking forward to my 45th year. I just received my author copies of Melena’s Jubilee, and Milo’s Museum is with my designer; hopefully that will be ready to share before the month ends. The birthday cards and gifts are already trickling in and I’m thinking of having cake a day early since I’ll be near my favorite bakery later today…