Safe Kids Stories

Last spring I was a guest on Lori Tharps’s podcast My American Melting Pot; Philadelphia literary legend Lorene Cary happened to be listening and reached out to see if I’d be willing to serve as guest editor for her online journal SAFE KIDS STORIES, which celebrates “the power of young people and those who care for them to tell their own stories.” The summer fiction issue went up today and the illustrations are just amazing—do check it out and share with the young readers in your life. Here’s part of my introduction:

As a scholar, I focus on the trauma caused by racial violence. When I’m writing for children or teens, I try to balance my duty to “teach the youth the truth” with my desire to steer impressionable young minds away from cynicism and despair. I struggled with depression as a teen and for me books were a way to escape my own grim reality for an hour or two. As an adult reader and writer, I now see things differently; my stories are filled with mythical creatures, ghosts, and portals that lead to other realms, but my characters must still confront the harsh realities of the real world — bias, injustice, and even terror. My hope is that my fantasy fiction will feed the imagination of young readers, offering “dream tools” they can use to reshape rather than escape our imperfect society.

Last week I got confirmation that my novelette MOTHER OF THE SEA has been selected for the Great Stories Club (GSC) of the American Library Association. The GSC is “a literature-based reading and discussion program for teens in juvenile justice, alternative schools, residential treatment programs, group homes, and other settings that reach underserved youth. Your novel, Mother of the Sea, is one of six books currently included as part of the GSC series on the theme ‘Deeper than our Skins’ which is made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.” The best part is that the grant covers author visits so I’ll get to meet some of the teens in the book club!

We’ve had a two-day break from the heatwave and I got some really good writing done over the weekend. The 4th is coming up and Philly has lots of free events to celebrate. Tomorrow I see what I’m hoping will be “the one”—a huge 2BR apartment up in Mt. Airy. I started my search there last spring but ultimately chose West Philly instead, and now I’ve come full circle. Been doing some unhealthy circling/ruminating today so working to break that particular cycle and get back into creative mode. Much better to develop poetry about this Puerto Rican family in 1980s Brooklyn than to pick apart my own family’s problems! Watching this incredible documentary reminded me of my first trip to Brooklyn back in 1980. NYC seemed a little scary then but twenty years later I couldn’t imagine calling any other place home…another circle…