Those attending this morning’s Children’s Book and Author Breakfast (8–9:30 a.m.) will be treated to a generous and diverse sampling of children’s book fare, served up by a picture book author who has appeared on multiple stages; an award-winning graphic novelist who’s currently serving as the Library of Congress’s fifth National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature; a bestselling author-illustrator who created a famous underwear-clad superhero; and a YA novelist whose 2015 debut book garnered numerous accolades—and a film deal. Full disclosure: Jamie Lee Curtis, in the role of emcee, takes to the podium with Gene Luen Yang, Dav Pilkey, and Sabaa Tahir. All will sign books in the ABA Lounge following the breakfast.
Jamie Lee Curtis adds to her roster of picture books illustrated by Laura Cornell with This Is Me: A Story of Who We Are and Where We Came From (Workman, Sept.). In the story, a teacher tells her students about her great-grandmother’s relocation to a new country with nothing but a small suitcase, and asks them what they would pack in a similar situation—what items would say, “This is me.”
Curtis’s inspiration for the book was a real-life educator who, while teaching her students about immigration, devised a way to personalize the subject. “She actually brought a suitcase into the classroom, filled with things she might take with her on a major leave-taking,” says the author. “This was a great way to encourage kids to think of immigration in the context of themselves.” To make the symbolism of the suitcase all the more tangible and to add an interactive component to the book, a pop-up suitcase for readers to fill with things that most matter to them is tucked into each copy of This Is Me.
In keeping with her new book’s identity theme, Curtis shares her perspective on being an author—and being at BEA. “I treat this part of my life with reverence—I feel that the most important thing I will ever do is create something that will live beyond me and resonate with others,” she says. “I never thought I’d be invited to the party of an industry that I’m so devoted to. I’ve been a reader my entire life, and the fact that the BEA gatekeepers asked me to stand at this podium is deeply emotional for me. I’m 58 years old, and for me to be able to come here and talk about my books—well, this is as good as it gets.”
Curtis will visit the Workman booth (1729) to sign copies of This Is Me today, at 11 a.m.
Gene Luen Yang, whose 2006 American Born Chinese was the first graphic novel to be nominated for a National Book Award and the first to win the Michael L. Printz Award, is at BEA to celebrate the forthcoming release of Secret Coders: Paths & Portals (Roaring Brook/First Second, Aug.), the second book in this graphic novel series, illustrated by Mike Holmes. Set in a school riddled with secrets, the series combines logic puzzles, basic computer programming instruction, and mysteries to solve—all of which are Yang’s stock in trade.
“I taught high school computer science for 17 years and majored in computer science in college, so coding is an important part of my life,” he explains. “I teach in a very visual way, doing a lot of drawings on the board, so a lot of my teaching could essentially be worked into comics panels. So, when I began writing graphic novels, I structured chapters of books kind of the way I’d structure my own lessons.”
Wang finds graphic novels an ideal way to combine what he calls “two things I love”: science and art. “Kids in our culture are often pressured to choose one or the other, and I think that’s a false dichotomy.”
Also a devotee of prose books, Yang appreciates what they and graphics-oriented books both accomplish. “I think there’s room in the book market, and in the world in general, for all kinds of books,” he says. “For me, the visual aspect of graphic novels is a different way of conveying a story. With every piece of information, I ask myself, ‘Would this be more effective as a picture or in words?’”
The graphic-novel format of Secret Coders, adds the author, connects well with kids: “There is something magical about coding—taking both words and images and putting them into action. These books really let kids be part of it. Whey they’re reading Harry Potter, kids might aspire to achieve wizardry, but that’s not possible. What the Secret Coders heroes aspire to, kids can achieve.”
In his presentation at today’s breakfast, Yang expects to touch on the importance of diversity in children’s books and “reading without walls and moving beyond one’s comfort zone,” topics he strives to promote in his role as National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.
Yang is scheduled to sign copies of Secret Coders: Paths & Portals at 1:30 p.m. today, at a ticketed signing in the Macmillan booth (1958).
Booksellers will be happy to hear the message Dav Pilkey is delivering at BEA: there’s a new superhero in town. Introduced in Dog Man (Scholastic/Graphix, Aug.), this part-human, part-canine crime buster is the latest character to spring from the irrepressible imaginations of Pilkey’s creative fictional duo, George and Harold. And what inspired this new hybrid hero? “I think it’s all very much grounded in the world of childhood,” says Pilkey. “That’s where Captain Underpants, and now Dog Man, come from. It’s a whole mythology that only a kid could think of. It wouldn’t work in the real world, but in the world of kids’ daydreams, magic happens.”
Pilkey knows that firsthand, having as a second-grader conceived of Captain Underpants—now the star of 12 books that have more than 70 million copies in print, as well as a 2017 DreamWorks Animation film. Dog Man, too, had an early start, says Pilkey: “He actually predates Captain Underpants—it was one of the first comics I ever drew. The notion of Dog Man, who has the physical powers of a human being, but thinks like a dog and tries to fight his canine nature, just struck me as funny. And I think kids can probably relate to the idea of trying to be more grownup and mature, yet struggling with the temptation to still do kid things.”
Dog Man won’t be entirely new to Pilkey fans. The author explains that, early on in the Captain Underpants series, he began mentioning Dog Man in the text, and the superhero made his first graphic appearance in the ninth installment. “As soon as that book came out, kids started sending me their own drawings of Dog Man,” he recalls. “I began thinking that maybe I should do some animated storytelling with him. So another idea ticked.”
And it’s an idea that will likely click with kids, given what appears to be Pilkey’s intuitive appreciation for what kids will react to—and laugh at. “Well, that may be partly true,” says Pilkey of that notion. “I like to think of myself as a responsible person who does the grownup things we all have to do, but I think part of me just never grew up. I think my sense of humor is firmly rooted in fourth grade.”
At today’s breakfast, Pilkey will talk about his new superhero, as well as address the importance of comics for beginning or struggling readers. “The thing is, all kids who are learning to read are struggling readers,” he says. “I have dyslexia, and even today, if I see a page full of words, it’s hard to get through. Comics and graphic novels are a great way to break up the story into small chunks of text, and pictures provide context and clues. It’s a great way to learn to read.”
Pilkey, a frequent guest at bookstore events, always looks forward to catching up with booksellers at BEA. “They are responsible for putting books in the hands of children,” he reflects. “That makes them real superheroes—and that’s a compliment they truly deserve.”
Pilkey will sign galleys of Dog Man today, 11 a.m.–noon, at a ticketed autographing at Table 2, in the Autographing Area.
Sabaa Tahir arrived on the YA scene a year ago—with fanfare. Her debut fantasy, An Ember in the Ashes, landed in the #2 spot on the New York Times bestseller list soon after its release last April, was optioned in a seven-figure deal by Paramount, and was featured on a dozen “Best Books of 2015” lists. Not surprisingly, buzz has built for the sequel, A Torch Against the Night (Razorbill, Aug.), which follows Laia and Elias into the heart of the ruthless Martial Empire as they fight to liberate Laia’s brother from prison.
“I was completely surprised and very excited,” says the author of the enthusiastic reception her first book received. “You pour your soul into your book, but you never know how it will be received, and when people like your baby, it’s a great feeling. I am very, very thankful.”
Tahir says that the inspiration for her fantasy was “multifaceted.” Growing up in a small town in the Mohave Desert, she says, “I felt like an outcast, and turned to books, fantasy in particular, to find a place for myself. Reading took me away from this world, which I needed.” Years later, working as an editor at the Washington Post, Tahir encountered many stories “about child soldiers, war zones, and interrogation—all these things that are part of our modern world—which became elements of the world I created.” Also in the mix is her longtime fascination with ancient Rome, which, she says, “I drew on—very loosely—to create my fantasy world.”
Tahir found returning to the world of An Ember in the Ashes both comforting and challenging. On the one hand, she reflects, “I had the chance to come home to these characters I love, and say, ‘Okay guys—let’s go do something new!’ and that was wonderful.” Yet, she adds, “It was a bit intimidating, since I wanted to do honor to these characters I’ve spent so much time with—I began writing about them in 2007. It was a bit scary taking them into new territory.
Tahir says she arrives at BEA “with pep in my step,” though still finds being a published novelist “very surreal, I think, because I moved so quickly from one thing to the next: writing the first book, editing it, promoting it, and then moving right on to the second book. I haven’t had time to sit down and really take it all in, which is a fortunate place to be.”
Tahir also expresses gratitude to the many YA authors who have welcomed her into the fold and helped her understand the publishing world. And the author is happy to have the chance to talk with booksellers—not only about A Torch Against the Night, but about what they’ve been reading recently: “Some of my best book recommendations have come from booksellers. I find booksellers comforting—they’re my people.”
Tahir will be at the Penguin Random House booth (2433) today, at 2 p.m., to sign ARCs of A Torch Against the Night.
This article appeared in the May 13, 2016 edition of PW BEA Show Daily.
