Category Archives: events

A Book Party for Last of the Name

I’m so excited about the book party for Last of the Name because it will be as much a celebration of the perseverance of Irish culture as it is of the book. I’ll be joined by musicians and dancers and we will be meeting in the Annex next door to Annie Blooms Bookstore where you can order food and drinks from our neighbor restaurant Gastromania. I hope to see you there!

Annie Blooms Bookstore 7834 SW Capitol Highway Portland Oregon 97219 at 7pm on Tuesday April 2nd.

OASL New, Notable and Diverse books

What a treat to spend the weekend with Oregon’s school librarians. And then hearing keynote speakers R. Gregory Christie and Mitali Perkins was just the icing on the cake.

For those who came to my presentation, here are the books I talked about in my session. A selection of new books that are notable in quality and diverse.

Picture Books
Shanyaak’utlaax Salmon Boy from Baby Raven Reads (Tlingit)
The Woman Carried Away by Killer Whales from Baby Raven Reads (Haida)
Picking Berries by Hannah Lindoff from Baby Raven Reads (Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian)
Raven Brings Us Fire, Raven and the Box of Daylight, Origins of Rivers and Streams: a raven story by Pauline Kookesh Duncan from Baby Raven Reads (Tlingit)
On our Street: our first talk about poverty, and On the News: our first talk about tragedy by Dr. Jillian Roberts
You Hold Me Up by Monique Gray Smith (Cree & English) Canadian Reconciliation
Speaking our Truth a journey of reconciliation by Monique Gray Smith Canadian Reconciliation
How Raven got His Crooked Nose an Alaskan Dena’ina Fable by Barbara J Atwater (Athabaskan)
Whisper of the East: tales from Arabia by Franziska Meiners -glossary plus activities
The Atlas Obscura: Explorers Guide for the  worlds most adventurous kid  by Dylan Thuras & Rosemanry Masco
Mapping Sam by Joyce Hesselberth —STEM
The Rabbit Listened by Cori Doerrfeld —empathy
Me and my Fear by  Franscesca Sanna
Drawn Together by Dan Santat multi-lingual family
We are Grateful Otsaliheligaby Traci Sorell (Cherokee)
Chapter Books
Baby Monkey Private Eye by Brian Selznick
Digging Deep by Jake Maddox—a hijabi athlete
You Choose Books Sleeping Beauty by Jessica Gunderson—a female fairytale choose your own adventure.
Meet Yasmin by Saadia Faruqui
Lucy’s Lab by Michelle Houts
Jasmine Taguchi Super Sleuth  by Debbi Michiko Florence (series)
Pocket Pirates: The Great Cheese Robbery by Chris Mould (series)
The Questioners Rosie Revere and the raucous riveters by Andrea Beaty maker mystery
MG novels
The Journey of Little Charlie by Christopher Paul Curtis – About a boy who engages in slave catching and has a change of heart. tangential to Elijah of Buxton
Running on the Roof of the World by Jess Butterworth
    About buddhist refugees from Tibet to India. Yaks!
Marcus Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish by Pablo Caraya—extra tall 8th grader goes home to Puerto Rico for the 1st time
Tight by Torrey Maldonado— urban, black, about the hard choices in MS friendship, older MG
Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed contemporary Pakistan, indentured servitude
Charlie Hernández the league of shadows by Ryan Calejo fantasy adventure based in central American mythology
Merci Suárez Changes Gears by Meg Medina contemporary coming-of-age multigenerational household
The Crossroads bu Alexandra Diaz contemporary migrant from Guatemala adjusts to life in the US
Dactyl Hill Squad by Daniel José historical fantasy civil war with dinosaurs
Non-fiction
The Faithful Spy: a true story! Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the plot to kill Hitler by John Hendrix
    highly illustrated but not a GN it tackles the question: how do I resist evil without doing/becoming evil
Shout: the true story of a survivor who refused to be silenced by Laurie Halse Anderson —a tale of resilience
Unbroken: 13 stories starring Disabled Teens ed by Marieke Nijkamp
Don’t Call Me Crazy: 33 voices start the conversation about mental health ed. by Kelly Jensen
Just Breathe: meditation, mindfulness, movement, and more Malik’s Chopra—one of many mindfulness/yoga/meditation titles this year.
Putting Peace First: 7 commitments to change the world by Eric David Dawson —in a season crowded w/ social justice this one is detailed, practical, do-able by youth.
Short Stories
Flying Lessons and other stories ed by Ellen Oh of WNDB
Funny Girl ed by Betsy Bird
Graphic Novels
Be Prepared by Vera Brosgol
    An ethnic twist on the summer camp story. an artful look at social isolation
The Dragon Slayer: Folk tales from Latin America by Jaime Hernandez
Illegal by Eoin Colfer migration from Africa across the Sahara and Mediterranean Sea
Oregon Authors
D-day:the WWII invasion the changed history  and Under the Bodhi Tree a story of Buddha by Deborah Hopkinson
Where the Watermelons Grow by Cindy Baldwin
Avalanche Dog Heroes: Piper and Friends learn to search the snow by Elizabeth Rusch
Tigers and Tea with Top by Barbara Kerley
The Turning by Emily Whitman
Journey of the Pale Bear by Susan Fletcher
What do they do with all that Poo by Jane Kurtz
Quiet Please Owen McPhee by Trudy Ludwig
A Boy A Mouse A Spider by Barbara Herkert

Oregon Spirit Book Award

A week from today I will be at the Oregon Council of Teachers of English fall conference to accept the Oregon Spirit book award for The Turn of the Tide. I’m just thrilled to be in the company of the Oregon authors honored this year. Many of these women have been friends and mentors for years, women whose work I’m proud to recommend at the bookstore and books from which I’ve learned much about the craft of writing. Thank you to all those hard working English teachers who served on the award committee and all those who share books in their classrooms.

American Indian Cultural Festival

A lot of the work of being an author is the dull and dry sitting at a desk (even when that desk is in a tree) and writing day after day. But every now and then an event comes along that you know you’ll remember forever. The American Indian Cultural Festival in The Dalles last week was just such a moment. It was a celebration of literature and poetry and music and dance. It involved a group of books that I admire and authors I feel honored to share the stage with: Elizabeth Woody, Oregon’s Poet Laureate, Craig Lesley, acclaimed author of contemporary western literature, and National Book Award winning writer Sherman Alexie.

I was lucky enough to spend time with an adult book club and share a poetry reading with some truly outstanding young poets. I got to hear the culture club from Lyle school in Washington give their very first performance in the Sahaptian language with traditional dancing. They were simply amazing. I’m so proud of all they’ve accomplished in a year. I meet with some avid writers in the North Oregon Juvenal Detention Facility, and best of all I got to dance with the Taholah drum group from the Quinault Reservation. My favorite part of the whole thing was the series of classrooms who came to hear me and the Taholah drum group speak. They had all kinds of great questions about the culture and art of the Quinault and Makah and the practice of tribal whaling. It was the sort of mind-opening conversation that cultural festivals are made for. I am very grateful to Julian Peterson and Marko Black and all the tribal dancers from Taholah who shared their songs and prayers and dances so generously, and who invited the students to dance and drum along so whole-heartedly. I know those are memories the students will always cherish.

Thank you to Jim Tindale the librarian at The Dalles School District who made this all happen in conjunction with the great booksellers at Oregon’s oldest bookstore Klindt’s who sold all the books and hosted many of the events. Tina Ontiveros is the manager at Klindt’s and Joaquin Perez is the owner. The fundraising for this event was truly a community affair with donations coming from area schools and libraries, educational foundations, local congregations, Oregon’s poet laureate program, the Wasco County Cultural Trust, the Ford Foundation, the Meyer Memorial Trust, and the Confederated Tribes of the Grande Ronde. It’s inspiring to see so many community members come together in support of literacy and the cultural understanding of our local American Indian communities. Thank you!

American Indian Cultural Festival

I am beyond thrilled to be included in the American Indian Cultural Festival held this week in The Dalles. I will be appearing alongside Sherman Alexie, Elizabeth Woody, the poet laureate of Oregon, and adult writer, Craig Leslie. We will be doing a poetry reading which is free and open to the public on Thursday April 13th at 4:00 in The Dalles Middle School Commons. There will be live music and a drum and dance group from the Quinault Nation. Each of the authors will read a new poem. If you happen to be in the area, I’d love to see you there.

Klindt’s bookstore will host a book signing party at 7:00 that same evening. Klindt’s has the distinction of being the oldest bookstore in the state. I am particularly grateful to the owners of the bookstore who purchased hundreds of copies of my book, Written in Stone to give away to the students I will visit the day following these events. I am also very grateful to Jim Tindale, Librarian extraordinaire who did the lion’s share of the work in coordinating this festival which includes coordinating readings and author visits in 7 locations over the course of two days. He also spearheaded all the fundraising that made this celebration possible.

In addition to the poetry event I will be attending a talk by Sherman Alexie at The Dalles High School. Hundreds of children will come in on busses from all over the county to hear him read from Thunder Boy Jr.  which was illustrated by the amazing Yuyi Morales. This event will include drummers and dancers from the Quinault nation.