What's New with Mitali Perkins
 

News to thrill Mitali's fan club members (a.k.a., my parents) ...

Bamboo People got a starred review from Publishers Weekly and is a Summer 2010 Indie Bookseller Pick! Download a Classroom Discussion Guide here.

Extreme American Makeover was just released in India by HarperCollins India.

Rickshaw Girl is free to schools and libraries serving low-income communities. Find out more at First Book.

Yep. Rickshaw Girl is an app now.

My books are accessible to people with print disabilities via BookShare!

In honor of Secret Keeper's paperback release, you may now peruse a Book Club Discussion Guide as well as download a Teachers Guide.

Guess what? I've been invited to write the foreword to Harper Perennial's re-issue of EMILY OF DEEP VALLEY by Maud Hart Lovelace (coming October 2010).

Yippee! Secret Keeper is shortlisted for the Massachusetts Book Award in the Young Adult category!

Guess who's speaking at the 2010 BookExpo America's Children's Breakfast in New York on May 26th with Richard Peck, Cory Doctorow, and Master of Ceremonies, Sarah Ferguson? Gulp. You got it. Me.

I'm also one of the keynote speakers at the annual conference of the Washington Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators in Seattle.

Secret Keeper is on the International Reading Association's list of Notable Books for a Global Society.

Bamboo People, my new novel about two boys set along the Thai-Burma border, releases July 2010 from Charlesbridge and is a Junior Library Guild Selection.

My First Daughter books and Secret Keeper are going to be published in India by HarperCollins India!

Announcing the results of the Seventh Annual Fire Escape's teen poetry and writing contests!

POETRY Winners

SHORT FICTION Winners

 

I'm organizing Twitter Book Parties, a celebration of new books for kids, tweens, and teens.

My article, Ethnic Book Awards: Discriminatory or Necessary, is published in the June issue of Paper Tigers.

First Daughter: White House Rules is a Massachusetts Center For The Book recommended read for young adults.

Secret Keeper is a Skipping Stones Honor Book.

Rickshaw Girl is nominated for the New York State 2010 Charlotte Children's Book Award.

My article, "Straight Talk on Writing Race: Challenging The Stereotypes in Children's Books," is featured as School Library Journal's cover article.

I've compiled a list of YA Authors on Twitter.

Secret Keeper to be published in French by Paris-based Editions Thierry Magnier.

Rickshaw Girl (De père en fille) is one of five titles nominated for the Livrentête Prize. Vive la France!

Rickshaw Girl is nominated for the Rhode Island Children's Book Award, the South Carolina Children's Book Award, and the Children's Crown Award!

First Daughter: Extreme American Makeover is an ALA Popular Paperback for Young Adults!

I'm helping organize Kids Heart Authors Day, an indie-author-illustrator Valentine's Day party bringing 120 authors and illustrators into 43 different bookstores on 2/14/09.

I'll be offering "Straight Talk About Writing Race" at NESCBWI's annual Spring conference on April 24, 2009.

I'm doing a 12-week blogging stint at Boston.com/yourtown.

SECRET KEEPER (Random House) released 1/13!

Lots of January and February book launch events for Secret Keeper on the west coast (San Francisco and Seattle), and a February party at Newtonville Books in Massachusetts.

I'm presenting Books Between Cultures at YALSA's inaugural Young Adult Literature Symposium in Nashville, Tennessee November 7-9, 2008.

First Daughter: Extreme American Makeover is nominated for YALSA's Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults list.

The Children's Literature and Reading Special Interest Group of the International Reading Association came up with their annual list of 25 Notable Books for a Global Society - and Rickshaw Girl is one of them!

I'm delighted to announce the results of my sixth annual teen poetry and short fiction contests. Congratulations to all the winners, and thanks to everyone who entered.

Rickshaw Girl is nominated for the 2008-2009 Massachusetts Children's Book Awards, Monsoon Summer for the 2009 Minnesota's Maud Hart Lovelace Award, and First Daughter: White House Rules receives lovely reviews here and there -- thanks to the blogosphere.

Rickshaw Girl is a Jane Addams 2008 Honor Book!

Check out this brief clip of Mitali's live interview with Spencer Christian on ABC-KGO's View From The Bay or watch the full segment on KGO's site:

 

Friday, April 11th - Saturday, April 12th:
I'll be at the New England Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Annual Conference, presenting a workshop on Saturday April 12th from 10:05 -11:00 a.m. called "Pajama Promotion: Five Web-Savvy Ways to Generate Buzz About Your Books."

Wednesday, April 16th:
I'll be talking about "Books Between Cultures" from 12-12:50 at the Texas Library Association Convention, (Program CPE#356 in room D 171/173 sponsored by the Texas Association of School Librarians) followed by book signings on the exhibit floor, first at the Penguin booth #1701 from 2 – 3, and then at the Author Autographing Area with Charlesbridge from 3-4. Stop by and say hi.

Thursday, April 17th:
I'll be celebrating Operation Teen Book Drop at the Winchester Author Festival in Winchester, Massachusetts.

Friday, April 18th:
If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, you can catch me on KGO's View From The Bay from 3-4 p.m. PST (streaming online live here), where I'll be chatting about growing up between cultures and how stories kept me balanced.


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We readergirlz are collaborating with YALSA and teen book publishers to pull off Operation Teen Book Drop, giving away new books to over 10,000 teen patients in twenty children's hospitals across the country.

The Boston Globe and the Providence Journal gave their readers the scoop on sparrowblog and my First Daughter Books, as did the Stanford Magazine and India New England.

On the web, bloggers Teen Book Review and Jessica Burkhart hosted me for interviews, and Harmony and Bookworm both loved First Daughter.

Paper Tigers' blog celebrated International Mother Language Day by featuring my novel Rickshaw Girl, saying it "would make a great readaloud, especially for a mother and daughter to share." Librarian-blogger Cloudscome agreed, "highly recommend(ing) it for middle grade (8-10 year old) readers, as a read aloud, or a kid's book club book."

I guest-blog over at Mom's Rising.

If you didn't make it to my book launch party on 2/3/08, here's a 3-minute snippet (to explain my wardrobe, it was Super Bowl Sunday and the Pats hadn't lost yet):

You can become a fan of the First Daughter books over at Facebook or get her widget on your blog:

Monsoon Summer is a 2008 YALSA popular paperback for young adults.

Watch for a story about me and my buddy Karen Day (Tall Tales and No Cream Puffs from Wendy Lamb Books) in the Boston Globe on January 27, 2008.

Hey! I'm a Readergirlz Diva!

I'll be doing town-wide visits in Needham , Ma and Brookline, Ma during Spring 2008.

Check out my School Library Journal interview about Sparrowblog and the First Daughter novels.

I'm helping to choose the best fiction picture book of 2007 for the Cybil Awards as well as the author most deserving of PEN's Annual Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship.

Guess what? I'm going to present "Pajama Promotion: Five Web-Savvy Ways to Generate Buzz About Your Books" at the New England Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators' annual conference on April 12, 2008 .

I'm a Readergirlz 31 Flavorites Author!

Several YA and children's book authors (including me) reflect on how gender affects reading in the September/October 2007 issue of the Horn Book.

The Fire Escape is delighted to announce the winners of the 2007 teen poetry contest and teen short fiction contest. Congratulations to the authors!

I'm invited to be part of the Summer Blog Blast Tour, and am interviewed here (Monday, June 18), and here (Wednesday, June 20), and here (Thursday, June 21).

Mitaliperkins.com makes the Horn Book's Web Watch list.

Mitali's Fire Escape is featured as a blog of note in the Horn Book, PaperTigers, and School Library Journal.

Mom and I travel to San Francisco to be part of PaperTiger's Community Outreach in the schools.

No Place Like Home, my article about place in fiction, is published in School Library Journal Curriculum Connections.

First Daughter: Extreme American Makeover releases June 14, 2007 , and
Sparrow goes on a blog tour (check out the book trailer here):

Monday, 6/11: 5 Minutes For Mom and Jennifer Snapshot
Tuesday, 6/12: Big A little a
Wednesday, 6/13: Semicolon
Thursday, 6/14: Jen Robinson's Book Page
Friday, 6/15: Little Willow
Monday, 6/18: Sara's Hold Shelf

For other breaking news and events, head over to the blog.