What's New With Mitali ...
 

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

After 12+ years in the Boston area, we're moving to the San Francisco Bay Area in June 2013. East Bay, to be precise.

Bamboo People will be translated into Danish! The language of sweet rolls!

My recent trip to Kolkata, India, was nicely covered by The Indian Express, The Telegraph, The Bengal Post, The Times of India, and others.

Bamboo People is nominated for the State of Illinois' 2014 Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Choice Book Award.

Open Mic: Riffs About Growing Up Between Cultures in Ten Voices, an anthology edited by me, releases from Candlewick September 10, 2013.

Once again, I taught a month-long course at Saint Mary's College of California during January 2013 called "Race, Culture, and Power in Children's Books."

In excellent company, Bamboo People is nominated for Tennessee's 2013 Volunteer State Book Award in both the high school and middle school divisions.

I'm delighted to be one of Boston Public Library's Literary Lights for Children honorees on September 30, 2012, along with Kevin Henkes, Gary D. Schmidt, and Christopher Paolini.

Bamboo People is now available in paperback, and is published in India by HarperCollins India.

Bamboo People is nominated for the 2011-2012 Indiana Young Hoosier Book Award.

Excited to speak at the International Reading Association's conference in Chicago on May 1, 2012 as part of the Notable Books for a Global Society presentation.

Good news from Charlesbridge: Over 60,000 copies of Rickshaw Girl sold in Japan in 2010.

I'm teaching a month-long course at Saint Mary's College of California in January 2012 called "Race, Culture, and Power in Children's Books."

Charlesbridge sold Italian and Taiwanese rights for Bamboo People.

The Secret Keeper was published in India by HarperCollins India.

Thrilled with my "Most Engaging Author" honor in the ABA Indie's Choice 2011 Awards, along with Bamboo People's honor in the YA category. Thank you, booksellers!

Excited to be keynoting at the International Reading Association Pre-Conference in Orlando as well as the Massachusetts Library Association's Teen Symposium this Spring.

Bamboo People is an APALA Honor Book, a Bologna White Raven Book, and on the Maine Student Book Award Reading List for 2011-2012.

I got to judge one round of School Library Journal's Battle of the Books 2011.

Bamboo People is a Top Ten 2011 Novel for Young Adults, according to the American Library Association.

Rickshaw Girl is chosen for the Collaborative Summer Library Program and Teaching Books asks me why I wrote it as well as to read an excerpt in a 3-minute classroom audio.

Bamboo People is available as an audio book from Audible.com, narrated by the brilliant actor Jonathan Davis.

Bamboo People is one of Book Page's Top Ten Middle Grade picks of 2010, and on librarian/reviewer Betsy Bird's list of 100 Magnificent Children's Books of 2010.

I'm the featured USBBY speaker at the ALA Midwinter meeting in San Diego on Friday, January 7 at 8 o'clock in the evening.

I've been invited to speak at the Betsy-Tacy Society Convention in Mankato, MN, July 19-22, 2012.

One of my favorite books of all time, Emily of Deep Valley by Maud Hart Lovelace, is now in print again, thanks to HarperPerennial, with a new foreword by ... ME!

Monsoon Summer and Rickshaw Girl are available for FREE to schools and libraries serving low-income communities. Find out more at First Book.

Here's a brilliant strategy for educators to use my School Library Journal article, "Straight Talk on Race: Challenging the Stereotypes in Children's Books," in the classroom.

A copy of Rickshaw Girl was given to every school library in the state of Oregon as part of the State Treasurer's financial literacy program.

Bamboo People received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal! Download a .pdf Classroom Discussion Guide here.

Extreme American Makeover was released in India by HarperCollins India.

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.


 

GET NEWS AND UPDATES ABOUT
MITALI'S BOOKS AND EVENTS

email address:

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.