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Author Guest Post: “Integrating Storytelling with Science Education” by Serene Chia, Author of Mommy, Mommy, Where is the Moon?

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“Integrating Storytelling with Science Education”

How do we use children’s picture books to spark our kid’s interest in science? As a children’s author and a fan of kids’ books, I’ve discovered that storytelling can be a magical tool to engage young minds. Combining stories with science is a great way to keep little ones excited about learning.

Here are 3 ways to start their scientific journey through the power of stories and child-led inquiry.

  • Making Science Simple. Science doesn’t have to be complicated. Stories can make tricky ideas easy for kids to understand. In Charlotte the Scientist Finds a Cure, Charlotte’s journey to find out what is making the animals sick captures children’s interest and teaches them about the scientific method to ask questions and form a hypothesis. Charlotte’s determination and problem-solving skills are depicted in a way that children can easily grasp.
  • Encouraging Curiosity. One of the best ways to teach science is through student-led inquiry. Encourage your students to ask questions and explore answers. In Ada Twist, Scientist, Ada’s relentless curiosity to find out what is causing a smelly smell drives the story, prompting kids to ask their own questions and seek answers. This book is fantastic for teaching children the value of persistence and inquiry in science.

    Similarly, in If I Built a School, Jack’s imaginative ideas about what a school could look like encourage students to think creatively and ask “what if” questions. Jack’s wild ideas, like a library where books come alive, can inspire kids to dream big and explore how their own creative solutions could be realized. These books collectively show that curiosity is the starting point for scientific exploration.

  • Mixing Different Subjects. Stories can seamlessly blend different subjects like science and reading. In Over and Under the Pond, the narrative combines scientific facts with beautiful storytelling, helping kids improve their reading while learning about nature. This multidisciplinary approach makes learning more interesting and helps kids see the connections between different subjects. It encourages them to think critically and creatively, integrating knowledge from various fields.

Recommended Books for Starting Children on Their Scientific Journey

Charlotte the Scientist Finds a Cure by Camille Andros

The story emphasizes the importance of family support in scientific endeavors, with Grandpa Bunny telling Charlotte, “Charlotte, you are going to make a real difference in the world.” My 3-year-old son loved the bunny family and the grandpa who wasn’t well, while my 6-year-old daughter was fascinated by finding out what was making all the animals sick. She learned new words like quarantine and experiment.

Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty

This book encourages kids to start asking questions when they encounter problems. Ada’s journey to discover what was causing a stink in her house shows how persistent inquiry can lead to scientific discovery. The story highlights the importance of family support in encouraging curiosity and problem-solving.

Over and Under the Pond by Kate Messner

The book paints a beautiful picture of an afternoon spent exploring the ecosystem of a pond. Living in Singapore, we learned about animals we don’t have here, like the mink, moose, and American goldfinch. The illustrations, such as a view from above the trees looking down at the mother and son rowing their boat, add an immersive visual element that helps kids learn about different species and their habitats.

If I Built a School by Chris Van Dusen

This imaginative book follows a boy named Jack with the wildest imagination as he describes to his teacher, Miss Jane, how he would design a school. His ideas include puppies, a zoo, a robot that makes lunches, and hover desks that glide around. My kids especially loved the part where the library had books that came alive, like Jack and the Beanstalk, with a beanstalk that grew when you opened the book. This story sparks interesting discussions and encourages kids to think creatively about their learning environment.

Conclusion. Storytelling is a powerful tool for teaching science. It makes learning easy, fun, and engaging. You don’t need complicated setups to spark curiosity in your students. Use storytelling to create a rich, engaging learning environment. Books like Charlotte the Scientist Finds a Cure, Ada Twist, Scientist, Over and Under the Pond, and If I Built a School are excellent starting points. By incorporating these stories into your lessons, you can inspire the next generation of scientists and explorers!

Mommy, Mommy, Where is the Moon?
Author: Serene Chia
Illustrator: Sinem Kilic Rabito
Published June 3rd, 2022

About the Book: Few things in life are as precious as the bond shared between a mother and her daughter.

Kaitlyn loves spending her nights lying beside her mother as they search the sky for the Moon. Sometimes they find it. Sometimes they don’t! That doesn’t stop them from laughing and talking about cool moon facts like why it changes shape and hides sometimes. Like Neil Armstrong, Kaitlyn believes she can also fly to the Moon!

Beautifully illustrated and filled with inspiration, Mommy, Mommy, Where is the Moon is a must-read for every child.

Parents and educators, this book is great for:

IMPROVING PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP – Engage your child and improve the parent-child relationship.

INTRODUCING SCIENCE AND STEM CONCEPTS – Introduce your child to science and STEM concepts in a fun and easy-to-understand way.

ENCOURAGING IMAGINATION – Encourages your child to dream big and use their imagination.

For a free lesson plan and activity sheets for preschoolers, visit serenechia.com/moon

About the Author: As a children’s author, Serene Chia has always been passionate about creating stories that educate and inspire young minds. Her book, Mommy, Mommy, Where is the Moon?, was inspired by her daughter’s fascination with the moon. One of their favorite things to do was to spend time looking for the moon every night. Sometimes they found it, other times they didn’t. Along the way, they pick up cool moon facts like why the moon changes shape and sometimes hides.

This book combines the warmth of a mother-daughter bond with bits of science sprinkled within. It also comes with a lesson plan for 6-year-olds, a read-aloud video, and coloring sheets that make it easy to incorporate into your home or classroom lessons. Visit serenechia.com/moon.

Website: serenechia.com
Instagram: instagram.com/serenechiaauthor

Thank you, Serene, for these science-focused activities and books!

Author Guest Post: “Tackling the Blank Page with the WHY Method” by Christine Virnig, Author of A Bite Above the Rest

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“Tackling the Blank Page with the WHY Method”

I’m extremely lucky to be able to run two writing clubs at the library where I work—one for TEENs and one for 9–12-year-olds. It’s so fun to sit there and soak in the young writers’ enthusiasm, their energy, their creativity. But while some of them are bursting with ideas, others have a hard time getting started. They stare at the blank page in front of them and don’t know where to begin.

I very much commiserate with this can’t-figure-out-how-to-start group. I also have the hardest time coming up with ideas. Nothing ever seems unique enough, interesting enough, engaging enough to bother turning it into a book that anyone but my mom would want to read. So how do I move beyond the blank page to get at least SOMETHING written down? I use what I call the WHY method.

What is this magical WHY method? It’s nothing more than starting with a shred of an idea—such as a character (like a girl with a peanut allergy), a place (like a haunted woods), a villain (like a vomit-breathed math teacher), or a theme (like evolving friendships)—and then asking myself “why, why, why, why” until I finally have enough of an idea to start writing. To walk you through this WHY method, let’s use my debut middle grade novel, A Bite Above the Rest, as an example.

The shred of an idea I started with was a character who just popped into my head one day: a boy who was walking around with a wooden stake in his back pocket because he was terrified he was about to encounter a vampire or witch or werewolf. I named this boy Caleb, I declared him to be eleven years old, and then I started asking why.

Why is Caleb afraid he’ll run into a vampire or werewolf or witch? Does he simply have a vivid imagination, so he sees a bat and thinks VAMPIRE or sees a full moon and thinks WEREWOLF? Or does he live in a world known to contain vampires and witches, and everyone around him is similarly terrified. OR… is he afraid he’ll run into a werewolf or witch because he’s seen them, and yet nobody else is afraid? That last option intrigued me the most… but I still needed to ask more why questions to flesh out the idea.

Why is nobody around him afraid? Are the vampires and werewolves somehow invisible to everyone but my main character? Are the creatures hiding, and my main character is the only who’s ever encountered them?  OR… does everyone around him also see the monsters, but they don’t perceive them as scary? Again, I went with option number 3. And then I asked why yet again.

Why doesn’t anyone else see the vampires or witches as scary? Are most werewolves and vampires friendly, and my character is alone in being afraid of them? Is everybody but Caleb a monster, so of course they aren’t afraid of each other? OR… what if everyone else just thinks the witches and vampires are regular people wearing costumes? Option three was the most compelling to me, but I had to keep going with the whys…

Why do people think the monsters are just regular humans in costumes? Is there a haunted house in town that employs oodles of costumed workers? Does my main character live in an alternative universe where costumes are as ho-hum as jeans and a t-shirt? OR… what if he finds himself in a Halloween tourist town—the Halloween equivalent of the North Pole? It can be a place where Halloween decorations are kept up all year long; where the bakery bursts with mouth-watering, pumpkin-flavored treats; where the library’s mascot can be something ridiculous… like a Book Banshee. How cool would that be?!? I only needed to ask one more why before I was ready to start writing.

Why does my main character come to this town in the first place?  Was he born there? Is he a tourist? Is he visiting his grandma for a week? OR… has he just moved there? As an outsider (and an anxious, fearful one at that), he’ll be more likely to notice things about the town that others overlook. That others take as “normal.”

I went with option three, and BOOM. After asking just five why questions, I had my character, my setting, and the start of an adventure. Did I have it all figured out? Not at all! Why, I still didn’t know if the vampires and werewolves were just costumed humans—and Caleb had it all wrong—or if they were actual monsters (and honestly, I didn’t figure out the answer to this question until I was half way through writing the first draft). But nonetheless, these why questions were enough to get me started. They allowed me to fill up that first blank page with something other than a blinking curser.

So, when you have students who can’t decide what to write—when they’re frustrated and stuck and just want to give up—maybe have them try the WHY method and see if it helps them too. Why does that hedgehog talk? Why do the woods feel spooky? Why did that girl’s best friend just call her a name? Why? Why? Why?

And hopefully, all these why questions will help them fill their blank pages too!

Published August 6th, 2024 by Aladdin

About the Book: A boy moves to a Halloween-themed town only to realize there may be more to the tourist trap than meets the eye in this fast-paced romp of a middle grade novel perfect for fans of The Last Kids on Earth and Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library!

When Caleb’s mom decides they are moving to her childhood home in Wisconsin, Caleb is not thrilled. Moving schools, states, and time zones would be bad enough, but Mom’s hometown is Samhain, a small and ridiculously kitschy place where every day is Halloween.

Caleb is not a fan of Halloween when it only happens once a year, so Halloween-obsessed Samhain is really not the place for him. How is he supposed to cope with kids wearing costumes to school every single day? And how about the fact that the mayor is so committed to the bit that City Hall is only open from sundown to sunup to accommodate his so-called vampirism? Sure enough, Caleb becomes an outcast at school for refusing to play along with the spooky tradition like the other sixth graders. Luckily, he manages to find a friend in fellow misfit Tai, and just in time, because things are getting weird in Samhain…or make that weirder.

But there’s no way the mayor is an actual vampire, and their teacher absolutely cannot really be a werewolf—right? Caleb discovers Samhain is so much stranger than he ever could have imagined. As one of the only people who realizes what’s happening, can he save a town that doesn’t want saving?

About the Author: Christine Virnig (she/her/hers) is a fan of books, candy, spooky stories, poop jokes, and coffee…in no particular order. As a former physician, Christine now spends her days writing books, reading books, and working at a library where she is surrounded by books. Christine lives in southern Wisconsin with her husband, two daughters, a ridiculous number of dust bunnies, and one incredibly lazy cat. You can visit her on the web at ChristineVirnig.com.

Thank you, Christine, for this hint on how to get started when being taunted by that blank page!

Author Guest Post: “On Writing the Unexpected Narrator” by Jordan Kopy, Author of Theodora Hendrix and the Monstrous League of Monsters

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“On Writing the Unexpected Narrator”

My debut middle grade novel, Theodora Hendrix and the Monstrous League of Monsters, follows the adventures of one Theodora Hendrix, who isn’t your average ten-year-old: her best friend is a talking, top-hat-wearing tarantula named Sherman. She reads torat cards (think tarot cards, but magical). Oh, and she lives in a haunted mansion full of monsters, breaking Headquarters’ Number One Rule: Keep Monsters Hidden from Humans.  When a series of anonymous letters threatens to reveal her secret, Theodora must follow a series of clues to track down the source. If she fails, Theodora will be sent to live with humans (the horror, the horror!) and her family will end up in the Deepest, Darkest Prisons of Transylvania. Forever.

Like many authors, I’m often asked where I got the idea for this book. The story goes like this: my mom and I were watching one of our favorite movies, “My Cousin Vinny”.  Fred Gwynne, who played the judge, also played Herman Munster on “The Munsters”, a black and white television show from the 1960s. That fact must have been in my head – probably because my mom mentioned it a dozen-odd times – when I went to sleep, because I woke up the next morning with the idea for a story about a ten-year-old girl being raised by a bumbling family of monster superheroes. I jumped out of bed and grabbed my laptop; two hours later, I had written the book’s opening chapters. Over the next few days, I outlined the plot – at least, I knew where the story started and how it ended, sketched out my ensemble cast of characters, and sorted out the book’s main themes. But what I hadn’t sorted out was my narrator.

Choosing the narrator is one of the most critical decisions an author makes when crafting their story, as this is the vehicle by which your tale is relayed to your reader. There’s much to consider:

For starters, who is the narrator – who’s telling us this story? It can be anyone, really – the main character, a third party, an animal sidekick…When thinking through the various options, considering point of view can be super helpful: most novels typically employ first or third person point of view. In first person, the narrator is directly involved in the story, sharing the events that occurred according to their own recollection or experience, using “I” or “we” to describe the action. A well-known example of this is the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan. In third person, the narrator isn’t directly involved in the story, using “he”, “she”, or “they” to describe the action. Third person is often (but not always!) omniscient, meaning that the narrator is all-knowing. A (very!) well-known example of this is the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. Along with point of view, the narrator’s perspective – i.e., their individual perceptions of and interactions with the world at large – should also be considered: a narrator whose perception differs from that of the main character will provide a different experience than one in which a similar worldview is shared. Together, point of view and perception can help to define the best narrator for a given tale; the former tells us the “what”, the latter the “how”.

I had no clear sense of my narrator when I first started writing Theodora Hendrix and the Monstrous League of Monsters. So, I started thinking about perspective and point of view – and kept waffling between the two. I liked the intimacy of first person as it allows readers to experience events with the main character – a technique which is particularly successful with young readers who can, perhaps, more easily envision themselves in that character’s shoes. In contrast, I liked the omniscience of third person as allows the narrator to hint at things yet to come which the main character couldn’t possibly know; this works especially well in novels in which there’s some degree of mystery, which I knew my story would have. In the end, I decided to take a (perhaps not so small) risk and combine the two. The result is a rather unexpected narrator:

In the prologue and the epilogue, my narrator’s point of view is first person. He often breaks the fourth wall, speaking directly to the reader. He’s also mysterious: he declines to introduce himself at the beginning of the tale, stating that his identity is for him to know and “for you to find out”; it is only on the very last page that he finally reveals himself. In contrast, the main body of the novel is largely relayed in deep third person, where the narrator closely mimics Theodora’s perspective. To bridge the gap between the two, he occasionally interrupts the story, breaking the fourth wall to share his own thoughts and insights directly with the reader.

To make this process a little less painful going forward, I’ve made myself a “narrator checklist” which I peruse whenever I begin a new manuscript. Some of the questions I consider are:

  1. Who is telling this story? Is it one person or multiple people?
  2. Why are they telling it and not someone else?
  3. Where do they stand in relation to the story – are they directly involved in the action or observing it from the outside?
  4. What information do readers need to follow the plot, and who can best convey this to them?
  5. Comparatively, what information should be withheld or obscured or obscured from readers, allowing for potential misdirection?

Sometimes, choosing a narrator is a matter of trial and error. If the plotting is tight, the characters well-developed, and the pacing appropriate, it may be worth taking another look at your narrator. Changing the point of view and perspective can feel more than a little overwhelming, but it’s worth it in the end: the right narrator can make all the difference.

Published July 16th, 2024 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

About the Book: If you think monsters don’t exist, just ask Theodora Hendrix. The start of a brilliantly funny new series, perfect for fans of Amelia Fang.
The first rule of the Monstrous League of Monsters is: Keep monsters hidden from humans. But when zombie George and his cat companion Bandit find an abandoned baby, they can’t leave her to be eaten by hobgoblins. So they spirit her home where she quickly becomes part of the family. Fast-forward ten years, and young Theodora doesn’t seem too scarred by her monstrous upbringing. But now a series of anonymous letters suggest that someone is about to reveal their secret. If Theodora doesn’t act fast, she may lose her family for ever…

“Readers will be irresistibly drawn into the captivating world of Kopy‘s monster-filled middle-grade novel, where the promise of tantalizing secrets sets the stage for adventure. …a delightful blend of whimsy and mystery … lively characters and light mystery, the narrator imparts a particularly mischievous charm, with cheeky asides…With playful, comical illustrations reminiscent of the Addams Family that vividly bring the scenes and characters to life, this delightful, cheeky romp is ideal for those who relish eerie tales with a humorous twist.” – Booklist

About the Author: Jordan Kopy is a born and raised New Yorker who now lives in London with her husband and poorly behaved (but lovable) cat. A financial services professional by day (no idea how that happened), Jordan spends her nights with ghouls, witches, and the occasional evil hag. She’s also the author of Theodora Hendrix and the Curious Case of the Cursed Beetle and Theodora Hendrix and the Snare of the Shadowmongers.

Thank you, Jordan, for this post looking at the process of choosing a narrator!

Author Guest Post & Giveaway!: “Crafting Multi-dimensional Characters” by A. Kidd, Author of Yasuko and the Dream Eater

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“Crafting Multi-dimensional Characters”

When I visit schools, part of my presentation includes a character sketch activity with students. Not only is it fun and interactive, but building a character forms the basis on which the rest of your story revolves around. Even with an intriguing plot, you still need a dynamic character to follow. Someone you can relate to and root for. We all know the cliches: the princess, the knight, the dragon. But sometimes it’s good to mix it up a little. The princess knight or, better yet, the princess dragon is far more interesting.

This concept works well with my new picture book, Yasuko and the Dream Eater, which is inspired by a Japanese legend about the dream eater, who eats bad dreams when called 3 times. What makes this character so unusual is that traditionally it is made up of five different animals. It has the head and trunk of an elephant, the eyes and ears of a rhino, the tail of an ox, the arms and legs of a tiger, and the belly of a bear. It also has a curly mane that looks like a lion, although it isn’t part lion. Some kids think it is part unicorn, because the mane has blue and pink colors shimmering within it.

We talk about culture and diversity, and how having multiple backgrounds makes you unique. Just like my main character, Yasuko, is both Japanese and American, the dream eater is made up of many different animals.  And just like a character can be a cat or a dog or a mouse, it could also be made up of all these animals, which would be unique indeed! In the story, Yasuko feels different when visiting her grandmother in Japan. Making the origami crane is not the same as making paper airplanes at home in America. She also misses her goodnight hug from her parents. In Japan, family members often pat children on the head to show affection rather than offer a hug at bedtime. By the end, Yasuko learns that she can connect to her grandmother in other ways, and that clasping hands together can also feel like a tiny hug. So with our own stories, we can seek to not only show how our characters are unique but why that makes them special.

Try this with your students: Using a large pad of paper or wipe board, ask your students to name 5 creatures (including animals, mythical beings, robots, aliens, etc.) List those on the board, then talk about at least one defining trait for each. Then it is your turn (or perhaps another student can volunteer) to make up a new animal or creature based on all 5 listed. This is where it gets interesting! But kids love to see the results. They can also each draw one on their own. Or for younger children, you can provide puzzle piece cutouts of different animals, split in 3 pieces. Children can take turns making new, mixed up animals, by rearranging the animal parts.

Take it one step further: You can also talk about the basic elements of story. Students often ask me where to start when writing. All they really need to know is who their character is, what they want, and what gets in the way. You can often accomplish this by establishing what your character’s interests are as well as what scares them. One group of students said their character, who looked like a dust bunny, liked to play with Barbies but was afraid of cheese. Now this may sound silly, but the basis of many great stories starts with asking the question, What if? What if the dust bunny wanted to play with her Barbies, but a hunk of sharp cheddar cheese left by a mouse was guarding the dolls. How can she surpass the obstacle to get what she wants?

Creating dynamic characters goes beyond physical traits. They can have brown hair and blue eyes or blue hair and brown eyes, but we also need to know their personality. That is where learning their likes and dislikes comes in, as well as how they behave and why. It’s especially important to move beyond the cliché. You can have a main character who wants to be in the talent show, but the villain or antagonist is a bully preventing them from joining. What if you turned it around and made the main character the bully instead? Or try giving your character two opposing qualities that they are battling with throughout the book. We can go back to the princess knight who wants to fight dragons but also wear fancy dresses. Maybe she isn’t allowed to go to the ball unless she puts down her sword and forgoes her helmet. Or the dragon princess who isn’t accepted because she’s green and has scales and doesn’t fit the stereotypical look of what a princess should be. This would form an internal struggle as well as an external struggle. Just like Yasuko in my book, how can your characters learn to accept both parts of themselves?

I think the key is to teach kids that we’re all basically complex characters in our own lives. And none of us wants to be judged, liked, or disliked based on just one trait. So if we create more interesting and complex characters in our stories, we’ll be representing a more diverse and realistic picture of the world. The more intriguing and unique our characters are, the more fascinating their stories will be, and the more likely readers will want to turn pages to find out what happens to them. Especially because the stories we read can help us learn something about our own lives and how to move about and thrive in a complex world.

GIVEAWAY!

A. Kidd author would be delighted to give away one copy of her new book, Yasuko and the Dream Eater. To participate, simply leave a comment on this blog post and a contact email. One lucky winner will be chosen at random. You must reside in the US.

Published April 11th, 2023 by Quiet Storm Publishing

About the Book: Yasuko has the same bad dream every night while visiting her grandmother in Japan, so her grandmother suggests she call the dream eater for help. When the dream eater is still hungry after devouring Yasuko’s nightmare, Yasuko must stop it from gobbling up her good dream too.

Inspired by a Japanese legend, Yasuko and the Dream Eater will help kids dealing with nightmares as well as celebrate what it means to be part of a bicultural family. The book is fully illustrated and includes an author’s note, cultural note, and instructions for making origami.

About the Author: A. Kidd lives in the US but has travelled to Japan many times to visit family and for sightseeing. Japan feels like her second home. Although she dreams often, she hasn’t needed to call the baku yet. She is also the author of the middle grade fantasy, The Healing Star.

A. Kidd is available for author visits! For more information, please email her at a.kiddwrites@gmail.com or visit her website at www.akiddwrites.com. She loves to inspire young writers. Her motto is, if A. Kidd can do it, so can they!

Thank you for this fun activity, examples, and the GIVEAWAY!

Author Guest Post: “Living a Multicultural Life: A Book List” by Kara H.L. Chen, Author of Asking for a Friend

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“Living a Multicultural Life”

First and second generation Americans face the unique challenge of having to navigate between the culture of their (or their parents’) county of origin and those of America. For children and teens, especially, the tension that can come from the clash of these worldviews can be confusing and difficult.

Middle grade and young adult books that explore these differences in perspectives, and which discuss how characters deal with these conflicts, may provide some comfort for those in the same situation. In my book, ASKING FOR A FRIEND, the main character, Juliana Zhao, has spent her life trying to follow her Taiwanese mother’s guidance for “success” but soon comes to realize that it may not lead to what she truly wants.

Here are some other books that explore what it means to grow up with more than one culture (book descriptions provided by the publishers):

LILY XIAO SPEAKS OUT – Nicole Chen

Lily Xiao can’t wait to go to Camp Rock Out this summer, where she’ll finally be able to shed her “class robot” good girl reputation and start her journey to becoming the next Eddie Vedder! And she can’t wait to do it with her best friend and cousin, Vivian, who’s just moved from Taiwan to Lily’s California hometown.

But as the two cousins work their way through seventh grade, Vivian struggles more and more with her schoolwork, which is all taught in English. If Vivian can’t get her grades up, her parents won’t let her go to rock camp.

Determined to help, Lily embarks on a mission to push their school to provide more support for English-as-a-Second-Language learners like Vivian. But her first-generation immigrant family is nervous about Lily challenging the status quo. We should be grateful to be here, they always say.

With Camp Rock Out on the line, Lily will need to decide how far she’ll push against her family’s wishes in order to stand up and speak out.

IN THE BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY – Jane Kuo

Anna can’t wait to move to the beautiful country—the Chinese name for America. Although she’s only ever known life in Taiwan, she can’t help but brag about the move to her family and friends.

But the beautiful country isn’t anything like Anna pictured. Her family can only afford a cramped apartment, she’s bullied at school, and she struggles to understand a new language. On top of that, the restaurant that her parents poured their savings into is barely staying afloat. The version of America that Anna is experiencing is nothing like she imagined. How will she be able to make the beautiful country her home?

This lyrical and heartfelt story, inspired by the author’s own experiences, is about resilience, courage, and the struggle to make a place for yourself in the world.

RUBI RAMOS’S RECIPE FOR SUCCESS – Jessica Parra

Graduation is only a few months away, and Rubi Ramos’s “recipe for success” to get into prestigious Alma University is already off track.

When Alma waitlists Rubi’s application, Rubi will need to be distraction-free to make the grade and keep her parents―who have wanted this for her for years―from finding out. Which means falling for her cute surfer-slash-math tutor, Ryan, definitely won’t work. And neither will breaking her mother’s ban on baking―her parents didn’t leave Cuba so she could bake just like them.

But some recipes are begging to be tampered with.

When the First Annual Bake Off comes to town, Rubi’s passion for baking goes from subtle simmer to full boil. Add to the mix her crush on Ryan may be turning into a full-fledged relationship and Rubi’s life is suddenly so different from what it was. She’s not sure if she has what it takes to win the Bake Off, or where the relationship with Ryan is going, but there’s only one way to find out―even if it means going against her parents’ priorities.

Now Rubi must differentiate between the responsibility of unfulfilled dreams she holds and finding the path she’s meant for.

A joyful novel of first romance, new possibilities, and the chance to define yourself, Rubi Ramos’s Recipe for Success will find its way into your heart.

THE LOVE MATCH – Priyanka Taslim

Zahra Khan is basically Bangladeshi royalty, but being a princess doesn’t pay the bills in Paterson, New Jersey. While Zahra’s plans for financial security this summer involve working long hours at Chai Ho and saving up for college writing courses, Amma is convinced that all Zahra needs is a “good match,” Jane Austen style.

Enter Harun Emon, who’s wealthy, devastatingly handsome, and…aloof. As soon as Zahra meets him, she knows it’s a bad match. It’s nothing like the connection she has with Nayim Aktar, the new dishwasher at the tea shop, who just gets Zahra in a way no one has before. So, when Zahra finds out that Harun is just as uninterested in this match as she is, they decide to slowly sabotage their parents’ plans. And for once in Zahra’s life, she can have her rossomalai and eat it too: “dating” Harun and keeping Amma happy while catching real feelings for Nayim.

But life—and boys—can be more complicated than Zahra realizes. With her feelings all mixed up, Zahra discovers that sometimes being a good Bengali kid can be a royal pain.

LOVEBOAT, TAIPEI – Abigail Hing Wen

“Our cousins have done this program,” Sophie whispers. “Best kept secret. Zero supervision.”

And just like that, Ever Wong’s summer takes an unexpected turn. Gone is Chien Tan, the strict educational program in Taiwan that Ever was expecting. In its place, she finds Loveboat: a summer-long free-for-all where hookups abound, adults turn a blind eye, snake-blood sake flows abundantly, and the nightlife runs nonstop.

But not every student is quite what they seem:

Ever is working toward becoming a doctor but nurses a secret passion for dance.

Rick Woo is the Yale-bound child prodigy bane of Ever’s existence whose perfection hides a secret.

Boy-crazy, fashion-obsessed Sophie Ha turns out to have more to her than meets the eye.

And under sexy Xavier Yeh’s shell is buried a shameful truth he’ll never admit.

When these students’ lives collide, it’s guaranteed to be a summer Ever will never forget.

And my newest book, publishing July 23rd:
ASKING FOR A FRIEND – Kara H.L. Chen

Juliana Zhao is absolutely certain of a few things:

  1. She is the world’s foremost expert on love.
  1. She is going to win the nationally renowned Asian Americans in Business Competition.

When Juliana is unceremoniously dropped by her partner and she’s forced to pair with her nonconformist and annoying frenemy, Garrett Tsai, everything seems less clear. Their joint dating advice column must be good enough to win and secure bragging rights within her small Taiwanese American community, where her family’s reputation has been in the pits since her older sister was disowned a few years prior.

Juliana always thought prestige mattered above all else. But as she argues with Garrett over how to best solve everyone else’s love problems and faces failure for the first time, she starts to see fractures in this privileged, sheltered worldview.

With the competition heating up, Juliana must reckon with the sacrifices she’s made to be a perfect daughter—and whether winning is something she even wants anymore.

“A swoonworthy, heart-wrenching view into the trials of growing up second generation in an immigrant community.” – Kirkus Reviews

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About the Author: Kara H.L. Chen is a Taiwanese American writer who received her MFA in fiction from Brooklyn College. She is the author of LOVE & RESISTANCE (Quill Tree/HarperCollins, 2023) and ASKING FOR A FRIEND (Quill Tree/HarperCollins, 7/23/24). Her website is at karahlchen.com or you can find her on Instagram and Twitter/X @hl_kara or @karahlchen on Substack.

Thank you, Kara, for this list of must reads!

Author Guest Post: “How to Read a Horse” by Amy Novesky, Author of If You Want to Ride a Horse

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“How to Read a Horse””

My picture book IF YOU WANT TO RIDE A HORSE is about the dream of riding a
horse. It’s also about writing one. I am a rider and a writer. (If you say them aloud they sound alike!)

I’ve been writing and riding—and dreaming!—since I was kid. Writing and riding both are rich in metaphor. Whether one wants to ride a horse or not, IF YOU WANT TO RIDE A HORSE can be read as a book about dream making of all kinds.

What do you want to do? What’s your dream? Name it, call it into being.
What does your dream look like? Imagine it, the big stuff and all the pretty little details.

This is the fun part. Write it down and/or draw it. Tell it to someone you trust. What do you need for your dream? Learn about it, ask for help, gather all the tack and tools.

Take care of your dream. Shelter it, feed it, groom it ‘till it shines. How do you keep your dream alive? How do you care for it?

Where does your dream live? Where is it? How will you get there? What is the first
step?

Dreams are hard work. You might have to chase after it, wrangle it, tame it a bit, find the right fit. With grace and grit you’ll wear it.

Okay, it’s time to give this dream a try. Are you ready?

Show up. This is the hard part. Facing your thousand-pound dream. What are you
feeling? Is your heart galloping? It’s natural to feel many things all at once, even—and
maybe especially—fear. What do you fear most? Failing? Falling off? You are not alone.

If you fall off your dream, and you might, will you walk away, hang up your hat? Or will you get back in the saddle, bruised butt and ego, take hold of the reins again and ride on?

Whatever you dream, be brave. Calm. Remember to breathe and have fun! You can do this. Before you know it, you will have your dream eating out of the palm of your hand.

Published March 12th, 2024 by Neal Porter Books/Holiday House

About the Book: What’s the most important first step to riding a horse? Simply closing your eyes . . . and dreaming.

If You Want to Ride a Horse introduces young readers to the joys of owning, riding, and caring for horses. It only starts with imagination—from there, the possibilities are endless.

Beginning with a daydream, our young rider goes from dreaming about a horse, choosing their ideal kind of horse, meeting their horse, cleaning their horse, tacking up in preparation to ride, soothing their horse (and themselves) through a hard moment, triumphantly getting on, and finally galloping gloriously off into the sunset.

If You Want to Ride a Horse celebrates the imagination, the most powerful steed of all.

The book includes an author’s note, an illustrator’s note, and fun facts about horses and horseback riding.

About the Author: Amy Novesky’s award-winning picture books include IF YOU WANT TO RIDE A HORSE; GIRL ON A MOTORCYCLE; and CLOTH LULLABY, THE WOVEN LIFE OF LOUISE BOURGEOIS. THE POET AND THE BEES will follow in 2025 and TO WANDER, thereafter. Amy writes and rides in the Marin Headlands, just north of San Francisco. To learn more, visit www.amynovesky.com and follow @amynovesky.

Thank you, Amy, for sharing the power of dreams!

Author Interview: Q&A with Rhonda Roumani and Nadia Roumani, Authors of Insha’Allah, No, Maybe So

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Sally Morgridge, editor at Holiday House, interviewed the creators of Insha’Allah, No Maybe So to look at their process, purpose, and product:

  1. Discovering the real meaning of “Insha’Allah” seems to be a bit of a rite of passage for Muslim and Arab kids around the world. Do you have a specific memory from your childhood where you finally put the pieces together? Do you have memories of your own children going through the same thing?

RHONDA: I don’t have a specific memory. I think my parents were especially good at saying no, so we didn’t quite experience the word insha’Allah as no from our own parents. I have experienced the “no” part of Insha’Allah more with my own kids, when they challenge me and my husband when we say it to them—and within our community. I do love hearing people’s stories about how they thought insha’Allah meant “no” growing up. It’s a sort of cultural bond because whether the person is religious or non-religious, whether they are Arab or from a part of the world that uses the word insha’Allah, there’s a moment of recognition, of a common lived experience with a simple word. When my sister-in-law was a little girl, she once asked her mom when her dad would be returning home from his trip. When her mom responded, “tomorrow, insha’Allah,” she burst into tears. When her mom asked her why she was crying, she responded, you said insha’Allah, that means baba isn’t coming home!” That one might sound a little dark, but we laugh when we tell these stories. They’re small moments of misunderstanding, of acknowledging we see each other, that we are experienced similar things growing up. And there’s often a lot of laughter associated with those moments.

NADIA: From a very early age, I really took the idea of insha’Allah to heart. This might be a bit dark… but my father was the only physician on both my dad’s side of the family and my mom’s.  So when someone would get sick on either side, many times they would stay with us for a while as their health plan was sorted out. When we were young, we had two cousins, who lived in the Syria and Lebanon, who came to the states to get treatment for cancer.  Watching them both go through treatment, and both ultimately lose their lives to cancer at such a young age, really impacted me and my understanding of life and uncertainty. So early on, I really believed in the idea of insha’Allah, that we do not have control of what happens to us, and we need to live each day as a gift.  We need to make exciting and ambitious plans, but know that in the end, God may have other plans for us.

  1. How was the process of co-authoring a book with your sister?

NADIA: Simple and complicated at the same time.  Simple in that our story came together quickly.  Although we ended up going on some exploratory tangents with new characters and other plot lines, we came back to our original script, which is the one we both loved.  I had brought the initial idea of the book to Rhonda after I tried to explain the concept of insha’Allah to my newborn. I shared the line that appears in the book about “you were my insha’Allah” with my daughter, and then quickly relayed that to my sister as possibly the start of a children’s book.  Shortly after that Rhonda had a clear idea for a story line with Ranya’s debating with her mom and somehow those two pieces fell together quickly and effortlessly.

Thankfully Rhonda was already an author and had done the hard work of finding an agent. So I didn’t have to worry about any of that – as Rhonda liked to remind me. 🙂

The complicated part is that families are messy, and working with family, as I’m sure almost all siblings who work together can attest to, can be challenging because the line between your work and your relationship is blurred.  What might be a harmless debate over an edit, or scheduling time to speak, can turn into a heated conversation about how you “didn’t let me borrow your hairbrush when I was 10”… But that is family – the loving, the joyful and the messy.

Unfortunately we live on opposite sides of the country and we still have not had a chance to truly celebrate the book’s release together! We are hoping we will have a chance to do that this summer.

RHONDA: It was fun and frustrating and eventually very gratifying. We are very different and our work environments are also very different. Nadia usually runs meetings and leads large groups of people—so she’s used to being in charge. I usually work on my own as a writer—or maybe with an editor. So my work is more solitary. So just like we put two concepts together, we had to figure out how to also work on something so personal together, while respecting each other’s spaces and ways. It was a learning process. We might have had a few arguments along the way. But I think we both learned a lot about each other during this process. I didn’t think that was even possible at our age.

  1. Publishing a book for children is very much in the spirit of the word “Insha’Allah,” as a book is like a concrete, tangible expression of your hopes and dreams. What do you hope that children take away from Ranya’s story?

NADIA: Uncertainty is such a complex concept for children – for adults too! We hope this book helps open a conversation with children about uncertainty, and why we can make the best plans, but sometimes they may fall through. We also hope that it opens a playful conversation between kids and parents about making earnest intentions, even if uncertainty is part of life – especially by putting parents on the spot about their true intentions when they say insha’Allah.

RHONDA: What Nadia said! I hope kids also understand that as parents, we don’t mean to deceive them. Sometimes we don’t know the answer, so we say insha’Allah. I also hope we remind parents of the beauty of this word and that, if we want to say no, we should just say no. The word Insha’Allah isn’t supposed to be a “get out of the question” free card.

  1. As relatively new picture book authors, it must have been an interesting experience to sit back and watch an illustrator bring your beloved characters and their world to life. What is your favorite illustration in the book?

RHONDA: This is a hard question because there are so many details that I absolutely love. I love the spreads of Ranya as she presses her mom with questions. I think my favorite spread is the two-page spread of them walking home, as they pass the MARKET PLACE. It reminds me of how my own kids can talk and talk and talk – and press and press and press about something– and I’m just trying to do something simple, like get home. It just felt so real. But the final picture of Ranya is just perfect. She’s such a za’ara – a rascal—and that last illustration captures her perfectly.

NADIA: It was such a fascinating process. I was so surprised to learn that you hand over the script, without any illustration notes or direction, and then the illustrator takes it from there. But now having been through the process, that makes so much sense. The illustrator brings their imagination, vision, brilliance and ideas to the book and makes it their own as well.  Olivia did just that and more. Their illustrations captured Ranya’s spunky personality and her loving interactions with her mom. It is so hard to pick just one illustration, but I’ll share my favorite ones, and the reasons why

– I laughed out loud when I saw the way she illustrated Ranya’s parents standing next to one another. I giggled at their height difference and their facial expressions, and didn’t know if that is how Olivia imagined they might be in reality or simply in Ranya’s mind. Either way, I loved that one.

– I adore the full two-page spread of Ranya and her mom walking in front of the marketplace. The colors, the details, the surrounding activity, the colors and the warmth.

– I love the spread of Ranya and her mom baking cookies.  I now bake with my 2.5 year old daughter and this spread felt so familiar – it was just missing the cookie dough on her fingers and nose 🙂

– and I absolutely love the cover! It so beautifully captures a mother-daughter’s special connection.

Published May 14th, 2024 by Holiday House

About the Book: A sweet and playful picture book about a common Arabic word for life’s uncertainties that will ring true for all families.

Ranya wants to go to the park. “Insha’Allah,” her mom tells her.

But doesn’t that just mean no? Ranya’s mom says “Insha’Allah” when Ranya asks to make cookies. She says it when Ranya wants to sleep over at Jayda’s house. She says it when Ranya begs to go to Disneyland.

This might sound familiar to parents and caregivers . . . It’s hard to know what to say when you can’t promise anything! Sometimes grown-ups say “Maybe” or “We’ll see.” And in millions of Arab and Muslim homes around the world, families use the phrase “Insha’Allah” when talking about the future.

So, what does “Insha’Allah” really mean? In this warmly illustrated picture book, Ranya and her mom tackle the meaning of the powerful phrase and ponder the best way to talk about their hopes and dreams—and maybe, sometimes, the things they want to put off. (Like cleaning up toys!)

Cozy art and joyful, loving characters make this a perfect family read aloud.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

About the Authors: 

Rhonda Roumani is a Syrian-American journalist who has written about Islam, the Arab world and Muslim-American issues for more than two decades. She is the author of the middle grade novel Tagging Freedom and picture book Umm Kulthum: Star of the East. Visit her at www.rhondaroumani.com.

Nadia Roumani is a social entrepreneur, coach, consultant, and co-founder of the University of Southern California’s American Muslim Civic Leadership Institute and Stanford University’s Effective Philanthropy Learning Initiative. She is also a Senior Designer with Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design.

Thank you Sally, Rhonda, and Nadia for this fun & insightful interview and sharing your book!