Diversity in Children’s Lit panel with Jacqueline Woodson, Malinda Lo & Me!

Last week, I had the honor of being on a panel for the Northern California Association of Children’s Librarians Institute 2015, located at the San Francisco Public Library. “Who Holds the Power: The Impact of Privilege on Children’s Literature” featured Jacqueline Woodson, Laura Atkins, me, Malinda Lo, and Nina Lindsay.

Jacqueline Woodson is the current recipient of the National Book Award for her memoir Brown Girl Dreaming, and I’d just finished the book. All of the panelists were stellar.

I was honored to be included for my self-published book puffy: people whose hair defies gravity. Thanks to all the librarians who bought the book and shared stories about reading it to puffy-haired children and watching their faces light up.

It was a magical day, a room filled with librarians who wanted to make sure young people had access to books that featured diverse stories about people of various races, abilities, sexual orientations and genders, as well as unexpected gender roles.

The San Francisco Public Library documented it all on video, below. Thanks to Malinda Lo for tweeting it out!

I was really inspired by the day, and it’s probably not a mistake that I turned in a non-fiction book proposal this week, as well as completing a first draft of a fairy book for my daughter…and maybe beyond.