A Rising Star in Our Town

I first heard about Minh Le several years ago from his wife Aimee Oberndorfer Le, who participated in one of my library's early literacy classes with their then-toddler son Jacob. Aimee told me that Minh reviewed children's books for Huffington Post and other outlets, so of course I said that I must meet him!

Over the past few years, I've gotten to known Minh, Aimee, Jacob (now a rising first grader) and their newest family member, preschooler Ezra, as both library patrons and friends. And it's been fun having a front row seat as Minh's reputation, both as a reviewer and a picture book author, has grown nationally. When Minh published his first picture book, Let Me Finish! in 2016, he came to my library to read and talk about the book, along with the book's illustrator, Isabel Roxas. Also on hand was the book's editor, Rotem Moscovich, who made the trip down from NYC, bringing a specially decorated cake for the program. Let Me Finish! won praise from critics and marked Minh as a picture book creator to watch.

Fast forward to this year, when Minh published his second picture book, Drawn Together, which details how art allows a young boy who only speaks English to communicate with his Thai-speaking grandfather. It's not your normal second picture book, however. First of all, while it's a very personal book for Minh, it also has a universal message that seems to resonate with everyone who reads it. Second of all, the illustrator for the book is Caldecott Medalist Dan Santat, and when you've got a Caldecott Medalist illustrating your picture book, you know that it's going to be something special.

So it's really no surprise that Drawn Together has won raves from critics, including starred reviews from all of the major professional children's book review journals. The book also is an "Indie Choice" in the newsletter published by independent bookstores around country, and it was sporlighted early this month as an "editor's choice" by The New York Times, which called it "at once touching and thrilling." Personally, I believe it's got a great shot at winning the 2019 Caldecott Medal, or at least a Caldecott Honor (although, of course, the actual Caldecott Committee operates in secret, so we have no idea of what they are considering).

Photo by Maurice Belanger

Interestingly, Minh wrote Drawn Together based on his experience as a Vietnamese-American, while Dan Santat's illustrations portray a Thai grandfather and his Thai-American grandson. In a recent interview with me, Minh noted that he's thrilled with Dan's portrayal. "I wrote the book based on my personal experience as a Vietnamese-American," he said. "But, for the picture book collaboration, I wanted to leave space for Dan so he could illustrate from a very personal place. He really did take it on. That's what makes the book so special -- it really did resonate with him.

"Even though the language (shown in the illustrations) is Thai and the cultural details are different, it's still very much the story I wanted, and still very true to my experience. And, from a visual perspective, the Thai script has much more visual distinction," Minh said. (Publishers Weekly recently asked Minh and Dan to interview each other about the book, and the results offer a fascinating backstage look at how a picture book is created.)

Minh also has been delighted to find that the story inspires readers from all types of backgrounds. "For something so personal, it's interesting to see what a broad appeal it has. It's an interesting dynamic, and it gave the book amazing traction even before it was published."

Photo by Maurice Belanger

At the same time that Minh has been getting national attention as the author of Drawn Together,  he's also cemented his reputation as an expert in the children's book world after recently serving as one of three judges for the prestigious The Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards. Minh and the other two judges spent hundreds -- maybe thousands? -- of hours reading books for children and teens; their choices were announced at the end of May and the winners will give their acceptance speeches in October.

In the midst of all of this activity, Minh, who works full-time as an early childhood policy specialist for the federal government, found time to ask if my library would host a celebration on the day Drawn Together was published in early June. Minh hoped that we could also tie in a wonderful local Takoma Park institution, Capital City Confectionery, by having them create goodies for the program. Our Friends of the Takoma Park Maryland Library group was happy to provide funding and so our book party for Drawn Together was created.

Photo by Maurice Belanger

Minh is currently at work on another project, writing a graphic novel for kids featuring a new Green Lantern character. I'm proud to say that my library is noted for its extensive graphic novel collection, plus our graphic novel expert Library Associate Dave Burbank. Minh has taken advantage of both our collection and Dave's expertise, saying: "I'm using the library to do my graphic novel 101 studies!"

Minh's graphic novel, Green Lantern: Legacy, will be published in the fall of 2019 by DC Comics, under its DC Zoom imprint. The book is aimed at older kids and teens, and Minh was inspired to do a new Green Lantern graphic novel because of the fact that "there is not just one character. There are a number of Green Lanterns. So I'm creating a new character within the Green Lantern world.

"Green Lantern is a character who gets power from a green power ring, which draws its strength from the character's own strength of will. When looking at that, I had an image suddenly of my grandmother and one of her jade rings. She always had a jade ring. In my story, a boy's Vietnamese grandmother passes away, and the ring falls into the hand of her grandson. The grandmother had actually been a Green Lantern, and my story follows the grandson as he learns how to use his new-found powers as he learns more about his grandmother's history as a Green Lantern."

Minh said that writing a graphic novel has been a learning experience. "Unlike picture books, there is a lot of emphasis on the illustration notes. It's like you're the art director, and you provided as much detail as possible for the illustrator. It's basically the opposite of pictures books, where you leave as much space as possible for the illustrator."

DC Comics has contracted with Minh to write one book, "and we'll see where it goes," Minh said. "The feedback initially has been  fantastic."

Minh hasn't given up on picture books, and he's currently working on two more books with Hyperion/Disney. And Minh also hasn't quit his full-time federal government job, noting that "I hope to get to a point where we can make that work, but we're not there yet. Right now, with the day job, there's a nice stability there. Having the day job and that stability means we can be more intentional with our choices and wait for the right opportunities."

Minh added: "I'm at maximum capacity, and I'm hoping to stay on the right side of that line, although some days, I feel like I tip over it!"

End Notes: Thanks so much to Minh Le for taking the time to let me interview him in the midst of a hugely busy time. Thanks also to Aimee Oberndorfer Le, Jacob and Ezra for being such a fun part of our library family!

Inspiration

Meeting 2015 Caldecott Medalist Dan Santat.

Attending the American Library Association's annual conference is truly an inspiring experience, and this year's meeting -- held in beautiful San Francisco -- was no exception.

Meeting authors and illustrators whose books I know, love and use in my work is one source of inspiration. It's wonderful to see how seriously they -- and their editors and publishers -- take their work of making great books for children and teens.

Talking with 2013 Caldecott Medalist Jon Klassen.

Another source of inspiration at ALA "Annual" is the wonderful camaraderie among the children's and teen librarians here -- no one is a stranger in our ranks! Like many others, I've made numerous "conference friends" over the years. We may only see each other once a year but our shared experiences allow us to just pick right up where we left off the last time. And each year, I make new "conference friends" as I attend ALA programs, or enjoy the many book-related events put on by publishers.

Then, of course, there are committee friends, like these folks from the 2012 Sibert Medal committee on which I served. Our chairperson was Andrew Medlar, who just began his term as this year's president of the Association for Library Service to Children. Other pictured in this photo below are my fellow librarians April Mazza and Susan Melcher.

Mini-2012 Sibert Committee reunion at the Newbery-Caldecott banquet.

Last, but not least, there's the inspiration gained at the celebrations of the various children's & teen book awards. The biggest celebration, of course, is the Newbery-Caldecott banquet. At this year's dinner, both Caldecott Medalist Dan Santat and Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander inspired both tears and laughter as they detailed their paths to winning the awards often dubbed "the Oscars" of the children's literature world. It's worth taking the time to read both Santat's speech and Alexander's speech. As is traditional, Santat designed the banquet program, which featured a cardstock version of Beekle -- star of his Caldecott Medal-winning book, The Adventures of Beekle. Santat engineered the program so the cardstock Beekle can be detached and then placed in two holders to create a stand-up character.

Front and back of Newbery-Caldecott banquet program
 designed by Dan Santat.

There are numerous other acceptance speeches worth reading as well, including Donald Crews' speech on winning the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal, given for "substantial and lasting contributions to literature for children." I've been a fan of Crews' books since my children, now in their 20's were small, and in fact, I learned the word "trestle" -- and well as the names of various kinds of train cars -- from his iconic book Freight Train.

2015 Wilder Medal chair Karen Nelson Hoyle
shows the medal while winner Donald Crews greets fans.

There were other award celebrations I couldn't attend, unfortunately, because of committee or other commitments. These included the Coretta Scott King Awards breakfast, where my friend and mentor Deb Taylor was given the Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement. Some of the other award acceptance speeches can be found here -- all are worth reading by anyone interested in children's books.

The last award celebration I attended at this year's conference was for the Odyssey Award, given to the best audiobooks for children and teens. This year's winner was Live Oak Media for H.O.R.S.E.,  written by Christopher Myers, and narrated by him and Dion Graham. As usual at the Odyssey celebration, the winners read "live," and since Myers' book is a picture book, he and Graham were able to read the whole thing. It's always a thrill to watch audiobook readers perform in person, and this particular performance was especially dynamic. It was a great way to end another inspiring ALA annual conference!

Surprise & Delight at the Youth Media Awards

Today's Youth Media Awards were filled with high emotion, with the crowd of several hundred alternately gasping in surprise and/or roaring with delight. The awards also were history-making as, for the first time ever, graphic novels won a Newbery Honor (El Deafo, written and illustrated by Cece Bell) and a Caldecott Honor (This One Summer, illustrated by Jillian Tamaki and written by Mariko Tamaki). And the Caldecott Medal winner, The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend), was written and illustrated by Dan Santat who also is well known for his popular graphic novels.

Winner of the 2015 Caldecott Medal

This One Summer also won a Printz Honor (the Printz Award is given for books for readers ages 12-18 and is sometimes called the Newbery Medal for teens). But a graphic novel, American Born Chinese, written and illustrated by Gene Luen Yang, won the top Printz Award way back in 2007, so today wasn't a history-making moment for the Printz. Meanwhile, the 2008 Caldecott Medal winner, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, is considered a hybrid book, not a graphic novel, but it did feature a heavily-woven combination of illustrations and text.

Winner of the 2015 Newbery Medal

The current push for more diversity in children's and teen books, sparked by the We Need Diverse Books movement, also was reflected in today's winners. The Crossover, a novel in verse by Kwame Alexander, is the 2015 Newbery Medal winner. Alexander is the fourth African-American author to win the award, established in 1922. The three previous African-American winners were: Virginia Hamilton, for the 1975 Newbery Medal winning M.C. Higgins, the Great; Mildred Taylor, for the 1977 Newbery Medal book, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry; and Christopher Paul Curtis for the 2000 Newbery Medal winner, Bud, Not Buddy.

Brown Girl Dreaming, author Jacqueline Woodson's memoir in verse about growing up in the midst of the civil rights movement, won a 2015 Newbery Honor, as well as this year's  Coretta Scott King Author Award and a 2015 Robert Sibert Honor (the Sibert Medal and Honor books are focused on the best non-fiction books for kids). Brown Girl Dreaming also won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature back in November.

As Nina Lindsay points out in her Heavy Medal blog today, poetry also was a big winner in today's awards. Both The Crossover and Brown Girl Dreaming are written in verse, while author Marilyn Nelson uses 50 unrhymed sonnets to tell her story in How I Discovered Poetry. Two other books of poetry won awards: Josphine, a biography of entertainer Josephine Baker written by Patricia Hruby Powell and illustrated by Christian Robinson won both a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor and a Sibert Honor, while books by two poets were honored by the Pura Belpre Award committee. I Lived on Butterfly Hill, written by Marjorie Agosin won the Pura Belpre Author Award, while Portraits of Hispanic American Heroes by Juan Felipe Herrara was the lone Pura Belpre Author Honor book.

Woodson's book captured three awards today.

Several committees selected a large number of Honor books (each committee decides how many Honor books, if any, will be named). There were five Sibert Honor books: in addition to Brown Girl Dreaming and Josephine, Sibert Honor books included The Family Romanov by Candace Fleming; Neighborhood Sharks, written and illustrated by Katherine Roy, and Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez & Her Family's Fight for Desegregation, written and illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh.

But it was the six Caldecott Honor books that really produced a gasp, then a roar of approval, from the audience. Apparently there may have been other years where six Honor books were named (I'm still checking!), but it certainly isn't usual. Yet, 2014 was a banner year for picture books, and the crowd was clearly delighted that the committee's decision reflected this fact.

The first graphic novel to win a Caldecott Honor.

In addition to This One Summer, Caldecott Honor books included: Nana in the City, written and illustrated by Lauren Castillo; The Noisy Paint Box, illustrated by Mary GrandPre and written by Barb Rosenstock; Sam & Dave Dig a Hole, illustrated by 2013 Caldecott Medalist Jon Klassen and written by Mac Barnett; Viva Frida, written and illustrated by Yuyi Morales; and The Right Word: Roget and his Thesaurus, illustrated by Melissa Sweet and written by Jen Bryant. The Right Word also won the 2015 Sibert Medal, the second for Sweet, who won the 2012 Sibert Medal for Balloons Over Broadway, which she both wrote and illustrated. (Personal note: I served on the 2012 Sibert Committee).

The 2015 Caldecott Medal winner, The Adventures of Beekle, had been popular with some mocks, but wasn't widely considered a front runner. When it was announced as the winner, however, the audience cheered in approval as the Caldecott Committee members donned crowns, symbolic of the crown sported by Beekle.

As for how my library's Caldecott Club and Mock Caldecott picks measured up? Well, we got a few things right. Our own Mock Caldecott Honor Books included two of the actual 2015 Caldecott Honor Books, The Noisy Paint Box and The Right Word. But our top pick, The Farmer and the Clown, written and illustrated by Marla Frazee, surprisingly didn't win anything. It was a similar situation for our Caldecott Club. Our winner, Quest, written and illustrated by Aaron Becker, didn't win anything. But one of the Club's two Honor books, Sam & Dave Dig a Hole, won a 2015 Caldecott Honor.

The first graphic novel to win a Newbery Honor.

Meanwhile, the 2015 Newbery Committee, like the 2015 Caldecott Committee, also decided to include a graphic novel, El Deafo, as one of their Honor books. (Author/illustrator Cece Bell came to our library in November along with her husband, author/illustrator Tom Angleberger, and authors Jon Scieszka, Mac Barnett and Jory John). The Newbery Committee, sporting t-shirts that read "Trust the Process," named only two Honor books, to the evident disappointment of the audience, who clearly would have liked to have seen more Newbery Honor books.  Brown Girl Dreaming was the other Newbery Honor book.

And let me close this blog post with a shout-out to a long-time mentor of mine, Deb Taylor, who is the coordinator of School and Student Services at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore. Deb was my young adult literature professor when I was working towards my master's in library science at the University of Maryland, and she and I also served on the 2012 Sibert Committee together. (She was chair of the 2015 Sibert Committee). Deb has mentored and inspired countless librarians, kids and parents, and I'm thrilled that she was chosen as this year's winner of the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement. Way to go, Deb!

Deb Taylor and I after she was honored today

PS If you, like me, can't get enough of these awards, check out this wonderful behind the scenes video of today's winners getting "The Call." Thanks to John Schumacher for spotlighting it on his blog, Watch. Connect Read.