In Portugal last fall I was struck by the lengths to which parents would go to shelter their children from the hardships of the economic crisis. When I visited the malls and department stores to practice my Portuguese vocabulary, I…
Author: lynmillerlachmann
A Silver Anniversary and the 2013 Skipping Stones Honor Awards
This year marks a big milestone for the non-profit multicultural children’s magazine Skipping Stones. Founded in 1988 by educator Arun Toke, Skipping Stones is celebrating its 25th anniversary. The magazine offers articles for children from the elementary level and up,…
Weaving Politics, Culture, and Story: A Review of The Vine Basket
Writers who take on political stories—stories that focus on conflicts within and between communities—face daunting challenges. How does a writer keep the focus on the story rather than the political issue? How does he or she present background information without…
Kids at the Rodeo: A Review of Cowboy Up!
When I was growing up in Houston, Texas, one of the high points of my year was going to the rodeo in February. While most of my peers looked forward to the circus, I enjoyed watching the competition among the…
Unplug & Read Week Special: A Review of Revenge of a Not-So-Pretty Girl
Unplug & Read Week is an annual event to encourage children and teenagers to back away from the “screens”—computers, tablets, smartphones, and television—and do something in the real world. This year’s event runs from April 29 to May 5, 2013.…
Hiding in Plain Sight: A Review of Odette’s Secrets
This coming Sunday evening, April 7, marks the beginning of Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. Jews around the world will place candles in their windows and recite prayers to remember the six million Jews who died between 1933 and 1945…
Confronting Stereotypes of Teens with Schizophrenia: A Review of Freaks Like Us
Earlier this month, I was asked by the Children’s Book Council to contribute a post to the CBC Diversity 101 blog, which helps editors, librarians, teachers, reviewers, and authors identify basic misconceptions and problems in writing about diverse populations. My…
Surprise Winner: The White Bicycle
For me, one of the biggest surprises of the ALA Youth Media Awards was the selection of Beverley Brenna’s The White Bicycle as a Printz Honor Book (for outstanding YA literature). In the past, few Printz honors have gone to…
Maxie’s Turn: A Review of Fire in the Streets
When it appeared in 2009, Kekla Magoon’s The Rock and the River took historical fiction about the African-American experience out of the “safe” terrain of the Underground Railroad and the Civil Rights Movement to an armed revolutionary organization that confronted…
When the President Looks Like Me
One of the treats of last month’s inauguration was listening to Richard Blanco read the poem he wrote especially for that day. Blanco, a gay Cuban American, is the youngest person to present a poem at a Presidential inauguration, and…