Very little attention has been paid to the social justice issues found in Janni Lee Simner’s book Bones of Faerie. When it opens, the main character Liza is an emotional wreck, seeking answers to why her baby sister had to…
Category: Violence/War & Peace/Refugees
Ellen’s Broom
This is the first book I’ve been able to review before its actual publication. I guess that means The Pirate Tree is starting to get noticed! (The local librarians on the children’s floor in town will be relieved to have…
Portraying War Through Magic Realism: A Review of The Midnight Zoo
At the regional IBBY conference in Fresno last month, three of us from The Pirate Tree spoke on a panel about war and children’s literature. The books we discussed were for the most part realistic depictions of war past and…
The Sandwich Swap
It’s nice to see children resolve their differences so quickly, and without the baggage buffers that adults put up. In The Sandwich Swap, Salma and Lily have a squabble over something dumb, which I’d guess could be the basis for…
Healing, Miracles, and Young Adult Literature: An Interview with Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Interview by J.L. Powers Poet and novelist Benjamin Alire Sáenz—recently named by Poets and Writers as one of the world’s most inspiring writers—just brought out his sixth collection of poetry, The Book of What Remains (Copper Canyon Press, 2010).…
MPSA Political Science Conference–call for papers
Call for Papers for the 70th Annual MPSA Political Science Conference, April 12 – 15, 2012, in Downtown Chicago Paper Proposal Deadline: 10/14; Poster Proposal Deadline 12/2. Submit a Proposal Research: A conference with about 1000 panels in all subfields, including Politics, Literature…
The War Comes Home: A Review of Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty
We think of war as happening to children in other places. In doing so, we fail to think about young people in the United States whose everyday lives mirror the lives of young people in the world’s combat zones. For…
Children as Combatants: Young People Standing Up
On Saturday I journeyed to Zuccotti Plaza in New York City, site of the two-week-old Occupy Wall Street action. Occupy Wall Street began with a sit-in by a small group of college students—some still in their teens, others just beyond…
Young Teens at War: A Review of Bamboo People
My review of Abe in Arms two weeks ago focused on the continuing struggles of a former child soldier in Liberia to overcome the trauma of a violent childhood. As Abraham Odo (his name before being adopted by the Elders…
Global Fund for Children: Publishing Books, Supporting Children Globally
The Global Fund for Children is a non-profit organization that works to improve the dignity of children, through grant-making and partnering with local, community-based organizations that serve children in 75 countries around the world, and also by publishing books…