blessed

When I’m not feeling tired and overwhelmed by the many demands of May (8 school visits down, 11 to go), I would say I’ve been feeling quite blessed as of late. I got the Canada Arts Council grant last month, and then learned yesterday that I will receive a faculty development grant from my college. That means I *will* be heading to South Carolina this summer so that I can do the research required to FINISH Judah’s Tale. All I have to do now is finish the semester—two teaching days left, then exams…

I’ve booked my train ticket to Boston for this year’s Children’s Literature Association conference at Simmons College. Imagine my surprise when I checked the program and discovered that one of my novels is the subject of another presenter’s paper! Mary J. Couzelis will present “Confronting Whiteness in the Past and Present: A Wish After Midnight” on Thursday morning. My train arrives at 10am so I may not make it to the conference in time to catch her paper—but how exciting! And no doubt due to the fact that Michelle Martin, president of ChLA, wrote about Wish in her membership letter last fall…

Lastly, it’s that time of year again—the New Voices contest is underway. Visit the Lee & Low website for more information—and submit! If you’re an African citizen (or dual citizen), check out the Golden Baobab Prize.