Tell us about your MG historical fiction book, Orange For The Sunsets.

We see a lot of Historical fiction written by AAPI writers. These books are how we acknowledge our past. We see that in my MG book about the expulsion of Asian Indians from Uganda. It is not merely my history but a living, vital part of our present...how that historical event shaped a community. These stories are an attempt to capture the texture and richness of a wide scope of experiences, recent or distant, and to share the future we hope to see. ​

Did you uncover any surprising facts during your research for A Juneteenth Story, especially anything you wanted to include in your book but couldn’t? 
​
Oh so many. I had limited space, so I couldn’t share all I learned, but here are some of the most fascinating.

1. People typically use 1619 as the marker of the beginning of the slave trade in America, but the first attempt to enslave African people in America ended in a coup! The Spanish attempted to build a colony on the land that is now near the coastal South Carolina/Georgia border. But in a matter of weeks the colony was swept by disease and some of the abductees revolted and escaped. There’s some speculation, but little known about what happened to them, however.
2. Oftentimes people think that the news of the Emancipation Proclamation didn’t reach Texas because of a lack of modern technology. But honestly, news about the Emancipation Proclamation did reach Texas fairly quickly. I found newspaper articles from Texas newspapers that referenced it from as early as January 1863, just weeks after the Proclamation was issued! But the blockage was rooted in deliberate deception, and the fact that Union soldiers weren’t nearby to enforce the Emancipation’s policy.
3. The Texas Centennial exhibition’s Hall of Negro Life was fascinating - it was essentially like a smaller version of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, but in the 1930’s - and in Texas! Although funding to create this exhibit was initially promised by the state of Texas, it was pulled (because, well… politics… and Texas in the 1930’s…), and instead $100,000 in last-minute funding came from the federal government. 

Though it was a scramble to pull off, it sounds like it was incredible, and ultimately attracted over 400,000 visitors. Unfortunately, but not surprising, all of that hard work was turned to rubble just a year later. Some of the murals can be found in a museum in San Francisco and a Smithsonian now, and there’s an African-American history museum on the Dallas land where it stood. 
​
          4. Also, while Al Edwards was known as the one who helped make Juneteenth a Texas state holiday, from a federal perspective, there were a number of lawmakers and activists who were advocating for it for decades, such as Texas Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and Opal Lee [not related], known as ‘The Grandmother of Juneteenth.” Although the closing illustration took a different, albeit powerful direction that I love, I would have loved to figure out how to incorporate the image of them helping sign Juneteenth into a national holiday.

Alliah L. Agostini grew up celebrating Juneteenth in Buffalo, NY; Her grandfather was one of the co-founders of the Juneteenth Festival of Buffalo. Founded in 1976, it grew to become the third-largest Juneteenth celebration in the world.
​
A trained marketer with a passion for children's literature, Alliah writes with a commitment to spread joy, truth, and to help more children see themselves on the page. Alliah lives with her family in New Jersey, and has both an A.B. and an M.B.A from Harvard.

Learn more about Alliah at http://www.alliahagostini.com
Instagram + Twitter: @alliago

Interview By: Tonya Abari

TA: How did you birth this beautiful story, Stella Keeps the Sun Up? We want juicy details. Does art imitate life? Did this story come to you in a coffee shop or dream? Fill us in! 

CE: First, let me say thank you. I am so happy you enjoyed it. There were so many iterations of this book…picture book, chapter book, dream sequences, but I loved the idea of exploring a story about sleep. I’ve been lucky throughout this process to work with a critique group through SCBWI and workshop different ideas with my own family and fellow parents in the trenches. And, this felt like the perfect first story to explore.

The bedtime struggle is real in our house. I have memories of sleep training, sleep regression and more recently trying everything from refusing entry into our bed and having our kids sleep on the floor to bribing them with promises of movies or Lego sets if they sleep in their bed uninterrupted for 30 straight days. Right when we think we have it figured out, things change. One thing that seems consistent is that neither of our kids seem particularly phased that their parents are sleep deprived!

TA: Stella, the book’s narrator, has such a strong and relatable voice. What inspired you to write the story Stella Keeps the Sun Up in first person? To expand on this question, why do you think it’s important to consider point of view in picture books?

CE: My children go to a Montessori school and one of the greatest lessons we have learned as parents is how capable our children are – this is true when it comes to using actual glassware at 3-years-old, getting dressed by themselves at a young age, but also in expressing themselves and their desires. I really wanted to write a story that honored a child’s voice and agency. 

So often we talk past children, assuming that an adult is better equipped to speak on their behalf. I recall a recent trip to the grocery store and my seven-year-old daughter was practicing ordering from the deli counter. After she placed her order, the person she spoke to confirmed her order with me. I noticed what happened, but more importantly she noticed and wondered why the person didn’t speak to her instead. 

While there are many picture books that I love that are in the third person for most of the storytelling, it was important for me to celebrate this joyful, little Black girl’s voice.​​

TA: The illustrations of Stella are so vibrant and joyful. I love how even her clothes (tee shirt with sun, cute afro puffs) really reflect her personality. Did you have any input on the details of this artwork?
​ 
CE: Lynn Gaines did an amazing job! I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to work with her. The one thing that was important to me was that there was no ambiguity about her race. While we are beautiful shades of brown, I was inspired by my desire to bring mirrors to my children and so I very much wanted to see Stella a deep brown.  
While we did speak early on about how I envisioned Stella, I will give her all the credit. The fact that she is wearing a tutu AND athletic tube socks, with slippers is spot on. Stella exudes joy and such comfort in her own skin. She marches to her own beat and seeing her on the page makes me smile each and every time. 

TA: We love Stella’s fun new rules. Who wouldn’t enjoy dessert before dinner?! How important is it for parents to encourage this free-spirited inquisitiveness?

CE: I had a great childhood, but am also part of the generation where our parents could more easily answer a question with “because I said so.” That doesn’t fly as easily with our children. They want to know the steps that got us to a particular answer and are often ready to express an alternate point of view, which can help justify why ice cream, which is made from milk for example, would make a great pre-dinner appetizer. 

There is a lot we can learn from them and frankly some of it involves getting back in touch with the “I can do anything” attitude. I often find myself in awe in conversations or in observation of my own children as they work to figure out the world on their terms. They don’t subscribe to the same rules that dictate why or how things are done. Some of that is because they don’t know them yet, but some of it is also because they don’t care. That innocence can be really freeing. ​

TA: Stella shows great emotion throughout the entire book. What advice would you give to a new picture book author who is crafting an emotional arc for their main character?

CE: Remember to have fun and to not let the perfect be the enemy of the good as you get started. Even if you want your book to have a certain feel, be a certain length or word count, put it all out there and see what is working along the way. You will have plenty of opportunity to make cuts as you move along.  Have fun with characters and voice and be ok with the idea that your final draft may look nothing like your first. If this is for a picture book for children, try to honor a child’s voice and perspective. Big feelings for example are ok sometimes and age appropriate. I have also found it helpful to set an intention for my stories and then to try and figure out how to see that through a child’s eyes. ​

TA: You dedicated this book to your village as well as your children. Parent writers often find inspiration from their own children. Can you elaborate on how your own children awakened your sense of innocence and adventure? And do you have any advice on how parent writers can tap into these senses if writing for children?
​
CE: I was looking through my writing journal recently and so many of my notes came from offhanded conversations with my children and my wonder at their kid logic in action. Oftentimes, we as adults, have a tendency to overcomplicate things. It’s not always that deep. One of the blessings of the pandemic for my family was being forced to slow things down. While the various lockdowns have been challenging for different reasons, we also managed to have a lot of fun doing simple things like building forts with pillow cushions, going on scavenger hunts around our neighborhood, taking out the old polaroid camera, seeing firsthand how yeast works and how to make our own slime. There can be wonder in what we so often take for granted. There can be stories in those chance adventures and dialogues. 

KidLit in Color author Gabriele Davis interviews Amina Luqman Dawson about her new middle grade novel, Freewater, which explores a little-known part of Black history.

What’s the story behind your story, and what inspired you to write about it?

I first learned about enslaved people who escaped and lived clandestinely in the wilderness while taking a Latin American studies course in college. They are known as maroons. In that course we discussed maroons in the Caribbean and South America. It blew my mind. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t known this history before. I thought of the story of two children escaping enslavement and finding a secret maroon community way back in 2002. However, it took years for me to seriously begin writing it. Having my son was my inspiration. Being a parent made how I would share the story of my son’s enslaved ancestors with him a pressing question. Freewater was my answer. 

How much of the setting sprang from your imagination and how much was based on research you were able to locate?

There is so much we have yet to learn about maroons in the United States. In part, because maroonage was on a much smaller scale here than in other countries in the Americas. Also, because smaller instances of maroons are harder to find given that their very survival was built on being clandestine. 

Still, while writing Freewater, it was fun intertwining bits of information I garnered from maroons of the Great Dismal Swamp, maroons in other parts of the American South and those in  other countries. Here are a few pieces of history I loved including. The character, Suleman, a skilled marauder, is based on maroons in the Great Dismal Swamp and those in other swamps and forests in the American South. Marauders who stole from plantations were pretty common. They would steal everything from corn to cattle for their survival. I appreciated including patrols or “Tree People” as Ada called them. In Freewater, these people camouflaged themselves in leaves and vines to blend into the swamp. They watched over Freewater and offered protection. Well, among the maroons of Jamaica, there were maroons who used the same strategy to make themselves unseen.

You use multiple viewpoints to tell your story. Can you share why you chose this device? Did you add viewpoints during the revision process? 

Multiple viewpoints allowed me to share numerous voices of children, each with their own story to tell and challenge to overcome. My very first draft only had a couple of characters, over time I layered on character voices one by one. When their voices come together it creates a tapestry. It’s in that rich fabric that the humanity of these children comes to light. We see how each brings their own personality and point of view to the story. I loved that I was able to do this for enslaved children. I love that we get to hear their voices. Too often depictions of enslaved people stop at the pain of their bondage. I hope that these multiple viewpoints help the reader to see beyond that pain. 

Only one character, Homer, speaks in first person. Why?

Homer is my protagonist. He’s spent his life trying to make himself invisible. As a result, he keeps much of who he is inside and hidden. I liked the idea of being able to hear that inside voice and the journey he goes through to learn that he matters and that he can and must be seen. 
 
Nora, the plantation owner’s daughter, is the only white character whose perspective challenges the status quo. You compare her realization of her father’s cruelty to “a first small crack setting into a sheet of lake ice.” Why was it important to include her point of view?

Nora has her own journey. It’s a journey in what it means to be an ally. From a place of privilege, first learning to recognize injustice, then striving to do something about it. Yes, beyond Nora the other white characters chose the status quo. That’s a reality I wanted to convey. Enslavement of African Americans was an accepted norm. I wanted Nora to show that allyship is a choice, sometimes it’s a hard one that goes against everything everyone around you claims to be true. Ultimately, Nora had the courage to make some good choices. For readers, I think there’s something children of privilege can still learn from Nora’s journey. 

Suleman is such an enigmatic character. One of my favorite passages is when he says: “None of those are good questions…Here are some questions: Can you spot bear tracks in mud? Do you know how to keep snakes off you at night? Do you know how to hunt?” What purpose does his character serve in the novel?
 
Suleman is my superhero. He invokes the most courage and comes across as almost having super powers. So much of what enslaved African Americans overcame has been lost. Yet, the truth is that they survived and sometimes found ways to thrive against almost insurmountable odds. Suleman helps depict the amazing essence of who they were in a language children can understand. 
 
Many of the young characters come to realize unexpected strengths towards the end of the book. It’s a great reminder to children that our gifts develop in their own time. What other jewels do you hope readers will take away from this story?

I hope they feel a bit of excitement and thrill when they think about the enslaved souls they came to know while reading this book. I hope they leave the book with a feeling of connection to these characters that can translate to a connection to this important history. 

Thanks for sharing your inspiration and insights, Amina. How do you plan to celebrate your book birthday?

With COVID my plans are modest. I’m having a virtual book launch. Since the COVID lockdown in 2020, my family does a weekly Facetime call. I imagine we’ll have some sort of virtual celebration during the one we have on my book launch week. Mainly, I’ll just try to pause and be thankful to have made it this far with a book that only started as a dream. 

Can you share what you’re working on now?
I am working on a new book. I’m not quite ready to say what it’s about, although I think it will have some connection to Freewater.

Amina Luqman-Dawson loves using writing to tell stories and to build an understanding of race, culture and community. Her published writing includes op-eds in newspapers, magazine articles, travel writing and book reviews.  She’s authored the pictorial history book Images of America: African Americans of Petersburg (Arcadia Publishing). She’s worked as a policy professional, researcher and consultant on issues of education and criminal justice. She has a BA in Political Science from Vassar College and a Master of Public Policy from UC Berkeley. She’s a proud mother of a 13-year-old son.  She, her husband and son reside in Arlington, VA
 
​To learn more about Amina, please visit her website and social media pages.
Website: www.aminaluqman-dawson.com
Twitter: ​@aminaluqman
Facebook: Amina Luqman-Dawson

Freewater is now available in bookstores and online. 

Join Amina at her Book Launch on Feb 3rd!

My Inspiration for Writing Fly
​By: Brittany J. Thurman

My great-grandparents lived in a two-room white house on a hill. I still hear tires against the gravel of their driveway. I still feel the tremor of the mesh screen door slamming, then bouncing, then slamming shut as I stepped inside. This was a home full to the ceiling with memoires. Thick with phantom laughs and steamy cheese pudding on top an oven half open to cool off.

My great-grandmother, Grandmommy, sat in the back room, which was really the front room. This- adjacent to the front porch, which I always assumed was the back. A porch swing with rusty metal chains clanked against the rail. This was the sound of homestead.

“Come ere, give me some sugar,” Grandmommy said. As I scooted up to her orange recliner, Grandmommy’s lips sailed into a smile. The closer I got, the more I smelled snuff. The metal tin she kept beside her recliner for (if ya know, ya know) had my stomach churned. Grandmommy always pulled me into a hug and kissed my cheek, then my forehead. It was as if she wanted to imbed her love, adoration and might (all of it) into me. And I always, always, always stiffened, then pulled away because…snuff.
​

One of my favorite spreads in Fly is that of Africa looking up to her grandmother, Nana, who is surrounded by a flight of birds. Look closely, one of them has flown away, off on its own. We don’t know if Africa’s Nana is still with her, or if Nana has been gone as long as my own great-grandmother. Now a memory full to the ceiling.

What we do know on this spread of purple is that Africa and Nana, no matter how far apart, have a bond. It is one comprised of love. It is a bond composed of giving up a little of ourselves for those rising up in the next generation.

While writing Fly, there were so many aspects of my own life that inspired me. I thought through and cried over my struggle with identity and anxiety.  Fought to show a Black girl cool, confident, collected - on her quest to fulfill her goal. I delved into the communities that surrounded me growing up as a Black girl from Louisville’s West End. For me, community has and was always about showing up for your neighbor. Giving, even when you don’t have much to lend.

But, what I thought about as much as these other themes are my ancestors and my elders. Those whose love seeps deep. Whose eyes told stories without saying words. And those words, “Come ere, give me some sugar,” and “I have a gift for you.’ echo through my head to this day. 

Even though I always, always, always pulled away from Grandmommy’s kisses, I understood at seven how lucky I was to know my great-grandmother. Now older, I understand. My Grandmommy recognized how special it was that she had a relationship with her great-granddaughter.

I envision that at some point, Africa and her Nana also had a moment like that. And in that moment, Nana knew how quick time slides, how vital it was to impart what we know onto the generation next. What we love onto those who are rising up, so those gifts are not lost forever. Equally as important, I wanted to emphasize that sometimes, from one generation to the next, to the next, to the next…things do get lost. Recipes, Songs. Photos, Memories. Double Dutch and the feeling of flying, gone. At some point, we have to reclaim what has seeped through the cracks from one generation to the next.
​

This is what Africa recognizes in Fly. This is what she does. She reclaims. She rediscovers. She reimagines, through the help and memory and strength of her Nana (ala my great-grandmother). She can, she is, fly. ​

I have always had an affinity for stories told by my grandmother. Those same stories hold space in my writing today. My love of writing comes from my love of reading. As a kid, I could not get enough of going to bookstores and libraries.

I am a former children’s specialist, and I am dedicated to ensuring children’s literature truthfully reflects the world in which we live. I hold an MFA from Carnegie Mellon University, where I studied Dramatic Writing. I hold a BA from Kingston University, London, England, where I studied theater.

​I’m not sure how many books I’ve read as a children’s specialist, but I estimate hundreds of stories to thousands of kids across the City of Bridges. Currently, I reside in my hometown of Louisville, KY. You may find me biking along the waterfront, enjoying a musical or play, hanging out with my family, grilling in the backyard or snuggled up with a good book.

Follow Brittany on Instagram 
Twitter - @janeebrittany
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Interview by Alliah L. Agostini
 
I had the pleasure to interview Kathlyn J. Kirkwood, debut author of middle grade memoir, Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round: My Story of the Making of Martin Luther King Day. Ms. Kirkwood shares more about deciding to tell her story, some surprising tidbits about the making of MLK Day, her thoughts on inspiring activism in our children, and more.
 
Collectively, your story and book were decades in the making. How does it feel to finally be able to share your story with the world?
 
WONDERFUL!  I feel wonderful and eternally grateful that I am able to share not just my story, but really the story of millions of unknown foot soldiers who have given of their time, energy, money, and bodies to effect change in the United States and across the world. 
 
You didn't always intend to write a book about your experience. How were you ultimately compelled to do so?
 
It was a church friend, Jeanne Arradondo, who first suggested I write the book. At the time, I was presenting to teens and young adults at various workshops about my time in the Civil Rights Movement in a segment titled “How Dr. King’s Day Came to Be.”  Jeanne attended one and afterwards recommended that I write a book.  Even with that, it was still MANY years before I sat down to actually write it.   In fact, I was working on another book—that’s still sitting on my shelf—when my first-born daughter told me that I needed to focus on what is now known as “Ain’t Gonna.”  She told me I would be upset if someone else wrote my story.  

How did you decide to tell your story in verse?
 
Throughout this book writing and publishing processing, I have been blessed with many mentors and angels.  One of those was one of my Highlights Foundation editors, Deborah Hopkinson.  After reading an early manuscript that was written in prose, she recommended that I try writing the book in verse.  That was such a magical moment for Ain’t Gonna because in prose, the story wasn’t landing in the way I wanted, but once I started writing in verse, everything really clicked into place.
 
Your book is targeted toward middle grade readers, who are a little younger than you were when you were involved in the movement, and I understand you work with 3rd and 4th graders, as well. What about this age group do you find particularly inspiring?
 
They are still young and eager to learn and are receptive to new things.  Part of what makes the Team Kirkwood Literacy Lab so much fun is watching how our kids, some of whom are dealing with very mature situations in their personal lives – homelessness, abuse, poverty – continue to have childlike wonder at experiencing new tastes, ideas, and concepts.  
 
I was so moved by some of the personal artifacts you included in the text, including your photos and the letter to persuade your parents to allow you to go to the march.  When you decided to keep them, did you have an inkling these were going to be part of history?
 
Not at all!  I’ve always been one to keep records and not throw much away.  When I first started writing the book, I didn’t even remember that I had these things. Both the letter to my mom and the petition in the book were found somewhat randomly—I was cleaning out the garage with my husband and happened to walk down memory lane looking at some things in my college trunk.  Lo and behold, I opened a planner from decades ago and to my utter surprise and joy was the petition that can be viewed on page 74 in the book.
 
The book contains some incredible facts about people whose involvement many probably didn't realize were so instrumental to shaping the holiday. Whose names do you think need to be better amplified as the story of making the King holiday is told?
 
Definitely, Katie Hall.  As the book describes, it was her bill proposing having MLK Day on a fixed Monday that overcame a lot of the cost-related objections.  Another name is Stevie Wonder.  Obviously, he’s a well-known musician and philanthropist, but I can’t tell you how many people, after reading the book, were surprised at his contribution to the cause and the role of his much- beloved “Happy Birthday.”
 
As both an author and an educator, how would you best recommend teachers (and families) use your book as a resource?
 
I wrote this book with my own literacy program in mind. Under my non-profit, Better B, LLC, my husband and I “bring books to life” to our kids by taking aspects of the books we read and creating interactive and sensory experiences.  I wanted to make sure teachers and families would be able to do the same.  The book contains a lot of historical and educational information that can serve as a launching pad for lessons around activism and legislation – I must call out the wonderful Chenjelani Whatley for the How a Bill Becomes a Law infographic – and the importance of advocating for change. 
 
This is a two-part question. You acknowledge your family's commitment to social justice and activism as part of your own inspiration to get involved in the movement, and even brought your own daughter along as you fought for the King holiday as an adult. How would you encourage families to inspire a spirit of activism amongst their children?
 
For me, activism is part of civic duty. We owe it to each other to push for change that makes the world in which we live a better place.  I would encourage families to find causes that matter to them and their children – whether it is water preservation, climate change, education, animal rights, food deserts, library funding, etc.  There are so many causes out there.  Helping children to understand at an early age that they can shape the world they live in is the best way to inspire long-lasting activism.
 

And for children who are interested in activism but may not have the same level of parental interest or engagement, how would you suggest they help get involved?
 
One of the lessons that I hope my young readers take from “Ain’t Gonna” is that activism can take many forms; they can shape what their own activism will look and feel like.  With that in mind, they can get involved by learning all there is to know about a particular subject and its impact. They can share that information with family and friends.  As they get older, they can talk to their parents about volunteering their time and other ways they can increase their own activism.
 
There are likely many other people who have important narratives to share, but may not decide to write a book. How might you encourage others to see the importance of their own narratives and make sure they, too, are remembered?
 
We all know the adage: “History is written by the victors.”   It’s important for our stories to be told so that history does not forget.  If people choose not to write a book, I would encourage them to share their story so that others may document it and maybe someday, someone else will write their story.   Whether it be in diaries or journals, or through the passing down of an oral history, the most important part is the telling and sharing. 
 
How do you think we should best honor Dr. King both on his birthday, and in our daily lives?
 
By adhering to two of his statements. First, “[o]ur lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”  As I mentioned earlier, we have an obligation to find a cause that matters to us and work to make change for the better.   We honor Dr. King when we fight for change and don’t let obstacles or fear, stop us from speaking up against injustices and wrongs that we see.  This leads directly into a second quote that I think sits at the foundation of all activism:  Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, “What are you doing for others?’”  By changing our perspective to a focus on how we are helping others, I think we would honor Dr. King who lived this principle and ultimately made the ultimate sacrifice to a purpose and cause larger than himself.

Born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Kathlyn J. Kirkwood is a retired college professor who now focuses on writing for children and volunteering with underprivileged third and fourth grade students in the Nashville area through her nonprofit Better B, LLC’s Literacy Lab. She has developed several innovative workshops that help young people learn about the world beyond their immediate surroundings and inspire in them a love of reading.
 
Visit Kathlyn online at https://www.kathlynjkirkwood.com and Instagram, @kathlyn.j.kirkwood
 
Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round: My Story of the Making of Martin Luther King Day is available now in bookstores and online.