Unexpected Jolts of Children’s Literature

The Situation: A former children’s librarian finds herself with a full time job where she must purchase (GASP!) adult titles for her library system? Whatever is she to do?

The Answer: Collect all the instances where children’s books and adult books overlap in strange an interesting ways.

Yes! Our regular feature of odd adult titles with kidlit connections continues. And we’ve some real doozies today, including…

Just Making: A Guide for Compassionate Creatives by Mitali Perkins

Mitali! Yes, you may remember Mitali from her loads of children’s books (my personal favorite being Rickshaw Girl), but it appears that back in May she published this title with Broadleaf Books for adults. Here’s the book’s description:

Why should we make art while injustice and suffering wreak havoc? How can we justify making beautiful things? Author Mitali Perkins isn’t afraid of hard questions about justice and art. She knows that the creative life can seem selfish. As the daughter of immigrants, she studied toward a career of eradicating poverty and knows the internal voice that challenges: “How dare you retreat to your studio to create?”

Yet Perkins learned that writing fiction wasn’t setting aside her passion for a better world but pursuing it. In Just Making, she offers a justice-driven perspective unique among books on creativity. “My ancestors are village Bengali women who made beautiful things but didn’t dare to dream of art as a career,” she writes. Women across the globe have crafted beauty and order amid chaos, war, and deprivation, and Perkins turns our attention to what we learn from them.

Just Making introduces us to strategies such as forgetfulness in flow, tenderness in trauma, and crossing borders. In conversation with creative guides like Nikki Grimes, Chad Somers, and Carol Aust, Perkins offers ten practices that help creatives keep making. Persevering through pushback from within and without, we can keep making art that heals human suffering, transmits truth, and confronts the oppressor.

Here are dispatches for young and not-so-young creatives, crafted by a writer committed to shalom: the flourishing of all. We must keep making art infused with truth, beauty, and goodness, not to ignore a world in distress but for the sake of loving it. With vivid stories, practical ideas, and reflection and discussion questions, Just Making will inspire you to keep making beauty in a broken world.

Next we have…

An Ancient Witch’s Guide to Modern Dating by Cecilia Edward

Right now you might be scratching your head a little. Cecilia Edward? What, is she some obscure British novelist for children that you’re supposed to know?

Nope. So here’s a fun fact. The name “Cecilia Edward” is a pen name. And the author who uses it has another book out this year. Wanna see it?

Thaaaaaaat’s right!! Apparently when she’s not writing incredible graphic novels for kids, Remy Lai has a penchant for penning a light fantasy that is, according to Library Journal, a “quirky, charming, and cozy romance that’s perfect for fans of Sangu Mandanna and April Asher.”

And speaking of children’s book authors dipping a toe in the adult sphere, I saw this little piece at People.com recently:

First and foremost, 100 points to People.com for not calling Kelly a “young adult” author. You see how they said she writes middle grade? That’s huge progress! Next, I don’t know what marketing person came up with “The Substance meets Yellowface” but that might be the best elevator pitch I’ve heard in a long long time. Here’s the full plot description:

Maggie Wang, a broke young Asian American writer, needs a lifeline. Ingrid Parker, a veteran white Hollywood producer with her career on the edge, offers an irresistible deal: $3 million for ten experimental medical sessions to reverse her aging, using Maggie as a transfusion partner, and mentorship.

For Ingrid, it’s a chance to reboot her fading career. For Maggie, it’s access and freedom—money to support her parents and the connections to finally get her novel published.

What starts as a professional transaction exchanging blood quickly becomes a complex psychological dance. As Maggie gains unprecedented access to Ingrid’s hard-earned wisdom, Ingrid sees in Maggie a weapon against an industry that’s been trying to sideline her.

As their relationship intensifies, they’re forced to confront the harsh realities of race, age, and success. Who has the power to tell stories? And what are they willing to sacrifice to succeed?

This next book was one that I was about to merrily pop into a children’s book cart to order, before I realized it was published for adults:

Squirrel: How a Backyard Forager Shapes Our World by Nancy Castaldo

Right?

I mean, it’s Nancy Castaldo. It’s about animals. But this is the actual children’s book Nancy also has out this year:

So I looked into it, and yes indeed. That squirrel book (out in October) is truly for adults. Look, here’s the description:

Squirrels are a common sight, seemingly everywhere in wild and urban nature. Their chattering antics in city parks delight us while their raids on our backyard gardens and birdfeeders never fail to exasperate. But squirrels are more than amusing backyard entertainers, and few of us know much about them or fully appreciate their role in keeping the environment healthy. As stress on the natural world intensifies, should we be paying more attention to the plight of squirrels?

In Squirrel, Nancy Castaldo shines new light on this familiar backyard mammal, exploring their staggering diversity (they’re found on all continents but Antarctica) and the many surprising ways they shape our world, our communities, and our cultures. Squirrel is accessible and entertaining, perfect for anyone who has felt exasperation, curiosity, and kinship with our bushy-tailed rodent neighbors.
 

Remarkable.

I’ll end with my absolute favorite children’s author/adult author crossover.

Here’s the adult book:

The Burial Tide by Neil Sharpson

Nice cover, right? It’s the kind of book that PW said, “is sure to enchant readers with a taste for folk horror.”

And the author’s name… it’s ringing a bell isn’t it? Seems a bit familiar. Perhaps because he also wrote…

Glorious.

Filed under: Unexpected Jolts of Children's Literature