Laura Atkins is an author, teacher and independent children’s book editor with over twenty years of editorial experience. She’s worked with publishing companies helping to produce winners of the Coretta Scott King Award and American Library Association Notable Book selections. I’m so excited to bring her on the show to discuss her passion about diversity and her work as a co-author of the children’s book "Fred Korematsu Speaks Up".
"Fred Korematsu Speaks Up" is the first book of the “Fighting for Justice” series which introduces young readers to real-life heroes and heroines of social progress. The story of Fred Korematsu’s fight against discrimination explores the life of one courageous person who made the United States a fairer place for all Americans, and it encourages all of us to speak up for justice.
In today’s episode, Laura walks us through the world-building of her children’s book, and how she and her co-author Stan Yogi used a focus group to help them craft their novel for their intended audience. We continue to discuss the importance of a detailed research process to accurately represent history, and how Laura and Stan used multiple storytelling techniques to make all the of the information more accessible for the young readers. We also talk about the responsibility the publishing industry has to diversify representation in the literary world.
Say 'Hi' to Laura on Twitter and check out the books/resources mentioned in her episode over at her shownotes page by clicking here!
Happy listening!
Xo
Yin
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“We want to have this be a window that people can come through and then feel like they have the tools to dig deeper and go further.” -Laura Atkins (Click to tweet)
“I tend to think structurally as if I was closing my eyes and seeing a landscape and then seeing shapes emerge.” -Laura Atkins (Click to tweet)
“What I am looking for right now is self-belief and confidence as a writer and a creator.” -Laura Atkins (Click to tweet)
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WHAT YOU'LL LEARN IN TODAY'S EPISODE:
A look into the world-building of "Fred Korematsu Speaks Up" Laura shares how she and her co-author Stan used a focus group to craft their novel for the children’s book audience How Laura and her co-author used multiple storytelling techniques to make their story accessible to young readers How the format will present itself as it’s own creative process in your novel The importance of a detailed research process to represent history accurately How Laura and Stan ended their novel by giving their readers outlets to learn more about Fred Korematsu’s story Laura introduces Biddy Mason as the subject of her next novel Laura discuss the responsibility the publishing industry has to diversify representation in the literary world