Next "Destination: Creativity"

[train whistle blowing] Welcome to the first weekend stop on the blog tour for Destination: Creativity!

Courtesy North Light Books

You'd think I've known the author, Ricë Freeman-Zachery, ever since we went to kindergarten together. Not really: she's more the big sister I never got to torture, and we've only seen each other in person twice, at art retreats. Like when I got to hang out with her and her photographer/husband Earl Zachery at Artfest 2010 during their research for Destination: Creativity -- The Life-Altering Journey of the Art Retreat.

But we see each other online all the time, so every day's a little reminder. How about we celebrate the fun of art retreats with a giveaway?

[ahem] How about we celebrate with a giveaway?


Two freebies, actually! To any address in the US, Ricë will send you a free copy of Destination: Creativity!
On top of that, if you comment on this post via Twitter or my Facebook page, I'll send you a "starter art retreat memory book!"

No fear of the blank page -- I've inserted a few Artfest 2010 photos from both of us to get you started!

You fill in the rest with your own photos: from a retreat you've already attended, from an art play date with a friend... just think what you could do with it.

Here's how you enter to win the giveaway:

1. Comment on this post (here, Twitter, or Facebook) no later than Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 5pm(PST). 
2. Check back next Friday, October 14, 2011 to see if you're the winner. 
3. If you won, email your mailing address to yolisalisa at gmail dot com by Tuesday, October 18th at 5pm(PST). Again, to keep shipping costs down, the prizes go to folks with addresses in the US.

I hear Ricë is going to have a grand prize too, so if I were you [looks left and right, checking for spies]... I'd keep checking Ricë's blog throughout the tour. Here are the whistle stops:

Monday, Oct. 3--Melanie Testa @ http://melanietesta.com/mtype/
Tuesday, Oct. 4--Seth Apter @ http://thealteredpage.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, Oct. 5--Mary Beth Shaw @ http://mbshaw.blogspot.com/
Thursday, Oct. 6--Carla Sonheim @ http://carlasonheim.wordpress.com/
Friday, Oct. 7--Lisa Myers Bulmash @ http://www.bloggingqueen.com/
Saturday, Oct. 8--Melissa Manley @ http://melissamanleystudios.blogspot.com/
Sunday, Oct. 9--Deryn Mentock @ http://somethingsublime.typepad.com/
Monday, Oct. 10--Jen Cushman @ http://jencushman.wordpress.com/

Remember: comment by October 12th and check back to see if you won on October 14th!

Heroes who look like my kids!

Ever since I got pregnant with The Boy, I've been looking more purposefully for books that feature black and mixed-race children. My friends, I have found a book I love (and it has a sequel!).

I recently finished The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan, author of the "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" series. All I knew was it was about "kids and Egyptian gods" instead of "kids and Greek gods." Fine. I know the basic gods; I was a kid during the big King Tut exhibit in the 1970s.

"... he has dark brown skin like mine..." Hey, bonus! The boy in the story is black. A central character is black. Excellent. Oh, two characters: he has a sister. Then on page seven:

"You would never guess she's my sister... our mom, who was white..."

I kid you not when I say I did a double-take.

Like I said, I was a kid during the Seventies. Ever hear Steve Martin's "King Tut?" Listen to the lyrics at 1:04.

Yes, that was my favorite line. But I point it out because the cultural assumption is that characters are White Until Proven Otherwise. You know, the assumption I made, in 2011, about The Red Pyramid's characters until the author said otherwise.

It's not impossible to find children of color featured in books, especially for toddlers.

But try finding one featuring a child of African heritage as the main character(s)... where racial tension is not the whole story. One that features a boy, not a girl; I can only assume "race + boy" is a more threatening combo to publishers than "race + girl." I adored the best-selling The Girl Who Fell from the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow. But in her gracious email back to me, she didn't know of any fiction about biracial boys. So finding books that reflect my kids' existence back to them will continue to be an uphill climb.

High-five to Riordan for bringing up these issues:

• People of color in the same family don't always have the same skin tones or hair
• Boys of African heritage are less likely to receive the benefit of the doubt from strangers
• Black parents often insist their children be appropriately groomed before going out in public, because of said suspicion around black kids.

A couple of quibbles with the book:

• It went all Disney and killed off the mom right away (yes, I know: Drama!)
• The brother is visibly ethnic and the sister looks white. Convenient -- no hair-related self-esteem issues! (Yes, I know it's an adventure story.)

There are other issues I wonder about (side-stepping the ethnic angle in the cover art and plot summary). But others have written about publishers' decisions which the author may not have had control over. And if the sequels sell well, maybe other publishers will realize Adventuring While Black or Biracial is not a barrier to a book's success.

Throne of Fire should be on our doorstep any day now. Riordan's site says the third (!) is due out in 2012.

Apples and honey

Happy Rosh Hashanah! Gut Yom Tov!

Aaaand that's pretty much the limit of my Hebrew and Yiddish for this holiday.

We don't do a huge celebration of the High Holidays, for a few reasons: The Boy is just old enough to be interested in why we celebrate, and I'd rather have The Husband take the lead on Jewish holidays since I'm the designated Christian in the house. He's not big on organized religion, and The Boy is just barely old enough to last through a High Holidays service. So tonight will be about family time, a Hebrew blessing before we eat, and a home-cooked meal (which may involve, um, some non-kosher stuff).


If you're celebrating tonight/tomorrow, how are you celebrating? Let me know in the comments. For those not celebrating... happy Wednesday!