My heart is breaking. The hatred and fear mongering continues. Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn has been quietly pulled from libraries and book fairs all over the country for "encouraging children to be who they are." Of all things. And now this.

https://twitter.com/AnneRussey/status/1695825330731352565

I truly never, ever imagined that this book would be controversial, let alone my most controversial book out of 43! It's been accused of being "secret trans agenda" because it teaches kids to "be who they are." I am mystified.

Absolutely a dream come true spending a week in Prince Edward Island and walking the forest paths and cozy farm houses where LM Montgomery and her characters abided. Lucy Maud was prolific and one of the most famous and beloved Canadian authors but died... ...in desperate need of a nurse to help care for her husband as well as herself and unable to afford it. In her last letter she wrote something like "fame is not money." A sad reminder that our culture still has a problem supporting the arts--especially of women.

This is another 1-star review for THE PRINCESS IN BLACK AND THE PRINCE IN PINK. I want to respond to this criticism directly. Let's get into the misogyny this mother doesn't realize she's passing onto her children. 1/ "Why does this series need an effeminate boy character?" effeminate: "having characteristics and ways of behaving traditionally associated with women" So the criticism of the Prince in Pink is he portrays feminine characteristics. 2/

Brief thread on how the MCU is treating female characters, while also noting that I adore the MCU, major fan, watch and rewatch all the series and movies.
When I note the paucity of female characters in films, I’m often told “we should let the story happen NATURALLY.” 1/ But here’s what I want to emphasize: The lack of female representation isn’t natural. These are choices.

In the past year, Marvel movies killed off three major heroes. They were all women. In a movie world with so few women, that’s notable. 2/

Since there's nothing else to think about today...Happy book birthday to DIANA & NUBIA, PRINCESSES OF THE AMAZONS by me, @Halespawn, and @victoriaying! This is a standalone adventure from @DCComicsKids. Nubia is a 11yo princess and the only child on Themyscira. It's pretty great growing up with a bunch of immortal warriors as your aunties! But it can also be lonely with no other kids around.

Re: book banning, a description of sex does not automatically make a book pornography. And it doesn't mean it's inappropriate for a school library. Can we talk about this? Please add your own thoughts or links to articles. 1/ So many of the books challenged in schools and libraries are flagged for descriptions of sex. Why would authors who write for teens include such scenes? What purpose does it serve?

I'm at an all-night diner, waiting for my high school graduate to be done at a graduation party. There are about fifty people here, and the (only) waitress just made an announcement: there's only one cook here tonight, so there are gonna be long waits. The response from the people was instant: unwavering support and kindness. I could feel it. Without saying anything, everyone was sending the energy: don't worry, we get it, we're with you.

So I grew up in a very conservative religion that views abortion as a sin, and I live in a state that will outlaw abortion as soon as Roe is overturned. A lot of my fellow church members and Utahns assume I am "like-minded" and are shocked at my pro-choice RTs. 1/ The question of choice is something I've studied and wrestled with for over 30 years, because I want to understand, and I want to be both wise and compassionate. But what I've learned is in order to have an honest debate, both sides need to have foundational beliefs.

Hi, I'm a white parent who was super confused about how to talk about race with my kids. I used to think the kind, loving thing to do was NOT talk about it. Be "colorblind." Or pretend to be. I worried that identifying people by race was racist. 1/ About 12 years ago, when my oldest was in kindergarten, I read an article that challenged my beliefs. That not talking about race was communicating to my kids that there was something taboo, something wrong about different races. That being "colorblind" was not a thing. 2/

My 10yo would like to recommend to you a few of her favorite graphic novels.
1/ BAD SISTER by @ChariseHarper & @RoryLucey
“Super relatable and investing. You really should read it!” 2/ GO WITH THE FLOW by Lily Williams & Karen Schneemann
“A beautiful book about friendship and feminism”

My 10yo made this book. Title: Shannon hale. She included a title page.

My book-writing cycle

1. Get a new idea: Wow, this is going to be a fun book! And so easy! It will practically write itself!
2. Think about it occasionally, start to jot down notes: Hm, not a lot of ideas for this yet 3. Start to organize notes: Wow! I have enough for a whole book! This is amazing! I’m going to turn this idea into my next book!
4. Create outline from notes: There is literally no story in this. I have collected a waste bin of used napkins.

Some men, enlightened by the ongoing conversations about #MeToo, want to know how they can help. Thank you. Good guys, allow me to tell you a personal story that might help illustrate a very, very simple thing you can do that means so much. 1/ When I was 19, I made the cast of Romeo & Juliet in a regional theater. It was a huge deal for me, an Equity production, my first professional job. I was the youngest cast member, the most inexperienced, and the only single woman. 2/

I personally lost several male friends the past few years because of their reaction to #MeToo. I spent hours trying to educate my male friends. I was pleading for them to believe that women are scared and rightly so. To believe when a woman says "this happened," it prob did. And it go to the point where I couldn't justify the emotional energy it took to keep up a friendship with someone who I knew wouldn't believe me. Who I wouldn't feel safe going to if something happened to me.

Here in red Utah, I was sitting in my room with my girls watching celebration videos from NY, PA, GA, CA, when I got a text from my BFF to come outside. She was outside my front door, a safe 20 ft away, come to celebrate. We turned on "Let's Go" and danced. I'm in a neighborhood that vast majority white and Republican. In the 10 minutes that we danced and talked out front, a lot of cars drove by. A few honked. One stopped and said, "Are you celebrating? You looked like you were celebrating so I circled back around to check."

something happened last week that I still don't know how to talk about.
(tw: diet, weight) I joined a gym for the first time in my life because I heard pilates could help my chronic back pain. (spoiler: it has, tremendously, along with diet change and time) Recently I went to weigh myself on the fancy machine that shows you muscle mass, body fat%, etc.

Time for my yearly roundup of gender ratios in animated features! I look at the top grossing US animated movies and count male:female characters with a name and at least one line of dialog. Note: this is not a judgement about the quality of the movie, just looking at the raw data. For years, the average has been 11 male characters: 4 female characters. How does this year stack up?

This happens at least once every time we have an event for The Princess in Black. A wonderful, well-meaning, female librarian/teacher/bookseller/parent approaches me and asks,

“So, when are you going to write a series like this for boys?” I feel Dean and LeUyen tense up beside me. Because they know what’s coming.
First I say, “The Princess in Black is for boys.”

I had a disappointing conversation with a male writer friend about sexual harassment recently. He had chosen to "stay out of it." I tried to explain why this all a big deal and staying out of it was only hurting people. And his response was, "Well, I hope everyone knows how worried and scared we are." First thought: he's worried and scared that sexual harassment is so pervasive and damaging to women? Great start! But...

Making a living from writing books is hard.
1. When you sell a book to a publisher, you get an advance on royalties (but this usually requires you to have written the book first, so you're writing w/o income for months/years) 2. the advance is usually split--1/3 on signing the contract, 1/3 on delivery of final manuscript (even if you've already spent years writing it, there will still be months/years of editing), 1/3 on publication

Dear men in children's and young adult publishing:
Right now all the women in kid lit are reading @anneursu's article, sitting with it, crying over it, taking breaks every few paragraphs, and reading it again. Right now, the women in kid lit are calling each other, emailing and texting, and saying, how have I been complicit? What do I need to change? How can I be better at protecting the women in this business?