Book Review: Pride (non-fiction MG) by Robin Stevenson

Buy this book

Published by Orca Book Publishers

Published in 2016

Thanks to its colourful book cover design and the skilled author Pride:  Celebrating Diversity & Community sings out loudly about a world-wide community of people who are proud of their history and their future. 

History such as...

When police continued to harass and arrest frequenters of one of New York's popular gay bars--Stonewall--the gay community rose up in protest. The Stonewall Riot occurred on the evening of June 28, 1969. And Robin Stevenson writes:  'Although it wasn't called Pride Day, most people agree that the first Pride parade was held a year after the Stonewall Riots, on June 28, 1970.'

To personalize the history, Robin Stevenson draws on personal insights from those in the LGBTQ community--including her own. 

She points out that:  'For Pride to truly represent all LGBTQ people, Pride events need to take a stand against not just homophobia and heterosexism but against all forms of oppression.'

This is a powerful book that concludes with a call to arms. Robin Stevenson wants us (supports of Pride) to be heard and she offers ways and means to make this happen.

I seldom review non-fiction books, but I'm so glad I made an exception this time. Though written for children, I firmly believe that everyone would benefit from reading Pride.

More...

My interview with the author of Pride:  Robin Stevenson

You may also enjoy reading...

When Everything Feels Like the Movies by Raziel Reid


Next Post:  Sunday, November 12
at approximately 5 PM PT

(my dad giving a speech--circa the 1980s)

Go back in time with me to 1996 and listen (well, actually you'll be reading his words) as my dad (AJ Willetts) gives a Remembrance Day speech.

WordsThaw literary festival notes by Leanne Dyck

On Saturday, February 22nd I woke at 5:20 a.m. to catch the 7:05 a.m. ferry. I would be travelling with my friend and fellow writing group member, Amber Harvey and her husband.

We spent an enjoyable day at the University of Victoria attending...

 My only suggestion, and it's a suggestion often made by visitors to Mayne Island, more signage please. Amber and I weren't familiar with the campus. We'd been told that it would be in the Human and Social Development Building. We found the building. But finding an open door proved to be a lot harder. As we waited, doubt crept up and stabbed us in the gut: It's 9:30 a.m. Why are we the only people here? Had Words Thaw been cancelled? Finally, I walked around the entire building and found an open door. A few well placed signs would have arrested our concerns.
Any way, the rest of the day more than made up for that small oversight. Volunteers were cheerful and helpful--a winning combination.

Author as Avator:  Social Media and blogging (10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.)

Panelists:  Will Johnson, Sarah Petrescu, and Emily Shorthouse

Moderator:  John Threlfall

Writers, journalists and publishers increasingly appreciate the importance of social media and blogging to their processional aspirations. The panelists will talk about how to develop a following and sense of community through social media and what best practices apply to this increasingly more visible arena of writerly activity.

I'd like to thank the panelists and moderator, I gained tons of helpful information. Here's what I learnt...

most valuable social networking tools:  twitter, blogging, facebook and YouTube

All authors should have a website. Building an on-line presence is very important for authors. But be ever aware of how you are representing yourself. You want to come across as a person but avoid appearing negative in anyway.

Think about why you want to be on social media--who you want to follow and who you want to be followed by. How much time do you want to spend? (rule of thumb:  1 per day twitter/ 1 to 2 per day on facebook). Invest time in planning before you interact. And spend time maintaining your social media. (i.e. unfollow on Twitter, etc.)

Social media is about sharing and building community. So 30% should be about you--70% should be about supporting other people. Remember social media means that you're in the public. And think about what you're audience wants.

If you receive a negative review don't call attention to it on-line. Instead the best method is to briefly mention that you were reviewed and the publication.

You can post published articles/stories on your blog. [I do this and link back to the publisher's website.]

Plan your blog posts and incorporate visuals.

Maximum word counts for blog articles should be around 700 words. [My articles have been getting a little long, as of late. I'm going to work on shortening them.]

I asked for useful twitter hash tags. I received:  #librarian; #canlit, #bookblogger

Twitter:  if you want to connect with someone through twitter and have the public see it use:  .(dot) name

if you want to send something directly to someone through twitter and keep it private us:  @name

Twitter is an especially effective tool when promoting events and books.

Blogs to check out:  

What If I Don't Have A Pretty Face

Cabin Goddess

The Inner Life of our Words:  Writing and the Human Spirit (1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.)

Panelists:  Marita Dachsel, Tim Liburn and Jane Munro

Moderator:  Andrew Rippin

Is there a relationship between poetry and the inner life? And if there is, what form or direction--or directions--does it take? Does writing and reading probe the spiritual life (or lives) of the self, another person, a community, or even an age? Can poetry be a catalyst to discovering and expressing not only "what we know" but "what we want to know"?

This was a thought-provoking, mindful discussion. So mostly I just sat there captivated and mesmerized. Here's what I heard...focused on...

Something you've read knows you deeply; through this experience, you've been made stronger.

Anything truly attended to is a spiritual practice.

The act of making art is key.

Something is growing inside me
Occupying my body
I don't know what it is 
It absorbs me
Between me and it--there is commonality but difference

General discussion about the muse and general agreement--amongst the panellists--that she/he/it doesn't exist. 
Instead...
writing is hard work
writing is the courage to waste time

Poetry is how she figures out life and a way to answer questions that she has

Poetry makes a life that is identifiable out in the world that is close to her inner life.

Writers and poets are making sense of things not recording things

Not everything I write needs to be read by another

From a member of the audience:  I need to be centred so that life flows through me. Life flows through me onto the page. Our gift is to listen to the soul. A surprise of the writing process. The whole purpose of writing is connecting soul to soul.
Asked panelists to comment on soul.
Panelists replied by saying that her words were beautiful but that they had problems with the terminology she used--namely, 'soul'. One panelist said that she equated 'soul' to 'creativity'. 

***
Sharing my author journey...

Becoming a YA author

My journey to becoming an author of a young adult novel began when I was born.

Don't panic. This isn't a novel--it's a blog. I'll get to the point. I was born dyslexic. Simply put, dyslexia means that my brain doesn't process information in the same way as a so-called "normal" brain. (To learn more about dyslexia, I highly recommend Ronald D. Davis' book The Gift of Dyslexia.) I spent too many years thinking the differences in my brain meant that it I was stupid.

My grandmother helped me see that perhaps I was capable of success. To honour her memory, I wrote the short story Because She Believed In Me. This story was first published in the Island Writer literary journal and I've also read it over the radio. Following this success, I decided to submit it to Kaleidoscope -- a magazine that champions the disabled. Renamed If Not for Her, my story appeared in this magazine in January, 2011.

Orca Publishing's prolific author, Robin Stevenson, gave me feedback regarding this story. She encouraged me to write more about my experiences as a dyslexic.

After many false starts and half finished stories I began to write about my time as a Katimavik volunteer. (Katimavik is a nine-month government-run national service youth program for participants 17 to 21 years of age.) For me, Katimavik was not only life-changing but also provided insight into the disabled in general and especially into my own disability. While in Katimavik, I wrote 'limitations on my accomplishments are only set by my inability to accept the fact that I can succeed.'

Thanks to my grandmother and others who have helped me along the way, I have been successful. I'm currently working on revising my young adult adventure. I can't wait to share this story with you.
***
Next post:  The Sweater Curse on Youtube

Guest Post: author Robin Stevenson

Author Robin Stevenson

How/why did you start to write?

I've always loved books but didn't start writing until 2005, while I was on maternity leave from a crisis counselling job. I got hooked on it pretty much instantly.

How did you become an author? What was your first published piece? Where was it published? How long ago?

My first teen novel, Out of Order, actually began as a short story. I sent it off to a literary journal, and in response I received a very kind rejection letter and some helpful feedback. Among other things, the editor suggested that I needed to explore the relationship between the two main characters--both teenage girls--in more depth. I started writing more about these characters, trying to figure out who they were and how they had come to be in the situation they were in, and the story very quickly grew well beyond the bounds of a short story. I thought it might work as a teen novel, so after a few drafts some further polishing, I submitted the first chapters and a synopsis to Orca. They requested the full manuscript, and a few weeks later offered me a publishing contract. Out of Order was published in Canada and the US in the fall of 2007.
I have continued to publish with Orca, writing early chapter books, juvenile novels, and young adult fiction. I have two new books coming out this fall: a teen novel called Escape Velocity, and an early chapter book called Ben the Inventor. That will bring me up to twelve books altogether, with two more under contract and scheduled for publication in 2012 and 2013.

What did you do before embarking on your writing career? Was it an asset to your writing? How?

I worked for ten years as a counsellor and social worker. Counselling taught me to pay close attention to people, to relationships, and to communication; it gave me an opportunity to be involved in people's lives during difficult times and to learn more about how people understand themselves and their lives. I learned a great deal about child and adolescent development, family dynamics, trauma, loss and countless other issues. I think my ability to create realistic, complex and believable characters has been strengthened as a result.

What inspires you?

Family and friends, travel, books, my students, conversations, experiences, news, stories, debate... Just about everything, actually.

Please share one of your successful marketing techniques

Honestly, I don't do nearly as much as I probably should. I decided that the best way to promote a book was to write and publish another...and another...and another. But I may just be choosing to believe that his is a good strategy because I am more interested in spending my time writing than marketing!

Parting words

If you want to know more about me and my books, please visit my website at www.robinstevenson.com . And feel free to send me an e-mail--I love hearing form readers and from other writers.

Robin Stevenson's fall 2011 releases...
Excerpt

I slip the key into the file cabinet lock and it opens easily. I glance over my shoulder at the front door. If Zoe comes home, she'll be furious. I tell myself that it's her fault I'm doing this. If she would tell me the truth, I wouldn't be forced to hunt for answers.


I open the top drawer, my heart pounding. A row of file folders, alternating blue and grey, all neatly labeled. Clippings, Documents, Letters... I stop, about to pull out the Letters file, but then I notice the next file: Lou. The skin on the back of my neck prickles, and I shiver, I raise my hand to lift out the file and just as my fingers touch it, I hear my mother's key in the lock.


Blurb


It's the end of a long hot summer in Alberta's Badlands, and fifteen-year-old Lou is restless and dreaming of escape. Then an unexpected crisis turns her dream into reality and Lou is forced to leave Alberta and stay with the mother she has never known. Lou is overflowing with anger, hurt, and, most of all, unanswered questions. Why did her mother never want her? She is convinced that the answers lie hidden in her mother's novels, and is determined to find the truth...no matter what the cost.


Blurb

Inventors invent Inventions! That's what Ben and his best friend Jack like to say. So when Ben discovers that Jack's family is planning to move to another city, he decides they should put their inventions to work. The boys figure that if no one buys Jack's house, Jack won't have to move away, so all they need is a plan to scare of potential buyers! Inventors are good at coming up with plans. But when Plans A, B and C fail to bring the result the boys had in hoped for, Ben discovers that not everything in life stays the same--and that while change can be hard, sometimes it isn't all bad.

Praise for Robin Stevenson's books...

A Thousand Shades of Blue (2008) was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Awards and the BC Book Prizes. Here's what reviewers said:

"[Stevenson] eschews cliche in her keen and credible exploration of family dynamics... Readers looking for a family drama with adroit characterization, serious issues, and a little risky romance on the side should sign up for this voyage." (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books)

"Rachel comes across as a real teen with whom readers will identify. Using the small boat as a setting highlights the cramped, suffocating feeling many young people have when spending a lot of time with parents and siblings. The book has no easy answers...giving the novel a refreshing realism." (School Library Journal)

Inferno (2009) was selected for the ALA Rainbow List and was a finalist for the BC Book Prizes. Here's what reviewers had to say:

"[Stevenson} does a terrific job, capturing the impossibly large emotion and the power that propels teenage girls... This is a skillful writing featuring a strong female protagonist. A good story well told." (January Magazine)

"Stevenson creates a compelling portrait of autonomy vs. conformity... Dante's sexuality is refreshingly not a problem, just a fact of life. Readers will recognize themselves and many of their peers in Stevenson's complex, likable characters." (Booklist)

"Stevenson's writing is sharp and her plot tidy and briskly paced, making for a quick, engaging read. Even her integration of the tough themes of relationship abuse and the alienation of queer teens is seamless--not to mention free of heavy-handed lessons." (Quill and Quire)