It Gets Better

Sometimes you write and write and write, and wonder, is anyone really going to want to read this? Does what I'm doing even matter?

And then you get something like this in the mail . . .

It was a packet of letters from the 5th graders Hardy Elementary School in South Lyon, MI. They wrote about what my books meant to them, and what they'd like me to write about next . . .

Their teacher, Susan Maurus, sent along these words . . .

Here are her students . . .

Katie Kehrer, who was Ms. Maurus's student teacher wrote . . .

"We used your books so many times to teach lessons to put bullying to a stop or show students how their actions rub off on others."

I've heard that WARP SPEED, which is about a Star Trek geek who gets beat up every day, is opening up lots of discussions about bullying. I've gotten letters from kids who are being bullied, from teachers who have students come forward about abuse at home, and parents saying that the book has helped their child.

My friend, author Phil Bildner came up with the idea to bring children's/YA authors and illustrators together as one voice to help campaign against bullying via the It Gets Better Project.

(Above: That's Phil, on the right, and his partner Kevin Lewis and I when we invaded Brooklyn Flea.)

Out of Phil's idea, Authors and Illustrators Unite was created. 35 of us contributed short messages of inspiration and hope. Here's a list . . .

Kathi Appelt, Jay Asher, Phil Bildner, Coe Booth, Bruce Coville, Matt de la Pena, John Holyfield, Ellen Hopkins, James Howe, Gordon Korman, Jarrett Krosoczka, Nancy Krulik, Loren Long, Betsy and Ted Lewin, Kevin Lewis, Emily Lockhart, Peepy, LeUyen Pham, Olugbemisola Rhuday, Dan Santat, Cynthia Letiech Smith, Sonya Sones, Jordan Sonnenblick, The Texas Sweethearts, Don Tate, Tanya Lee Stone, and me.

For my clip, I started writing down notes, but I knew I only had about seven seconds. Yet there was so much I wanted to say . . .

In the end, I pared it down and shot my segment . . .

My segment, along with the others, were edited together . . .

And "here's what we had to say:

I asked Phil about the making of It Gets Better - Authors and Illustrators Unite. Here's what he had to say . . .

LISA: What was your inspiration was for creating the video?

PHIL: I think Kobe Bryant's homophobic sideline tantrum this spring was my tipping point. In fact, I see it as a tipping point for the entire movement, if you can call it a movement. Here you have everyone from Hillary Clinton to Lady Gaga saying "it gets better," and then you have this idolized basketball player spewing hate. For me, enough was enough. It was time to walk my talk, so to speak.

LISA: Was it hard to get the authors and illustrators onboard?

PHIL: Everyone rose to the occasion. I asked people if they were interested. Then I asked a few more. And a few more. And others suggested names. Once I had the names and contacts, I sent one email laying out the instructions and timeline. Then I sent out one reminder email. That was it. Everyone truly came together.

LISA: Of all the clips, do you have a favorite?

PHIL: I don't think one author/illustrator had the most compelling or special clip. I spent so much time with all of them over the last few days that it's impossible to say "this one is the most poignant," or "this one is the best." Together, all the clips form a beautiful mosaic.

LISA: If you added up all the authors in the video, and multiplied them by 5.2, and then added in all the illustrators, multiplied by 7.4, and then divided that by the number of minutes in the video, what would that come out to?

PHIL:

Okay, then! Now you've got the inside scoop of It Gets Better - Authors and Illustrators United!!!

For a more in-depth look at the video, here's School Library Journal's interview with Phil.

Also, I'm proud to one of 70 authors who have contributed true stories about bullying to an anthology called DEAR BULLY: Young Adult Authors Against Bullying. Edited by Megan Kelly Hall and Carrie Jone, some of the authors involved is this project, Mo Willems, Nancy Werlin, Megan McCafferty, and Jon Scieszka. The book will be out in August, and I'll talk more about it then.

If you, or someone you know, are being bullied or abused, talk to someone -- a friend, a teacher, a librarian, someone.

It gets better.

Disclaimer: No proofreaders were harmed (or even used) in the creation of this blog.

CLICK HERE to find out about Lisa's newest book, WARP SPEED!!!

Follow Lisa on Twitter by CLICKING HERE.

Lisa Yee

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Ransom Riggs and His Peculiar Foot

A while back I heard from a fellow with the awesome name of Ransom Riggs. It seems he was working on a project and needed to find authors who were terrible writers when they were kids. John Green had told him about me.

Er, thanks, John.


(Here's Moi and John, who is standing on a chair, with our agent, Jodi Reamer.)

Oh! And here's an interview I did with John, eons ago when we were both practically children.

Anyway, Ransom set aside that project to work on another one, namely a YA novel with the awesome name of MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN.



It's an amazing book and was recently reviewed in Entertainment Weekly and People magazine, and is already a NY TIMES bestseller!

Here's a spooky preview. . .


On Sunday, we went to Ransom's very first book signing at Dark Delicacies in Burbank, CA . . .


Peepy thought that she was the main draw, but then Ransom took the stage . . .


This is what he looked like when he read . . .


Meanwhile . . . this how he sounded and what his foot was doing during the reading . . .

(Ransom was sitting on his other foot)

Disclaimer: No proofreaders were harmed (or even used) in the creation of this blog.

HEY! HEY! HEY! Do you love Young Adult novels? Then come join me and other authors, bloggers and educatiors on June 25th at Vroman's in Pasadena! CLICK HERE for more info.



CLICK HERE to find out about Lisa's newest book, WARP SPEED!!!

Follow Lisa on Twitter by CLICKING HERE.

Lisa Yee

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I Want My Hat Back

Dan Santat said I have to blog this. I think he told me that because it makes me look dumb, and Dan thinks that’s funny.


Anyway, here it goes.

Okay, so I was at BEA (BookExpo America) in NY last month. And he wasn’t.


This is young Dan, not at BEA . . .


The convention was great fun and I got to see lots of old friends and new ones.


But I also got to roam around the convention floor and pick up ARCs (Advanced Readers Copies) of upcoming releases BEFORE the book(s) debut.


So get this. Dan asks (well, he begged, actually) me to get him two ARCs.

Then, being me, I forgot which ones he wanted. So I texted him, and (t)hat’s when the confusion started . . .


Okay, it was clear that I was to get WONDERSTRUCK by Brian Selznick . . .


The book is brilliant and made my cry on the airplane back to Los Angeles . . .

(Those are a combo of tissues and napkins, on the right. The napkins had red logos on them. I don't want you to think I was bleeding on the plane.)

Anyway, the text about I WANT MY HAT BACK discombobulated me. At first, I thought that Dan had lost his hat and wanted it back.

Neither of the people above is Dan. However, one is Dan's agent and mine, Jodi Reamer, and we are both wearing hats that do not belong to Dan. It's exactly the sort of thing we do at our Annual Summit.

Oh, I digressed. Let's go back to NYC and over to Candlewick where I looked for Dan’s hat. I even ASKED SOMEONE if they had Dan Santat’s hat. (They said no.)

Then, I left and later recalled Dan also wanted me to see if any ARCs of books he had illustrated were at BEA, and I texted him again . . .


Can you see? Can you see from that text it sounded (to me) like he had illustrated I WANT MY HAT BACK.

I returned to Candlewick, embarrassed because Dan didn’t lose his hat and said to someone, “Do you have I WANT MY HAT BACK? My friend Dan Santat illustrated it.”

I was told (nicely), that they did not have that book that he illustrated, but they had I WANT MY HAT BACK that Jon Klassen wrote AND illustrated. There were no more copies left, but the really, really, nice person said she’d send me one.

And she did!!!


Oh, man. The book was sooooooooooo unbelievably wonderful, that even though I got it for Dan, I decided to keep it. (Do you ever do that? Get something for someone and then keep it for yourself? Please tell me you do, and that I’m not the only one.)


Okay, flash forward. Dan and I have lunch and I give him 50% of what he asked for, but then tell him, he can’t have the HAT book.


He was sad, but took it well . . .


Speaking of hats, Dan's not the only one who looks swell in a hat.



Here's someone else who could rival Princess Beatrice in the hat department. (All the hats Peepy is wearing were gifts from her fans)



And finally, in the continuing saga of Stuff in Lisa's Office, there's this . . .


Disclaimer: No proofreaders were harmed (or even used) in the creation of this blog.



Do you love Young Adult novels? Then come join me and other authors, bloggers and educatiors on June 25th at Vroman's in Pasadena! CLICK HERE for more info.

CLICK HERE to find out about Lisa's newest book, WARP SPEED!!!

Follow Lisa on Twitter by CLICKING HERE.

Lisa Yee

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