Author of Skin Deep and Spike and Ali Enson, Malaika Rose Stanley, contributed a fantastic blog post for An Awfully Big Blog Adventure last week. In Black, White and Just Right Malaika compiles a list of children’s and young adult fiction which feature mixed-race and mixed-heritage main characters. The list includes titles from authors such as Bali Rai, Philip Pullman and Rick Riordan. However, it was not easy to put the list together. As Malaika says, ‘It’s a short list – and not in a good way – but in the end, isn’t quality always more important than quantity?’ We couldn’t agree more Malaika. 

To read the full article, follow this link: http://awfullybigblogadventure.blogspot.com/2011/11/black-white-and-just-right-malaika-rose.html

We have been quieter than normal on the blog and on Twitter. Truth is, we’ve been super busy back here at Tamarind Towers! We are building a list of honourable Patrons, buying exceptional books and working hard on a new look for our list including a revised mission statement and logo.

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Our most prolific author this year, Malaika Rose Stanley, launched her latest book, Miss Bubble’s Troubles, yesterday at Brecknock Primary School. Around 100 students from Years 1 – 4 attended the very special occasion. Malaika read an extract from Miss Bubble’s Troubles and then asked students to help her perform the “Brecknock Rap”: an original rap about Brecknock school and students, which Malaika composed herself. At the end of the launch, students helped Malaika officially ‘launch’ the book by counting down from ten to blast off! The launch was also attend by journalists from the Camden Gazette, Ham & High and Islington Gazette.

In advance of publication of her new book Boys Don’t Cry, Malorie Blackman stopped by our office. She reminded us why she writes best-selling titles starring black protagonists.

Click to find out more about Boys Don’t Cry.

We were delighted when, further to her charming review of The Young Chieftain, book blogger Tricia conducted an incisive interview with its author, Ken Howard. How did Ken conjure up his teen hero, Jamie MacDoran? Does he envisage ‘Young Chieftain tours’ of the Scottish Isles? Find out on Tricia’s blog, Black Book News.

Only three weeks to go til publication!
For those who still don’t know what the fuss is about, author Ken Howard reads a gripping extract from the forthcoming page-turner, The Young Chieftain.

Click for more about the book.

Click to watch the trailer.

Last month, Class 3O at Brecknock Primary School studied the work of Tamarind author Verna Wilkins. They each wrote her a letter asking questions about her life. On Thursday, Verna visited Class 3O in person!  Their teacher Siobhan reports… 

Class 3O have been studying many books by the author Verna Wilkins, including biographies of Stephen Lawrence and Benjamin Zephaniah, as part of the Literacy Unit Authors and Letters. When they wrote to her to ask her to come and visit, imagine their surprise when she did! Especially as they were to first to hear her read her new book, Abdi’s Day which is not due out until September 2010.  Here are some of the class’ comments about her visit:

Danae: “It was delightful that what I wanted to happen happened on Thursday because Verna Wilkins came when we wrote letters to her.”

Josh: “It was extremely good that our dream to meet Verna Wilkins came true.  She is an extremely nice woman and she told us about how she wrote her books.”

Merrill: “It was amazing to see Verna Wilkins and her telling us her new story, Abdi’s Day.  I asked her if she would ever write her autobiography and she said she would get to work on it when she gets home!”

Amal: “It was so outstanding to meet Verna Wilkins because I really want to be an author when I grow up and she told me everything about how to be a writer.”

This morning Ben Morley, the author of The Silence Seeker, dropped into our office from Singapore during his holiday in London.

After a minute’s silence, Ben enthralled an audience with an intimate reading. The publicity director, managing director and production controller were among those who enjoyed the story and asked Ben questions. Although we can’t repeat the magic of the book read aloud, you can see a video Q & A with Ben below.

Ben signed copies of the book which you can win on Facebook and Twitter next week.

What inspired Ben to write The Silence Seeker

Ben Morley on… Favourite books

Ben Morley on… The Crown Prince of Brunei

Ben Morley on… Being a writer

Ben Morley on… Workshopping the book

Children’s book writing workshop at
The Afro Hair and Beauty Show
Business Design Centre, Islington
May 30^th and 31^st, 2pm-3pm daily

Do you remember how old you were when you first saw a black person in a book? Join Patsy, Commissioning Editor at Tamarind Books, for a fun creative writing workshop on writing multicultural stories for children and teens. Patsy will give aspiring children’s writers practical tips for success and discuss the importance of representing black children in literature. Bring your notebook and pen!

Click to read Tamarind’s manuscript submission guidelines.

It was a sleepy Friday afternoon when Nick from children’s book charity Pelican Post visited our Ealing office.  He’d driven across London in weekend traffic, but that was nothing compared to the journey he had in mind: Nick was picking up 10 Tamarind books and starting their journey to a new school in the Sudan! The Pelican Post send donated children’s books to schools in various African countries. They take care to reflect the children in the books that they receive, and include Tamarind titles among the books they send. However, the package for the Sudan would be a special undertaking, off the beated track for the charity. The Grace School, 17 hours by road from Khartoum, is the only secondary school within a 300-mile radius. In poor condition and on the point of closure a few years ago, British couple Richard and Claire Budd fundraised an amazing £90,000 to rebuild the school from scratch. Opening in the first week of May, the school has classrooms and pupils and teachers, but not a single book. The staff at Tamarind were overjoyed to donate the first package of books to the new school. Nick will track its journey by air and road until it reaches the school. Congratulations to all for making this happen!

Click to find out more about the inspiring story of The Grace School and the work of Pelican Post.