Contest, Perks, Panel & P4A 

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Anthology & Short Story Contest
WNDB is proud to announce that Phoebe Yeh, VP/Publisher of Crown Books for Young Readers/Random House, has acquired publication rights to the middle grade WNDB anthology, working title Stories for All of Us.  Ellen Oh, President of WNDB, will edit the anthology, which will have a January 2017 release date. Contributing authors include: Kwame Alexander, Sherman Alexie, Soman Chainani, Matt de la Peña, Tim Federle, Grace Lin, Meg Medina, Walter Dean Myers, Rachel Renee Russell, and Jacqueline Woodson.

The anthology will be in memory of Walter Dean Myers and will be inspired by his quote:
  “Once I began to read, I began to exist.” 

Every new story contribution to this anthology will be by a diverse author.

In addition, we’re excited to announce that the anthology will include one story by a previously unpublished diverse author. To fill that slot, we will be hosting a short story contest. The winner’s story will be a part of the anthology and receive a $1,000 prize. For rules and eligibility requirements, please click here. 

All proceeds from sales of the anthology will go directly to the WNDB in the Classroom program, which will provide diverse author visits to Title 1 schools and free books for each student in the classroom, as well as the distribution of copies to Title 1 schools and libraries across the country.

Diversity Panel at ALA Midwinter 
Members of the Diversity League and We Need Diverse Books will host a panel discussion of 2015 debut authors committed to diversifying library shelves, one book at a time. The panel will be moderated by Danielle Paige, NYT-bestselling author of Dorothy Must Die, and will introduce librarians to a group of diverse debut authors. After the discussion on how our books add to the diversity of YA literature, we will host a “meet and greet”. Librarians are encouraged to make personal connections with the authors to learn more details about the panelists’ books, and how best to introduce these titles to library patrons.

Panelists include: Sabaa Tahir, Nicola Yoon, Francesca Zappia, Miranda Paul, Adam Silvera, Fonda Lee, Sona Charaipotra, I.W. Gregorio, and Danielle Paige. 

When: Saturday, Janurary 21 10:00 a.m. – PopTop Stage – Hyatt McCormick Place, Chicago, IL
(part of ALA Midwinter) 

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Project for Awesome
Because of your support and votes, WNDB will receive a $10,000 grant from the Project for Awesome. Thank you for helping us continue creating initiatives and opportunities to address the lack of diversity in children’s literature. 

Education Kit Renamed the “We Need Diverse Booktalking Kit” 
The newly christened We Need Diverse Booktalking Kit, developed in conjunction with the School Library Journal, is well on its way to a target delivery date of May 2015. Early mockups of the kit will be available for review by booksellers at the WNDB consultation station at the ABA Winter Institute in Asheville, North Carolina on February 10-11.

Indiegogo Perks
If you’re still waiting on your Indiegogo perks, all tote bags, tee shirts, and signed copies of Jacqueline Woodson’s Brown Girl Dreaming should be delivered by the end of February–thank you for your patience!

The WNDB team 

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