Cynthia Leitich Smith's Blog

By Cynthia Leitich Smith, Gayleen Rabakukk, Suma Subramaniam, A.J. Eversole, Mitu Malhotra, and Gail Vannelli for Cynsations

Spotlight Image: My Street Remembers by Karen Krossing, illustrated by Cathie Jamieson (Groundwood Books, 2025).

Five Indigenous Children’s Authors on Perspective and Love of Storytelling by Cara Broel from Bookstr. Peek: [Laurel Goodluck:] “As a writer of children’s books, I hope that my books inspire young people to realize they are resilient...

By AJ Eversole

I was delighted to chat with respected Cherokee historian, Twila M. Barnes, about her latest release from Capstone, The Cherokee People, Culture and History. The book is part a wonderful Indigenous Peoples series from Capstone that seeks to showcase a deep look into various Natives across the present-day United States, written by authentic voices from those tribes.

What inspired you to write this book for young readers specifically?

Specifically, the Cherokee author Andrea L. Rog...

By Gayleen Rabakukk

Today we have the final installment of the MG Escapades series with Graphic Novelists Stan Yan and Angela Hsieh. And we’re also chatting with the group’s founder, Sara Shacter about how the group got started in case you’ve been thinking about putting together a marketing group. Previous MG Escapades posts included Contemporary Novelists and Fantasy/Horror Novelists.

Stan Yan

What did you discover about yourself while writing this book–for better or worse?

I found out that I ...

By Gayleen Rabakukk

Today we continue meeting more members of the MG Escapades group, this time chatting with debut authors who have fantasy novels publishing this year: Leslie Adame, Alby C. Williams, Carey Blankenship-Kramer, Sarah Mendonca, Christina Cornwell, Ryan James Black, Nicole Hewitt and Shana Targosz. Read the first post in this series here, and watch for tomorrow’s post with MG Escapades’ graphic novelists.

Leslie Adame

What did you discover about yourself while writing this book—...

By Gayleen Rabakukk

Ken Mochizuki

Children’s and young adult author Ken Mochizuki died September 20 at the age of 71 in Maple Valley, Wash., according to Asian American Media News. Mochizuki’s first picture book was published in 1993, Baseball Saved Us, illustrated by Dom Lee (Lee & Low).

The book appeared on Lee & Low’s debut list, and former publisher and co-founder Philip Lee offered insight on the book’s origin and how Mochizuki’s work helped define the mission of the publishing house. Lee...

By Suma Subramaniam

Uma Krishnaswami is one of the best and most distinguished author/mentors in the children’s publishing industry. I have enjoyed the Book Uncle trilogy so much and feel honored to welcome her to discuss the third book in the series.

Your forthcoming book, The Sunshine Project (Groundwood Books, 2025), is the third book in the “Book Uncle” trilogy. What was your inspiration for this story?

Book Uncle and Me was first published in 2012 by Scholastic India, and I did...

Congratulations to Susan Fletcher on the publication of Sea Change (Amulet Books, June 2025)! From the publisher’s website:

A girl torn between two worlds . . .

Turtle is scavenging a drowned town when she saves a stranger’s life. There’s something special about Kai—an attraction she’s never felt before. She would do anything to see him again.

But Turtle can never truly be with Kai, because Kai is Normal, and Turtle is one of the Mer, kids whose genes were illegally hacked before birth and who ...

By Gayleen Rabakukk

Today we’re welcoming several middle grade authors to Cynsations: Emily Deibert, Kerry Madden Lunsford, Sara F. Shacter and Jess Callans, all middle grade novelists—mostly debut authors—collectively known as the Middle Grade Escapades. Their books fall into the contemporary, realistic category and they’re all sharing a bit about their publishing journey. Next week we’ll chat with more Escapades authors who published graphic novel and fantasy books this year.

Today we are excited to welcome Cordelia Jensen to Cynsations to talk about her latest verse novel Lilac and the Switchback (Holiday House, 2025). Cordelia who is a Vermont College of Fine Arts alumnx has published lyrical and accessible verse novels for a decade. She teaches at the Highlights Foundation and has written blog posts on “Crafting an Image System” and “Auditioning Poetry Devices for Voice” when craftin...

By Suma Subramaniam

Upasna and I met online a few years ago. I was drawn to her charismatic personality and dedication to amplify and promote South Asian voices in children’s literature. Later, she invited me to Varta, a South-Asia-inspired storytelling festival in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I’m pleased to welcome Upasna Kakroo to Cynsations to discuss her non-profit organization, Peerbagh, and her mission.

Peerbagh is a non-profit organization dedicated to organizing and promoting South-Asia-inspire...