I read the book at one sitting – it’s a fast-paced and compulsive read. Of course, Finn’s decision to transition does not just impact on him. One of the strong-points of the novel is how Finn tells his family and friends (in particular his fellow members of a feminist punk band) of his decision, and how they then react. We get a fair inkling of the medical process, including counselling and psychological assessment, though Finn’s main source of information comes from internet forums and websites. I came away with a strong feeling of inevitability – as though deep down everyone around Finn knew, like he did, that this was the real person now showing on the outside – so that opposition and prejudice fall away.

This is a novel with a happy ending and very little fall-out – Finn emerges with his relationships intact and indeed, many of them stronger than before. Real life is probably a bit messier; however, f2m: The Boy Within will be a boon to any teenager with feelings of gender anguish and will help to promote tolerance of, and indeed empathy with, those who feel trapped in a body of the wrong gender.

You can read my 2007 interview with Hazel here. She was awarded the prestigious ASA (Australian Society of Authors) medal last year but this, her latest book shows that she is not resting on her laurels! This photo of Hazel and Ryan was taken at the launch of f2m: The Boy Within in Melbourne, Australia on February 14th. We couldn’t be there but we are happy to welcome Hazel and Ryan to the PaperTigers Blog to tell us a bit about the background to writing the novel. With Hazel in Melbourne and Ryan in New Zealand, this was definitely a project that exploited modern means of communication!

So over to Hazel Edwards:

Co-writing the first YA novel with an ftm (female to male) trans author on the controversial subject of transitioning gender has been a significant and satisfying collaboration. Hence “f2m” in the title, meaning the two of us, as well as ftm in texting format. Neither of us could have written this book without the other.

I’ve known Ryan, since he was presenting as an 11-year-old girl. He’s now a man of 33. We decided to co-write YA fiction, based on the sequence of medical and psychological ftm facts. Transitioning from female to male is more unusual than the reverse. Only one YA novel, Parrotfish by Ellen Wittlinger (Simon & Schuster, 2007), existed on this ftm transgender topic in 2008 when we started writing, but ours is the first by a trans co-writer. Another excellent YA novel, Luna by Julie Ann Peters (Little, Brown & Co, 2006) is about transitioning from male to female (mtf) – not the same, but more common.

Our novel with the working title of f2m (female to male) was intended to be more than sexual anatomy. Our aim was to show the universal theme of ‘coping successfully with being different’, via a ‘coming of age’ story, but with humour and compassion plus punk music. Our character Skye who transitions to Finn is 18; a legally significant age for driver’s licence and hassles about ID etc.

How Autobiographical is f2m: The Boy Within?

f2m: The Boy Within is fiction. At our Melbourne meeting mid 2008, we decided to collaborate on a novel, which would NOT be autobiographical. We explored novelisation via email & webcam, and used Skype keyboarding to record our novel problem-solving. Simultaneously, we also recorded our typed correspondence on Skype as a legitimate part of our collaborative plotting.

Family history mystery is a sub-theme. I constructed a fake family tree for Finn’s past, to include the fictional intersex ancestor who would have been infertile, and plotted the recessive gene which may have been carried into our character’s generation. Thus, beloved Great Uncle Al, who was also Alberta, was created to parallel the younger siblings. This accurately portrays tendencies for intersex to run recessively in families, despite no direct line via children. However, creating a fake- history to fit with the narrative of war dates and medals was a challenge.

A curious ‘naming’ coincidence occurred. I realised how many minor characters we hadn’t named and that it was important to get the consistency of surnames and birth dates right, to demonstrate inheritance and genetic possibilities. If there was to be an earlier ancestor who was intersex (and infertile/unable to have biological children, it would need to be medically accurate. At that point, I suddenly realised we hadn’t given the Gran character a named husband or a surname. Randomly, I’d chosen SMITH as the family name, since it was generic and historically there had been various kinds of smith crafts. The great grandfather’s name was William Smith and so her maiden name would be Smith. We’d called her Bev, because initially I’d called the three siblings A, B and C (and the nephews D and E).

Then it hit me.! My co-writer Ryan’s real grandmother’s surname had been Schmidt. And all through the book, we’d been stressing that it is NOT autobiographical. Had the ex-German Schmidt family chosen a generic English approximation of their name as did many migrants? I’d have to check with Ryan as his grandmother passed away some years ago… And so we changed the fictional surname to May.

Which Pronoun?

Working together, the pronouns were the first challenge for me. It’s so hard to start saying ‘he’ and ‘his’ when you are used to saying ‘she’ or ‘her’. My compromise was to use Ryan’s name more, rather than the pronoun. Now, I have no problem with ‘he’ and ‘his’ and I think of my co-writer as a thoughtful male with keen observation skills from ‘reading’ others in gender roles.

Early on, Ryan corrected my use of pronouns with the fictional female character Skye who changes to Finn: Feb 9th email – “Skye is a ‘he’! Even in early transition. Ryan.”

How Many Drafts?

During eighteen months of concentrated work there were possibly 40 drafts. By tracking only on the constantly updated master, then Skyping the manuscript for the co-writer to add, we didn’t have so many versions that updated work was lost.

A co-author in another time zone means you are fresh at different times but we worked well together. Between us, in earlier drafts, we picked up on some anomalies. We realised that the birthday cake would be stale before Dad’s 50th party, since extra chapters had intervened since the cooking! Finn suffered fatigue from injections not yet given and we had to monitor who acknowledged Finn’s male name. Getting the medical details and terminology right also required lots of checking.

And now?

We have aimed to humanise gender transitioning rather than sensationalise a taboo subject. And hope the book will move into new electronic formats easily accessible to thoughtful YA readers.

And now, we welcome Ryan Kennedy:

Being my first novel, there was a lot to learn.

Collaborating online was nothing new for me – I regularly work with people I never meet in person, but never on creative projects. It’s amazing how much can be conveyed through a few short words in a chat window. There are bonuses too: no travel time; picking up a conversation that the other person left off hours ago as if they had just spoken the words; phone with video that costs only as much as an internet connection.

Being the transgender half of the writing team, it was up to me to bring my trans perspective to the project and make the transition story real. It would take years of research for a non-transgender person to write this kind of story while accurately reflecting what we feel and experience during transition. At the same time, I didn’t want to ‘represent’ all trans people by presenting only one way to transition. This is just one possible way to transition – there’s no one correct way. It’s a fictional character’s experience based loosely on my own.

I was just as committed to presenting an accurate version of the punk scene as I was a transgender character. It’s a culture that’s often misrepresented. On the musical side there’s everything from pure noise bands to skilful musicians, and everything from those who’ve had many music lessons to self-taught artists. The fans are diverse and welcome diversity, and there’s a culture of questioning and equality. I found it a great setting to explore my identity and I am dismayed when punk is portrayed as being wild for the sake of wild. Its rebellion is usually focused towards social change. Some rebellion is healthy. Transgender people are gender rebels.

Thank you very much, Hazel and Ryan!

Watch this trailer off2m: The Boy Within and read more about it on Hazel’s and Ryan’s websites…

First Come the Zebra has been selected for the 2010 Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set. Click here to read Aline’s post exploring the particular reasons why it was selected, here to read Aline’s interview with Lynne, and here to see images from the book.

Lucia Gonzalez, author of The Storyteller’s Candle (Children’s Book Press, 2008):

I would like The Storyteller’s Candle to travel to Puerto Rico, to be in classrooms, libraries, and homes from the smallest town to the capital city San Juan. I want children in the island to know and be proud of the work of Pura Belpré, and to re-encounter the stories that belong to them.

and Lulu Delacre, the book’s illustrator:

I would like to send The Storyteller’s Candle to Tibetan schools for monks and nuns in Ladakh, India. Their lovely children have no libraries, and live off the generosity of others. They are taught English and the lesson that Pura Belpré imparts at the end of the book might be one they truly connect to.

Katie Smith Milway, author of One Hen (Kids Can Press, 2008):

If I could send One Hen anywhere in the world right now, it would be to Haiti, in Creole, to inspire children there to play an entrepreneurial role in rebuilding their nation. Happily, a Haitian Creole edition of the book is due out in 2010 through publisher EducaVision.

and Eugenie Fernandes, the book’s illustrator:

One Hen is already at the White House, so… after that I would like to send it… everywhere!, because it’s a book that connects us all.

Guo Yue and Clare Farrow, authors of Little Leap Forward: A Boy in Beijing (Barefoot Books, 2008):

Little Leap Forward is about the lives of children who are growing up in a very poor, overcrowded society, in which food is rationed and there are no toys (beyond what they can make themselves) – a closed society in which freedom, knowledge and creativity are suppressed, and the people they love are about to be taken away from them. It is also a story about the irrepressible power of friendship, love and the imagination, even in the face of hardship and revolution.

So if we could send the book to children in areas of need in the world, it would be to any country where people are not free to express themselves, where families are divided, and children suffer from hunger, fear and poverty. In some small way, we would love to give those children the feeling that they are not just tiny grasses blowing helplessly in the wind (there is an old Chinese saying about this), but that they can find strength through nature and friendship, and hope for a better future by making the most simple gestures of freedom and compassion, whether it is releasing a caged bird (as Little Leap Forward does), finding music in everyday sounds, taking care of a friend, or flying a homemade kite in the wind.

and Helen Cann, the book’s illustrator:

I’d like Little Leap Forward to go anywhere where lives are repressed and people are told what to think and do. Little Leap Forward is about the triumph of hope, love and imagination over oppression.

Once again, those interviewed have provided us with plenty of food for thought – and perhaps you have very particular ideas about where you’d send special books like those that make up the Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set? Do let us know…

When my daughter and I read this book together, we got a good sense of the passage of time.   And of course, one year in the life of an infant is quite amazing!  The world of their consciousness  — from being held and suckled, to their first independent movements, to their growing perception of the world outside of themselves — is all contained in this wonderful book.  By the time one year passes, little Jilu is old enough to truly enjoy the season — summer — he was born in, outside of the ger.

Baasansuren’s illustrations are lovely and rich.  My Little Round House is a picture book of the first order and this is one of the reasons why it was selected for the Spirit of PaperTigers project.   Do read the PaperTigers interview with Baasansuren.   And of course, do seek out the book itself either at your local library or bookstore!

Congratulations, Lee & Low, on this new development! We look forward to enjoying the books and helping spread the word on them!

Today’s Literacy Blog Tour host is Terry Doherty @ Scrub-a-Dub-Tub. For a complete list of hosts and topics, see here. And check these for a taste of some of PaperTigers’ posts on literacy:

Thoughts on Literacy: Going Where the Children Are
Books at Bedtime: Win-Win!
Our Literacy Future

Little Leap Forward: A Boy in Beijing has been selected for the 2010 Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set. A wealth of information about the book can be found here on our PaperTigers main website.

Have you heard of the pantoum or tried your hand at writing one?  A few months after I read this book, I encountered a pantoum written by Canadian poet, Robyn Sarah in her latest book, A Pause for Breath.  The form seemed vaguely familiar when I suddenly realized I had encountered it in Mora’s book.

This week’s Poetry Friday host is Danika at Teaching Books.

To learn more about One Hen, Inc., be sure to visit the website, including games, activities and resources for teachers and librarians – not to mention great music! Also, be sure to read our recent interview with One Hen author Katie Smith Milway here.

Tessa Strickland, Barefoot Books’ co-founder and editor-in-chief, answered our questions about Little Leap Forward: A Boy in Beijing, one of the seven books selected for inclusion in our Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set Donation Project, and about other topics related to the company and to multicultural children’s literature.

Q&A

PT: How did Little Leap Forward: A Boy in Beijing come about as a project for Barefoot Books?

TS: This project came about in quite a circuitous way. First, I was contacted by Clare Farrow, who wanted to know if I was interested in having her retell any traditional Chinese tales. In the course of our conversation, I learnt that she and her husband, Guo Yue, had just completed a manuscript about his life, Music, Food and Love. It so happened that this telephone conversation came about just as I was starting to cast around for stories for older readers, and I was fascinated by what Clare told me about Yue’s childhood in Beijing. So, I asked to read a copy of the manuscript.

PT: When you acquired the manuscript, did you know from the get go that you would publish it as an illustrated middle grade book, or was the decision regarding full plate illustrations made later in the process?

TS: When I read Music, Food and Love (Piatkus, 2006), I thought that the best way to tell Yue’s story to children would be to focus on the summer of 1966. The manuscript went through about four drafts and was a close collaboration between Yue and Clare, me, and an excellent editor, Anne Finnis. The decision to make full-plate illustrations was made once we had a manuscript that everyone was happy with.

PT: What can you tell us about the pairing of Guo Yue and Clare Farrow’s text with Helen Cann’s art?

TS: We have done a number of books with Helen Cann; I knew that she would be a delight to work with. Not only is she very talented, she is also extremely interested in developing her own style and in working
collaboratively. She had some very fruitful meetings and discussions with Clare and Yue, who were both extremely happy with her illustrations.

PT: How do you think the public’s attitude toward multicultural books for children has changed since Barefoot Books was founded, in 1992? Are there any major differences between the US and the UK markets in that regard?

TS: As Barefoot has always focused on multicultural books, it is hard to say with very much claim to objectivity how the public attitude has changed. That said, there was a significant surge in demand after 9/11. Also, before we set up our own business in the US, we used to go on selling trips (this was in the 1990s) to New York and Boston, and it was quite surprising how ‘multicultural’ to the publishers we visited seemed to equal ‘African-American and Hispanic’ and not much beyond that. The challenge for a publisher with a multicultural focus, I think, is the same as that facing a publisher with any work of fiction: how to find a writer and an illustrator with a disctinctive voice, and with the ability to show their world to a reader/many readers from other worlds so well that a bridge is crossed, a new understanding offered.

PT:What would you say is the most challenging aspect of being an independent publisher of children’s books these days?

TS: Ah, they are too many to count! BUT, one of the great things about being independent in the digital world is that it offers us a way of reaching our customers far more effectively than we could when we were dependent on the traditional supply chain. We have always enjoyed robust support from the institutional market, but been regarded as too niche by high street chains. It is not insignificant that our fastest-growing account is Amazon; the beauty of the internet is that it gives customers a chance to find their way to content beyond the standard character-driven mass market offer. And we have great faith in the fact that there are other parents and teachers out there, just like us, who want to introduce their children to different traditions and cultures; to question and reflect; to imagine what it would be like if…

PT: As of a few years ago, Barefoot books can no longer be found in chain bookstores. How did this reality come about, and what has the impact of adopting a more grassroots approach to sales/distribution been on the business?

TS: We did not fare well with chain stores in the US for the reasons I have outlined above; our focus is on growing a grass-roots community with like-minded business partners and through our Ambassador Programme. This feels much more authentic, somehow; we struggled to get exposure through the chains, and we also struggled with a model that seemed to lack nuance—a scale-out in Borders, for instance, meant the same quantity of books going everywhere across the nation, with no attention to the varying demographics. One size doesn’t fit all, in our view.

PT: What are some of your bestselling titles?

TS: Internationally, Niamh Sharkey’s wonderful picture book The Giant Turnip has been and continues to be a star. So does Debbie Harter’s The Animal Boogie. Of our more explicitly multicultural books, Mama Panya’s Pancakes is exceptional and is a top seller on Amazon too – don’t ask me
why! We don’t publish for quick results, so while we are delighted when books get off to a roaring start, our focus is on content that will stand the test of time and do better year by year.

PT: What are your hopes for the future of Barefoot Books?

TS: After a year which has been devoted to revising our online offer and rebuilding our website, we are confident that we have laid the foundations for a business model which has the potential to grow
exponentially. In the medium term, we hope to exploit the potential for growth through social media and through an offer which enables anyone who likes what we do to sign up, and to buy and sell Barefoot at
attractive discounts, with no strings attached and no start-up costs. In the long term, our hope is that we will become a household name and a destination for anyone who is looking for high-quality art and story for the children in their lives.

PT: Anything else you’d like to add?

TS: We can only do what we do because we have a fabulous, incredibly hard-working and highly motivated team in-house and because we are lucky enough to have tremendous support from a diverse and exciting range of people in the wider world – thank you, everyone!

…

Many thanks, Tessa, for taking the time to answer our questions. We are very grateful to Barefoot Books for donating copies of Little Leap Forward in support of our Spirit of PaperTigers project. We wish you and Barefoot Books continued success!

To find out more about Barefoot Books and to take a peek inside its “creative cauldron”, visit the website. The site also offers a number of inspiring videos related to the company’s activities that are well-worth watching! And please note: you can also follow Barefoot Books on Facebook and Twitter.