On episode 38 of the My American Meltingpot podcast, I am excited to have award-winning author, Erin Entrada Kelly join me to talk about her brand new book, We Dream of Space, her impressive career writing middle grade novels, and why she’s so committed to including (truly) diverse characters in all of her work. Since Erin is also a Filipina-American, and it’s the middle of May, we also take time to chat about being Asian American in the age of Covid-19, and how celebrating Asian-American Heritage Month can help combat some of the discrimination we’re seeing against this community.
Erin Entrada Kelly is a New York Times bestseller whose book, Hello, Universe won the Newbery Medal in 2018. Her 2017 fantasy novel, Lalani of the Distant Sea received six starred reviews and was named one of the best books of the year by the New York Public Library, The Horn Book, Booklist, BookPage, and others. Erin is the author of six books in total, all of which are Junior Library Guild Selections. Her latest book, We Dream of Space, is her first work of historical fiction. It’s set in January 1986, in the weeks leading to the Challenger disaster.
Links from the Show
To learn more about Erin Entrada Kelly and to follow her on social media, visit her website. Remember, Twitter is her happy place.
To learn more about Asian-American Heritage Month, visit Asian Pacific Heritage.gov and see my previous post about the PBS documentary, Asian Americans.
Erin recommends the following critically-acclaimed books for kids, teens and the young at heart, for Asian-American Heritage Month or any month.
• Front Desk and/or Parachutes by Kelly Yang
• Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga
• Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay
• A Wish in the Dark is the Thailand based Les Miserables redux by Christina Soontornvat.
Although we bypassed the conversation in some ways, Erin did mention two important literary organizations dedicated to advocating for more cultural representation in publishing, We Need Diverse Books and the #OwnVoices movement. They are both worth investigating.
We Dream of Space Giveaway!
If you’d like to win a free copy of Erin Entrada Kelly’s newest book, We Dream of Space, simply follow My American Meltingpot on Instagram and leave a comment on our post for this episode with the hashtag #WeDreamofSpace. Everyone who follows MyAmericanMeltingpot and leaves a message with the #WeDreamofSpace hashtag by Monday May 25 2020, 8pmEST, will be entered to win. The winner will be announced on Instagram on Tuesday and the book will be sent directly from the publisher. Note: Only people living in the United States are eligible to enter because of limitation on shipping due to #TheRona.
Don’t forget to leave a rating and review of the show on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Thank you.
