Writers Tricks of the Trade Issue 2 Volume 8

F ROM B OOK E XPO 2018: YA E DITORS T ARGET M ORE C HARACTER D IVERSITY F ROM AN ARTICLE BY A MANDA B RUNS YA Buzz panel participants: (from l.) Annette Pollert-Morgan, Sara Goodman, Dana Chidiac, Hali Baumstein, Jenny Bak, and Len Vlahos Like everything else in the world, there are some changes in children’s books where it is now allowable to approach sensitive issues. A BookExpo panel at this year’s YA buzz books underlined the im- portance of diversity of characters inclusion in book acquisitions. The five panel editors presented titles that seek to widen the scope of characters’ back- grounds and experiences. S UMMER 2018 Natasha Ngan’s Girls of Paper and Fire was called a “true passion project by Jenny Bak, editorial director at Little, Brown’s Jimmy Patterson imprint.” Some- times it is difficult to handle controversial content with sensitivity, so in this story about the practice of royalty keeping con- P AGE 16 W RITERS ’ T RICKS OF THE T RADE

Writers Tricks of the Trade Issue 2 Volume 8 | Page 21