Weekend Reading: The Happy (Halloween) Edition

It is Halloween, which means that I got almost no work done, because I had two Halloween parades to attend. But I am not complaining, because a colleague told me her kids have decided they are too old for Halloween and thinking about the fact that someday my kids will say that to me made me sad. I don't dress up, but I love to see the kids all dressed up. My daughter's K-8 school has a Halloween parade that everyone participates in, so I guess I can look forward to a lot more years of costumes- but I suspect at some point, my kids will tell me they don't really want me to come watch the parade.

So I went to both parades this year (our last one ever at day care and the elementary school one) and I got all misty-eyed at the cute kids like I always do. I have a 5 year old Elsa and a 7 year old detective this year. There were three Elsas at day care, and too many Elsas to count at the elementary school parade. But they were all awesome, and anyone who makes fun of the fact that so many little girls want to be Elsa needs to grow a heart, because the little girls all clearly loved their costumes. From what I saw today, I'd say first grade is peak Elsa, so anyone playing the "drink whenever Elsa comes to the door" drinking game tonight will be getting very drunk in the early part of the evening, and then will have time to sober up as the older kids come by.

Because of the awesomeness that is little kids on Halloween, I'm in the mood for happy things, so my links will be mostly happy stories, although some may have a dark overtone.

For instance, my first link is Arthur Chu's wonderful post about meeting Felicia Day, and GamerGate. It really is a great article. Go read it. Chu and Day both come across as really good people, and Chu has some very insightful points about how geek culture is changing due to things like GamerGate. Those angry troll dudes have no idea what they are destroying, they really don't.

Laralyn McWilliams wrote a really great piece about the lack of women in game development, and has been calmly and rationally answering the idiotic comments ever since. (I'm calling this happy because Laralyn so clearly ROCKS. But yeah, I know, it is a stretch.)

Here's a good piece about how we may be repeating the mistakes of the past in college computer science courses and reducing diversity in the field further. Oops. That one was not happy at all. So here, enjoy the comments on the Sexy PhD costume.

Here's some happy news about Ebola: it looks like they might be starting to get the outbreak under control in Liberia. If this trend holds, it is very good news indeed.

Also: this story about a mother and her brand new baby surviving Ebola made me so happy. I really, really wish we'd stop freaking out and instituting pointless quarantines here, and focus more on how to get better treatment to all Ebola victims in West Africa, so that we could have more happy stories like this one.

One of my favorite Twitter friends, who I think I've "known" since our kids were tiny and we were both hanging out in AskMoxie's comment section, has a book of poems coming out soon and a spruced up author website! Go check it out.

What could be happier than cute animals and cute babies? So here are some beautiful rabbits.

Here's Moon Cat:

I had to tweet this! My friend took a picture of a cat through a tube. I present to you Moon Cat... pic.twitter.com/Zgivfn4wzO
— Renzo Soprano (@Renzo_Soprano) October 28, 2014

Here's a cat staring at something:



If you have somehow managed to miss seeing Ruth Baby Ginsberg, here she is in all her awesomeness:

Ruth "Baby" Ginsburg is totally crushing Halloween today http://t.co/EOolABWN1z pic.twitter.com/IlgycyUqG9
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) October 31, 2014

I'll end with some requests:

1. If you are on tumblr, either follow my Crappy Things I Made to Stop the Whining tumblr or post the link to your blog in the comments. I am looking for more tumblrs to follow! If you don't like crappy toys made out of cardboard, you could also follow my Tungsten Hippo tumblr. I'll follow back from there, too.

2. If you are on tumblr and are willing to help me spread the word about Petunia, the Girl Who Was NOT a Princess, reblog this post I made about it. Bonus: if you do that, you can enter the raffle to win a free copy of the book, a t-shirt, or a button. If you aren't on tumblr, sharing that post or the release day post via your favorite social media network would be hugely appreciated (and also worthy of a raffle entry). Just remember to drop by the release day post to enter the raffle.

3. I could use some more Amazon reviews of Petunia, and some more Amazon and/or blog reviews of Navigating the Path to Industry. If you'd be willing to do either of those things in exchange for an electronic copy of the relevant book, let me know, either in the comments or via email (wandsci at gmail dot com). Now that I have a print version of Navigating the Path to Industry available, I'm also considering doing a GoodReads giveaway- I'll keep you posted about that.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Cranky Snippets about Travel

I love to travel, even with my kids, but there are a few things that just make me cranky. This post includes the cranky-making things from my most recent trip, which was our family vacation in Colorado. Yes, that was in July. I meant to post this earlier, but I got distracted by two book releases and what not.

Anyway, here are my top five cranky things about travel:

1. Restaurants: if you have a kids menu and it includes "plain buttered pasta," 99.99% of the children who order it will be disappointed to the point of refusing to eat it if it includes little flecks of parsley. Or little spots of pepper. Or anything except for pasta and butter, really. Yes, I know that is boring. But this is why it is on the kids menu. Similarly, if you list a grilled cheese sandwich on the kids menu, there is a high probability that the child ordering it does not want it on your artisan seven-grain bread.

2. Hotels: if you advertise a room as a suite, there should be a door between the sleeping area and the living area. Otherwise, the grownups are reduced to drinking beers in the bathroom after the kids go to bed. 

Yes we really did this. In our defense, it was a rather large bathroom.

3. People at busy gas stations on popular tourist routes: after you have finished getting your gas, pull out of the fueling bay. If you need to buy something in the shop, pull into one of the parking spaces that these gas stations almost universally have. Otherwise, the people in the cars waiting to get into the fueling bays will hate you. I might make an exception if you're pulling a trailer, but if you just have a car and you leave it parked in the fueling bay while you go get your drinks and go to the bathroom, I will hate you.

4. People parking at popular trailheads: don't park all strange and take up three spots. That's just mean.

5. Google: for the love of all that is good, can you please figure out how to make it possible to search for "playgrounds near X" in Google Maps and get reasonable results, i.e., actual parks with playgrounds, not stores that sell playground equipment? The parents of the nation will love you for it. Right now, our method for finding playgrounds in the cities/towns we visit or drive through involves some combination of these steps: (1) searching for the city's park and rec website and hoping they actually include this info (many do not), (2) looking at Google Maps near our destination, finding a green area that looks like a park, flipping into satellite view and trying to guess if that fuzzy shape is a playground, (3) asking the receptionist at the hotel and/or the waitress at the place we eat and hoping for the best. 

Corollary: city parks and rec departments, be sure to include amenities such as swings and slides on your web pages about your parks. Also, include the address!

And here's a bonus cranky thing. Restaurants: if you put a baby changing station in the women's restroom and not the men's restroom you are evil. We are past this stage now, but it bears stating, anyway.

OK, tell me your cranky things about travel in the comments!

Weekend Reading: The I Am So Tired of This Edition

I am heartbroken by the news of the school shooting in Seattle. Early reports include a quote from a classmate saying that the boy who shot people was upset at a girl who would not date him, and that the girl was one of the people shot.

This is obviously hearsay at this point, but if it is true, it adds this school shooting to a growing list of violence committed because a girl or woman dared to say no to a boy or man. I feel so helpless about this entire situation. It seems like we as a society won't take this cultural feeling of entitlement seriously nor will we do anything about the easy access to guns that makes this culture so damn deadly. I don't know how we fix it. No doubt people are already writing smart pieces about it, but I don't have the fortitude to go find them right now. I just want to look at pictures of cute bunnies and hug my kids and try to forget how screwed up we are.

But I do have some links I saved about Gamergate, which is part and parcel of that same misogynistic culture.

Arthur Chu's  piece connecting Gamergate to an anti disco riot is a tour de force. For the record, I'll confess that I was completely unaware of the anti-disco movement he references.

Jessica Valenti puts the Gamergate mess into the broader framework: "This angry male mob has been building for the better part of a decade."

Chris Kluwe's profanity-laced takedown of Gamergate is a thing of beauty. He later noted of Twitter that even after he posted that article, no one tried to doxx him, whereas Felicia Day's thoughtful piece about why she's been silent on the topic brought an almost immediate doxx.

Moving on to more garden variety sexism and its effects...

A lawyer in Georgia had a baby, and a judge denied her request for an extension on a court date... so she brought the baby to court and he had a fit.

Ellen Chisa wrote a thoughtful post about not reading too much into one bad job, and how job problems are treated differently for men and women.

This founder who was at Y combinator right after having a baby tries to put a positive spin on their policies... but yeah, this is part of the problem with the venture capital world.
Bricks and Mortar: http://bradfrostweb.com/blog/post/job-title-its-complicated/

People who follow me on Twitter probably saw me rant a bit about the new benefit offered by Apple and Facebook- they'll pay for you to freeze your eggs. It isn't that I am opposed to the benefit. Actually, it is an awesome boon for female employees who want to have this procedure. I'm opposed to the fact that this benefit seems to be in lieu of working on the culture of overwork that is endemic in the tech industry. Give employees time to live full lives now, not benefits to help them postpone aspects of their lives until later.

One of my Twitter/blog friends wrote a slightly different perspective in Slate, which I think you should read, too.

Moving on to totally random other things...

This post from Sara Benincasa about how you have to do it anyway is awesome.

This story about what it is like to have a really rare blood type is fascinating.

This is a rather nice idea for what to do with your body after you die. Awhile back I read Stiff,by Mary Roach, and it included discussion a Swedish company that did this sort of thing. I wonder if it is the same company?

Speaking of books, two reviews of Petunia, the Girl Who Was NOT a Princess posted on Wednesday, one from Anandi at The Papercraft Lab and one from Marcia at the 123 Blog.

I have absolutely no idea how the book is doing- since I'm not the publisher, I don't see up to the minute sales numbers like I do for Navigating the Path to Industry. But I can tell you that the raffle in my release post is pretty lightly subscribed, so if you're tempted to enter... do it! You have a fairly good chance to win.

Staying on books... The We Need Diverse Books movement is running an IndieGoGo campaign to do things like send authors into classrooms and fund a grant for writers. Consider contributing to it! (I'm currently deciding on what level I'll contribute at... but I will definitely contribute.)

Your ending funny: XKCD points out that the Apollo program was weird.

I'm still recovering from the cold that flattened me last Thursday. I basically run out of energy at about 3 p.m. everyday, almost as if I have a battery pack that is draining. Sadly, my days don't actually end at 3, so this is a bit of a problem. I'm hoping to get some actual rest this weekend. Everyone who has children is now laughing uproariously. But a girl can dream....

Diverse Books for Kids

I am extremely proud of my latest children's book, Petunia, the Girl Who Was NOT a Princess. I remember reading advice from someone (sorry, I can't remember who) about how to handle criticism as a writer, and the advice was to be confident you'd written the best book you could. That is very good advice. Sure, criticism of Petunia will still hurt, but I feel that it is the best book I could write, and so I am happy about it, no matter what anyone else thinks.

Luckily, the early reviews are good! I've linked to the ones that have come in so far on my release post, and you can also always check the Amazon pagefor more reviews. (Also: the raffle in that release post is still active and is quite lightly subscribed... so enter and you have a high probability of winning. Yes, I'll ship prizes internationally.)

So far, I've written a lot about the theme of the book and how I hope it will encourage people to think twice about stereotyping little girls based on the sole metric of whether or not they like princesses and sparkles.

Today's post is about something different, that I think is perhaps even more important. It is the fact that Penelope, the princess in the story, is not white.

Petunia and Penelope. And a cat.

I am a big fan of the We Need Diverse Books movement, and am thrilled to see us talking about this, and addressing the fact that characters in kids books are overwhelmingly white. Here is a story I've linked to before that I think really illustrates why this matters so much. Kids are great at identifying with a wide range of characters (even ones that aren't human!) but representation still matters, and every kid should get to see him or herself reflected in books.

I think that we need more books by authors of color featuring all sorts of characters and tackling a wide range of themes. I am so glad to see the books that are available get more exposure and readers. I do not in anyway want to elbow in on that.

However, as a white author, I also do not think it is right for me to ignore the issue. When I sent my manuscript for Petunia off to the publisher, I included some illustration notes, and among those were requests for a diverse cast in the book. I think the illustrator did a wonderful job with this, and am thrilled with the outcome.

When I sent my manuscript in, I had no idea if this was a good approach or not- I just knew that it felt like literally the least I could do. I talked about this more (and linked to some good articles) in an old Weekend Reading post. I think that kids should read books that tackle themes of racism and the problematic aspects of our history head on. But I also think they should read books in which the princess is Black, or the superhero is Hispanic, or the "everyday kids" are Asian. I don't feel up to writing the first sort of book (at least not yet) but I want my books to be that second kind of book.

Enough about me. I of course hope you'll buy my book, but I also want to share some books by other authors that we love and that have added diversity to our bookshelves and library selections. Here they are:

When the Shadbush Blooms,by Carla Messinger and Susan Katz, illustrated by David Kanietakeron Fadden. This is a beautiful book about continuity in a Native American community, from the time of "my grandparents' grandparents" to now.

This Is the Rope: A Story from the Great Migration,by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by James Ransome. Another story of change and continuity, this time tracing all the ways a family has used a piece of rope over the years, from South Carolina to New York City.

The Secret Olivia Told Me,by N. Joy, illustrated by Nancy Devard. This is the story of how once you tell a secret, it quickly becomes not a secret at all.

Paper Horse,by Kim Xiong, translated by Clarissa Yu Shen, illustrated by Lei Xiong. In this story, a little boy is staying with his grandparents, and his parents get stuck in a snow storm and can't get back to him when planned. His grandmother cuts a paper horse for him, and he imagines that it brings him to his parents.

Kitchen God,by Kim Xiong and translated by Clarissa Yu Shen, is a cute little story that introduces the Chinese Kitchen God tradition.

Mama Zooms,by Jane Cowen-Fletcher is about a little kid whose mother uses a wheelchair and "zooms" them around various adventures.

And Tango Makes Three,by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, and illustrated by Henry Cole. The main characters in this book are penguins, but we found it to be a great way to help our kids think about that fact that some families have two daddies or two mommies.

Matariki,by Melanie Drewery and illustrated by Bruce Potter is a good introduction to the Maori New Year celebration. My US readers are unlikely to be able to find it, but I know I have a few readers in NZ, too!

I don't have as many recommendations for chapter books, but we really liked Sugar Plum Ballerinas: Plum Fantastic,by Whoopi Goldberg, and I think Pumpkin has decided she wants to read more in this series.

The We Need Diverse Books campaign also posted a list of recommendations for young kids, which I'll be using to help find more books, and Lee and Low Books is a publisher that focuses on diverse books.

And of course, I welcome your suggestions in the comments. Now, because I believe in author karma, I am going to go write some Amazon reviews for the books in this post!

Its Release Day for Petunia!

I'm excited to announce that you can now buy my latest children's book, Petunia, the Girl Who Was NOT a Princess from these fine retailers:

• Amazon
• BN.com
• iBooks 
• The publisher

You can also ask your favorite bookstore or library to order it. It is available as a hardcover book and as an eBook. 

It is also available as an eBook through the Epic ebook subscription service. In fact, it was released a little early there, and has already picked up over 450 reads, which is pretty cool.

I wrote a little bit about the story and showed some of the illustrations in an earlier post. In brief, it is a story about a little girl who is NOT a princess. She is lonely among all the princesses until she discovers that the new little princess in her neighborhood is not JUST a princess. Here are some early reviews:

• From It's a Jumble
• From Today Wendy 
• From Marcia at the 123 Blog
• From Anandi at the Papercraft Lab

I'll add more reviews as they come in. (Update: I wrote a little more about the book in this post.)

Here's a bonus sample page:

Thanks to Penelope (far left), Petunia tries out dancing... but she stays NOT a princess

I've promised a couple of people copies of the book in gratitude for beta testing it. I'll send those out as soon as I get the hardcovers. If you aren't one of those people, you can still get a free copy of the book- I'm giving away my last paperback advance review copy in a raffle. 

I'll even sign it if you want!

If you already have a copy of Petunia, you can substitute The Zebra Said Shhh instead.

I'm giving away a couple free ebooks, two t-shirts, and three buttons, too. If you win the ebook and already have Petunia, you can substitute one of my other ebooks instead.

The t-shirts say either "NOT a Princess" or "Not JUST a Princess," and if you are so inclined you can also buy them.

The sample t-shirts I ordered for my kids

My kids both wanted white shirts, but they also come as black shirts with white text. There are ladies, unisex, youth and toddler shirts and infant onesies available. If you win this prize, you can pick the style and size you want. 

The buttons were swag my publisher made to hand out at the American Library Association conference, and were apparently quite popular. 

The publisher sent me five of the buttons left after the conference. My kids have claimed two, and I'm giving away the other three.

You can enter the raffle by:

• Buying the book
• Reviewing the book (on a retail site, GoodReads, or your own site)
• Tweeting about the book
• Tweeting about how your kids (or you!) are #notaprincess or #notjustaprincess
• Telling people about the book via any other means (tell a friend! tell a librarian! share on your favorite social media network! hire a skywriter! It's up to you.)

I also added an option to donate to a charity working to alleviate the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, because I've heard that those charities aren't getting the level of donations they need and that breaks my heart.

I'm running the raffle through Rafflecopter again, but if you have any problems with it or just don't want to give Rafflecopter your email address, you can email me directly (wandsci at gmail dot com) and I'll enter you into the raffle. You get two entries for buying a book, writing a review, or donating to charity. You get one entry for the other options, but you can do those once per day. Yes, sharing a link to this page or RTing one of my tweets about the book is a perfectly fine way to enter. But you have to tell me about it, either via the form below or via email.

You have until 12 a.m. on Friday, November 7, to enter.

Here's the raffle:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!