I don’t really remember “the call”.

It happened almost two years ago and it’s a blur.

But I can say the call was a tad anti-climactic.

You see, my editor had already sent umpteen emails to my agent Joan, telling her they loved THE MONSTORE and updating us on where they were in “the process”. I had a good feeling from that initial email…and subsequent follow-ups that kept apologizing for taking “so long” (which, looking back now, wasn’t very long at all for publishing—perhaps four weeks).

There was also a pre-offer email asking if I was open to making changes to the manuscript. Can you guess my response? **** YEAH!

When the call of the offer came in, I was happy, but I also knew it was coming. Maybe Joan sensed this because she tried to trick me. I remember picking up the phone and hearing a long sigh, “Hi…*sigh*…it’s Joan.” After hearing her drooping tone, I thought, oh well, they don’t want it after all that. So when she said, “We have an offer!” it took me a stunned minute to understand what was happening. I am getting an offer. Oh no, I’m not. Wait, I am! I am? I AM!!!!! YIPPEE-KI-YAY! 

(OK, so maybe I do remember the call!)

The joy lasted through several phone calls to family and friends, but by the end of the day I was already thinking…

…when am I going to sell the NEXT book?

Terrible, I know. Can’t I revel in the excitement for more than 139.7 minutes?

It seems with me that it’s always about the NEXT book. When I sold book #2, I THOUGHT THIS WAS A BEAR BOOK, I was already dreaming of book #3. I guess it’s how the Duggars feel about babies…?

So I look forward to the day when I have 19 books and counting.

In the meantime, I know I should be proud of the accomplishment of one book. After all, Harper Lee is content with one book. But something tells me THE MONSTORE movie isn’t going to star Gregory Peck. (Although I envision Danny DeVito in the role of The Monstore manager. One can dream about more than the next book.)

THE MONSTORE characters, copyright James Burks.

Not today.  Today we’re gonna talk about something crass and materialistic.

We’re gonna talk about swag.*

Just a small sampling of awesome swag I've collected lately

Most of us noob authors have three questions when it comes to swag:

~ What should I buy?
~ How much should I spend?
~ Who do I give it to?

I’m one of those unbalanced individuals with an office-supply fetish, so I’m not shy about admitting that one of the things I’ve most looked forward to about the debut process is the ability – nay, the necessity – to procure swag associated with my book.

There is a universe of swag out there.  I’ll be honest.  I wanted it all.

I waited patiently until my cover was finalized.  Until it appeared in the catalog with its very own ISBN number.  But then I started counting my pennies and things got hard.  What swag items would be a good investment?  Which would help me connect with readers?  What would people actually keep and use?

Some of my writer colleagues have been rather clever with their swag.  Megan Bostic gives out mini-notebooks since journaling features prominently in her debut, NEVER EIGHTEEN.  (If you ever meet her IRL, ask to see her swag caddy.)  E.M. Kokie, author of PERSONAL EFFECTS, had some specialized dog tags made; one of her characters is a veteran.  Lots of other writers I know do silicone bracelets, tote bags and T-shirts.

Like I said, a universe.

Sadly, the thirteenth century does not lend itself well to rampant materialism.  I could probably fish some rags and chicken bones out of my trash and give them out as authentic holy relics (hey, it worked for medieval people), but something tells me I’ll do better with the lovely replica pilgrim badges I bought from a pewterer in the UK, and of course there are the drunken monkey magnets of which I am so proud.  I’ve also got the more traditional bookmarks, stickers and postcards neatly arranged in boxes in my closet.

Who to give swag to?  I’m still working that one out.  Part of me is still dealing with the awkwardness factor: How do you hand someone something with your cover on it without it seeming pushy and forward?  So far I’ve had good luck just giving it to people who’ve asked.

What about you guys?  What swag do you like getting?  How does swag come to you?  What do you keep?  Have you ever gotten a particularly memorable swag item?

* If you’re not familiar with the term, “swag” refers to the physical artifacts authors use as promotional items, usually stuff with your book cover and ISBN on it: bookmarks, buttons, stickers, temporary tattoos, real tattoos, vanity license plates, billboards…

So, technically, this is my second post here at EMU’s Debuts but we’ll pretend, for the sake of being ‘customary’ that it’s my first.

With all of that out of the way, here is my story.

Sort of…

We’ll title this part ‘The Email Before The Call Before THE CALL…’

‘THE CALL’ is what every author waits for, dreams of, imagines in the dead of night…when the phone finally rings (finally…in my case about 30 years after I first started thinking that I’d like to be a writer when I grew up. Of course, I’ve never actually grown up but that’s a whole ‘nother post) with some variation on the words ‘publishing house’ and ‘offer.’

This is not exactly a post about ‘THE CALL’ as I might have mentioned.

Instead, I’d like to touch a little more on the process as it relates to my debut novel HENRY FRANKS. The manuscript was out on submission when I received an email from my agent that lead to setting up a phone conversation with an editor who loved the book enough to want to talk to me about it.

To put this in perspective for those outside the industry: think of unagented authors as college baseball players (still able to go right into the Show but they have a ways to go and could probably use some time in the minor leagues), agented authors as minor leaguers (still able to go right into the Show but a lot closer to getting there than those college players) and authors with publishing contracts as MLB players in The Show. Yes, I know, I’m generalizing dreadfully…so, with this horrible analogy in mind, having an editor want to talk to me is like a minor leaguer getting a call from the manager of a team in the majors to discuss the future and what he (or she) might be able to accomplish in the big leagues.

In other words: WOW! Someone like that wants to talk to me??!!

All of which is background to get us to this point in our story.

The date and time of the phone call are set.

Days go by and it’s finally The Day of the ‘phone call.’ Most of the family knows there’s a phone call coming. It’s a big deal, to me at least and the waiting seems never ending (but, then again, waiting always does, no?). So, the clock clicks over to 1:30 (Central) and I’m sitting, alone in the house, with the phone in my hand. Waiting for it to ring.

A watched pot never boils.

A held phone, to butcher the proverb, never rings.

See, there’s a reason it doesn’t ever ring.

In my unending cluelessness (such a fun word) both my agent and the editor about to call me (ANY SECOND NOW, COME ON PHONE, RING!) have the wrong number.

I know, can you believe? Only me, right?

Suddenly, as I sit at my desk, waiting for the phone in my hand to ring, the fax machine (down the hall and through the kitchen) starts to ring. The fax machine! Which is plugged in to the home line because everyone has my cell number and no one calls the home number, right? Right?!

Um, no, wrong.

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie-roll pop?

How many rings do I have to get to the fax machine, unplug the phone line, plug the phone line into a real phone and answer it?

5?

Maybe 6?

1 ring down with me still sitting at my desk, waiting for the cell phone in my hand to ring as my brain, somehow, processes the fact that my fax machine is ringing and why is someone trying to send me a fax right now?

Oh.

OH!

2 rings down.

I have to stand up, so fast my chair goes spinning away, and jump over the lump of a dog who has, as always, camped out directly in the way of anything.

3 rings down.

Run, slide, my way across the kitchen floor, flailing to a stop in front of the fax machine in the middle of the 4th ring. Rip out the phone line and the ringing dies mid-ring, leaving me in silence. The seconds tick by as I reach for the landline phone and shove the cord in. The phone does not ring. I pick it up, silence.

Press the flash button to switch lines and pray. Say ‘Hello’ trying to sound normal, as though panic hadn’t just grabbed me by the throat and keep my breathing level so I don’t sound like an obscene caller. “Hello?” I say again, and then, just when I’m about to start thinking that I’d been too late, taken too much time and the editor would think I cared so little about his phone call that I stood him up, he answers. “Hi.”

And that is the story behind the call to discuss my manuscript with an editor.

I think, in hindsight, the panic was good, it cleansed my mind of all the worry, all the waiting, all the stress. I was just so deliriously happy that I’d been able to do something as, allegedly, simple as answering the phone that everything else seemed simple as well.

Two days later I received THE CALL.

I hoped and prayed it might be coming but wasn’t sure when (or, of course, if) it would. Still, every time the phone rang my heart skipped a beat. But seeing my agent’s phone number and name on the caller ID stopped it completely.

Off tangent: Caller ID takes a lot of the ‘surprise’ factor out of some of these things, no?

I listened to her tell me that the publishing house made an offer and all I could think was “I WANT TO TELL EVERYONE” but, of course, you really can’t. It’s not official yet, so many things still up in the air, don’t tell anyone but close family…but it’s not ‘real’ until you tell someone is it?

By the time I hung up the phone I was going back and forth from kneeling on the floor of my bedroom, head thrown back with tears streaming down my cheeks in absolute unadulterated joy to jumping up and down screaming. But there was no one to share the news with…

This was a moment I’d envisioned since I was a teenager. Sure, the details changed over the years as I learned more and more about the industry and the reality of THE CALL but still some things, I thought, were set in stone.

I had imagined telling my wife, my mother and my sister. In that order.

Makes sense, no?

Here are the problems though:

Problem #1: In the middle of the work day, my wife was at work, with no access to her cell phone. And, really, this is not the type of news best given to a spouse over the phone, right? Right.

Solution? Drive over to her school, show up in her doorway and, with her knowing there’s the possibility of an important CALL, have her take one look at me and KNOW. Must be some type of husband-wife thing. But she knew the moment she saw me standing there.

And in front of her entire class she melted into a hug and whispered “I’m so proud of you.”

It was a moment to savor.

Problem #2: When I left my wife to go call my mother, I reached her on her cell phone. While she was driving on 287 in northern New Jersey.

Do you really want to tell someone this kind of news while they’re going 60+ on the highway?

Um…no.

Solution: So, when she answered I asked her what she was doing. She said ‘driving.’ And I, calm as you please (yeah, right…) said ‘You might want to pull over.’

And with my mother on the shoulder of 287 I told her the news.

She cried.

It was a moment to savor.

Problem #3: My next call was supposed to go to my sister. What was she doing at that moment in time? Giving a speech in Atlanta. Completely cut off from any form of communication.

Solution: well, there was no solution. There were too many other family members still to tell so I called my brother-in-law and told him so he could get a hold of my sister.

It was still a moment to savor hours later when I finally got in touch with her.

At that point I still couldn’t announce it to the world (which would have to wait a while still) but telling family was something special.

Something to savor…

And now, looking back on it almost a year later, with the publication date in September 2012 rapidly approaching, just writing all of this has been incredibly emotional.

I’m looking forward to sharing the rest of the journey with you, thanks for reading!

I’ve been thinking about Jeannie’s post all week. About the significance of what we do. As artists setting our stride against headwind of rejection. As writers, laying our souls bare in our work.

Actually, I’ve been thinking about this for quite some time.

You see, WATER may be my debut, but it is not my first book. Like many authors, I took a few cracks at it before I got it right. I heard that pesky statistic—the one that says we’re more likely to be struck by lightning than published. But I kept at it anyway. For years.

Because I had something to say. Many somethings; important somethings. But truly, truly, I am so grateful that those early stories stayed in their dusty drawer, that my skills and taste had time to catch up with my dreams.

The wonderful news is that WATER found its way to just the right agent and just the right editor. Here’s the story of how my dream became a deal:

• January, 2011: I won an award at VCFA that sent the first 20 pages of my middle grade novel onto an editor’s desk at Harcourt Children’s Books. But I was still in school. I couldn’t spend too much time daydreaming…
• May: I heard back with a request for the full manuscript. I sent it in, trying to convince my high hopes to come just a little closer to the ground.
• June: I received an official-looking envelope in the mail. It was a three page editorial letter on fancy cream paper, with the peppy blue HMH dolphin in the corner and some very thoughtful, constructive, and kind words from an editor named Reka.

So I added and I tweaked and I tightened. I sent the revision to some trusted (and brilliant) first readers, and then I dug in again. When I couldn’t bear to look at the pages for one more second, I took a deep breath, and hit send.

• December: An email appeared in my inbox. Reka loved my revisions. She loved the story. Relief. Affirmation. Joy. Hope.
• A little later in December: Early morning phone call with Joan. She loved it too. And she wants to work with me through a long and varied career. Halfway through my happy dance, a kind soul reminded me that though I had a savvy literary agent in my corner, I didn’t actually have a contract. Right. Stop dreaming up cover designs. Pause the parade of stars floating across my vision.

• January, 2012: THE CALL came while I was at work, so naturally, I stepped into the supply closet. Joan says, “We have an offer!”
• A few weeks later: Finally, after a year of intermittent letters and emails, Reka and I spoke on the phone. Listening to her talk about all the wonderful things she envisioned for WATER, it finally sunk in. This was really happening. For my story. It was just about the best feeling in the world.

Thanks to everyone—EMUs and EMUs followers alike–who helped celebrate the release of We’ve Got a Job. The two winners of a free signed book will be announced on Thursday. Everyone who commented last week is entitled to an “I can be a hero, too!” badge. Email Cynthia off-line with your address if you’d like one. And, if you bought a copy of We’ve Got a Job last week, let Cynthia know so she can send you a signed bookplate.

This is some bling you don't want to miss out on!

I didn’t contribute a post last week during the big event, but I did feel the excitement. I’ve been feeling the excitement for months, as Cynthia’s wonderful book has earned starred reviews, been handed out as an ARC at national events, and even been mentioned on a Newbery watch list–and all before its release.

I’m just tickled pink for Cynthia. Pink. Not green with envy. Tickled Pink. Really.

Me? jealous? Why would I be jealous, I've got a zombie chicken!

Okay, so maybe there’s a little hint of green. I’ve always had an olive complexion, but maybe it’s looking a little more chartreuse lately.

It’s not Cynthia’s stars, or sales figures, or loving reviewers that make me envious. I know how hard she has worked and how committed she is. She deserves every single second of joy and success this moment can hold.

Her book, though, that’s what’s turning me ever-so-slightly green. It is beautiful, and beautifully written, but more than that, it’s socially powerful. It’s a story that NEEDED to be told, and that we should never, EVER stop telling. And I can’t think of a better way to tell it. I want my book to be that meaningful and important, but how can anyone live up to that standard with a fluffy bit of frou frou fiction?

I decided this was a question that needed an answer, so I queried my fellow EMUs (except I tricked them into responding by phrasing it more like “the significance of what we do.” I’m crafty that way.)

Here’s what they said (I leave it to you to figure out who said what):

GEEKS GIRLS AND SECRET IDENTITIES is a big, sloppy, affectionate ode to the fringe kid. My editor said it is essentially about a boy who feels unlovable, incapable, and undeserving of acceptance and respect, but eventually realizes that he is eminently lovable, highly capable, and undoubtedly worthy of acceptance and respect. And if even one of my future readers walks away from my book with the tiniest scrap of belief that those feelings are attainable, well then – that would be significant, wouldn’t it?

I want NERVE to offer readers a page-turning story, but I’d be thrilled if it also generated conversation about privacy. The main character in my book is seduced into a game of dares, which takes advantage of information she’s given away freely online. Loss of privacy may be the currency we pay for a greater sense of community, but the Internet has greatly magnified that equation. I’d love it if my book gets folks talking about where they’d draw the line.

HENRY FRANKS is young adult horror so on the importance scale from SEE SPOT RUN to WE’VE GOT A JOB I’d have to say that HENRY FRANKS is probably closer to Spot…it’s escapism I guess, a way for readers to get a little creeped out and have some fun. The important part would be the search for identity, which I believe everyone can relate to. Trying to find yourself, find your friends, find your future. Those are the over-arching themes, all tied up with a pretty bow (if, by ‘pretty bow’ one includes a serial killer, a hurricane, a love story and a joke or two…).

FLYING THE DRAGON is for the kid who has just moved to a new school, who feels out of place in his or her own skin, or who is dealing with a relative who is terminally ill. It’s for a kid who is dealing with culture shock, or the kid who has a non-English speaking classmate and doesn’t know how to reach out. It’s for kids who are curious about other cultures. And it’s for kids who feel caught between two cultures.

For LEAGUE OF STRAYS, I feel the importance is to let teens know the dangers in following others blindly. My character, Charlotte, ends up in a new school Senior year and gets caught up in “friendship” with several kids, one of whom is a sociopath, who she follows until it becomes very challenging for her to repair her life. It’s also tangentially about revenge and bullies and the damage they do. Lastly, it’s about developing your own dreams and holding onto them.

While FANGIRL is primarily a fun and funny novel, the main character, Blaze, must deal with intense bullying after her evil ex posts a ‘sext’ photo of her online. Instead of giving up, Blaze fights back and refuses to lose her sense of humor despite feeling utterly defeated.  Unfortunately, most of us have experienced being the subject of gossip and it always hurts. I hope that readers will be able to draw strength from Blaze and realize that they cannot be defined by what others think of them. Oh, and also, Gossip Mongers Suck!

Every reader is going to get something different out of THE WICKED AND THE JUST. It’s going to be important in more ways than I can imagine. So here’s why it is important to *me*. At its heart, it’s a story about power and its exercise. Having power and knowing how to use it are two different things, and kids live in a world of uneven power that is uncomfortably hierarchical at times. The medieval world is similar, and I hope I capture that and make it familiar, relatable and survivable.

I’ll tell you right up front—WATER is devastating. My characters endure trauma that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. But I don’t think this book is important because of the suffering. It is important because of the hope that rests beneath the parched surface of this story: the idea that you can find family if you are brave enough to let down your defenses; you can make a home for yourself, even out of the dust.

HOLY COW!!!!  And to think all this time I’ve been writing about chickens and a fish with whiskers! (Although actually, my book KATERINA’S WISH does address issues of immigration, prejudice, and choosing between fighting for what you believe in or settling for second best. Its only a little bit about chickens.)

What I really love about all these answers, is the passion behind them. The messages of hope and strength and comfort with which all these authors are marching forward. Some of these stories are fun, some are scary, some are serious or adventurous. All of them offer kids a chance to go somewhere or be someone different for a short time, and learn important things about themselves and the world while they are at it. The strength and solace we all hope kids find in our books is truly awe inspiring, and makes me proud to be part of this community. Like Birmingham’s civil rights marchers, we’ve got a job, too!

And that’s a pretty wonderful job to have, even if there is some frou frou fluff along the way.

I'm wearing my badge, 'cause I've got a job, too!

…as your handy-dandy WE’VE GOT A JOB online guide. Click here for a page with several thumbnails–each a trail that ends in an interview with Cynthia.

Find the link in the gray stripe at the bottom of each box and click. Easy, right?

So go ahead–teachers, introduce WE’VE GOT A JOB to your students. (Here’s a free online curriculum guide to get you started). And everyone stay tuned to Cynthia’s website, where she’ll soon be posting a trailer produced by the 4th grade students you met in yesterday’s post.

Although we hate to say farewell to this auspicious debut week, we know that Cynthia’s book will live on in classrooms across the country and in the hands of readers of all ages.

On page 115 of WE’VE GOT A JOB, Cynthia quotes Dr. Martin Luther King , Jr. as saying to the children of Birmingham:

“You are certainly making history, and you are experiencing history. And you will make it possible for the historians of the future to write a marvelous chapter.”

Cynthia Levinson is that historian, and WE’VE GOT A JOB is, indeed, that marvelous chapter.

First, we’ve got an interview with Christa Armantrout, gifted and talented specialist at Sommer Elementary School in Austin, Texas.  Arnetta, Audrey, James and Wash marched right out the pages of WE’VE GOT A JOB and into Mrs. Armantrout’s classroom, bringing the Civil Rights Movement alive for her students.

We asked Mrs. Armanrout to tell us that, with the plethora of Civil Rights books available for teachers to use in the classroom, why should teachers share WE’VE GOT A JOB with their students?

Here’s what she and her students had to say: 

Cynthia Levinson has brought the real struggles, frustrations, and fears of the civil rights movement into my classroom!  By introducing the four children involved in the Children’s March, my students saw from four different perspectives the challenges the families, the children, and the Civil Rights leaders faced during this awful time of hate and violence.  In WE’VE GOT A JOB, Levinson’s perfect selection of pictures brought to life the issues the blacks and whites faced in Birmingham, Alabama.  My students were moved by the pictures of the children in the paddy wagon, the dog attacking the boy, the use of the fire hoses, the attack at the bus station, the bombed-out church, and many other pictures that spoke more than words could describe.

Though there are many books about the civil rights movement, none compare to Levinson’s WE’VE GOT A JOB.  She weaves in the many factors that played into the troubles and triumphs of the civil rights movement in Birmingham: the disagreements within the civil rights leadership, the city politics that played a crucial role in Birmingham’s problems, the parents who had too much to lose, and the children who stepped up proudly to fill the jails.  As my student, Sonia, said when asked what she especially liked about the book, “[learning about] All the things going on behind the mass meetings and demonstrations.”

Though the pictures were painful to see, each of my students was emphatic that the book would not have been complete without the visual proof that things were that bad!  As my student, Claire, said, “All of the other civil rights books hide what the police did and what the whites did.  It’s better [to show the pictures] because it showed what really happened.”  Another student, Andy, said, “Some of the pictures pop out and show you the devastating past, like the dog and the boy and the Freedom Riders’ bus.” Keertana added, “I like how Cynthia Levinson mentions the KKK. It’s scary and most [authors of children’s books] don’t mention it.  It’s hard to mention it in a kids’ book.  It helped me understand how the whites were actually treating [the blacks] secretly.  Sometimes the police were in the KKK or protecting the KKK.”

As a teacher of 4th grade gifted and talented children, I know that my students can reach far beyond their peers when it comes to high-level connections, inferencing, and general divergent thinking skills.  I struggle to find literature that can challenge their thinking of historical events and social issues in a way that is appropriate for their level and age.  WE’VE GOT A JOB stimulates my students’ thinking and encourages them to connect with children close to their own ages who are real people with really big problems.

As Cynthia introduced Audrey, Arnetta, James, and Wash in the beginning of the book, my students were interested in understanding the problems and the variety of ways each person faced their challenges. When my students read the last chapter that tells about the children as adults, it hit home that these people are real! Now they could see this book was about real people, not just characters in a fictional story.

Bravo to Cynthia Levinson for writing such an exceptional book!

We here at Emu’s Debuts couldn’t agree more.

Before we say farewell to Mrs. Armantrout and her fabulously articulate students, here’s a quiz with a reward that’s better than any grade you could get: a copy of We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March signed by Cynthia Levinson. We’ve even provided the links to the key pages on Cynthia’s site to help you with the answers. On Wednesday, we’ll have a drawing from all contestants with correct answers to see who’s the lucky winner!

See--look! You've already earned an A+!

QUIZ

1) Arnetta Streeter, a marcher, signed The 1963 Birmingham Civil Rights Movement Ten Commandments. What is commandment #5?

Where to find it: Meet the stories behind the book.

2) In Spring, 1963, approximately how many black children marched in defiance of segregation laws?

Where to find it: Cynthia provides this answer on her presentation workshop page for young readers and writers.

3) Which newspaper began its headline with these words: “Hundreds of hookey-playing demonstrators arrested…”

Where to find it: News from around the world…1963 style.

Class dismissed! Remember to hand in your quiz papers (er, leave a comment in this post) by Tuesday so that we can announce the winners next Wednesday. For more classroom resources, including a shiny new curriculum guide, visit Cynthia’s website.

My interviews over the past year have dealt with childhood hopes/dreams/aspirations and I have brought that viewpoint to these three very special subjects.

The story of how approximately 4,000 young people forced the City of Birmingham to desegregate in May 1963 is told through the voices and experiences of four young civil rights demonstrators. Dr. King’s strategy was to “fill the jails” with protesters, thus overwhelming the criminal justice system. When adults couldn’t do the job, children, literally, stepped forward, marching to jail in such numbers that they fulfilled their dreams of freedom.

Audrey Faye Hendricks was nine years old when she spent a week in jail. James Stewart, 15, was the first person out the door of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church on the first day of the marches. Arnetta Streeter, also 15, was trained in the precepts and techniques of nonviolence—which she followed even when powerful water hoses washed her down the street. In retaliation, Washington Booker III threw rocks at the Birmingham police until he, too, decided to march peacefully, doing his part to fill the jails.

While writing WE’VE GOT A JOB, Cynthia interviewed all of them extensively. Wash and James have agreed to be interviewed yet again, by me to help promote the book.

But, we’ll start with the author, Cynthia Levinson.

PAS: What did you want to be when you grew up?  Are you there yet?

CL: I wanted to be the Elephant Girl in the circus.

The roaming, free-spirited life-on-the-rails lured me. And, the image of wearing spangly costumes while an elephant lifted me on his trunk up to his broad, hairy back seemed the most glamorous and least dangerous job I could find there. Despite having thighs I would never expose to spangles, I’m getting surprisingly close. I like to travel, as often as possible by train. My work-in-progress is about the circus. I’ve even met someone who grew up with an Elephant Girl. Although I haven’t tried elephant-riding myself, I’m learning to juggle. That counts, right? Anyway, juggling’s as dangerous and as glamorous as I’m willing to get these days.

PAS : If you could talk to the 15-year-old Cynthia for five minutes, what would you tell yourself?

CL: That’s a tough question, Peter, because that’s the year my mother died.

I’d say to myself, “You won’t always be so sad, Cynthia. So, don’t hide or ignore how you feel. Because, when you do that, you might miss the happy feelings to come, too.”

Although I wasn’t mature enough before she died to observe how my mother mothered my older sister and me–she was a given, like the air I breathed—I know she affected subliminally the way I parented my own two daughters.  She had an irreverent sense of humor, a composure, and dedication to her profession as a violinist—at a time when most mothers didn’t work—that inspired me. So, I would say to 15-year-old me, “Thank your mother.” I hope my children would want me to thank her.

Finally, I’d reassure my younger self that, “Eventually, it won’t matter that you’re not cool. Life will find its own level.”

By the way, pondering the question of whether “the 15-year-old Cynthia” is my former self or still myself led me to write an article for Odyssey Magazine on the philosophy of identity. It’s called “Knock, Knock.”

PAS: I can only imagine how much information and knowledge and research you sculpted into this wonderful book and, therefore, can only imagine that there were a large number of ‘things’ which just missed the cut to be included. What were the items which you found most difficult to finally decide not to include in the book?

CL: I love this question, Peter! Only a writer—a wonderful writer—could think to ask it because you know how much prose must be discarded on the cutting-room floor to produce a book that hums.

I’m a ponderously slow writer and not verbose. So, although Kathy (Landwehr, my inexhaustible editor) edited the heck out of the manuscript, she didn’t excise entire chapters or, even, sections. Mostly, sidebars bit the dust. Here are two—one serious, the other humorous—that didn’t survive, although I’ll post them on my website.

One of the themes of the book is Dr. King’s insistence on nonviolence. Despite the likelihood that civil rights demonstrators would be attacked, they couldn’t retaliate in any way; nor could they carry any item, including fingernail scissors, that could be construed as a weapon. Arnetta Streeter, one of the teenagers who picketed and marched in 1963 and who tells her story in WE’VE GOT A JOB, learned, “If you cannot be nonviolent, they cannot use you.”

I wondered where this precept came from. This is what I learned.

Many of the people in this “genealogy” appear in the book.

Now, for the funny one. James, another of the teenaged marchers, who spent three days packed into a jail cell so crowded that the inmates had to take turns sleeping, told me this story:

Thanks, Peter, for inviting me to your blog.

More information on Cynthia can be found on her website HERE and, of course, WE’VE GOT A JOB is available everywhere.

But the incredibly in-depth and insightful answers from Cynthia is just ONE of the wonderful interviews I’d like to present today. It is an extraordinary pleasure and tremendous honor to have been given the chance to interview the following two people. Both of whom were an integral part of the history of the Civil Rights movement. I can not thank Cynthia enough for giving me this opportunity or James and Wash for being gracious enough to answer my ‘silly’ questions. I am very grateful.

Over the past year I have asked, as always, the same two questions of all the people who have been kind enough to let me interview them. But, and this was vital to understanding just how special these next two interviews were, every single person I’ve interviewed previously grew up after the Civil Rights movement. There was never a time when the people I had previously interviewed had to live as, literally, a ‘second-class citizen’ and, therefore, they had no limits on what dreams they could have had as a teenager. Wash and James, on the other hand, had a very different childhood. And their answers, despite the time and place they lived in, reflect the universality of the hopes and dreams of all teenagers.

As I said, I am very humbled, grateful, pleased and honored to have been given the chance to interview them both and I treasure the opportunity to share this with you.

For a true understanding of James and Wash please read the book, the very short bios included here are just a taste of the rich tapestry of their lives.

After the events of WE’VE GOT A JOB, James Stewart went to Case Western Reserve University. He was then drafted; after the Army, he returned to Birmingham where he worked in Health Services for Headstart. He’s very proud that he cofounded the state’s Sickle Cell Anemia Project for children. Most of his professional life has been in pharmaceuticals in Atlanta.

PAS: What were some of your hopes and dreams as a child? Did you get there?  

JS: As a child the trauma of losing my older brother in a fire put a real damper on my hopes and dreams.  That event, plus racial prejudice, created an environment where I struggled merely to survive.  I knew that there was much more than just being a “Doctor, Lawyer, or Indian Chief”.  I wanted to do something that was outside of the normal expectations of a Black professional career.  Eventually, I began a career in the pharmaceutical industry, which was both challenging and rewarding.

PAS: If you could talk to the 15-year old James, what would you say to him?

JS: I would tell him to watch for more discrimination, but in a much more subtle manner. I would tell him to focus on improving himself and those around him through higher education and training…that he will have to be twice as good as his white counterpart in order to get a chance at the same opportunity. (Michael Jordan; Williams Sisters; Tiger Woods) I would tell him to prepare for opportunities that he cannot see, because success = preparation + opportunity.  I would warn him of the severe backlash against affirmative action…that those in control of 100% of discriminatory practices in America would be very resistant to relinquishing even 10% of that control to minorities in the name of fairness.  I would talk to him about forgiveness, which is the real key to his freedom…i.e. getting rid of the bitterness of racial prejudice against him and to seek peace through the Lord, Jesus Christ.

PAS: After the movement in 1963, how did things change in Birmingham?

I don’t know…I left and went to college at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH. My family remained in Birmingham. The main difference I noticed were the changes in access to public accommodations.  However, due to the vast degree of separation between the races, not much changed in the neighborhoods because they remained all Black and all Caucasian.

PAS: You were part of the March on Washington- Did you think about making history at the time?  

JS: People always ask that, not just about the March on Washington, but about the entire Civil Rights Movement in the early 60’s. The answer is absolutely not. I knew that the events were significant, but to think that they were historical and one day might be in books? No, there was too much focus on ‘the moment’ to think that way. For me, those thoughts occur in times of reflection.  However, seeing and hearing Dr. Martin Luther King deliver such a powerful address to the nation was exhilarating and I knew that the March on Washington was a pivotal moment in the civil rights struggle.  Little did I know that it would spark the kind of racial hatred that killed the 4 little girls in a church bombing just a few weeks later.

PAS: What are your views on the current state of race relations in America? Better or Not?

JS: I think that race relations have improved in this country on a whole, but there is still a lot of work to be done.  Racial prejudice is deeply rooted in America and we have done a good job “cutting down the trees” but the roots still remain.  If we don’t make an effort to eliminate those “prejudicial roots” and cultivate a society of honor and respect for all people and groups, we will see racial hatred make its way back into our society.  A large part of this process involves understanding the truth about America’s history–both good and bad. The book, WE’VE GOT A JOB, is playing a role in shedding the light on the extent and severity of White oppression, which existed not too long ago.  Hopefully all of us can learn from this horrendous time in our past so that we will never repeat it.

After the events in Birmingham, Washington (‘Wash’) Booker was in the Marines and fought in Vietnam. When he returned to Birmingham, he joined the Black Panthers, then directed a theater program, taught poetry, and became a political consultant. He now specializes in energy issues.

This interview with Wash is much different than every other interview I’ve posted for one other reason: it was done over the phone, not via email. So I was taking notes and trying to keep up with the wonderful stories Wash was sharing with me. it was a breath-taking interview that I can only hope to capture an echo of here. Any mistakes are, of course, mine.

PAS: What did you want to be when you grew up?  Are you there yet? 

WB: My dreams came true. I never thought of being anything other than a marine. I was raised on John Wayne movies. Even the dramas and comedies on tv–McHale’s Navy and others. From the time I was a boy I wanted to be a marine.

PAS: If you could talk to the 15-year-old Wash for five minutes, what would you tell yourself?

WB: You’re okay. You’re okay. Don’t worry about it. That’s what I would tell 15-year old me. It means so much to know: you’re okay. Most 15-year old boys need to know that, it’s a good thing.

PAS: After the children’s marches, how quickly did things change in Birmingham for you and your friends and family?

WB: Not noticeable that things were changing. Once in high school we drove to Jasper for a football game or something and on the way back we stopped at a KFC. They still had to serve us in the back and we ended up cussing them out before speeding away. The cops chased after us and charged us with reckless driving. Things were changing but in my world things were basically the same.

PAS: In the book you are quoted as saying ‘It’s just a blessing to have been there’ in reference to the children’s marches. Did you know, back then, while all of this was going on, how important what you were doing actually was? Were you thinking (was anyone thinking) ‘I’m a part of history’ and did you realize you were making history?

WB: No-not in the sense that I know now how important it was. It was a righteous calling, a just war. We knew we had God on our side. We knew the things that were wrong that we wanted to change. What we did? It opened doors for everyone.

PAS: Finally, how do you see the current state of race relations in America?

WB: It may sound strange but we’ve reached a point where economic and other things make race the last priority. We need to work together to survive. In some ways the more thing change the more they stay the same but I feel that times are better. There’s a greater understanding and greater tolerance between the races.

I can not recommend this book highly enough. WE’VE GOT A JOB exposes the reader to an almost forgotten chapter of the Civil Rights movement that deserves to be remembered. By shining a light on the Birmingham Children’s March, Cynthia Levinson has done the world a great service.

For extra fun: Everyone who leaves a comment this week on any of the EMU’s Debuts posts will receive a “I can be a hero, too!” badge and will also be entered into a drawing to win a signed copy of the book!! Everyone who answers Friday’s quiz correctly will also be entered into a (second) drawing to win a book! And, anyone who buys a copy of the book this week will receive a signed bookplate.

Today, it is my honor and pleasure to help launch Cynthia Levinson’s new Book, WE’VE GOT A JOB—THE 1963 BIRMINGHAM CHILDREN’S MARCH. Not surprisingly, I am focusing on heroes today.

If you ask a child to name a hero, most will cite a cape-wearing one with a secret lair. A die-hard sports fan may give the name of a MLB slugger or a quarterback with a cannon for a throwing arm. A music enthusiast may offer up the name of a pop star. It is the rare child that would offer up the name of a real hero.

Thinking about the cartoon champions that children usually associate the word “hero” with, brought me to Spiderman comic’s quote, “With great power comes great responsibility.” I have always liked this quote for both its simplicity and depth.

So, why do I bring it up here? Because I’m thinking about heroes and how these children of a volatile 1963 Birmingham turned this well-known quote on its head. How they stared down fear—not to say they weren’t awash in it, but they stepped forward regardless. When met with opposition (which you’ll see is an understatement when you read the book) they pushed forward, even with the threat of personal peril. These children knew that the reverse of the above quote is true as well: “With great responsibility, comes great power.”

Cynthia Levinson’s book, WE’VE GOT A JOB—THE 1963 BIRMINGHAM CHILDREN’S MARCH is a stunning work. Her writing is magnificent, yes, but it is the material that floored me. Yes, I knew of some of the events in Birmingham surrounding the “separate but equal laws” but I did not realize how pervasive it really was. I did not know that every message for a black person in Birmingham at this time hammered the idea that they had no value. I mean none.

In fact, black people were not considered human. Details like the white doctors referring to black patients as “Bo” (all men) and “Bessie” (all women)—that learning black patients’ names was considered unnecessary. How Thursday nights at the State Fair were reserved for “niggers and dogs.” How the tower of the Protective Life Building (ironic name) played “Dixie” every day at noon—just in case any black people forgot who was in charge. These are just a few of many, many examples that make you track back to reread to make sure you read it correctly.

Who? Who could possibly step forward to turn such a massive tide? Who could keep hope in the face of such hopelessness?

The children.

When Martin Luther King asked for volunteers, the children stepped up. He said no; it was too dangerous. But, they showed up anyway. A dozen, perhaps? A few hundred would be pretty amazing. How about 4,000? That’s right. About four thousand children as young as nine years old. Cynthia focuses on the true stories of four children that were there: Arnetta, Audrey, James, and Wash. Her research was exhaustive, including extensive interviews of these people as adults.

Now, if you’re thinking that the children merely stepped forward to go sit in a jail cell and wait, well it was much more daunting than that. The Birmingham police, led by Bull Connors, were dangerous. I don’t want to give too many details from the book away, but those kids had to be brave and determined to do what they did. And their parents had to be as well to let them go.

Like with Anne Frank’s story, adults are moved by children in peril. And the actions of these brave children—and the actions of the cowardly local police department—could not be ignored nationally. President Kennedy had to act. Something needed to be done. The children succeeded where adults could not.

As Cynthia’s friend and blog mate, I know that she worked tirelessly with Peachtree to collect just the right pictures. In this case, each is worth so much more than a thousand words. All in black and white and simply stunning. Pictures of KKK members, smiling. Standing with their young children, also dressed in kind as if they’re at a picnic in the park, yet draped with these ugly white robes—ugly because we known the insidiousness that they stood for. Yes, I knew of the KKK, but the pictures…Wow. And the hope in the faces of the children marching is so poignant. The cover is worth a good, long look. I’ll never forget those pictures.

Our own Cynthia Levinson

It’s a coincidence that I have been preparing to launch my new site/blog, “Be someone’s hero. No cape required” at the same time that Cynthia’s book is to be set free into the world, but it is not a coincidence that I waited a couple of weeks so that these children could be my first post. I dedicate it to Cynthia for her tireless search for the facts surrounding these little known (and also little) heroes that made such a monumental difference; I wanted this post on Cynthia’s book to be my first entry.

And now it is.

Way back in 2009, I heard an excerpt of Cynthia Levinson’s book, WE’VE GOT A JOB and I knew it was a winner. It had a special quality that non-fiction doesn’t often possess. I guess you could say that it reads like a novel—with mental images and emotions. A lack of merely delivering the facts. The words linger as images in the mind long after reading. I was not surprised when I heard it had gone under contract, and I stood and danced behind my desk at hearing the news. Today, I dance again!

I couldn’t be happier for Cynthia and her future readers. This book will make a difference and I think that’s probably the primary wish of most children’s authors. It will enhance knowledge. It will deepen understanding. It will arouse compassion. And I believe it will teach kids in a very poignant way that they, too, can be heroes.

Bravo, Cynthia. You are…*wait for it*…my hero.

Your story breathes. The reader never forgets that this all really happened. I admit to tracking back to reread portions of the book as the truth washed over me. These children were not like my characters, born of imagination.

These Birmingham children were real. No capes. No secret lairs. No utility belts. Just guts and grit and determination.

Real heroes.

WE'VE GOT A JOB is one of the most important and valuable books your child will ever read.

In late spring of 1963 the front line of the American Civil Rights movement was located in the city of  Birmingham, Alabama. It was a time when the lives of black Americans were continually threatened by the very authorities whose duty it was to protect them. One of the most remarkable events in the annals of our nation took place during this time, an event which saw 4,000 of our nation’s least experienced and most vulnerable citizens rise up against the tyranny of segregation. They were children, some as young as nine years old, and they changed the course of American history.

EMU’s Debuts is immensely proud to celebrate the launch of Cynthia Levinson’s middle-grade debut, WE’VE GOT A JOB: THE 1963 BIRMINGHAM CHILDREN’S MARCH. It’s an extraordinary book that’s already earned starred reviews from Kirkus, Publisher’s Weekly, and Booklist. Prominent book distributor Baker and Taylor called it “the cat’s meow,” and School Library Journal’s Practically Paradise blog believes it may be the most important historical account of the Civil Rights Movement that students will read in school (which they will, of course).

As we did for Michelle Ray‘s debut, FALLING FOR HAMLET, we’ll be posting all week long about WE’VE GOT A JOB. There’ll be interviews, quizzes, teaching ideas, wonderful stories, prizes, and just lotsa EMU-esque good vibes. FYI, all you little EMUs who comment this week will receive a free “I can be a hero too!” badge. We’ll also have two opportunities to win a free, personalized copy of the book – the first is by leaving a comment on this blog post.

But first, the story of how this amazing story became a book, courtesy of three major players in its publication: Chris Barton, Erin Murphy, and Kathy Landwehr.

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Part I: An Early Recommendation

Celebrated author and early WE'VE GOT A JOB supporter Chris Barton.

Austin, Texas is a fiery mosh pit of accomplished children’s authors and illustrators, and the proposal for WE’VE GOT A JOB had a terrific Austin-based booster early on: picture book/nonfiction author and Renaissance man Chris Barton.

MJ: What did you see in Cynthia’s proposal that spurred you to send it on to your agent?

CB: Cynthia’s materials — two chapters, an outline, and a bibliography — were simply outstanding. The topic was fascinating and undeservedly little-known, her treatment of the events was compelling, her voice was confident, and it was obvious how hard she had worked to polish those materials. Most importantly, I really enjoyed reading them and I was highly interested in learning the rest of the story. It was an honor to put her in touch with Erin and help get her proposal into Erin’s hands so that LOTS of us could read the rest of Cynthia’s story.

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Überagent Erin Murphy, who knows a good thing when she sees it.

Part II: A Referral, a Tingly Feeling, and an Offer of Representation
Chris Barton’s agent is, of course, the queen EMU herself, Erin Murphy, whose track record speaks for itself.

MJ: You didn’t hesitate to sign Cynthia on as an EMLA client, lucky for us. Why were you so inspired by her proposal?

EM(U): The first thing is that it came on referral from Chris Barton. It’s always good when someone you trust says, “You have to read this,” or something to that effect.

The second was that the proposal was clearly written by someone who knew what she was doing, both in writing and research, and it was revealing an aspect of the Civil Rights Movement that I’d never been aware of. I had that tingly O.M.G. feeling mixed with a bit of panic that someone else would do it first. I couldn’t imagine a better topic for children’s books. The Civil Rights era and its major players have been covered so much in children’s literature, and here was a brand-new take with the most kid-interesting window that I could dare to imagine. This was a book that could change kids’ lives.

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Part III: The Right Editor at the Right Time

Oh, there's some good stuff in here, you know there is.

Kathy Landwehr, VP and Associate Publisher at Peachtree Publishers, was eerily perfect for Cynthia’s book, so much so that I had to pepper her with multiple questions.

MJ: What was your initial reaction to Cynthia’s proposal?

KL: Delight and exhilaration. I was already a bit obsessed with the Children’s March and had been trying to figure out who could write the story—and then there it was! The proposal started off with a bang, as the finished book does, introducing us to Audrey Faye Hendricks, who went to jail when she was just nine years old. Before I finished reading the proposal, I jumped up and ran down the hall to wave it in our publisher’s face and babble incoherently. Fortunately, she’s fluent in Kathy and understood what I was talking about. And she shared my enthusiasm.

MJ: Was there any one aspect of the proposal that compelled you to acquire it?

KL: I was already interested in the story of the event. I loved Cynthia’s approach, focusing on four of the participants and using their personal experiences to convey the enormity of the event. I was also impressed by the thorough and extensive research that she’d already done, and the way she had integrated so many important details into a compelling story.

MJ:What kind of impact do you hope this book will have on readers?

KL: I hope that readers will respond as I did—that they’ll jump up, run down the hall, and tell someone that they have to read this amazing book. I hope that, as I do, they’ll marvel at Arnetta, Audrey, James, and Wash and feel amazed at their maturity and accomplishments and grateful for their efforts and sacrifice. I hope they’ll realize (or be reminded) that individuals can make a difference, that people—including young people—can confront tremendous injustice and change the world for the better.

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Contest! Free Book! Book Contest for a Free Book!
We’re giving away a copy of the book, including a nifty personalized bookplate direct from the author. To throw your hat in the ring, just leave a comment on this post. And as I mentioned earlier, there’ll be another chance to win a free copy on Friday. One way or another, however, you want to read this book and share it with the children in your lives. Raise a fist to the heavens and shout in triumph, blog readers – WE’VE GOT A JOB is worthy of all our praise and thanksgiving!

m.

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Three Starred Reviews

• Kirkus
• Publisher’s Weekly
• Booklist (check back on Feb. 1, when it goes live)
• For other reviews, check Cynthia’s website.