DuEwaWorld News! by DuEwa Frazier

DuEwa released her first children's picture book ALICE'S MUSICAL DEBUT in summer 2019!  A dream come true for a writer, literacy advocate, and book promoter who desired to write for children for many YEARS!!!  Alice's Musical Debut  by DuEwa Frazier Illustrated by Nadia Salas ( Lit Noire Publishing Children ) is a historical fiction picture book for young readers!  The story reimagines one day in the early childhood of notable jazz pianist, harpist, and organist Alice Coltrane (wife of jazz great John Coltrane). DuEwa is excited to share this story with young readers, parents, educators, and children's book lovers!  Follow DuEwa on Twitter @duewafrazier1

Thanks to author, blogger Mia Wenjen , and team of children's authors, illustrators, and book promoters - Multicultural Children's Book Day is happening again this year on January 27, 2016!. I am happy to be an Author Sponsor for this celebration of multicultural children's books!   We STILL need #diverse children's books! And we need to celebrate them widely.  We need more children's authors of diverse children's books and more children's editor/publishers who have an interest in a myriad of stories, told by diverse author perspectives AND FOR diverse young readers around the globe.  Support this wonderful initiative and find our more about Multicultural Children's Book Day here ! - DuEwa Author of Alice's Musical Debut  (2019), Quincy Rules(2016), Deanne in the Middle(2014), Goddess Under the Bridge: Poems(2013), Ten Marbles and a Bag to Put Them In(2010), Check the Rhyme Anthology (editor 2006), and Shedding Light From My Journeys (2002, ...

Book People in Austin, TX presents: WE NEED DIVERSE BOOKS ! And we need them NOW! Join us this afternoon as five YA authors are here to discuss diversity in YA literature. I. W. Gregorio, Natalie C. Parker, Sona Charaipotra, Dhonielle Clayton and Marike Nijkamp will all be here to talk about their novels, their writing processes, and why we need more books that reflect the big, beautiful, dynamic world we all share. Austin author Cynthia Leitich Smith will moderate the conversation. We Need Diverse Books™ is a grassroots organization of children’s book lovers that advocates essential changes in the publishing industry to produce and promote literature that reflects and honors the lives of all young people. We're honored to host an official WNDB event and cannot wait to welcome these fantastic authors to BookPeople! After the public event, the authors will host a writing workshop here at BookPeople. Space for the workshop is limited. RSVP as soon as you can....

Through the years I  have had great discussions about books with middle grade and high school students.  I've read novels such as Catcher in the Rye and Their Eyes Were Watching God with my students.  I've read memoirs such as Black, White and Jewis h and Down These Mean Streets with my students.  I've read essays by Zora Neale Hurston and James Baldwin with my students.  I've also read short stories from 145th Street Stories by Walter Dean Myers and "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid with them.  This was literature that was within our curriculum.  When it came to books that students were to self select, or read at home for more practice and endurance I received many comments that spoke to student frustration and apprehension. Students told me, "You [the school] don't have enough books for kids like us..." or "I don't read a lot because I can't find books that really interest me, about subjects I like..." or ...