![]() ![]() ![]() I was fortunate that I didn’t deal with overt racism or feeling like I was the only Asian. There were some books with Japanese main characters, but often they were depicted as the enemy (books set during WWII), full of stereotypes, or as characters dealing with issues of immigration or assimilation, as “the other.” I grew up in Los Angeles at a time when there was a good-sized Japanese American/Asian American population, both in my neighborhood and at my middle school and high school. I have always gravitated toward MG and YA novels about friendship and romance, however, back then, I didn’t find contemporary novels with characters that looked like me and had shared experiences. I am a third generation Japanese American, which means both sets of grandparents were born in Japan and came to the States. I joined critique groups, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, took workshops and attended conferences, read many middle grade and young adult novels and craft books, and all the while wrote, revised, submitted, collected rejections, and kept learning and growing. Through it all, I wrote stories, at first just for myself, but then in the early 2000s with the hope of getting published. I am a born and bred Californian, but as an adult I have moved quite a bit, living in the Midwest, on the East Coast, Mexico, China, and now New England where I hope to stay. in Zoology and minor in English at UC Davis and my K-8 teaching certificate from Cal State Northridge. Sure! I was born in San Francisco and raised in Los Angeles, got my B.S. Could you please tell us a bit about yourself, and about Keep It Together, Keiko Carter? If you are looking for something that will make you smile, this is certainly a book to add to your TBR. It is funny and sweet, and even though the girls are learning some tough things, there’s lots of positivity sprinkled throughout the story. It is a book about middle school drama, friendship, and boys. My next interview is with Debbi Michiko Florence, author of the upcoming middle grade novel Keep It Together, Keiko Carter. ![]()
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