mikecurato

Grace and Alvina talk about the Scholastic censorship controversy, what they think certain colors taste like, and what makes a book stand out in the market.

See complete show notes at www.bookfriendsforever.com. Click here to become a Patreon member: https://www.patreon.com/Bookfriendsforever1.

Educators! Pre-order Chinese Menu for the Carle Museum and receive a FREE virtual classroom visit with Grace to celebrate the Moon Festival on Sept 29th!

Not an educator? Want something different? Pre-order Chinese Menu from Porter Square Book and receive an enamel dragon pin (perfect for the upcoming Year of the Dragon)!

All info here: https://gracelin.com/news-events/

In a new episode of the Flame Cast, Kevin chats with Mike Curato (@MikeCurato) the writer and illustrator of the YA graphic novel "Flamer" about the importance of books geared toward young queer audiences, especially when so many placers are banning books with these topics. They also talk about his inspirations, where and how he connects with his community, and what he's getting Down & Nerdy with in pop culture.   

In this episode, we are joined by Mike Curato, a queer Asian author and illustrator, to talk about his latest graphic novel, Flamer, inspired by his own personal life story. We cover a lot of topics including, mental health, bullying, suicide, and the wave of intolerance plaguing our country, and also looking ahead at how we can all do better.

Mike Curato is a gay first generation half Filipino-Irish American author and illustrator of books for youth. He has created many picture books for young children, and just released his debut queer young adult graphic novel, Flamer.

In this episode we talk about:

• How Mike is managing quarantine life and Zoom dates
• Experience of growing up biracial in an intolerant world
• The importance of finding community
• Why honesty is important in writing a book and how our shared humanity connects us together
• Finding family in the queer community - but also facing racism within our queer circles
• Navigating intolerance within dating apps and within our own gaysian community
• Mike's experience with bullying and thoughts of suicide and how it inspired the plot of Flamer
• What got him through the suicidal ideations and difficult high school experiences
• The journey towards self-discovery and turning towards healing
• Why sharing our story is so critical to help us understand each other
• The importance of looking inward at our own internalized racism and intolerance

Show notes:

• Kuku Hughs - Displacement
• Trung Le Nguyen - The Magic Fish
• Alison  Bechdel - Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
• Alison Bechdel - The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For
• Ocean Vuong - On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

You can find Mike Curato at:
Twitter: @MikeCurato
Instagram: @mike_curato
Website: mikecurato.com

You can follow me at:

Instagram: @stevenwakabayashi
YouTube: @stevenwakabayashi
Weekly Newsletter: mindfulmoments.substack.com

Aimed at authors/illustrators new to school visits, Bonnie and Shanda discuss several types of author presentations you can do and gives examples of each:

• Book specific
• Topic specific
• Process specific
• and combinations

Shanda talks about the 3-ingredient recipe that helped form her own successful author presentation, and Bonnie tells about a super fun/gross activity she's excited to try at her next presentation about speaking kind words.

Resources and books mentioned in this episode with affiliate links (that help support this podcast):

"Preparing Your Perfect Presentation", a course from KidLit Creatives. Use code: AVPTHANKYOU for 10% off!

Dirt Cheap by Mark Hoffmann

Taste Your Words by Bonnie Clark

Catching Thoughts by Bonnie Clark

Doll-E 1.0 by Shanda McCloskey (Scheduled to be back in stock early September 2020.)

T-Bone the Drone by Shanda McCloskey