2013 Asian/Pacific American Award For Literature Winners

Winners of the 2013 Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature, which promote Asian/Pacific American culture and heritage and are awarded based on literary and artistic merit, have been selected by APALA.

The Awards are given in five categories, with Winner and Honor books selected in each category. The winners of the 2013 awards are:

The Picture Book Category:

Winner: “Good Fortune in a Wrapping Cloth” written by Joan Schoettler and illustrated by Jessica Lanan, published by Shen’s Books.
Honor: “A Path of Stars” written by Anne Sibley O’Brien, published by Charlesbridge.

Children’s Literature Category:

Winner: “Chengli and the Silk Road Caravan” written by Hildi Kang and published by Tanglewood Publishing.
Honor: “The Shark King” written by Kikuo Johnson and published by Toon Books.

The Young Adult Literature Category:

Winner: “Tina’s Mouth: An Existential Comic Diary” written by Keshni Kashyap and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Honor: “Ichiro” written by Ryan Inzana and published Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

The Adult Fiction Category:

Winner: “The Collective” written by Don Lee and published by W. W. Norton & Company.
Honor: “Drifting House” written by Kris Lee and published by Viking Penguin.

The Adult Non-Fiction Category:

Winner: “Third Asiatic Invasion” written by Rick Baldoz and published by New York Univeristy Press.
Honor: “Forbidden Citizens” by Martin Gold and published by the Capitol Net.

Winner and Honor books were chosen from titles published from October 2010 – September 2012. The winners will each receive an award plaque at the APALA Award Ceremony on Sunday, June 30, 2013 during the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago, IL.

For complete press release, see page 11 of ALA Cognotes, January 26, 2013: http://alamw13manual.heiexhibitors.com/sites/all/themes/alamw13manual/resources/ALA_Cognotes_Jan2013_02_Sat.pdf

To read the poem “The Oscars of the Library World (2013)” by Janet Wong in tribute to this year’s award winners: http://www.apalaweb.org/the-oscars-of-the-library-world-2013/

 

The Oscars of the Library World (2013)

The Oscars of the Library World (2013)
by Janet Wong

This Is Not My Hat.

This hat belongs to
The One and Only Ivan.

In Darkness
you might confuse this hat

with something worn by
Aristotle and Dante
(while they)
Discover the Secrets of the Universe.

A hat like this is
The Bomb.

You put it on and suddenly
you are
Katherine Paterson.

Or you are,
Hand in Hand, Ten Black Men
Who Changed America.

“I, Too, Am America”
say
Martin de Porres (The Rose in the Desert)

and Chengli (of the Silk Road Caravan).

With your hat
(or not your hat)

you’re a winner
to me.

[Composed: January 28, 2013]

 

Janet Wong is a notable APA author who has written numerous critically acclaimed books for children and young adults, such as Apple Pie 4th of July, The Trip Back Home, A Suitcase of Seaweed, and many more. She is also an APALA member who is serving as a Fundraising Committee member. She has written this poem to celebrate literary awards 2013 during ALA Midwinter in Seattle. For more information on Janet Wong: www.janetwong.com

APALA Needs You! [UPDATED]

Updated: January 7, 2013

Dear Colleagues:

APALA needs you!!

We’re looking for a few good people to run for office with APALA. Please consider nominating yourself or a colleague for:

• Vice President/President-Elect (3-year commitment)
• Secretary
• Treasurer
• Member at Large (two to be elected; 2-year commitment)

Attendance at ALA Annual and Midwinter is expected. Nominees must be members in good standing. Officer terms will begin at the close of the 2013 ALA Annual Conference in June. For more information about the available offices, see the APALA bylaws: http://www.apalaweb.org/about/constitution-and-bylaws/.

The committee will accept nominations through Monday, February 18 at 11:59pm PT. Voting will be open March 19-April 15, 2013.

Please note that in order to vote in the election, you must be an APALA member in good standing on March 1, 2013.

Feel free to contact the any member of the Nominations Committee with your nomination(s) or if you have any questions!

APALA Nominations Committee 2012-13

Sandy Wee, chair
Michelle Baildon
Florante Ibanez

APALA Member Selected as 2013 ALISE / UW Information School Youth Services Graduate Student Travel Award Recipient [CORRECTION]

Updated: January 30, 2013

Congratulations to Karla Lucht on being selected as the ALISE / University of Washington Information School Youth Services Graduate Student Travel Award 2013 recipient!

The travel award is given to LIS graduate students who are members of the Youth Services SIG and will be actively participating  in the ALISE conference.

More information can be found at: http://www.alise.org/Youth%20Services%20Graduate%20Student%20Travel%20Award

 [CORRECTION: Karla Lucht is the recipient of the travel award. Our sincerest apologies for previously misstating her name.] 

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

We hope that 2012 was a good year for you and that 2013 will be even better.

To that end, why not start 2013 off right and check a few of the following off your list of resolutions?

• Be more social by attending APALA’s ALA Midwinter events.
• Pay it forward by being an APALA mentor (or learning as a protégé).
• Make APALA even more awesome by running for office.

Remember: Don’t just wish for a great 2013… Make it so!