It's no secret that this has been a weird, tough, anxiety-producing year for publishing--not to mention every other aspect of daily life. Thank you for sticking with SCBWI as we adjusted to this new socially-distanced way of life, and we hope you enjoyed the digital content we were able to bring you this year.
In that spirit, we asked our SCBWI Board of Advisors to share a book or piece of art that sustained them in 2020. Here were their messages:
When COVID first hit, like everyone else, I went into a cleaning-organizing frenzy. While sorting my bookshelves, I found a copy of The Letters of EB White, and started leafing through it. Days later, I was still studying the correspondence of this great writer, the creator of Charlotte’s Web. What I loved was how personal and caring and beautifully crafted each letter was. Then I thought of the way I communicate these days, batting out emails and texts by the hundreds. I am going to try to write letters this year, real letters, to friends and colleagues. In this age of rapid-fire communication, I’m inspired by E.B. White to aim for a deeper communication expressed in thoughtful words. So check your mailboxes, friends, if you even remember what that is!
Lin Oliver
Throughout the pandemic, I've had a hard time focusing on reading. What that means is, anything that managed to hold my attention had to be really REALLY good.
--EVERYTHING SAD IS UNTRUE (a true story), by Daniel Nayeri. Middle-grade fiction, heartbreaking and hilarious by turns and sometimes even in the same moment.
--BRAIDING SWEETGRASS, by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Adult nonfiction collection of nature essays. I wanted this book to go on forever.
My wish for all SCBWI members: That what we learned in 2020 about the things that are truly important, we'll take with us into 2021 and beyond.
Linda Sue Park
The work of Yuyi Morales has helped keep my heart strong through the horrors of 2020. Her gentle words and strong artwork remind me of childhood, of the best ways we can reach and teach the young. I recommend everything she has created! As 2020 wanes, I am lighting candles for hope, for justice, and for creativity. Wishing you the best of all three for the coming year.
Laurie Halse Anderson
In this unprecedented year of pandemic and political unrest, my spirits have been bolstered by photographer Pete Souza's beautiful photographs in OBAMA, AN INTIMATE PORTRAIT. The photos of President Obama with his wife, daughters, and dogs illustrate that a president is just a man after all. And those of him working with American politicians from both parties, as well as global leaders, are reminders that our system isn't yet broken. But my favorites are those of a powerful man, reaching out to ordinary people, from infants to the elderly--comforting them, lifting them up. And of him playing, laughing, listening, dancing, hugging, holding, eating pizza, raising a glass. Being human.
Ellen Hopkins
Throughout my life I have never gone to sleep without reading for about a half hour (for pleasure.) In this time of pandemic I've actually been going to bed earlier, and hence reading MORE. It was the outpouring of wonderful LGBTQIA stories that provided a stream of emotional distraction, among them Alice Oseman's HEARSTOPPER (sigh.). For pure visual distraction and amazement Peter Van den Ende's THE WANDERER gave me seemingly endless things to look at and be mesmerized by.
Arthur A. Levine
My favorite book of 2020 is All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team by Christina Soontornvat. In a time when people across the U.S. need to come together, I was inspired by this story of international teamwork. Working quickly and with limited resources, people from different countries and cultures relied on everything from Buddhist practices to aquatic engineering design to save the lives of twelve young boys and their beloved coach. It's a must read as we head into a holiday season that I hope will be healthy and happy for SCBWI members around the world.
Melissa Stewart
Like many others in the unprecedented year that is 2020, starting with our ravaging bushfires to virus lockdowns, it has been very hard to concentrate. I have dipped in and out of a few books; some like the Moonflower Murders - a wonderful escape (Anthony Horowitz) and Becoming - powerful and moving (Michelle Obama) were even completed. But the words and embellishments scribed in very many handwritten letters, read and reread, they have been my solace.
So roll-on 2021. May it be much more ‘ordinary’ and easy-going with oodles of time for our creating energies to shine; for sharing the joy of each other’s friendship and presence in our lives; and for never letting go of the love we have for those closest to us.
Christopher Cheng
I, like so many others, have been too distracted, too exhausted, too fraught, too something to sit still and focus on any one thing to fully complete it, to fully know it. But. Art itself has sustained me. I've dipped into many books, watched portions of movies and series, skimmed through a few pages of virtual galleries, listened to parts of orchestral works, read stanzas from various poems, hummed parts of songs, peeked at handmade creations in Etsy shops or on Facebook pages—all of these moments of experiencing some amount, no matter how small, of artistry, beauty, language, color, music, creativity have been the sips and tastes that add up to a full meal. As we move into this next year, I wish health to all SCBWI members, colleagues, and friends--and I wish you the clarity and space in which to create fulfilling work--no matter how small.
Emma D Dryden
What has sustained me in this annus horribilis is not any single piece of writing or art, but the fact that so many of my fellow writers and artists have continued to create great and powerful new work in the face of all the challenges we have been facing. What has sustained me is the strength, courage, and bravery of my fellow writers and artists.
Bruce Coville
Rediscovering long-neglected books with the first member of the next generation of my family, I find comfort in the great green room and the quiet old lady whispering hush.
Tracy Barrett, RAC
This year I’ve had a hard time concentrating, so I didn’t get my sustenance from a specific book. Instead, I found the power to go on by taking daily walks in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. There, I explored rambles, romped through meadows, sat by the lake and watched the ducks frolic and the majestic swans swim. I heard jazz, steel drums and string quartets echoing under bridges and floating over the water. I took in snippets of conversations: English, Spanish, Russian, Yiddish. I witnessed buds turn to leaves: green, then yellow, red, orange, brown, crunching under my feet. I breathed in fresh air (under my mask, of course.) My wish for the coming year is to keep your eyes wide open, go for a long walk, and find beauty around you.
Bonnie Bader
During this year of tumult, I've repeatedly returned to Be Water My Friend: The Teachings of Bruce Lee by Shannon Lee.
It's a quiet collection of philosophies that gently remind us to stay in our body, rather than our mind. Our mind can wander to the past
or jump to the future with catastrophic thinking, but our body is always in the present. For me, the rollercoaster of 2020 has emphasized
the mantra that sometimes it's not about trying harder, but resisting less. Sometimes we have to let go, be formless and flowing, like water.
Ruta Sepetys
This past year has been stressful (understatement!). However, I was able to snort and laugh while reading Amy Timberlake’s delightful SKUNK AND BADGER with art by Jon Klassen. I never knew how much I needed a book about a rock collecting badger, his interloper houseguest, Skunk, and a passel of noisy chickens. Their shenanigans and chaos was my comfort.
Lisa Yee
Kurt Vonnegut is one of my heroes. His wild imagination and sharp humor have inspired me to push my own writing in different directions. In the weirdness of 2020, I’ve found great comfort in getting to know the man behind so many of my favorite stories. Pity The Reader, by Suzanne McConnell, explores Vonnegut’s life and art, and reveals his decency and humanity, which has soothed my soul in an otherwise difficult year.
Peter Brown
Artist Leslie Lian’s stunning sculpture, constructed during 2017 – 2020, is a roughly six-foot replica of the Trump Tower, using New York Times clippings from this period. The materials include discarded boxes, newsprint, starch, a papier-mâché Corona balloon, audacity and humor. I find this work heartening and inspiring because it proves that art can triumph over bullying. It demonstrates how words define us to others, and how with words we define ourselves. It shows that an individual with little influence can defy a person of power and find her own humanity through resistance. It uses language as a tool in a brilliant original context to connect and amplify, to hold up a magnifying glass for the viewer. It tells me that, with courage, I can do this in my own work, too.
Susan Patron
