Episode #60: What did you do with the money you made from your first book? -With Kwame Alexander
Welcome back! We have another great kid question to ask authors Grace Lin and Kwame Alexander!
TRANSCRIPTS:
Grace: Hello. I'm Grace Lin, children's book author and illustrator of many books, including the middle grade novel, When the Sea turned to Silver, and the picture book, A Big Mooncake for Little Star. Today, I'm here with Kwame Alexander, the author of many books, including the middle grade novel, The Crossover, and the picture book, The Undefeated, illustrated by Kadir Nelson. Hi Kwame.
Kwame: Hey, Grace.
Grace: Thanks so much for joining me today.
Kwame: I'm so glad to be here; I'm kind of nervous, and I'm excited.
Grace: Okay. Good, because I've got a question I've been saving just for you.
Kwame: Okay.
Grace: It's a question from a person named David. And David asks...
David: What did you buy with the money you made from your first book?
Grace: What did you buy with the money you made from your first book?
Kwame: Wow. So David, my first book was published in 1994. It was a book of love poems, David. But I have no idea what I did with that money, because I didn't sell a whole lot of books. But my first children's book was published in 2011, and I remember when I first got that check in the mail, I did three things: I bought a soccer ball for my daughter who was three at the time, and we started playing soccer in our backyard; I probably bought some books. Yep, I went to the bookstore and got some books to read; and then the coolest thing I did was I had been wanting to have a vacation with my family: My sisters, their kids, my brother, my mother, my dad. And so I rented a house on Folly Beach in Charleston, South Carolina. And we all went there for five days. And then I had no more money left, but I had just a wonderful, wonderful time.
Grace: Wow. That sounds great. It sounds like you really used the money for experiences; each one of them. Which is kind of shows... They always say that if you spend your money you should spend it on experiences, not things, right?
Kwame: Exactly. Because you'll remember them; they'll be with you forever.
Grace: Do you still have that soccer ball?
Kwame: Well, yeah. That's one experience I don't have. I don't know where that thing is.
Grace: I remember my first book was published in 1999, and it was a with a small company so it was not that much money. But I remember that from that small amount of money, I went out and I remember I bought myself a leather jacket. And that was a really big deal for me. And I remember it was at the Gap; this is when the Gap was a big thing. And it was on sale for $100, and to me at that time, $100 was just so much money. And I was like, "I'm going to buy this leather jacket with the money I've made from my first book," or from some of the money I made from my first book. And that became my present to myself to celebrate my first book. And I still have the leather jacket.
Kwame: Wow. I just get this picture of Grace Lin in The Breakfast Club.
Grace: I actually do not really wear the leather jacket too much. It was just too cool for me, but it was the idea... It was more aspirational than it was actual practical.
Kwame: I see. I see. Wow. Pretty cool.
Grace: Yes. So that's pretty fun. So I think that was a really fun question.
Kwame: Yeah, it was.
Grace: What are the things that you buy now to celebrate your books?
Kwame: Well that first children's book, like you said, it wasn't a whole lot of money, Grace. But again, it's that experience. But these days, I'm really into sneakers. And that sounds kind of... I don't know, it is what it is. I love sneakers, so... I love glasses. I can't see very well so I have to have prescription glasses, so I must have about nine different pairs of glasses. I got blue ones, I got yellow ones, I got black ones, I got red ones. So I love eyeglasses, and I love stylish eyeglasses. And I guess probably hearkening back to my first book, I still do a lot of family vacations and I take a lot of trips. I love going places and spending time with friends and family, so I still do a lot of that.
Grace: That's great. Do you set aside from each book... Do you do something special for each book? Like, "From The Undefeated I used a part of that money to go on a certain trip," or something like that? Or is it not exactly per book?
Kwame: No, it's not per book. No, and it's 34 books now. So...
Grace: That's a lot of celebrating.
Kwame: That's a lot of celebrating, right? But one of the things that I've done since 2012, so that would be eight years and counting, is, I started a nonprofit called Leap For Ghana, which is an organization that builds literacy centers and promotes literacy initiatives in Ghana, West Africa. So the biggest thing we did is, we built a library and a health clinic in a village in the Eastern region of Ghana, and I named it after my mom who's no longer with me, but... So just trying to make sure that I have some fun with my money; I do some things that are cool for my friends and family. But I also try to invest money back into the world to make it a better place, and what better way to do that than through books?
Grace: That's wonderful. Well, thanks so much for sharing that with us today, Kwame. And thank you-
Kwame: You're welcome.
Grace: And I hope that's a inspiration for all of us. So thank you Kwame, and thank you David for asking this question.
Kwame: You're so welcome. And thanks David, that was a great question.
Today’s BOOK REVIEW by Mason! He’s reviewing “Fallen Hero” by Katie Zaho
“The book I would like to talk about is The Fallen Hero, by Katie Zhao. This book is about Faryn Liu, her friend Ren, and her brother Alex. Faryn Liu and her friends are trying to save the world, but her brother seems to be one of the bad guys in this story. Faryn travels all over the world through different China Towns, to visit the Monkey King, and Diyu (the underworld) in order to save humanity.
I liked this book because it was an action story, the adventure never seemed to end, and it was a little bit like a mystery too. This book was a bit long, but I liked that too. The story never ran out of adventures, and it included Panda Express as a portal to Diyu.”
Thank you so much Mason!
More about today’s authors:
Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, and the New York Times Bestselling author of 32 books, including SWING, REBOUND, which was shortlisted for prestigious Carnegie Medal, THE UNDEFEATED, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, HOW TO READ A BOOK, illustrated by Melissa Sweet, and, his NEWBERY medal-winning middle grade novel, THE CROSSOVER. A regular contributor to NPR's Morning Edition, Kwame is the recipient of numerous awards, including The Coretta Scott King Author Honor, Three NAACP Image Award Nominations, and the 2017 Inaugural Pat Conroy Legacy Award. In partnership with Follett Book Fairs, he created the #AllBooksForAllKids initiative to bring more diverse books into school libraries. In 2018, he opened the Barbara E. Alexander Memorial Library and Health Clinic in Ghana, as a part of LEAP for Ghana, an international literacy program he co-founded. Kwame is the Founding Editor of VERSIFY, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt that aims to Change the World One Word at a Time.
Grace Lin, a NY Times bestselling author/ illustrator, won the Newbery Honor for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and her picture book, A Big Mooncake for Little Star, was awarded the Caldecott Honor. Grace is an occasional commentator for New England Public Radio , a video essayist for PBS NewsHour (here & here), and the speaker of the popular TEDx talk, The Windows and Mirrors of Your Child’s Bookshelf. She is the co-host of the podcast Book Friends Forever, a kidlit podcast about friendship and publishing (geared for adults). Find her facebook, instagram , twitter ( @pacylin) or sign up for her author newsletter HERE.
Special thanks to the High Five Books & Art Always Bookstore, Ms. Carleton’s 2nd grade class at Jackson Street School for their help with our kid questions and reviews.
