I love a great nonfiction story of an underdog who beats all odds.  Wait till you hear about today’s picture book!

Mia Wenjen has visited my blog before.  She blogs about parenting, children’s books, and education at PragmaticMom.com and is the co-creator of Read Your World, celebrating Multicultural Children’s Book Day, a nonprofit celebrating diversity in children’s books. She is the author of several illustrated nonfiction children’s books, including Changing the Game: Asian Pacific American Female Athletes, Asian Pacific American Heroes, and Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World. Mia Wenjen lives in Boston with her husband and three kids.  You can learn more about her at her website or follow her on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or on BlueSky.

WE SING FROM THE HEART is a nonfiction picture book about rocker Simon Tam’s battle against the US Trade and Patent Office over the name of his band.  After many years of enduring racism, he wanted to turn some of the slurs on their head and name his band The Slants, reclaiming it as a point of pride (not a negative thing).  There was another band out there with the same name so Simon sought to trademark the bands name to avoid confusion and he was rejected.  The rationale didn’t make any sense so he started a legal battle that would take years and make it’s way all the way up to the Supreme Court.  This powerful story is made even more so by the amazing illustrations by Victor Bizar Gomez.  The are electrifying.

Welcome back Mia!

Me: The fact that there are specific (and multiple!) racial slurs for Asian Americans makes my blood boil. Yet hearing Simon’s take in claiming power over them and learning about his battle is really inspiring. What gave you the idea to turn his story into a picture book?

Mia: I was part of Simon’s lawsuit. When he decided to file an appeal, he reached out to hundreds of Asian American organizations and community leaders. I was included as an Asian American blogger. We met over the phone and I was struck by his eloquence and, of course, wrote him a letter of support. It’s one of the 3,000 letters filed in his appeal. I followed his case on social media and was so happy when I learned that he had won his case. He wrote a memoir about his experience and after reading it, I thought that my own children needed to learn about him. That’s when I asked him if I could write a picture book biography about him and he graciously agreed.

Me: Once again I love the back matter you included. I was a bit confused at first in the list of others who fought anti-Asian racism but then I realized you were saying they weren’t all winners. Some of them lost! That blew my mind that you included those as well. Was that your choice? Or was that someone else’s suggestion (editor, agent, etc.)? Did you receive any push back on that?

Mia: Originally, I only included the Supreme Court cases in which Asian Americans won, though I had researched all of them. I didn’t include them mostly because I was worried the back matter was getting too long. During the editing process, the editor who did the fact checker added the cases where Asian Americans won. When my editor asked me if that was ok, I was thrilled that my publisher felt it was important to show that Asian Americans have not been passive about the racism that they faced. They fought back through the court system even when it failed them.

Me: Victor Bizar Gomez’ illustrations are so incredible! They are the perfect fit in both color palette and style for your story. That image of the Supreme Court judges! Wow! Were there any illustration surprises for you? Any favorites?

Mia: The Supreme Court judge spread is also my very favorite, and I am thrilled with Victor Bizar Gomez’s powerful illustrations that leap off the page. But I have an insider “Easter Egg” secret for you; my editor, Mike Yuen-Killick, who is also the creative director, was the one who cut off the tops of the Supreme Court judges. I thought that was a genius move because it brought attention to Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s iconic lace collar while also showing the continuity of the Supreme Court.

Me: What surprised you in writing this story?

Mia: I had a lot of difficulty in finding my way in this story. My narrative arc zigged and zagged in a confusing way, but when I decided to wrap the story around Simon’s song, From the Heart, it helped. I also am indebted to my editor, Mike Yuen-Killick, for helping me find the right areas of Simon’s story to highlight. Simon himself edited many versions of the book because at times I did not understand the details of his legal battle. It was truly a team effort.

Me: Speaking of surprises, your book has won recognition and awards. Was that a surprise to you? How does it feel to have a book you wrote on a tough topic win recognition?

Mia: I have to say that when I signed books at NCSS in November, the conference for Social Studies teachers, and several of them told me that they teach Simon’s case in their high school classes, I was blown away. It was a dream of mine to have high school teachers use this book; some people thought that high schools would not be interested in using picture books.

I was totally blown away particularly when our book was recognized for the California Eureka Nonfiction award because the book wasn’t even out yet! I have brought this book to several book festivals and it’s not a book that people gravitate towards so getting recognition and awards is really important to get this book out there. I’m so grateful to NCTE Orbis Pictus and Junior Library Guild as well.

Me: You have always been a strong advocate for children being able to see themselves in books. Simon Tam fought long and hard for the freedom to call his band what he wanted, something that others might’ve used to shame him in the past. Why was it important to you to share his story in particular with the youngest of readers?

Mia: There are so few role models of Asian American men. The media emasculates Asian American men in a way that is damaging to our youth. Simon Tam is not just an eloquent speaker, but he was a musician of a very popular dance band. Now, as someone who has stood up to racism in a battle that most people would have shied away from, he’s truly a role model that most kids can relate to.

Me: Any future projects we can look forward to from you?

Mia: I have seven more picture books under contract. This is the first book of five nonfiction picture books with Red Comet Press.

The Traveling Taco, illustrated by Kimberlie Clinthorne-Wong, comes out next spring and is a rhyming picture book of “food” immigrants. Beloved foods from around the world have surprising origins.

Fortune Cookies for Everyone, illustrated by Colleen Kong-Savage, is another picture book with Red Comet Press that tells the history of this sweet uniquely-American treat. It also weaves in Asian American history as this story follows Japanese Americans into Internment Camps as well as Chinese Americans on the West Coast.

Barbed Wire Between Us, illustrated by Violeta Encarnacion, is the story of my heart. It’s a reverso poem that compares the Japanese Internment experience with “Kids in Cages” at the U.S. border. Sadly, this might be increasingly relevant in the next few years.

Postcards From Malcolm X, illustrated by Keith Henry Brown, is probably the manuscript that I worked on the longest. It’s the story of the friendship between Yuri Kochiyama and Malcolm X and how he influenced her to become a Civil Rights activist. Many people might know that Malcolm X died in the lap of a woman but most people don’t realize that it was Yuri Kochiyama. This story explains their connection.

I have a few more books that have not yet been announced, and a few more on rewrite/submissions that I am hoping will get picked up.

Wow!  Those all sound incredible Mia.  Congratulations!  And thank you for stopping by my blog again today.

Dear readers, this book was released in October.  If you haven’t had a chance yet to read it, I highly recommend it.  Not only because it was recently selected as an Orbis Pictus Recommended Book for Outstanding Nonfiction for children, was chosen as an honor book for California Eureka! Nonfiction Children’s Book Award, and is a Junior Library Guild Gold selection!  But also because it’s an incredible true story of a fight against institutional racism that shows what persistence and perseverance can achieve.  Trust me when I say you won’t want to miss it!