School Library Journal
March 9, 2021
In 2019, Diana Ma and Angeline Boulley were part of the We Need Diverse Books Mentorship Program, partnering with YA heavy hitters to craft their debut novels. Boulley’s Firekeeper’s Daughter is the story of a young Ojibwe woman who witnesses a murder and becomes an FBI informant on a new drug. Ma’s Heiress Apparently follows a Chinese American actress who travels to Beijing for a role and discovers long-concealed family secrets. Here, the authors discuss their writing challenges, their families’ reactions to their novels, and using the YA genre to underscore insights about identity and culture.
Diana Ma: I loved your beautiful, gripping, and powerful book! Firekeeper’s Daughter took me on such an incredible journey of loss, love, and healing. Thank you so much for sharing this story with me! I want to start by asking about your experience with the We Need Diverse Books Mentorship Program. Like me, you were a 2019 WNDB mentee. In fact, your picture is right next to mine in the WNDB press release about the 2019 mentees! I have that image hanging in my office at my college, and it always gives me a thrill to see myself in the company of such a talented group of diverse children’s book creators. My own experience working with Swati Avasthi as a mentor was so incredibly invaluable, and I wonder if you could talk about your experience in the WNDB mentorship program.
Angeline Boulley: I had applied the year prior and was not selected. When it was time to apply for the 2019 program, I read the bio summaries about each of the three YA mentors, as well as their body of work. There was something about Francisco X. Stork’s voice; he wrote about harsh realities facing teens. I felt a connection with the themes of his books. So, it was not only a fantastic thrill to learn I was selected, but that I would be mentored by Francisco. He reached out right away, even before the program officially started. We began emailing back and forth, sometimes daily. He asked about why I had written the story and what it meant to me. He wrote about his career as an attorney and coming to the United States as a child. If you’ve ever met Francisco or heard him speak, you immediately know that he is a kind and gentle soul. He feels deeply, processes deliberately, and writes with honesty and compassion. Francisco read my manuscript and provided feedback in sections. His emails would include overall impressions, and the attached manuscript section would have detailed feedback via track changes. His comments were thoughtful, and spot on!
I was living in the Washington, D.C. area at the time, so when Francisco had a speaking engagement in the city, we met for breakfast. He was just as wonderful in person as in our previous communications. Once Francisco finished providing feedback on my full manuscript, he invited me to send it to his agent, Faye Bender. She is now my agent. So, the WNDB mentorship and Francisco X. Stork changed my life.
How was your connection with Swati Avasthi? Were you a fan previously? Was there anything about the mentorship experience that surprised you? … Keep Reading!
