Let's celebrate!

On the one hand, with the country in complete chaos, I feel like this is a terrible time to have a book launch. On the other hand, because of the hateful lunacy that is going on, there's probably no better time to remind people that this country belongs to all immigrants (and honestly, the country belongs to NO immigrants either since we are all squatting on land stolen from the Indigenous population who was here first).

But since we immigrants are here, let's celebrate our unique identities and our place in North American history.

Today is the Ching Ming (also known as Qing Ming or Qing Ming in Mandarin) Festival. It's been celebrated by the Chinese for over 2,500 years. My fond memories of celebrating it as a child in Hong Kong have never faded over the past five plus decades, and some years ago, I wrote a story that incorporated my warm, fuzzy feelings about it with a fictional Chinese family that had lived in America for several generations.

It's the story of my heart but it took a while for the right people in publishing to appreciate it. Author and historian, Leonard Marcus, wrote some very kind words about the story which ended up winning Silver in the Astra International Picture Book Competition, and it was ultimately bought by Astra Young Readers for publication.

Astra found the most incredible illustrator for the story. William Low is a fine artist whose work is evocative and dreamy. He completely elevated the story and breathed such life into the characters.

One of my all time favorite poems is about Ching Ming (清明). Written by the poet 杜枚, who lived in the late Tang Dynasty, it goes:
清明時節雨紛紛，
路上行人欲斷魂。
借問酒家何處有，
牧童遙指杏花村。

There's a translation for the poem as well as a short video of a cute kid reciting it on the Cantonese for Families site.

If you want to find out more about this very cool holiday, you can check out this brief Smithsonian article, or read my book, CLEAR AND BRIGHT, which comes out today to coincide with Ching Ming!