Waiting on Wednesday: I Am J + Awesome Mentorship

Ok so it's actually Thursday but whatever, I can't miss out on this meme. Hosted by Breaking the Spine

I Am J by Cris Beam

Release Date: March 1, 2011

Hola, Jeni."

J spun. His stomach clenched hard, as though he'd been hit. It was just the neighbor lady, Mercedes. J couldn't muster a hello back, not now; he didn't care that she'd tell his mom he'd been rude. She should know better. Nobody calls me Jeni anymore.

J always felt different. He was certain that eventually everyone would understand who he really was: a boy mistakenly born as a girl. Yet as he grew up, his body began to betray him; eventually J stopped praying to wake up a "real boy" and started covering up his body, keeping himself invisible - from his family, from his friends...from the world. But after being deserted by the best friend he thought would always be by his side, J decides that he's done hiding - it's time to be who he really is. And this time he is determined not to give up, no matter the cost.

-The summary already had me hooked (hello transgender teen) and it got a starred review from Booklist so that doesn't hurt. I'm pretty sure I'm going to cry throughout this entire book, no lie.

What are you waiting on this week, any particularly emotional reads?

My bad on this one, I didn't know submissions closed tomorrow (Feb 1-4). Read on to learn about this AMAZING opportunity (I'm seriously cursing myself for not being able to write)

Patchwork Collective Virtual Mentors

The Patchwork Collective for Writers of Color is accepting applications for its Virtual Mentoring Program! If you are a writer of children’s literature looking to improve your craft and get a better understanding of the children’s publishing industry, read on.

Participants will be invited to join an online group and receive personalized advice from mentors on manuscripts and technique (no more than one critique of 10 pages of a long-form work, or 1 PB over the 8 week period), industry- and craft-related information (books,
conferences, helpful organizations, Web sites, etc.), and more. Mentors will not be offering referrals to any agents or editors. If you are a writer of color in the “intermediate” stage of your pursuit of a career in children’s literature, this is an opportunity for one-on-one online communication with a published children’s book author (PB-YA).

Mentors include authors Kelly Starlings-Lyons, Y.S. Lee, N.H. Senzai, Ebony Joy Wilkins, Jerry Craft, Christina Diaz Gonzalez, Neesha Meminger, Christine Taylor-Butler, Jennifer Cervantes, Crystal Allen, and Rachel Renee Russell. They are generously donating their time and expertise to this project, and I am extremely grateful.

If you are a writer of color 18 or over interested in this opportunity, please send 1) a short (one paragraph) biographical sketch of your work/writing career so far; include the URL of your Web site if you have one 2) the classes, groups, conferences or other resources you’ve been involved with, etc. and 3) a one-page writing sample (for mentor matching purposes, not to be evaluated) to olugbemisola@olugbemisola.com. This is for writers of CHILDREN’S
LITERATURE ONLY, defined as picture book (PB)-young adult (YA).

PLEASE PASTE EVERYTHING INTO THE BODY OF YOUR EMAIL TO olugbemisola@olugbemisola.com, with PATCHWORK COLLECTIVE MENTOR APPLICATION in the subject line. Submissions that do not adhere to these guidelines will be discarded. There are at least 10 spots available, and matching will be first-come first-served, according to genre. The Spring 2011 submission process is open from Feb 1-Feb 4.