JALEN'S BIG CITY LIFE: Four Chapter Books, an Author Interview, and a Giveaway

 Dorothy Price and I go way back. We were members of the Charlotte SCBWI critique group I don't know how many years ago! I was delighted to share her debut picture book, Nana's Favorite Things, and today I'm happy to share her new chapter book series, JALEN'S BIG CITY LIFE (Capstone: August 2022). The bright, lively illustrations are by Shiane Salabie. 

Each three-chapter book begins by introducing 7-year-old Jalen, his family, friends, and his city apartment. Every book shows Jalen on an adventure in which he has a problem to solve. Written for K-2 readers, there is a glossary, activity, and two pages titled "Let's Talk" and "Let's Write." Teachers will love how these pages can be used to build on their students' reading experience.

FRIENDSHIP FLOWERS

Jalen's got a problem. He wants to go with his grandparents to the Flower Festival but he also wants to go to the zoo with his friends. He decides he can do both until delays make him nervous. He finds a way to resolve the situation and in the end, gets to share a special flower with his friends. 

BONUS: Nana is a botanist and Pop-Pop changes baby Maya's diaper.

LAUNDRY DAY OVERLOAD

Responsible kid that he is, J.C. volunteers to help his mother with the laundry. But, when there's only one unoccupied machine he doesn't quite follow her instructions. He loads all of the dirty clothes into the machine and since there are extra clothes...that calls for extra detergent, right? Wrong! When the washing machine overflows, J.C. finds the maintenance man. Between the two of them, they suck up the suds and J.C. learns an important lesson. 

BONUS: Without preaching to the reader, J.C. learns there are consequences to not following directions.

MUSEUM MIX-UP

J.C. and his classmates are excited about going to the Famous Black Americans Museum. He's doubly excited because his artist father is one of the chaperones. But things get tricky when J.C.'s group gets separated from the other students. Fortunately, J.C. had studied a map and was able to lead his group through the museum. The kids are inspired by the men and women they learn about and J.C. saves the day.

BONUS: The fun page at the end when J.C.'s father can't find his way home.

SHARING THE MOUND

Since baseball used to be J.C's favorite sport in his old neighborhood, he signs up to be on a community team--expecting he'll impress his friends with his skills. But things don't turn out as he plans. After he strikes out and doesn't get to show off his pitching talents, he feels bad. In the end, he gets a home run but tells his friends that the best part was playing with his friends.

BONUS: I loved it when J.C. gave up his goal of being the best and decided to play in order to have fun. YAY, J.C!  (And YAY for Dorothy who wrote that line.😀)

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

CAROL: What was your inspiration for Jalen and his adventures? 

DOROTHY: The inspiration for this series came from personal experience visiting my grandmother, aunts, and cousin in New York City growing up. I spent many weekends in their apartment building and had tons of wonderful memories to lean on.

CAROL: How did you find Capstone? Did you query them or find their call for submissions through Twitter? 

DOROTHY: Jalen's Big City Life was the result of my former agent submitting a picture book I wrote, that the editors passed on. But since the setting was similar to a series they were looking to publish, they asked me if I was interested in writing it. And of course, I said, yes!

CAROL: I know Capstone publishes for the school/library market. Did you write these as work-for-hire? Were there specific guidelines you had to follow in terms of vocabulary or Lexile level? 

DOROTHY: Yes, the series was a work-for-hire. But I doubt I would have been selected, had it not been for my agent. And yes, there were specific vocabulary, sentence lengths, and Lexile levels specifically for grades K-2. That was new for me, but I always wanted to write chapter books, so I enjoyed learning the process since it is different from writing picture books.

CAROL: Did you pick the subject matter for each book or did Capstone?

DOROTHY:  Capstone wanted a Black boy joy chapter book series (set in a big city) and that's pretty much all they gave me to go on. So I created a list of story ideas, and they selected the four they liked best. Those ideas became the four that are now published!

CAROL: How did winning the We Need Diverse Mentorship program further your writing career?

DOROTHY Winning the mentorship was the confirmation I needed to keep writing after years of rejection. Had I not entered the mentorship program, I never would've won, which may have been the end of my writing career. So I have to give a huge thank you to Tara Cattie for nudging me to apply!

For more information about Dorothy, visit her website or read this interview on the Capstone website.  You can also find her on Twitter. 

GIVEAWAY

To celebrate Dorothy's debut chapter books, I'm going to give you lots of chances to win this four-book set. Make sure you leave your name and email address in the comments if you are new to my blog. Every week folks leave anonymous entries (or just a first name) and these won't qualify. You can also email me if you don't want to share your email publicly.

1. If you follow my blog and leave a comment I'll count your name twice.

2. If you become a new follower I'll count your name three times.

3. If you share this post on social media, I'll give you an extra chance. Make sure you tell me what you do!

4. If you are a teacher, media specialist, or home school educator I'll give you another extra chance. 

GIVEAWAY ENDS 8 PM on September 21st. So get, moving!

You Heard it Here First: Dorothy Price signs with Agent, Miranda Paul

It's always fun to share publishing news with my blog readers--particularly if it's news from one of my own writing friends. I first met Dorothy Price 10 years ago when she joined my SCBWI-Carolinas critique group. I've read her manuscripts and she's read mine. Today I'm thrilled to share her story of how she recently signed with an agent. 

Take it away, Dorothy!

*****

I am so excited to share my agent success story, after 11 years of writing kidlit!

This story began in October 2018, when I got a nudge from my writing friend, Tara Luebbe. She suggested I apply to the 2019 We Need Diverse Books Mentorship Program, to which I had zero interest. I was at a place in my writing career where I had gotten discouraged by rejection, and simply planned to stop submitting, to everyone and everything. But something about Tara’s nudge forced me to apply anyway, on October 31st—the very last day to submit. 

Two months later, I received an email from WNDB that I had been selected as a picture book winner, out of more than 100 entries! The amazing Samantha Berger became my mentor, and beginning in January 2019, we edited and revised three of my PB manuscripts.  

In November 2019, I decided to participate in NaNoWriMo, even though I had failed to finish three times before. On November 30th, I finally completed my first middle-grade novel. 

Armed with three completed PBs and a finished MG, I was confident this would attract an agent. In January 2020, I began agent submissions. I had a list of six agents, but one, in particular, was by referral only. This agent was also on the WNDB team, so she had seen my PB submission that won the contest; however, her agency only accepted referral submissions. Enter Samantha Berger, who graciously referred me, which opened the door for me to submit to Miranda Paul with Erin Murphy Literary Agency. 

Although I had two other agents to consider, when Miranda emailed me back a couple hours later and said she was happy to receive my query and asked to speak two days later, I knew she was the agent for me. Her intensity, energy, and passion were something I truly wanted in an agent.

Before we ended the call, Miranda offered representation, and after praying on it, a few days later, I accepted. If it hadn’t been for Tara’s nudge to enter that contest, I’m not sure I would have an agent today. The plug for that is, contests DO help, and I strongly encourage writers to submit! 

Things have been going well so far and I am enjoying every minute of the process. I can honestly say, if you put in the work, believe in yourself, and never quit, dreams will come true. 

*****

Dorothy H. Price is a long-time member of SCBWI Carolinas. Two of her nonfiction stories were published in Teaching Tolerance’s 2019 Teaching Hard History: American Slavery series. Her first picture book, Nana’s Favorite Things was published in 2016. You can connect with Dorothy on Twitter.