Rgz SALON member
Lyn Miller-Lachmann has been the Editor-in-Chief of
MultiCultural Review; the author of the award-winning multicultural bibliography
Our Family, Our Friends, Our World; the editor of
Once Upon a Cuento, a collection of short stories by Latino authors; and the author of
Gringolandia, a young adult novel about a refugee family living with the aftermath of the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile. Her most recent novel,
Rogue--a spring/summer Junior Library Guild selection for middle school--is out in May.
We're honored to have Lyn here as part of the
rgz SALON, a feature where top kidlit experts clue us in to the best YA novels they've read recently. Today, she discusses
Poison by Bridget Zinn (Disney-Hyperion), a debut author gone too soon:
"As a Rgz Salon blogger, I specialize in books that focus on
diversity—authors and characters of color, characters with disabilities, and
characters who live in poverty (such as the protagonist of
My Book of Life by Angel, the book I reviewed last month). Still, I
have decided to take part in the blogging effort on behalf of Bridget Zinn’s YA
fantasy
Poison as one of several
Readergirlz bloggers who are doing so.
"Even before selling her first novel, Bridget was an active
participant in the community of librarians, teachers, book bloggers, and
writers. She gave much to the community through her blog, which highlighted new
books and gave advice and encouragement to other struggling writers. She
realized her life’s dream when her
Poison
sold to Disney Hyperion late in 2009, with a tentative publication date of
summer 2012. By that time, though, she had been diagnosed with cancer, and in
2011, at the age of 33, she lost her battle. She never had the chance to see
her novel in print.
"Poison was
eventually published on March 12, 2013, and Bridget’s family and friends put
together a
blog tour to make sure her work would be remembered and appreciated.
Because authors these days have to handle so much of the marketing themselves,
and Bridget is no longer here to do the work she would have done so well and
with so much enthusiasm, many friends and admirers have volunteered to do it
for her.
"I never knew Bridget personally, though I did read her blog
sometimes. My decision to join the blog tour for
Poison comes out of my own experience of having a disability and
needing help to do things that would be difficult or impossible for me to do
myself. Like the protagonist of my forthcoming novel
Rogue, I have been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, a mild form
of autism, and have struggled all my life with social interactions and social
cues. Without the efforts that other people have made for me, and the
accommodation that I have received, I would not have been able to receive my
MFA degree, find an appreciative audience for my small-press-published YA novel
Gringolandia, or have the opportunity to publish a second novel based on my own
experiences of growing up on the autism spectrum. Having been the recipient of
so much kindness and generosity, I feel it is important to pay it forward in
whatever way I can.” -
Lyn Miller-Lachmann
