Speaker 1: My League Books has all the knowledge you want.
Speaker 2: My League Books has all.
Speaker 1: The knowledge you need.
Speaker 2: My legs yet they have all the books that.
Speaker 3: The whole wild world one up reads.
Speaker 2: My League Books.
Speaker 4: Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to Malik's Bookshelf, bringing the world together
Speaker 4: with books, culture and community.
Speaker 5: Hi, my name is Malik, your host of Malik's Bookshef.
Speaker 5: I hope you enjoyed my episode last week Black af
Speaker 5: you know what that stand for history. It was just
Speaker 5: raw from the heart and passion. I mean, I feature
Speaker 5: some other things.
Speaker 4: I talked about some of my community events, I taste
Speaker 4: of soul, things like that. But I just if you
Speaker 4: hadn't heard the last episode last week, I definite I
Speaker 4: encourage you to go back and listen to that episode
Speaker 4: because it's fire. You know, it's raw, it's highlights, you
Speaker 4: know the way I see things and give you a
Speaker 4: look into a perspective that you might not necessarily know
Speaker 4: about me personally and just my passion and my mission.
Speaker 4: But this episode, as you know, what I'm big on
Speaker 4: is children are one hundred percent of our future. And
Speaker 4: I was able to host Renee Watson Award winning Newbury Award,
Speaker 4: winning Correctits Card Award, winning author as well as the
Speaker 4: New York Times bestseller, and we was hosting her as
Speaker 4: a book signing, but we also hosted her at Bright
Speaker 4: Elementary School right here in the community in Los Angeles,
Speaker 4: and we also gave away a hundred and fifty books
Speaker 4: we donated to the school. Her new book, Ways to
Speaker 4: Build Dreams. It just came out. So she's doing the
Speaker 4: tour all over the country. But I wanted to highlight
Speaker 4: some of the highlights of the events both at Bright
Speaker 4: Elementary and at Elite Books. Our focus at Bright and
Speaker 4: me obviously is the is the the young, the youth,
Speaker 4: the the the children. I asked them some very confident
Speaker 4: and bright young kids to MC that event very impressive,
Speaker 4: you know, they hosted, they did the UH introduction, and
Speaker 4: they did the Q and A and it was very impressive.
Speaker 4: And the kids was jazz. There was a hype. They
Speaker 4: were in the j at it. It was serr It
Speaker 4: was just a beautiful event to be able to move
Speaker 4: youth in our community in this way. And we think
Speaker 4: we're they Watson and for coming you know, to Los
Speaker 4: Angeles and allowing many books UH to host her in
Speaker 4: these in these types of forms and UH. But you know,
Speaker 4: the highlight is, you know, we gave away a hundred.
Speaker 6: And fifty books to to the kids.
Speaker 4: And that's special, and that's and that's community, that's g
Speaker 4: paying it for it, that's given back, that's charity, and
Speaker 4: that's hope for a better tomorrow, because who are we without.
Speaker 6: Our next generation?
Speaker 4: Right So us hosting this event at the school, it's
Speaker 4: just a a wonderful and beautiful event. And I'm very
Speaker 4: grateful for the principal and as well as the b
Speaker 4: SHAP who help us with the funds to raise the
Speaker 4: money to give away the books, and and and for
Speaker 4: b SIPE is Black Student Achievement Program.
Speaker 6: They heavily involved in.
Speaker 4: Elevating, motivating, inspiring uplift educating obviously.
Speaker 6: Blacks throughout the Los Angeles County.
Speaker 4: And they do a wonderful job in trying to make
Speaker 4: a huge impact and a huge difference in Black youth
Speaker 4: and black children. And I just think that my kudos
Speaker 4: and hats are that they taking a personal interest in
Speaker 4: black youth and children who typically have failing grades, lack
Speaker 4: of rese sources, a lot of issues in the home, domestic,
Speaker 4: and you know, we we just have to find ways
Speaker 4: to elevate and help what we can, and they do
Speaker 4: a great job and identifying and targeting and making sure that,
Speaker 4: uh we do all we can do to make sure
Speaker 4: that uh black, our black teens, youth and children I
Speaker 4: have what's necessary in order to be successful in America
Speaker 4: and go on to have academic achievements and have stellar careers.
Speaker 6: And so that's what.
Speaker 4: You know Black Student Achievement program is all about. And
Speaker 4: uh kudos to all that they do well. Anyway, this
Speaker 4: segment is gonna highlight Renee Watson's book tour and lost
Speaker 4: in both that Bright Elementary and some excerpts from her
Speaker 4: book signing and discussion at Malite Books.
Speaker 6: So enjoy this episode. Thank you.
Speaker 7: I'm Elite from Elite Books and want to thank Brank
Speaker 7: Elementary for allowing us to host this wonderful event. We
Speaker 7: gotta all star Award winning New York Times best selling
Speaker 7: author who's going to be speaking with you. Some of
Speaker 7: y'all have books, but everyone eventually is gonna get a book.
Speaker 2: So I get a little patience, all right, Patience. Patience
Speaker 2: is a virtue.
Speaker 7: So we're just so excited, but we got to give
Speaker 7: a round of a Paul to break elementary and your
Speaker 7: teachers put out.
Speaker 2: That black.
Speaker 1: Well do.
Speaker 2: Everything that we do in societ is to.
Speaker 7: What to enrich you to take over and be the
Speaker 7: next leader of tomorrow.
Speaker 8: Can y'all do that?
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 9: That?
Speaker 10: So?
Speaker 2: Hey, I got the funny he.
Speaker 7: Sat That means Black Student Achievement Program is part of
Speaker 7: the l A Unified School District and they.
Speaker 2: Helped sponsor this epit see your head. They ain't not possible.
Speaker 2: Don't give it up. That's right, each one teach one
Speaker 2: who y'all gotta help each other? All right?
Speaker 7: I believe readers are achieveers and.
Speaker 2: You should too. But we got a nine up here.
Speaker 2: Y'all ain't come here to see me.
Speaker 9: Listen.
Speaker 2: I'm from Alif from Alife for the Safe right here.
Speaker 2: We were coather team, make the training party. But I
Speaker 2: got a future.
Speaker 7: I got a special video to take that I'm gonna
Speaker 7: air for the first.
Speaker 2: Time to students.
Speaker 7: Okay, it's a premiere video that we put together for
Speaker 7: Elite Books and it's a.
Speaker 2: Music video and I hope you enjoy it now.
Speaker 7: It describes our praying in our mission and our mission
Speaker 7: because we believe stun trading are one percent of our
Speaker 7: future and so We believe books are the motivating factor
Speaker 7: with makes leaders and achievers. All right, so we gonna
Speaker 7: begin our program because we got some special students today
Speaker 7: who're gonna MC and that's great for me.
Speaker 2: So I can sit down and let them take.
Speaker 7: Oh well, you know, I'm gonna be future leaders. But
Speaker 7: today they gonna step up and they gonna host this.
Speaker 7: And this is what heaving programs like this is all about.
Speaker 7: It gives an opportunity for our young to you know,
Speaker 7: work on standing before.
Speaker 2: A group of students and speak. I me personally.
Speaker 7: I I haven't always been so vocal, and I used
Speaker 7: to be an introvert. I used to be afraid to
Speaker 7: stand here and talk. I wouldn't even look at you.
Speaker 7: But I challenged myself and I believe that I could
Speaker 7: be different, and I didn't let the fear stop me.
Speaker 2: And so now I'm able to stand here. I'm not
Speaker 2: able to talk to.
Speaker 7: You, I'm able to you and the eye I'm able
Speaker 7: to inspire you mort you.
Speaker 2: So but hey, hey, they gonna.
Speaker 7: Bring They gonna bring up our guests today and wrote
Speaker 7: or some of y'all have those books right now. This
Speaker 7: is the first one of Ryan Hart's.
Speaker 11: Series Wait the Share Joe, and the second in the
Speaker 11: series is Ways to Grow Up, and the third series
Speaker 11: is Ways to Make Sunshine and the fourth in the
Speaker 11: series is The Ways to Build Dream. And the character
Speaker 11: is in elementary like the grade levels that you're at.
Speaker 2: But let me say this, she's an award winner and
Speaker 2: she is here today to speak to you.
Speaker 7: And I have some young kids at Brighton Elementary gonna
Speaker 7: tell you all.
Speaker 2: I'll Relay Watson.
Speaker 7: That's who I was describing, and so whoever started to
Speaker 7: be coming for come on, let's get this shirt.
Speaker 12: What my name is Anthony Levis, I'm from Grow twenty
Speaker 12: six and I will also be reading Renee Watson's biography.
Speaker 13: Well, Renee Watson was seven years old she write twnua
Speaker 13: page story and her season to her, I think you're
Speaker 13: gonna be.
Speaker 12: A writer one day, and she was right.
Speaker 13: Renee's been writing ever since, plays poetrys and books. Some
Speaker 13: of Rernight's books include Ways to Make Sunshine Some Places
Speaker 13: more than Others and This Side of Home. She also
Speaker 13: Grow Watchers Rise with her good friend Ellen Hagen. Her
Speaker 13: novel Pleasing Me Together and won two very special awards,
Speaker 13: the Coretta Scott Kingoboar and the Newberry Honor.
Speaker 14: Renee Watsons grow up in Portland, Organ. Many of her
Speaker 14: books are inspired by the neighbors she lived.
Speaker 2: When Renee's working on her.
Speaker 14: New book, She's lads the songs that she needs hermine.
Speaker 14: There's more life and pleasing watch, she writes. She just
Speaker 14: for writing the surrounded bodys. Whyre your folks, both of
Speaker 14: gods and arts. All because of her books, her name
Speaker 14: is traveled to JR Dad, Korea, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Australia.
Speaker 1: And New Zealand, and many places in the United States.
Speaker 1: All of the places her name wants to travel to.
Speaker 2: Her two favorite places are Organ and New York.
Speaker 1: She knows them so much. She lives in both places,
Speaker 1: Portland and Harlan.
Speaker 14: Your Name believes the words are powerful and she wants
Speaker 14: to use her words to inspire, heal and change the world.
Speaker 2: Please welcome our author to your Name Watson.
Speaker 1: Good morning, Good morning. It is so good to be here.
Speaker 1: But you want to celebrate the release of Ways to
Speaker 1: Build Dreams.
Speaker 8: I am Renee Watson, and I'm going to first share
Speaker 8: a little bit about myself cause I write fiction, which
Speaker 8: means I made that story.
Speaker 1: So the books that you have that is not my life.
Speaker 1: But I thought I would share a little bit about
Speaker 1: who I am with you before we get to the
Speaker 1: stories that I make up. So this is a poem.
Speaker 8: This poem, I'm using my five senses to describe where
Speaker 8: I'm from. I made up of East Coast tip hop
Speaker 8: and island tradition. I'm from Baptist hymns and secular jims,
Speaker 8: tambourine plan, late night sam at the church house or
Speaker 8: my friend's house or their friend's house on the weekends.
Speaker 1: Where I'm from their cornerway and hand me downs, im.
Speaker 8: Family keepsakes, family pictures on the wall, open Bible on
Speaker 8: the coffee table. I'm from that side of town where
Speaker 8: the media only comes from bosod shed, blood wasted.
Speaker 1: Never for Gluvey store, celebrated.
Speaker 8: Or regenerated time from hopstock to double Dutch, from hide
Speaker 8: and go, seek and pack, And I'm from curry goat,
Speaker 8: rice and peas and beef patties from turqurse, blue water
Speaker 8: like sand and dreadlocks.
Speaker 1: Reggae is in my blood. Grew up in the Pacific Northwest,
Speaker 1: a place where rain falls, mother and sun shines.
Speaker 8: I'm from Douglas furs and pine trees where we walked
Speaker 8: under water falls, drive up windy roads, and escape to
Speaker 8: the beaches on the Oregon Coast.
Speaker 1: Where I'm from music takes away the blues.
Speaker 8: I'm from Bob Marley, Minhelia Jackson or Metha Franklin.
Speaker 1: James Brown.
Speaker 8: I'm from Jackson five recordsand new edition takes where I'm from.
Speaker 8: Reuby Wine takes over and dover and dover again, so
Speaker 8: you can write down the lyrics and memorize them. Where
Speaker 8: I'm from, the whole neighborhood is your family. Ladies and
Speaker 8: on their porches looking out for you, shoeing away boys
Speaker 8: like flies. Call me your mama to tell her what
Speaker 8: you did before you can get home and.
Speaker 1: Lie about it. Where I'm from, people adding my friend,
Speaker 1: is that your hair? And she says, yes, it's mine.
Speaker 8: I bought it. I'm from divorce being passed down to
Speaker 8: children like the family heirloom from single mama's pecial stroller's
Speaker 8: praying that their babies don't have the.
Speaker 1: Same struggles as them.
Speaker 8: Time from a Little goes a long way from Son's
Speaker 8: Gonna shine after the rain. I'm from pressor y souls
Speaker 8: and hard working hands from a people's destined to make
Speaker 8: it to their promised land.
Speaker 1: I'm from ben there Dunda can and we'll do it again.
Speaker 1: Now you tell me where are you from?
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 8: So I am going to read a scene from the
Speaker 8: very first Ryan Heartwood, which is Ways to Make Sunshine.
Speaker 8: And uh, after I read this scene, I'll open it
Speaker 8: up for questions. So if you have questions about me
Speaker 8: being a writer about any of my books, we're gonna
Speaker 8: talk in a little bit.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 1: So I'm going to read a scene to you. And
Speaker 1: what you should know about Ryan Heart is that her
Speaker 1: name means king.
Speaker 8: So her parents are always telling her he named you
Speaker 8: Ryan because we want you to be a leader, which
Speaker 8: means we want you.
Speaker 1: To be thoughtful and kind.
Speaker 2: We want you to be.
Speaker 8: Generous and a good listener, right, all the things that
Speaker 8: make a good leader.
Speaker 1: And so she's trying to live up to her name.
Speaker 8: Sometimes it's hard to be thoughtful and kind, right, It's
Speaker 8: hard to be the one that is always doing the
Speaker 8: right things.
Speaker 1: So Ryan's trying to rise up to her name.
Speaker 8: And be who her parents want her to be. And
Speaker 8: in this moment, she's very frustrated because there's a boy.
Speaker 8: His name is Brandon, and he's been teasing her about
Speaker 8: her name and treating her like she's a fragile thing,
Speaker 8: all because she's a girl. So she wants to prove
Speaker 8: a point to him and to the substitute teacher that
Speaker 8: just because she's a girl doesn't mean she can't do
Speaker 8: big things.
Speaker 1: Ways to make sunshine.
Speaker 8: When it's time to go outside for recess, Brandon Markets
Speaker 8: and the boy with glasses who I never talked to
Speaker 8: are splashing around in puddles and somkie and mud.
Speaker 1: Then they raise each other.
Speaker 8: Up the monkey bars. I walk over to join in
Speaker 8: on the climbing, but before I can get there, this
Speaker 8: absitute teacher says to me, why don't you go over there,
Speaker 8: a sweetheart, and points to the swings and sly, i'd
Speaker 8: better stay here for intending to climb a mountain.
Speaker 1: So I say no, thank you.
Speaker 8: And walk over to the monkey bars. This abstitute teacher
Speaker 8: follows me, and that's when I realized that it wasn't
Speaker 8: a suggestion a question, it was a demand. I really
Speaker 8: think it if be safer if you stay off the
Speaker 8: monkey bars. Besides you and Brandon mighty break from each other.
Speaker 8: I'll say out of Brandon's way, I say, and I
Speaker 8: don't think it's dangerous. I play on them all the time.
Speaker 8: I bet I can climb faster than all those boys.
Speaker 8: Just then Brandon shouts out, you can't beat me, and
Speaker 8: he jumps down, showing off. I bet you a pack
Speaker 8: of three auto jolly Ranchers and you can't beat me.
Speaker 8: Let's race race, Yeah, last one too. That pole has
Speaker 8: to buy the winter candy. He points to the Tetherba
Speaker 8: pole across the playground.
Speaker 1: I think about it.
Speaker 8: There's a small crowd for me, and now I feel
Speaker 8: like I have to say yes, Like I have to
Speaker 8: prove to the substitute that I can play whatever I
Speaker 8: want with whoever I want. I don't like jolly Ranchers.
Speaker 8: I tell Brandon, when I win, you have to buy
Speaker 8: me a twist. I look over at Kiki, one of
Speaker 8: my best friends. She smiles and gives us her countdown
Speaker 8: on your marc Get set go. I hear our friends
Speaker 8: all cheering, but mostly I hear the.
Speaker 1: Sound of my breath huffing and puffing.
Speaker 2: In out, in out.
Speaker 1: My feet slap the pavement and I run as fast
Speaker 1: as I can. Brandon is beating me, but not by much.
Speaker 1: I move my arms to the air, forcing myself to
Speaker 1: go faster.
Speaker 2: I can up.
Speaker 8: And then, just like I knew I could eyes at
Speaker 8: running faster than Randon by a lot.
Speaker 1: I am winning. I am winning. The pole is close,
Speaker 1: and if I stretch my arm out far enough, I'll
Speaker 1: reach it.
Speaker 8: I run a few more cents, and then when I
Speaker 8: go to put my right foot down, something happens. My
Speaker 8: right foot doesn't text the pavement the way of running.
Speaker 8: Foot usually textes the pavement. Instead, it stumbles and hiccups
Speaker 8: its way to the cold ground.
Speaker 1: I have fallen.
Speaker 8: Blood is drickling out of my knee, and there's the
Speaker 8: stinging and howling feeling all throughout my leg. Instead of
Speaker 8: stopping the race and seeing if I'm okay, Record runs
Speaker 8: right past me and tags the pole and says, yes,
Speaker 8: beat you you oh me a pack of jolly wrenchers.
Speaker 1: No fair, cpls. She was at the pole first. It's
Speaker 1: not her fault.
Speaker 8: Her shoe was untied and didn't even realize that's what happened.
Speaker 8: My shoe was untied. I tripped over my shoelace. Don't
Speaker 8: be a story loser, Brandon says, he's right. I tell
Speaker 8: Kiki I have never touched the pole. I'm the way
Speaker 8: home from school. I aks my brother, do you have
Speaker 8: two dollars? He answers why, and this means he has
Speaker 8: two dollars, he's just not sure if he wants to
Speaker 8: give them to me. What happened to your jeans? Ray asked,
Speaker 8: looking at the whole.
Speaker 1: It's a long story. I tell him, I hold my
Speaker 1: hand out, I'll pay you back.
Speaker 8: He gives me two dollars. And when we get to
Speaker 8: the corner store, I go straight to the candy aisle
Speaker 8: by a pack of green apple Dolly mattress for Brandon
Speaker 8: and the twigs for me.
Speaker 1: Alright, So that's a scene from Ways to make such times.
Speaker 1: I'm a voice. My voice is powerful, my boy, my
Speaker 1: voice can change the world.
Speaker 15: I have a voice, Lee, my voice can change the word.
Speaker 1: Right, go change the lot of young people. Thank you.
Speaker 1: So that's for happening today. Are where do you have
Speaker 1: the beans to me?
Speaker 3: Welcome everybody, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to Malik Books bringing a
Speaker 3: world together with books, culture and community.
Speaker 2: Okay, y'all, I had a round apause as well. Prop
Speaker 2: Here on a Tuesday night, exet the clock. We'll thankful
Speaker 2: and grateful.
Speaker 1: You know, because this is a very historic event. Today
Speaker 1: we all grace with.
Speaker 2: Several best selling authors.
Speaker 7: I'm gonna introduce one, but before I do that, and
Speaker 7: I always said, I gotta do my two minute commercials.
Speaker 16: No, you know, we got a lot going on at
Speaker 16: Elie Books and we would love for you to follow
Speaker 16: us all right, so that you can keep in touch
Speaker 16: with all the events and things that we do.
Speaker 2: So our instagram is Believe Books.
Speaker 1: Before you leave.
Speaker 17: Out here, we would love to get your email so
Speaker 17: you can get our news letters because that's more efficient
Speaker 17: on a lot of the programs that we are participating
Speaker 17: in book sciences.
Speaker 2: So just about what.
Speaker 18: Septemperirtith right here where we signing Centric that entertainer was here.
Speaker 2: And you know we took over them all. We took
Speaker 2: that line went all the way down right.
Speaker 3: But you know it's events like that that we try
Speaker 3: to bring to our community. You know, we're still are
Speaker 3: grass roots store with you.
Speaker 19: Know, it's a lot of but look around these books
Speaker 19: you know have a story in them, and most of
Speaker 19: them it is written by people that look like us.
Speaker 1: Right, So for a long time they ain't let us
Speaker 1: read or write.
Speaker 2: But now look at our voice. You see what I'm saying.
Speaker 2: Believe books give voice to the voices.
Speaker 3: And so I've been doing this since nineteen ninety when
Speaker 3: I opened up Elige Books.
Speaker 6: And why because.
Speaker 1: Books changed my life.
Speaker 2: And anything that you want to find you can find.
Speaker 2: And what let me hear it. Now, a book you
Speaker 2: can change. Listen, you have to change your life just
Speaker 2: by reading.
Speaker 1: You know, many people have done it.
Speaker 18: Many people have not graduated from high school nor college
Speaker 18: and became successful millionaires or successful careers.
Speaker 2: So as long as you live, I.
Speaker 3: Say, you got a chance to change your life, change
Speaker 3: your thoughts, change your life, and books can do that.
Speaker 20: We like to say here, I believe books of children
Speaker 20: are one hundred percent about future, you know, yea, and
Speaker 20: and and it's because what future do we have without
Speaker 20: the youth.
Speaker 1: I push hard and I'm.
Speaker 19: Passionate about books because I'm trying to pass on that
Speaker 19: to the youth and the young because they got to
Speaker 19: take the torch to the next level. You know, each
Speaker 19: generation has to moved the needle farther.
Speaker 3: You know, who cares about them changing the landscape or
Speaker 3: the playground.
Speaker 2: We still gotta push it forward. If boots can do that.
Speaker 1: And here at Elie Books.
Speaker 2: We got two locations right here.
Speaker 19: You have Westfield, Coach City Mall, Marquee of the Little
Speaker 19: Goolaite Books, and then we had Westfield.
Speaker 2: I'm sorry that's where were already at. But we had
Speaker 2: all when he was Chris Shawn Maul, which is.
Speaker 3: That's how O G I started on Chris shawan king
Speaker 3: in the little hole in the wall.
Speaker 1: Didn't have no money, but I had.
Speaker 2: A belief, you see, and so everything started with idea.
Speaker 1: You know, I always say, you know, thoughts, you know
Speaker 1: they're in the future.
Speaker 2: Look, I didn't thought something boom.
Speaker 6: I gotta walk right into that thought because thought is
Speaker 6: in the future.
Speaker 1: You know, you don't take a step while I'm thinking first.
Speaker 2: You're just not conscious of that thought.
Speaker 3: You're you know, that's the whole thing is that we
Speaker 3: do things subconstantly, but we're not aware of what we're
Speaker 3: doing when we're doing it. But the reality is this
Speaker 3: is that when you have a thought, you gotta work
Speaker 3: it and success don't come easy.
Speaker 1: So but hey, we thank you for coming on out.
Speaker 1: And I'm gonna introduce our moderator for the night, and she's.
Speaker 3: Gonna introduce our catch, Renee Watson and so because we're
Speaker 3: grace with two authors, two the best sellers, but we gotta.
Speaker 2: You got monumentous author.
Speaker 1: This is gonna be speaking today and so I'm.
Speaker 2: Gonna introduce Erica K. Kendrick.
Speaker 6: All right.
Speaker 2: She wrote a books called Squad Goals. I believe in
Speaker 2: the Cookie Monster.
Speaker 21: Now I'm gonna need more glasses now, so give me
Speaker 21: this sing, Give the glasses because look, I gotta find.
Speaker 2: Hey, they gotta be on me somewhere. I just bank. Look,
Speaker 2: in this world, you better have a sense of you
Speaker 2: because a lot of craziness going on. But you gotta find.
Speaker 19: Choy wherever situation you in. You know, they wrote the
Speaker 19: books wondering why.
Speaker 18: We found choy even in slavey, why we had praise
Speaker 18: and sing and dance even in slave They couldn't understand it.
Speaker 19: But I don't care what situation you win. You better
Speaker 19: find some joy because smiling and laughing is contagious.
Speaker 2: All right.
Speaker 6: Erica J.
Speaker 9: Kenji is a national speaker, mental health advocate, and former
Speaker 9: NBA Chile. She is a.
Speaker 7: Stanford University graduate.
Speaker 2: Then y'all need to cop on that from you know,
Speaker 2: that's I believe of the West cou.
Speaker 21: With the NBA in Marketing and International Business from the
Speaker 21: University of Illinois.
Speaker 9: She is a She's the author of Squad Goals and
Speaker 9: Cooking Monster, and she's gonna take it from here, So keep.
Speaker 22: It up for Trade Trade, I don't even know what
Speaker 22: to say. That's like everything, let's give from link.
Speaker 10: I have to be an amaze evident for everything that
Speaker 10: you do for for the culture, and we appreciate you.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 1: It's my honor to bring up our guest author for
Speaker 1: the Evening.
Speaker 10: She is the author of Ways to Build Dreams, Miss
Speaker 10: Renee Watson Okay.
Speaker 1: She is a number one New York Times bestselling author.
Speaker 10: Her novel Piecing Me Together received the Newberry Honor and
Speaker 10: a Corret Scott King Award. Her books include the Ryan
Speaker 10: Hart series Some Places More Than Others, Love Is a Revolution,
Speaker 10: This Side of Home, What Mama Left Me, Betty Before
Speaker 10: ex co Written with ELIASA. I'm Not saying that properly,
Speaker 10: Shabaz and Watch Us Rise co Written with Ellen Hagen,
Speaker 10: as well as A Clean Picture Books, Maya Song, the
Speaker 10: sixteen nineteen project Born on the Water co written with
Speaker 10: Nicole Hannah Jones. A Place Where Hurricanes Happened in Harlem's
Speaker 10: Little Blackbird, which was nominated for an NAACP Awards.
Speaker 1: Renee grew up in Portland, Oregon.
Speaker 10: Where this book is set, and now splits her time
Speaker 10: between Portland and New York City.
Speaker 1: Please give a warms welcome to missus, Renee.
Speaker 7: What do you mean?
Speaker 1: Everyone?
Speaker 12: You mean?
Speaker 2: He lovely man?
Speaker 1: Thank you for being here. We are so honored to
Speaker 1: have you here. Mess Dane wats and this is amazing
Speaker 1: my book signed.
Speaker 10: I should have probably done that while you were chilling
Speaker 10: in the back with the grapes and the chivs.
Speaker 1: Uh So, we're gonna put right here you don't want.
Speaker 10: I wanted to give you some spakes, because it's a
Speaker 10: lot when if you do this sometimes.
Speaker 1: And I am very compassionate back today, so I was
Speaker 1: trying not to be all up in your grill.
Speaker 10: And though I wanted autographs, I wanted pictures. I want
Speaker 10: it all the Okay, well we'll do that before we
Speaker 10: get started. So the name of the book, if you
Speaker 10: don't already have one, is a waste to build dreams.
Speaker 1: Uh So, before I start like getting all up in
Speaker 1: your business, I wanted.
Speaker 10: To know if you would like to read anything from
Speaker 10: the book, if you have a special little.
Speaker 8: Stress or page or back there that I haven't someone's
Speaker 8: been into me.
Speaker 1: Okay, great, thank you.
Speaker 8: So Ryan Is is in the fifth grade in this book,
Speaker 8: and she started off in the fourth grade in the
Speaker 8: first UH book of the series, and so she's had
Speaker 8: a point in her life where she's starting to think
Speaker 8: about what she's gonna do in the world and who
Speaker 8: she wants to be, and what is middle school gonna be, Like,
Speaker 8: she's super nervous about middle school. In this conversation, her
Speaker 8: father is encouraging her and her brother to think about
Speaker 8: not just the talents that they have and what their careers.
Speaker 1: Could be, but who they want to be in the world.
Speaker 2: So she's just made.
Speaker 8: Breakfast for dinner and she has experimented with ginger hot
Speaker 8: chocolate and her brother's like, mm mm, this is too spicy.
Speaker 1: I'm not feeling it, but.
Speaker 8: Her dad says he really likes it, and she's so
Speaker 8: happy that dad likes it. Ray tells us about his
Speaker 8: next poetry slam. I to the semi finals and if
Speaker 8: I win this, I get to compete in the city
Speaker 8: wide competition.
Speaker 1: He says, this time the theme is dreams.
Speaker 8: We can write about our real dreams or we can
Speaker 8: write about what we hope for ourselves or for the world.
Speaker 8: What are you gonna write about, mom asked Ray shrugs,
Speaker 8: I'm not sure yet. Dad wours more hot chocolate, And
Speaker 8: now I know he meant it when he said he
Speaker 8: really liked it.
Speaker 2: HM.
Speaker 1: Well, what are some of your dreams? What do you
Speaker 1: hope for your future? Ray says, I have a lot
Speaker 1: of dreams.
Speaker 8: Sometimes I wanna be a professional baseball player. Sometimes I
Speaker 8: think maybe a poet, oh and maybe a music producer.
Speaker 8: You'd be good at all of those things, Race said,
Speaker 8: Dad says, and what kind of person do you want
Speaker 8: to be?
Speaker 20: Mm?
Speaker 6: What do you mean?
Speaker 2: Mm?
Speaker 8: Well, you're telling me what you want to do as
Speaker 8: in a career, and it's good to have dreams of
Speaker 8: what kind.
Speaker 1: Of job you wanna have.
Speaker 8: But I also want you and Ryan to dream of
Speaker 8: what kind of person you want to be and what
Speaker 8: kind of world do you want to live in?
Speaker 1: That is one question no adult has ever aksed me.
Speaker 1: Always they ask what do.
Speaker 8: You want to do when you grow up? I have
Speaker 8: never been aksed who do you want to be? I
Speaker 8: never thought about there being a difference. So from this
Speaker 8: point on in the book, Ran is thinking about who
Speaker 8: do I wanna be in this world?
Speaker 1: Her name is Ryan.
Speaker 8: Ryan means king, and uh, her parents are always telling
Speaker 8: her be who he named you to be. We want
Speaker 8: you to be a leader, we want you to be thoughtful,
Speaker 8: we want you to be kind. She's in the fifth grade,
Speaker 8: so that's really hard. So she's trying to live up
Speaker 8: to her name and think about how can she show
Speaker 8: up in the world and be those things and not
Speaker 8: just focus on being the loudest or uh, the most
Speaker 8: talented in the room. But she's worried and thinking about
Speaker 8: how do I be kind and forgiving and compassionate?
Speaker 1: How do I share?
Speaker 3: Uh?
Speaker 1: So those are the things she's kind of working on
Speaker 1: in the book.
Speaker 10: Okay, that was an amazing passage. And then you pick
Speaker 10: perfectly cause I'm sitting here like, that's right, girl, I'll
Speaker 10: tell us that's right. Let us know it's about who
Speaker 10: you are.
Speaker 1: So you give us a little bit of that story
Speaker 1: about Waste of Build Dreams.
Speaker 10: But uh, can you share with us for those of
Speaker 10: us who are are not familiar with the book at all,
Speaker 10: just a brief synopsis of of what your baby is about.
Speaker 6: Sure?
Speaker 8: So, uh, this last book, Waste to Build Dreams is
Speaker 8: the fourth book of the Ryan Heart series. There's uh,
Speaker 8: ways to make sunshine, ways to grow, love and waste.
Speaker 1: It's your joy. And Ryan, like I said, is trying
Speaker 1: to live up to her name.
Speaker 8: And so in each book there are some some moments
Speaker 8: where she rises and some moments where uh, she does
Speaker 8: not and she doesn't.
Speaker 2: Make the mark.
Speaker 8: And the whole point is to help young people think
Speaker 8: about not being perfect and it's okay to make mistakes.
Speaker 8: It's okay to be on your growing edge. Of the
Speaker 8: important thing is that you're trying right. It's also my
Speaker 8: I owed to the Ramona series. I don't know if
Speaker 8: any of you know the Ramona series.
Speaker 7: Uh.
Speaker 1: Beverly Cleary was one of my favorite authors. And Ramona
Speaker 1: lived in Portland, Oregon, and that's where I grew up.
Speaker 8: And I remember reading those books as a child. And
Speaker 8: when I saw Click Attack Street, I was like, what,
Speaker 8: I know that street, I know that park. I know
Speaker 8: these places. This is where my aunt lives. She lived
Speaker 8: right around the corner from click Attach Street. But there
Speaker 8: were no black folks in that whole series. There are
Speaker 8: black people in Portland, Ord and y'all, so n I
Speaker 8: I and not even that I wanted the books to
Speaker 8: be different, but what it did was give me permission
Speaker 8: to write our story right and to make sure I'm
Speaker 8: telling the stories of black girls who live in the
Speaker 8: Pacific Northwest, and that I'm writing stories where black girls
Speaker 8: can play and have fun.
Speaker 1: I read a lot of books that have social justice things,
Speaker 1: and sometimes we.
Speaker 8: Label social justice as the serious topics, race, class, the
Speaker 8: intersections of all of those things. But social justice is
Speaker 8: also joy joins resistance, and I, as Malik, was saying
Speaker 8: that our people, we come from the people who knew
Speaker 8: how to hold on to join in the midst of
Speaker 8: such deep pain and struggle. And so I wanna put
Speaker 8: books out in the world that are yes, uh, thinking
Speaker 8: about overcoming and standing up and raising your voice to
Speaker 8: fight in justice. But also black girls deserve to laugh, yeah,
Speaker 8: and play and just sit up under their mamas and
Speaker 8: learn and love and be loved.
Speaker 1: And so that's what the series about.
Speaker 8: It is, It's all about black joy and letting this
Speaker 8: little girl be her of apologetic black self.
Speaker 10: Okay, so you saying, like you said, a white god
Speaker 10: like the joy like it on the countertown there laying
Speaker 10: your head and.
Speaker 1: Find that.
Speaker 10: That was my favorite little scene and the whole way
Speaker 10: I'm a down cause, like, okay, I'm trying not to think. Okay,
Speaker 10: letna be be cool. I'm like fangirling out over here, Loki,
Speaker 10: I'm trying.
Speaker 2: Not to cry.
Speaker 1: I loved this book, and so much of it was
Speaker 1: just pure joy. But that was my favorite scene. I
Speaker 1: devoured it in a day.
Speaker 10: When Malik said the book and then he checked and
Speaker 10: he's like, did you get the book? I was like,
Speaker 10: that book has been read, that book was reading.
Speaker 2: What are you hearing about?
Speaker 1: So that was my favorite scene for so many reasons.
Speaker 10: Why I could lay us a black girl, you know,
Speaker 10: just to get on the countertop with your head back
Speaker 10: in the scene, and luckily I'm not tender headed, so
Speaker 10: we got to do it.
Speaker 1: And the picture of going with them, okay.
Speaker 10: I was like, that's me, and that's to be right
Speaker 10: off to ourselves like Ryan, especially in that moment.
Speaker 1: So my question is, oh, sorry, this is a question
Speaker 1: for later.
Speaker 10: You're a dynamic writers, dynamic writer writing a writer like okay,
Speaker 10: we go together.
Speaker 6: Now we gotta.
Speaker 1: What was your favorite write in the books?
Speaker 8: So I love that you mentioned that scene. My favorite
Speaker 8: scene in each book is the hair scene.
Speaker 18: MM.
Speaker 8: So every book of the Ryan High series has a
Speaker 8: black girl hair moment too.
Speaker 9: Uh.
Speaker 8: In the first book, Ryan is getting her hair pressed
Speaker 8: for Easter Sunday, right, and there's a big scene where
Speaker 8: she after she gets it pressed, goes swimming all way.
Speaker 9: Uh.
Speaker 1: So there's a black girl hair moment there. M Uh.
Speaker 8: In Ways to Grow Love, she gets her her hair
Speaker 8: braided and has beads on the end.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 8: Ways to Grow Joe Uh, Rays to Share Joy she
Speaker 8: has braids in the front and the out until like
Speaker 8: the little Afro cub.
Speaker 1: And then in this book we see the black girl
Speaker 1: hair washing scene.
Speaker 6: Mm.
Speaker 1: And I was the only thing I cared about being
Speaker 1: illustrated in the book. So the book is not full
Speaker 1: of illustrations. You know. This is where young people are
Speaker 1: kind of moving away from illustrations but still want a
Speaker 1: little something.
Speaker 8: I just was like, the only thing I care about
Speaker 8: is that the hair scene is we was on and
Speaker 8: that we see that moment, and I think it's just
Speaker 8: important to normalize black girl here, That's right.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 8: But also I wanted to have have that reaction, have
Speaker 8: us finally see ourselves in a in a text and
Speaker 8: completely relate to it. So it's a scene that I've
Speaker 8: advocated for, and I've always been like, this is important.
Speaker 8: It has to look right. So we gotta get these
Speaker 8: braids right. We gotta get you know, all of it,
Speaker 8: cause I know that it managed to ask uh, and
Speaker 8: it matters the little girls. I go to school, uh
Speaker 8: doing author visits, and little girls show up with the
Speaker 8: hair like Ryan m and they understand, you know, they
Speaker 8: see themselves and that's a beautiful thing.
Speaker 1: Means a lot to me.
Speaker 8: The other thing I'll say about those scenes is that
Speaker 8: is the moment where so grandma desert hair.
Speaker 1: And it's always a moment where they have a a
Speaker 1: special conversation or just checking in, how are your friends?
Speaker 1: How's school? And I just remember being so loved by
Speaker 1: women when I was a kid. Yeah, and that that
Speaker 1: was when I didn't know it at the time, but
Speaker 1: that's when they were chicken on me. They're making jump
Speaker 1: at what's going on?
Speaker 10: That's right?
Speaker 1: Who do you got a crush on?
Speaker 6: That's frien?
Speaker 12: Uh?
Speaker 1: What what are you worrying about? How your grades? What's
Speaker 1: going on at school?
Speaker 8: And so it's just a moment for Ryan in the
Speaker 8: story to be loved and to be checked on and
Speaker 8: to show how we care for our babies, and sometimes
Speaker 8: that is neglected in literature. I think in black literature,
Speaker 8: we got mamas who are abusive and all the you know,
Speaker 8: the traumas of the hood.
Speaker 1: But I know a whole generation of women who raised
Speaker 1: me and they loved me, and they loved me well,
Speaker 1: and I wanted to honor you. I think you did
Speaker 1: a tab your job, right, Okay, they.
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 10: So talking about the character Ryan, how do you approach
Speaker 10: developing really relatable funier saying I'm forty nine years old
Speaker 10: and I'm sitting here crying, you know, relating to our
Speaker 10: little fifth grader.
Speaker 1: How do you do that?
Speaker 10: That's a gift. I'm sure you could teach it. I'm
Speaker 10: your but like that's divine.
Speaker 15: MM.
Speaker 1: Do you understand what I'm saying?
Speaker 10: How do you do that?
Speaker 1: How did you come to that?
Speaker 6: I I think I I just try to.
Speaker 1: Write from a place of truth.
Speaker 20: MM.
Speaker 1: It's fiction, but it's also reality. Like I know girls
Speaker 1: like Ryan. I have Ryan's in my life. I had
Speaker 1: I with a little bit of Ryan.
Speaker 8: I I never wanna write about a people I don't
Speaker 8: care about and that I don't love, and so I
Speaker 8: love young people deeply.
Speaker 1: I'm listening to them. I'm asking them, you know, what
Speaker 1: do you care about? What are you afraid of?
Speaker 6: Who do you love?
Speaker 1: Who loves you back? And so when I go to
Speaker 1: the page, I think all of that just comes out
Speaker 1: because it's in my real life.
Speaker 8: I don't know that I'm trying to write something or
Speaker 8: make something of all the way, like a plot. Yes,
Speaker 8: I'm tryna make up a plot. That's interesting. I wanna,
Speaker 8: you know, think about structure, But as far as the
Speaker 8: heart of the story, that's very real, and I think
Speaker 8: it's just based on the young people that I know.
Speaker 8: I'm just trying to reflect back in the books what
Speaker 8: I had experienced and seen in real life.
Speaker 10: Okay, so my grandmother, Okay, how do I say this
Speaker 10: makes you rest in peace?
Speaker 1: She was amazing, but she was not sorrow m like
Speaker 1: this grandmother, Like I saw stuff in this grandmother. I
Speaker 1: was like, they make grandma's like.
Speaker 10: My grandmother was amazing, but she was like we we
Speaker 10: called her like the godmother of the family, like she
Speaker 10: was that boss shiit as we would say today. But
Speaker 10: this grandmother was just so loving and borning. She thought
Speaker 10: very cugly to me. M right, like, so, why is
Speaker 10: that important to your readers. And I think to the
Speaker 10: culture to have varying archetypes when it comes to these
Speaker 10: dynamic women that you've grounded.
Speaker 8: So Ryan's mother, Yeah, this is a spoiler epticipant Ryan's
Speaker 8: mom at the end of the first what that announces
Speaker 8: that she's expecting and so she's distracted and the the
Speaker 8: father has lost a job, is try and find where
Speaker 8: he finds work. But it's it's not pain as much
Speaker 8: as it used to. So they're struggling. And I I
Speaker 8: wanted Ryan to have a safe place to land. So
Speaker 8: grandma comes in, right, and is that comfort for her?
Speaker 8: Is the kind of steady rock the anchor? Yeah, I
Speaker 8: think it was important to just and also, you know,
Speaker 8: I think so I have had women in my life
Speaker 8: like the grandmother.
Speaker 1: I have had women in my life who were not.
Speaker 1: The thing about.
Speaker 8: Writing realistic fiction is that I have an opportunity as
Speaker 8: a writer to write what.
Speaker 1: Could be, yeah, not just what is right.
Speaker 8: So I think I'm also trying to show black women, Uh,
Speaker 8: this is a way we could be with our children.
Speaker 3: Mm.
Speaker 8: We don't have to be your child staying your place.
Speaker 8: Go over there and today I'll be quiet mama.
Speaker 1: Uh uh, you know all the things. Kay uh. So
Speaker 1: the grandmother in Mary, she there was a balance of
Speaker 1: them and I listen, I.
Speaker 8: Don't I don't suffer fools, don't play, stop the foolishness.
Speaker 1: But she's also going to ask you how was your day?
Speaker 8: And when you are in the fifth grade and your
Speaker 8: day was horrible because a boy teased you because of
Speaker 8: your name, she's not gonna say.
Speaker 1: That's not a big deal. Girl, Get over that. She's
Speaker 1: gonna comfort you, know.
Speaker 8: So I wanted to also show black women who are
Speaker 8: tender and loving that you take time to listen, because
Speaker 8: that is a part of us too, and I don't
Speaker 8: know that we always get to see that. We get
Speaker 8: big mama, you know, we get like the the that
Speaker 8: that character a lot. And I wanted to soften her
Speaker 8: a little bit, not because I am making up something,
Speaker 8: but because I know those women and I wanted them.
Speaker 1: To shine too. M That makes sense, Yes, that makes sense, Yes, yes,
Speaker 1: I think that.
Speaker 10: Okay, So when I was in fifth grade, mm, no,
Speaker 10: grown up sat out with me and was like, let
Speaker 10: me tell you about my life.
Speaker 1: MM Like, let me tell you how I evolved. They developed,
Speaker 1: they grew like she was it human with her in
Speaker 1: that moment, and I thought that.
Speaker 10: Was so gorgeous, Like I found myself. Okay, so maybe
Speaker 10: my eyes were swaying just a little because I thought,
Speaker 10: how gorgeous for her to say to this girl, right,
Speaker 10: like I see it, like I I feel you, I
Speaker 10: hear you, I am you.
Speaker 8: Yeah, this is where I've been as an adult.
Speaker 1: Admit to you, that is not easy to lift us,
Speaker 1: Like why do you do that? But it's possible, you know,
Speaker 1: they do do that. But if I'm just realizing this
Speaker 1: while you're saying this, I'm like, who were those adults?
Speaker 2: Besides my mother?
Speaker 1: There were two people in my life who really were
Speaker 1: I I think about them in life when I'm writing
Speaker 1: a series.
Speaker 8: The pastor of my church growing up and his wife,
Speaker 8: Reverend Howard, Sister Howard. They were just faith in a
Speaker 8: very practical way, right. They were going to be like, Okay,
Speaker 8: there is a woman in the church whose husn' passed away.
Speaker 8: Is she needs her grass? Cause the youth of the church,
Speaker 8: we y'all going over there. You gonna cut her grass.
Speaker 8: You gonna, you know, run errands for her, You're gonna
Speaker 8: we are faith with that works is dead. I don't
Speaker 8: He didn't care nothing about your prayers if you weren't
Speaker 8: also actually loving people and actually you know, doing the thing.
Speaker 8: And and his sermons were definitely scripture, but also he
Speaker 8: would just tell stories of growing up in Unpa Lusa's Louisiana.
Speaker 8: I remember this as a kid, and I would always
Speaker 8: just sit up a little bit more to listen to
Speaker 8: these stories he would tell that weren't just scripture but
Speaker 8: life's experience.
Speaker 1: And you had this these this old couple country.
Speaker 8: I think he had maybe a fifth grade education, m
Speaker 8: But what he did with that education and what he
Speaker 8: did with his life and what she did.
Speaker 1: His wife was not just a pastor's wife.
Speaker 8: Yeah, she was hands on and loved us and broke
Speaker 8: all the stereotypes of what we think of pastor's wife
Speaker 8: sometimes is being the means, stuck up whatever. She loved
Speaker 8: the kids, and she's nurtured us, and they shared their
Speaker 8: stories with us.
Speaker 1: And so I think they show up in my work
Speaker 1: when I'm writing grandparents or.
Speaker 8: Elders, because I really was raised by a loving black
Speaker 8: community that was always looking back to tell us how
Speaker 8: we can move forward.
Speaker 1: That was always a constant thing. So it's it's low
Speaker 1: hanging fruit for me to access to that because I
Speaker 1: had it as a kid. I'm very grateful for that.
Speaker 1: All right, let's give her a.
Speaker 4: Thanks for listening to Malik's Bookshelf, where topics on the
Speaker 4: shelf are books, culture, and community.
Speaker 6: Be sure to subscribe and leave me a review. Check
Speaker 6: out my Instagram at Malak Books. See you next time.