You Brown Bookshelving Today?

Today's the day !

Since receiving that fateful email from Varian Johnson in September, I've been burning the midnight oil with fellow Brown Bookshelf members gearing up for this day. I don't think I was this excited the night before Release Day for So Not The Drama.

I don't think any of us knew just how much was involved in researching authors and having to, in essence, judge our peers to determine who deserved and/or needed the light shone their way. But knowing what I know about this group of people, had we known how much work it was, I think we all would have still dove in head first.

Because this thing, to quote a cliche, is bigger than us.

The Brown Bookshelf isn't a political statement.

It's not about creating a separate "club" of children's writers who share a common race.

It's not even a sigh of frustration, taking our ball home to play on our own field because the indusry-at-large tends to forget about so many of the African American children's authors out there.

It's actually about inclusion, reminding and tooting the horn of authors who sometimes are easily overshadowed due to the sheer number of children's books on the market.

The literay community could use more Brown Bookshelves and ReaderGirlz - working together to pool resources, serving as portals to anyone genuinely interested in finding books that may not have big publishing budgets, critical acclaim or wide distribution.

I have never been more tired than I am, right now. I think when February ends I'm going to sleep for two days straight.

But it's that good kind of tired. The kind that comes from knowing you've done something so satisfying, you're too wired to care about being tired.

So, go forth and discover, while I get some shut-eye.