Brendan Kiely has a New Book and Laurie Halse Anderson is Going to be with him to Talk about Tradition.

5/3/2018

Brendan Kiely is a happy guy! He should be. He has a new book out. I don't think I have ever seen Brendan when he hasn't been brimming with enthusiasm. Well, he should be, his books are fantastic. I know, I know you might have heard of a little book that made a splash a couple of years ago--All American Boys. Well, if that is the only book of his that you know you are missing out. The primary thing you need to know about Brendan, is that he is not afraid to speak truth to power. His debut novel, The Gospel of Winter is compelling and powerful. His writing gets more powerful as he moves along. I feel in hard for his third novel, The Last True Love Story. As I was reading about it, I kept thinking, I am going to write about this book. It is fantastic. Music is a dominate theme that helps establish character, setting, and connects ideas family across time and space. So, I did. My son, Isaac Bickmore, a music educator at the University of Central Missouri, teamed up with me and we wrote a chapter about project based learning and alternate assessments using music as a base. The chapter is entitled "A Music and ELA Project: Connections through Brendan Kiely's The Last True Love Story" I was published in Adolescent Literature as a Complement to the Content Areas: Social Science and the Humanities edited by Greathouse, Kaywell and Eisenbach.

Back to Brendan.

The new book, Tradition, is another book that deals with male aggression and rape. It tackles the subject with the same literary strength as Speak, Inexcusable, and Wrecked. These are the first few that come to mind, but there are many others and Kiely's effort is fine addition.

Brendan has been on tour with the new book--unfortunately, he isn't coming to Las Vegas. He is, however, going to be Fairless Hills, PA with Laurie Halse Anderson on May 4, 2018--Today! Wouldn't you just love to be in this conversation? I certainly would. If you are in the area, you ought to make your way over to that particular Barnes and Noble bookstore.

While you are there don't just buy a copy of Tradition, pick up the rest of his works.

Brendan has been kind enough to answer a few interview questions. Take a few minutes and get some added insight into the workings of this gifted author.

Until next time.

Dr. Steve Bickmore
Creator and Curator

Dr. Bickmore is a Professor of English Education at UNLV. He is a scholar of Young Adult Literature and past editor of The ALAN Review and a past president of ALAN. He is a available for speaking engagements at schools, conferences, book festivals, and parent organizations. More information can be found on the Contact page and the About page.

Dr. Gretchen Rumohr
Co-Curator

Gretchen Rumohr is a professor of English and writing program administrator at Aquinas College, where she teaches writing and language arts methods. She is also a Co-Director of the UNLV Summit on the Research and Teaching of Young Adult Literature. She lives with her four girls and a five-pound Yorkshire Terrier in west Michigan.

Bickmore's
Co-Edited Books

Meet
Evangile Dufitumukiza!

Evangile is a native of Kigali, Rwanda. He is a college student that Steve meet while working in Rwanda as a missionary. In fact, Evangile was one of the first people who translated his English into Kinyarwanda.

Steve recruited him to help promote Dr. Bickmore's YA Wednesday on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media while Steve is doing his mission work.

He helps Dr. Bickmore promote his academic books and sometimes send out emails in his behalf.

You will notice that while he speaks fluent English, it often does look like an "American" version of English. That is because it isn't. His English is heavily influence by British English and different versions of Eastern and Central African English that is prominent in his home country of Rwanda.

Welcome Evangile into the YA Wednesday community as he learns about Young Adult Literature and all of the wild slang of American English vs the slang and language of the English he has mastered in his beautiful country of Rwanda.

While in Rwanda, Steve has learned that it is a poor English speaker who can only master one dialect and/or set of idioms in this complicated language.

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