Nancy Bo Flood and J.L. Powers will present papers on children, war, and literature at the University of Hawaii's Children's LIterature Conference June 21-23. We're presenting on the 23rd--hope to see you in Hawaii!

Consider attending this unique symposium: Ethics and Children's Literature www.eclconference.org DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana September 13-15, 2012. Nancy Bo Flood, Ph.D., will present "Lost Children of Hiroshima and Today's Refugees, What Should We Tell the Children?" This conference brings together children’s authors, philosophers, and scholars of children’s literature to explore ethical questions posed by children’s literature and posed about children’s literature, understood in the broadest possible sense.

Ann Angel is the author of several books for young adults, most recently the biography Janis Joplin: Rise Up Singing which won the 2011 YALSA Award for Excellence in Non-Fiction for Young Adults.

Nancy Bo Flood is the award-winning author of many books for children, most recently Warriors in the Crossfire, a young adult novel that explores one boy's experiences with impending war on the Pacific island of Saipan.

Lyn Miller-Lachmann is the author of several multicultural books, most recently the novel Gringolandia, a 2010 ALA Best Book for young adults. She is the former editor of MultiCultural Review.

Peter Marino's young adult novels Dough Boy and Magic and Misery have been nominated by the American Library Association for Best Books for Young Adults. He is also a playwright: The Grandma Show, "Ralph Smith of Schenectady, New York...” and "The Good Samaritan" have been produced nationwide.

J.L. Powers is the author of The Confessional, a novel for young adults that explores racial tension and violence on the U.S.-Mexico Border, and the author of This Thing Called the Future, a coming-of-age novel set in post-apartheid, AIDS-ravaged South Africa.

The Pirate Tree is a collective of children's and young adult writers interested in children's literature and social justice issues. For editorial or administrative issues, please contact J.L. Powers at the address below. If you have a book you'd like to recommend for a review or an interview subject, guest writer, or topic that you'd like to suggest, please contact any of the individual writers at the following email addresses:

Ann: aangel [at] aol.com
Nancy:
Lyn: lynml [at] me.com
Peter: pmarino300 [at] yahoo.com
J.L.: jlpowers [at] evaporites.com

The writers at The Pirate Tree seek to expose and discuss literature and writers for children and teenagers that delve into themes of social justice and social conscience. The title, “The Pirate Tree,” comes from a picture book that Lyn Miller-Lachmann once wrote about two children whose grandfathers fought on opposite sides of a war. The children were prohibited from going into each others’ yards, but they figured out a way to meet and play pirates together by climbing a tree with limbs and branches above both their yards. Like the story suggested, we are interested in books and writers that question and rebel against the status quo, argue for peace and reconciliation, take the side of the marginalized and powerless, and use creative solutions to overcome obstacles.