I had the great joy of presenting alongside Dashka Slater at last year's NCTE conference in Boston. The session, which was organized by Katherine Marsh, focused on (former/current) journalists who also write books for young people and how that combined experience influences their approach to media literacy. Dashka's nonfiction books for young adults, The 57 Bus and Accountable, are essential texts in helping kids (and adults!) understand how our hyper connected lives can, ironically, lead to unhealthy disconnects in our ability to empathize with one another. I greatly admire Dashka's work and was thrilled when she agreed to chat with me for The Reader's Heart. I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did.
ABOUT THIS WEEK'S GUEST
New York Times-bestselling author Dashka Slater has been telling stories since she could talk. An award-winning journalist who writes for such publications as The New York Times Magazine and Mother Jones, she is also the author of fifteen books of fiction and non-fiction for children and adults. Her work has been translated into more than a dozen languages and has won many awards, including the Wanda Gág Read Aloud Award.
Dashka’s true crime narrative, The 57 Bus, has received numerous accolades, including the 2018 Stonewall Book Award from the American Library Association, the 2018 Beatty Award from the California Library Association, the California Book Award Gold Award for Young Adult Literature, and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor. It was a YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award Finalist and an LA Times Book Award Finalist, in addition to receiving four starred reviews and being named to more than 20 separate lists of the year’s best books, including ones compiled by the Washington Post, the New York Public Library, and School Library Journal. In 2021, The 57 Bus was named to Time magazine’s list of the 100 Best Young Adult Books of All Time.
The recipient of a Creative Writing Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, Dashka teaches at Hamline University’s MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program. She has spent most of her adult life in Oakland, California, where she is always working on far too many writing projects.
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Note: episode transcripts are generated by AI and are likely imperfect. Still, I hope you find them useful.
RESOURCES & LINKS
Please enjoy a special discount of 20% off the titles mentioned in this episode (or others of your choice) by visiting Bookelicious and using the code JENNIFERLAGARDE. Note: I do not make any money from the sales, but I am delighted that you get to save some!
The Escargot series by Dashka Slater and Sydney Hanson
The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater
Accountable by Dashka Slater
Connect with Dashka
MORE ABOUT THE READER’S HEART
Rooted in the belief that our world needs the magic of children’s literature now more than ever, the Reader’s Heart podcast captures conversations with authors and illustrators about children's literature as a vehicle for empathy and joy in a dark world. I'm so excited about this project and it's my wish that it brings you as much light and hope as it has brought me.
Special thanks to Corinna Luyken for creating the beautiful illustration that will serve as the show's logo. I've always found Corinna's art so moving and she perfectly captured the spirit of what I am trying to do, which is to put warmth and love into the world during a time when so many are working to limit kids' access to the warmth and love inherent in children's literature. (Also, don't forget, you can use the discount above to buy Corinna's books from Bookelicious, too!)
Weekly episodes will drop on Tuesdays. Once you've had a chance to listen, I hope you will consider leaving The Reader's Heart a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review! Podcast reviews are one of the best ways to support your favorite shows and help others find these conversations.
WHERE TO LISTEN:
Wherever you listen to podcasts!
