We’ve put together a map of settings and locations for Hazel Edwards’ books, including ‘f2m: the boy within’. The setting could really be anywhere in Australia or New Zealand, so we chose to feature Melbourne and Wellington as the locations where we co-authored the book, communicating via Skype and email.

View The thoughtful tourist’s guide to intellectual property via reading in a larger map

I love the Antarctic locations on the map – zoom in to those to see how tiny the research bases are, then zoom out and you’ll see the sheer scope of the continent and masses of ice:

View The thoughtful tourist’s guide to intellectual property via reading in a larger map

How to browse the map

• Click on a book cover to read more about that book
• Drag the map around to see more of the world
• If you need more room, open the map on Google maps to use the whole screen

The geographic constraints were obvious: Hazel in Melbourne, myself in Wellington, New Zealand, and the youth  in Wellington Shire, Gippsland, Australia – a detail we didn’t notice until the day of the chat.

The group’s questions were wide-ranging, including how to co-write and get published, the benefits of e-books., gender topics including finding support in rural areas, my personal experiences transitioning and media and librarian reactions to ‘f2m: the boy within’.

The first few moments of the chat revealed Phong Truong, Branch Support Librarian and organiser of the chat, to be female and not male as I had assumed. We all make assumptions about gender!

As a new author it’s exciting to have opportunities to talk to young people who have questions about gender, and especially rewarding to chat to your own readers. New technologies give authors these opportunities. Websites such as Skype an author network make it easy to find and get in touch with authors willing to brave the technical world to reach out to their readers.

Technical note: It’s not possible to have two videos appear on Skype simultaneously, though you can have as many audio channels as your bandwidth can handle.

Links

Web chat with rural youth – article by Hazel Edwards on Get Ahead Kids website

Ryan Kennedy’s profile on Skype an Author Network

Hazel Edwards and I are thrilled that our novel ‘f2m: the boy within‘ has been selected for The White Ravens in 2011.

Every year 250 outstanding international books for children and young adults are selected for The White Ravens list from nearly 10,000 books sent to the International Youth Library at Schloss Blutenberg in Munich.

The books are presented at this year at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair and become travelling exhibitions sometimes sponsored by cultural groups such as the Goethe Institute.

See the full list

The International Youth Library at Schloss Blutenburg

Hazel outside the Schloss Blutenburg in Munich

As well as research facilities for internationals interested in children’s literature, the Schloss Blutenberg, a former Bavarian hunting lodge, houses the biggest International Youth Library of 540,000 books in 15 major languages. The castle is a short train and bus ride from central Munich.

The library was founded by Jella Lepman, the the US advisor on Children and Women, who started the post war first travelling exhibition with 4000 donated books. Many use animal parables as Lepman believed that by using animals to champion the cause of peace for children’s sake, the books would be more widely read.

Jella Lepman’s post-WWII concept was to collect children’s books to promote tolerance for strangers outside borders, as well as tolerance for those with whom we live daily.

The historical collection of 90,000 books are those up until 1950, and many rare Eastern European copies are no longer available elsewhere. Scholars come to research books no longer available in their own countries due to Communist censorship or wartime destruction. The Geneva Collection of 30,000 books from the League of Nations which was given to the Schloss archives in the 1960s is also carefully housed in the cellar stacks  in temperature controlled areas.

The castle itself was built in 1432 also contains an historic chapel and a grassed courtyard, in addition to a picturesque lake with hundreds of ducks.

Watch the video:

After a brief introduction, Kevin Hague, Green MP and Rainbow spokesperson launched the book. Also speaking were Mani Mitchell, myself and Hazel Edwards, co-author.

A diverse crowd gathered in Unity Books on a wintry evening in July to celebrate the launch of our novel, ‘f2m: the boy within’.

The evening featured an appearance by Hazel Edwards appeared via Skype from Melbourne, which was reminiscent of the collaboration process we used to write the book itself.

Kevin Hague, Green MP launched the book and spoke about his experiences in bookselling and the health sector.  He reminded us of the power of books, speaking of the support he found in the gay book section of his public library as a young gay man, and quoted Eleanor Roosevelt on universal human rights.

Mani Mitchell then brought her perspective as counsellor and intersex advisor.

Co-author Hazel Edwards joined us via Skype, in an amazing feat of technological mastery, possibly involving the wind blowing in the right direction.

Thanks to everyone who was involved and the great crew at Unity Books, Ford Street Publishing for all their support, and to everyone who reads ‘f2m: the boy within’.

A crowd gathers

Marion Castree from Unity Books

Kevin Hague MP speaks

Mani Mitchell speaks

Hazel Edwards on Skype from Melbourne, Australia

Ryan Kennedy speaking

An avid reader dives in!

f2m: the boy within will be launched by Kevin Hague, Green MP and Rainbow spokesperson at 6pm on Wednesday 21st July 2010 at Unity Books, 57 Willis Street, Wellington.

Featuring co-authors Hazel Edwards (via Skype) and Ryan Kennedy, Mani Mitchell and the Tranzform transgender youth group.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Download PDF invitation | Facebook event

No need to RSVP. Queries to (04) 499 4245 or 0800 486 489

Links

• Hazel Edwards, co-author
• Kevin Hague, Green MP and Rainbow spokesperson
• Unity Books, Wellington
• Mani Mitchell
• Tranzform
• Ford Street Publishing

]]> http://ryanscottkennedy.com/2010/06/f2m-wellington-launch/feed/ 1 http://ryanscottkennedy.com/2010/04/f2m-in-the-wild-reviewed/ http://ryanscottkennedy.com/2010/04/f2m-in-the-wild-reviewed/#comments Sat, 17 Apr 2010 22:46:22 +0000 Ryan http://ryanscottkennedy.com/?p=621 It’s been a busy couple of months, starting with the (first) launch of f2m: the boy within in Melbourne and now gearing up for the second launch in Wellington, NZ. Subscribe to email alerts and you won’t miss it!

I’ve been tweeting our reviews so far. In case you missed them, here’s a recap:

Recent reviews

Paper Tigers blog – A combined review and guest blog by Hazel Edwards.My favourite quote: “I read the book at one sitting – it’s a fast-paced and compulsive read.” For some reason I love hearing that readers get through the book quickly.

Sue Bursztynski in January Magazine and her own blog, The Great Raven – Sue describes herself as a ‘writer, librarian, book reviewer, educator’ so I’m honoured that she even read our book. I love that she pointed out that “the novel also explores the punk rock sub-culture, which is interesting in its own right.” I’ve been waiting for someone to say that! Exploration and accurate representation of the punk scene was just as important to me as the transgender aspects. An interesting comment conversation ensued on her blog.

ReadPlus – Recommended! by this resource site for teachers and parents. It sounds like this reviewer was immersed in the story: “I wanted to shake Finn’s mother and friend, Marla, for their initial lack of support, and I was surprised when Finn made judgments about others.”

The Reading Stack – Reviewed by Jo Burnell, a Paediatric Speech Pathologist and writer. “f2m provides answers to questions people don’t dare ask.” Being an out transgender person, I have been asked quite a few off-the-wall questions in my time. If you’ve ever wondered about it, someone’s asked it. That’s how I knew which questions to answer.

Aussie Reviews – Sally Murphy takes a break from blogging and writing children’s books to review ‘f2m’. “Teen readers will be drawn into Finn’s story.” I certainly hope so!

Here I am signing copies with Hazel while author Sofie Laguna looks on:

Our publisher from Ford Street Paul Collins said a few words to start, then Hazel took the floor and explained some of the quirks of our writing process, namely being in different countries.  At the point this photo below was taken, I am pointing out that the book is the ultimate in recycling, as I drew from my online journal to start the writing process.

My favourite photo from the day: myself and author/illustrator Felicity Marshall, gazing into each others’ eyes for effect (we’d met that day).

And there was cake! It was delicious.

A fabulous day in all. Thanks to everyone who came! I’m very proud to be a part of this collaboration and the opportunities it will bring to readers.

Life Matters interview

Our interview on Life Matters with Richard Aedy was aired on Wednesday morning. Recording in the ‘Tardis’ at Southbank was an experience in itself. I have new respect for anyone working in radio.

Listen to the Life Matters podcast

Please come along and bring anyone who’s interested. For catering purposes it would be great if you could RSVP by 10 February to info@fordstreetpublishing.com.
Queries: Lindy Dadd on (03) 9426 5688 or
Paul Collins: (03) 9481 1120

When: Sunday 14th February at 2pm
Where: Richmond Library, 415 Church Street, Richmond
Click for map of venue
Download the invitation as a PDF

I hope to see you there!

f2m:the boy within trailer

Blog interview

Since last update Hazel and I were interviewed for The Clock Monkey, a cool blog by Ella, a teenager in Argentina. It’s my first interview and I had a lot of fun writing the answers to some interesting questions.

Read our interview with Ella from Clock Monkey

First copy of f2m (to arrive at my house)

It’s thicker than I thought it would be.

I’m not a particularly good photographer so the focus does something interesting and blurs the title. The little figures are glossy and embossed, and the rest is matt.

So, only three months until lots of these hit the stores!

I co-wrote it with Australian author Hazel Edwards, recently nominated for the Astrid Lindgren award.

Synopsis

What happens when who you are on the inside clashes with what you are on the outside?

All adolescents face the quest for identity, but gender change complicates ‘coming of age’.

School-leaver Skye plays guitar in her all-girl band, The Chronic Cramps. Making her name in the punk music scene is easier than FTM (female to male) transitioning: from Skye to Finn, from girl to man. At the school reunion, Finn faces victimisation, but challenges the bullies.

Uncovering genetic mysteries about family heritage tears the family apart. Gran’s loved sibling Al was also Alberta. Transgender identity is more than hormones and surgery, it’s about acceptance. Going public, Finn sings FTM lyrics on TV.

With a little help from bemused mates and parents who don’t want to lose a daughter, but who love their teenager, Finn is transitioning.