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!

Buy ‘f2m: the boy within’ as a Kindle e-book

Converting a whole book to Kindle format was a new experience for me. It was a challenge to navigate forums, helpful blogs and Amazon’s own Digital Text Platform (DTP) help pages to get the instructions I needed. I actually converted it from Word to HTML (Amazon converts it to Kindle format) with a sprinkling of Kindle-only snippets that I’m sure are only included to liven up the conversion process.

One of the main reasons for writing ‘f2m: the boy within’ was to share information with as many people as possible about what it’s like to transition gender. The e-book version gives us the opportunity to make the book more accessible to those people who want that information in an easy-to-read format.

I’m glad we did this, and I look forward to working on the audio book!

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/2010/02/book-launched-cake-eaten/ http://ryanscottkennedy.com/2010/02/book-launched-cake-eaten/#comments Thu, 18 Feb 2010 02:19:07 +0000 Ryan http://ryanscottkennedy.com/?p=584 I’m back in Wellington, New Zealand after our very successful book launch for f2m: the boy within. A good-sized crowd of wonderful people attended. I know they were wonderful because every one of them came up to me and had a chat.

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.