A photograph of Little Thoughts Press Issue Eight: Pride with a sneak peek of "Be You" by Tracie Renee.
Tracie Renee is a mom, a poet, a youth services librarian, and a book reviewer for Publishers Weekly. She lives, works, and dreams (mostly of publishing a full-length book) roundabouts Chicago. Her words have been nominated for the Best of the Net and won the Grand Prize in poetry from TallGrass Writers Guild/Outrider Press three times. Find Tracie's kid-friendly poems online at The Dirigible Balloon.
Little Thoughts Press: Your poem, "Be You," is a lovely, affirming piece that reminds kids that labels don’t define them. The concluding stanza includes this gem, “folks who see life as just black and white…miss the rainbow’s pot of gold.” Kids need to know not only the challenges but also the rewarding joy—that pot of gold—that comes with being themselves. What recent picture books and middle-grade books would you recommend that do a good job on this theme?
Tracie Renee: This is a hard question to answer because there are so many fantastic, new books that celebrate diversity and encourage kids to be their authentic selves. My answer is solely based on the small slice of the literary pie that I've personally read, and this list is certainly not definitive. That said, I've recently loved these picture books: LOVE, VIOLET by Charlotte Sullivan Wild (a gentle story of LGBTQIA+ positive grade school crushes), URSULA UPSIDE-DOWN by Corey Tabor (a sweetly funny homage to being yourself), WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU by James Catchpole (a welcoming look at limb differences); and these middle-grade novels: CRUSHING IT by Erin Becker (soccer + LGBTQIA+ first love), THE CURSE OF EELGRASS BOG by Mary Averling (LGBTQIA+ representation wrapped up in a nail-biting horror fantasy), GOOD DIFFERENT by Meg Eden Kuyatt (a novel-in-verse that celebrates neurodiversity), NOT QUITE A GHOST by Anne Ursu (chronic illness representation) and SLOUCH by Christina Wyman ("your body is your own" awareness).
Little Thoughts Press: As a poet, youth librarian, and a book reviewer with Publisher’s Weekly, you’re living the dream for a lot of us in the kidlit community! A little bird (Twitter) also told us you’ve written a middle-grade novel in verse. Do you ever need a break from books? What do you do to avoid feeling burnt out and to refill your creative battery?
Tracie Renee: Yes, breaks are important for recharging! Sometimes I go through "reading slumps" where I'm just not in the mood to read anything, and sometimes I go through periods of burnout where I want to read but lack the focus to get through a printed novel. In those times, I reach for different formats—short poems or short stories that I can digest in nibbles, audiobooks and graphic novels. I've also found that balancing the "mental exercise" of reading and writing with actual physical exercise really helps me maintain creative momentum. Every day, I make time to go for a walk, a run, or a swim. (I am equally terrible at all three of those; but the older I get, the more I realize that it doesn't matter how "good" you are at something. The point is how that thing makes you feel; and for me, connecting with my body settles my mind for stories.)
Little Thoughts Press: Issue 8: Pride is about celebrating the LGBTQ+ community. Are they any LGBTQ+ organizations or programs that you would like to shout out, either that you work with directly, or whose work and contributions you'd like to draw more attention to?
Tracie Renee: I'm fortunate to live in a community that embraces diversity, and I've volunteered with a parents' group that gives out free LGBTQIA+ books at local events. This past June, I donated ten copies of Issue 8 to hand out at a local Pride festival. In the past, I've served on my library's DEI committee. Currently, I serve on the DEI committee of a Buddhist temple that's been my spiritual home for the last couple years. These groups are small and very local, but I love how they are making safe spaces for the LGBTQIA+ community at the ground level. I love being part of that.
Little Thoughts Press: How did you get started writing kid-lit and what do you find most challenging and rewarding about writing for kids?
Tracie Renee: Writing always felt like breathing to me, like something I did without really knowing why and couldn't stop doing even if I wanted to. My work as a librarian brought me to kid-lit; I drafted my first teen novel after being immersed in children's literature as both a Youth Services Librarian in a public library and a Media Center assistant in a middle school (for a long while, I worked multiple jobs at the same time to make ends meet). Unfortunately, I shelved those dreams for a full decade while I got married, bought a house, and became a mom. It wasn't until July 2023—when I got hit by an SUV while walking my dog and we both survived—that I realized that dreams don't wait, and it was time to make time to chase mine. Kid-lit is what made me a reader; what's most rewarding about writing for kids is knowing that someday my poems and stories might inspire a young person to tell their own truth. What's most challenging is the market, because I have absolutely no control over that and my middle-grade novel-in-verse is proving a hard sell due to shifting trends in the literary landscape.
Little Thoughts Press: Which kid-lit authors and books were your favorites growing up?
Tracie Renee: Hands down, my favorite was The Baby-Sitters Club series by Ann M. Martin, the original chapter book series from the 80s and 90s. Those girls felt like my friends and helped me learn about hard things—grief, eating disorders, autism, divorce, chronic illness—in gentle ways. Once a month, my mom would take me to the mall bookstore and I'd use my allowance to buy the newest BSC release. I loved the series so much that these books moved with me six times—and survived one house fire AND two basement floods. When I realized that my son just wasn't interested in reading them, I gave the entire giant plastic bin of books (with the exception of Logan Likes Mary Anne, because that was my favorite favorite) to a passionate young reader I met through my library work, who seemed ready to love them as much as I do.
Little Thoughts Press: And what about today? Any kid-lit writers you love and want to shout out?
Tracie Renee: Uh, all of them?! Specifically, Christina Wyman is doing some really brave, important work in the tween space. I tip my hat to Michael Leali, Rob Sanders, Margarita Engle, Joanne Rossmassler Fritz, Laura Cooney, and Ally Malinenko—all of them are genuinely kind people in addition to being amazingly talented. And keep an eye out for my brilliant critique partners, Jessica Milo and Stacey Ramirez—their stories are phenomenal, and young readers are going to love them!
Little Thoughts Press: What advice would you give to young writers?
Tracie Renee: In life: take good notes, because it's all part of your story. In writing: take chances (write in a different genre or format; enter that contest you don't think you'll win; sign up for the open mic that terrifies you), because you never know what these experiences will teach you—and then you'll have even more to write about.
Little Thoughts Press: Is there anything else you wish I had asked? Any upcoming projects, publications, or other news you'd like to share?
Tracie Renee: I'm rounding the corner of my first year of writing seriously, but I'm excited to share that—first and foremost—I'm still writing (even when it's hard; even when I'm "too busy;" even when my inbox is full of sad news)! AND my middle-grade novel-in-verse manuscript was a finalist in Authored's 2024 Rising Talent competition. This fall, I've got forthcoming work in East on Central, the Dirigible Balloon, a Poetry Pea haiku anthology, and Frazzled Lit Magazine. (I also have a giant spreadsheet of passes and rejections, because that's how publishing works!)
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