Lampman Award Recipient 2021: Tehlor Kay Mejia
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Congratulation to Tehlor Kay Mejia, our 2021 Evelyn Sibley Lampman Award recipient for her significant contribution to Oregon in the field of children’s literature from the Children’s Services Division of the Oregon Library Association (OLA). The Evelyn Sibley Lampman Award is presented annually by the Children's Services Division and is given in memory of Evelyn Sibley Lampman (1907-1980), noted Oregon teacher, journalist, and author of children’s books.
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Southern Oregon resident Tehlor Kay Mejia is a queer, Latinx author of YA and middle grade fiction featuring queer, Latinx characters. Just since 2019, she published the first two books in her We Set the Dark on Fire trilogy, the first in her Rick Riordan Presents series, Paola Santiago and the River of Tears, and she partnered with Anna-Marie MacLemore to publish Miss Meteor. In 2018, she also published short stories in All Out, edited by Saundra Mitchell, and Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft, edited by Jessica Spotswood and Tess Sharpe.
Despite having no formal education beyond high school, Tehlor set out to write books with characters that represented her experience, something missing for her when she was younger. When she first tried to publish We Set the Dark on Fire, she was told that queer AND Latinx characters were “too niche” and she should go with just one. It’s a good thing she didn’t heed that advice!
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Lampman Award given to Tehlor Kay Mejia.
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We Set the Dark on Fire received six starred reviews, was featured on several Best Books lists including Seventeen, Cosmopolitan and O by Oprah Magazine, and was a book of the year selection by both Kirkus and School Library Journal. We Set the Dark on Fire, its sequel We Unleash the Merciless Storm, Paola Santiago and the River of Tears, and Toil & Trouble all received starred reviews from Kirkus.
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We Set the Dark on Fire “An action-packed third-person narrative, smart dialogue, and lush descriptions offer readers a fresh and steely heroine in a contemporary coming-of-age story. This well-crafted fantasy offers a mirror that reflects themes in our own difficult world, namely privilege, immigration, and individualism versus the common good.... Thrilling and timely.” Kirkus
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Paola Santiago and the River of Tears “A new hero’s fantastic and fantastical debut—her next appearance can’t come soon enough.” Kirkus
Click here for an interview in Publishers Weekly about the release of Paola Santiago. |
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Miss Meteor “Extended metaphors of stardust and space magic could grow tired in less capable hands, but they work powerfully in Mejia and McLemore’s descriptions of teenage emotional urgency when courage can be as a fleeting as a shooting star.” Kirkus
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You can find Tehlor on Instagram and Twitter @tehlorkay.
2021 Lampman
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