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Amy Fitzgerald

@amyarielfitz.bsky.social

1.7K followers 660 following 220 posts

Sr. Editorial Director for Carolrhoda Books/Lab and Zest Books at Lerner Publishing Group. Scribbler, scone enthusiast, history nerd, owner of multiple unmatched mittens. Opinions my own. She/her.

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Amy Fitzgerald @amyarielfitz.bsky.social · Feb 21

vacillating wildly between "gonna post a regular post" and "gotta voice support for basic human rights" will continue until morale improves

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Amy Fitzgerald @amyarielfitz.bsky.social · 1d

Continuing to hit the heart icon until an "I totally agree that this sucks" button is introduced

Amy Fitzgerald @amyarielfitz.bsky.social · 1d

WILD SONG by Candy Gourlay is out in the US! Frustrated by her hometown's limitations, Luki agrees to be part of an exhibition of Indigenous Filipinos at the 1904 World's Fair in St Louis.

What
could
go
wrong?

See the starred reviews, excerpt, teaching guide, etc.: lernerbooks.com/shop/show/25...

Cover image for WILD SONG by Candy Gourlay. Green-tinted photo of a teen girl gazes at the reader. Translucent orange title text overlays the girl's face.

Amy Fitzgerald @amyarielfitz.bsky.social · 7d

Love this, thanks for sharing!

Amy Fitzgerald @amyarielfitz.bsky.social · 9d

You have my sympathies! He's a disgrace.

Amy Fitzgerald @amyarielfitz.bsky.social · 9d

If you've been remiss about calling your Dem senators (raises hand) now's a great time to get back in the saddle. Tell them not to betray our trans friends & neighbors for a "deal." It's not even Lucy with a football—it's Lucy with a tear gas canister, insisting we're safe to come closer.

Greg Pak @gregpak.net · 9d

These scripts are GREAT and these calls are EASY and ESSENTIAL. Call your senators and reps today and tell them to vote against ANY bill that contains cuts to trans health care.

#DidThisToday

emily moonlight @threnody.bsky.social · 22d

so: what do we need you to do? two things.

1.call your D/I senators. find contact info here: reps.fyi

what do we need you to say? try the call script below. adapt it; make it your own! there are bailout points written in, in case you get nervous. but please *call.* 🧵

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Amy Fitzgerald @amyarielfitz.bsky.social · 12d

(So by "next week" I meant the week after next, because what is time? WILD SONG releases Tuesday, October 7, and meanwhile you can preorder it! ZEYNA is out now. This concludes the Friday Fact Check.)

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Amy Fitzgerald @amyarielfitz.bsky.social · 13d

And Candy Gourlay's YA historical novel WILD SONG, about an Indigenous girl from the Philippines at the 1904 World's Fair, has gotten TWO starred reviews!

Booklist praises its "nuance and sensitivity." SLJ predicts "Lovers of historical fiction will thoroughly enjoy" it. This one's out next week!

Cover image for WILD SONG by Candy Gourlay. Green-tinted photo of an Indigenous girl from the Philippines, shown from the shoulders up, looking directly at the reader. Title text in translucent orange text overlays the girl's face. Behind her in the background are buildings with tall towers.

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Amy Fitzgerald @amyarielfitz.bsky.social · 13d

ZEYNA LOST AND FOUND is also on the September/October Indie Next list!
www.indiebound.org/indie-next-l...

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Amy Fitzgerald @amyarielfitz.bsky.social · 13d

Today marks another Things That Happened Thursday: in which I post about stuff I meant to post about earlier.

First up: Shafaq Khan's middle grade debut, ZEYNA LOST AND FOUND, was selected for the American Booksellers Association's Indies Introduce program!
www.bookweb.org/indies-intro...

Cover image for ZEYNA LOST AND FOUND by Shafaq Khan. Full-color illustration of a girl running through a marketplace at night, holding a shining red jewel aloft in her right hand, while two other kids trail her

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Amy Fitzgerald @amyarielfitz.bsky.social · 14d

Amazing!! Congratulations!!

Amy Fitzgerald @amyarielfitz.bsky.social · 15d

"Many people are saying it's weird that a Black guy got the Nobel Peace Prize"

"When you think about it nonviolence is really the same as violence"

"You preach nonviolence, yet you are a victim of violence! CURIOUS"

Amy Fitzgerald @amyarielfitz.bsky.social · 15d

Me, a rube: What is up with journalists being so credulous and/or disingenuous about [insert issue, pretty much any issue]? Do they not realize how ridiculous they sound? How could they possibly think this is responsible coverage?

The historical record, every time: lol

Screencap from the book Martin Luther King, Jr.: Nonviolent Strategies and Tactics for Social Change by John J. Ansbro: "Many of King's critics have implied that he was guilty of a self-contradiction by practicing a nonviolent protest that generated violence. Tim in a 1964 article on him as Man of the Year asserted, 'King preaches endlessly about nonviolence, but his protest movements often lead to violence.' US News and World Report in its analysis of how he won the Nobel Peace Prize indicated that many Americans thought it 'extraordinary that this prize should go to a man whose fame is based upon his battle for civil rights for Negroes—and whose activities often led to violence.' Hanes Walton Jr in The Political Philosophy of MLK maintained that in one respect King's nonviolence was similar to violence in that it could result in the destruction of property and life. Frank Meyer, in a 1965 article in National Review, 'The Violence of Nonviolence,' accused King of employing a nonviolence that had a 'violent essence' since it involved 'the provocation of violence,' 'the use of force against civil society,' and a ' violent assault upon representative, constitutional government.' Unlike Walton, who conceded that King's intentions and means differed from the advocates of violence, Meyer charged King's Nonviolent Movement with 'hypocrisy on a grand scale' since the movement aimed to provoke the supporters of the civil order so that they would initiate the first act of violence, and proceeded by 'relying upon the terror inspired by mobs to destroy the processes of constitutional civil government.'"

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Amy Fitzgerald @amyarielfitz.bsky.social · 17d

What if the Rapture already happened but literally everyone got left behind

Picture Peter waiting at the gates like a debut author at a book signing

Heaven's version of Y2K

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Amy Fitzgerald @amyarielfitz.bsky.social · 22d

Every line in that sequence is gold. "How about lunch? You could chaperone..." "NO. I WILL NOT DO THIS."

Amy Fitzgerald @amyarielfitz.bsky.social · 22d

Sneakers is an underrated gem for all the reasons laid out here and also because James Earl Jones has to promise Dan Aykroyd a Winnebago at the end

Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 22d

I wrote about Robert Redford's environmentalism and, obviously, Sneakers.

Robert Redford, Environmentalism, and the Most Prescient Movie Ever Made

Hello, welcome to my relaunched newsletter, read more about the deal here and please subscribe! Robert Redford died on Tuesday, at 89. You can head literally anywhere else to read full obituaries abo...

www.gravityisgone.com

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Amy Fitzgerald @amyarielfitz.bsky.social · 29d

@shafaqjaleeskhan.bsky.social @lernerbooks.bsky.social

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Amy Fitzgerald @amyarielfitz.bsky.social · 29d

Zeyna Lost and Found by debut author Shafaq Khan is out today! Think National Treasure (with a stolen jewel, not the Declaration of Independence) on the Hippie Trail (a pre-1980 route across the Middle East) for middle graders: an adventure wrapped in a mystery wrapped in an international heist!

Cover image of Zeyna Lost and Found by Shafaq Khan: full-color illustration of three kids running through a market at night; the girl in front holds up a gleaming red jewel.

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Amy Fitzgerald @amyarielfitz.bsky.social · Sep 5

We're days away from this clown discovering that autism is caused by women having credit cards in their own names

HELLody SchreiBOO @melodyschreiber.com · Sep 5

RFK Jr. plans to say Tylenol use during pregnancy is potentially linked to autism. The report will also suggest a folate supplement could "treat symptoms" of being autistic, WSJ reports.
www.wsj.com/health/healt...

Exclusive | RFK Jr., HHS to Link Autism to Tylenol Use in Pregnancy and Folate Deficiencies

Kennedy’s autism report, touted by Trump, will suggest that using the pain reliever during pregnancy may be linked to the developmental disorder.

www.wsj.com

Amy Fitzgerald @amyarielfitz.bsky.social · Sep 2

Thank you!!

Amy Fitzgerald @amyarielfitz.bsky.social · Sep 2

Waited to start my goofy period drama recap blog until I'd had time to figure out a non-Substack option:
historicalflicktion.beehiiv.com

Historical Flicktion

nonserious musings about period dramas

historicalflicktion.beehiiv.com

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Amy Fitzgerald @amyarielfitz.bsky.social · Sep 1

"If you compare the kids of my sycophants to random kids I stare at in airports, their reactions to my radioactive vibes are completely different"

Dante had some great ideas but I would like to know if there are any new circles under construction

Jake Scott, MD @jakescottmd.bsky.social · Aug 30

RFK Jr: “If you’ve ever compared an unvaccinated kid to a vaccinated kid… you see the bright eyes, the engagement, the social interactions, the curiosity. And you compare them to the child who even had one or two vaccines, and they’re completely different.“

This man is an existential threat.

Amy Fitzgerald @amyarielfitz.bsky.social · Aug 28

Congratulations, this sounds so cool!!

Amy Fitzgerald @amyarielfitz.bsky.social · Aug 27

The weather in Minneapolis is beautiful and it feels like a sick joke and I hope this finds you well because I have to circle back on something

Karen K. Ho @karenho.bsky.social · Aug 27

every day there is some of the worst news imaginable and then we all have to keep sending emails and filing reports like there hasn't been another mass shooting or another deeply reported feature about the horrors of war, technology, and new policies designed to hurt vulnerable people even more

Amy Fitzgerald @amyarielfitz.bsky.social · Aug 22

Evergreen take

Amy Fitzgerald @amyarielfitz.bsky.social · Aug 22

Long past time for Frey to get to the "find out" stage of his career

Jason Chavez @jchavezmpls.bsky.social · Aug 21

I am disappointed that the DFL has stripped the DFL Endorsement from Senator Omar Fateh, who clearly had overwhelming support at the convention. They met privately and voted to overturn the will of Minneapolis delegates. An effort led by Mayor Jacob Frey. 1/