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News Release
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Fava
Press
Box
49, Geneva Ohio, 44041
440-466-1936
www.tanyapilumeli.com |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Maria Grossner
440-466-1936
e-mail: maria@grossner.com
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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Humanities Keep us Human
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In today’s closely connected world, it is especially important for children in the U.S. to take an interest in other cultures and ways of living around the world. According to the website wordometers.info, 15,000 people died of hunger in the world just today, while $2.6 billion has been spent on dieting in the U.S. this year alone. Wouldn’t
it be great if all our students grow up to be more concerned
about world hunger instead of their body image?
But how can we get kids interested in people and places (and events) so far away? There is a lot of literature out there, but are the kids reading it? I doubt it.
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Schools
nationwide have been focusing a lot on literacy programs and
with good reason. Without the ability to read and read well,
our children face a hard future. According to the International
Adult Literacy Survey (IALS), in 1998 the mean prose literacy
scores of U.S. adults with only a high school diploma ranked
18th out of 19 high-income countries. And prose literacy levels
are actually down from 1992 in adults of every level of education,
according to the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy
(NAAL). If kids pick up a book (and not an i-pod, phone, or
game-boy), then it will most probably be fiction.
Just like adults, kids want escape, excitement and adventure in books. The DragonFly Keeper, by Tanya Pilumeli, a novel for ages 8 and up, dishes up just this plus a feast of worldwide food and culture.
Using a magical form of travel involving a shaanti, or magical stone, two sisters ride a reed boat on Lake Titicaca in Bolivia; sip tea with nobility in Latvia; scale an active volcano in Stromboli, Italy; are imprisoned by pygmies in the Congo Basin in Africa; drink chang with magic DragonFlies; and are stranded in a snow bank in the Himalayas. Throughout all their adventures (and multi-cultural feasts), they try to avoid the Rogs until their final battle against Sarpa, who has imprisoned the DragonFly Keeper. Silvia and Manuela must find a way to save the overworld from death by despair. They realize that in order to do this they must learn to cooperate.
Tanya Pilumeli has an MA in English Literature from John Carroll University and has taught at 6 universities since 1995. She has also published poetry and done poetry workshops in classrooms for the last 10 years and is a member of SCBWI and the Academy of American Poets. Cinda Chima Williams, author of The Warrior Heir series, says that Pilumeli has “a great voice” and is “a natural storyteller.” She says the book’s “descriptions are vibrant” and she “makes good use of humor.”
The DragonFly Keeper is available for $12.95 in most bookstores, or can be ordered with a free personal autograph at www.tanyapilumeli.com or through AtlasBooks, http://www.bookmasters.com/marktplc/02094.htm#order. For more details, visit www.tanyapilumeli.com.
The DragonFly Keeper by Tanya Pilumeli. Original edition. 5.5 by 8.5, 255 pages. ISBN: 978-0-9801396-0-0. $12.95. Publication date: April 1st, 2008. |
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Biography
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Fava
Press
Box
49, Geneva Ohio, 44041
440-466-1936
www.tanyapilumeli.com |
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- Born
April 21, 1973 in Geneva, Ohio
- Graduated
from Assumption Catholic grade school and Geneva
High School
- Earned
a B.A. and M.A. in English Literature from John Carroll
University
- Edited
The John Carroll Review
- Was
a DJ and promotions director for the radio station
WJCU
- Taught
all levels and types of English and Humanities at
John Carroll University,
Lorain Community College,
Tri-C Community College, Lakeland Community College,
Cleveland State University and Kent State University
- Contributed
poetry to The John Carroll Review
- Conducted
poetry workshops in grade schools for ten years
- Has
three children, ages 3, 4, and 6
- Owns
an Italian restaurant with her husband, Alessandro
- Started
her own publishing company, Fava Press
- Member
of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators
(SCBWI), Academy of American Poets, Small Publishers
Association of North America (SPAN), and The Independent
Book Publishers Association (PMA)
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Recipe
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Fava
Press
Box
49, Geneva Ohio, 44041
440-466-1936
www.tanyapilumeli.com |
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Sample Recipe from The DragonFlyKeeper
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Chyau
alu ko Tarkari Mushroom
and Potato Curry
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5
medium potatoes
2 tbsp oiL
14 tsp fenugreek seeds
1/8 tsp szechwan pepper
4 green chili peppers, sliced
1 tbsp ground cumin |
¼ tsp
turmeric
salt to taste
4 medium onions, chopped
1 lb mushrooms
2 whole dried red chilies
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| Peel
potatoes and cut into quarters. In a heavy
saucepan with lid, heat oil and fry fenugreek seeds
and szechwan pepper until golden brown. Add
green chili slices, potatoes, cumin, turmeric,
and salt. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add
onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, and red chilies. Cover
and cook until done.
From The Nepal CookBook by
the Association of Nepalis in the Americas, Snow
Lion Publications, 1996 |
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Q
& A
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Fava
Press
Box
49, Geneva Ohio, 44041
440-466-1936
www.tanyapilumeli.com |
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Q&A for Tanya Pilumeli and The DragonFly Keeper
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Q: Did you always want to be a writer?
A: Yes. I used to write stories in second grade, which my dad had to copy because I wanted to read them to the class and couldn’t read my own handwriting. I also wrote a really bad Thanksgiving play in fourth grade, which the class actually put on. (I hope they don’t remember.)
Q: Did
you go to school to be a writer?
A: In
a sense, yes. I have a MA in English
Literature and started teaching college composition
in grad school. The reason I went into
teaching at the university level was because
it gave me more flexibility to write and
travel.
Q: Is The
DragonFly Keeper your first
novel?
A: Yes. I
had published articles and poetry, but never
a novel. I have been researching on
and off for ten years for a totally different novel,
and this one seemed to come out first.
Q: Where
did you get the idea for The
DragonFly Keeper?
A: I’ve
always had these ideas swimming around in
my head. One weekend when my nieces
Manuela and Silvia were visiting, I outlined
the story in a dramatic arc and asked them
what they thought of it. They were
eleven and eight at the time. Then
I had three children in three years and I
put it aside.
Q: How
long did it take you to write The
DragonFly Keeper?
A: When
my children were 2, 3, and 5, I decided I
had to find time to write. I arranged
to have two hours every Saturday at a local
coffee shop (barring a sick child or a vacation). It
then took me exactly a year to write and
about seven months to edit and publish.
Q: How
real are the places in The DragonFly
Keeper?
A: Very. While the characters clawed their way out of my mind, they came after I read many books, travelogues, cookbooks, encyclopedias, language texts. I also viewed documentaries and surfed the web for hours. Researching was just as much fun as writing, and it gave me good excuses to buy books.
Q: Why
did you choose the places you did?
A: The
choices were made entirely by my right brain,
(that is to say I have no logical reason).
Q: Have
you been to any of the places in The
DragonFly Keeper?
A: Yes. I
have been to Stromboli and fell in love with
it. I’d love to visit the other
places.
Q: Is there a sequel to The DragonFly Keeper?
A: Yes,
there is one in the works. All I can
tell you is that there is more exotic travelling
and eating in the next one as well. |
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