we are also doing a lot of online things. i have started to blogs one about my writing and one about what i'm reading. were doing a video podcast we videoed them about what influences them. how did they reach out to you. i got a call from editor i don't know how the selection works. i am a fan of that. i was aware of the position and then they told me it was can happen it felt too big like an altogether ever had a job that had that many words in the title. what is your goal. i want to get more kids

reading. every ambassador picks a platform that they want to work on. i want kids to get outside of their comfort zone. i want them to read books about people that don't look or live like that. and then third i want them to read in formats that they may not be familiar with. a lot of my friends would only read those books. and nowadays i see kids are exactly the opposite. for those i want them to find a chapter book. you talk about diversity in your book. we need diverse books. what is the current publishing landscape in regards to diversity in characters and authors and publishing.

>> i think the push is readers want to books books that reflect the world that they grew up in. we live in an incredibly diverse world. we want that reflected. i deftly think it's taking steps in the right direction but we need those played out. there's still a lot to do. who did you identify with garnet. it's a strange thing. it was a really big deal when i was a kid when a chinese or chinese-american showed up on american television. we would call our parents over from the other room. and growing up i think most identified with superheroes and that was because a lot of them wear masks every inch of his body is covered so anybody could be under that suit. i think that's why early on i

gravitated towards that. i really loved lloyd alexander. i love all sorts of books. how did they affect your reading habits. my dad was not big army reading comics for sure. so libraries were not as awesome as they were today. what a friend of mine and i did we would get our parents to drop us off at a local library and we would wait for their to drive home we walked sneak back back into the library and then check out these the coffee table books. my dad was not into me reading comics.

when we first moved into the neighborhood that i spent most of my childhood and we were just one of a handful of asian american families. and now 70 to 80% asian american. i think that came with that. i grew up within that tension. you talked about that. do you think there has been a change in the understanding about graphic novels and comics was there a purpose to take away away the comics. here's my understanding of the history one of the most influential cartoonist in america had this comic book he

told people i have this and nobody wanted to publish it. he went back to the same publishers and said i have a graphic novel about these. from the very beginning the term was all about separating comic books from the genre in american culture. i think it worked they now have a category for comic books that deal with more literary material i want to get back to that mission with the library of congress. 53 percent of children ages three to five a read to on a daily basis. how to get parents on board. i get that, at the end of the day you are exhausted and especially if you're working multiple jobs and having a

hard time making ends meet. you don't have to be for that long. you do have to read for an hour. you can read for 20 minutes. answer really a way of connecting with your kids. i think making it a priority is absolutely a priority. what do you read to your children. we had four kids. our youngest are six and three our third child has only been on an airplane once. i think they are giving me hints. it's a wonderful book from the perspective of topic nothing really exciting happens. it's just the family going through the airport. they do it in such a way that they have the little details into the illustrations. my kids love that book.

see mac how different do your kids and then when you read. i'm talking about the way that it has changed. they do read both books. i think it's getting more diverse in every sense of the word. in books that combined the two together. in the reading and multiple delivery methods. i think that's just can happen as we move on. it will just get more and more diverse. i didn't let this turn of the century china. and my oldest was nine at the time. he really wanted to read it and i wouldn't let it read

him. so what he did after i got my proof he snuck them away he said it wasn't that bad. i do think there is a responsibility to try to present material that your kids are ready for so they can understand it fully but at the same time there has to be balanced with kids not understand what they're ready for. your first book was nominated for national book award. is that more biographical. a young boy growing up. it is fiction which i pulled heavily for my own life in order to write that book specifically from my middle school years.

i think it was when i felt the most insecurities. and it is also when it's the most there. this can the things combined and i went through time frame of a lot of doubt in myself and my family what kind of reaction did you get from the asian american kids. the response to that book really changed my life. it seems like the kids who connected with that book are the kids of immigrants. regardless of where their parents are from. i talked to asian american students who have been here for longer and a lot of them especially if they are grow up in a place that was predominantly asian american and the other kids who appearance are from other

parts of the world they seem like they connect with the book really well. it's all about negotiation between two different cultures so far i have only done america were chinese. i worked with at illustrator. for the books you write and illustrate how does that go. it takes forever. i will write up a summary of every book that will go through then i will write a script than i will do thumbnail drawings. on the computer i do lettering. when does your publisher see this. i have a pretty awesome relationship with my editor.

were also friends. also a world-class cartoonist. i think that's really rare. i think it's a prayer for them. but he gives me great feedback all the way through. i really rely on him it is a part of that. they are the graphic novel. i want to talk about your mission here and i want to talk about the harry potter generation that was published in 1997. i want to ask do you think that was an interest to greater readership or do you think that was a one into done series. it seemed like it was an entry. when you ask them about other books they read there are

other books. i think comics can be the same thing. they can be an entry into that. in the habit of reading. about 70% of middle school students read more than ten books a year by the time they got to high school 49 percent. i do think that nowadays there is a lot more competing for their attention. it's not necessarily bad i'm not one of those parents that think video games or screens are all bad but i do think there has to be a balance in the different ways. they will often host videogame parties. >> my brother is a medical dr. dr. he told me that statistically doctors who grew up playing video games make

fewer mistakes. that's how they have good applications. i also think there are links between video games and other forms of telling stories. there's all sorts of books now. i think that is a great bridge from video games in the book. what is this book about. it's a book series that we wrote for a really long time.

>> did you think they could be published? >> i was a self publisher. i never thought it would be a source of income for me. i would plague off to relax and it costs a lot and i would publish comics. >> where was that moment when you said i am done teaching i think i can do this. >> for a really long time, i love to teach. for a long time i try to hang onto both. my last year i was only teaching when period but with the type of schedule the comes of being an author it got little bit too crazy. every month i would end up missing two or three sessis