In April I learned Blue Birds was a finalist for the New Mexico Press Women’s Zia Award. I wasn’t able to attend the event, so I sent along a few words to be read on my behalf:
It is an honor to have Blue Birds considered for the Zia Award.
A young reader sent me a letter not long after Blue Birds released, telling me how much she enjoyed the story. Her words have stayed with me because they speak so clearly what I hoped the story would convey:
“When Alis and Kimi met, a whole new world was opened to my eyes. They didn’t look at each other like strangers; they looked at each other like best friends would, despite appearances.”
Alis is English and Kimi is Roanoke. The girls share no language. They are meant to be enemies. Yet these things aren’t a barrier to the friendship that grows between them.
Blue Birds is my hope-filled attempt to show we can be bigger than the biases — known and unknown — that we hold. It is an invitation to look beyond ourselves with the curiosity that comes so easily to children, to believe that when we truly know another person our lives are forever changed.
I’m happy to share Blue Birds is the first runner up for the Zia Award. May Alis and Kimi’s story continue to speak into the lives of readers as they have mine.
Caroline, Congratulations on BLUE BIRDS as first runner up for the Zia Award!
Your sentiment of showing through the characters in your book that we can be “bigger than our biases” is so relevant today and I’m sure your readers will take that from BLUE BIRDS, and hold it close to their hearts.
Thank you, Kathleen. That means a lot to me.
Congratulations, Caroline! Your book certainly deserves it.
One can always hope that people will learn to look beyond themselves and get to know others as people and not stereotypes.
So appreciated, Joanne.
Congratulations for being the First Runner Up for the Zia Award. Your novel Blue Birds was very well written and researched; and a true delight to read. As an American Indian who has been a children’s librarian, I greatly enjoyed this book, I can also state that both Indian and non-Indian children loved the adventure of Kimi and Alis and how their friendship grew page after page. As a Native person it is always wonderful to find a work where through research and talent and author can bring such Indian characters to life with such vibrant realism and accuracy. Thank you, Ms. Starr-Rose for such a beloved novel.
Thank you, Arjay. This means more than I can say.