BookExpoCast

May 22, 2010

Perkins Shines Light on Burmese Conflict in Bamboo People

Mitali Bose Perkins was born in Kolkata (Calcutta), India. Her name means “friendly” in Bangla, and she had to try and live up to it because the Bose family moved so often – they lived in India, Ghana, Cameroon, London, New York City, and Mexico City before settling in the San Francisco Bay Area when she was in middle school. Mitali studied political science at Stanford University and public policy at U.C. Berkeley, surviving academia thanks to a steady diet of kids’ books from public libraries and bookstores, and went on to teach middle school, high school, and college students. She lived in India, Bangladesh, Thailand, and California with her husband and twin sons before the Perkins family moved to Newton, Massachusetts, where they live now.

In this podcast episode, Mitali tells us about her new book, Bamboo People. Bamboo People is a coming-of-age novel that takes place against the political and military backdrop of modern-day Burma. Narrated by two teenagers on opposing sides of the conflict between the Burmese government and the Karenni, one of the many ethnic minorities in Burma, Bamboo People explores the nature of violence, power, and prejudice.

Perkins will speak at the BEA 2010 Children’s Author Breakfast, Wednesday, May 26 at 8:00AM. She will be joined by Cory Doctorow, author of For the Win; and Richard Peck, author of Three Quarters Dead. Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, and author of Helping Hand Books: Emily’s First Day at School will be the Master of Ceremonies.