The Ed's Up - An Immense World for Kids!
A year ago, I announced that a Young Readers Edition of An Immense World was in the works. I’m now delighted to say that it is finished! The book, complete with full-color illustrations and aimed at kids aged 10 and up, will be out in May 2025.
Printing a full-color book takes a lot of time, which is why you’ll have to wait till next spring to get your hands on a copy. But you can pre-order one right now; for what it’s worth, pre-ordering is perhaps the single most important thing you can do to support authors because it tells publishers how much to invest in a book in the run-up to publication. I hope you and your kids enjoy reading this as much as we enjoyed working on it.
Emphasis on we: This edition was a truly collaborative effort. AnnMarie Andersen, an experienced children’s book author and editor, did an incredible job adapting the text for an age group that I have zero experience in writing for. Tom Russell wrangled the project from start to finish. I edited and checked everything to maintain the rigor and vibe of the original.
I’m so thrilled about the finished product. It hews closely to the adult version, retaining the same structure and protagonists, the same sense of wonder, the same storytelling approach, and the same values of curiosity and empathy. And while some bits have naturally been condensed and simplified, I think people will be surprised as how much depth and detail we’ve kept. It is also very much its own book, not least because of the glorious full-color illustrations from Rebecca Mills, whose attention to detail I can’t praise highly enough. I mean, just look at these pages:
About the Election
And just like that, it’s a few days away. My politics should be clear to readers of this newsletter, as should my disdain for the U.S.’s role in funding and supporting the genocide in Gaza. I have no desire to tell anyone how to act upon these issues, but in case it’s helpful, let me lay out how I’m personally thinking about the decisions ahead of us.
I do not regard elected officials as heroes. I almost never find them inspiring. I fully expect them to fail the people and causes I care about. But I also reject the nihilistic endpoint of such thinking, which argues that voting is pointless or that all parties are equally bad. Neither is true. For example, as Bernice King writes, Kamala Harris can and should face protests, while Donald Trump is “an immediate and persistent threat” to the very right to protest. (See also Stop Project 2025, an accessible guide to the stakes of this election by a group of very talented comics creators.)
Voting matters. But I don’t see it as a sign of solidarity (or even, really, support) for a candidate, nor an act that condones their past or future actions, nor an opportunity to demonstrate my moral stances. For me, it’s an entirely pragmatic decision. And in the U.S. system, I recognize that I’m never simply voting for a candidate, but always voting between candidates. It’s a choice to usher in the least bad of possible futures or, if you want a less grim frame, the most moldable of them. I vote for the enemy I want. Labor journalist Hamilton Nolan explained this beautifully in his newsletter:
“For the most part, it is wrong to think of elections as contests between “good” and “bad” candidates. With few exceptions, it is more accurate to divide most politicians into two broad categories: Enemies, and Cowards. The enemies are those politicians who are legitimately opposed to your policy goals. The cowards are those politicians who may agree with your policy goals, but will sell you out if they must in order to protect their own interests. Embrace the idea that we are simply pushing to elect the cowards, rather than the enemies. Why? Because the true work of political action is not to identify idealized superheroes to run for office. It is, instead, to create the conditions in the world that make it safe for the cowards to vote the right way.”
“Under this framework, you can set aside the tedious feelings of disappointment that come with holding moral views while also supporting any politician. Will your favorite candidate do something bad? Almost certainly. After all, they are cowards. The onus is on us to give the cowards a soft path to the moral choice. The education necessary to equip citizens with the facts; the persuasion necessary to move public opinion to the right place; the organizing necessary to mobilize people to fight for the right thing. These things are the substance of “politics.” Elections can be seen as just another organizing task, one in an endless procession of efforts necessary to arrange the chess pieces of power in a way that will, eventually, produce the righteous outcome.”
I really recommend reading Nolan’s entire piece, which closely mirrors how I think about the problem. I will vote for Kamala Harris. I hope she wins. And I hope we hold her feet to the fire thereafter.
Bird Photos
More Reading
“Children are universally considered innocents in armed conflict. However, every single signatory to this letter saw children in Gaza who suffered violence that must have been deliberately directed at them. Specifically, every one of us who worked in an emergency, intensive care, or surgical setting treated pre-teen children who were shot in the head or chest on a regular or even a daily basis.” An open letter from 99 American healthcare workers who’ve served in Gaza.
“A year later, memorials to the 7 October attacks use art, virtual reality and dark tourism to stir support for limitless violence. But there is a different way to remember.” An incredible piece by Naomi Klein about memorials, and how they can be co-opted.
“On the one hand, we have solidarity. On the other, ruin.” Vann Newkirk II on the connection that Black Americans see with Palestinians.
“Today, China has removed more pandas from the wild than it has freed, The Times found. No cubs born in American or European zoos, or their offspring, have ever been released. The number of wild pandas remains a mystery because the Chinese government’s count is widely seen as flawed and politicized. Along the way, individual pandas have been hurt.” A galling investigation into what’s actually going on with panda breeding programs, by Mara Hvistendahl, a journalist whose work I’ve long admired.
Upcoming Talks
Come say hi; please wear a mask
12 December - Council Bluffs Public Library
29 January - Boston College
That’s it for this month!
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Stay safe.