HarperCollins Children’s Books is teaming up with author Linda Sue Park on a new imprint called Allida, the publisher announced in a news release.
Park and Anne Hoppe, the Clarion Books vice president and editorial director, will lead the new imprint, which “will publish books for children and teens that showcase the imprint’s mission to encourage marginalized writers and artists to explore the stories they are most passionate about and to craft narratives that defy expectations.”
Park is a children’s author known for books including A Single Shard, which won the Newbery Medal, Keeping Score, and A Long Walk to Water.
“I want Allida to be creator-centered, because I feel strongly that when artists are supported in making work from their deepest passions, kids get better books,” Park said in a statement. “Stories and voices that come from outside the dominant culture are essential for giving young readers a richer understanding of our shared and complex world.”
The imprint will launch next March with the story collection You Are Here: Connecting Flights, “a middle grade exploration of contemporary Asian American identity,” edited by We Need Diverse Books co-founder Ellen Oh and featuring 12 authors including Park, Oh, and Mike Chen.
Other books to be published by Allida will include An Impossible Thing To Say, a young adult novel-in-verse by Arya Shahi, and Secrets, a middle-grade graphic novel by Cindy Chang.
Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.
