http://www.amazon.com/Me-Hungry-Jer
Me know you won't be sorry.
What were you doing five years ago?
- Good thing I keep a journal, or I couldn't answer this question. Living in Columbus, Mississippi while my husband was the Operations Group Commander for a pilot training base (attended a graduation every three weeks for the two years I was there.) Reflecting on turning forty. Homeschooling my kids (a short stint.) Trying to give up on being a writer and do something else. Reading What Should I Do with my Life? by Po Bronson. Also, Lying by Lauren Slater, Atonement by Ian McEwan, and the script for Arcadia by Tom Stoppard. (My reading life has gone downhill, for sure. Yesterday, I read InStyle: The Shape Issue.)
What are five things on your to-do list for today (not in any particular order)?
- Help my daughter pack her car
- Walk the dog/myself for exercise
- Make non-creamy pasta salad for my son's crew team, and deliver it, along with a large cooler half-filled with ice
- Put myself back in write/work mode to tackle revisions
- Tell you guys that I'm going to SCBWI L.A. and that I would LOVE to see you there
- Popcorn
- Apple w/peanut butter
- Graham crackers dipped in milk
- Almonds
- Cheese of any kind/bread or crackers
- Go on long, outdoor adventure trips with my family
- Build a house with porches on every side
- Hire a gardener to create and maintain a gorgeous walking garden
- Fully fund the arts in as many schools as possible
- Have my own plane
- Worrying
- Leaving junk in my car
- Writing hunched over on the couch, instead of ergonomically at my desk
- Filing by piling
- Shoes
What are five places where you have lived?
- Knoxville, Tennessee
- Okinawa, Japan
- Las Vegas, Nevada
- Stuttgart, Germany
- Newport, R.I.
- Waitress: Pizza Hut, Cajun's Wharf, Williamsburg Hospitality House (breakfast shift--yuck)
- Historical interpreter, Colonial Williamsburg (I had a green dress with a lace-up vest and a purple one with hip hoops. And a wicker basket "purse.")
- Student work/study jobs: Research on Mennonite family records, and marketing for the Virginia Shakespeare Festival (free theater tickets!)
- Program Coordinator, USC Master's Degree in Systems Management program, Okinawa, Japan (free half of a master's degree!)
- Writer (no tips, costumes, free tickets or degrees. But the best job I've ever had.)
You, you, you, you....and you.
1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read the player’s blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.
What were you doing ten years ago?
Yikes. Let’s see. 1998.
I was working part-time at the Minneapolis Star Tribune in the online department, learning more about the internet and html code and live links, etc.
I was enjoying my older daughter being in school all day and spending time with my younger daughter alone—finally (the younger kid always gets short shrift on alone time with mom or dad).
I was writing for kids: mostly writing short stories I thought were picture books and sending them out.
What are five things on your to-do list for today (not in any particular order):
reply to my editor about jacket copy for STAMPEDE
answer some great questions in my Getting to a Poem class
practice my presentation for an upcoming Young Author Conference
call and make a vet appointment for our new dog (more on him in a post of his own)
go to my daughter’s track meet this afternoon
What are some snacks you enjoy?
As you might guess from the desserts I posted in my Scotland pix, a shorter list would be which snacks do I not enjoy! But here are five I have regularly.
cheese and crackers
fruit smoothies
Miss Meringues with Cool Whip Lite
banana with peanut butter
apple with cheddar cheese
What would you do if you were a billionaire?
create a foundation related to literacy and get help working out a business plan that allowed me to travel around the world getting involved in children’s literacy in many countries
take care of family members
have a massage and a foot massage every day
move somewhere new and have a writing studio out back
get a maid
hire people to do the stuff I don’t like doing—errand-running, yardwork, etc.—so I could spend all my time on the stuff I love to do
What are three of your bad habits?
impatience (a hard trait for a writer to have)
judgmentalness (I’ve been working to get rid of this one)
eating too much junk food
What are five places where you have lived?
What are five jobs you have had?
online editor at Star Tribune
8th-grade English teacher
nursery manager at a Frank’s store (even with my black thumb)
waitress
program assistant for young adults with disabilities
What six people do you want to tag?
Dori Butler at A Day in the Life of a Children’s Writer - http://dorihbutler.livejournal.com/
Cloudscome at A Wrung Sponge - http://awrungsponge.blogspot.com/
Jeannine Atkins - http://jeannineatkins.livejournal.com/
Wendie Old at Wendie’s Wanderings - http://wendieold.blogspot.com/
Kelly Fineman at Writing and Ruminating - http://kellyrfineman.livejournal.com/
Robin Pensieve - http://pensieve.typepad.com/pensieve/
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Herbie Brennan on Herbie Brennan: "A professional writer whose work has appeared in more than fifty countries, Herbie Brennan is enjoyed by children and adults alike--sales of his books already exceed 7.5 million copies."Herbie has an well-established career writing for the children's market--from picture books to teenage fiction, from game books to school curriculum non-fiction. His keen eye for novelty, both in technology and market development, made him among the very first writers to create adventure game books and his GrailQuest series was an international bestseller.
"His teenage novel, Faerie Wars, also rocketed to international success, achieving best-seller status in more than 20 overseas editions, and was voted No 1 Top Ten Teenage Pick in the United States and listed as a New York Times Best Seller title.
"When he can be persuaded to take a break from his writing, Herbie give lectures and seminars, which have included modules on reincarnation research, the astral plane, dreamwork, healing, spiritual development, psychical research, quantum physics and magical training.
"With a background that includes writing for radio, the creation of boxed games and computer software, perhaps his greatest strength lies in the realm ideas, particularly in the diversification of publishing product into allied fields like audio and CD-ROM."
With the understanding that it's vast indeed, could you please update us on your back-list books, highlighting as you see fit?
The following listing gives first English-language publication only—all publishers listed are U.K. based unless otherwise stated. Most recent books are in bold. All books are listed alphabetically by category.
Children's FictionBad Manners Day, Macdonald; Barmy Jeffers and the Quasimodo Walk, HarperCollins; Barmy Jeffers and the Shrinking Potion, HarperCollins; Black Death, Mammoth; Blood Brothers, Poolbeg (Ireland); Capricorn’s Children, Mammoth; Doroth’s Ghost, Heinemann; Eddie and the Bad Egg, Puffin; Eddie and the Dirty Dogs, Puffin; Eddie the Duck, Puffin; Emily and the Werewolf, Liber; Fairy Nuff, Bloomsbury; Faerie Wars, Bloomsbury; Faerie Lord, Bloomsbury; Final Victory, A&C Black; Kookaburra Dreaming, Scholastic; Letters from a Mouse, Walker; Little House, Macdonald; Marcus Mustard, Transworld; Mario Scumbini and the Big Pig Swipe, Hamilton/Puffin; Ordeal by Poison, HarperCollins; The Purple Emperor, Bloomsbury; Return of Barmy Jeffers, HarperCollins; Ruler of the Realm, Boomsbury; Shiva, HarperCollins; Telling Times: Jennet’s Tale, Egmont; The Crone, HarperCollins; The Gravediggers, Reed; The Mystery Machine, McElderry (USA); The Thing From Knucker Hole, Scholastic; Zartog’s Remote, Bloomsbury; Nuff Said, Bloomsbury; Frankenstella and the Video Shop Monster, Bloomsbury.
Children's Non-Fiction
Alien Contact, Scholastic; Death of the Dinosaurs, Longmans; Eleven Things You Never Knew About Cats, Longmans; Atlantis; Time Travel; Hidden Powers of the Human Mind; Parallel Worlds — Herbie Brennan’s Forbidden Truths, series published by Faber; How to Remember Absolutely Everything, Longmans; Internet, Scholastic; Memory, Scholastic; Mindpower 1: Succeed at School, HarperCollins; Mindpower 2: Make Yourself a Success, HarperCollins; Seriously Weird True Stories, Scholastic; Seriously Weird True Stories 2, Scholastic; Space Quest, Faber; Techno-Future, Puffin; The Alien-Hunter’s Handbook, Faber; The Code-Breaker’s Handbook, Faber; The First Vaccination, Longmans; The Ghost-Hunter’s Handbook, Faber; The Man Who Invented (nearly) Everything, Longmans; The Spy’s Handbook, Faber; The Young Ghost Hunter's Guide, HarperCollins; The Wizard’s Apprentice, Faber; Why Race for Space?, Longmans.
Phew! Bet you haven't even read the list, let alone the books.
Congratulations on the release of Through the Wardrobe: Your Favorite Authors on C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia (BenBella, April 2008)! Could you tell us a bit about the book?
Somebody at BenBella came up with the brilliant idea of asking a number of YA fantasy writers to contribute to an anthology on the works of C. S. Lewis.
Borders liked the idea and decided to make the finished product a Borders exclusive. Most of the authors involved had read Lewis as kids—no surprises there—and some even credit him as the ultimate inspiration for their own writing careers. So what you have in the book is 15 essays, all highly personal, by top flight fantasy authors on various aspects of the Narnia Chronicles. Great fun if you like Lewis; and who doesn't?
How did the project evolve, and how did you come to be involved in it?
As far as I know, what happened was BenBella brought out a book of essays [edited by Scott Westerfeld (author interview)] on Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass to celebrate the movie.It proved so popular that they thought they might extend the idea into a series of anthologies on the works of other fantasy writers, and Lewis was an obvious choice for inclusion.
I'd contributed an essay to the Pullman collection and they kindly asked if I'd like to contribute to the Lewis one as well. It was a fairly batty piece about how Hitler became a black magician, but they must have liked it because the next thing was they asked me to edit the whole anthology.
Actually, if you look on the title page you'll find I'm jointly credited as editor with Leah Wilson. I can tell you Leah did all the hard work.
What attracted you to the idea?
I was flattered to be asked. (And I'm a big fan of Lewis's work, science fiction and fantasy.)
Could you give us a hint of what to expect from the various contributors?
There's some super stuff in there, varying from quite serious literary criticism to very quirky contributions.
Diane Duane, for example, did a piece about food in Narnia which I thought was brilliant because I'm a foodie myself and like talking about it. Ned Vizzini contributed an essay that was so funny it made me laugh aloud. Diana Peterfreund took her starting point as the crush she had on Lewis's character Edmund Pevensie when she was a girl. My friend Orla Melling, the Fairy Queen of Ireland, pretended to write about being good (she called it "Being Good for Narnia and the Lion") but actually wrote about being bad, which is always far more interesting; that was another very personal piece, and I learned a lot about Orla's naughty teenage days. Kelly McClymer tackled girl power in Narnia.
And so it goes on—quirky and personal, as I said. If you're interested in Lewis, or fantasy writing, or even just fantasy writers, you'll love it.
What did you love about it?
What I loved most was the surprise in my wife's voice when she leafed through an advance copy and said, "This is really very, very good." Of course that was due to the contributors, not me, but I liked getting the credit.
What do you hope readers take away from the book?
What I really hope the readers will take away is something I don't think any of us really planned at the beginning—a little of what it feels like to be a fantasy writer.
There is a lot of very personal material in the anthology so if you read between the lines, you can really dig into the way a writers' minds work and what motivates and inspires them.
And, of course, understanding other fantasy writers will help you understand C. S. Lewis as well.
What can your fans look forward to next?
I'm not sure "look forward" may be the best way to describe it, but I've just finished a Magician's Memoir about my personal interest in magic and mysticism. Highly unsuitable for young adults, of course, but some of them might read it under the covers at night.
I've also send my agent a novel called The Shadow Project, which is a weird teen thriller. But next in line… not sure, except I keep thinking about a daughter Henry and Blue produced after the Faerie Wars Chronicles finished. She's fifteen or sixteen now, half fairy, half human (a faeman child) and a bit of a tearaway with some serious problems, so I might be heading back to the faerie realm before too long…
Cynsational Notes
Contributors include:
This is great news Via Galleycat: bookstores report a 1.3 percent sales increase for March, with total sales of $4.46 billion for the first three months of 2008. The increased level of sales at bookstores continues to outpace the general retail sector.
Great Stone Face Book Award Poster
On Monday, my friend, Toni Buzzeo, and I drove down to Nashua, New Hampshire to speak at the New Hampshire Educational Media Association conference.
At this conference, the Great Stone Face Award is announced (the kids' choice list for NH) and next year's list is unveiled. Let me start by congratulating two of my friends' list: Linda Urban
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
lurbanand Julie Bowe juliebowe A CROOKED KIND OF PERFECT and MY LAST BEST FRIEND are on next year's list! Congratulations, ladies!!!
Toni and I got to the hotel around 4:30, and we went out to supper with the conference committee. We had a wonderful meal. There were about 15 of us, I think, which made for a lively, fun time. I grew up in New Hampshire, so it was great to see all those familiar town and school names again: places I've been or schools that we played against in high school sports. "I know where that is!" I said many, many times. During dinner, a few people told me that RULES had done well in this year's Great Stone Face vote at their school, and a couple librarians even told me it had won at their own schools. I was touched to hear that.
The next day, Toni gave her keynote speech. What she said was very sobering to me. As part of that speech Toni showed the amount of money spend on "No Child Left Behind" and the fact that test scores have improved only a point or a few points or have even declined as a result of all that money spent. Such a waste.
Toni is an excellent speaker. It was pleasure to see her "in action."
I was the luncheon speaker for the conference.
The dining room before my talk
Just as I was sitting down, a woman approached me. She whispered to me, "RULES is the Great Stone Face winner for this year. We'd like you to come to the announcement session this afternoon."
Having grown up in New Hampshire and ridden my bike to my own local library every Wednesday in the summer (the only day it was open) . . .to hear that RULES won a kids' choice list in New Hampshire. . . wow. Tears came to my eyes, and I thought, "Oh no!" I have to give a speech in a few mintues!
"Don't tell anyone, okay?" she asked. "We want to announce it at the session."
I nodded. "I'll be signing books right before then. So I won't be able to keep track of the time. Could someone come get me when the session is about to begin?"
So I didn't eat very much. The speech well, though. I made lots of librarians cry with my stories of what the library meant to me as a child and the people who've written to me as a result of RULES. I even saw some people standing as they applauded at the end. Then I signed lots of books.
When I got the signal to leave for the announcement, Linda, who was in charge of the book signing, said that I had stock to sign now. I think she thought I was just leaving, and I didn't know what to do! So I motioned for her to come let me whisper in her ear.
"RULES won the Great Stone Face Award," I whispered. "They want me to be there when they announce it."
Linda screamed and threw her arms around me. So I think the cat might've left the bag at that point :-)
In the announcement room, the committee was grinning as Adele, the chairman, walked to the podium. There was a lovely gasp and huge applause from the audience when she called me up as the winner, and they gave me beautiful bouquet of yellow roses and pink daisies.
It was a moment I'll always remember.
Two members of the Great Stone Face committee and me
Thank you to everyone who congratulated me, who told me about the children you love with disabilities, who made this conference such a wonderful time for me. It felt like coming home again to be with you all.
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So I've put the call to the Universe (otherwise known as my brain, lol) to help with the flow, and decided to do something different this week. It doesn't help that I'm sore all over, so have decided to muckle through the physical, get a few of the other projects that have been on my plate DONE, and sit with my revision tomorrow.
Monday was going to be a revision/fix my studio day, and instead, my husband called needing extra hands. Lovely woman, interesting stuff, but she owned a three story house and cellar. It was fun, and it brought much needed funding (I FINALLY got two art pads-- I've not drawn in a month because I have two pieces of my fine paper left, and I not only got some more tomato plants, Gladiola bulbs, all on sale no less, but the paint for a small project was actually mixed by accident, so I got it for 75% off. I took that as a sign). This morning I clean out the mudroom, and my eighteen year old is coming over to help me paint, rearranging it into the quiet writing/reading/welcoming spot I've envisioned.
Yesterday I sorted through alot of the nine year old's clothes, taking stock, and organizing; we gave away three big bags of clothes, getting them out yesterday. I did the rough drawings for the brochure for Wilson Moving, and will do the finished today. Probably put the brochure together tomorrow. And we have a nine year old friend and d-coz (distant cousin, what they call each other because they're from the side of the family from the pre-Depression rift) coming over today with her mother, as well.
So this week will be planting and painting and rearranging, and inbetween in the quiet spots sitting with paper in hand (final draft only is on puter for smaller projects). I've seen this before, I'll sit down with that blank paper, and when I least expect it, the answer will be clearer.
The balance for me is not only keeping the life next to me alive, family, friends, home, pets, but pushing, but not too hard that inner life. Coaxing would be a better choice of word. I don't know if that's because of the way I was pushed as a kid, but perhaps. I just know it works for me nearly always. I'm excited to get things pulled together NOW, and to finally be "finishing" Annie. I think for me, I NEED to feel like I'm accomplishing something and be in a joyous state, to free up the brain space. The prospect of these occurrences put me in this state. It finally feels like my long, cold and desperate winter is over.
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"In My Life" is one of my favorite Beatles ballads.
This cover, by Hawaiian singer, songwriter, dancer, and scholar, Keali'i Reichel, takes me right back to my roots and my youth, evoking fond memories. It begins with a chant, which is translated as:
The plain of Kama'oma'o vibrates
it glistens in the sun.
Like a wrinkled dog is the uplands of Hamakualoa,
that had remained a long while
in the beauty of Hali'ilua.
Unequalled for the songs of birds
On the pili covered plains of Maui.
Keali'i Reichel rose to prominence after I had left the islands, but I was fortunate enough to hear him perform at the Grosvenor Auditorium (National Geographic Society) in Washington, D.C. He has dedicated his life to promoting the understanding of Hawaiian culture, ancient and contemporary.
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On bike messengers in Amsterdam.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xhc2fe2PZ
We'd love to hear your feedback!
I thought I'd post one day's worth of notes so teachers could get a sense of things. Here is the email I got yesterday. (There was snail mail, too, but I am months behind on that.)
This comes from a teacher:
"I am teaching Speak in my Junior Honors class. As a parallel work, we watched the film version of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. My students found it a little weird that you named the wonderful art teacher the same name as Maya Angelou’s rapist. Since I didn’t have the answer (except to say it was probably more to demonstrate YOUR Mr. Freeman’s character and the connection to the other character was an accident), I told them I would ask you. So I am."
A fairly detailed request, from a reader who hasn't yet found the Biography or FAQ pages of my website:
"Hello...i m .... & im doing
a Author report on you and i was wondering
if you could help me and answer a few things.
please.
like tell me thing what you liked to do in
your childhood?
How did you become intersted in writting?
What other degrees did you earn?
Did you earn one to become a writer?
how was your family?
anty brothers/sisters?
What are your most important awards/honrs?
What your favorite book?
[my speak]] very good!
Well i would apprecitate it VERY much if you took time to answer me these questions and tell me about your self!"
Ah, spelling. But you have to love the sweet tone of this one:
"Hey, Im doing a school project on you, we were told to pick an author and do reserch and i really couldnt think of the books i have read cuz im not a big reader and the frist that came to mind was speak, i have read the book 2 times and have watched the movie plenty, it was a touching story, now i have got most of my info from writer lady, but thiers one thing i really coundt find and thats qoutes... i need a few qouets that u may say or live by and if u could reply back to this it would be much help and i would appreciate it tones!!!"
Never been asked for this before:
"Hi Laurie.... During our English 12 class, we have to choose one particular author and write an author study on our choice. I decided to write about you. I have read mostly all of your books besides a couple, only because our school library does not own them. But, I am hoping to buy them this summer. The reason I am emailing you is because we have to find a short story that our author wrote. I have looked long and hard and have not found a short story written by you. I was wondering if you have ever written any short stories. Sorry if that offended you, but in my search, every sight told me you have not written any. If you have, I was wondering if you had the time, if you could email me a short story you have written. I would appreciate it greatly. Thank you for reading this email. I understand that you have a life of your own and do not want to be a burden. If you're too busy, I understand. I hope to hear back from you."
Students are not the only ones writing:
"My name is... and I'm a bookseller at... my manager and I are trying to round up prizes and giveaways to put in our goodie bags. I have been given the unenviable task of e-mailing every YA author and/or publisher I can think of and asking for help. I read Speak when I was about 13 or so, and it made quite an impression on me, so of course, you were one of the first authors I thought to e-mail.
Do you have anything—and I mean anything—that you could send me to help me out? Anything from signed books to a stack of bookmarks would be fantastic. Not a lot goes down around here, so we are trying to make this as fun as possible. Let me know, and I can send you the store address and my manager's name."
This one is wonderful... she forgot to include the link to the site she was talking about, but did so in a post later in the day:
"i know you have no time for any of this, or maybe just no brain-energy left, but life is short & really what else matters?
so anyway i wanted to thank you for 'twisted', which i just read in one sitting / lying (sprawled, in someone else's empty bed, in someone else's empty house-)
i read 'speak' in high school, maybe when i was more part of the Target Audience, but now, finding 'twisted' at 22 i wish more than anything my (older) brother could have read it when he was most vulnerable.. it could have really saved him. you are doing immensely important work, i hope you know that..
though i understand you are terribly busy & probably inundated with emails like this, i would really be honored if you would look at something i made / am making... just a little nothing in the forest. click the house when it lights up.
if you find a moment, thank you, it takes awhile to load, i hope it's worth it. oh, and your website is beautiful, by the way."
This is simply lovely:
"I have recently read your book speak. I found it very interesting and i could connect with it in many different ways. Throughout my school years i have endured some very tough times, and reading this book brightened my life a little bit, and made me realize that anything is possible. I wanted to personally thank you for writing an excellent book, that is also very meaningful to me and many other readers. You are one of my all-time favorite authors and believe me i do not say this to everyone! Well once again thank you so much for the insight that your wonderful book provided me."
As is this:
"hi laurie i'm yvette, i read three of your books and i loved them, i actully finished them it usally takes me a whole semester to finish a book but not this time. so far i read "speak" "fever 1793" and "twisted" i liked them all and i can't wait to read the rest of your books!"
Gotta love this, too:
"that your book Speak is by far the best book I've read, and I'm sure you've heard this a lot, but I am an absolute slowwww reader and I have a very difficult time just sitting down and concentraiting for a solid ten minutes. So like I've said before, I know you hear this a lot but i couldn't put this book down, and this book has also inspired me to speak up. thank you."
My conclusion:
Beefing up the website has definitely helped stem the tide of reasonable requests for information. (Though I have no plans to post essays about the themes in my books!) Answering reader mail is mostly a very nice problem to have. The only thing I ask teachers is please don't make a student's grade rely on my ability to respond in a timely fashion.
Any thoughts?
I'm back in the Cave of Revision, BTW. Will be crawling out for my booksigning in Oswego on Thursday evening.
The 15th Annual Skipping Stones Honor Awards recognize 26 exceptional books and teaching resources. Together, they encourage an understanding of the world's diverse cultures, as well as nature and ecological richness. The selection promotes cooperation, nonviolence, respect for differing viewpoints, and close relationships in human societies. We present these great books to you as the summer season stretches before us. It's a time of year when many travel to explore new places in the world, or to revisit meaningful ones. Reading books is another way you can explore cultures, places and even other time periods. The winners are featured in our summer issue. Welcome to the wonderful world of words!
Download the official
press release here.Multicultural & International Awareness Books:
One City, Two Brothers by Chris Smith, illustr. Aurélia Fronty. Barefoot Books; www.barefootbooks.com. Picture Book. ISBN: 978-1-84686-042-3
When The Shadbush Blooms by Carla Messinger with Susan Katz, illustr. David Kanietakeron Fadden. Tricycle. www.tricyclepress.com. Picture Book. ISBN: 978-1-58246-192-2
Armando and the Blue Tarp School by Edith Hope Fine and Judith Pinkerton Josephson, illustr. Hernán Sosa. Lee & Low; www.leeandlow.com. Picture Book. ISBN: 978-1-58430-278-0
I Remember Abuelito: A Day of the Dead Story / Yo Recuerdo a Abuelito: Un Cuento del Dia de los Muertos by Janice Levy, illustr. Loretta Lopez. Albert Whitman; www.albertwhitman.com. Picture Book. ISBN: 978-0-8075-3516-5
The Best Eid Ever by Asma Mobin-Uddin, illustr. Laura Jacobsen. Boyds Mills Press www.boydsmillspress.com. Picture Book. ISBN: 978-1-59078-431-0
Romina's Rangoli by Malathi Michelle Iyengar, illustr. Jennifer Wanardi. Shen's Books; www.shens.com. Picture Book. ISBN: 978-1-885008-32-9
Sky Sweeper by Phillis Gershator, illustr. Holly Meade. Farrar, Straus & Giroux; www.fsgkidsbooks.com. Picture Book. ISBN: 978-0-374-37007-7
One Hen by Katie Smith Milway, illustr. Eugenie Fernandes. Kids Can Press; www.kidscanpress.com. Picture Book. Ages 7 and up. ISBN: 978-1-55453-028-1
Rickshaw Girl by Mitali Perkins, illustr. Jamie Hogan. Charlesbridge; www.charlesbridge.com. Ages 7-10. ISBN: 978-1-58089-308-4
Great Peacemakers: True Stories from Around the World (Teacher's guide available) by Ken Beller & Heather Chase. LTS Press; www.greatpeacemakers.com. Ages 12-80. ISBN: 978-0-9801382-0-7
We Are One: The Story of Bayard Rustin by Larry Dane Brimner. Calkins Creek/Boyds Mills Press; www.boydsmillspress.com. Ages 10-15. ISBN: 978-1-59078-498-3
Chess Rumble by G. Neri, illustr. Jesse Joshua Watson. Lee and Low; www.leeandlow.com. Ages 11-15. ISBN: 978-1-58430-279-7
Jeannette Rankin: Political Pioneer, a biography by Gretchen Woelfle. Calkins Creek/ Boyds Mills Press; www.boydsmillspress.com. Ages 11-17. ISBN: 978-1-59078-437-2
Tasting The Sky: A Palestinian Childhood, a memoir by Ibtisam Barakat. Farrar, Straus & Giroux; www.fsgkidsbooks.com. Ages 11-15. ISBN: 978-0374-35733-7
The Teen Guide to Global Action: How to Connect with others to Create Social Change by Barbara A. Lewis. Free Spirit; www.freespirit.com. Ages 12-17. ISBN: 978-1-57542-266-4
A Shout in the Sunshine, a novel by Mara W. Cohen Ioannides. Jewish Publication Society; www.jewishpub.org. Ages 12-17. ISBN: 978-0-8276-0838-2
Windows into My World: Latino Youth Write Their Lives, ed. by Sarah Cortez. Piñata Books; www.artepublicopress.com. Ages 13-18. ISBN: 978-1-55885-482-6
The Ocean in the Closet, a debut novel by Yuko Taniguchi. Coffee House Press; www.coffehousepress.org. Ages 15 to adults. ISBN: 978-1-56689-194-3
Nature and Ecology Books:
Nature's Yucky! 2: The Desert Southwest by Lee Ann Landstrom & Karen I. Schragg, illustr. Rachel Rogge. Mountain Press; www.mountain-press.org. ISBN: 978-0-87842-529-7
River Song with the Banana Slug String Band by Steve Van Zandt, illustr. Katherine Zecca. Dawn Publications; www.dawnpub.com. Picture Book. ISBN: 978-1-58469-093-1
The Bee Tree by Stephen Buchmann and Diana Cohn, illustr. Paul Mirocha. Cinco Puntos Press; www.cincopuntos.com. Picture Book. ISBN: 978-0-938317-98-2
The Inuit Thought Of It: Amazing Arctic Innovations by Alootook Ipellie with David MacDonald. Annick Press; www.annickpress.com. Ages 9-12. ISBN 978-1-55451-087-0
The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming by Laurie David and Cambria Gordon. Scholastic Inc.; www.scholastic.com. Ages 8-13. ISBN: 978-0-439-02494-5
Teaching and Parenting Resources:
2008 World Diversity Calendar, Orison Publishers; www.worlddiversitycalendar.com. This interfaith, multilingual calendar belongs on every classroom wall! ISBN: 978-0-9763800-5-4.
What Kids REALLY Want to Ask: Using Movies to Start Meaningful Conversations -- A Guidebook for Parents and Children Ages 10-14 by Rhonda A. Richardson, Ph.D. and A. Margaret Pevec, M.A. VanderWyk & Burnham; www.vandb.com. ISBN: 978-1-889242-31-6
My Imaginary Friend by Shirley Ann Povondra and Kathryn Andrew. Llumina Kids; www.llumina.com. For parents and educators to read with children. ISBN: 978-1-59526-669-9
Where do you place the bookmark?...  I'm reading Jack Kerouac's On the Road -- The Original Scroll. I never read the edited prior published version. And this is my first exposure to Kerouac's work. It's stream of consciousness writing is fast and moves along quite like a conversation. And to paraphrase one critic "it's rythym, it's beat, it reads like jazz." BUT like the original 120 foot pages of tracing paper taped together scroll, it's ONE PARAGRAPH. No chapters. Just one paragraph. Where do you place the bookmark? | |
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If you don’t know the work of Lynda Barry, you should. She is an amazing comic artist. Her syndicated comic strip, Ernie Pook’s Comeek, has run for years and years. I first came across her via some small book collections of these comics and then saw a play based on her wonderful coming-of-age book The Good Times are Killing Me. For many reasons she sort of faded from view, but fortunately is now getting some well-deserved attention again with the publication of her latest book, What It Is, published by the terrific Drawn & Quarterly.
by Yumi Hotta
published by Viz Media
Three boys in my classroom are completely absorbed by this series. All three are very different readers. One is a very capable reader who, up until Hikaru had been plowing through the Warriors series at an amazing rate. He is an avid member of our school's chess club. Another, a good reader, has had a hard time finding and
New England Voices: Three Area Authors Read from their New BooksTuesday May 20, 2008 7:30 p.m.
Join us for an evening of readings from Barbara O'Connor, Susan Goodman and Lita Judge
Barbara O'Connor will read from her latest middle-grade novel Greetings from Nowhere. Barbara has written 14 novels and biographies for children and her books have won the Massachusetts Book Award and the Parents' Choice Award.
"O'Connor's knack for well-developed characters and feisty protagonists is evident, as is her signature Southern charm."-School Library Journal
Susan Goodman will read from See How They Run: Campaign Dreams, Election Schemes and the Race to the White House. Susan is the author of dozens of non-fiction books for kids.
Using witty anecdotes and clear explanations, Goodman takes readers from the birth of democracy to the Electoral College; from front-porch campaigning to hanging chads. Illustrated by Ellwood Smith.
Lita Judge will read from One Thousand Tracings: Healing the Wounds of World War II, a 2008 ALA Notable Children's Book, which she wrote and illustrated.
"Based on a true story of the author's grandmother and mother, this touching bit of history humanizes war and demonstrates the difference a few people can make."- Kirkus Reviews
Note: new location at Walsh Hall, Boston College (behind Vanderslice Hall)
This event includes book sales from the Children's Book Shop and signing, as well as refreshments.
Free and Open to the Public. No registration necessary. Bring your friends and colleagues to introduce them to the FCB!
Where and When:
Walsh Hall, Boston College
For Boston College map, click here.
Tuesday, May 20 7:30 p.m.
For more information:
The Foundation for Children's Books
The Foundation for Children's Books
P.O.Box 320284
21 Stratford Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02132-0003
617-469-7222
The Foundation for Children's Books (FCB), a nonprofit, educational organization, was founded in 1983 to assist the professionals who most directly influence young readers: teachers, librarians, and parents. We achieve this through professional development programs, including a dynamic speaker series, innovative conferences and workshops, as well as through author visits and residencies in under-served schools.
Actually, at this point, I have to say, the house across the street was burning down, as the good offices of the West Hartford Fire Department have arrested this development in progress. (This is, yes, what I pay my taxes for.) And it doesn't appear, from the vantage of my front windows, that anyone was injured. However, it was pretty darn spectacular for a bit there, with flames through the third story and firefighters scrambling around chainsawing holes in the roof of a hundred-year-old three-family.
This is the house with the extremely annoying and loud deterrent system, which tends to announce BURGLARY! BURGLARY! BURGLARY! in stentorian tones every time a cat crosses the yard. Which is why I missed the first five minutes of fun, because I thought it was just the usual late-night loudness. But then I heard the sirens--we're just around the corner from the fire department--and realized I should probably get up and put my pants on and close the windows.
And comfort the cat, who does not like chainsaws.
And now I am trying to decide whether it would be more productive to go for a walk, go back to bed, or try to get some work done, since it appears the apocalypse has been averted for the time being. I think coffee, a hot shower, and work are winning, because while I am still sleepy I'm not actually all that tired, and the sun is coming up, and I think it would annoy the nice firefighters less if I didn't traipse through where they are trying to work today.
Also, there's that toe I'm supposed to be going easy on. And the cat says her feet are cold, and can I please sit down so she can put them on me?
As a reminder, if anybody in the Midwest wants to come see me, I will be at WisCon the weekend after this one coming up, and I will be the Guest of Honor at Duckon (Chicago) and Fourth Street Fantasy (Minneapolis) in the middle weeks of June. I am moved to mention this because Fourth Street has just moved their pre-reg deadline back to May 31.
truepenny will be my date for both cons, so you can rely on the full magnificence of the Mole And Bear Show in all its questionable glory. Fourth Street is looking suspiciously as though it will be an unofficial Shadow Unit convention, as the whole crew except
stillsostrange will be there, and WisCon will have me, truepenny, and stillsostrange. (But no coffeeem or ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/syndicated.gif){kind=small}
shetterly.)Someday we will all be in the same place at the same time, and there may be a singularity.
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1. I have a new review up over at the Voices of NOLA for Paul Volponi's YA drama Hurricane Song. This is a very intense novel set almost entirely in the Superdome during Katrina and the aftermath, when the levees failed. It's an excellent edge-of-seat story and I strongly recommend it for teen readers who want to know more about what happened to the people of New Orleans. I was also able to exchange some emails with the author on how he wrote the book which was very cool. (I do so love the internet when it comes to contacting authors!)
2. I finished Andrea Barrett's The Air We Breathe and was mightily impressed yet again by what a wonderful writer she is. This is a book mostly about tuberculosis patients recovering in the Adirondacks during the WWI era but it also delves deeply into the small things we do to each other and how little arguments can all too quickly escalate into great and nearly uncontrollable difficulties. You can see how wars begin in the novel - in the smallest ways that no one notices. It's also interesting to see how Barrett exposes quiet heroes and how little it actually takes from someone to be heroic. In this way she reminds me a bit of Jo Walton's writing in the Farthing series - the same type of quiet bravery is exalted in those books as well.
Suffice to say, I enjoyed The Air We Breathe a great deal.
3. Thinking about how small actions can lead to big consequences, I have been writing about a crash involving a close friend was was an excellent pilot. In his case it was several things - acute tiredness from a heavy work schedule, a disintegrating marriage and the resultant fights at home, and on the day of the crash rapidly diminishing weather. If he wasn't tired, or angry at his wife, or battling some wicked crosswinds and lousy visibility - if anyone of those elements that night were removed - then I don't think he would have crashed. But that was how it was, and what followed was loss of tickets, loss of job, loss of career, loss of family and nearly loss of himself. Our worlds are so fragile I think - and we never seem to realize that until we are drowning. Is it any wonder that we are better at killing ourselves, and the planet, then actually solving problems?
4. Kirst