Category: Books

Petition to Support School Libraries

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From the The National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance:

“We ask that the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) provide dedicated funding to help support effective school library programs. Such action will ensure more students have access to the resources and tools that constitute a 21st century learning environment. Reductions in school library programs are creating an ‘access gap’ between schools in wealthier communities versus those where there are high levels of poverty. All students should have an equal opportunity to acquire the skills necessary to learn, to participate, and to compete in today’s world.”

Sign the petition here. Right now there are only about 5,000 signatures and the petition needs about 15,000 more. So spread the word! School libraries are an essential part of literacy development and deserve our support.

Stories of Story of a Girl

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One of my very favorite contemporary YA novels is Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr–which was published almost five years ago! (Five years exactly on Tuesday.) To celebrate, Zarr is sharing some of the novel’s journey to publication on her blog this week. After the first post alone, I’m stunned that Zarr didn’t just shoot to success. Her writing is so good! How could anyone have rejected anything she wrote?! But that’s the fun and inspiring part of the “inside scoop” from writer’s–as always, it’s a tough job and you never know when your work will find that right agent/editor. Loving the back story so far!

Plus, Tuesday she’s hosting a giveaway on Twitter:

“Tweet something about Story of a Girl–a favorite line or moment, a memory of reading it, a response to the story, a comment about a character, etc., and use the hashtag #storyofagirl (easy to remember). Little, Brown Books for Young Readers will randomly pick from these tweets and give away five signed copies of Story of a Girl.

Obviously, if you have a memory or favorite line or comment about the book, there’s a good chance you don’t need a copy. Play anyway, and if you win you could give your copy to a friend, or donate it to a school or public library. If you haven’t read the book, you too can play along. You can tweet something about one of my other books that makes you want to read Story, or straight up beg for a copy. Just be sure to use #storyofagirl in your tweet. Tomorrow. Tuesday.“

So get your tweets ready and help celebrate five years of this awesome novel. Congrats, Sara!

The Q&A Period

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Outside of literary circles, I don’t talk a lot about my own writing. I never mention to my parents what I’m working on. I don’t bring up key points of my novel to my friends. Even here, most of my posts are about the general writing life as opposed to specifics about my work. Even with that reticence, questions about my writing comes up. So I thought this post about how to deal with questions about your novel over at Writerly Life was helpful and hilarious. My favorite:

Is it about your life? Am I in it?
Inevitably, this question is going to come up in varying forms — and I find it the most irritating. I don’t really want to go into how the novel relates to my most personal inner life, and I especially don’t want to flatter you by telling you you’re in it, uncle Fred, or offend you, Aunt Alice, by telling you that that cold, cruel character is you!

How to deal
Most non-writers simply don’t know that novels don’t have a one-to-one relationship with reality. It’s difficult to characterize the complex, blurry way fictional worlds tend to overlap with our real lives. Again, the invasiveness of the question is unintentional, but I’ve found questions to be surprisingly pushy. For example, because I’m writing about Buddhism, I get asked point-blank whether I’m a Buddhist, and then I have to succinctly explain my feelings about religion. In cases like these, I think it’s fine to note (politely) that the question is a little more than you’d like to answer. Or else settle for “it’s complicated.” Sometimes it just none of the questioner’s business, and you’ve got to use your writerly verbal skills to find a tactful way of saying so.

That one is the worst! Even if I take bits and pieces from my real life, it’s called fiction for a real–it’s not real. It’s a novel, not a fun quiz about which character you’re most like. I’m sure lots of other writers base their characters/plot in real people and experiences, but I tend to stray far away from anyone I know in reality.

For the most part, people are very nice and just curious about the writing process. But I did get a good laugh out of this list.

Other questions I’ve been asked: Is it part of a series? Have you ever thought about writing about ___? Is it available on Amazon? Are you going to be like JK Rowling? (Um, I WISH.)

What novel questions are you asked and how do you deal?

First Friday Fifteen

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Although I appreciate them, I don’t tend to write a lot of book reviews. I have some on Amazon, maybe one on Goodreads, and probably none on my various blogs. So I figured I’d try something a little different here. Instead of trying to craft thoughtful, well-worded reviews of recently read books, I’m going to write about every book I’ve ever read. In 15 words or less.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Friday Fifteen.

I figure this will be a fun way to share thought about books without too much pressure. There’s no particular order to this; it’s mostly just whatever books I remember in the moment. Plus I get to share all the embarrassing tween novels I read back in the day.

Onto the reviews!

1. Watership Down by Richard Adams
Lovely writing, compelling plot. And it’s about rabbits. Love!

2. Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell
History humor at its best. My jury duty book.

3. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
My long-distance relationship novel. The new Gone with the Wind?

4. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Probably read this ninety times in eighth grade. Still breaks my heart.

5. Watchmen by Alan Moore
Engaging twist on the classic superhero, plus the apocalypse. The movie was terrible.

6. Mountain Man Dance Moves: The McSweeney’s Book of Lists by McSweeney’s Publishing
Not all winners. but I cry with laughter at some of these.

7. Will You Please Be Quiet, Please by Raymond Carver
Read this for class. I’m sure we had a nice discussion about craft.

8. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
This is probably what it feels like when you’re the cute girl in ninth grade.

9. Letters from Amelia, 1901-1937 by Jean L. Backus
Research for a certain YA novel. Lots of thoughtful correspondence.

10. Angels in America by Tony Kushner
You can do a lot on stage, apparently. And a hopeful ending.

11. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Probably my favorite of the series, with a fantastic twist.

12. Mary Anne Misses Logan (The Baby-sitters Club #46) by Ann M. Martin
My first BSC book. I didn’t realize it was a series at first.

13. Help! My Apartment Has a Dining Room Cookbook: How to Have People Over Without Stressing Out by Kevin Mills, Nancy Mills
How to prepare a meal, with a side of humor and common sense.

14. The Hours by Michael Cunningham
Not as depressing as everyone said. Stunning writing.

15. Caps for Sale: A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys and Their Monkey Business by Esphyr Slobodkina
We read this a lot when I was little. Still love hats, don’t trust monkeys.

And there you have it! Feel free to share your own fifteen-word reviews as well.

Just When You Thought Bridge to Terabithia Couldn’t Make You Cry More

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Since we have a new National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, that means Katherine Paterson has stepped down. But her article on her experience as ambassador is just lovely. Just to get you started:

““Bridge to Terabithia saved my life.” The speaker was Trent Ready, a 6’7″ veteran of the war in Afghanistan. The 400 or so middle schoolers in the audience were staring up at the stage transfixed as he told them that reading a children’s book in the desert, during a time when he thought any day might be his last, had made it possible for him to keep going–to find beauty in the midst of the ugliness of war. “I just want you guys to realize how important reading is. How a book can save your life.”

Standing on the stage next to Trent as he made this plea for the vital importance of reading, I was as moved as the audience by his words. I’d been travelling as the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature urging young and old to “Read for your life” and here was Trent delivering my message more eloquently than I possibly could have to this auditorium full of children. It was a culminating experience of two memorable years as Ambassador.“

My heart! The tears! The rest of the article is fantastic as well. Congratulations Katherine, and onto another great year of children’s literature ambassadorship!

(via The National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance)

Links Galore

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A few more reading links for the day:

How Many Frequent Flyer Miles Would This Require?

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I’m looking forward to going to my first SCBWI conference later this month. I’ve been to AWP before, but that veers to the literary fiction side and I also attended with my fellow grad students. I’ve heard fantastic things about the SCBWI conferences and I’m psyched to attend a weekend of kid lit-related events.

In case I get bitten by the conference-bug (and find a huge amount of expendable income), I’ve got this fantastic list of 2012 conferences over at A Fuse #8 Production. Lifetime goals? Hit the ALA conference, Comic Con, and the Bologna Children’s Book Fair.

What conferences or events are on your calendar this year?

Studies Show Reading Is Cool

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Another reason it’s a great time to read and write children’s literature:

“In 2004, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) published a study titled Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America, reporting that the number of literature-reading young adults dropped 20 percent between 1982 and 2002—the greatest recorded loss of readership in the country’s history. The decline represented 20 million potential readers and Dana Gioia, NEA Chairman, called it a “national crisis.”

Panic ensued and a flurry of reading incentive programs sprung up around the country, including NEA’s own The Big Read which now operates in all fifty states and even internationally. Then, in a 2009 report, Reading on the Rise, the NEA proudly reported a 21 percent increase in young adult readership which began in 2002 and has continued through 2008.”

The emphasis is mine, but the facts stand alone. Thanks to cultural touchstones like Harry Potter, more kids are reading and more publishers have recognize that this is a huge market that demands good writing. Also, in case you think technology is going to kill the book:

“In January 2010, the Kaiser Family Foundation published a comprehensive study of the media habits of more than 2,000 eight to eighteen year-old American children. The study found that the average time spent reading books for pleasure in a typical day rose from 21 minutes in 1999 to 23 minutes in 2004, and finally to 25 minutes in 2010. The rise of screen-based media has not melted children’s brains, despite ardent warnings otherwise: “It does not appear that time spent using screen media (TV, video games and computers) displaces time spent with print media,” the report stated. Teens are not only reading more books, they’re involved in communities of like-minded book lovers. The Story Siren, a young adult online book review authored by an Indiana graduate student gets 3,500-4,000 unique page views a day.”

The internet isn’t the end of the book. It’s helping teens explore books and connect with similar-minded readers. I find this all extremely hopeful for the next generation of readers and writers.