A few more links to round out your day:
Really digging this video for Don’t Go by Pyyramids:
Lots of awesome work in the background, and I love how genuine this girl seems. I could easily picture her doing the same dance at home, in front of her bedroom mirror. I want to dance, too!
Titles are hard. How are you supposed to sum up the emotional content of your work while still making sure it’s memorable and will catch a reader’s eye? Wouldn’t it be easier to turn some lead into gold while we’re at it?
Fortunately, NPR has provided us with a handy guide for how to name your first novel. Not really YA-specific, but here’s the closest match:
If Your First Novel Will Be A Withering Teenage Quasi-Memoir
How I Flunked [YOUR WORST ACADEMIC SUBJECT] But Passed [THE FIRST MUSICIAN YOU SAW IN CONCERT]
The memoir part doesn’t really work, but with this in mind, my first novel should be How I Flunked Chemistry But Passed The Four Tops and the Temptations.
I also like:
If Your First Novel Will Be A Harrowing Historical Account
The [A COLOR] [REPEAT THAT COLOR] [A FLOWER]s Of [A CITY IN EUROPE]
It’s that double color that makes it stick out, of course. Feel free to share your titles in the comments!
A few more links to get through Tuesday:
Another Friday, another Friday Fifteen, in which I review fifteen books in fifteen words or less.
1. The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath by Sylvia Plath, Karen V. Kukil (Editor)
It became immediately apparently that Plath was way smarter at 18 than I’ll ever be.
2. The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
Love the vignette style, fantastic voice. Even jock senior boys in English class liked it.
3. Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
Feels forced in parts, but moving overall. Foer’s best novel so far.
4. The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
Made me very nervous as a child. People shouldn’t mess up your house!
5. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Hated it initially, then got pulled in by Gilbert’s voice. Some nice local history, too.
6. The Witch’s Sister by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
First in a series; read these obsessively in fifth grade. My limit on horror reading.
7. The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Poetical and historical bedtime reading in my household. Fun for New England kids!
8. Happy Birthday Samantha!: A Springtime Story (American Girls: Samantha #4) by Valerie Tripp
The first AG book I read, sparking enthusiasm for the series and the Victorian period.
9. Tiffany’s Table Manners for Teenagers by Walter Hoving
Christmas gift that I kept glancing through. Surprisingly useful stuff for an eleven-year-old
10. Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
Some classic Dickensian style, but the ending fell flat for me.
11. Where are You Going, Where Have You Been?: Selected Early Stories by Joyce Carol Oates
The title story is exquisitely eerie, others follow the same unsettling tone.
12. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
A recent favorite. Love a heroine who’s not afraid to be clever, bold, and ambitious.
13. Knights of the Kitchen Table (The Time Warp Trio) by Jon Scieszka
I’m holding it in pictures from first day of first grade, so probably liked it.
14. The Emperors Embrace Reflections On Animal Families And Fatherhood by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
Summer reading for Bio, ended up enjoying it. Found out why beavers are so awesome.
15. Holidays and Birthdays (Childcraft: the How and Why Library #9) by World Book-Childcraft International
What’s your birthstone? When’s Yom Kippur? My source of all calendar knowledge as a child.
Happy weekend reading!
Even though there’s still a lot of debate over the ebook, technology can be a very useful tool for writers. One recent example: well-known author Avi is launching a video contest for his novel City of Orphans. Details via readergirlz:
“Any teacher or librarian is eligible to submit a City of Orphans video for a student or classroom in fourth through ninth grade. Options include formats such as live action, documentary-style, readers’ theater, costumed theater, and book trailers; the format is not as important as the entrants’ demonstration of creativity and their interpretation of City of Orphans. An online voting process will help determine the winners, who will receive prizes ranging from an in-person visit and lunch with Avi (one Grand Prize) to Skype visits by Avi (nine Finalists). Five contest voters are eligible to win autographed copies of City of Orphans.”
Sounds like a cool project for a classroom or library group! I like that the video style is open, too; I think that will inspire a lot of different interpretations and allow readers to really have fun and explore their thoughts on the book. I haven’t read City of Orphans yet but it sounds like something I would have loved when I was younger.
Check out readergirlz and Avi’s page for more details.
A few more links to round out your day:
You know those nonsense words you have to type to prove you’re not a spambot? Gabrielle de Vietri made them into a story:
It sounds so Lewis Carroll-esque. Is Desmodowe the next Alice?
In case you need inspiration for what to give a loved one on Valentine’s Day, check out these awesome literary-inspired mugs by Sarah Fritzler:
I think my favorites are the Jane Eyre mug and the Gilbert. And you can make these yourself! Sarah has the how-to guide on her post. Lots more pictures through the link, too! (image: Sarah Fritzler)
OK Go already does musical videos better than anyone else. So of course their work with Sesame Street is stellar:
Another good example of you can take a basic idea (primary colors can mix together to make other colors) and still make it fun and exciting for kids. There’s a lesson in there, but it’s presented in such an engaging way that it doesn’t feel forced at all.