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If you aren’t receiving the free Book Links Quick Tipes e-newsletter, you may want to sign up. December’s theme is cooking.

Subscription prices for the bi-monthly Book Links magazine, a publication of the American Library Association, are listed on the ALA website –> Professional Resources–> ALA Publications–> ALA Periodicals–> Book Links. Its mission reads:

Book Links: Connecting Books, Libraries, and Classrooms is a magazine designed for teachers, librarians, library media specialists, booksellers, parents, and other adults interested in connecting children with books. In response to the use of children’s trade books in the classroom, the curriculum role of the school library media center, the increased programming in public libraries, and the heavy reliance of child-care centers on children’s literature, Book Links publishes bibliographies, essays linking books on a similar theme, retrospective reviews, and other features targeted at those educating young people.

Many ALSC members not only work with children, but also with teens.  Some of you may also be members of ALA’s Young Adult Library Services Association.  Well, YALSA member, Jenine Lillian is working on a new professional resouce called Cool Teen Programs on a Shoestring.  The book will consist of different programs that are fun and appealing to teen audiences, and Jenine is looking for ideas from all of you!

 This is not only a great publishing opportunity for any Librarians who have had great and inexpensive teen programs, but also, there is the potential for them to share their ideas at a YALSA event at the ALA Annual Conference in July, 2009 with the editor. 

 I’ve attached the submission form here for those of you who would like to get involved. The deadline for submissions is Novmeber 20th!

Cool Teen Program Submission Form

Jon Agee is the author/illustrator of Nothing (Hyperion), an ALSC 2008 Notable Children’s Book; Terrific (Hyperion/Michael di Capua), an ALSC 2006 Notable Children’s Book; and Milo’s Hat Trick (Michael di Capua/Hyperion), an ALSC 2002 Notable Children’s Book. He lives in San Francisco.

Check out Jon’s answers to 20 Questions on his official website.

This week the National Book Foundation announced this year’s National Book Award Finalists.

The Young People’s Literature judges nominated the following:

• Laurie Halse Anderson for Chains
• Kathi Appelt for The Underneath
• Judy Blundell for What I Saw and How I Lied
• E. Lockhart for The Disreputable History of Frankie
• Tim Tharp for The Spectacular Now

This year’s judges for the Young People’s Literature category are Daniel Handler (chair), Holly Black, Angela Johnson, Carolyn Mackler, and Cynthia Voigt.

Barbara Jean Hicks is the author of the 2006 ALSC Notable Children’s Book, Jitterbug Jam: A Monster Tale (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). Barbara lives in Oxnard, California.

What is your personal history and how has it informed your work?
I grew up in a small farming community in Washington State, the middle of seven children. My parents (who’ve been married 67 years and still live on their own) didn’t have a lot in worldly goods. Nine of us, for example, lived in a two-bedroom, one bath house. Honestly, I didn’t realize how poor we were until long after I went away to college. Our home life was secure and happy, filled with books, music, pets, and projects. We rented a tent-trailer in the summer and went on vacations together. When I was in high school, we even built a house together. (I remember helping mix concrete for the foundation and pounding nails on the roof two stories up!)

We went to the library every Saturday and Sunday School every Sunday. Both were religious experiences. We were encouraged to read and observe and think for ourselves. I loved school, loved learning, even loved homework! I grew up confident in my abilities and believed I was special. At home, I WAS special—as every child should be. The trouble was, the shock of discovering that in the larger world I WASN’T special absolutely threw me! As a skinny, near-sighted, pimply teen, I was shy, insecure, and preferred staying in with a book to going out with anyone, anywhere. I sometimes wonder if there’s a YA novel in me that I haven’t yet been brave enough to write because I don’t want to revisit those times and emotions! On the other hand, it’s huge fun writing for the person I was at a younger age. Fun is important. Picture books give me the opportunity to play.

But it’s serious play. Like a typical middle child in a large family, I grew up being the mediator. I still am, trying to understand everyone’s perspective and foster communication between people with diverse points of view. I’m drawn to write from unique perspectives, like the little monster in Jitterbug Jam who finds a scary boy hiding under his bed, or the cat in The Secret Life of Walter Kitty, whose real name is Fang. If kids can learn to empathize with a monster or a cat with an attitude, maybe they’ll learn to empathize with people different from themselves. If they can, there’s still hope for the world.

Describe your writing process.
Some writers are planners. I’m a seat-of-the-pants-er. For me, starting a story is always an adventure, a leap into the unknown. I might start out with a curious bit of dialogue, a vivid description, or a word or phrase that tickles my funny bone. Once I set pen to paper or sit down at the computer (I do both), I let the writing take me where it wants to go—no roadmap.

I love the poetry of picture books. I write for both the eye and the ear, constantly looking for ways to sharpen the imagery and finesse the cadence. I read my work aloud so often that by the time I’m done with a story I practically have it memorized. I tend to pay more attention to the music and the images than I do to the storyline—which makes for a very slow and inefficient process, as I end up having to throw out beautifully polished scenes that don’t belong in the story. But writing this way also gives the story time to work itself out, to find its own meaning. The act of writing teaches me what the story is, how it wants to be told, and why it matters. It’s a very organic process. Unpredictable, messy, and great fun!

How do you select your books’ topics?
I sometimes say that everything I know about writing, I learned from my cat. One of those things is to “scratch where it itches”! What are the ideas that just won’t leave me alone? What do I keep coming back to? What do I fall asleep thinking about? What moves me, intrigues me, makes me laugh? I write about those things.
Appropriately for a picture book author, many of my ideas come from visual images: scenes from real life, photographs, performances and visual art. The idea for Jitterbug Jam came from a Mother Goose and Grimm cartoon and was further developed from observation of kindergartners on the school playground. I Like Black and White began when I noticed how incredibly black and white my tuxedo cat looked against the lush, rain-fed lawn of our Seattle home.

I also get story ideas by playing with perspective, as I’ve already mentioned. I try to put myself inside the mind and experience of another person or creature, to see and explain the world from a unique point of view. I think part of a writer’s job is to provoke readers to think about the world and their place in it in new ways. A unique perspective can give a story meaning beyond pure entertainment.

Why do you write for children? What experiences have influenced your writing for young people?
My last five works for adult readers were romantic comedies set in the fictional and very quirky town of Pilchuck, Washington. These were not typical genre romance novels, and one online reviewer who clearly thought they were meant to be expressed the opinion that I “really ought to be writing for children, as no one else could appreciate such silliness.” Ouch! But I’d always been interested in children’s books and was ready for a new challenge, and the comment gave me the kick in the pants I needed. (Thank you, reviewer, wherever you are! I have truly found my calling.)

I always wanted children, but motherhood never happened for me. I find great joy now in writing children’s literature as a way of sharing myself and my values, perhaps influencing kids in a way I would have as a mom—letting them know how special they are and how much power they have in their abilities to think, consider and choose for themselves and in the ways they interact with other people.

Please describe a few of the collaborations that you have developed because of your writing, either during the writing process or after the project is completed.
Unless you’re an author/illustrator (which I am not—yet!), picture books are a necessarily collaborative process. But it’s an odd sort of collaboration, mediated completely by the editor and art director—who thus also become part of the collaboration. Authors and illustrators are actively discouraged from contacting each other until after a project is completed. I’ve never met Alexis Deacon, the phenomenal illustrator of Jitterbug Jam, who lives in England. But I am amazed and incredibly moved by how much he added to the story with his exquisite artwork. I have a new book coming out next summer, Monsters Don’t Eat Broccoli, which is unique in that the sketches and some of the finished artwork were completed before my editor asked me to write a text to support them. Without the two of us ever speaking or writing, Sue Hendra’s images communicated with me in much the same way my texts must communicate with the illustrators who are assigned to them. Matching author and illustrator is a real art, and my editors have done superbly!

Another note on collaboration: I belong to several critique groups, and I really depend on the feedback of the talented writers and artists who belong to those groups. Working on a story for days and weeks and months (sometimes even years) can make it almost impossible to be objective about one’s own work. While I don’t always agree with or follow the advice of every person who shares his or her opinion about a story, I consider every comment. I know my work is greatly enhanced by that consideration. I truly value the members of my critique groups as collaborators in the process. Thanks, friends!

Share any experience you may have regarding audiobooks.
Picture books rarely become audiobooks because “true” picture books are dependent on the illustrations for meaning. Jitterbug Jam, however, was written as a picture storybook in the oral tradition, so it’s perfect for an audio format. I’m disappointed that the reader selected for the current recording has an East Coast accent, however, because the story is written in my grandmother’s Southern voice! I really feel some of the story’s charm is “lost in translation.”

I’ve just received permission from my publisher to record my own podcast of Jitterbug Jam for use in a Los Angeles Public Library program, and I plan to post it on my website as well. I love to read aloud and look forward to sharing the book this way.

I also love to be read to! I’ve only recently discovered the joys of audiobooks as traveling companions, especially on long road trips to speak at schools, libraries and conferences. They truly do make time fly.

Describe yourself as a reader. What books influenced and inspired you as a child? As an adult?
I was such an avid reader as a child that my parents had to shoo me out of the house so I’d get some exercise. Then after they put me to bed and turned out the lights, I’d read under the covers with a flashlight! But really, it was their fault. Without a television when I was growing up, books were our major form of entertainment. My favorite picture book as a child was about a puppy named Timmy, and had as its refrain: “And there was Timmy—right spang in the middle of everything.” Have no idea who wrote it or what the title was, but I still love that word “spang”! My parents read all the classic children’s novels to us. I particularly remember The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew and Robinson Crusoe. We also had a set of Childcraft books, and I especially loved the poetry volumes. I still remember lines from “Sea Fever” by John Masefield and “The Highwayman” by Alfred Noyes.

My favorite authors as a child reader were C.S. Lewis and Madeleine L’Engle. As an adult, I still like stories with a fantastical element of some kind. Not pure fantasy, but something beyond pure realism. I read widely, both adult and children’s books, and I always have a book going. There are so many good books out there that whatever I happen to be reading is my favorite at the time! I do read more fiction than nonfiction. For me, good fiction is more compelling and in some ways “truer” than nonfiction because it speaks to the heart. Whatever the genre, the emotion has to be true for me. I have to believe in the experience of the characters to be able to lose myself in the imagined world.

I also love what my family always called “the funny papers.” In just a few strokes and a few words, a good cartoonist can make me smile, chuckle, or even howl with laughter. And of course I read lots of picture books.

What role did libraries play in your childhood? What role do libraries play in your life now?
Books were revered in our home. When we built that house during my teenage years, it included a library, filled with after-Christmas sales books and discarded volumes my dad brought home from the library at the hospital where he worked. But most of our reading material came from our public and school libraries. The weekly trip to our community library was a much anticipated treat. When I was a little older I was allowed to walk the half mile by myself. I spent one summer there researching Russian history just for the fun of it. Ah, Rasputin! Later, when I was an insecure teenager, the school library was my haven, especially during lunchtime. Libraries still feel like that to me.

Now, as a visiting author, libraries are among my favorite places to do children’s programs. I like doing large school assemblies, too, but the more intimate setting of a library is so special. When I read my books to kids in a library, I get their immediate reaction—I can see them lean forward, wide-eyed, and hear their intake of breath, or see them smile and hear them giggle. Kids are so in-the-moment, and library visits take me back to being in-the-moment too. On top of all that, children’s librarians are about the nicest people in the world!

I use the Internet for quick-question sorts of research now, but for broad-based background research I still want real books. My local library is my second office.

What do you consider the challenges and rewards of being an author? Of being an author who visits schools and libraries?
My challenges are similar to those that any self-employed person faces. As a fulltime writer and speaker, not getting a regular paycheck or having health and retirement benefits is very stressful. I’m constantly scrambling to sell my manuscripts and promote my books and my services as a visiting author. Being a writer and speaker isn’t just about writing and speaking, it’s a great deal about marketing—which requires lots of time and energy and a whole ’nother skill set.

I will often get so caught up in my writing that I forget to eat—which unfortunately has not kept me from gaining unwanted pounds. Maybe it’s the fact that I forget to exercise, too… I really have to make a conscious effort to get up and move around during the day, or get to a yoga class, or take a walk, or go dancing.

However… I am doing work that I love, work that often feels like play, work that makes me feel alive and happy. Writing for children is a wonderful opportunity to connect with the kid inside me, and speaking in schools and libraries is a wonderful opportunity to connect with kids “out there.” I love knowing that as a picture book author whose books are read aloud, I’m helping bring families together. I love that my books might challenge kids (and their grown-ups) to think about the world in new ways. It’s also been such a surprise to me, remembering how painfully shy I was as a teenager and young adult, to realize how much I love being in front of an audience. Where did that ham come from?!

What do you want children to come away with after reading one of your books?
My ultimate hope is that kids identify their own experience in my books, that there is a heart-to-heart connection, and that they learn new things about themselves. I also hope that in my books they will find a friend, the way I found friends in books when I was a child.

Please share a little about your current work.
Abelard and the Big Bad Why-Bother Blues is a multi-cultural tale about a boy who wants to bake “a cake that tastes like summer” to blast his Gran-Daddy’s blues away on a gloomy winter day. He’s successful, but not exactly in the way he’d planned. The tale is a picture storybook that has more similarities to Jitterbug Jam than anything I’ve written since. I had a difficult time selling Jitterbug in the United States—it was rejected by 22 U.S. houses before it sold to Random House England, who later, ironically, sold U.S. rights to FSG. Jitterbug is long for a U.S. picture book, language rich, with a fairly complex story line. It’s also told in dialect, which you don’t see much in U.S. picture books. Abelard shares those characteristics, and my first thought was to send it directly to a couple of English publishers. But I really don’t want to count on foreign sales to see my work published in the U.S., so I thought I’d try my connections here first. I’m happy to say I have some interest from Knopf, who published The Secret Life of Walter Kitty. Keeping my fingers crossed!

At this point in your career, what has been your most memorable experience?
I have two that stand out: Having a full-page review in the New York Times Book Review when Jitterbug Jam was named on their list of Best Illustrated Books of 2005; and having a classroom full of fourth graders at one of my earliest school visits react like I was a rock star when I walked in. Two things I never in my wildest dreams imagined!

In this world of instant communication and concerns about privacy, how does the Internet (if it does at all) affect you personally and as a writer?
E-mail and the Internet are both a boon and a curse. Almost all my business communication takes place through e-mail, from submitting manuscripts to negotiating contracts to making editorial changes to finding speaking venues. But I can check my e-mail a dozen times a day, interrupting my creative flow, and spend hours responding to messages instead of writing. The Internet gives me instant access to information when I need it for something I’m working on, but one link leads to another and pretty soon I can’t remember what it was I was looking for—or why! Writing is such a solitary pursuit that it’s great for writers to be able to make connections with other writers through social networking sites and blogs, but again, it can get out of hand. There’s only so much time in a day.

I’m also concerned that teens and young adults of the Internet generation seem not to value privacy at all—either their own or others’. Yes, I think we are born with a need to know and be known, but not universally! Sometimes when I stumble across something I wish I hadn’t, I just want to say, “People! Have you no shame? Set some boundaries!”

What are your goals and aspirations?
Very simply, to continue to be able to make a viable living doing what I love to do best—writing, teaching and speaking. Oh—and I’d love to be interviewed by Oprah and Terri Gross!

What piece of advice has been the most valuable to you?
As a writer: “Show, don’t tell.” As a speaker: “Imagine the audience in their underwear!” As a person: “Be true to yourself.”

Is there anything else you would like to share with the readers of the ALSC (Association for Library Service to Children) Blog?
I confessed to my editor at Knopf recently that I am terminally “un-hip.” (Turns out she already knew. Huh.) Probably another reason I’ll never get to that YA. In a world where “edgy” is “in,” I’m about as un-edgy as anyone gets. (Quirky, maybe; edgy, not.) Fortunately, there are still readers out there who like playful language and a tender story. To you, I say thanks!

Deborah Hopkinson is the author of the ALSC 2005 Notable Children’s Book, Apples to Oregon: Being the (Slightly) True Narrative of How a Brave Pioneer Father Brought Apples, Peaches, Pears, Plums, Grapes, and Cherries (and Children) Across the Plains. Her book Sky Boys: How They Built the Empire State Building is an ALSC 2007 Notable Children’s Book. ALSC Quick Lists Committee included her book Bluebird Summer in the Books on Separation and Loss booklist. Deborah lives near Portland, Oregon.

What is your personal history and how has it informed your work?
I grew up in Massachusetts, the oldest of three girls. I was the first member of my family to get a college degree. I also grew up during a time when women were beginning to break into new fields. I believe my interest in history and historical fiction is a result of not being satisfied with what I read in textbooks in school. I was always curious about ordinary people, and the lives of women. I suppose my stories are a way to discover history for myself and share it with readers.

Describe your writing process.
I do lots of research before starting a picture book, and then I put the research to one side and try to find a way to illuminate the core of the story, or at least the part that’s most intriguing to me. I also revise a lot. As an example, I think editor Anne Schwartz and I did nine or ten revisions for Sky Boys as well as my new book, Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek. I am lucky to have talented editors who push me to keep making a manuscript better.

How do you select your books’ topics?
I am always looking for new ideas and stories. I tell students when I present in schools that it’s like having antennae: stories are all around us, in what we experience, hear on the radio, read in books or newspapers, or see on the Internet. I also tell kids that I get lots of rejections. Not every story ends up being a book.

For my new book, Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek, I wanted to do a book in honor of the Lincoln Bicentennial. But it took a long time and a lot of research to find something new about Lincoln’s life, and to find a way to tell it that I hope encourages young people to get excited about history. Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek tells the story of how Abe was rescued from Knob Creek when he was seven by a childhood friend. But I use that incident to challenge young readers to think about how we learn about the past and to ask questions about what we know, what we can prove, and what we may never know.

Why do you write for children? What experiences have influenced your writing for young people?
I began writing for children as a practical matter – I had a full time job and a toddler and picture books seemed easier to tackle than a long novel. (They still are, years later!) But I soon realized that I would rather write for children than adults.

Please describe a few of the collaborations that you have developed because of your writing, either during the writing process or after the project is completed.
I’ve been very fortunate to meet some amazing and talented people in my writing career. I have worked with my editor, Anne Schwartz since she accepted my first picture book in 1991; she also edited my most recent book, Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek, which has received three starred reviews. I’ve been delighted to collaborate with editor Lisa Sandell on three books so far, and we will be working together on a new book on the Titanic.

I’ve also developed wonderful friendships with fellow writers and illustrators, including Deborah Wiles, Candy Fleming, Nancy Farmer, and James Ransome.

Share any experience you may have regarding audiobooks.
I love audiobooks. Often I will listen to a book commuting to and from my job. When I first moved to Oregon my family was still living in Eastern Washington, where my son, Dimitri, was finishing high school. I moved by myself to Oregon and commuted home for more than a year every weekend – five and a half hours each way. I listened to lots of wonderful books that year!

I have also listened to audiobooks with both my children, now young adults. And we still do. Favorite selections include The Eye, the Ear, and the Arm and The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer, Year of Wonders by Gwendolyn Brooks, all of Alexander McCall Smith’s Botswana series, and The Moorchild by Eloise McGraw.

Describe yourself as a reader. What books influenced and inspired you as a child? As an adult?
I was the sort of kid who always had a novel in my desk in elementary school. (And I would sneak it out to read behind my big geography book.) I love both nonfiction and fiction. The hardest part of having a busy schedule is not having time to read.

By the time I was in middle school I was reading the classics; Charlotte Bronte, Charles Dickens, and Jane Austen remain my favorite authors. I don’t read a lot of adult fiction. I believe some of the best literature being written today in our country is for young people.

What role did libraries play in your childhood? What role do libraries play in your life now?
Libraries and librarians were extremely important to me as a child. I recall going in to see the school librarian before spring break each year and coming out with an armful of books to keep me going through the week. I went to the city library every Saturday too.

I am fortunate now to live in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area which has wonderful libraries. And I’m especially excited this year because I will be visiting libraries throughout the state as part of Oregon Reads, a statewide reading celebration in conjunction with Oregon’s 150th birthday. My picture book, Apples to Oregon, is the feature selection for young people.

What do you consider the challenges and rewards of being an author? Of being an author who visits schools and libraries?
Well, probably the greatest challenge of being an author is to earn a living to support a family. That’s one reason why I have always worked full time in addition to being an author. I work in the field of philanthropy, raising funds for colleges, universities, and nonprofit organizations. My specialty is writing grants.

Having a full time job means I don’t get to visit as many schools and libraries as I would wish, but I am hoping to do more. The rewards are meeting children, parents, teachers, librarians, and booksellers who read. Sometimes authors don’t know about the impact of our books. I remember a bookstore visit a few years ago during which I signed a copy of Apples to Oregon for a girl of seven. Meanwhile, her two-year-old brother ran around us, calling out, “Apples Ho!” A fan!

What do you want children to come away with after reading one of your books?
I hope that children who read any of my historical fiction or nonfiction books come away wanting to know more. I think that historical fiction is a great jumping off point to dig deeper, read more widely, and learn.

Recently I have become increasingly interested in historical literacy. I think that developing critical thinking skills in looking at the past is important, because we can then use those same skills in looking at the present. Media literacy is essential to a democratic society. Moreover, young people today will have to make many decisions as citizens that require scientific literacy as well.

Please share a little about your current work.
Well, first of all, I am behind. Very behind!

Seriously, though, I am working on some exciting new projects, including a middle grade novel with lots of travel and geography ties, a picture book about World War I, and a picture book about Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller. I’m also tremendously excited about the new picture books I have coming out next year: Home on the Range, John A. Lomax and His Cowboy Songs; Keep On! The Story of Matthew Henson, Co-Discoverer of the North Pole; and The Humblebee Hunter, a story about Charles Darwin.

At this point in your career, what has been your most memorable experience?
I have had so many wonderful experiences and the good fortune to have my work recognized. But I would have to say that visiting schools in rural areas are my most memorable experiences. I recall a small town in central Oregon where the library was just a small room, most of the children and families were economically disadvantaged. The hotel I stayed in had definitely seen better days. But somehow that librarian had managed to scrape together funds to bring an author to her school, and many parents attended my sessions.

It is a humbling feeling to go into communities like this, where you can see such a powerful commitment to children and belief in public education. I hope we don’t lose that.

In this world of instant communication and concerns about privacy, how does the Internet (if it does at all) affect you personally and as a writer?
Well, even though I have long used the Internet, lately I feel as though I can barely keep up – especially with the limited time I have to write in my daily life. Should I be writing books or keeping a blog? And exactly what is Twitter?

I am making an effort to do more on the Internet. Right now I am (slowly) revamping my website, and I am also starting two blogs: www.deborahhopkinson.blogspot.com and one especially for parents and kids: www.readwithyourkids.blogspot.com. I firmly believe parents should read with their kids as a lifelong habit – and not stop once kids are reading independently.

What are your goals and aspirations?
That’s easy: my goal is to be a full-time writer someday soon! Seriously, though, nothing would make me happier than to be able to spend all my energy on research, writing, and sharing stories with young readers.

What piece of advice has been the most valuable to you?
Someone once told me it is important not just to revise what you have written, but also to think about what’s missing. When I present in schools I always remind kids that revision actually means to “see again.” And while it’s painful, it’s often necessary to throw the whole story out and see it with new eyes.

Is there anything else you would like to share with the readers of the ALSC Blog?
My books would not exist without the support of educators. And I don’t think we can underestimate the importance of the work of librarians and teachers to our society.

I am always amazed at the dedication I see when I visit schools across the country. There is something so special about walking into an elementary school, and feeling immediately that the people here have together created a nurturing, vibrant community for children. In most cases, the library is at the heart of this community. Thank you to everyone who works with children and young people for all you do.

Kirby Larson is the author of the 2007 Newbery Honor Book, Hattie Big Sky (Delacorte Press). She lives in Kenmore, Washington.

What is your personal history and how has it informed your work?
I’m the oldest of 4, so I’m great at being bossy, a trait that comes in very handy when I need to order myself back to the computer. I’ve also been a bookworm since I can remember and I think avid readers often come to a moment when they want to try their hands at creating stories themselves. At least, that’s what happened to me.

Describe your writing process.
(sound effects: Kirby laughing out loud). “Process” seems too refined a word for what I do. I make a huge mess on the page and then muck around until I can find a semblance of the story I wanted to tell. If you saw my early drafts you would tell me to quit writing and go to work at Kmart.

How do you select your books’ topics?
Not to sound too woo-woo, but I think they select me. I never decided up front, for example, to write a story about a crabby old lady who learns the secret to making friends. What happened with The Magic Kerchief is that I was sitting at a red light, waiting for it to change, when two words – “noodle noggin” – flitted through my brain. My first thought was that I was finally losing it, but my next thought was, “Who would say such words?” That led me to write Griselda’s story. With Hattie Big Sky, I didn’t set out to write an historical novel. I merely wanted to find out whether my great-grandmother really did homestead in eastern Montana as a young woman. It wasn’t until I’d done about six months of research that I realized I had a story I could tell. With the Two Bobbies: A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship and Survival, Mary Nethery and I knew we wanted to write a story about unlikely animal friends but it took a chance viewing of a TV news show to lead us to the Bobbies.

Why do you write for children? What experiences have influenced your writing for young people?
I hope I don’t sound cranky when I answer this question. It’s one I get asked often but I can’t help wondering if Leif Enger or Lisa See or Barbara Kingsolver get asked why they write for adults.

My passion is to write stories that feature children and young adult characters. I’ve certainly found with Hattie Big Sky and now with the Two Bobbies that adult readers love them just as much as kid readers! Didn’t C.S. Lewis once say that any children’s book that is only enjoyed by children is not a very good children’s book?

As for which experiences have influenced my writing: all of them!

Please describe a few of the collaborations that you have developed because of your writing, either during the writing process or after the project is completed.
I certainly couldn’t have written Hattie Big Sky without the incredible help of others, especially my favorite people in the world: librarians. One of the best things about America is interlibrary loan. Of course, there are the wonderful publishing collaborations with editors and art directors and agents. And equally wonderful are the relationships with writing colleagues who have helped me by critiquing my manuscripts, or by giving advice on surviving the writing life or by sharing marketing tips. My newest book, was an actual writing collaboration with long-time friend, Mary Nethery.

Share any experience you may have regarding audiobooks.
Hattie Big Sky is available in an audiobook edition and is marvelously produced but I haven’t been able to listen to much of it because every time I start to listen, all I hear are things I wish I’d done differently in the manuscript! Audiobooks are a staple on long drives and have been responsible more than once for me missing an exit because I was so engrossed in a story.

Describe yourself as a reader. What books influenced and inspired you as a child? As an adult?
I am an avid and eclectic reader who cannot sit down to a meal alone without reading material at hand. I read so much as a child that I can’t call out specific titles that influenced me. But one of my childhood treasures was a copy of Alice In Wonderland, given to me by my aunt. I thought I had died and gone to heaven, to have my very own book.

As an adult, I am inspired every day by what I read. For example, I love Jeanne Birdsall’s ability to tap into what really matters for her characters. I love Linda Urban’s ability to make the “white space” in a story work for her in A Crooked Kind of Perfect. I have always admired Betsy Byars and Karen Cushman and Katherine Paterson, who all write books I can read – and do read! – again and again. I admire M.T. Anderson for writing Feed, which scares the bejeebies out of me but I’ve read four times. Patricia Reilly Giff’s Polk Street School Kids’ books taught me how to write chapter books; I study Laura Kvasnosky, and Ann Whitford Paul and Helen Ketteman when I’m working on a picture book; and Brenda Guiberson when I ‘m working on narrative nonfiction. Even as I name these writers, there are dozens more I read, admire and am inspired by.

What role did libraries play in your childhood? What role do libraries play in your life now?
We couldn’t afford to buy books when I was growing up, so I would have been nowhere without libraries. Now, I am able to buy books (too many, according to my husband) but still, without libraries, I would be completely adrift. I wouldn’t be able to do my research, wouldn’t be able to stay in touch with my chosen profession. Whenever I walk into a library, I feel like I’ve come home.

What do you consider the challenges and rewards of being an author? Of being an author who visits schools and libraries?
To be honest, I have been fighting SNS (Second Novel Syndrome). I am slowly recovering from this malaise, thanks to good friends like Susan Patron, Jenni Holm and Cindy Lord (my Newbery posse) and Mary Nethery and Dave Patneaude. Creating is hard work because our minds generate these fantastic, life-changing stories that turn into dreck the moment they hit the paper. Was it Edith Wharton who said writers “dream of eagles and give birth to hummingbirds”?

The rewards, however, are tremendous. I hear from people all over the country – all over the world! – who have read my books and feel a connection. My husband, a wonderful CPA, is as skilled at his job as I am at mine, but he never gets fan mail.

Remember, most of the day I’m working alone, hoping against hope my words resonate with readers. So I love visiting schools and libraries. The energy of being around appreciative readers carries me through those times of doubt and struggle.

What do you want children to come away with after reading one of your books?
Whatever they want to! My readers are as much a part of the story as I am; as Jim Lynch (The Highest Tide) recently pointed out, “writing is a collaborative art between reader and writer.”

Please share a little about your current work.
I am working on two things. The first is an historical novel with an 11-year-old main character and the other – because we had such a blast collaborating the first time — is a second narrative non-fiction picture book with Mary Nethery.

At this point in your career, what has been your most memorable experience?
May I pick 2 moments? That 6:30 am phone call from the Newbery committee telling me the unbelievable news about the honor award for Hattie Big Sky. Aside from my wedding day and the births of our two children, there is no other happier day in my life. The other memorable experience was the Newbery banquet. My dad is a retired mechanical contractor used to working with sheet metal guys and plumbers. He (and my mom, husband and kids!) came that night. When my name was called, I looked over at this big tough guy and he was crying. You don’t forget moments like that. Ever.

In this world of instant communication and concerns about privacy, how does the Internet (if it does at all) affect you personally and as a writer?
Because of the easy access, people feel as if they know you quite well. One lady called me at 7:30 one morning to tell me how much she liked HBS! Though I would prefer not to get crack of dawn calls, I really haven’t had any negative experiences.

What are your goals and aspirations?
I want to keep writing until I’m 99, to see a Swainson’s Thrush and to travel as much as I can.

What piece of advice has been the most valuable to you?
May I share 3? One, from Katherine Paterson who once wrote, “The very people who take away my time and space give me something to write about.” I remember that when I feel stretched and pulled by family demands. Second, from Stephen King: “Only God gets it right the first time.” That comes in handy when I’m beating myself up about a wretched first draft. And, third, from my nephew, Christopher (when he was about 11): “Write faster.”

Is there anything else you would like to share with the readers of the ALSC Blog?
I would like to say, “Thank you.” Thank you for caring enough to connect books and readers in the oh-so-may ways you do. Thank you for sticking your necks out and championing books – certainly, those that get challenged, but especially those which deserve to be read but somehow slip under the public’s radar.

Back in April, I spoke to Denise Raleigh, Director of Marketing, Development and Communications; Faith Brautigam, Manager of Youth Services; and Betsy O’Connell, Manager of Information Technology; all of the Gail Borden Public Library District, about the StoryTubes, the national 2-minute or less video contest featuring students and their favorite books. (Voting for the fourth and final category - Facts, Fads and Phenoms - ends June 4, 2008.) This conversation was to be shared as a podcast, but due to technical difficulties on my end, it is an edited transcript of our conversation instead. Thanks, Denise, Faith, and Betsy, for sharing your time and thoughts with us!

ALSC Blog: This is the first year for the national StoryTubes contest. According to the StoryTubes information page, your library did something similar in the past.

Denise Raliegh: We had people talking about great things in the community and their favorite books. And the favorite book section had tons more entries than favorite things in the community. After it was posted we left it up there [on the website]. The views were over 40,000 on the original Storypalooza. We thought we were onto something.

We did a lot with U-46, the second largest school district in Illinois. We have a nice partnership with them already. We work a lot with their kids so that brought us the participation when we made it easy for them to get involved. We also had some homeschool kids that we filmed in the library and we also had some people who just filmed themselves. We didn’t exclusively deal with the public schools.

It really was a step from Storypalooza. Our intended outcome was just to marry new technology with, you know, timeless technology of books. Taking one, a timeless entity and bringing it into the YouTube age. It really is about storytellling. Telling a story or telling it differently. If you look at some of these kids and how the books have impacted them, it’s a chance to just really energize reading interest. StoryTubes is very much a similar goal that we had last year. We are just broadening it based on that experience.

We have a level of judging this year that we did not have last year. It was a fairly wild, wild west atmosphere. Bringing the notch up this year meant we had to bring the notch up technologically this year as well.

ALSC Blog: What was the most challenging?

Denise: Actually using YouTube. Perhaps we should have used a number of user-generated video sites because there are a few of the school districts who are a little reluctant to use YouTube. People have suggested we use TeacherTube. So, if we do this again next year, we will look at using more than one.

Faith Brautigam: Having the correct information for partner libraries ahead before they decided whether they wanted to be a partner was somewhat difficult because we hadn’t done it before in this way. They had questions to which, you know, we had to find answers. Each library had different kinds of questions and different kinds of needs. Some of them needed documentation to give to their staff. Working with each separate library was a challenge just in having the correct information for them so they could make a decision. Betsy will talk about the automation challenges.

Betsy O’Connell: Going into this, we spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to manage people because you’re dealing with multiple partners. We decided early on to try to make this process as easy to approach as possible instead of everybody trying to invent their own way to keep a list of entries and all of the participants. We developed a whole database, kind of hand built an entry management system, if you will, as far as when they go to review an entry, they bring up the entry and watch it and fill out the review online. We put a lot of effort to streamline the process because our feeling was we either make it really easy to use or we spend a lot of time explaining how to use it.

ALSC Blog: How long did it take to put that together?

Betsy: I really don’t want to think about that. but the groundwork is done. A lot was figuring out how basically the process would work, where it would be stored, what information would be stored, how we would do the reviews, how people could get to it, figuring out the process was a big part of it. We ran this really simply last year.

ALSC Blog: Beyond marrying two technologies and allowing kids to share books with other kids, what else do you envision from offering StoryTubes?

Faith: One of the things I had talked about a little bit when I was talking with partner libraries in the negotiation stage was just even to just hear the different accents. I think a lot of television that kids watch tends to show people with a homogenous accent and that’s not true of our country. And I think that there are a lot of children who haven’t traveled much and haven’t really seen kids their own age from other parts of the country talking in their ordinary accents and colloquialisms about books. Before it’s all over, there will be videos on there that have accents from widely different parts of the country. I think that angle is really cool for kids to be able to see that something that I do here is something that we all share in all parts of the country even though we speak differently. It is a different element than reading something that is written.

ALSC Blog: How were the contest categories developed?

Faith: We were trying to come up with categories that were very broad so that if you read any kind of book that it could fit, that there would be a category for it. And when we first came up with the categories, we weren’t entirely sure what the age ranges would be for the contest, so we wanted to make sure that they would work even for a younger child. Even the books that children grades 1 through 6 have picked are books that are aimed for children fairly young. We wanted to have something that would work if you chose a picture book or a fairly difficult novel. One of the kids had a video that we received on The City of Ember. It was a pretty big challenge to come up with something that works just as well for Skippyjon Jones as it does for The City of Ember or nonfiction or whatever. So that was something that we developed in our department. We would have added a few more categories if we had more sponsorships. We whittled down the categories to the ones we thought covered the most territory in terms of any book any child might want to talk about.

ALSC Blog: Selecting the videos to be voted on, how did that work?

Faith: The judges are determined by the partner library. Not every library is handling it the same way. The Northeast is using some remote judges in different states. Our library is using volunteers that are local. I believe the Northwest is using staff members because it is a large library system with a lot of branches. It just depends on the region. Each public library had the freedom to decide how they wanted to handle the judging depending upon their own priorities or what was available to them. We, for example, used some college students to view and choose. They were in a children’s literature class and did it for extra credit. That was a really cool partnership. They got to see what books children are reading. We got their help and they got extra credit from their children’s literature professor.

ALSC Blog: Sounds like there are many partnerships with StoryTubes.

Denise: The partnerships are essential. The idea is first for the kids to have a great experience and to get kids interested in other kids’ books. It’s also to make sure that our sponsors and partners on all levels get something out of this. The beauty of dealing with kids reading is there are so many winners.

We are interested in talking with a lot of folks. This year we shared with people we thought had an appetite for it. We welcome partners. We are so happy with what the library community has done with this.

Finally we are hearing and seeing more about the value (including the entertainment value) of listening to audiobooks. The Association of American Publishers is now adding audiobooks and listening to their popular “Get Caught Reading” campaign. The campaign, which began in 1999, features posters of celebrities and public figures who have been “caught reading” their favorite books. Beginning in June 2008, the campaign will include celebrites like L.L. Cool J and Horton (from Dr. Seuss) listening to audiobooks. Visit the AAP Web site at http://www.getcaughtreading.org/listening/ for details, including information on ordering posters. The site also provides downloadable psas that can be added to library websites. What is cooler than hearing L.L. Cool J suggesting that we listen to a good book!

[Blog manager’s note: Adriana wrote the following to a question left on one of her blog entries. Since it is uncertain how many people go back to read the comments, we have posted her response as a separate blog entry. The question posted was: As a bilingual reader, do you find that it is true that much is lost in translation? ]

This is a very good question. I am glad you asked it because most folks worry about what is “lost in translation.” When it comes to children’s books, many worry about the quality of those translations as well. I am proud to say that Rayo Children’s translations have received many kudos, especially from librarians! Criticas magazine recently added many of Rayo’s translations to their “Best Books of 2007″ list due to their high quality; an unprecedented event, since they generally include only original Spanish titles on that list. This makes me particularly happy, because I know how important a good translation is, especially to a child who may just be learning how to read, so I place special emphasis on that in my work.

My first response to your question has to be that regardless of minor losses, more would be lost by not reading a book in translation in the first place! How would we know about other cultures, or try to understand them and learn about them, without our precious translations?

Although it’s true that some elements of a text may be lost in translation, a good translator and a good editor will try to minimize those losses. I certainly try to. I’ve been fortunate enough to work with talented translators, such as Liliana Valenzuela, who has translated the work of Sandra Cisneros among others, and with whom the process of polishing a translation becomes a deliciously challenging task. Finding just the right word to convey the meaning of the original is a process that can sometimes take hours, even days! But I so love doing it, and doing it as a team makes it all the more enjoyable. It is impossible not to become friends with the translators you work with; you are embarking on a journey of discovery together, always thinking of the reader, of the various possible interpretations of individual words, or whole sentences. One very good example of this is the fact that Latinos hailing from different Spanish-speaking countries may have different meanings for the same word, and some of those may not be very harmless to boot! So with Spanish in particular, it is important to not only be familiar with the language, but also with different cultural interpretations of the text.

I work with many bilingual authors, and they always become a part of the process, even when they choose to leave the translation to me. That helps tremendously of course, because only the author can really explain the intent of his or her own words. In cases where the author is not bilingual, he or she must truly trust the translator, and the translator must in turn be willing to take the editor’s comments into account, something that all good translators do, since they know better than anyone that translation is a process. The end result is always cause for celebration! It is the end of an arduous and immensely gratifying task, which in my case, provides me with the satisfying knowledge that young Spanish readers have just been granted access to an entirely new array of books! Also important, of course, is the fact that those books are often the ones that English readers are already familiar with, so that Latino children can share in that experience in their process of acculturation.

All in all, a translation will never replace the original, true, but when done well, it will certainly make you feel like you haven’t missed a thing!

Hi all,

The special publishing issue of Voice in the Dark Ezine is out for your reading pleasure.

In this issue...

Editor's Note
Fictional Character Interview
Special Publisher Interviews
--Meet Lida Quillen, Publisher, Twilight Times Books
--Meet Kathryn Struck, Publisher, Awe-Struck E-Books
Featured Interviews
--Meet Lida Quillen, Publisher, Twilight Times Books, Interview by Mayra Calvani
--Meet Lynda S. Burch, Publisher, Guardian Angel Publishing, Interview by Mayra Calvani
--Meet Elizabeth Burton, Publisher, Zumaya Books, Interview by Mayra Calvani Book Excerpt -- Tremolo by Aaron Paul Lazar
Gladiator's Arena--by Mayra Calvani
Short Fiction
Articles
--It's my Book! Right? by Ghost Writer
--Traditional Publishing, Self-Publishing and Subsidy Publishing by Barbara Hudgins
--The Perils and Pitfalls of Publishing: Who Can an Author Trust by Dee Power and Brian Hill
--How Do Books Get on Book Store Shelves by Dee Power
Sanctuary -- Columnist Mayra Calvani
Whodunit? -- Columnist Billie A. Williams
Pam's Pen -- Columnist Pamela James
Seedlings -- Aaron Paul Lazar
This & That -- Columnist Dana Reed
Reviews
Notes
Events
Resources

Just go to www.MysteryFiction.net and click on Voice in the Dark on the left sidebar.

Enjoy!

Best,
Mayra