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Joseph Calderaro is turning 14. What can possibly happen on his birthday to bum him out? Well...starting the day off with burnt PopTarts is a sign. Then with 10 minutes left in social studies, Mrs. Peroutka drops the bomb in the form of the assignment "Tracing Your Past: A Heritage Essay". The essay is to be 1500 words long, and here it is May already. But the word count is not Joseph's biggest problem. He's adopted. What the heck does he know about his heritage.

Joseph thinks that maybe his mother's famous birthday dinner will save his spirits a bit. The eggplant Parmesan does go down nicely, but once the presents come out there is more trouble. Joseph's dad gives him a corno. You know...the Italian gold horn that keeps away the malocchio? Aside from the fact that no self respecting 14-year-old is going to walk around with that kind of gold chain, Joseph just doesn't know how to break it to his parents that he's not Italian...he's Korean. At least that is how he feels at that moment.

Joseph goes on to explore his past without the knowledge of his parents. Along the way, a new Korean family moves into town, and Joseph's parents nudge him over to try and help him out with his identity. But when Joseph is with Yongsu and his family, he doesn't even feel Korean.

So where does this leave Joseph? If he's not really Korean, and not really Italian, what is he?

Rose Kent does a bang-up job of finding the voice of a 14-year-old boy. Joseph's struggles with his parents and his identity are equal measure growing pains and adoption pains. Books about adopted kids are always tricky, because the fact of the matter is, every adoptee feels a bit different. In my own family, my father and his brother and sister were all adopted, and they all had very different reactions to finding out and toward the idea of a search for birth parents. Kent lets readers in on not only the world of adoption, but quite a bit of information about Italian and Korean culture. Joseph is such a great character and is so easy to relate to that readers will cheer for him as he finds his way.

I know it's early, but I want to let everyone know about the Burlington Book Festival coming up next month.  Burlington, VT hosts an incredible book festival each fall, just as the leaves are changing color in New England.  If you live in the Northeast (or even if you don't but you really, really like autumn leaves and books), it's worth the trip.  Most of the events are being held at Waterfront Theater on the shores of Lake Champlain.



I'll be presenting  on Sunday, September 16th at the Children's Literature Festival.  Here's my blurb from the festival website:

11:00 AM-12:00 PM

KATE MESSNER

Join Kate Messner for a trip back in time to the American Revolution on Lake Champlain. Kate will read from her middle grade historical novel Spitfire, set during the Battle of Valcour Island in 1776, sign books and present an interactive multimedia slide show about the real 12-year-old who fought in the battle. Kids will be invited to taste the food and try on the clothes of an 18th century sailor, handle artifact replicas and design their own powder horns to take home.

Waterfront Theatre Black Box, 3rd Floor

Right after my presentation, Linda Urban (lurban) will read from A CROOKED KIND OF PERFECT and talk about the journey of writing and publishing a children's book.  (Even though Linda says it will make her nervous, my kids and I are definitely going to be in the audience!)

Also on tap for the Sunday kids' day... Tracey Campbell Pearson, James Kochalka, Anna Dewdney, Harry Bliss, Jim Arnosky, Barbara Seuling, Marie-Louise Gay, Barbara Lehman, and Warren Kimble.

And the rest of the Book Festival is nothing to scoff at either, with writers like Chris Bohjalian, Howard Frank Mosher, Russell Banks, and Joyce Carol Oates speaking on Saturday, September 15th.  The full schedule is posted at the festival website now. If you're in the area that weekend, please stop by the Children's Literature Festival and say hello! 

Whoever decided it would be a great idea to have well known children's writers tell their own stories in words and photographs is a genius. The concept behind the Meet the Authors series is sound: Children's writers know how to tell a story, and an autobiography--if told well--can be just as interesting as fiction.

I received three Meet the Authors titles--George Ancona: Self Portrait, Jim Arnosky: Whole Days Outdoors, and Janet S. Wong: Before it Wriggles Away. (The entire list is available here.) In just 32 pages, each author tells his or her life story for the K-5 reader.

George Ancona's life has been an international one--born in Mexico, he moved to New York as a child, then returned to Mexico City for art school. Now he works and lives in New Mexico. Ancona stresses his biculturalism and bilingualism when telling his story and how these aspects of life inform his work. Arnosky's autobiography focuses on his desire to live frugally, in nature, and on the back of a motorcycle. Janet S. Wong describes a happy, but normal, childhood, a suburban adulthood, and a life filled with travel as she loves "talking about my books" and "sharing my favorite books written by other authors."

Spouses, children, houses, and personal interests feature prominently in each autobiography, making their authors seem just like "normal people" who just happen to write books. This approach guarantees that children will see themselves while reading the story of an adult life.

Most central to each autobiography, however, is the creative process. Ancona goes into great detail about how he creates each new book, beginning with, "I'm curious about people and what they do. Whereever I go, I talk with them. What I learn I write down in my journal." Arnosky shares his journals and sketches, which are often composed outdoors: "Often when I'm afield, I'll abandon the camera and sit and write or sketch my impressions of where I am and what I am seeing. I carry a small pad in my shirt pocket for these scribbles and notes." These descriptions show a child how the creative process takes place all the time for writers--that they're always, in a sense, working.

To me, Janet S. Wong provides the best (and funniest example) of the writing process in this paragraph:

• "If I get to the dentist's office early, I might write a first draft of a poem. While my mouth is wide open and I cannont write, I will let my mind wander. Those 'wandering thoughts' are part of the process."

A large photo of Wong in the chair, mouth wide open while her teeth are being cleaned accompanies this text. A true and honest moment, though I am thankful she left the drill out of the picture.

The Meet the Authors series is intended for the grade school reader. I'd like to keep these beauties to myself, but I know of a grade school library who needs them more than I do. These are books should be enjoyed by as many children as possible as they comprise an accessible and welcoming introduction to the world of writing.