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I am happy to announce that Krysten H. won the copy of Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters by Meredith Zeitlin. Thank you to everyone who left a comment and got excited about this new YA book and debut author as well as her informative post! If you didn’t win, consider purchasing the book for a teen in your life.

Today, I am going to preview a book I am SUPER EXCITED to share with you, but I’m not going to actually share it with you until Thursday. Can you wait that long? Plus, when I do share it, I am also going to be hosting a giveaway for it–you can win it as an e-book or as a hard copy. I will be giving out ONE. The book is. . .

Stranger Moon by Heather Zydek

It’s middle-grade and published by Moth Wing Press.

It has adventure and humor. It has kids that still play together and like to be outside. It has secret clubs and bullies and strangers. I don’t want to tell you too much because I plan to reveal the plot and how you can use it with kids on Thursday. But I will provide a link to it on Amazon, and I am telling you that it is amazing. You will love it and your children/students will love it. I plan to give it 5 stars on Amazon, so stay tuned–you could win it!

To find out more about the author, visit: www.heatherzydek.com

Mark your calendars and come back on Thursday, 3/8 to enter the giveaway for this book!

I am excited to be giving away Stranger Moon and doing it with Rafflecopter for the first time! I would love it if you tried out Rafflecopter with me by doing as many of the tasks as you can below and then getting all the possible points to win this AWESOME book. The contest goes until Sunday, March 11 at midnight (so enter on Saturday or before), and it is open to anyone–(Canada and U.S.–you can get a hard copy; overseas–you can get an e-book). So, here we go. . .

Stranger Moon by Heather Zydek
*Middle-grade novel, contemporary fiction
*12-year-old girl as main character
*Rating: I loved Stranger Moon! I think middle-grade readers will, too. It has several boy characters that are friends with Gaia, and it has bugs (LOL), so I think it will appeal to both boys and girls. If you have a child being bullied, this book is great conversation starter.

Short, short summary: It’s summer break, and Gaia is searching for a Luna moth after she finds a Luna moth wing pressed between the pages of an old insect guide. When she convinces her friends to go with her to search for the moth, they encounter a strange woman in the woods who EATS bugs. She freaks them out, of course, but she also peaks their interest, and they go on a hunt to find out whom she is. In the meantime, they pick up another misunderstood classmate, encounter the bullies– THE EMMAS, and deal with their own issues. Gaia has a father who pays NO ATTENTION to her since her mother died, and she is tired of feeling like she’s invisible in her own home. So, as you can see, there’s a lot going on in this book. As more information is revealed about the mystery woman, readers can try to guess her identity. Once it’s discovered, they can debate what they would do with the info. The author does a great job of moving the story forward and tying up all these subplots in the end.

So, what do I do with this book?

1. This is a terrific book to open up conversations with children about how they are feeling at home, about bullying, about friendships, and so on. Use the characters in the book. How did you feel when Gaia and her friends got into the big fight? What do you think about the Emmas? and so on.

2. Your young readers may or may not be into insects. If they are, then ask them to find out about Luna moths on their own. If they aren’t, what are they passionate about? What would they spend their summer vacation searching for? Have them write a journal entry about this and compare themselves to Gaia.

3. The characters in this book are complex and well-developed–they are perfect for character studies. You could teach character motivation, character feelings, and even problem-solving (how characters solve problems in the story). Allow students to choose their favorite character and then write a letter as if they are that character. They could also write a journal entry.

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway below! Please email margo (at) margodill.com if you run into any problems.

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I have several things to discuss today, so this post is going to be a little different than the usual. First, I was lucky enough to get my free 48-hour copy of Wisdom, The Midway Albatross on Friday for the anniversary of the Japanese tsunami. Darcy’s book, with illustrations by Kitty Harvill, is beautiful. It’s an inspiring and beautiful story, along with wonderful illustrations. Wisdom, an albatross living on Midway, has survived tropical storms, a tsunami, hurricanes, and more, and she is still alive and giving birth! What an amazing survival story. Kids will love it, and they will be sitting on the edge of their seats and waiting in anticipation to see if Wisdom lives to see another year toward the end of the book. Darcy did an amazing job with the story and Kitty with the illustrations. I highly recommend you check it out and share it with some children!

I wanted to announce the winner of Stranger Moon, a middle-grade, adventure story written by Heather Zydek. The winner is Clara Gillow Clark! Congratulations!

Do you know someone who needs help to get started on Facebook, Twitter, and Linked In? or Someone who is struggling with setting up promotion on these three sites. Or maybe it’s you. Maybe you are having trouble finding friends on Facebook or setting up your author page? Maybe Twitter hashtags make your head spin. Are you having trouble figuring out how to ask for recommendations on Linked In? If so, then consider taking my beginning social networking ONLINE class, starting on Friday. It is a super easy and laid back format.

Here is the COURSE DESCRIPTION: This beginners’ class will teach writers how to set up a profile on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and connect with people they know; to build a following of fans; to start working on a brand/image; and to promote books, articles, magazines, and blogs. Instead of using Facebook and Twitter to write about your fabulous dinner or disastrous day at the grocery store, you will begin to learn to sell yourself and your writing! This class is for beginners—if you already use all three of these social networks on a daily basis and are interested in learning more about how to market yourself on them, then you’ll want to take Margo’s Advanced Social Networking class.

To sign up, go to this link: http://wow-womenonwriting.com/WOWclasses.html#MargoDill_BeginningSocialNetworking. If you have questions, leave them in the comments or e-mail me at margo (at) wow-womenonwriting.com.

Finally, I am a Juice in the City affiliate, although I am not very good at it. Anyway do you see on my sidebar the black and pink box that says JUICE IN THE CITY? This widget will take you to a website that offers all kinds of deals–many of them are local (and by this I mean specific to a certain place such as Atlanta or LA), but some are nationwide because they are Internet companies. Many of them are great deals for MOMs or TEACHERS or GRANDPARENTS. If I notice any from time to time, I will make sure to point them out in my posts. So, I am doing this for today’s post:

If you are interested in getting 51%

*Historical middle-grade fiction
*Girl as main character
*Rating: Jingo Fever is a well-written book, set in 1918. It is also universal in its themes–situations that Adelle has to deal with, such as racism/bullying, in the book are current in everyday life.

Short, short summary:

Young Adelle Klein is a German-American girl who has come from Milwaukee with her mother to live for the summer of 1918 with Uncle Mike in Ashland, a small town in northern Wisconsin on the shores of Lake Superior.

Adelle struggles to cope with the local patriotic fervor, in support of American troops abroad . . . but spilling over into a hatred of all things of German origin.

As she seeks friendships with local youngsters her age, she wonders how to deal with the bigotry of anti-German sentiment, which escalates with the approach of the July 4th celebration. In the meantime, she and her mother worry about Adelle’s brother, Karl, a young man of German-American who is fighting with the U.S. troops in France.

The summer’s events will teach Adelle about the importance of standing up for what’s right.

THEMES
Family & Friendship • Ethnic Heritage • Patriotism during War • Resisting Intolerance & Bigotry • Standing Up to Bullies

So, what do I do with this book?

1. In the beginning (and throughout), Adelle deals with bullying/teasing due to her German heritage. She becomes embarrassed by it. Even though this is set almost 100 years ago, children will be able to relate to Adelle’s feelings and actions. Ask students to journal about Adelle’s problems. Then ask them to write about if they have ever felt that way and what they did/felt/wanted to do.

2. Students may not understand why there is so much hatred toward the Germans. Some history may be needed to understand the story to its fullest. You can do a KWL (Know Wonder Learn) chart about WWI topics to see what your students/child already knows about this time period and what they are wondering. Here is a link to a good site that shows how to do a KWL chart: http://www.education.com/reference/article/K-W-L-charts-classroom/

3. Discuss the title of the book, Jingo Fever. Do students like the title? Do they think it is a good match for the book? Which characters in the novel have jingo fever? Ask students to give examples to support their answers. Does Jingo fever have a positive or negative impact on these characters’ lives?

Of course, Children’s Book Week is special to me–I am a children’s author, I blog about children’s books, and I am a parent (as well as former elementary school teacher). I think I love children’s and YA books better than adult books some times! And I know that I am not alone.

But why are children’s books so important? I believe it is not ONLY because they help us to learn to read and comprehend OR because they remind us of a special time in our childhood when our moms read to us or when we went to library programs or even read 100 books over the summer. Children and YA books are meant to be used.

That’s what my blog is all about. I’ve covered using children’s books (and some adult books, too) since August 2008. You can see by my categories in the sidebar that I’ve covered YA, middle-grade, and picture books, and you can see the many authors I’ve read and wrote about, too. One of my favorites for middle-graders is pictured here–the “Al Capone” books–these books help children who are struggling with a special family situation, such as a sister with autism. It’s a great read, too, with a loveable main character, and children won’t even realize they are learning family dynamics or about children with special needs. That’s why I love children’s books–they are so good at disguising the lesson.

You can use children’s books and YA novels to teach history, social studies, science, writing, reading skills–almost any curriculum objective in the classroom or home school can be covered with the right book. I have included three activities to go with most of the books listed here on about 80 percent of the posts in almost 4 years–these activities are easy and ready to use in the classroom or at home.

The best thing, though, is children’s books can be used to talk about things that are hard for children–from potty training with Elmo to dealing with suicide with Jay Asher’s 13 Reasons Why. Children can discuss joys and concerns through characters in books–that is a lot easier than talking about themselves.

So my hope for you is not just to read children’s books this week/summer/year, but to use them with a child or teen, too. You won’t be sorry!

And don’t forget to leave a comment below AND record that you did this in the Rafflecopter box to be entered to win a picture book critique or a bag of books from Guardian Angel Publishing.

PS: If you are interested in writing for children in magazines, picture books, middle-grade novels, or YA novels, check out WOW! Women On Writing’s classroom page. Our classes are economical and the teachers are professionals! Here’s the link: http://www.wow-womenonrwiting.com/WOWclasses.html. All classes are online and run this summer!

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Today, I welcome author Maggie Lyons who will talk about her new novel, Vin and the Dorky Duet. Here’s a brief summary of the plot from Maggie’s website before we get on to the questions and her insightful answers!

The moment he walks through the door and sees the sharky grin on his older sister’s face, Vin suspects Meg’s hatching a plot. He’s right. Worse still, he’s central to the outcome. Meg tells him that their music teachers, parents—everyone— expects him to play her duet for trumpet and piano at the upcoming student concert. Vin is horrified. Meg insists that his only escape route is to persuade another trumpet player to take his place. She has the hunky Brad Stewart in mind, and she challenges Vin to introduce her to him. Vin doesn’t know Brad any better than Meg does, but Meg points out that Vin takes a couple of classes at school with Brad’s nerdy brother. Eyeballs Stewart is the last person Vin wants to make friends with until Meg’s promise of a David Beckham autographed soccer jersey changes the seventh-grader’s mind. He has five days to accomplish his mission—Operation BS—before the concert practice schedule kicks in. Vin’s game plan, thwarted by exploding fish tanks, magnetic compost heaps, man-eating bubble baths, and other disasters doesn’t work out exactly as he expects.

Margo: Congratulations, Maggie, on the recent publication of the middle-grade novel, Vin and the Dorky Duet. What was your inspiration for this story?

Maggie: Inspiration wafted in from my love of music and my addiction to challenges—which I don’t always meet, I must confess. I was trained as a classical pianist; and throughout my life, music has been my favorite language, my confidant, my religion. As for challenges, anyone who wants to live—as opposed to vegetating—must try to meet them, don’t you think? Vin and the Dorky Duet is about a challenge that a seventh-grader gamely takes on, though with unexpected results. My challenge in writing the story is to encourage reluctant readers to turn a few pages. I’d be thrilled if the book succeeds on that level because enthusiasm for reading as a child is critical to success as an adult.

Margo: So true! I loved to read as a child, and I bet you did, too. Who would you say is the perfect audience for this book?

Maggie: Children ages seven or eight through twelve.

Margo: Thanks! What themes do you address?

Maggie:
1. Life’s challenges: Challenges in life are often unavoidable and a life without challenges is boring, even for a plant.
2. Music: Learning to play a musical instrument can be fun, and little brain cells love it.
3. Judging others: You shouldn’t make up your mind about people you’ve only just met; some people’s wonderful personalities have to be coaxed out of hiding.
4. Sibling relationships, the good and the bad;
5. Children’s names, nicknames, and shortened names;
6. Endangered species: Many whales are endangered species.
7. Sports: Soccer, rowing, swimming

Margo: What a great list–and a great resource for parents and teachers. I like to tell parents and teachers how they can USE books with children. What could parents use your book to teach children? Can you suggest a couple activities or discussion points that go with it?

I am excited to welcome Glen Downey, author of Into the Fire, a middle-grade book. Here’s a synopsis from Amazon: “It’s been a year since Alice Booker disappeared — a year since she went to work one morning at the Byron County Library and never came back. Her son, Max, is still trying to come to terms with her disappearance when he strikes up a unusual friendship with Becky Smart, a tough new kid at Lincoln Middle School that everyone quickly learns not to mess with. When Max discovers there’s been a fire in his mom’s old office at the library, he and Becky form the Book-Smart Detective Agency to investigate. What they discover about the fire, and about the strange circumstances surrounding it, plunge them into a mystery that is almost too impossible to be imagined.”

WOW! As kids, can you remember wanting to be a detective? I can–I used to love to play Charlie’s Angels! But I digress. I got to ask Glen some questions about his new book and his writing career, so here we go. . .

Margo: Welcome, Glen, to Read These Books and Use Them. I’m excited to talk to you about your latest children’s book, Into the Fire. From the synopsis above, we know it has some mystery and adventure. How would you describe your book?

Glen: Into the Fire is the first installment of The Book-Smart Detective Agency series. At its heart, it’s a book about relationships: the lost relationship between Max and his mother, Alice, who disappears about a year before the novel opens, and his unique relationship with Becky Smart, the new kid at school whose tough exterior is not quite what it seems. It’s also a book about the insatiable curiosity of young people and about how brilliant they can be when given the opportunity to think for themselves. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it’s a story about the power of books and reading, although to understand this fully, one needs to read the story.

Margo: Yes, of course! I am imagining it has something to do with the fact his mom is a librarian. . .(smiles) What age reader is it appropriate for and why?

Glen: When I came up with the concept for The Book-Smart Detective Agency, I wanted the series to be for middle-schoolers. This is a group of kids that I’ve worked with for many years as an educator. Into the Fire really speaks to kids in Grades 4-8, and its two protagonists are in Grade 7 and 8 respectively. I feel strongly, though, that teenagers and adults will enjoy the book as well.

Margo: I think that is true more and more–we are all reading each other’s books. What made you want to write Into the Fire?

Glen: I wanted to write a novel for young people about the special power of books and reading. As a kid, I was an avid reader; and as such, I was often encouraged to read books that would “challenge” me. I distinctly recall a conversation with a school librarian when I was a young lad who was bemoaning the fact that I seemed interested in books that were “below my reading level.” I can remember thinking at the time (not saying, of course, but thinking) that this was rather bad advice. I spent countless hours reading books like Two-Minute Mysteries, Encyclopedia Brown, Choose Your Own Adventure stories, Fighting Fantasy game books, comics, and the endless manuals and tomes of fantasy ro

Found at this link: http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/southern-belle.htm

In Finding My Place (White Mane Kids, October 1, 2012), Anna the main character definitely changes from the beginning of the book to the end of the book. I think it’s one reason why the book was accepted by a publisher and the reason why it’s fairly universal, even though it’s set in 1863 during the Civil War. Anna has to grow up and accept responsibility. She has to adopt to her new role in the family. She has to make decisions that affect more than just herself. She is not like this in the beginning of the book–in spite of her 13 years of age back in Civil War times. She was still acting like a child before the Siege, always wanting to write in her journal and not help out her ma.

You can help children understand character growth and change using books and characters, like Finding My Place or even picture books with younger students–any book or story that has a character (not concept books probably) who shows growth due to experiences. You can discuss these questions below with students when focusing on characters. (These questions will work for any book–not just mine. )

• How is the character different at the end of the story than at the beginning?
• What events happen in the book to help the character change?
• Does the character change for the better or for worse? Explain!
• Why do you think the character changed?
• Can you think of a time in your life when you might have changed like this character did?

You would probably focus mostly on these questions during reading, but remind students of the answers when they are writing their own fiction stories.

For more information on Finding My Place: One Girl’s Strength at Vicksburg, please see this page.

One of the Common Core State Standards under reading standards K-5 literature for fifth graders is:

“Describe how a narrator’s or speaker’s point of view influences how events are described.”

Using a historical fiction novel to teach this standard is perfect–in Finding My Place: One Girl’s Strength at Vicksburg, there are a few events that are told from more than one character’s point of view. One great example would be the fire downtown. Another would be the army hospital. Here’s how you can use these events to work on this standard with students:

1. Pick an event that you’ve read in the story with students or they’ve read on their own, such as the fire downtown.

2. Ask students: how did Dr. Franklin describe the fire downtown?

3. Ask students: What is Mrs. Franklin’s description or opinion of the fire downtown?

4. Make sure students are giving details from the text to support this (Dr. Franklin tells what it was like to fight the fire; Mrs. Franklin at first says it serves the people right for having high prices.)

5. Ask students: What is James’s version of the fire? Again ask for novel support.

6. Discuss with students WHY each of these characters has a slightly different version of the fire. You can even bring in Rev. and Mrs. Lohrs as well as Anna. Each of these characters has an opinion/interaction with the fire. Why aren’t they all describing it the same way? Why don’t they all feel the same way about it?

7. Ask students to tell about an event the entire class attended. You can have them write in their journals first for about 10 to 15 minutes OR you can do think-pair-share–where they are thinking about the event, sharing it orally with a partner, and then the partner shares with the class. Did everyone mention the same details? Why or why not?

8. Now go back to the book and think about the army hospital. Ask students to write down Anna’s description of the army hospital. Next write down Molly’s. Finally do Michael’s or Frank’s. Do they all sound the same? Why are the descriptions slightly different? (They should be different or the students are not thinking about the individual characters.)

This will help students see bias in writing as well as unreliable narrators.

To buy a copy of Finding My Place, see this page: http://margodill.com/blog/buy-finding-my-place/ (Links to Amazon and Barnes and Noble)

I am happy to tell you about Dripping Blood Cave and Other Ghostly Stories from Crickhollow Books today and to be GIVING AWAY ONE FREE COPY from the publisher. Just leave a comment on this post by Sunday, May 8 at 8:00 p.m. CST for your chance to win (U.S. and Canada mailing addresses only please). You don’t need to tell us anything special in your comment to enter the contest, but if you want to tell us your favorite ghost/spooky story or why you like spooky stories, then please do. Make sure to leave an e-mail address with your comment. Now on to the book. . .

*Middle-grade novel, paranormal
*Teenage boys as main characters
*Rating: Dripping Blood Cave is full of cute ghost stories and quite a cast of characters. Kids will love these ghostly adventures.

Short, short summary: Here’s another installment in the Hank and Clifford series. Hank is courageous and does everything right. Clifford is a coward and does everything wrong–but in a loveable sort of way. The two find themselves facing several ghosts in this sequel, along with their girlfriends, Rosie and Mary Ethyl. For example, at Dripping Blood Cave, some angry Native Americans are seeking revenge or there’s the Civil War soldiers and the island that people aren’t returning from. What happens when the four friends face these ghosts and more? Find out in this latest installment. (You do not need to read the first two novels in order to enjoy this book.) By the way, Raymond Bial has written over 100 books for kids and adults!

So, what do I do with this book?

1. The characters in this book are so strong and unique. This is a great book to do a character study with, especially comparing and contrasting Hank and Clifford. Students can start with a Venn diagram and then write a paragraph or paper about their similarities and differences.

2. Challenge your students to write their own ghost story after discussing how Raymond Bial set up his. How did he create suspense? Why do you believe his stories could actually happen? How did he set up his world? and so on. . .

3. Raymond Bial brings some history into his ghost stories. Students and children can discuss what parts of the book are based on historical stories and what part is completely made up. If students are working on ghost stories, they can bring historical facts into their stories.

Don’t forget to leave a comment for a chance to win.

Breadcrumbs
By Anne Ursu
Illustrated by Erin McGuire
Walden Pond Press (an imprint of Harper Collins)
$16.99
ISBN: 978-0-06-201505-1
Ages 9-12
On shelves September 27, 2011

Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Snow Queen is, let’s admit it, the world’s greatest puberty metaphor. A boy and girl are friends. Something happens and he grows cold and distant. In the midst of his indifference he’s spirited away and must be won back. Okay, the metaphor kind of breaks down at the end there, but the separation of boy/girl best friends is very real. With that in mind author Anne Ursu has done the mildly impossible. She has updated the old tale to the 21st century, thrown in references to other Andersen tales, and generally written one of the more fascinating and beautifully written, if sad, fantasy novels for middle grade readers of the year. If there’s a book to watch this season, Breadcrumbs is it.

Hazel and Jack are best friends, now and forever. At least that’s how Hazel sees it. Sure, she knows that Jack’s a little depressed because of his mother’s mental illness, but he’s always there for her no matter what. That’s a good thing since Hazel doesn’t like dealing with her new school and she definitely doesn’t want any other friends. Then, one day, everything changes. Jack suddenly turns cold on Hazel. He refuses to be her friend, and then without warning disappears altogether. His parents give one reason for where he has gone, but when Hazel learns that Jack was spirited away by a beautiful woman in a carriage she sets off into the nearby woods to find her friend and to save him, no matter what the cost (no matter if he wants to be rescued, for that matter). Trouble is, you can read all the books about adventures that you like, but when it comes to real rescue missions nobody can prepare you for the moment when you have to face your own problems.

To my mind, Ursu does for Hans Christian Andersen in this book what Adam Gidwitz did for The Brothers Grimm in his A Tale Dark and Grimm. Which is to say, she picks him apart. Andersen was an odd author. There. I said it. His stories were rarely happy-go-lucky affairs. I mean, have you ever read The Swineherd? There’s a darkness to his tales. With Breadcrumbs that darkness isn’t there simply because this is based on one of his stories. His influence permeates everything in this tale. Hazel’s travels bring her in contact with stories that bear some resemblance to The Red Shoes and The Little Match Girl. Other stories seem to reference 7 Comments on Review of the Day: Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu, last added: 6/29/2011