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Okay....could I love that cow any more?
I don't think so.
Do I adore the work of Sharon Creech?
Um, heck YEAH!
I love this book so dang much.
"...the smells and the heat and the noise were pouring in the windows and squeezing us from all sides."*Sigh*"It seemed they didn't want to waste friend effort on someone who was leaving town."*Sigh again*"The voice full of honey but the words...not."*Big heaving sigh*This book VIBRATES with action and sounds.....the WORDS:Lurched
Ambled
Lumbered
Skittered
Lunged
Careened
Clambering
Zooming
Ogling
Screaming
Vibrating
Wailing
Bellowing
And then there is this:
"Sometimes an hour is a blink
A flash
A wink, a flicker
A dashing gallop
And sometimes
An hour stretches
Thuddingly
Second by second
An endless
Eternity
of drips"
THUDDINGLY?
Who even thinks up that word?
I really, really, really loved this book.
And so will you.
By: JOANNA MARPLE,
on 6/29/2015
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To follow on from my review of Penny & Jelly: The School Show last Friday, I am very happy to have the author, Maria Gianferrari on the blog today to share about the inspiration for her debut picture book and offer … Continue reading →
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on 10/17/2014
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Darlene Beck Jacobson has loved writing since she was a girl. She wrote letters to everyone she knew and made up stories in her head. She loves bringing the past to life in stories such as WHEELS OF CHANGE, her debut novel.
Too much writing advice is too much. Yet, knowing that doesn’t slow me down from seeking it.
Lately, I’ve been re-examining John Truby’s The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps To Becoming A Master Storyteller. The guy looks at stories from every possible angle. Among other things, he discusses seven steps of structure that every story needs as it develops over time, in its growth from beginning to end. They are:
-Weakness and need
-Desire
-Opponent
-Plan
-Battle
-Self-revelation
-New equilibrium
These are not something external, such as the three-act structure imposed from the outside. They exist within the story. Truby calls them the nucleus, the DNA of the story. They are based on human action because they are the same steps people must work through to solve problems.
The step I’m currently paused at is an aspect of weakness and need. At the start of a story, the MC must have one or more weaknesses that holds him back from reaching his goal. It should be something so profound, it is ruining his life. This flaw forces a need for the character to overcome the weakness and change or grow in some way. This is a psychological flaw that is hurting no one but the hero. I get that.
Truby says most stories incorporate that. What elevates a so-so story to an excellent one, is a moral flaw. A moral weakness hurts not only the protagonist, but others around him, as well. As an example, he cites the story The Verdict in which the MC, Frank, has a psychological need to overcome his drinking problem and regain his self-respect. His moral flaw is that he uses people for money. In one instance,Frank lies his way into a funeral of strangers, upsetting the family, trying to round up more business.
Okay, I get that, too. And because Truby acknowledges its importance in stories, I give it credence, as well. But how about for an MG character? Do they need to be morally flawed for the story to pop? The stakes are lighter for MG and that’s the nature of it. Experts say there are certain lines not to cross and having the hero be morally corrupt seems like one of them.
But this is John Truby. He really, really knows his stuff. Shouldn’t I listen to him? If Tiger Woods offered tips on your golf swing, seems to me it would be wise not to argue about it. Still, a moral flaw doesn’t feel right for that age level of story.
Looking back over other stories, I can’t think of any MG characters with moral flaws. There must be a few. They have psychological weaknesses to overcome. The strong-willed behavior of Kyra in Carol Lynch Williams’ The Chosen One brings the anger of the prophet down upon her family. That seems like a character strength rather than a flaw and it does raise the stakes for her. Same with Sal in Sharon Creech’s Walk Two Moons. Her denial creates angst with her father, but again, rather than immorality, it seems it’s more a matter of innocence. Both of these works are YA. It could be a YA vs. MG thing. What works for older audiences doesn’t necessarily work for all readers.
Julie Daines posted here a few weeks ago about listening to your gut, your writer’s intuition. That inner voice is telling me to question Truby’s on this. Truby or not Truby, that is the question.
(This article also posted at http://writetimeluck.blogspot.com)
"How about a story? Spin us a yarn,” says Grams. And so Sharon Creech does in Walk Two Moons. And it’s a thumpingly good one, as the main character Sal would say.
Writers should read, we’ve been told that. They should be literary carnivores. According to author Roz Morris, “reading—the good and the bad—inspires you. It develops your palate for all the tricks that writers have invented over the years. …there’s no substitute for discovering for yourself how a writer pulls off a trick. Then that becomes part of your experience.”
Elmore Leonard says writers should decide which books they like and study that author’s style. Then, you should take that author’s book or story and “break it down to see how he put it together.” The thought was echoed by Jennifer Nielsen at a recent 2014 Professional Writer’s Series event at the Pleasant Grove Library.
Fine, I’ll do that. Since I want to write like Carol Lynch Williams, Matthew J. Kirby, and Sharon Creech, placing Walk Two Moons under the microscope is a good place to start.
What works so well in this story? Quite simply, everything.
Creech has plot, two of them in fact. Sal is traveling with her grandparents to Lewiston, Idaho to learn why her mother abandoned the family and went there. Along the way, she shares a story of her friend, Phoebe, whose mother also has disappeared. Sal admits that uncovering Phoebe’s story was a lot like discovering her own. The road trip to find her mother becomes a journey of acceptance and understanding for Sal.
Plot involves characters. Creech delivers not just Phoebe and Sal, but a multitude of others, each richly drawn, each deserving of a book of their own. Sal’s mother had her reasons for leaving. Phoebe’s mother is multi-layered with a lot of stuff going on. Other memorable people include Sal’s father, Mrs. Cadaver, Mrs. Partridge, Ben, and Grams and Gramps. Creech seamlessly weaves all of them into the story without any sense of it being clunky. It’s most definitely a character-driven plot. But there is so much else going on in this book.
The title is from the Indian saying about not judging another man until you walk two moons in their moccasins and the metaphor is used effectively. Creech layers numerous subplots. Inspirational, secret messages, including the one about the moccasins are left on Phoebe’s doorstep and come into play throughout the story. Phoebe’s wild imagination conjures up lunatics and ax murderers. There is a kiss just waiting to happen. Creech twists and turns the story arc over upon itself revealing the multiple layers. She wraps up every loose thread and ties it with a bow. And she keeps you guessing, keeps you hoping, even though she drops hints along the way. It is masterfully told.
To better understand the craft, I revisited this story over the summer. I read it as a writer but still managed to get choked up about it, even after sharing it multiple times with students when I was teaching.
Huzzah! Huzzah! The story works on so many levels.
What works have inspired you?
(This article also posted at http://writetimeluck.blogspot.com)
The “next” project is one I’ve been working on forever.
Okay, not forever, but for 30 years or more. It was an MG story conceived, then started, then abandoned (but not forgotten). It was the one that got me into writing. I spent a few years on it and as I sent it out, editors and agents pointed out some glaring issues with it. By then, not only was I into a new project, but had become weary of it and had no more energy to devote to it.
This year I brought it out again, blew off the dust, repackaged it as a YA, and workshopped it at WIFYR. There I was struck by an inner voice, perhaps the ten-year old stuck in my head, that said I’m an MG writer, not a YA. Okay, back to working it for younger readers.
Still, the story is missing something, no matter what audience it reaches.
Imitation of those who do it well seemed like a good strategy, so I’ve been re-reading exemplary MG stories.
In A Clockwork Three, Matthew J. Kirby gives his three main characters something to work for then expertly raises the stakes making it harder for them to achieve it. Sharon Creech’s Walk Two Moons is a richly woven tale about Salamanca, a girl searching for answers to the disappearance of her mother. A supporting cast of characters are among the reason this book resonates. Solveig in Kirby’s Icefall also involves a compelling protagonist who rides on the shoulders of strong supporting characters. The lesson here: stories are about people.
I also revisited John Truby’s The Anatomy of Story. He says writers need to focus not just on the hero, but the whole web of characters that help define him. Most writers start by listing traits of the MC, write a tale about him, then force a change in the end. Truby says this is wrong, that the hero does not act alone in a vacuum. The most important step in developing your MC is to connect and compare them to others. This forces you to distinguish the hero in unique ways. As in life, we are affected not just by our families and co-workers, but by the idiot that cut you off in traffic, the writer that brought you to tears with her prose, or the politician whose ideology you disagree with. How we react defines our character. The heroes in our stories are no less so connected to the web of characters in our stories.
Truby provides a writing exercise to help build your character web. It is worth looking into.
Okay, “next” project. I’ve got my eye on you. I don’t know if you’re going YA or MG, but you are going to have some interesting people carrying you along.
(This article also posted at http://writetimeluck.blogspot.com)
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By: Caroline Starr Rose,
on 4/6/2013
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Click through to sign up for the National Poetry Month giveaway!
My junior year in college I took my favorite course of all time, adolescent literature. It was the year I discovered books from my adolescence I hadn't known existed before, books like HATCHET and JACOB HAVE I LOVED. It was the year I fell in love with newer titles, like THE TRUE CONFESSIONS OF CHARLOTTE DOYLE and LONG NIGHT DANCE. It was the year Sharon Creech won the Newbery for her gorgeous WALK TWO MOONS.
I continued to read Sharon's books over the years, the impossible-to-put down ABSOLUTELY NORMAL CHAOS, the feels-like-home-to-this-gal-who-attended-international-school BLOOMABILITY, the simple and stunning verse novel, HEARTBEAT, and this gem, LOVE THAT DOG.
The poem below
I started a few years ago after first reading DOG. Last year, after a second reading, I pulled it out and worked on it again.
With the #SharpSchu book club scheduled to discuss LOVE THAT DOG and MAY B. on April 24, this felt like the perfect time to share.
Thank you, Sharon, for writing words that pushed me to respond. The kindness of the children's literature community never ceases to touch me. Still pinching myself that the author I discovered in college knows who I am!
Words count.
All words,
and giving voice to those children
who don’t yet know their power
is to open the world.
Mrs. Stretchberry
knows how to woo her student Jack,
understands how to draw from him
phrases that play with shapes and sounds,
stanzas that speak to the pain
of loss
and love
and memory.
During a school year
where poetry is a regular part of things,
words work deep,
settle,
unfold,
grow
as Jack does
from a boy who thinks
writing poetry is to
“make
short
lines”
to one who finds the courage --
through the structure, voice,
and style of others --
to speak his own.
By: Caroline Starr Rose,
on 3/22/2013
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Author Megan Spooner is featuring my writing space at her blog this week. Stop by to have a look and enter to win a copy of MAY B. The winner will also receive a copy of my Navigating a Debut Year mini-poster (in the turquoise frame below).
Librarian Mr. Schu along with teacher Mr. Sharp of the #SharpSchu Book Club, have just announced the books they'll discuss for National Poetry Month : Sharon Creech's LOVE THAT DOG and MAY B.! Mr. Schu is giving away copies of both books at his blog,
Watch. Connect. Read.
Enter to win and
please consider joining us on Twitter April 24 at 8:00 EST, hashtag #SharpSchu.
#70 Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
28 points
Yes, it’s a Newbery, but I really loved it when I first read it, and I cried and cried, too. I also laughed at Salamanca’s grandparents a lot. – Libby Gorman
Creech has the amazing ability to spin a web of stories within stories, and this is one of her finest. - Heather Christensen
Well it was #68 on the previous Top 100 poll. Now it has slipped a mere two slots to #70. Back in 2001 Ms. Creech once said that “Walk Two Moons seems to be the one most frequently taught,” but there are plenty of children’s chapter books taught out there that never made it to this Top 100 list. Clearly, there’s gotta be more to it than that.
The plot as described by School Library Journal reads, “13-year-old Salamanca Tree Hiddle travels west with her Grams and Gramps to Lewiston, Idaho, the destination from which her mother did not return. As Sal entertains her grandparents with stories of her friend, Phoebe, who sees “lunatics” around every corner, threads from many life stories are seamlessly entwined. This pilgrimage wonderfully mirrors the journey of discovery that is adolescence, as Sal’s search for the truth about her mother becomes a journey of discovery about much more.”
We can credit the appearance of all the books on this Top 100 list to a lot of things, but this may be the first one that came about because of a message in a fortune cookie. When she was 12, Sharon and her family took a road trip that was later re-created in Walk Two Moons. That was part of her inspiration. In an interview with Reading Teacher (Feb. 1996), Ms. Creech recalled yet another: “When I began to write, I was living in England and I was missing the States. I was also missing my grown children who had just gone off to college there. I wrote Walk Two Moons from the notion of a parent/child separation, and I decided to do it from the child’s point of view. These were the kinds of things rolling around in my mind.” When asked about the structure, she gave an answer that should be heartening to those folks trying to write in today’s book economy: “Part of the way Walk Two Moons turned out was the result of the economics of publishing at the time I was writing the book. There was a recession going on in that industry [in the U.S.] and in England and editors were being very selective.” The writing was hard, her editors changed, and “I was ready to toss it into the trash–and then I got the message in the fortune cookie.” The cookie merely read: “Don’t judge a man until you’ve walked two moons in his moccasins.” She had her hook. We have her book.
By the way, I rather like this statement in the same article about winning the Newbery and how it changes your life. “I still don’t know how I feel about it. It’s like someone has given me this beautiful suit of Armani clothes. Normally I would not wear them. They look nice and everyone admires them, but I’m a little uncomfortable in them. I like to wear them for brief periods of time and then change back to my blue jeans.”
When asked by Teacher Librarian (April 2001) the extent to which she places people she knows in her books, Creech confessed that, “Usually I am not aware that I am drawing on family when I am writing. It is only after a book is done that I sometimes see some of the sources. For example, it was after Walk Two Moons was published that I recognized that Gram contained pieces of my mother, grandmother and sister (goodness spiced w
#100 Love That Dog by Sharon Creech (2001)
19 points
“This book does such an excellent job of blending story with poetry. The voice of the narrator is powerful. This one also makes me cry!” - Dee Sypherd
When we last conducted this poll Creech’s classic made it all the way up to #75. Two years later it has fallen in favor of other titles but I’m pleased to report that it’s still making a fine showing.
Publishers Weekly described the plot in this way: “The volume itself builds like a poem. Told exclusively through Jack’s dated entries in a school journal, the book opens with his resistance to writing verse: ‘September 13 / I don’t want to / be cause boys / don’t write poetry. / Girls do.’ Readers sense the gentle persistence of Jack’s teacher, Miss Stretchberry, behind the scenes, from the poems she reads in class and from her coaxing, to which the boy alludes, until he begins to write some poems of his own. One by William Carlos Williams, for instance, inspires Jack’s words: ‘So much depends / upon / a blue car / splattered with mud / speeding down the road.’ A Robert Frost poem sends Jack into a tale his verse) of how he found his dog, Sky. At first, his poems appear to be discrete works. But when a poem by Walter Dean Myers (‘Love That Boy’ from Brown Angels) unleashes the joy Jack felt with his pet, he be comes even more honest in his poetry. Jack’s next work is cathartic: all of his previous verses seemed to be leading up to this piece de resistance, an admission of his profound grief over Sky’s death. He then can move on from his grief to write a poem (‘inspired by Walter Dean Myers’) about his joy at having known and loved his dog.”
Where did the book come from? Well, on her British website Creech says, “Walter Dean Myers’ poem, ‘Love That Boy’, has been hanging on my bulletin board for the past three or four years. It’s at eye level, so I probably glance at it a dozen times a day. I love that poem–there is so much warmth and exuberance in it. (The poem is reprinted at the back of Love That Dog.) One day as I glanced at this poem, I started thinking about the much-loved boy in Myers’ poem. I wondered what that boy might love. Maybe a pet? A dog? Maybe also a teacher? And whoosh–out jumped Jack’s voice.”
That’s all well and good, but how did Walter Dean Myers, a man who has since become the National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature, feel about becoming, essentially, the book’s hero? After all, he became a character in the book all thanks to that poem hanging over Ms. Creech’s desk. In a September 2001 interview with School Library Journal, Ms. Creech put it this way: “I didn’t want to use a fictional writer. I wanted to show how these real, living writers, … who are writing books today, are affecting kids. So [my editor] said, ‘Let’s just send this to Walter and see what he thinks.’ And I said, ‘Good, because if he has any reservations whatsoever, we have no story and I’m putting it away.’ … So [Joanna] sent it to Walter–I had only met him once–and he read the book. … I think he was very, very shy about being the hero in this book, because he’s–as I’ve since learned–a very shy and humble man. And yet he could easily see why his presence was needed in that book, why aesthetically it was important. He gave his blessing; he said, ‘Fine, go ahead.’ If he hadn’t said that, there would be no book.”
Interviewed in the Leona
A little quote from one of my very favorite books, Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech. I think it is quite appropriate for the middle of Slice 2012. It seems to me that we can’t explain all the truly awful things in the world like war and murder and brain tumors, and we can’t fix [...]
After two days of subbing I'm exhausted but happy.
Yes, you read that right. The school called me this morning and asked me to fill in for my daughter's class so I ended up teaching both my children two days in a row! Fortunately, both of them were excited to have me in their classrooms. The sight of Jasmine jumping up and down with joy when she saw me at the teacher's desk will keep me smiling for days :)
My son's 5th grade class is currently reading Heartbeat by Sharon Creech and wouldn't you know -- the book is in verse! It's a great addition to my reading list for
Caroline's Novel Challenge. I borrowed an extra copy from the teacher and I'm about halfway through.
It's interesting to hear 10- and 11-year-olds reflect on the story. What I see as simple, spare, beautiful language, they see as simplistic, literal and sometimes strange. They were quick to point out metaphors, personification and rhyme but were surprised when I suggested that some passages might mean more than they thought. Yes, the main character likes to run, but maybe she's also trying to run away from things that she really can't escape. And while scenes with the forgetful grandfather are funny, I tried to show them the undercurrent of sadness that comes from watching someone slip away before your eyes.
In my daughter's 2nd grade class, they are reading How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell, one of my favorite books for younger kids. After the 2nd graders wrote a summary paragraph, they drew pictures to illustrate the chapter we'd read together. What a riot! But figuring out the point of the chapter was a challenge for some kids.
Being in the classroom was a good reminder for me that it's so important to look at your writing through the eyes of a child. Phrases you think they'll understand can confuse them. Context doesn't always clarify the meaning of a word, especially when the words are being read out loud by an expressionless beginning reader. While a teacher or parent might be there to help they understand what they're reading, what happens when they read alone? Will your words make them want to read more, or will they put down the book in frustration?
There's a chance I might sub for the first grade teacher who is on call for jury duty this week. I'm almost hoping I get the call. Kids have so much energy. I love their curiosity and enthusiasm. And being a sub is almost like being a grandparent: you go in and have fun with the kids and they're on good behavior because it's a welcome change from the every day. But if I don't, I'll have plenty to keep me busy. I'm a bit behind on my
page count...
By:
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on 4/6/2010
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*Middle-grade, contemporary fantasy
*Angel and elementary-school aged girl as main characters
*Rating: I fell in love with The Unfinished Angel by Sharon Creech. Listening to the audio book in the car made drives enjoyable and fun! Sometimes, I was laughing out loud at the angel!
Short, short summary: One angel (neither a he or a she) lives in the ancient stone tower of the Casa Rosa, in a tiny village high in the Swiss Alps. Life has been the same as long as the angel can remember. The angel says: “Peoples are strange! The things they are doing and saying–sometimes they make no sense. Did their brains fall out of their heads?” The angel’s life is going along just fine, although she doesn’t really know her purpose and is often confused, until Zola moves in. Zola is a young girl who wears three skirts all at once and can see and talk to the angel. Zola is often telling the angel she needs to do something about the “hungry childrens” and neighbors who have been long time enemies. As the book cover states: “Zola is a girl with a mission. And our angel has been without one–till now. This hilarious and endearing novel by Newbery Medal winner Sharon Creech reminds us that magic is found in the most ordinary acts of kindness.” And I totally agree with this book jacket copy writer! 
So, what do I do with this book?
1. The Unfinished Angel is a perfect book for studying voice, one of the 6 +1 traits of writing. This book has an unusual, but delightful and captivating, voice. Once you have read a section out loud to students, ask them to give you examples of how the angel’s voice is unique. What are some of her speech patterns? What are some of the ways she makes words plural that don’t need to be: peoples and childrens? How does the angel’s personality come out in the narration? The answers to these questions will help students understand what VOICE is and how to write with a unique voice.
2. Where are the Swiss Alps? What is Casa Rosa? What are some of the different nationalities and languages people are speaking in this book? Throughout this book, questions such as these will arise when children are reading. You can ask students to do some research on the Internet or in the library to answer these questions and deepen their comprehension of the story. Children can share what they’ve learned about this culture with each other.
3. The village as a whole is a character in this book (just like in some books the setting can be a character). Many times, we study how characters change throughout a book and why. In The Unfinished Angel, students can discuss how the angel and the villagers as a whole change throughout the story and why. What makes them change? How do they change? Is it for the better? Students can answer questions like these in reading response journals and then discuss them in small groups or as a class.
I highly recommend this book! It would also be a great book club book choice for parent-child book clubs.
So, I know I've been pretty down on verse novels lately and haven't read one in a while that I both (a) thought was poetry and (b) liked.
But, I have to say, that I have two that I am completely enamored of at the moment!
Love That Dog and its sequel,
Hate That Cat, both by Sharon Creech.
Both books are poems Jack writes to his teacher, they're like letters almost, and we only get Jack's side. (If I were a creative writing teacher, I would have my students read these books and then write Miss Stretchberry's response poems.) The class is studying poetry and Jack struggles to understand some of it, to tell why some things are poems and some aren't. And some of Jack's poetry would work as prose, and some is pure poetry. There are big ideas and small ideas and humor and sadness, forgiveness and loss, all in a few pages and a few words.
I love how this book has to be
told in poetry because it's
about poetry. I love how it references so many other classic and non-classic poems and how those poems are in the back of the book, because while I may automatically get a reference to a red wheelbarrow, most middle grade readers won't. I also love how much Jack loves Mr. Walter Dean Myers and how he wonders if each new poet is still alive. Most of all, I loved that the poems were awesome and good but still read like they were written by a kid.
I didn't even mind the dead dog (to be fair, the dog is dead before the book starts, but it still made me cry!) I want to shout about these books from the rooftop.
Love That Dog is going to be the April book for my book discussion group. I decided that as soon as a I finished the book.
And here are two poems to show why these books are awesome (both are from
Hate That Cat):
October 12
Something I am wondering:
if you cannot hear
do words have no sounds
in your head?
Do you see
a
October 17
ONOMATOPOEIA
made my ears frizzle
today.
All that
buzz buzz buzzand
pop! pop!and
drip and
tinkle and
trickle--
the sounds are still
buzzing and popping
in my head.
And the bells bells bells
in that poem you read
by Mr. Poe
(is he alive?)
all those bells bells bells
all those tinkling and jingling
and swinging and ringing
and rhyming and chiming
and clanging and clashing
and tolling and rolling
all those bells bells bells
and that tintinnabulation
what a word!
Tintinnabulation!... (you'll have to read the book to get the rest! Ha!)
Round up is over at Growing Up with Books.Books Provided by... my local library
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This book, like the other Sharon Creech books I've read, left me with a feeling of delight. Somehow, I always think that the books are going to be heavy and dramatic but she has a gentle and lighthearted touch (at least in the books I've read of hers- The Wanderer and Bloomability) with an overall feeling of optimism.
The Castle Corona is a fairy tale without witches, magic or scary forests. Instead it concerns two peasant children, the wise and imaginative Pia and her little brother, trusting and energetic Enzio, who spend their dreary days dreaming about living in the golden castle. Inside the beautiful castle, however, is a family of royals also dissatisfied with their lives and dreaming about lives filled with more excitement or leisure (depending which royal is doing the dreaming!).
One day Pia and Enzio find a pouch that was dropped by a thief from the castle, turning both the town and the castle upside-down. The rest of the story unfolds, revealing the characters' different dreams, fears and endearing quirks.
The story is completely delightful, the characters are unique and yet identifiable, the tone is tender and whimsical with a whisper of a wisdom. David Diaz's illuminated text is a beautiful touch. Despite the lack of any suspenseful or dangerous conflict, I couldn't put the book down. Her playful and humorous style reminded me a bit of Carol Ryrie Brink's fantasy stories.
I thoroughly enjoyed it! If you've read it, feel free to comment!
By:
Kate Messner,
on 6/18/2007
Blog:
Kate's Book Blog
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If you write for young people, consider this LJ post a big, fat thank you note (virtual chocolates and ice cream, too). I just finished reading my 7th graders' final exams. I ask them to write an essay reflecting on how they've grown as readers, writers, and human beings this year. Here's a quote from K...
"In the beginning of the year, I didn't like to read at all. But then my teacher showed me all these books that were for me, and I couldn't stop reading."
Books that were for her. Written just for her. Or at least it felt that way. She went on to talk about Sonya Sones, Sarah Dessen, Deb Caletti, and Nancy Werlin -- voices that spoke to her over the past ten months.
And K wasn't the only one who named names as she reflected on books that made a difference this year. My kids talked about finding themselves in the characters of Pete Hautman, Janet Tashjian, Jack Gantos, Laurie Halse Anderson, Lisa Yee, Sharon Creech, Jerry Spinelli, Wendelin Van Draanen, David Lubar, Cynthia Kadohata, Mal Peet, and Walter Dean Myers. They wrote about being challenged by M.T. Anderson, Richard Preston, and Markus Zusak. They wrote fondly about escaping into the worlds of Margaret Peterson Haddix, Christopher Paolini, and JK Rowling. And they reflected on walking a mile in someone else's shoes as they read Gene Luen Yang, Cynthia Lord, Will Hobbs, Jennifer Roy, and Joseph Bruchac.
I write for kids. I know that some days, it feels like you're alone with your computer, and even your computer doesn't like you very much. So I thought I'd share K's reflection on her year of reading. We all need to realize when we write, we're writing for someone important. Someone like K, who's waiting for a book that's just for her, just for him.
If you write for kids, that's the work you're doing every day. You may never get to read the end-of-the-year essays, but you should know that you make a difference, and you're appreciated.
Note: I'm having difficulty finding this information confirmed anywhere else. Editor/Author Lisa Graff at the
Longstockings blog recently discovered the following information in
Publisher's Marketplace:
FILM RIGHTS
Sharon Creech's RUBY HOLLER, optioned to Abigail Breslin; her BLOOMABILITY, optioned Teri Hatcher for her production company; and the Newbery-winning WALK TWO MOONS, previously under option to Jonathan Demme, optioned to Rocket Dreams, by Kassie Evashevski at UTA, on behalf of Amy Berkower at Writers House.
Skirting about the issue of whether or not kids should be optioning books at all, kudos to Creech. I tried to see whether or not Ms. Creech's
website would talk about this at all, but mum's the word. Personally, I think she should stop being so doggone productive and start a blog. That would clear all this right up.
Of course, one wonders why Breslin wanted
Ruby Holler in the first place. It's a nice book, no question, but it's not the first title you would think a kid would want to create. Breslin (or Breslin's mommy and daddy) must be a very big fan.
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I love Sharon Creech too and her latest The Great Unexpected is also superb! Sharon Creech's Hate That Cat got me to look at poetry as something that is not scary. So happy to see you post on her today!
Thank you, Mia. I still haven't read HATE THAT CAT but need to. Read THE GREAT UNEXPECTED just a few months ago and loved those characters.
I am just finding your site! Where have I been? I read the entire Love That Dog in one sitting to my 3rd graders. I wait until they have been immersed in poetry for months. Then I take a quiet chunk of time and the listen intently. The learn so much from Jack and Miss Stretchberry. They are aghast when he says in the beginning, boys don't write poems, girls do....they know better. I love how they see that there is a way to tell a story in diary form, in verse, that honors, poets, poetry, teachers and kids. I also read Hate That Cat when I can fit it in. I love Sharon Creech for two many reasons to name. You might be interested in what I do with kids and I was a guest blogger on Irene Latham's Live Your Poem on April 7 for the Progressive Poem 2013. The gist is that poetry is at the heart of my literacy program. During the course of the school year the children learn over 40 poems by heart as a group, read tons of poems and write them, too. We perform at a June poetry recital to the joy and amazement of family and friends, but mainly their teacher! I can't wait to go back and read more of your blog. I can tell that I am going to love it and learn so much. I was having tech difficulties with scrolling about, but I saw a Paul Hankins interview and your acrostic poems. I can't wait to get to know you better!!.
Janet F.
Janet, I adore this! I used to wrap up my poetry months with a "coffee house" for my sixth graders. It was such a celebration. Your room sounds like a place I'd love to spend time. And it sounds like your kiddos feel the same way.
Let me know if you'd like to be a part of National Poetry Month next year, I'd love to hear more via a guest post.
Oh, so sorry for the typos. A couple of theys are missing the y... if you can fix, thanks. I couldn't see how I could edit. Duh. When I rush I miss things.
Yes, I would love to be part of your site next year. My email is jfagal at gmail dot com! If you get a chance to read my guest blog on Irene's blog, there is a link to a video of my kids at a recital, though not the one in June!! It has slightly less sparkle, but this is actually the best part. They have not been together since June and is end of Sept. Barely a rehearsal, either. I have an old website called poetryonparade dot com if you want to check it out. There is a lovely poem written by a woman who does our school's PR, but she is someone who loves the poetry nights and it does capture what we do. I am going to subscribe by email so I can get your posts and keep up with what you are doing. I love to find kindred spirits online. I am looking for some closer to home. I am recently retired after a long career but am launching a second one as a visiting poet and poetry teacher in the schools! I volunteer in my old school in a friend's 3rd grade so I can keep on doing poetry. I always get the same reaction. The kids adore poetry "my way".....no pressure, no test, no homework....no requirement to participate yet they all do. And it teaches so much in such a short package. I could go on and on. Are you still teaching? I blend in poems the kids write with a wide variety of published poets' work. I also do not underestimate what 3rd graders will be interested in!!!
I stopped teaching four years ago, as I was having a hard time doing everything well. But I miss it. That's what makes school visits so fun. I'm writing down your email for next year. Off to see your post at Irene's!
Thank you for sharing this...and yep I am tearing up. It is so true what you say about the kindness of the childrens literature community. You all rock and are so good at what you do because of the passion that drives you.
Thank you, Deb. I was at a writing conference this weekend and tried to talk about LOVE THAT DOG and what it means to me. I didn't get far without tearing up. It is amazing that work that is so solitary to begin with can make such far-reaching and meaningful connections.