Some of my favorite reads (and examples of Voice!) this year: Agnes Parker . . . Girl In Progress, by Kathleen O'Dell; The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg, by Rodman Philbrick; I Am A Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want To Be Your Class President, by Josh Lieb; Hold Still, by Nina LaCour; Gorgeous, by Rachel Vail; The Monstrumologist, by Rick Yancey. (All images from GoodReads.)
All right. So here's the promise Lee and I made to the world in our latest e-blast about the SCBWI Westside Schmooze.
Subject: The SCBWI Westside Schmooze -- Wednesday, October 13th at 7 PM
Does October mean thrills, chills, and suspense to you? Well, it should if you attend the next meeting of the SCBWI Westside Schmooze! Because on October 13th, at 7 PM, we will meet to unmask . . .
VOICE: The End-All Definition
That's right. Editors and Agents often say that while they can fix everything else in a manuscript, Voice is that one special quality a manuscript must have from the start, for them to fall in love. Yet when it comes to defining what Voice IS, even the greats flounder, with many falling back on the axiom "You know it when you see it."
What is THAT about? Are we in the business of describing things or aren't we?? At the next Westside Schmooze we aim to settle this mystery once and for all--AND come up with an End-All Definition--by showing great examples of Voice, analyzing WHAT IT IS, and sharing exercises that will help each of us find and perfect our own. For Picture Book through Young Adult, fiction and non-fiction. Let's do this. It's time.
Now, I'll admit I've been frustrated in my life lately, and I wrote this email with a mad gleam in my eye when the weather had taken a turn for the worse.
But.
I think it's hilarious to set out to do "impossible" things--especially because (in my experience) 60-65% of the time, it totally works. Most of the time, the only
“You know what bothers me sometimes, just randomly, Damon?”
“What?”
“How come I can’t win American Idol?”
“American Idol is about more than just singing. It’s about the whole package. You have to—”
“I’m talking about just singing.”
“You said ‘win.’”
“Never mind ‘win.’ How come I can’t audition? Like, get up on a stage and sing. Like, belt out a song. I can’t do that.”
“You can’t have everything. You do know that, right?"
“And also, how come you can't audition?”
This created a pause. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had a good performance,” D said finally. “Neither you nor I work at it.”
“You were in a boy band.”
“I was.”
I didn’t like the way this conversation was going. I can’t have everything.
“I’m going to try out," I said, feeling oh-so me suddenly.
“Go ahead. We live right here.”
That's the thing. We do live right here. I don’t watch any television, yet I’ve seen this show in person twice (well, the second time was actually The Next Great American Band, which wasn’t aired live so took four hours)—just because my friend is friends with the (a?) producer and keeps offering me tickets. The line for American Idol tapings goes past my door every week. The audience members take my parking spot!
I’m going to try out.
r
P.S.
I’ve been thinking about the show more lately, because Lee’s been posting about it [here, here, and here] at his awesome, totally thoughtful blog. Check it out!
Following on from Charlotte’s post the other day, I thought I would put together a list of a few of the books my family loves, which focus on that special bond between grandchildren and their grandparents.
I have already talked about the Katie Morag books, in which both her grandmothers are central. I wish we’d known about Nigel Gray’s A Balloon for Grandad when we lived abroad; as it is, we discovered it recently in our local library. Illustrated by one of my favorite illustrators, Jane Ray, it deals in such an uplifting way with the separation which is sometimes inevitable when generations live a long way from each other. Then there are Ana Baca and Anthony Accardo’s Benito books – look out for a review of their latest bilingual title Benito’s Sopaipillas/ Las Sopaipillas de Benito in next week’s update of PaperTigers (I’ll add the link to this post when it’s available).
We also love Raymond Briggs’ typically quirky story The Puddleman. You have to be an indulgent grandfather to allow your grandson to lead you around by a dog-lead attached to your wrist and call you “Collar” - but the hint at the end, where Briggs thanks “Miles” for “the naming of puddles, Collar” etc. would suggest that he had real-life, grandson inspiration for the story! It’s a loving, imaginative tale that also provides a particularly special read-aloud experience. Since it is a cartoon strip, you can’t just read it as a narrative; you have to share the interpretation of the pictures alongside the reading of the dialogue and build it up together.
Sometimes we need books to help us talk about the illness or death of a beloved grandparent. (more…)
