I'd recommend these middle grade novels to kids who enjoy ... [a] strong voice and humor and who might like a peek into someone else's world.
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By: Barbara O'Connor,
on 7/2/2014
Blog: Barbara O'Connor (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Writing Tips, Natalie Babbitt, Cynthia Rylant, Writing Voice, Patricia MacLachlan, Kate DiCamillo, Natalie Lloyd, Add a tag
From Cynthia Rylant's Missing May:
and...
From Natalie Lloyd's A Snicker of Magic:
and...
By: Elysse F.,
on 3/11/2014
Blog: Ink Splot 26 (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Reads, natalie lloyd, snicker of magic, Add a tag
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By: Guest Posts,
on 6/10/2015
Blog: The Children's Book Review (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Best Kids Stories, Natalie Lloyd, Kelly Jones, Robin Stevens, Ages 9-12, Book Lists, Chapter Books, featured, Victoria Jamieson, Knopf Books for Young Readers, Middle Grade Books, Varian Johnson, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Scholastic Press, Dial books, Sharon Flake, Add a tag
Blog: The Children's Book Review (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Best Kids Stories, Natalie Lloyd, Kelly Jones, Robin Stevens, Ages 9-12, Book Lists, Chapter Books, featured, Victoria Jamieson, Knopf Books for Young Readers, Middle Grade Books, Varian Johnson, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Scholastic Press, Dial books, Sharon Flake, Add a tag
By: Gi Hallmark,
on 8/28/2014
Blog: The Children's Book Review (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Magic, Mysteries, Music, Family, Friends, Ages 9-12, Mystery, Chapter Books, Books for Girls, Scholastic Press, Synesthesia, Natalie Lloyd, Add a tag
Blog: The Children's Book Review (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Magic, Mysteries, Music, Family, Friends, Ages 9-12, Mystery, Chapter Books, Books for Girls, Scholastic Press, Synesthesia, Natalie Lloyd, Add a tag
A Snicker of Magic, Natalie Lloyd’s sensational middle grade debut novel, begs to be read aloud and shared with an audience of dreamers.
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By: Barbara O'Connor,
on 7/2/2014
Blog: Barbara O'Connor (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Writing Tips, Natalie Babbitt, Cynthia Rylant, Writing Voice, Patricia MacLachlan, Kate DiCamillo, Natalie Lloyd, Add a tag
Writing voice.
Hard to define.
Difficult (impossible?) to teach.
But there's nothing I love more in a book than a distinctive writing voice.
I may not be able to define it, but I know it when I see it. Or, more correctly, I know it when I HEAR it.
And if you think about it, that is really the literal meaning of the word "voice" - something that you HEAR.
To me, a distinct writing voice is one that sounds unique. It has a rhythm and flow and melody to it that sets it apart from another author's writing voice.
So here are a few examples of voice that I love:
From Patricia MacLachlan's Sarah, Plain and Tall (even the TITLE has a wonderful voice):
He was homely and plain, and he had a terrible holler and a horrid smell.
and...
There will be Sarah’s sea, blue and gray and green, hanging on the wall. And songs, old ones and new. And Seal with yellow eyes. And there will be Sarah, plain and tall.
From Cynthia Rylant's Missing May:
Whirligigs of Fire and Dreams, glistening coke bottles and chocolate milk cartons to greet me. I was six years old and I had come home.
and...
Home was, still is, a rusty old trailer stuck on the face of a mountain in Deep Water, in the heart of Fayette County. It looked to me, the first time, like a toy that God had been playing with and accidentally dropped out of heaven. Down and down and down it came and landed, thunk, on this mountain, sort of cockeyed and shaky and grateful to be all in one piece.
From Kate DiCamillo's The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane:
Lolly was a lumpy woman who spoke too loudly and who wore too much lipstick.
and...
The days passed. The sun rose and set and rose and set again and again. Sometimes the father came home and sometimes he did not. Edward’s ears became soggy and he did not care. His sweater had almost completely unraveled and it didn’t bother him. He was hugged half to death and it felt good. In the evenings, at the hands of Bryce, at the ends of the twine, Edward danced and danced.
From Kate DiCamillo's Flora and Ulysses:
He looked exactly like a villain.
That’s what Flora’s brain thought.
But her heart, her treacherous heart, rose up joyfully inside of her at the sight of him.
I think that’s one of the best feelings in the world, when you know your name is safe in another person’s mouth. When you know they’ll never shout it out like a cuss word, but say it or whisper it like a once-upon-a-time.
and...
Lonely had followed me around for so long. That word was always perched somewhere close, always staring down at me, waiting to pounce out my joy.
From Natalie Babbitt's Tuck Everlasting:
The first week of August hangs at the very top of summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning.
0 Comments on Celebrating Words and Voice as of 7/2/2014 7:35:00 AM
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By: Elysse F.,
on 3/11/2014
Blog: Ink Splot 26 (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Reads, natalie lloyd, snicker of magic, Add a tag
Felicity has always been different. She can see words, but not just the kind written on paper or typed on a computer screen. Felicity can see the words of people around her. Their thoughts and whispers, feelings and dreams are alive to her. Some are glittery; some have feet like caterpillars, and one is even full of lightning bolts. She collects them in her little blue book that she always carries with her.
Now, for the first time, Felicity has a best friend, and she will do anything to convince her mom that they need to stay. But first, she’ll need to figure out how to bring back the magic, breaking the spell that’s been cast over the town . . . and her mother’s broken heart.
Will Felicity be able to call the magical Midnight Gulch home? Read Chapter 1
and see if you get hooked! What kind of magic you would have if you lived in Midnight Gulch? Share in the Comments section!–Elysse, STACKS Writer
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