How to use this Page

"The ink flowed smoothly off his legs across the page. Though he'd never done anything like this before, it seemed completely natural, even unstoppable. He kept glancing up, tracing the details of the scene with his eyes then transferring them onto the paper. It was as if his legs had been waiting all their lives for this ink, this page, this lamp-lit window view. There was no way to describe the feeling." page 29-30

Innsbruck Castle by Albrecht Durer 1471-1528

Nickel Shakespeare Girls by Clinton Steeds on www.flickr.com. According to Clinton, these girls can perform any scene from a Shakespeare play that someone in the audience calls out.

*Middle-grade, tween contemporary mystery novel
*6th-grade girl as main character
*Rating: Shakespeare’s Secret is a remarkable book with a wonderful mystery that children and adults will love!

Short, short summary:

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Some understanding of who William Shakespeare/Anne Boleyn were and what Shakespeare did for English literature/drama is probably necessary for children/tweens to truly understand and enjoy this novel. Before reading, show students a Shakespeare play that you can rent on DVD from the library or even better (and if possible) would be a field trip to a live performance. You can also assign students different short biographical topics such as Shakespeare’s childhood, first play, and so on or assign various plays to research. Students can share their findings with the class.

2. As Hero and Danny are discovering clues and information about the Murphy Diamond, your students can also try to figure out its location. Where do they think it could be? Ask students to write down clues and make predictions in their reading response journals right along with Hero and Danny.

3. Hero is teased because of her name. Many children who are reading this novel are also teased for one reason or another, so they may be able to relate well with Hero and her feelings–even when Danny, a popular kid, befriends her. Besides asking students to write about and discuss the mystery, historical facts, and plot, give them some writing prompts that allow them to make personal connections with the characters during this often difficult time of adolescence.

This would make a great book club choice or a home school study, too!

Not long ago I read and reviewed Masterpiece by Elise Broach. It is a terrific book for young readers and you can read my review here. I was so impressed by the book that I decided that I wanted to talk to the author. Here is an interview that I had with her:

1. How did you get the idea for Masterpiece?
I actually started Masterpiece in the 1980s, when I was a graduate student in the history Ph.D. program at Yale, living in an apartment in New Haven. Late at night, I accidentally dropped one of my contact lenses down the bathroom sink. I spent over an hour trying to fish it out, and I kept fantasizing about how great it would be to have some tiny creature capable of going down the drain and retrieving it for me. I finally found the contact, and then, after midnight, sat down at my desk and wrote the first three chapters of the story. I didn't return to it for over twenty years!

2. In Masterpiece one of the main characters is a beetle. Why did you choose this particular animal?
I like beetles. There are so many different kinds. They're small and fairly harmless, you see them everywhere, and they don't have the scary associations of insects that sting or bite. Plus, they're exremely resourceful and hardy, and they can live inside houses without being part of an infestation. Really, a beetle was the perfect insect for the purposes of the story!

3. Do you have an interest in/fondness for art?
I've always been interested in art. When I was little, I loved to draw and paint. In college, I took lots of art history classes. Now, as an adult, one of my favorite things to do is visiting art museums with my family or friends.

4. Is Durer one of your favorite artists, and if not why did you pick his work to be at the center of Masterpiece?
I knew Durer's work from my art history classes, but he wasn't one of my favorite artists until I spent so much time thinking about him while writing Masterpiece. For the plot to work, I needed an artist whose drawings were almost magically detailed and tiny, so delicate they could plausibly have been created by a beetle. Durer was an expert at pen-and-ink drawings, had completed several miniatures, and was renowned for the incredible level of detail in his work. In personality, he was melancholy and had quite a sad life, but was beloved by his friends and very generous to them, so he seemed a good fit for the story that way too.

5. James is a rather lonely little boy. Is his loneliness something you identify with?
I'm not sure I identify with his loneliness as much as sympathize with it. I've known so many people like James, who stand off to the side of things and never quite get the attention they deserve, who are great observers of life but not necessarily full participants in it. James is exactly the kind of child who would notice Marvin, and whose life would be most changed by a friendship with him.

6. On your website you say that you identify with Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice. In what way?
Oh, I'm not sure that's very original! Anyone who has read that wonderful book probably most identifies with the character of Elizabeth. I guess apart from superficial things, like the fact that I love to read and am interested in other people's lives, I'd say that, like Elizabeth, I am pretty opinionated and independent, but never take myself too seriously.

7. Which do you prefer, writing a picture book or a novel?
They're very different experiences. A picture book is more immediately satisfying, because I can usually write the first draft in one sitting. It may take months and months of noodling to get it right, but it's very rewarding to finish a story in a few hours: to see the whole thing, complete, on paper. By contrast, a novel is a Herculean labor at some level, at least for me. There's always a point at which I wonder if I can pull it off (usually right in the middle!). But when I finish a novel, and have peopled an entire world and watched it change and deepen over time--and even surprise me--that is tremendously fulfilling.

8. Do you read a lot of children’s literature?
Yes! All the time. I love to read. It used to be my guilty pleasure, but now that I write for a living, I can convince myself it's justified.

9. Where do you write and do you have a schedule for writing?
I usually write in an alcove of my bedroom, in front of a window overlooking the woods. My desk is an old library table, with all of my favorite children's books on the shelf at my knees. But I also write in coffeeshops, libraries, while I'm waiting in the car to pick up my kids from some activity or other. When you have a busy life, you have to fit it in wherever possible. I don't have a schedule for writing, and certainly don't write every day. I tend to work very hard in spurts, and then need a lot of thinking time in between.

10. If you were to write a work of historical fiction which period in history would it be based in?
That is a very interesting question. I think it would be really hard for me to write historical fiction, even though I have a background in history... or maybe BECAUSE I have a background in history. I'd be so concerned about getting every single detail right--what wood were the floors made of then? What did people eat for breakfast and how did it vary by social class?--that I'm afraid it would be crippling to the story. But there are so many periods in history that fascinate me. I love Elizabethan England, which played such a big part in my first novel, Shakespeare's Secret.

To find out more about Elise please visit her website.

Elise Broach has done it again! She completely wowed me with Shakespeare's Secret and now, her newest title, Masterpiece, has left even more of an impression. Anyone with an imagination will love this book and those without much of an imagination need to read this to gain one! I loved it and know she will have huge success with this story.

Marvin is a beetle. He and his family live under the kitchen sink in the home of James Pompaday, a quiet and mature 11 year old boy, looking for his place in the world. When James receives a pen and ink set for his birthday from his dad, he isn't quite sure what to do with it, but Marvin surprises him by creating an amazingly intricate miniature drawing, eventually leading to the pair forging a strange, yet close friendship. After James receives credit for Marvin's artwork, the beetle and the boy are swept up in a mystery and art heist that grows more exciting with every page.

The friendship between James and Marvin, though quite farfetched, is written in a really beautiful manner. The story that grows as their friendship does is one filled with suspense and thrills, as well as fabulous illustrations, done by Kelly Murphy. Broach manages to slip an in-depth history lesson right under the reader's nose, a talent that many authors do not possess. I really enjoyed Masterpiece and can see it having just as much success as Shakespeare's Secret, a title that is rarely on our shelves at the library. I'm looking forward to see what else Elise Broach can come up with!

Okay, I haven't quite got the whole Debby Garfinkle "all about me" thing down yet. I'll have to keep practicing, and fortunately, I'll be able to get some in person lessons from the ME-meister the_webmeister and I hit LA this July.

Anyway, back to ME. (See, I'm getting better already!) Well, me and fellow CT authors Nora Raleigh Baskin and Elise Broach. (Ok, I still need some work...)

This weekend we spoke together on a panel organized by the SCBWI Writers of Lower Fairfield County and the Harry Bennett Branch of the Ferguson Library in Stamford: Speaking from the Heart: Three Writers on the Triumphs and Travails of Writing and Publishing for Children.




Left to right: Elise, Nora, moi, and moderator Jody Novins.

I was worried no-one would show up because it was the first 90 degree day we'd had all year and I figured everyone would be at the beach instead of sitting indoors at the library listening to us talk about our trials and tribulations. But it was actually a well attended event and if the library weren't closing at 5pm we probably could have gone on answering questions for another hour.

The Norwalk Hour did some great pre-event pieces about us. Here's the one about Nora and here's the one about ME! ME! ME!. (For some weird reason they didn't get the one about Elise online so I can't link to it :-( )