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Ellen Hopkins is a poet and the award-winning author of eleven New York Times best-selling young adult novels-in-verse and three adult novels. Her twelfth YA is Traffik (McElderry Books, November, 2015) and her third adult novel, Tangled, was released spring 2015. She is a current an SCBWI Board member. http://www.ellenhopkins.com
Ellen shares that 15 years ago, she was sitting in the audience like we are. She'd written and published 20 nonfiction titles, and tells us the drive behind writing CRANK, her novel in verse that broke out and made her career.
Maybe as a way to give meaning to her pain, and maybe as a way to prevent others from experiencing the same pain.
She wanted to reach readers, not get awards.
When Crank was published by Simon & Schuster in 2004 (with a very modest advance) Ellen had to figure out how to get the book into people's hands. She responded to every email and message she received from readers -- and still does. She plugged into the community on Myspace (the social media platform at the time), and when her 3rd YA novel in verse was publicized on their home page, it took off. It became a New York Times bestseller, which then led to the first two becoming best sellers as well.
She's telling us about how her journey has progressed, with success and travel and family and through it all, working on her books. Touring with great authors. Books doing well. Book challenges. Author challenges, too. writing, revising, copy edits, short stories, social media 2 hours of every day. Readers taking senior photos with her books and tattooing her words on their bodies.
And when things got really tough in her life, one of the things that got her through was the readers who kept contacting her and telling her how much her writing meant to them.
She challenges us to consider our current goals - is it awards, bestseller lists, or is it relationships with readers, teachers, librarians, editorial teams, and publishing houses.
If we can make a living from our art, that is living the dream.
But we need to remember our readers: they are why we are here.
Keep your eyes on the real prize. Making a positive difference in kids' lives with our books.
The audience gives Ellen a standing ovation!
0 Comments on Ellen Hopkins: Keep Your Eyes on the Real Prize as of 1/1/1900
Title: Traffick (sequel to TRICKS)
Author: Ellen Hopkins
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books, November, 2015
Themes: sex trafficking of minors, tricks, homosexuality, homophobia, transphobia, family relationships, romantic relationships, abuse, Las Vegas
Genre: Contemporary YA
Ages: 14+
Opening:
A Poem By Cody Bennet
Can’t Find
The courage to leap
the brink, free-fall
beyond the … Continue reading →
Hey, readers! Once again, we’ve brought out the Upcoming Titles feature to give you a sampling of the books being published this month! As always, this is by no means a comprehensive list of forthcoming releases, just a compilation of titles we think our readers (and our contributors!) would enjoy.
Joining me and legendary editor Emma Dryden, best-Selling author Ellen Hopkins, art director and debut YA author Laurent Linn, and agent Danielle Smith, about 30 writers and illustrators (including conference attendee and Sid Fleischman and Lambda Literary Award-winning author Bill Konigsberg!) gathered in a large circle to share our questions about and discuss our projects that include Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning characters and themes.
We started out in a circle
As always, it was a safe space with lots of shared encouragement and mutual support.
Some highlights:
"Write bravely because it's going to matter to somebody. ...We have kids who need these books. Still!" - Ellen Hopkins
"There is a need and a want" for these books with LGBTQ characters and themes, in publishing houses, "and readers who need these books." - Laurent Linn
"The biggest tool against generalization is characterization. ...We are all more than our gender identification... Gender is not enough. Sexuality is not enough. Go deeper..." - Arthur A. Levine
on why Ellen's books are successful... "These books are dealing with how kids would really feel in these situations. But if it's not on the page, kids are going to think you're lying to them."
"The question is not what hasn't been done, but what haven't I done?" - Bill Konigsberg
Both Arthur and Danielle spoke of how in today's publishing environment, having LGBTQ characters and themes are something they cite as a positive about a project, something that helps them in selling/publishing a project.
And spent time meeting and greeting each other
And we'll let Arthur have the final word for this post:
"There's never been a more receptive environment for publishing LGBTQ characters and issues." - Arthur A. Levine
0 Comments on The LGBTQ Q&A as of 8/1/2015 1:33:00 PM
I read and review a lot of books each year, and this one stands out for me as a story that changed me. I am telling you, it is a must read. If it is on your TBR list, shuffle … Continue reading →
Title: Rumble Written by: Ellen Hopkins Published by: Margaret K. McElderry Books, Sept. 2014 Ages: 14+ Novel in verse Themes: bullying, gay teens, faith, religion, forgiveness, hypocrisy, ptsd, suicide, gun management Reviewed from an ARC. All opinions are my own. Opening … Continue reading →
I’m thrilled to be back blogging after a stellar three-month summer hiatus. I completed the first draft to my contemporary YA, which is my MFA thesis. I attended a superb writer’s craft conference for the benefit of the non-profit Sierra … Continue reading →
Publishers Lunch has released Buzz Books, a free eBook collection of excerpts from "32 of the most buzzed-about books scheduled for publication this fall and winter."
Buzz Books 2014 Fall/Winter includes excerpts from: Audrey Magee’s The Undertaking;Matthew Thomas’ We Are Not Ourselves; Jessie Burton’s The Miniaturist; and Neil Patrick Harris’ Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography, among many others.
In addition, Publishers Lunch has also published Buzz Books 2014: Young Adult, a similar collection of excerpts for YA novels. The book includes excerpts from Meg Wolitzer's Belzhar; Ellen Hopkins’ Rumble;Eric Kahn Gale’s The Zoo at the Edge of the World; and Tanuja Desai Hidier’s Bombay Blues, among others.
Both titles are available to readers in the U.S. for free through NetGalley.
Can you believe our 7 year birthday is coming? Seriously, March 1, we are 7 years old! Watch for posts throughout the month of authors we featured in the past. They will be sharing 7 Things We Don't Know or giving a speedy update on their writing.
But now, I'm posting to make a quote call. Let's See It, Say It. Take your favorite quote from YA lit, snap a pic of the page, or write the quote out and take a pic, or design something awesome over at Polyvore. However you like, get it visual and post it on our Facebook page. Authors, draw from your own works and others; readers share the best bits from the books you heart; and librarians, teachers, and booksellers, jump on in.
Our beloved Ellen Hopkins has done this for awhile:
Here's one from co-founder Dia Calhoun:
And here's another from co-founder Justina Chen:
Here's one from me which I put together on Polyvore:
So you get the idea right? Okay! Find those quotes and get them onto our Facebook page. We'll make an album and cull some for the blog as well. Thanks for celebrating with us! Happy early birthday, rgz! xox
Maceration of the Cabernet Sauvignon grapes – source – Wikimedia Commons
Mondays on this blog will be given over to musings on being: a writer (for children), a voracious reader, an MFA student, an expat in New York, a nature advocate, part of the LGBTQ community, a lifelong wanderer, an obsessive observer of human nature, and one who jives to the java bean and the fermentation-flirtation of the Cabernet Sauvignon grape!
While I shall most definitely be writing a post on, ‘Why One Should Read Outside One’s Genre,’ today I espouse the importance as writers of reading the themes, content, forms and genre in which we have rooted our own manuscript. You need to know how your book compares with the competition, and how it is different. Reading your genre is about staying current as an author, just as a teacher or doctor might. Agents and publishers will expect this of you, and you should certainly know on which shelf in a (Indie) bookstore a reader should be able to find your book!
I like to not only read in my genre, but also books that have focused on some of the big themes and subject matter in my story; maybe betrayal, or teenage pregnancy, maybe set in other cultures, or in slang…. You might read to be inspired by form and style. Maybe you are seeking to write in a more literary style, then you could perhaps read Laurie Halse Anderson’s WINTER GIRLS. Since meeting and reading most of the works of author, Ellen Hopkins, I have been fascinated by the form of novels written in verse, and have been reading broadly in this form. I am thrilled that we have on the faculty of the Stony Brook MFA program, Patty McCormick, whose novel in verse, SOLD, has so much of what I want to explore in my own writing.
In which genre are you writing? And/or what theme(s) are you exploring, and what recommendation do you, therefore, have for us? Let me kick off, and let me say that while my novel is at present in prose, I am drawn to a more poetic vehicle for the story.
Genre: Contemporary YA fiction (edgy) Form: narrative prose Themes: Estrangement, abusive parental relationships and/or LGBTQ characters and bullying
My recommendations:
SMOKE by NYT best selling author, Ellen Hopkins and published by Simon and Schuster. I was lucky to read an ARC of this novel in verse, which is released tomorrow, September, 10th 2013. I loved BURN and was not disappointed with this sequel. SMOKE addresses big themes – courage and survival, abuse, hypocrisy and silence in religious communities (LDS), gay bullying, neglect, love… the writing is quick and sparse and visually meaningful. All the characters are 3+ dimensional. If you have never read a novel in verse, I highly recommend any of Hopkin’s novels. SMOKE is also included in this recent list of Top Ten YA Releases in Sept 2013.
Okay, I have not yet read FREAKBOY, a YA novel in verse by Kristin Elizabeth Clark, which is going to be published on October 22nd, 2013, by Farrar, Strauss and Geroux, but I have discussed the book with the author and am a huge fan of her writing and very happy to see a book embracing these themes. I am convinced this will be a book with significant ripples in the YA book community. Just this week it received a starred review -“*”This gutsy, tripartite poem explores a wider variety of identities—cis-, trans-, genderqueer—than a simple transgender storyline, making it stand out.“ — Kirkus Review, starred review.
OCTOBER MOURNING by Lesléa Newman, published by Candlewick, September 25th, 2012. “A masterful poetic exploration of the impact of Matthew Shepard’s murder on the world.”
On the night of October 6, 1998, a gay twenty-one-year-old college student named Matthew Shepard was lured from a Wyoming gay bar by two young men pretending to be gay. Matthew was savagely beaten, tied to a fence, and left to die. October Mourning, is the author’s deep personal response to the events of that tragic day. It is a novel in verse, but quite different from the previous two as Newman creates fictitious monologues from various points of view, including the fence Matthew was tied to and the girlfriends of the murderers. This is a heartbreaking series of sixty-eight poems in several different poetic forms offering the reader an enduring tribute to Matthew Shepard’s life.
Your turn! Please add your recommendations in the comments below.
Happy National Poetry Month! All throughout April, we will interview poets about working in this digital age. Recently, we spoke with New York Times bestselling author Ellen Hopkins.
Hopkins (pictured, via) has been writing poetry throughout her entire life. She first established her professional writing career by penning nonfiction children’s books.
After Simon & Schuster Children’s Books publishedCrank in 2004, she became well-known for writing novels in verse. Many of her hit titles focus on dark topics including addiction, mental illness, and prostitution. Check out the highlights from our interview below…
Since 2008, SCBWI has hosted an invaluable LGBTQ&A at their national conferences.Hosted by Lee Wind (I’m here. I’m queer. What the hell do I read?), the LGBTQ&A is a great place for writers and illustrators to talk with editors, agents, and authors about issues and the current market for stories with gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, gender non-conforming or questioning youth characters and themes.
This year the panel was honored to welcome Jane Yolen, (author of over 300 books for children and teens), Bruce Coville, Ellen Hopkins, and editor Michael Strother. In the opening remarks, Jane was asked about her book SISTER LIGHT, SISTER DARK where she offered insights into the matriarchal society in the story. She was followed by Bruce Coville who when talking about AM I BLUE? said that some people didn’t think humor had a place in LGBTQ. But Bruce pointed out that laughter could be an entry point on the topic.
It was a great segue into Ellen Hopkins’s comments about normalizing through books. There was a heart wrenching moment when she talked about the struggle of some kids and teens, about suicide and depression because of bullying or confusion or lack of acceptance. And Ellen said that until we get to a place where kids are no longer killing themselves, we as authors need to keep writing about LGBTQ topics. Normalizing through books.
The panel got into a discussion on craft, and Jane told the attendees that their characters should come about organically. Let them tell you their story. Michael, an editor at Simon Pulse, told the group that it’s important that their characters have other attributes, and that they’re not just gay. Make them real, fleshed-out people.
Towards the end, a great Q&A session helped the large group of attendees get specific answers to their writing questions. It was comfortable and exciting, and writers and illustrators were able to stay after to talk privately with the panel.
For more information and book recommendations, visit:
This was a great event! I would love to see more smallish group discussions like this--ideally for people interested in writing all kinds of diverse characters. It feels like we're at a point where everyone agrees more diversity in kidlit is needed, but a lot of people are apprehensive or uncertain about writing characters who are different from them. Thanks for this fun, safe, warm gathering. I look forward to more in the future!
I would have loved to have gone to this social event as well, but I was at the Illustrator Social. Thank you so much for blogging about this special intimate event, that now I get to read and reflect on what I want to say through my own work. Again, thank you!!
Last Friday evening I joined David Levithan, Eliot Schrefer, Jennifer R. Hubbard, and Ellen Hopkins for an evening of books and talk at Children's Book World, Haverford, PA. That was then, celebrated here.
Today I'm celebrating Every Day, the new novel from which David read that evening. You can tell from the way a writer reads how invested he or she is in the work. David Levithan is fully invested.
He has a right to be. With Every Day he has crafted a book with an original premise, placed a likable narrator named A at its heart, and wondered what it would be like to wake up each morning in the body of another. To be a boy, then a girl. To be angry, then peaceful. To be forsaken, to be depressed, to be the football king, to be his twin. To be all these things on the outside, a succession of traits and 'tudes, while all along holding utterly true to the inherent A-ness of A. To be an impermanent self falling permanently in love. What would that be like? And could anyone in the world love this body-swapping soul so much that appearances won't ultimately matter?
The plot carries forward. Love is at risk. One of the borrowed bodies gets a little miffed, exposing a raw seam in the universe. Every Day is clever, but it's more than that. It is a portal—enveloping and philosophical. It asks questions that have no answers and forces us to live with that.
Why is David Levithan so popular that he had to stand on a Friday night in a Main Line bookstore to see all the way back to the last row in the crowd? Why do his fans know his birthday, in a snap, and tout his novels with religious fervor, and send the T-shirt makers into a LeviFan frenzy? It has something to do with who David Levithan is. It has to do with his transcending kindness, a quality that A believes (rightly) is so much more powerful than simply being nice. David Levithan writes from a moral center. He encourages his readers to think brightly, like this (the xxx's here to avoid spoiling anything for future readers):
Every person is a possibility. The hopeless romantics feel it most acutely, but even for others, the only way to keep going is to see every person as a possibility. The more I see the xxx that the world reflects back at him, the more of a possibility he seems. His possibility is grounded in the things that mean the most to me. Kindness. Creativity. Engagement in the world. Engagement in the possibilities of the people around him.
Possibility. It's almost political.
2 Comments on Every Day/David Levithan: Reflections, last added: 9/26/2012
We think it's pretty special out here when generosity, talent, humility, spark, and through-and-through writerliness live within one person. The fact that all that (and more) defines David Levithan—Scholastic editor, mold-smithering author, and genuine conversationalist—explains, at least in part, his ricocheting popularity.
Last evening, at Children's Book World in Haverford, PA, David shared his stage with the wildly popular Ellen Hopkins, the delightful Eliot Schrefer, my new and powerfully talented friend Jennifer R. Hubbard, and me. We each read briefly. Eliot took our breaths away with baby bonobo photos. A very generous CBW plied us with special treats, even customized cookies. And writerly/readerly teens do what they do so well—let us into their world with questions and thoughts.
A.S. King, we're all coming right back there for you on October 30, to celebrate your much-anticipated new book, Ask the Passengers. Please bring your duplicate. We love her. K.M. Walton, we are indebted, always, to your immaculate kindness and talent (and your photographs; thank you for the last one!). To my many friends (and client/friend!) who slipped into the crowd, thank you.
I have come home with some glorious new books to read. I'll start with Every Day, David Levithan's newest. Many times in the past few weeks I have had to stop myself from buying the book. Sometimes waiting for that moment is worth it.
4 Comments on The Fab Five: David Levithan, Ellen Hopkins, Jennifer R. Hubbard, Eliot Schrefer, (and me): our night at Children's Book World, last added: 9/23/2012
So awesome. Wish I could have been there. Will be curious to hear your thoughts on Every Day. I had shamelessly begged for an early copy of this book some months ago. I've never done that before, I was just that intrigued.
I have the great privilege of joining David Levithan, Ellen Hopkins, Eliot Schrefer, and Jennifer Hubbard this coming Friday, 7 PM, at Children's Book World in Haverford, PA. CBW is billing us as the Fab Five, and I have Philomel publicist (every author's dream publicist and my good friend) Jessica Shoffel to thank for making me Feel So Fab.
I hope that you will join us. The photograph above was taken during the Publishing Perspectives "What Makes a Children's Book Great?" conference held earlier this summer, where I had so much fun joining moderator Dennis Abrams on the author panel. The smart and savvy notables from left to right are Roger Horn (The Horn Book), Pamela Paul (New York Times), David Levithan (Scholastic editor and author phenom), and my good friend Jennifer Brown, a former school teacher, editor, reviewer, and jury panelist (not to mention head of children's books for Shelf Awareness) whom I always rightly refer to as this country's ambassador for children's books.
2 Comments on The Fab Five (I feel like a Rock Star), last added: 9/19/2012
So last week I shared a bit about my experience at ALA. Here is the rest of the dirt. This time no pictures of me (possibly), just fawning over famous-er and hugely (brilliantly) talented people (and therefore this post will get lots of hits).
Seriously.
It was like Wonderland (or WondLa- land, but I didn't get to see Tony DiTerlizzi). A famous face at every turn. Fun to say hi, to have a chance conversation, to meet a hero and be inspired. Here are some inspiring moments and inspiring people ...
The charming, enchanting and legendary Ashley Bryan, signing his book 'Word's to My Life's Song'.
If you haven't read it yet, GO get it.
And then I got to sign my book for Ashley when he dropped by Charlesbridge Booth! A-MAZ-ING.
A hug from Mr. Bryan can keep you warm and inspired a long time, let me tell you.
Here is the wonderful David Small. I love David's work .. his loose and yet controlled line work is so awesome. He's signing 'One Cool Friend' by Toni Buzzeo of MAINE. So I had to get a copy ....
LUUURRRRVVV this drawing he did!!!
4 Comments on What happened at ALA Anaheim 2012 - Part deux, last added: 7/10/2012
Love, love, love this post. The next best thing to going to an event like this is pictures from someone who was tickled to be there. Thanks for putting faces to some of the names I've heard of for so long.
And yes, to have a character come to life and walk around a show is an admirable goal. Make it happen.
I had my picture book all ready for today’s post, along with my three activities. But I can’t let this time pass without talking about the tragedy of Whitney Houston’s death. It’s on a lot of people’s minds–especially those of us who grew up in the 80s and then saw The Bodyguard over and over again in 1992. My very first concert on my own with my best friend, Kristin, was Whitney at The Muny (outdoor theater in Forest Park) in St. Louis, MO in 1985, right before we started high school. We had to leave before the concert was over because Whitney liked to really add to her songs–extending each one with all sorts of runs and musical interludes. So, she was still playing and we were running to the front of The Muny to be picked up by our parents because we were too young to even drive to the concert.
If you are a girl of the 80s, you know you say, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” and thought of the cute guy in your homeroom. . .
So what’s YA author Ellen Hopkins have to do with Whitney Houston? It hasn’t been confirmed yet how Whitney died, but it is probably going to have something to do with substance abuse. She either mixed something or took to much of something or weakened her body from years of abuse. She had a wonderful talent, a family that loved her, a beautiful child, and she STILL couldn’t find power over drugs. If anyone knows how drugs can effect lives, it’s Ellen Hopkins.
If you aren’t familiar with her books: Crank, Glass, Fallout, they are loosely based on her daughter’s crystal meth addiction. Here’s what she says on her website, “By writing the story from ‘my daughter’s’ perspective, I learned a lot, both about her, and about myself. But I also learned a lot about the nature of addiction, and the physiology of this particular substance. For those struggling with similar addictions, there is help, but the road to recovery is not easy. The addict has to want to get well. Rehabilitation cannot be forced. For those who love someone struggling with addiction, learn as much as you can about
how a substance works on the brain. This will help divorce you from the overwhelming emotion involved.”
Ellen Hopkins’s Crank series of books are powerful. They are written in verse, and they are real. They do not paint a pretty picture of addiction. They’re often banned in close-minded communities, where people don’t want to admit that kids as young as elementary school are involved with drugs and in sexual situations. I believe ALL 8th graders should read these books, maybe even younger–required reading to see what drugs are really like and to see the mess that they can create in your life.
If we start looking at the problem realistically, maybe we can save a few talents, like Whitney. We have to start protecting our children in a different way by educating them on how the “big, bad world” really works.
The Los Angeles Review of Books (LARB) celebrated Banned Books Week with a series of essays by YA authors called “Getting Banned.”
The authors in the Getting Banned essays have all had their work banned or challenged at some point. Follow these links to read essays by Ron Koertge, Ellen Hopkins, Susan Patron, Sonya Sones and Lauren Myracle. LARB‘s YA editor Cecil Castellucci explained: “YA authors are on the front lines of today’s censorship battle.”
The web publication will also publish a two-part essay by English professor Loren Glass about the 1960′s obscenity trials Grove Press faced for publishing William Burroughs‘ Naked Lunch and Henry Miller‘s The Tropic of Cancer. Nickel and Dimed author Barbara Ehrenreich will also publish a Banned Books Week essay on Saturday.
It’s Banned Books Week–the week to celebrate and draw attention to the books that have been challenged or banned across the U.S. If it was up to some people, we wouldn’t read anything but The Little Engine That Could. In the past, I have featured some banned books. I’ll mention a couple of my favorites here and the links now.
Also I wanted to announce the winner of COLD CASE from last Monday’s post; it is Amy Camp! Thank you to everyone who left a comment. I really appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule to check out this great book.
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry (September 13th 2011) ARC: 544 Pages Series: Impulse # 2 Genre: YA Contemporary Book from: Publisher*
Everyone has something, someone, somewhere else that they’d rather be. For four high-school seniors, their goals of perfection are just as different as the paths they take to get there.
Cara’s parents’ unrealistic expectations have already sent her twin brother Conner spiraling toward suicide. For her, perfect means rejecting their ideals to take a chance on a new kind of love. Kendra covets the perfect face and body—no matter what surgeries and drugs she needs to get there. To score his perfect home run—on the field and off—Sean will sacrifice more than he can ever win back. And Andre realizes to follow his heart and achieve his perfect performance, he’ll be living a life his ancestors would never understand.
Everyone wants to be perfect, but when perfection loses its meaning, how far will you go? What would you give up to be perfect?
Review by Jess
PERFECT, by Ellen Hopkins is beautiful yet heart-breaking, magical and tragic, the title says it all, this novel was perfect.
I have read all of Ellen Hopkins novels and I was more that excited to read this, and I had very high expectations and those expectations were definitely met. Hopkins' writing is in one word, breathtaking. I found myself hanging on every sentence and every happening treasuring the beauty.
The characters in this novel were real, I felt like I could connect with the characters and relate their troubles to my own life which made the read so much more intoxicating. I loved reading Cara after already having read Impulse where her twin brother is featured. Getting to see the two P.O.V.'s was amazing.
I liked that the individual stories of each of the characters connected with each other in some way. There was not one point in this book where I didn't want to be reading it. This is a book you can read over and over again too. I was constantly anticipating what was going to happen and how each character would react to some situations, and there were some points where my predictions were COMPLETELY wrong and that is a welcome change sometimes.
All and all, this novel is a masterpiece. Ellen Hopkins nailed it AGAIN! If you have read Impulse then I highly highly suggest reading this, or if you love reading books you just can't put down. I am excited to read more from Ellen Hopkin in the future.
*FTC Disclosure: I received this ARC from the publisher. I do not receive payment of any kind in exchange for a review. I do not receive monetary compensation from any book links in my review.
0 Comments on ARC Review: Perfect by Ellen Hopkins as of 1/1/1900
Every one of Ellen Hopkins' seven young adult novels in verse have hit the New York Times Bestseller lists, and there's a reason - they're powerful, compelling, and masterful. Every word seems perfectly chosen. Every poem is laid out on the page in a way that draws you in and then beyond the words. Every character is bared through their mind's lens.
And you can't stop reading because you have to know what happens next.
I didn't enter Ellen's intensive thinking 'I want to write a novel in verse,' but Ellen achieves intensely powerful emotions and her stories grab you and don't let go - and she does it with such economy and artistry. I had to see what I could learn, and then apply, to my own writing.
With worksheets and examples from her own work, she guided us through exercises that pulled out of us things about our characters that we'd never before considered. A few attendees read their poems out loud after the writing, and the level of accomplishment across the room was inspiring.
For one of the exercises, I re-worked the opening scene of my current MG work in progress, taking it from prose to verse. It was magical. Excess detail and repetition fell away, and character motivations leapt forward. The scene had so much more emotion and impact this way.
I raised my hand to share. As I read, the words felt so right. Spare, and still funny. Filled with emotion and conflict. So much more what I was hoping for. I was heartened by the laughter (in all the right places) and the kind encouragement from Ellen and my fellow workshop participants.
Now, I'm inspired to dive into my rewrite with this new way of telling my characters' story. Will it become a novel in verse? I'm not sure, but I do know that for me, this workshop was a huge creative breakthrough.
Thank you, Ellen. And thanks SCBWI for giving me - and the rest of the class - this incredible opportunity!
2 Comments on My Experience at the Ellen Hopkins Writers Intensive: Writing Novels In Verse, last added: 8/10/2011
Once again, it’s time for the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week. Yes, it’s sad that we even have to have a week like this each year; but at least, enough people are outraged by banning books that we have a week to recognize them. Pictured here, And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson, is one of the top ten most challenged books in 2009. Why? Well, let’s see. . .it focuses on two male penguins who are given a baby penguin to raise at New York’s Central Park Zoo. And it is based on a true story. And those crazy advocates of book banning think it is promoting homosexual behavior, same-sex marriages/adoption, and get this. . .homosexuality in ANIMALS. How many of us are really sitting at home worrying about whether or not male dogs or female gorillas are bonding in the wild? I guess there are some people who do this–obviously.
And this is why I love Banned Books Week because it shows us, the normal readers, how people can take a simple and beautiful TRUE story, like And Tango Makes Three, and turn it into something controversial and challenged. It’s crazy. The craziest thing–when are these book banners going to realize that by banning these books, they actually become MORE POPULAR? How many of you had heard of And Tango Makes Three before I talked about it today? How many of you now want to read it? (I am waving my hand in the air.)
Other top ten challenged books in 2009 are: ttly (the whole series), To Kill a Mockingbird, Twilight (series), The Chocolate War, and more. To check out everything about Banned Books Week, go to the ALA website here.
My cyber author friend, Ellen Hopkins (author of The Crank series shown above), has to face book banning all the time. Parents are constantly challenging her books, and schools are constantly taking the books off the shelves. It is even happening where she lives. Lately, she’s been talking a lot about it on Twitter and Facebook. One of the comments someone left on her Facebook page was that she is a huge fan of Hopkins’s books, but that she agreed they weren’t appropriate for middle schoolers. I left a comment after that one, stating nicely that middle schoolers know A LOT about sex and drugs NOW, and that books like Ellen’s can only help them. Hopkins is not saying–let’s all go out and get addicted to crystal meth. In her Crank series, she realistically shows how a “good girl” can get hooked, and how it can ruin her life. We need to face facts–some kids are taking drugs in middle school. If reading Crank can stop even one middle school kid from taking drugs, then it needs to be ON THE SHELF! Someone else left the comment that as a parent, she wanted the choice of whether or not her child read the book–she wanted them available to all kids, and then parents can be the ones to decide for their own children. AMEN!
What’s your stand on banned books? If you are a teacher, do you talk about these books/teach any of these books in your classroom? If you are an author, have your books ever been challenged?
BTW, there’s still time to enter the Mockingjay book giveaway today (September 27) until 8:00 p.m. CST tonight! Go here: Mockingjay Book Giveaway.
I may be extra sensitive to book banning, since my parents literally burned and tore up some of my favorite books, and prevented me from having access to books through removing all my books for weeks at a time as punishment when I (quite desperately) depended on books as survival. And also because they consistently tried to silence me.
Books are so important, and a way for people to find validation, support, and information in a safe way that they wouldn’t otherwise find out about. They offer healing, a widening of the world and of dreams, and for me, they have been soul food. So to hear about people trying to prevent others from reading any book makes me angry. If you don’t want to read a book yourself, that’s fine–walk away from it. But to try to keep a book from everyone, or from a group of people? That’s not okay.
I found one of my favorite picture books, And Tango Makes Three, about a gay penguin couple, through book banning and challenges. So sometimes book banning may help to get the word out…to *some* people. But it prevents others from finding these wonderful books, and it saddens and angers me that this happens at all–and still happens today. To me it seems like an act of oppression, and of power. Something I’m quite familiar with.
I hope you’ll consider buying (or borrowing) and reading some of these banned books–and sharing them with others. I hope, too, that you’ll
3 Comments on Banned Book Week: Speak Up, and Pick Up a Good Book, last added: 9/26/2010
Tweets that mention Cheryl Rainfield: » Banned Bo said, on 9/26/2010 1:26:00 AM
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Cheryl Rainfield, How To Do Stuff. How To Do Stuff said: RT @CherylRainfield Banned Book Week: Speak Up & Pick Up a Good Book! (my blog post) http://ht.ly/2JYhy #YAlit #bookbanning #SpeakLoudly [...]
Book Chook said, on 9/26/2010 6:29:00 PM
This is such a crucial point, Cheryl: “Books are so important, and a way for people to find validation, support, and information in a safe way that they wouldn’t otherwise find out about. They offer healing, a widening of the world and of dreams, and for me, they have been soul food.” I wholeheartedly agree with you, and deplore the way some people try to control others’ choices by banning books.
I’m so glad you not only survived, but thrived! And you have gone on to help others through your own books.
Cheryl Rainfield said, on 9/26/2010 6:33:00 PM
Thank you, Book Chook (hugging you). I also hate the way some people try to control others through banning books. It seems to me that it’s about power and control…and is a kind of oppression. Something I experienced a lot of.
And thank you for saying that–that my books help others. It is something I care about a lot. Books truly were one of the things that helped me survive. Books, dissociation, writing, art, and self-harm…they all were what kept me here and alive and able to dream and love and care.
Tonight we had the highest attendance of any chat to date, thanks to the attendance of @EllenHopkinsYA (Ellen Hopkins, Bestselling YA verse novelist), steampunk author @KateMilford and @WriterLor (Lorin Oberweger, founder of Free-Expressions Seminars (Writing The Breakout Novel Intensive week-long workshop with NY agent Donald Maass).
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I'm working on revisions for Hollyweird and I'm trying to work out a sticky plot point, but I haven't come up with the perfect thing yet. I know eventually I'll be zapped with an "Aha!" moment, but I hope it hurries up. LOL. I don't like feeling stuck. In the meantime I'm doing research and looking for inspiration everywhere. I want to nail this ending!
This weekend I'm going to the Colorado Teen Lit Conference and I'm really looking forward to it. I get to visit with some authors I only get to see at these events (Lauren Myracle, Todd Mitchell, Amy Kathleen Ryan) and I'm looking forward to meeting new authors Amy Efaw and Becca Fitzgerald (who I've only spoken to on email).
I'm also really excited to FINALLY meet Ellen Hopkins. We had stories together in the anthology Breaking Up Is Hard To Do and I have an essay in the anthology about her work, Flirtin' with the Monster. Ellen and I have talked on email, and both Lynda and Nic have met her, but I've yet to have that pleasure.
Even more fun will be having two of my creative writing club teens attend with me. :) I know the Kels(e)ys are going to have a blast!
This conference is always a favorite of mine. And this year the weather is supposed to be much nicer than last year so attendance should be higher.
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Happy National Poetry Month! All throughout April, we will interview poets about working in this digital age. Recently, we spoke with New York Times bestselling author Ellen Hopkins.
The Los Angeles Review of Books (LARB) celebrated Banned Books Week with a series of essays by YA authors called “Getting Banned.”
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and 
; 
; and the 
. Those are all wonderful, powerful, truly *important* YA books that deserve to reach people–that teens and adults should have the chance to discover and read.
, about a gay penguin couple, through book banning and challenges. So sometimes book banning may help to get the word out…to *some* people. But it prevents others from finding these wonderful books, and it saddens and angers me that this happens at all–and still happens today. To me it seems like an act of oppression, and of power. Something I’m quite familiar with.
This was a great event! I would love to see more smallish group discussions like this--ideally for people interested in writing all kinds of diverse characters. It feels like we're at a point where everyone agrees more diversity in kidlit is needed, but a lot of people are apprehensive or uncertain about writing characters who are different from them. Thanks for this fun, safe, warm gathering. I look forward to more in the future!
I would have loved to have gone to this social event as well, but I was at the Illustrator Social. Thank you so much for blogging about this special intimate event, that now I get to read and reflect on what I want to say through my own work. Again, thank you!!