What better day for book trailers than a Saturday?
The Mapmaker and the Ghost is a MG book by Sarvenaz Tash. (how to pronounce)
read the first three chapters!
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Classroom Connections is a series meant to introduce teachers to new books.
Sarvenaz Tash - THE MAPMAKER AND THE GHOST (Walker/Bloomsbury, April 24, 2012)
age range: 8-12
study guide
What inspired you to write this story?
I really wanted to write the kind of adventure story I would have loved as a kid. I woke up one morning having dreamt about a girl named Goldenrod Moram, and I thought, what kind of girl would have that name? And then I thought, it sounds like a fairy tale name but wouldn’t it be funny if she was a smart, practical kid who was actually annoyed by that fact? And it went on from there.
Could you share with readers a few interesting tidbits you learned while researching?
I learned so much, especially about Lewis and Clark (Goldenrod’s heroes)! I learned all about the extraordinary number of plants and animals they discovered and documented (like coyotes and prairie dogs). I learned that they traveled over 7,000 miles, a lot of it on foot. I learned that Meriwether Lewis got shot in the leg by one of his nearsighted crew members who mistook him for an elk.
3 Comments on Classroom Connections: The Mapmaker and the Ghost, last added: 5/22/2012
Sarvenaz Tash on the Magic Author Formula
I’m always a little hesitant to talk about my “writer journey,” mainly because I’m not sure where the line is between interesting/informative and boring/stop talking about yourself! I will say this, the writer journey and the author journey have one big thing in common: there is a lot of waiting involved. A LOT. I really think more than anyone who’s not in the publishing business can possibly understand (“Wait, when does your book come out?” is probably my #1 FAQ as a soon-to-be-published author).
If I had to break down “what it takes” to be an author, I’d probably do it like this:
20% Talent/Natural Affinity: I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was 7 years old and I’ve been doing it since then too. Obviously, it’s something I love to do and have a passion and a knack for.
30% Luck: I met my agent because she was teaching a children’s writing class I was taking (this was before she was an agent). That was luck. When she took me on, she shopped around a different manuscript that didn’t sell, although one editor liked my blog enough to ask if I had anything more similar (read: funnier) to that. It was luck that I even had a blog (which was about how ridiculous Times Square was because my office was in that area). It was luck that she saw something in my voice to edit my way-too-short manuscript with me on spec.
And somewhere in South America, a butterfly flaps its wings…
50% Hard Work/Determination/Perseverance: I’d come home from my 50+-hour work week and I’d write. I quit one day job—because it was getting too intense to let me write—for another. I still came home and wrote. I
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Awesome interview. That's great how Sarvenaz came up with the idea for this book. Looking forward to reading it.
Sharing this on facebook so my teacher friends can pick it up. Sounds fantastic. Great interview. :)
Sounds like a fantastic read! I think my daughter would like it.