How to use this Page

WHO DONE IT? Is out today!



There's a party.

There's a murder.

There are way too many sketchy alibis.

In an "Investigation of murder most foul" children's and YA authors will try to convince you, dear reader, of their innocence. Just because they write for kids doesn't make them angels!

My own alibi involves stolen cow hooves, stinky cheese, and an unfortunate train ride to NYC.

Order your copy today to benefit 826nyc: "a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6-18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write."

Happy Birthday to Vampirina!!!!!


Shop Indie Bookstores

When Anne Marie Pace shared the F&G's with me many months ago, I predicted BIG THINGS for this book. I stand by my prediction. With a nod to Elloise, this book has a certain nostalgic quality to it that reminds you of the magic a picture book holds. This one is really special.

Congratulations, annemariepace!!!!!!

Have you read this yet? And if not, have you put it on your must-read list yet?



I highly recommend that you do.

There is mystery. There is action. There is love. There is gorgeous writing. I promise you will not be able to put it down once you start. I am so excited about this book! Someone PLEASE make it into a movie! :-)

Most of you know what a wonderful writer, teacher, friend and mom Kate Messner is, so you can imagine how thrilled I am to have here here as my first ever guest blogger!!

Everyone say, "Hi, Kate!"

Kate is celebrating her new, beautiful book, Sugar And Ice.



Description:
For Claire Boucher, life is all about skating on the frozen cow pond and in the annual Maple Show right before the big pancake breakfast on her family's farm. But all that changes when Russian skating coach Andrei Grosheva offers Claire a scholarship to train with the elite in Lake Placid. Tossed into a world of mean girls on ice, where competition is everything, Claire realizes that her sweet dream come true has sharper edges than she could have imagined. Can she find the strength to stand up to the people who want to see her fail and the courage to decide which dream she wants to follow?

The book has already made the Junior Library Guild Selection AND Winter 2010-2011 Kids IndieNext List!

I was lucky enough to get an ARC at NCTE/ALAN and will be posting my own glowing report soon. I can't wait to read it!

And the best news, the book is officially on sale TOMORROW! You can order it from your local Indie in time for the holidays!

But wait! There's more!

The Bookstore Plus in Lake Placid is hosting a launch party from 3-5 pm on Saturday, December 11th. If you can’t make it but would still like a signed, personalized copy, just give them a call at (518) 523-2950 by December 10th. They’ll take your order, have Kate sign your book after the event, and ship it out to you in plenty of time for the holidays.

Or, if you have a favorite Indie you like to shop at, you can order it there, too.

Shop Indie Bookstores

Kate is here to talk about an important topic: Reluctant Writers.

And now, heeeeeeere's Kate!! *wild applause*

One of the very best things about writing books for kids has been the people writing has brought into my life. Last month at the NCTE/ALAN conference, I was lucky enough to be on a panel with David Macinnis Gill, Chris Crowe, and Jo Knowles. Our title was “The Perks of Being a Wallflower Writer: Helping Teens and Tweens Discover and Share their Voices,” and while I love talking about this topic, I think on this particular day, I loved listening even more.

David and Chris talked about strategies for helping young writers, providing a framework for success and ideas for making a big project feel manageable. And Jo talked a lot about the sharing part of the writing process, something that I just loved, since I’m a classroom teacher of middle school kids. Her strategy of taking volunteers to share but asking that everyone comment and provide out-loud feedback for the shared writing encourages talk, and supportive talk in the classroom leads to more talk and to trust.

Here are three more things I like to tell reluctant writers in my classroom and writing workshops in the way of encouragement:

• It’s not a test.

So much of the writing kids do in school is graded on very particular criteria, and sometimes this creates anxiety. What’s the right answer? What’s the right way to structure this, to set it up? How long does it have to be? The answer for creative writing is, “You get to decide all that. You do. Because you are the writer.”

• You get to choose things you love to write about.

When I look at

Recently I received a lovely package in the mail from McElderry Books. It contained this:

Shop Indie Bookstores

and this:

Shop Indie Bookstores

I LOVE Andrea Beaty's picture books (and also her beautiful middle grade novel, Cicada Summer). Andrea has the best sense of humor and it SHINES in her texts. I adored her first Ted book, DOCTOR TED, and was looking forward to Ted's next adventure. It's even sillier!

The silliness starts when Ted sprays a smoking slice of toast with whipped cream.

"Stand back!" shouted Firefighter Ted. He put out the toast and helped his mother to safety.
"That was your breakfast," said his mother.
"It still is," said Firefighter Ted, "and now it's nutritious and safe."
"Go to school," said his mother.
"Remember," said Firefighter Ted, only you can prevent breakfast fires."

The illustrations are hysterical and like all the best pbs, add a whole new dimension to the text. I can't wait to read about Ted's next adventure! Go Andrea and Pascal! :-)

Andrea's other book, HUSH, BABY GHOSTLING (and also illustrated by Pascal Lemaitre) is a sweet, clever bedtime book that turns the usual nighttime fears on their head, with Baby Ghostling being afraid of things that comfort the average little kid.

Sweet Baby Ghostling.
What is that you hear?
Songs and laughter in your room?
It's just the wind, my dear.

Close your eyes and drift to sleep
and dream of midnight skies.
Of hisses, howls and screeching owls.
Of bats and banshee cries.

This is the perfect Halloween book. With lovely, soothing rhyme, and of course a touch of Andrea Beaty silliness.

I plan to take both of these books to class this week because I think they are wonderful examples for modeling all the things that make a GREAT picture book. Thanks Andrea!


~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Monday morning warm-up:

Think of something funny you did as a child. You know, that embarrassing story your family likes to bring up at big family gatherings. Now rewrite that scene in third person, as a short story or picture book. Have fun!

Part of Mary Pearson's The Miles Between Road Trip ARC Tour asks the readers to take a photo of the ARC in a place that is special to them in their hometown. While there are many places I like in my hometown, the places I really love are the quiet ones that calm me and remind me of what matters every day. And because that's what Mary's book does, I thought it made sense to take it these places instead.

This is the view from the road I take into town. There's a faster way to go, but if I take this road, I get to see peaceful scenes like this:


And this is the view of the dairy farm just up my road. I was hoping the cows would be out but the farmers haven't opened this field to them yet this year. No matter what time of year, no matter what time of day, this view always stops me. You can't see in the photo, but all along that line of trees is an ancient old stone wall that meanders up and over the hill. Sometimes in the golden afternoon light it looks like a painting. My photo doesn't do it near enough justice, as I was trying to get my VT license plate in the shot, heh, but maybe it gives you a tiny sense of its beauty, and that something magical might live on the other side:


For all the complaining about living in the Middle of Nowhere, I am awfully lucky that Nowhere is so beautiful.

THE MILES BETWEEN is a road trip book, so clearly it's already awesome. But more than that, it's a powerful book about friendship, love and acceptance. It's about being brave enough to look at the person sitting next to you, and then look again. More closely. With more care and thought. And then by taking the time to look inside that person, you end up seeing yourself, too.

There is very little I can say about the plot without giving it away, so that's where I'll stop. Except to say, put this one on your list for sure. :-)

Have fun with it, thunderchikin!

I finished this book last night. I finished it and thought, Wow. That was really... honest. And sad. And brave. And smart. And, well, very very real.

Val is fading. Going through the motions of school and life. Her closest friends have moved away. Her brother left home a while ago, and her mom is pretty much a zombie. If things don't change soon, Val will disappear—and as you read about her in those opening pages, you think not just metaphorically.

Then in walks Francie and changes everything. Sort of.

Here, Val tries on a dress Francie stole for her after their first of many outings to the mall:

The dress itched a little. I suddenly felt awkward. For one thing, it looked really stupid with sneakers. But more than that, I guess it was because of what I wanted: I wanted to be beautiful. I wanted to be like Francie, and I knew that I never, ever could. Standing there, in front of someone so different from me, in that ridiculous dress, I was revealing all of my stupidist ambitions.

That's the beginning of Val's metamorphosis. Trying on that new, itchy skin. (And by the way, I love how Madison does this. Everything is so subtle and in your face at the same time. I don't know how he does that.)

Here's Val talking about Francie just a little bit later:

I wanted to be like her. I wanted to be the type of person who believed in something, even if it was something crazy and sort of ridiculous. I wanted to be beautiful, but not beautiful like one of those girls in perfume ads.I wanted to be beautiful like Francie. She was burning brilliant with courage and self assurance. There was something about her that was not good but really kind of perfect.

But the more Val hangs out with Francie, the more the glow around her starts to flicker. And Val begins to see through the smoke and mirrors. Here is one of my very favorite moments:

The way she was sitting there, so uncertain all of a sudden, shoulders slumped, mouth twitching, she looked just like a little girl. It was like she was a Russian doll and had stepped outside herself as someone nearly the same except smaller, and then again, and smaller, and finally one more time so small that she was hardly there at all. But then she was standing, and as she stood she gathered herself back together, and by the time she was to her feet she was whole again, had collected up every bit of the doubt she'd just betrayed, had hidden it away somewhere where she wouldn't have to think about it.

And that is an awful lot to share already. But I hope it's enough to convince you to put it on your list, or move it to the top of your pile.

This is more than a story about friendship. In some ways, it's not even about friendship at all, even though it's the story of two friends. I think it's about feeling invisible. And vulnerable. And powerless. And how we build up all these fake doll shells around our real selves, maybe to reinvent ourselves, maybe to protect ourselves. Maybe both. And it's about realizing maybe we don't need them after all. That the smallest doll, the one tucked way inside, is the most solid, really, in the end. Or maybe it's not. You'll have to read the book to find out. And please do it soon, because I can't wait to talk about the ending with someone!

:-)