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Here's what makes me smile:

When I get to eavesdrop on middle school boys talking about girls. :)

- Jenny Han

Read my full-length interviews with Jenny here and here.
Read my review of Jenny's first novel, Shug.
Also pick up The Summer I Turned Pretty, Jenny's fantastic second novel.

Want to know what makes other authors and readers smile? Follow the series of interviews.

Enter the Smile giveaway before February 28th!

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This just in from The Longstockings:

To celebrate the launch of our beautiful new site, and to celebrate you our longtime readers... The Longstockings are going to offer up our workshopping services to TWELVE LUCKY READERS during 2010!

To enter, just send one email to [email protected] with the subject line JANUARY WORKSHOP! We will be accepting entries until December 31st.

Here's how this will work...

From the emails received each month, we will select one lucky writer (at random) to submit a maximum of 25 pages to our workshop group. And that writer will receive a document compiling the helpful notes, suggestions and (surely) lots of praise from The Longstockings!

So enter now for January! We'll announce our first workshop winner on Monday January 4th. And fear not if you don't hit the jackpot this time, as we will repeat this process EVERY SINGLE MONTH OF 2010!

Get excited! Get typing! We can't wait to read your words!

If you're interested or want to learn more, please visit their site.

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Today's Art Saves contribution and guest blog comes from Siobhan Vivian. I highly recommend Siobhan's novels, A Little Friendly Advice and Same Difference, both of which have been recommended reads at readergirlz. ALFA appeared in the March 2008 issue while Same Difference is included in this month's issue.

Click image above to view full size in a new window.

For my book, Same Difference, I researched a ton of artists. I knew I wanted to include some of the more famous ones by name, but I was also hoping to be inspired with ideas for how my characters could both experience and make art.

It was during that research when I first became aware of Andy Goldsworthy, who then became a huge influence on my book. There's a really cool documentary on his work called his work called RIVERS AND TIDES. If you are AT ALL interested in art, watch it. You will be captivated!

The best way I can explain Andy Goldsworthy's work is to call him a Nature Graffiti Artist. He painstakingly collects found objects and uses them to make sculptures in their natural surroundings. I'm talking rocks, flowers, twigs, leaves, icicles. Crazy.

And here's the absolute coolest thing -- many of his pieces are temporary. He gives his work back over to nature, to the environment, like a sacrifice. The flowers die, the sticks break, the leaves blow away. And then, it's over. This gives his work a real immediacy, a specialness. If you see it, great. If you miss it...too bad. It's gone. I was really amazed by that kind of artistic process. To invest the time and care it takes to create something and then to not know low long you have with it before it disappears.

It's kind of a nice way to live life. You make something beautiful and accept that it might not be appreciated, it might not last. But that's not what matters. What matters is that you keep making beautiful things.

- Siobhan Vivian

Visit Siobhan's website and journal.
Read my interview with Siobhan.
Read my review of Siobhan's first novel, A Little Friendly Advice.
Check out the readergirlz roundtable discussion of A Little Friendly Advice.

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I love A Little Friendly Advice. I've given the book to teens who also loved it, so it's not odd at all to hear someone come into my store and declare, "I heart ALFA." I enjoyed the book for a million different reasons: the writing, the storytelling, the characters, everything that spun together like cotton candy to make for a sweet, memorable book. Even the cover is fantastic - and it's also true to the story, but more about that later.

I also enjoy the storyteller. Whether we're talking about literature or food, little things or big coincidences, Siobhan Vivian never fails to crack me up. It is my absolute pleasure to present An Interview with -

Wait. Okay, first of all, for people out there who have difficulties pronouncing Siobhan, I'm going to sound it out: Shove-on.

Now we can move on. (But no pushing!)

Which came first, the title or the main plotline?

The title came first . . . though it was not originally A Little Friendly Advice.

I had been strolling through the big Diane Arbus exhibition at LACMA on Easter Sunday 2003. I remember the day exactly, because the museum was totally empty and I could get up close to all the pictures.

One photo in particular caught my eye, and I stared for at least 20 minutes. It was of a tough-looking girl wearing a jean jacket covered in little buttons. I couldn’t exactly make out what was written on them, but one looked to say something like Lost Daddy's Love...

The story exploded into my head right then and there. I ran outside and scribbled a rough plot down on my museum map, and Lost Daddy's Love became the working title.

At the very start of the story, Ruby gets a Polaroid camera for her sixteenth birthday, which she uses to take pictures of her friends. Those pictures grace the cover of the book - and I think they're pretty darn accurate.

Aren't they awesome?!

Did you have any say in the cover design and the text typesetting?

I didn't go to the actual model casting, but Scholastic asked me to provide some short-hand descriptions of the four main characters and how I might like to see them posed. They followed my suggestions to the letter! I think my favorite thing about the photography is that the girls look like real girls. They’re not overly styled or airbrushed.

As for cover design, my editor David originally pitched the concept of four Polaroids, with one word from the title written in marker on each picture. I loved the idea, though in execution it was kind of hard to read. So we went with the masking tape as a back-up. I’m so happy with the result.

Shortly after Ruby takes up photography, she befriends the quirky Charlie, who makes equally quirky pins. What made you equip your main characters with such cool hobbies?

I have always been attracted to people who make stuff. And not just because they tend to give awesome presents!

I feel like creative people are adventuresome by nature. They're not afraid to mess up. In fact . . . they often embrace their mistakes. They're more romantic. They’re more passionate. Those were all traits I wanted Charlie and Ruby to eventually connect on. So giving them each a creative outlet made sense.

I really enjoyed all of your supporting characters, especially Ruby's parents. Each had their own personality and stumbling blocks.

Oh, thank you!

You're welcome. Do either of the parents in the book or their tones echo anything from your own household?

There's nothing too literal, thankfully, but there are definite similarities in how Ruby learns to communicate with both her Mom and Dad.

It's such a strange thing when you know someone means well, but they still fall way short of your expectations. I think that's a hard thing for anyone to come to terms with, and something I've certainly struggled with as my parents have become more like "real people" to me.

Ruby's best friend Beth is also friends with Maria and Katherine. Ruby gets along with Maria, but she would gladly do without Katherine. You captured that weird feeling that comes about when your friend has a friend who is not YOUR friend. Did that happen to you in high school?

Mm-hmm. It makes for a really strange dynamic, doesn't it? You'd think that if two people were connected by a common friend, there’d be a really high probability that they'd get along themselves. Ha. If only!

You have co-written a picture book with J. Otto Seibold called Vunce Upon a Time. How did that come to pass, and when will it be available?

I met Jimmy while living in Los Angeles. We had always talked about doing a book together, and worked on a TV idea that never took off. Life got in the way after that, and when I moved back to NYC, we lost touch. Then we reconnected last year and shortly thereafter, Vunce was born! It’s a sweet story and the art is really rad. I'm very proud of it. It will be published by Chronicle and will be available this Halloween! (insert spooky "OooOOoo!" sound here)

When I'm home, I'm always listening to music or to a program or film on TV - unless I'm writing something. In that case, I have to turn off the TV (too distracting) and listen only to music. Do you have any writing rituals?

Buy a fancy coffee, set iTunes to play dedicated music for a particular chapter/character, and turn my internet off. Having no web access is essential to having a productive writing day.

You have a background in film and television.

My undergraduate degree was in Writing for Film and Television. After graduation, I moved to Los Angeles and worked in kids television for a few years, in jobs ranging from being the assistant to a network head, working as a literary scout for an independent animation company, and doing PA work on a few shows. I've even had my hand up inside some Muppets!

Are you still involved in the entertainment industry?

I'm still semi-involved with that industry. This past year, I worked as a staff writer for a preschool show on The Disney Channel. I'd love to do more work in that field. It's a lot of fun, and a nice change of pace from writing books.

Would you ever develop your books into screenplays?

I would absolutely d-i-e if someone wanted to make ALFA into a film, but I'm not sure how involved I'd want to be in the process. I think I might be a little too close to the material to make the changes necessary for adaptation. Just give me a cameo and one of those folding chairs with my name on the back and I'd be set.

Care to give readers A Little Friendly Advice about...

... taking Polaroid pictures?

Outkast lied to you! No shaking allowed.

... writing a novel?

Have a high threshold for pain.

... dealing with school?

Create something for yourself outside of the realm of high school -- be it taking a pre-college class, starting a band, writing a book, doing an internship. A little perspective on how awesome life will be like once high school is over goes a long way. At least, it did for me.

What are you working on now?

My next book is called Same Difference. It will be out in Spring 2009.

It's the story of a girl named Emily who lives in beautiful suburbia and just "gets by" in terms of friends and popularity. She's totally skilled at flying under the radar.

During the summer before her junior year, Emily starts commuting everyday to a fine art program in Philly. While there, she makes a whole new set of friends who are waaay different from the kinds of people she’s friends with back home.

Emily finds herself becoming a different person, depending on whether she is at home or in Philly. Eventually, those two worlds collide, leaving Emily to figure out who she really is.

And, of course, there is a cute boy to crush on, a first tattoo with a fake ID, thrift store shopping and the stealing of booze from fancy galleries.

Fun stuff!

Good times! Last but not least, what are ten of your favorite books?

Hard to choose! But here goes from the top of my head . . .

Blankets by Craig Thomspon
Ghost World by Daniel Clowns
absolutely anything by Adrian Tomine
Rabbit, Run by John Updike (and the other three novels as well)
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Gingerbread by Rachel Cohn
Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Boy Proof by Cecil Castellucci
Tyrell by Coe Booth
Paranoid Park by Blake Nelson

Hmmm . . . I clearly have a thing for outsider characters.

Many, many thanks to Siobhan for the conversation, the laughter, and the pins. You rock, lady!

Read my review of A Little Friendly Advice by Siobhan Vivian.

Drop by her website and LiveJournal. Siobhan is also a member of The Longstockings.

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Let me give you A Little Friendly Advice: Read Siobhan Vivian's debut novel. Now.

Realistic from the get-go and written in present tense, the rhythmic and funny narrative will grab readers right away. It all starts when four people come to celebrate with a birthday girl - one of whom was not invited.

The book begins on Ruby's Sweet Sixteen, when the birthday girl hanging out in her humble house with her mom, waiting for her friends to arrive. She has ziti, a whale-shaped ice-cream cake, and a foil party crown.

Shortly after receiving an old Polaroid camera from her mom, Ruby tests out her gift, capturing her mom in a little white square. The guests start to arrive, and Ruby takes a picture of each one. Her friends are very distinguishable, both in looks and in personality. First is Beth, petite, exuberant, the best friend ever. Next comes maudlin Katherine, who is far more Beth's friend than Ruby's, and two years ahead of the other girls in school. In bounces sassy Maria, thus completing the guest list.

Then the last person Ruby ever expected to walk through the door does exactly that. She takes the opportunity to run out of the door, her friends close behind her. His presence pushes the story forward, as his long-term absence has huge part of her past.

Along comes someone else, someone new. His name is Charlie, and he's a sweet, easygoing boy who likes to make buttons and conversation. Like a picture from Ruby's camera, Charlie will instantly capture the hearts of readers, but it will take a while for their relationship to develop - and he'll patiently wait.

There are plenty of laughs to be had and tears to be shed, sometimes simultaneously, as Ruby re-evaluates her friendships and her parents' divorce. Looking through her new-old camera becomes a way for her to both hide and seek. Stubborn to a fault, Ruby is caught between a rock and a hard place partially because she's put herself there, and she knows it.

Siobhan Vivian delivers her Advice free of clichés. Forgiveness is rarely easy, and friendships aren't always balanced or happy. This book offers subtle metaphors, realistic meanderings and dialogue, and believable events. It also has handmade scarves, Girl Scout badges, a treehouse, and hidden smiles. You'd be wise to consider Vivian's truthful Advice.

I highly recommend this book to teens and adults, and have placed it on my list of Best Books of 2008 (So Far).

Visit Siobhan's website and LiveJournal.

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In Daphne Grab's debut novel, Alive and Well in Prague, New York, teenage Matisse feels like a city mouse forced into the life of a country mouse - so, naturally, the first question I asked the author was:

Are you a city mouse or a country mouse?

I grew up in the country but I am all city! The country is wonderful and I love to visit, but, like Matisse, I need bustle and noise around me, and concrete under my feet.

Have you, like Matisse, ever been chased by a crazy goose or woken by a rooster?

As a matter of fact one of my scariest (and most humiliating) childhood moments was getting chased by a goose. I was walking past a farm and there were a couple of geese milling about that seemed perfectly harmless. But apparently one of them didn't like the look of me because he came after me, hissing and beating his wings, his beak jutted out like a sword. And he got the job done: I ran out of there as fast as I could and never went back.

Your main character is the child of artists - her mother is a painter and her father a sculptor - and named accordingly. Why did you select Matisse - that name, that artist? Do you have a favorite Matisse work or other favorite artists?

When I first thought of the character I wanted her to be named after an artist. Van Gogh is my favorite artist but it just didn't seem like a name any parent would give their kid that name so I chose Matisse.

What made you include Parkinson's disease in your story?

My dad died of ALS (Lou Gerhig's Disease) and the experience of his illness was a powerful, hugely painful and life changing experience for me. I wanted to write about a character dealing not only with the impending death of a parent but also the physical deterioration that comes with certain illnesses because it's such a unique and challenging thing. I chose PD because it has similarities to ALS (both are neurological illnesses) but is different enough that the story would be Matisse's story, not my own story.

How has your background in teaching and social work helped you with your writing?

Working with teens helped me see that I still really connect with that time in my own life. I don't want to be a teen again (I am very happy in my mid-thirties and would not want to relive my experiences with math homework and terrible skin) but I somehow still connect to those feelings and thoughts. It's like some small part of me will always be a teen and I can easily tap into it when I write.

Have you ever drawn upon your observations of your students or teachers when creating your characters?

I think all my characters are manifestations of my own personality. Jennifer is my evil side, Matisse is me at my most confident, her mom is me as I imagine how I will parent my own teens. But for things like clothes or hair styles I draw from everyone around me. Matisse's fashion sense was born when I saw a group of girls on the subway with big bags of clothes from Andy's Cheapies.

Now that you have kids yourself, do you view writing about and for kids differently than you did, say, ten years ago?

I actually started this story before I was a mom and I wrote most of the first draft when we were in Kazakstan adopting our kids. I think the biggest thing for me now is not wanting to try to write their experience or to assume that just because I write teen books I know all about their lives.

After high school, you went to Columbia for a year of work exchange. Did you salsa dance while in the Andes?

There was nothing like those nights of salsa dancing! I went out almost every night and danced til the sun came up. That is one life experience I'd love to live again!

Tell us about The Longstockings.

We are eight writers who graduated from the MFA program at the New School. We are a critique group and each other's support system. as well as co-writers of a blog. I love being a Longstocking! I also want to give a shout out to the Class of 2k8 - I am a very proud class member!

Name your ten favorite books of all-time.

Oh, good question!
FIFTEEN by Beverly Cleary
FRIENDS FOR LIFE by Ellen Emerson White
TRUE BELIEVER by Virginia Euwer Wolff
DAIRY QUEEN by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
CATCHER IN THE RYE by J.D. Salinger
THE COLOR PURPLE by Alice Walker
PERSUASION by Jane Austen
CUT by Patricia McCormack
WHAT MY MOTHER DOESN'T KNOW by Sonya Sones
A RING OF ENDLESS LIGHT by Madeleine L'Engle

Visit Daphne's website.

Read my review of Alive and Well in Prague, New York.

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How do you miss a person who is still there with you?

When Matisse moves from New York City to the small town of Prague, New York, she feels like a city mouse forced into the life of a country mouse. She misses the sights and sounds of the metropolis, especially after she is chased by a crazy goose and woken by a rooster. Most of all, she misses her father. He was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease six years ago, and his severe decline in the past year prompted his family move. Theoretically, a change of scenery could be good for them, but the family barely speaks about his disease. Matisse is embarrassed and uncomfortable when her new neighbor mistakes her parents for her grandparents, and she is determined to keep her father's condition a secret from her classmates. She'd rather ignore the emails and phone calls from her concerned life-long best friend and make new friends who don't know what's going on at home. Instead, these interesting acquaintances - tell-it-like-it-is Violet, ultra-popular Marco, "rebel without a cause" activist Dylan, and hopeful young farmer Hal - surprise her with their reactions to her home life.

As the child of artists - her mother is a painter and her father a sculptor - Matisse is named accordingly. Because of that, I kept wishing that she would discover an artistic talent and express herself on canvas or on paper somehow. A physical manifestation of her emotions would have been a great climax. Without spoiling the book's conclusion, I'll say that I wouldn't mind seeing another book with Matisse as she comes to term with her father's illness and reconnects with her parents and maybe even with her old friend Cesse, all the while growing more into the person she will become.

Alive and Well in Prague, New York by Daphne Grab will be available in June. This is the author's debut novel.

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Colleen of Chasing Ray asked bloggers to name some books they are looking forward to reading this year. I have my eyes set on many forthcoming releases. Here are some highlights, including some titles I was fortunate enough to read in advance and others I can't wait to read:

January 2008
Girl Overboard by Justina Chen Headley - Recovery and self-discovery. (Read my review.)
I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroeder - This verse novel, Schroeder's debut, sounds literally haunting.
The Opposite of Invisible by Liz Gallagher - Growing up doesn't have to mean growing apart. (Read my review.)

February 2008
Crimes of the Sarahs by Kristen Tracy - Sure to be as quirky-funny as her previous novel Lost It.
The Squad: Perfect Cover and The Squad: Killer Spirit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes - Spy cheerleaders = bring it on!

March 2008
42 Miles by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer - I adored her 2006 release Reaching for Sun.
The Fortunes of Indigo Skye by Deb Caletti - I was truly fortunate to read this early. (Read my review.)
A Little Friendly Advice by Siobhan Vivian - I read it, loved it, and passed it to one of my most discerning teen customers. We talked about it for a good half hour today. I think it's safe to say she loved it too.

April 2008
Feathered by Laura Kasischke - Utterly captivating and engrossing. I want to put this in the hands of adults and teens alike. (Read my review.)
Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen - I have enjoyed all of Dessen's novels to date.
Wish You Were Here by Catherine Clark - An unexpected and unusual road trip. (Read my review.)
Zibby Payne & the Party Problem and Zibby Payne & the Trio Trouble by Alison Bell - The third and fourth books about a headstrong sixth grader that would become fast friendswith Ramona Quimby. (Read my reviews.)

May 2008
How to Build a House by Dana Reinhardt - A solid story that will hopefully move others into action.
A Kiss Before the Apocalypse by Thomas E. Sniegoski - Tom's first solo adult novel!
Mind the Gap: A Novel of the Hidden Cities by
Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon - It's like Neverwhere, but with Golden touches and Tim trimmings.
Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson - A family tries to keep up a hotel that's been passed down through the generations. This book has burnt food, fresh bagels, unicyclists, Hamlet, a former actress, and shiny things. What more could you want?
What Happens Here by Tara Altebrando - Perfect title for a story set in Vegas.

June 2008
A La Carte by Tanita S. Davis - I'm so excited for Tanita, I could burst.
Almost Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor - I've been reading this series for decades.
House of Dance by Beth Kephart - I am a dancer. I am drawn towards books about dancers.

July 2008
Poison Ink by Christopher Golden - A new Golden thriller means a new chance to introduce him to teen and adult readers.

August 2008
The Brimstone Network by Tom Sniegoski - The start of a juvenile action-adventure/fantasy series.

September 2008
living dead girl by Elizabeth Scott - I've read two of Scott's novels and am anxious for more. She has three coming out this year: Perfect You comes out in March, Stealing Heaven in May, then ldg. The title has me, and you can thank Faith from Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel for that.

October 2008
My So-Called Family by Courtney Sheinmel - Debut novel for middle schoolers.

November 2008
Dog and Bear: Two's Company by Laura Vaccaro Seeger - This is the second book about these fun friends. The first book, simply titled Dog and Bear, had three adorable stories, one of which was meta-fiction. That's right - META-FICTION in a picture book! Loved it!

December 2008
I So Don't Do Mysteries by Barrie Summy - Mysteries and ghosts and rhinos, oh my!

For more titles, check out my entire list of books to read.

Blogs participating in today's highly anticipated round-up include:
Bildungsroman
Chasing Ray
Finding Wonderland
Fuse #8
The YA YA YAs

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Over sixty years ago, Astrid Lindgren wrote stories about Pippilotta Viktualia Rullgardina Krusmynta Efraimsdotter Långstrump for her daughter. In 1945, the book Pippi Longstocking was published in Sweden. Five years later, it was published in the USA. Several additional stories followed. In 2007, one hundred years after Lindgren was born, Viking released a new edition of Pippi Longstocking, with a new translation by Tiina Nunnally and new illustrations by Lauren Child.

I really enjoyed this edition. I liked the original novels by Astrid Lindgren when I was younger, and I haven't revisited them in decades, so this was a nice piece of escapism on a Sunday morning.

I appreciate the work that went into this book. Translating is never easy, especially when it comes to artistic endeavors such as stories, lyrics, and poems, which are dependent upon language, word choices, and meter. I salute Tiina Nunnally for translating something so close to the original. If two translators both use the same adjectives, chances are, that's what the original author did write (or intend, or infer, or - I'll be quiet now, because that's another discussion about translations and literal interpretations vs. intentions!)

I have read many of Lauren Child's books and have come to embrace her style. She uses pieces and patches to create her collages and pictures, an interesting combination of photography and illustration. (See my separate post about Lauren Child's works.) I think the illustrations in this edition are adorable AND match the text. See a picture of Pippi and Mr. Nilsson.

This edition also gets kudos for its typesetting. Most of it is straightforward, but every so often - just often enough without being too often - there's a sentence or two that runs backwards or sideways, or there's a bold word or two. This too is Child's style. In this particular book, one of my favorite restructured lines is a sentence about Mr. Nilsson's tail that is actually shaped like a tail. That makes me happy because I like emblematic verse. (You can thank Charles Dodgson for that, because I was first exposed to emblematic verse in his book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. You can see The Mouse's Tale as it was meant to be seen/read here.)

Since I am an über nerd, I decided to compare the first chapter of the new edition of Pippi Longstocking to the Oxford Children's Modern Classics edition. I read it line by line, then re-read it paragraph by paragraph. The text of the two editions are remarkably similar, with the biggest differences in the first chapter being Pippi's song about the pancakes and the name of the monkey. In the Oxford edition, he is Mr. Nelson; in the new edition, he has been restored to his proper Swedish name, Mr. Nilsson.

This book was nominated for the 2007 Cybils Awards in the middle grade category. However, the rules of the awards require nominated titles to be new works published in English during the nomination year. Though the Cybils permits translations, there's a difference between new works and revamped older works. Were this an original sequel to Pippi Longstocking, a new story based on original characters, that would be eligible in my book. This would be like the new stories Harriet the Spy (though, admittedly, I've yet to read those). Were this a new retelling of a story that was a new work and reinvented the story, like Just Ella did for Cinderella, that would be eligible too. But since this new version of Pippi matches older editions nearly word-for-word (again, kudos to Tiina Nunnally), we couldn't call it a wholly new work and couldn't consider it for the awards.

I could, however, read it this morning and feel six years old again. Kudos again to Tiina Nunnally for translating the original text and to Viking for giving readers a new edition of Pippi to read, to share, and to treasure. If Viking/Nunnally/Child offer editions of the other Pippi books, I will certainly read those as well.

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On Friday, August 3rd, I got up bright and early - which I always do, but this time, I had a very special purpose. I had been invited to speak on a panel with four other lit-happy bloggers at The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators conference. Our panel was entitled Having Our Say: Blogging About Children's Literature. I was flattered to be in such good company and looked forward to meeting my fellow panelists - Gina from AmoXcalli, a. fortis and TadMack from Finding Wonderland and Readers' Rants, and Kelly from Big A, little a - in person.

Sadly, Gina had become ill earlier in the week and was unable to attend. However, she truly was a part of our panel, as she had created the bulk of our PowerPoint slideshow. If and when someone posts the slideshow online, I'll add a link to it in this post. Thank you so much, Gina, for all of your hard work. I hope that you are feeling better and that we do meet up in the future.

Kelly and I met up in the morning and discussed the wonders of technology and travel until TadMack and TechBoy arrived. Before we knew it, it was time for the conference to begin, and poor a. fortis was still stuck in traffic. Kelly, TadMack and I scurried into the grand ballroom, where nearly one thousand people had already gathered, and listened to the hilarious welcome speech from Lin Oliver, the SCBWI Executive Director.

The faculty members - anyone speaking on a panel - then lined up and introduced themselves one by one (or group by group - go, Class of 2k7!), with each person saying one word that represented his/her/their panel or mood. When John Green introduced himself and added, "Nerdfighters," a young woman screamed loudly to show her support.

Yes, that was me.

I apologized to Kelly and TadMack for bursting their eardrums. Shortly thereafter, we took to the stage, introduced ourselves, and said:

"Controversy . . .
" . . . conflict . . . "
" . . . and connectivity."

Oh, how I adore alliteration!

a. fortis arrived shortly after the introductions. We all headed over to the room where our panel was going to be held. While telling each other our life stories and discussing new and classic stories, we reviewed the slideshow, which ran throughout the panel.

Once our room filled up, we filled an hour with talk and laughter. I know we could have talked all day about the importance of literacy, free speech, and communication. After briefly introducing ourselves, we talked about our love of literature and of blogging while TadMack clicked through screenshots of various lit blogs and online events. We talked about The Cybils, Toon Thursday, Poetry Friday, The Edge of the Forest, readergirlz, the upcoming 1st Annual Kidlitosphere Conference as planned by Robin Brande, MotherReader's The 48 Hour Book Challenge, 7-Imp's 7 Kicks, The Carnival of Children's Literature, Chasing Ray's various events (the Summer Blog Blast Tour and Wicked Cool Overlooked Books plus the upcoming Winter Blog Blast Tour, Radar Recommendations, and One-Shot World Tour), Class of 2k7, The Longstockings, and more.

Many thanks to the bloggers, authors, and readers who attended our panel. Thanks also to those who sent us notes of support and good luck wishes.

I have an idea for next time: broadcast the panel live on the internet - podcast, anyone? - or incorporate a chat element, making it accessible to the everyone who can't attend in person and encouraging them to take part and ask questions.

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Joey is Bree's best friend. Bree talks to her when no one else is around - and that's been happening an awful lot lately, with Bree's mom at work and her older brother off doing his own thing.

Then a new girl moves in across the street. Confident, cool, and bossy, Cassie immediately impresses the younger girl. Will Bree leave behind her old buddy for a new one? She just might, seeing as how Joey is an imaginary friend. Hopefully, Cassie won't find out about her . . .

Caroline Hickey's debut novel is adorable. Cassie Was Here gently captures one girl's impressionable summer and is set in the suburbs. Even if you've ever had an imaginary friend, you've probably needed a real friend - and you might have learned the hard way, like Bree does, that a good friend shouldn't make you do things you don't want to do. Recommended for ages 8 and up.

Give this review a positive vote!

Read my interview with the author!

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Cassie Was Here by Caroline Hickey gently captures one girl's impressionable summer. (Read my full-length book review.) I thought the book was adorable, so I placed it on my Best Books Read in June 2007 list. Caroline responded to the news with a "Yee haw!" Then we talked some more.

I never had an imaginary friend myself. I had Twinkie, my Siamese cat, who acted as my best friend, my confidante, and my captive (though discerning) audience. Did you ever have an imaginary friend?

Of course! I had an imaginary friend named Lulu when I was about three years old, but she only lasted a few weeks. If I'd had one when I was eleven, I would have wanted her to be just like Joey.

Why make your main character, Bree, eleven years old instead of, say, six?

I knew creating an imaginary friend for an older character would be tricky, because some people would say it wasn't plausible. But I found a lot of research about how kids cope with change and new situations, and how imaginary playmates are a sign of creativity and intelligence. And in the end, the book is fiction, and fiction is about exploring ideas. This is one I chose to explore.

When you were Bree's age, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A judge! I'm not sure how I first got the idea, but my great-grandfather was a judge and I thought it sounded neat. Even though I always loved books and writing, I had no idea I wanted to be a writer until I was in my twenties.

How old were you when the writing bug first bit you?

About third grade. I wrote poems then -- very bad rhyming poems. In middle school I moved onto flash fiction and short stories, and in college I went back to poetry. It wasn't until later that I started taking some fiction writing classes and working on longer pieces. I'd always been afraid to write something LONG, afraid it would be too hard. Now I'm scared to write something short!

How long did it take you to write and sell Cassie Was Here?

From the day I started writing to the day I sold it was almost two years, which is pretty fast by industry standards. What helped me was having my wonderful workshop group, whose feedback significantly improved each draft, as well as everything I learned during the MFA program. Also, my amazing agent Rebecca Sherman had a little something to do with it…

At what point in the writing process did your book get its title?

Very late! My book had many, many titles before my editor and I settled on CASSIE WAS HERE. Another big contender was JUST MY IMAGINATION. I'm very happy we went with CASSIE because it really sums up the book and has a good adolescent, angsty feel to it.

What is the premise of your next novel, Isabelle's Boyfriend?

That book is my nemesis at the moment! I'm currently revising it (it should be out next fall), and it's like wrestling a wild octopus. It's about a fifteen-year-old girl who falls head over heels for another girl's guy, and her clumsy attempts to ensnare him. She's a pretty sympathetic man-stealer, though, and a lot of fun to hang out with.

What is the biggest difference between writing juvenile fiction and young adult fiction?

Even though CASSIE is considered middle grade and ISABELLE is YA based on the ages of the protagonists, I see them both as somewhere in between. I hate the term “tween fiction,” but I think it's an emerging category that's a little more sophisticated than middle grade, but not edgy like a lot of current YA. I believe my books fall in this crevice.

What are some of your coolest writing moments?

*Seeing my copyedited manuscript, complete with ISBN number and Library of Congress description

*Emailing Zilpha Keatley Snyder and getting a personal response!

*Listening to others discuss my characters like they're real people

*Hearing Judy Blume speak at ALA in June

*Going on my first school visit, when a group of 4^th and 5^th graders told me they liked me (and CASSIE)!

I completely envy your correspondence with Zilpha Keatley Snyder - and with your cohorts, The Longstockings.

There are eight of us Longstockings. We're a group of children's writers who met at The New School's Writing for Children MFA program. It began with a small group who worked together our thesis semester then grew into a larger workshop. We meet every other week to critique new work, and go on several writing retreats every year. We also help each other through the often overwhelming process of publication! Last August we started a blog together, which has connected us with so many people in the children's book field: editors, reviewers, librarians, booksellers. And that's really fun! We named ourselves after the incorrigible Miss Pippi Longstocking.

Name ten of your favorite books.

(in no particular order!)
Sister of the Bride, Beverly Cleary

The Princess and the Goblin, George MacDonald
A Corner of the Universe, Ann M. Martin
Starring Sally J Freedman qas Herself, Judy Blume
Flipped, Wendelin Van Draanen</p>
Tadpole, Ruth White</p>
A Northern Light, Jennifer Donnelly</p>
The Egypt Game, Zilpha Keatley Syder</p>
The Sign of the Beaver, Elizabeth George Speare</p>
Any and all Trixie Belden mysteries!</p>

Listen to the first chapter of Cassie Was Here.
Swing on over to Caroline Hickey's website.
Drop in on The Longstockings.

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Graff. Lisa Graff.
She's lean, she's mean, she's a kick-ass writing machine. Which is to say, we've a very special guest here at A Fuse #8 Production today. Sit down and behave yourself, class. Lisa Graff, author of this year's The Thing About Georgie is stopping by here on her whirlwind blog tour. I am not the best interviewer (such skills belong far more to the 7-Imp camp) but I'll do my best for this lovely lass. After all, she is one of only five editors in my Editorial blogroll (off to the right).

For those of you unfamiliar with the plot of this book, here' s a review of the title as prepared by Big A little a. Onward!

FUSE #8: Why the burning, nay, overwhelming urge to write? And, more importantly, why children's books at all?

LG: I guess I write because I like to make up stories. I like looking at people on the subway or on the street, and trying to figure out who they are by the way they talk or how they twitch a finger. And since I’ll never know any of that for sure, I have to make it up. I write children’s books because I can’t imagine writing anything else. I love kids and telling stories about them. But I also love reading kid’s books. There’s no room for lazy storytelling or self-serving prose in children’s books, because kids won’t put up with that. You have to get in, tell your story, tell it well, and get out. A good children’s book is like a little gem—smooth, small, and perfect. And, um, shiny.


FUSE #8: You are part of a crazy group of gals knows as The Longstockings who blog regularly on a host of varied kidlit topics. Give me the skinny on how you came together as a whole.

LG: Well, all eight of us went to the New School here in Manhattan and got our MFAs in Writing for Children. It’s a very small program, so we all got to know each other pretty well. We’d meet every week and swap bits of our novels and critique them and offer suggestions, and somehow along the line we became friends too. When the program ended we decided we simply couldn’t bear to stop meeting regularly and workshopping, so we formed an official group. And then we decided to take on the World Wide Web, too, and start a blog. So far I think it’s going pretty well.

FUSE #8: I don't want to repeat any of the questions already asked on The Longstockings blog, but what the hey? What's the name of the children's book you'd like The Thing About Georgie to be mentioned with in a single breath? Which is to say, what's the best possible kidlit title someone could compare your book to?

LG: My all-time favorite kid’s book in the universe is Holes. Talk about a gem. I’m in love with that book—the way all the plotlines come together so unexpectedly and perfectly at the end, and the seamlessness of the storytelling. I’d pretty much die and go to Heaven if someone mentioned my book in the same sentence as Holes. Unfortunately, my book is completely different in terms of plot and characters and, well, everything, so probably the only sentence that would use both titles would be, “Hey, did you know that the chick who wrote The Thing About Georgie really likes Holes?”

FUSE #8: I'm stealing this particular question from the 7-Imp blog. Three authors you'd like to sit down and have dinner with.... go.

LG: Louis Sachar, obviously, because I just gushed about his book so that would be weird if I didn’t pick him. Also he seems down-to-earth and fun. Then I’d have to go with Katherine Paterson, because I think she’s a genius, and she is so wonderful at writing characters who do awful things but still manage to be completely lovable. I’m rather in awe of her. For my third author I pick George Bernard Shaw, because he’s witty and snarky and I bet he’d make fabulous dinner conversation.

FUSE #8: What's your next book? Or at the very least, some of the ideas that might be ah-percolating in your brain?

LG: My next book is called The Life and Crimes of Bernetta Wallflower, and it comes out early next year. It’s about a twelve-year-old girl who loses her scholarship to private school, so in order to earn her tuition she becomes a con artist for a summer. It’s very twisty-turny and fun. I actually just got the manuscript back from copyediting, and it’s covered in lots of pencil marks in all different colors with queries for me to answer… I should probably get cracking on that.

FUSE #8: Any advice you'd care to share with the umpteen-bazillion people out there who would kill to be in your my-book-just-got-published-by-Harper-Collins shoes?

LG: Read. A lot. I know everyone says that, and it sounds like the lamest cop-out answer ever, but it’s really true. You can’t be a writer if you don’t love to read. I think children’s writers especially can learn a lot from reading the kinds of books they want to write, and paying careful attention to everything—the structure of the story, the length, the words the author uses. I think we as writers can soak up a ton from studying what the greats have done before us.



And now a special treat. Act fast, my pretties, and be one of the first three people to send an e-mail to [email protected] with the name of A Fuse #8 Production in the subject heading. Tell Lisa that you saw her interview on this blog and IF you are one of the first three (which gives an unfair advantage to early birds and residents of Australia, I know) then you will be sent a complimentary copy of Graff's new book. Howzabout them apples, eh?

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In my various canoodlings on the series of tubes sometimes known as the internet, I stumbled on this interesting little posting by one Cecil Castellucci (author of this year's Boy Proof).

That's right, ladies and gentlemen. Move over NYC Kidlit Drink Nights. There are NYC Teen Lit Drink Nights carrying on right under our very noses. In actual fact, I believe the Teen Drink Nights came first. I recall Cheryl Klein once mentioning that the whole reason we even chose Sweet and Vicious as a good location was that editors and YA authors were already meeting there.

The real crime here? Seems to me that Coe Booth and Siobhan Vivian of the Longstockings blog should be posting recaps of these YA meetings. I mean, we're talking big teen authors here. Picture moments like Libba Bray discussing matters with E. Lockhart (a.k.a. Emily Jenkins). This constitutes useless gossip and as the harbinger of gossip in all its uniquely useless forms I, for one, wanna know when this kind of thing goes down. Heck, I didn't even know Libba Bray was local.

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