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A little nepotism to go with your coffee this morning? Don’t mind if I do! As you may know, my husband Matt Bird has a book coming out this spring that is a culmination of his blog’s breakdown of what makes a good story. Called The Secrets of Story: Innovative Tools for Perfecting Your Fiction and Captivating Readers (Writers’ Digest, 2017), Matt takes his Ultimate Story Checklist and makes it easy, accessible, and invaluable. I’ve mentioned all this before. What’s new is that he’s now doing something that I’m personally incapable of. Folks sometimes ask me if I ever do manuscript consultations. I don’t, but there’s a good reason for that: I’m lousy at them. Maybe not lousy, but I’m no editor and that’s the truth. Matt, however, is fantastic at them. Now he’s offering his services to folks who are interested. Children’s books, YA, scripts, adult novels, you name it. Dude’s got mad skills. And I say that as someone who can’t do the same.
All right. ‘Nuff of that. Let’s instead remember that the new school year is nearly upon us. My daughter is about to step out the door and start Kindergarten for the very first time. As such, I’ve been watching the new Kindergarten books of 2016 with a closer eye than usual. And as luck would have it, the Chicago Tribune came ah-calling recently. Check out my favorites of the season in their piece Bumper crop of first-day-of-school books.
AND THE WINNER of the 2016 Society of Illustrators Gold Medal for Original Art goes to . . . . b.b. cronin for his book The Lost House (Penguin Random House/ Viking Children’s Books). Hm? What’s that? You haven’t read it yet? Well let me confess something to you . . . neither had I! I’ve seen it in my To Be Read pile, but as God is my witness I thought it was a reprint of an older title. Now it looks like I’m going to have to move it up in the ranks. Whoops! See the winners in full right here.
Folks ask me, what do you miss the most about New York? It’s been a year since I left The Big Apple, my home of approximately 13 years. I miss a lot of things. My friends. That sense of satisfaction you get around 6 p.m. on a workday, just sitting in Bryant Park with a good book and an iced chai latte. And, of course, the exhibits in town. I just heard about the Pratt Manhattan Gallery’s The Picture Book Re-Imagined: The Children’s Book Legacy of Pratt Institute and the Bank Street College of Education. There’s even some ACM (Anne Carroll Moore) on show! Check out this explanation of the exhibit with photographs galore. Envious. So envious.
Childhood Mystery Solved: I’m pretty sure I’ve zeroed in on the location of Hitler. How’s that again? Well, here’s the thing. When I was a kid I was read a fair number of books. Some stuck in my cranium. Others didn’t. One that did was a book that I recall because it was a collection of poems and nursery rhymes. In one spread it showed the devil and some of his compatriots. Amongst them was a bird with the head of Adolf Hitler. I am not making this up. My mother would sometimes show it to me and explain who it was and why Hitler was bad (or at least that’s my memory). Years later I tracked down what I thought was the book (A Great Big Ugly Man Came Up and Tied His Horse to Me by Wally Tripp) only to find that while it did have a devil in it, there was no Hitler. It was a pretty weird thing to make up, though, so I never lost hope. Then, just the other day, I saw this:
Okay. It isn’t Hitler. But I remember this image perfectly (turns out gigantic Napoleons also have a way of sticking in your brain). I am now convinced that I have relocated the book with that weird Hitler bird. Maybe. In the meantime, I’m beginning to believe that Wally Tripp is one of the great forgotten gems of the American children’s literary world. He did win a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, after all. That ain’t small potatoes. Read more about him here.
New Magazine Alert: And I owe Julie Danielson the credit for locating this one. Called Illustoria, a new periodical is said to be, “a magazine for children that embraces the same values as the current slow-food and maker-culture trends of today, ‘a return to craftsmanship, an appreciation of quality, a celebration of curiosity, creativity, and also the people behind the scenes’.” This sounds interesting in and of itself, but it also sounds familiar on some level. I’m reminded of the Arts & Craft movement that occurred in America and Europe between 1880 and 1910 as a direct response to the industrial revolution. We seem to be experiencing something similar in the face of the digital revolution. Food for thought. In any case, learn more about Illustoria here.
I like Booklist. Honest I do. But how long are they going to make us pay to read their articles online? For example, in a recent edition I was very taken with Daniel Kraus’s funny, smart, and highly informative consideration of the Choose Your Own Adventure phenomenon. In fact, I’ve never read such an interesting breakdown of the series, its popularity when I was a kid, and its fate. Here’s the link to the article, but I hope you have a Booklist subscription ’cause that’s the only way you’ll be able to read it.
Tiny desk contest! Not here, of course. There. Where Marc Tyler Nobleman hangs out. Seems he’s having a Guess the Kidlit Desk Contest. The rules are simple. You guess which author has which desk (and there are 18 in each subcontest). Get ’em right, win a prize. If nothing else, it’s a fascinating glimpse into the desk of the creative mind. Most are far too clean and tidy, though. I think I like this one the best:
Snapchat. It is a thing. I do not know much (read: anything) about. What I do know, though, is that Travis Jonker just used it for the best. thing. ever. Doubt me if you dare.
This just in, in the press release files from the Children’s Book Council:
We are thrilled to announce that acclaimed illustrator Christian Robinson has agreed to design the 2017 Children’s Book Week poster commemorating the 98th annual Children’s Book Week, to take place on May 1-7, 2017. Robinson is the artist behind such beloved picture books as Gaston by Kelly DiPucchio and Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña, for which he received a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor and a Caldecott Honor.
Daily Image:
The representative from Illinois would like to raise an objection. Behold, a brilliant book:
In this book, kids are encouraged to make their own dollhouses out of cardboard boxes. There are even instructions placed under the dustjacket for that very purpose. As the mother of a girl who is basically a human Maker Station, I recognized instantly the fact that this would be her kind of book. I brought it home and I don’t think 20 minutes went by before she started construction on her own dollhouse. After it was finished (after a fashion) I went online to find out if the publisher or author had a site where kids cold post pictures of their personalized dollhouses. All I found was this promotional video. It’s cute, but why is the mom doing so much of the work? In any case, I would like to propose to either Giselle Potter or Schwartz & Wade that they create such a site. In lieu of that, here’s my 5-year-old’s newest dollhouse.
And, might I note, crumpled up toilet paper really does look like popcorn. Who knew?
9 Comments on Fusenews: My Weirdest Childhood Mystery Is Solved, last added: 8/24/2016
As always, what a fun post! And congrats to Matt on his forthcoming book! Also, your daughter’s dollhouse is adorable. You’re right–they should have a place where kids can post their own dollhouse creations.
I often think I should do more posts about children’s lit-related news and then inevitably I read your Fusenews, which makes me wonder why I would even entertain the thought when you do such a great job sharing all of this news with us! So, thank you … and darn you for dashing my blogging goals [shakes fist, half in jest]! (In all seriousness, though, thank you for taking the time to compile all of this information for your loyal readers.)
Elizabeth Bird said, on 8/15/2016 7:00:00 AM
Aw. Thank you. I was a little concerned that this post was 50% me-centric (I do actually try to cut down on that . . . and fail). And if it’s any comfort at all, I feel the same was about the news when I read 100 Scope Notes. Travis has figured that stuff OUT. I still do my own, but I really feel he rules the roost in that category. So dashing blogging goals is a universal situation, yes?
Emma Otheguy said, on 8/15/2016 7:41:00 AM
That dollhouse book is going at the top of my gifts-for-niece list!
MaryZ said, on 8/15/2016 10:44:00 AM
Ooh, I have Granfa Grig, bought for the stunning illustrations so beautifully drawn and great characterizations! I’ll look for Hitler. The book is full of historical characters–I remember Churchill.
Nancy Leek said, on 8/15/2016 12:11:00 PM
Hitler (with chicken feet and a rat’s tail) is indeed in Granfa Grig, in a scene with the devil, assorted little demon monsters, and Dante and Virgil.
Jen Robinson said, on 8/15/2016 2:29:00 PM
My daughter loves THIS IS MY DOLLHOUSE, too. She has yet to make her own dollhouse, but we did have a tiny bowl of toilet paper popcorn (now spilled all over the playroom floor). Love your pictures! And I agree with you that the kid should do most of the work.
Sarah said, on 8/17/2016 8:19:00 AM
I just read This Is My Dollhouse and those pesky dust jackets get taped down in the library world so I couldn’t discover where the instructions to make your own were. But I still think many kids will be creating dollhouses of their own with inspiration from this book-dust jacket or not.
Bruce Lee, Learning from Fantasy, & Cheating D said, on 8/19/2016 7:03:00 AM
[…] Childhood mystery […]
melanie hope greenberg said, on 8/20/2016 11:46:00 PM
Your daughter is a genius with old moving boxes and congrats to Matt!
Recently I’ve grown rather fascinated with the academic children’s collections of the world. The rare book collections in particular. With that in mind, what do you do if you’re an institution that specializes in archived materials, and yet you still want to engage young readers in some capacity? Enter Teaching the untouchable, a great article by Dana Sheridan at the Cotsen Collection of Princeton University. Written for College and Research Libraries News the piece really delves deep into how to best conduct rare book programs with real honest-to-goodness children. Great stuff.
Whatcha up to tonight? Got big Tuesday night plans? No? Excellent since there’s to be a Twitter chat between Debbie Reese of American Indians in Children’s Literature and brilliant librarian Allie Jane Bruce at 9:00 p.m. Just go to #SupportWNDB. Be there or be square.
So cool. Over at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, Jules got cartooned up. I would love it if that became a regular thing at her site. Everyone should cartoonify her when interviewed.
Jules also tackled a recent re-illustrated title that will have librarians everywhere just shaking their heads, trying desperately to figure out where to put the darn thing in their collections. If you’re familiar with the 2001 picture book Jim’s Lion by Russell Hoban then you’ll have a hard time looking at its new incarnation without blanching. It’s one of the most innovative children’s books of the year but a psychological nightmare that would actually pair magnificently with Patrick Ness’s A Monster Calls, if nothing else. Jules has the scoop. Well played, she.
Wow. Just, wow. Kidlit TV is live, people, and boy does it look fancy. I mean just LOOK at that site! Someone put their heart and soul into it, that’s for sure. Makes me feel like a bit of a slacker, if I’m going to be honest. Boy howdy.
I am always very pleased with folks take public review sites like Amazon or Goodreads and use them to have a bit of fun. One Hamilton Richardson evidently must have sat through one Mr. Men book too many and the result is a series of thoroughly enjoyable “reviews” that are all distinctive in their own little ways. Thanks to Steve for the link.
Sometimes you just don’t know if the name you see on a series is a real person or not. Take R.A. Montgomery, for example. Recently he passed away in his Vermont home, and if his moniker is ringing a couple bells that might be because he’s the fellow behind the Choose Your Own Adventure series. Like any good child of the 80s I devoured my own fair share of CYOA titles back in the day, perfecting the art of sticking all my digits in between the pages so that the moment I chose poorly I could instantly retrace my steps. There’s a metaphor lurking in that statement somewhere, I’d wager. Thanks to Mom for the link.
Daily Image:
Christmas is on the horizon and you know what that means? Time to start trying to figure out what to purchase for the children’s literature-obsessed person in your life. Want an early idea? I know it isn’t even Thanksgiving yet but I just discovered that that Children’s Book Council sells their old Children’s Book Week posters in a variety of different forms, dating back to 1921. Everyone from N.C. Wyeth to the most recent one by Robin Preiss Glasser. Here are some of my own personal favorites:
2 Comments on Fusenews: “If ‘1984’ or ‘The Trial’ had been a children’s book, Mr Messy would be it”, last added: 11/19/2014
This isn’t kidlit, but my hold just came in on Neil Patrick Harris’s “Choose Your Own Autobiography.” If you enjoyed Choose Your Own Adventure, this is especially a hoot.
Choose Your Own Adventure Personality Quiz Results!
Hey, y’all! Have you been participating in our Choose Your Own Adventure series this month? In case you missed it, check out Part 1
, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4! At the end of each chapter, you had a few choices of what the character should do next. The answers you chose at the end of each segment were really part of a larger personality quiz. So, wanna know what your adventure hero personality is? Check out the answers below!
If you picked mostly A’s: You are THE LEADER. You are Percy Jackson
. Even in the absolute worst scenarios, you’ve got the strength to not only keep your own chin up but also encourage everyone else on your team! You are balanced, trustworthy, and dependable. Even if you sometimes behave impulsively, you take full responsibility for your actions. You’re an excellent listener, a real people-person, and are up for almost any kind of adventure . . . even the super-bizarre!
If you picked mostly B’s: You are THE FAITHFUL SIDEKICK. You are Fred or George Weasley from Harry Potter
. You’re a bit of a troublemaker, and you just want everyone to lighten up and stop taking everything so seriously! Even if you sometimes cause more problems than you help solve, you’re a key part of the group. Your heart is in the right place and you’re loyal to the very end, which is really all that matters!
If you picked mostly C’s: You are THE MASTERMIND. You are Amy Cahill from The 39 Clues
. You’d like to avoid the spotlight at all costs and you’re the brain of the group. You like to look before you leap, and you are a wizard at digging up information on just about anything. You’re a bit of a bookworm and while you prefer to leave risk-taking to other people, if someone you care about is really in danger, you’re not afraid to jump to his or her defense!
If you picked mostly D’s: You are THE LIFESAVER. You are a character from the I Survived
series. Whatever mishap comes your way, you can handle it! If you’re on a group adventure, you’re definitely the practical problem solver and can be counted on to have extra snacks and a first aid kit in your backpack. You’re also probably the only one carrying a backpack.
If you picked mostly E’s: You are THE DAREDEVIL. You are Sadie Kane from the Kane Chronicles
. When you’ve set your mind to a task, there is absolutely no stopping you, no matter what! You’re a real risk-taker and your bravery inspires everyone around you, even if they are a little worried that you’ll end up injured. Because of your adventurous spirit, you often find yourself discovering cool new things and making friends in the strangest of places.
Well, who’d you get?? Share your result in the Comments below! And join the Readathon
Welcome back to Choose Your Own Adventure! In a choose-your-own-adventure story, you read a chapter and then you get a few choices of what the character should do next. Have you read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 yet? Pay attention to your answer choices because when the story is done, your answers will reveal the adventure hero you are most like.
Part 4
The door bursts open, sending a blinding light everywhere. You skid to a stop. The rain seems to stop, too. You can’t see anything so you squint your eyes, but you still can’t make out anything. A second later, you hear a deafening BOOM and feel a gust of wind so strong it literally sweeps you off your feet. You’re knocked backwards and land on your back in the mud, which does not feel good at all.
You cough and blink the dirt out of your eyes, groaning and rolling over onto your stomach. You roll over onto something hard that pokes you in the rib painfully.
“Ouch!” you holler. Sitting up, you see that you rolled onto a giant leather-bound book. On the cover, in giant letters, are the words OPEN ME. You scramble away and stand up. You look up and the sky is clear again. You look towards the spot where the door was and see nothing. The tree that you just watched explode is standing tall and whole.
You . . .
A) can’t deal with this situation alone. You take the book back home, planning to take it to a librarian who might know more about it.
B) are totally excited by this new development! You hide the book in a safe spot and will come back for it tomorrow. Right now, you’re pretty hungry. Dinner first, adventure later!
C) know that books that come out of nowhere are dangerous. You learned how to start a fire at summer camp last year, so you build one and throw the book into the flames. Good riddance!
D) study the outside of the book before deciding what to do next. You’re so curious, but you want to play it safe. You want to do more research on the make of the book and find out who made it.
Welcome back to Choose Your Own Adventure! In a choose-your-own-adventure story, you read a chapter and then you get a few choices of what the character should do next. For the STACKS Adventure Books Bash, we’re celebrating adventure with a choose-your-own-adventure story written by me! Have you read Part 1 and Part 2 yet? Pay attention to your answer choices because when the story is done, your answers will reveal the adventure hero you are most like. Are you ready???
Part 3
You know it’s going to be dark soon, and also time for dinner, but you are mesmerized by your new discovery. Curiosity gets the best of you, and you reach out and pull on the knob.
Nothing budges.
You try twisting and pushing, but nothing happens. The door is totally stuck. Frustrated, you plop down on the grass and watch the last rays of the sun as it slides behind the horizon.
After a while, you start to feel chilly and kind of hungry, so you decide to go home. As you stand up, though, the ground beneath you starts to tremble. As the trembling intensifies, you hear a loud rattling noise. You look over and see that the door is shaking and bright light is seeping out from the edges.
Scared, you start crawling backwards. The sky, which was completely clear only a moment ago, is full of dark clouds. With a loud CRACK, rain begins pouring from the sky. The wind picks up and intensifies until you feel like you’re being battered by rain on all sides.
You start running towards a large tree in the middle of the field, thinking you can hide in it, when suddenly a bolt of lightning slices through the air and strikes the tree, exploding it. Screaming, you start running back towards the woods and your house. The ground is getting muddy and you are slipping and sliding, so it’s taking you a long time to cover the last twenty yards. Before you can process what’s happening, another bolt of lightning strikes a small shrub only a few yards to your left. You keep running and lightning strikes another patch of grass to your right. You’re about a foot away from the door, which is still shaking violently like someone—or something—is trying to escape.
You . . .
A) knock and see if anyone answers.
B) keep running for a place to hide!
C) try to remember everything you learned in wilderness safety class. You remember something about lying face down on the ground. That might not be the most accurate memory, but it’ll do—so you do it.
D) know that metal conducts electricity in a thunderstorm so you do NOT touch that metal doorknob.
E) pull on the knob! You need to get indoors and you need to get indoors NOW!
Welcome back to Choose Your Own Adventure! In a choose-your-own-adventure story, you read a chapter and then you get a few choices of what the character should do next. For the STACKS Adventure Books Bash, we’re celebrating adventure with a choose-your-own-adventure story written by me! Have you read Part 1 yet? Pay attention to your answer choices because when the story is done, your answers will reveal the adventure hero you are most like. Are you ready???
Part 2
“Alfie!” you say. You don’t want to be left alone, and he’s acting weird. “Come back!” He looks back a few times and barks, but soon his fluffy, yellow tail is out of sight. You sigh and think, “So much for loyalty.”
You start walking deeper into the field. You’re still mad at Kyle and don’t want to go home just yet. You’re distractedly wondering why Alfie was behaving so strangely when you trip and nearly fall on your face.
At first you think you tripped over a large rock or piece of garbage. After all, the grass is pretty unruly and tall, and sometimes rowdy teenagers leave trash here. But when you look back, you see something glinting in the light of the setting sun — a shiny, metal doorknob covered in strange symbols.
Curious, you lean in closer and can see that it is attached to a wooden door in the ground. The door isn’t very big and it looks old, but the knob looks very new.
You . . .
a) call a friend and tell him/her to come take a look before deciding what to do next.
b) think it
looks pretty cool and you want to look at it later, but for now it’s more important to find gross bugs to stick in your brother’s bed.
c) wonder out loud, “Is it safe?” Probably not. Who knows what’s down there! Go about your business and ignore it. It’s probably just a musty, old cellar anyway.
d) take a picture of the doorknob with your phone. Then go home to do some research on the meaning of the symbols.
e) don’t waste any time and open that door! There could be all kinds of cool stuff in there.
In a choose-your-own-adventure story, you read a chapter and then you get a few choices of what the character should do next. For the STACKS Adventure Books Bash, let’s celebrate adventure with a choose-your-own-adventure story written by me! Pay attention to your answer choices because when the story is done, your answers will reveal the adventure hero you are most like. WHAAAAT?
Part 1
Your brother Kyle is driving you nuts. He tapes cling wrap to your toilet seat in the morning, hides the television remote, and cries so much when he sees you on your skateboard that Mom makes you let him try it—and he breaks it. You storm out the back door with your golden retriever, Alfie, hot on your heels. You head into the woods that border your back yard. It is a pretty warm evening, and Alfie is panting so loudly you’re sure he can be heard from the house. He looks happy to be out exploring instead of lying around, though, so you don’t send him back home. Besides, you’re happy to have a companion. Even though you’re mad, you don’t really feel like being alone. You make your way further into the woods until you reach the field on the other side.
It’s a great place to blow off steam. The world seems to stretch on forever from here, and the sunset casts everything in a brilliant orange glow.
Suddenly, Alfie stops at the edge of the trees.
“C’mon, boy!” you say. Alfie looks torn. He takes a few tentative steps forward before retreating and barking a few times.
“Shh!” you say. “C’mon, Alfie!” But Alfie just barks again and walks in circles a few times before barking some more. He looks nervous. He stares at you quizzically, tongue hanging out and slobbering everywhere. After a few moments, he turns around and starts trotting back towards the house.
You . . .
A) pull a treat out of your pocket to persuade Alfie to stay.
B) are spooked, so you just start running home.
C) realize that Aflie’s usually a pretty reasonable dog. If he’s acting up, there’s something wrong. You follow him back into the woods. You can hang out there instead.
D) decide to search for whatever it is that’s making him behave strangely. Is there a wild animal nearby?
E) continue on without Alfie. Whatever!
What would YOU do? Vote for your answer choice in the Comments below!
STACKS has some new activities lined up for your August reading adventure. If you like adventure books, you are going to love our Adventure Books Bash. Here’s what we have planned. . .
August 6: Choose Your Own Adventure: Part 1 STACKS Staffer En-Szu is writing an adventure story where YOU get to choose what happens. At the end of the story, your choices will reveal which adventure hero you are most like.
then you understand my terror of sharks. Guys, an actual shark attacked actual people swimming at the actual Jersey shore. I ask you, what is scarier than that?
August 13: Choose Your Own Adventure Part 2 En-Szu’s story continues with a new twist!
August 20: Choose Your Own Adventure Part 3
August 26: National Dog Day Well, this might not have anything to do with adventure books, but how awesome is a whole day when we get to celebrate dogs?
August 27: Which Adventure Hero Are You? Find out!
August 28: Readathon 12-4 p.m. ET Join us on the STACKS for a live 4-hour readathon!
I hope you can join us for 1 or all of these STACKS events this August!
Interactive books! Remember reading them as a kid? Choose Your Own Adventure and Pick-a-Path are the two series I remember best. But there were lots of others, including Fighting Fantasy and Twistaplot. Although they’ve never completely gone out of vogue, they seem to be having a bit of a resurgence at the moment with series such as Lost in…, Choose Your Own Ever After and my own series, You Choose.
Interactive books (or game books, or branching path books) are often referred to as Choose Your Own Adventure books (or CYOA books). But Choose Your Own Adventure is actually the trade-marked name of the series which popularised this style of storytelling. Contrary to popular belief, these books did not invent the concept. It was predated by a series called The Adventures of You, and there are other earlier examples of individual stories playing around with this format.
The basic concept is that the story branches at various key points, where the reader gets to decide which path to follow. The other defining feature of this style of storytelling, is that they are written as second person narrative, placing the reader into the story.
I read the Choose Your Own Adventure series rather obsessively back in the 1980s. I loved the fact that decisions I made influenced the outcome of the story. As a kid, it gave me a sense of control and power that ordinary books did not provide. It was exciting! And I got to re-read the books… but with a different outcome each time. I got very good at marking pages with my fingers as I read — often reaching the end of a path with every available finger wedged between the pages — so that I could backtrack and rethink my decisions. A little awkward, but oh so much fun!
Over the years, nothing has rivalled the popularly of the Choose Your Own Adventure series. But new books have continued to pop up every now and then, from interactive versions of RL Stine’sGoosebumps (Give Yourself Goosebumps), to those set in the Doctor Who universe (Doctor Who: Decide Your Destiny), from a history education series, to a couple of books written by John Marsden in the 1990s (Cool School and Creep Street).
Now, all of a sudden, there seems to be a resurgence of interest in the format. In the UK, Bloomsbury have released the first two books in a new series with a survival twist — Lost in… the Desert of Dread and Lost in… the Jungle of Doom. Meanwhile here in Australia, Hardie Grant have released a romance themed series called Choose Your Own Ever After.
My writing of this series has pretty much been an excuse for me to relive my childhood. And I cannot express just how much fun it has been plotting out all the different story paths for each of the books. I write each plot point onto a card, then stick it up onto a white board — lots of arrows and shifting around ensues, until things finally make sense. Here’s what the final plan of Mayhem at Magic school looks like…
The You Choose series is being marketed for middle to upper primary… but I reckon they’re fun for ‘kids’ of all ages. I’ve spoken to many parents who grew up reading the Choose Your Own Adventure books, and who are now excited about having a new interactive series to read to their kids. And that’s pretty cool!
Bridie Clark’s Snap Decision series, which debuted last summer with Maybe Tonight? (Roaring Brook, August 2013), places the reader in the driver’s seat to navigate life at a prep school. In breezy second-person narration rife with timely pop-culture nods, “your” choices involve glamorous friends, glitzy parties, hot guys, and fabulous trips. The second installment, You Only Live Once (is “YOLO” still everyone’s favorite acronym?), publishes this month.
In Summer Love (Speak/Penguin, May 2014), first in her Follow Your Heart series, Jill Santopolo takes the formula on a summer beach trip during which readers (fresh from a sweet sixteen party “six — no, seven — days ago”) flirt, date, and look for love at every turn. Ideal for fans of Sarah Dessen and Gayle Forman (included on the “other books your may enjoy” list in the opening pages), this is a diverting prescription for summer-vacation reading.
One of my favorite parts of writing happens when I’m not writing. You know, those moments during the day when you’re thinking about, maybe even dreaming about, the story or the characters in your work in progress. I love brainstorming, whether it’s my own book or someone else’s work, because there’s a sense of play to it; you aren’t committing anything to paper yet, so it doesn’t take much work. (It also may not feel like work, so you might worry you’re just procrastinating, but trust me, it’s useful.) You can feel free to be as goofy or wild as you want–you’re just throwing things against the wall to see what sticks. And it’s cool because you’re working on your book anywhere and everywhere: in the shower, walking your dog, on line at the bank, riding the train, reading other books, watching TV, in meetings at work. A little part of my brain never stops thinking about my novel.
I can’t speak to every writer’s experience, but this is how my imagination works. The more I think about the story, the more ideas I have. Often, my subconscious mind makes connections that needed days, weeks, or months to develop. Initially, I avoided outlining because I wanted to give myself as much of that flexibility as possible to discover the story and let it develop organically, but I’ve since realized that outlining can also get you thinking about the whole thing much earlier, and there’s nothing limiting about it–it’s just one path, and you can take the story in different directions any time a better idea presents itself. I like research for the same reason; all that reading feeds me more ideas and opens up new possibilities.
So this book I’m working on… It started with a lot of brainstorming and outlining, then I started drafting it and inevitably veered off from the outline a bit. I got some great notes from my editors, and I just completed the first major revision—a few hours ago. As I tried to re-imagine the plot and characters and come up with a better ending, the whole process reminded me of something very old, something from my childhood: Choose Your Own Adventure.
You’ve probably seen a Choose Your Own Adventure (CYOA) book at some point, or one of the many similar series borrowing the concept. They’re basically stories that present many decisions for the reader, allowing you to have some control over the story. “If you decide to start back home, turn to page 4. If you decide to wait, turn to page 5.” There are usually only a few “good” endings and many bad, boring, or mediocre ones. When I read them as a kid, I always wanted to make sure I had taken every choice, explored every path, seen every ending. And I realized recently that all those CYOA books had been training me from early on to be a creative writer.
The way I plot out a book is really similar to how these books are set up. At each major plot point, I have to decide what the characters are going to do next, and what impact that will have on the story farther down the line. I’m constantly coming up with various scenarios and playing them out, discarding them, picking up another thread, trying something else. Working with Scrivener makes it even easier, and more fluid, because I can rewrite a scene several different ways, then revert to a previous version if none of them fit. I can move the scene or cut it entirely. I’m trying to see every path, and test every ending—all in search of the one “good” ending for the book. Of course, it’s preferable if I don’t have to actually write every alternative first.
It’s probably no wonder that I like stories about parallel universes so much. In some ways, each draft of my book is an alternate version of itself. (Sometimes I can’t even keep them straight anymore. Was that in the final draft, or did I cut it?) Fun fact: In the original ending of Fair Coin, Ephraim stops Nate from using the coin to facilitate a shooting spree at their high school. What?! Yeah. It was super dark, and very wrong for the book, and I knew it while I was writing it. (On the other hand, it was also my first novel, so.) But I often have to take some of those wrong turns and try out the “bad” endings — sometimes just to get to the end — before I can figure out what the real ending is supposed to be. Making mistakes doesn’t make you a bad writer, it just means you have to turn to a new page and try again. Revision is like getting to erase those unsuccessful outcomes and make a better decision.
Did you read Choose Your Own Adventure? Which was your favorite? And how do you plot out your endings?
The End
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E.C. Myers was assembled in the U.S. from Korean and German parts and raised by a single mother and a public library in Yonkers, New York. He is the author of the Andre Norton Award–winning young adult novel FAIR COIN and its sequel, QUANTUM COIN, as well as numerous short stories in anthologies and magazines. You can find traces of him all over the internet, but especially at his blog, Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr.
During the month of November, Choose Your Own Adventure (CYOA)will be donating 1 book to a child in need for every Like they receive on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/ChooseYourOwnAdventure). Their outreach is helped by The Children’s Literacy Foundation, a nonprofit that has inspired 125,000 young readers and writers including children in shelters and low-income housing, refugee and migrant children, children of prison inmates, and many others.
Book Dads would be so grateful if you would invite your friends to Like CYOA on Facebook. In addition to giving a child the gift of adventure, you will also be joining a fun community of Choose Your Own Adventure fans. They host interactive stories, contests, and giveaways each week, and also release special deals, exclusives, and updates on new titles.
If you are a blogger, teacher, librarian, or run a social media presence and would like to give CYOA a special shoutout to your followers, please contact Managing Editor Melissa Bounty, for more information on this promotion.
1 Comments on Give a Child Adventure: CYOA Giant Giveaway!, last added: 11/4/2011
I have been getting quite a few requests in the library for Choose Your Own Adventures these days. The requests are coming from both the younger and the older set, which is pretty interesting to me. One of the bolder of these that I am giving to the older kids is Meanwhile, by Jason Shiga.
Chocolate or Vanilla? This choice will sets off an adventure involving quantum physics, inventions, and entropy among other things. Our young ice cream fan needs a bathroom, and finds one in a lab where he gets the privilege of testing out some inventions (which ones are entirely up to you!).
Differing from the typical Choose Your Own Adventure, this is in no way a linear journey. Readers get to the next segment of the story by following a series of pipes up, down, back and forth and occasionally through a tangled up maze to get to the next segment of the story.
Now, I in no way made it through all 3856 options, but you know what? I know *several* kids who will take the time and the renewals that it will take in order to do it! Shiga has a gift for making the uber scientific concepts accessible to kids (and adults) who may not know what things like entropy really mean coming into Meanwhile.
The format is great. Laminated pages will hold up to all of the back and forth that the pages need to have to make the story work, and the explanation of how the book works is very clear. This is a great book to gift to someone as they will return to it again and again, even if they only have "10 minutes" to get some reading in. Meanwhile was recently listed in YALSA's Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens, and I will extend the category to include the tweens as well!
0 Comments on Meanwhile: Pick any Path. 3,856 Story Possibilities, by Jason Shiga as of 2/13/2011 7:11:00 AM
The Webster Branch of the New York Public Library (NYPL) tested the old saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”
The library wrapped several books with plain brown paper with a short description pasted on top. If the description intrigued the patron, they were required to check out the book before unwrapping it. The point is to try to withhold judgment until the content is examined.
Here’s more from the NYPL blog post: “One of the first books to go out, and one that sparked a lot of discussion, was labeled ’3,856 stories. One book.’ … The secret book in question is Meanwhile by Jason Shiga. It’s an old school ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ story, in graphic novel format, with about five thousand more twists and turns.”
Do you remember getting those Scholastic book order forms in elementary school? I think they’re still around, but now have computer games and other things like that in them. Once I learned how to read, my favorite books to read were the Choose Your Own Adventure Books and every time I saw a new one in the Scholastic book order form, I got it.
I wish I still had these books because they’re such classics. I was really pleased to learn a few months ago that they’re still around and they have an excellent website: www.cyoa.com.
Besides the old classics like Journey Under the Sea, there’s new books being released as well. Although I was an active reader, these are great books for reluctant readers.
I’ll be having some reviews of this series throughout the year. What was your favorite CYOA book?
6 Comments on Throwback Thursday: Choose Your Own Adventure Books, last added: 1/27/2011
I LOVED these books growing up. I remember one about the old west…
BloggerFather said, on 1/26/2011 10:39:00 PM
I actually wrote one myself when I was a kid. It was an adventure in a pyramid. My dad kept it and, of course, showed it to my wife the first time she came to visit.
Emma Newman said, on 1/27/2011 8:06:00 AM
I loved “The Third Planet From Altair” and it is now on my son’s bookshelf waiting patiently for him to be old enough to read it.
There were some Indiana Jones CYOA books too, which I adored when I was going through my first ever crush on Harrison Ford. Well, that’s never really stopped.
Thanks for the link to the site, and hooray for CYOA!
Dawn Little said, on 1/27/2011 8:51:00 AM
I loved CYOA books as a kid, though can’t remember a specific book I enjoyed. I did find the “new” series about a year ago and began reading them with my son! I love sharing my childhood books with my kids!
David B. said, on 1/27/2011 12:46:00 PM
I found a pile of these at my parent’s house and thought it’d be fun to share with my 4-year old daughter. But most of the them had violent death endings, but I found one – Space and Beyond – which was seemed very ‘peace-love-let’s love the universe’. She loved looking at the picture and making the choices and the books were great for helping her recognize large numbers when flipping back and forth between page numbers. It was a good bit of nostalgia for me, Journey Under the Sea was my first CYOA too.
Melissa said, on 1/27/2011 2:03:00 PM
How funny – I wrote my own one too when I was a kid. My mum’s still got it too
As always, what a fun post! And congrats to Matt on his forthcoming book! Also, your daughter’s dollhouse is adorable. You’re right–they should have a place where kids can post their own dollhouse creations.
I often think I should do more posts about children’s lit-related news and then inevitably I read your Fusenews, which makes me wonder why I would even entertain the thought when you do such a great job sharing all of this news with us! So, thank you … and darn you for dashing my blogging goals [shakes fist, half in jest]! (In all seriousness, though, thank you for taking the time to compile all of this information for your loyal readers.)
Aw. Thank you. I was a little concerned that this post was 50% me-centric (I do actually try to cut down on that . . . and fail). And if it’s any comfort at all, I feel the same was about the news when I read 100 Scope Notes. Travis has figured that stuff OUT. I still do my own, but I really feel he rules the roost in that category. So dashing blogging goals is a universal situation, yes?
That dollhouse book is going at the top of my gifts-for-niece list!
Ooh, I have Granfa Grig, bought for the stunning illustrations so beautifully drawn and great characterizations! I’ll look for Hitler. The book is full of historical characters–I remember Churchill.
Hitler (with chicken feet and a rat’s tail) is indeed in Granfa Grig, in a scene with the devil, assorted little demon monsters, and Dante and Virgil.
My daughter loves THIS IS MY DOLLHOUSE, too. She has yet to make her own dollhouse, but we did have a tiny bowl of toilet paper popcorn (now spilled all over the playroom floor). Love your pictures! And I agree with you that the kid should do most of the work.
I just read This Is My Dollhouse and those pesky dust jackets get taped down in the library world so I couldn’t discover where the instructions to make your own were. But I still think many kids will be creating dollhouses of their own with inspiration from this book-dust jacket or not.
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Your daughter is a genius with old moving boxes and congrats to Matt!