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Chocolates and Candies More Delicious Than Ever!

“Months and months went by,” Grandpa Joe went on, “but still the factory remained closed. And everybody said, ‘Poor Mr. Wonka. He was so nice. And he made such marvelous things. But he’s finished now. It’s all over.’

“Then something astonishing happened. One day, early in the morning, thin columns of white smoke were seen to be coming out of the tops of the tall chimneys of the factory! People in the town stopped and stared. ‘What’s going on?’ they cried. ‘Someone’s lit the furnaces! Mr. Wonka must be opening up again!’ . . . But no! The great iron gates were still locked and chained as securely as ever, and Mr. Wonka was nowhere to be seen. . . . But there was no question at all,” said Grandpa Joe, “that the factory was running. . . . What’s more, the chocolates and candies it’s been turning out have become more fantastic and delicious all the time.”

—Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Blog entries are coming,

r
 

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Remember how in my last reading recommendations post, I goofily transitioned from talking about Grace Lin's The Year of the Rat to Robert C. O'Brien's Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH?

Well, that book segues into my next reading recommendation just perfect: Nim's Island!!

Nim's Island, by Wendy Orr. Illustrated by Kerry Millard. (Originally published in Australia in 1999; first American edition 2001.)

Oh, what a find!!—is what I want to say, but apparently the book has been found. It's being made into a movie for later this year. (In fact, I learned about this book through Tony W's blog post on movies to watch out for.) Starring Jodie Foster as (I can only assume) Alex Rover!

Perfect casting!! I'm excited. Aren't you?

The best thing about this book is how the story feels imagined by a nine year old—with much of reality going cheerfully out the window, such as when the book states on page six that "Marine iguanas don't eat coconut, but no one had ever told Fred"�and how Nim feels like a true nine year old, too, with her marine iguana and sea lion friends, and her going around the island wielding a machete. The coincidences in the story strike just the right tone of wonder, and in the meantime, you feel like you are living there with her. Lovely!

One thing saddens me. I wanted to buy the copy of this book with the same cover art that my library copy had (the first version shown in this post)—but it seems a bit harder to get now that new covers tie in to the movie. I will have to search!

Linda Sue Park has said in her blog that one of the highest recommendations you can give a book is to say you read it all in one sitting. I read this book twice. When I got to the end, I flipped right back to the start. (And the reread was totally rewarding!)

I'm crazy about this book,
r

P.S.
Check out excerpts from the book's opening pages here! I could just start reading again.

I love how Nim has email and a cell phone, but has never spoken to another human friend.
 

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Just in time for Chinese New Year comes The Year of the Rat, by Grace Lin. My nine-year-old cousin should have received her copy by now!


Happy Chinese New Year! Of all the books I want to review, I have the perfect one to start!

Grace Lin's The Year of the Rat is the sequel to her debut middle grade novel, The Year of the Dog (which I was completely gaga about). Once again Pacy's modern-day, American, grade school experiences, triumphs, and discoveries are peppered throughout with little stories and anecdotes told by her family: of their childhoods back in Taiwan, of their earlier years in the U.S., and of a lot of Chinese fables familiar to my heart. Plus there are these delightful line drawings. The emotional stakes are raised this time when Pacy's best friend Melody moves away to California. Pacy's cultural self-awareness evolves, too, ever so gently and truthfully, when a new Chinese family (from China) moves into Melody's very home, with a boy Pacy's age whose grade-school experiences in the U.S. seem not so rosy as her own.

I also related to Pacy's growing concern over her family's attitude toward her ambitions an an artist. Her triumphs with the class poster. Her crush. Her experience of a Taiwanese American wedding. Her return to her pre-Melody friends. Her decision with Melody to share their beloved book collection by actually mailing their books to and from California every month. All the words I've seen other reviewers use for these books--"gentle," "engaging," "lively," "magical,"--I heartily echo, and I love the simple language, too. I can't wait to hear what my little cousin has to say.

I sent my little cousin The Year of the Dog last fall, by the way, and this was her review (via e-mail):

Thanks for the book The Year of the Dog. I finished it in the first two nights. It was a great book except for one editing mistake.

What! Luckily, I saw my cousin a couple weeks later and got to find out exactly what she was talking about. First she said, "Oh, it was more just like a typo." Then she explained that a certain Chinese fable mentioned in it had been titled one way, when really it was another.

I've heard that story told a few different ways, so this wasn't a "mistake" in my book. But I was glad to see her treating the content with such authority. (She's this genius whose reading/writing progress knocks me out every next time I see her. I've no doubt her next review will be several pages long.)

The Year of the Rat has gotten me thinking this is going to be an excellent year for making Changes. Just as I was pondering the possibilities, my husband said, “Let’s resolve to make one piece of art each, this year, and put it up."

Cool! I'm up for anything!

Just one piece of art? That’s such a small goal. (An excellent, doable, lovely goal.) Maybe I’ll make five. But maybe I’ll start with just one (and maybe four more will follow).


I was going to end this book review here, but Year of the Rat actually gives me an unintentional transition to the next book on my list:

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, by Robert C. O'Brien. Winner of the 1972 Newbery Medal.


Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH!! I recently revisited this classic when Sara reminded me of its awesomeness. 

Read this, read this, you must re-read this!

Oh, those poor rats of NIMH. Oh, oh. They never even said what NIMH stood for. You have to make it up [edit: or figure it out for yourself]. And that is just one tiny example of the genius at work here, because even though these pages are jam-packed with informative, evocative, smartly written details (on locations! Action!! Story! Backstories! The goals of the rats of NIMH!), everywhere you look, there is room for your imagination to fill in more. What Jonathan Frisby saw in Mrs. Frisby (she was clearly a remarkable mouse). The hints at Justin’s future. The fact you don’t know . . . so many things you want to know. What you think you know. What you hope you know. You’re left wanting to go there, to find out the rest for yourself.

Oh, oh, oh.


I was aware as I was reading that some of my intense bond with these rats (and mice!!) was underscored by association with my equally intense love for Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes--a book I pushed on my brother when he was in 7th grade (and I was in 10th) that he read all in one night. (I'm actually reading The Wednesday Wars, by Gary D. Schmidt, right now, and there are rats in that book, too. Goodness!)

I have a lot more books to review, but I like this beginning to the Year of the Rat. We now return to our regular posting schedule of (maybe) once a week.

With love for books!
Rita

P.S.
I urge you to read these books.

It is my hope, once you’ve read these books, that we can talk about them in-depth. Preferably in person!
 

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I have a million and one blog posts coming up. In the meantime, here's something that's been on my mind the past couple days:

What would you say is the most beloved and well-known picture book of all time?

Which one is your favorite, but also, which one do you think is the favorite of the masses, not just of children's book people? If we had to crown just one, based on pure popularity and mass recognition (and maybe sales), what do you think is in everyone's hearts?

I ask because a friend asked me about a certain book, and I tried to make this claim about it. Now I wonder how outrageous that statement was.

:)
r

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Here are the books I've loved lately, that have graduated from my To-Read list to my To-Buy (or Just-Bought!) list. 

First, the Middle Grades and YAs:

Getting Near To Baby, by Audrey Couloumbis (MG). 2000 Newberry Honor Book. In addition to drawing me into a cast of characters, every one of whom I rooted for, each chapter's end gave me that fine feeling of having read a poetic short story.

The Year of the Dog, by Grace Lin (MG). Absolutely charming and magical, in the tradition of those Carolyn Haywood books we all loved growing up (the Betsy and Eddie books!), but starring Chinese Americans! Got one in paperback for my little cousin, one in hardback for me.

Ironside, by Holly Black (YA fantasy). Awesome. I heard Holly Black speak recently at San Diego Comic Con in a panel on YA villains, and she talked about her interest in creating cultures clearly alien to our own. Everyone who'd read any of her three modern faerie tales bobbed their heads enthusiastically to hear her say it.

The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl, by Barry Lyga (YA). Deftly handled, with all the subtle (yet extreme) tensions and characters clearly delineated. And funny(!), though I feel odd saying so. Recommended in particular for Calvin, because the voice reminded me of his.

(I also got the two books mentioned in my last book roundup: and . And for the record, I loved , but we can never talk about it [online].)


I should probably mention that, while my apartment is always overflowing with library books, I only bring up books here I've loved enough to put down funds and buy. That requires extreme love. (It also means there are lags between book posts, as I can't buy the books I love all that fast.)

Regarding picture books, I try (sadly, unsuccessfully) to limit the number in my personal collection. But I'm always excited to buy them for friends. It's one of the key reasons I get excited when friends have babies! ;D (Sounds like a Discovery Channel show: When Friends Have Babies.)

And on that note, here are the latest picture books to have stolen my heart: 

Not a Box, by Antoinette Portis. Um. Everyone needs this book. This is a picture book in its purest, most joyful form. Kids will relate and want this again and again. (I've already "handsold" a couple in bookstores to friends, haha.) "It's not a box!"

Bee-bim Bop!, by Linda Sue Park, illustrated by Ho Baek Lee. Genius! (again!) The fun of the words, the fun of the dish, the worlds of the grocery store and kitchen prep and dinner table evoked by the illustrations. See that cover? This book speaks to you and will make you bop.

The Snowy Day, by Ezra Jack Keats. 1963 Caldecott Medal winner. Everyone also needs this book. A classic for every good reason. I don't know how I could have not known about it sooner. Utterly engaging and engrossing to the senses.

I'd Really Like To Eat A Child, by Sylviane Donnio, illustrated by Dorothee De Monfried. Translated from the French original, Je mangerais bien un enfant.
Actually, I'm not sure everyone needs this book. I need this book—for the sheer audacity of the premise and the fun way the cocky main character is drawn, which paid off every time I read this. My current strategy is to show this off to everyone in person and see whether they need their own, too. J'adore. (Je l'adore?? Vicki! Lynn! Help!)


And now, Robert's Snow:

In (partial) reference to my last post, it turns out there is something a blogger can do—in a bloggerly fashion—to express sympathy and show support to a blogging friend. At least, there is in the case of Grace Lin, whose husband Robert Mercer passed away on August 27.

Robert's Snow is the amazing fundraiser the couple created in 2004, which to date has raised over $200,000 for cancer research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. So, first of all, you can buy the original Robert's Snow picture book; you can buy Robert's Snowflakes, the book which commemorates pieces from the first Robert's Snow snowflake auction in 2004; you can give money in the name of "Robert's Snow"; or you can bid in this year's Robert's Snow snowflake auction to get your own unique piece of artwork—a wooden ornament decorated by a children's book artist—all for this tremendous cause. Over 200 incredible children's book authors and illustrators are contributing snowflakes this year. (You can view the 2005 snowflakes here and 2004 snowflakes here. They are stunning. There are even sculptures!)

Have your favorite author/illustrators created snowflakes? I bet they have. Look them up! You can sort the 2004 and 2005 contributors alphabetically!

EDIT to the original post: You can now go here to view the 2007 snowflakes, as well as years' past! Go, go, go!

It is amazing. You want a snowflake.

Second, if you've got a blog, you can promote Robert's Snow and the snowflake auction. In fact, thanks to the good people at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, bloggers can now sign up to feature from one to five of this year's Robert's Snowflakes artists, on their blogs. 7-Imp is organizing the list, and it'll be a cross-posting extravaganza, with everyone clicking to learn more about artists and snowflakes, and all traffic driven to the auction itself. Click here to read more and sign up!

I first heard about this on Jo Whittemore's blog, followed immediately by the next several blogs I read. Spread the word, everyone!

I know several people whose lives have been touched by cancer recently, quite profoundly. I am often at a loss about what I can do. Well, here is one thing.

Love,
r

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Here it is, folks. My daemon according to The Golden Compass Movie Web site:

I couldn't read the script. I was in high suspense, and then I was all, "My daemon's name is Clean??" But no, it's Cleon, a fox. "Modest, a leader, assertive, outgoing, and responsible." I'm supposed to gather feedback for 12 days from you, and/or change my mind about my answers, before my daemon assumes its final form—which is an awesome idea. (As marketing for the movie, and as mirroring of the book!)

(You're supposed to click the button above and answer five questions about me—that will appear right here, in the box! Neat, huh?? They'll ask whether you "agree" that I'm "modest, a leader, assertive, outgoing, and responsible"�which, by the way, are not assertions I made when I took the quiz.)

I might do this again in a few days. I wasn't in doubt of my answers so much as whose point of view they wanted. (I went with my own. Like when they asked if I asked "too many" questions, I was like, "'Too many' according to whom??" which, to most people, probably means yes. But no, I ask as many as I need.)

Damon's mouse daemon Mandara is "modest, shy, assertive, outgoing, and competitive." I love how they lay out these contradictory terms side by side, with no apologies.

I also don't think the associations we have with foxes, mice, etc.—according to our everyday sayings and cliches—are the associations indicated by the test. That's something else I loved about the book.

:)
r

P.S.
Scratch that—

I went back and redid the test right now. This time, I tried guessing how others see me. (I could feel the answers change significantly.) This is how it came out:

A whippet (What's a whippet??) (Apparently it's a dog) named Photion. "Modest, assertive, outgoing, competitive, and spontaneous." Hm.

Which do you think suits me more?

As different as my answers seemed, the results kind of came out the same. Cleon is better looking.

:)
r

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Hey, everyone,

So this is my second SCBWI Summer Conference-related post. I've been meaning to post this for a while.


Lisa Yee's Monday afternoon keynote: "Ethnic Diversity in Literature: Should Who You Are Determine What You Write?"

As usual, Lisa Yee kept her audience in stitches

I was especially looking forward to Lisa Yee's talk on this all weekend because, about a year ago, I had left a comment on Lisa Yee's blog that touched on the fact her characters were Asian American. Then I'd freaked out an hour later and deleted it instantly. I was hoping this talk would enlighten me as to whether I could have left that comment up or not.

This is highly unorthodox, seeing as how Lisa Yee and I are LJ neighbors (as is Linda Sue Park from my last post, for that matter), but I can tell you exactly what that comment said. I'm going to post it again now, in this blog.

Hi, Lisa Yee,

Last night I was reading Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time when my husband asked what the book was about. I said, "Oh! This is Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time, by Lisa Yee! It's the sequel to Millicent Min, Girl Genius, which won the Sid Fleischman Humor Award at the SCBWI conference a couple years ago. It's a really interesting way to do a sequel, too, because it takes place during the same time as the first book but follows the point of view of one of the other main characters, so you can really see all the places where the stories connect."

My husband looked at me blankly.

So then I said, "It's about an Asian boy who's really good at basketball and gets the cute, white girl."

Suddenly he reached for the book. "Really??" he said.

You really know your audience. ;)

Thanks for this,
Rita

I wrote this comment, and it seemed pretty funny to me. Then I went into my kitchen and made tea. Suddenly I found myself racing back to my computer and deleting the comment posthaste. What was I doing?? What was I thinking?? I didn't know where Lisa Yee stood when it came to Asian American identity! Who was I to be all, wink, wink, nudge, nudge?? If there's one thing working on Cooleyville had taught me, it's that no two Asian Americans are at the same place when it comes to what can be joked about and what can't. I didn't know if Lisa Yee shared any of the same cultural assumptions as me. I didn't know what cultural assumptions her readers were bringing to her blog.

Had I just revealed too much about myself??

Could I have left that comment up or not?

Well, now I've listened to Lisa Yee's talk, and in terms of the comment, I still don't know. I totally related to everything she said—delivered in her endlessly hilarious, truest-truth way—and most especially the way she introduced herself as having "only become Chinese recently." Everyone cracked up over that—except, perhaps, me. I didn't laugh out loud, because in that moment I was struck by knowing exactly what that meant. At one point I'd definitely felt more Chinese in a hurry, and that's exactly how I'd expressed it, too.

Once upon a time a friend tried to relate to me on the level that we were both minorities, and I had to confess that growing up Asian American in Orange County meant I had never felt marginalized. Which is not to say I felt marginalized later; but after a certain life-changing summer program in Taiwan and all the new friends I'd made and the Chinese pop music and my sudden willingness to speak Chinese (which I can do, if you trick me), I grew a lot more aware of how I thought about The Issues. I remembered thinking at the time (and it was definitely funny to think this way) that I'd become a lot more Chinese than I'd been, say, six months earlier. And once the process began, it never stopped.

I love that.

I'm not going to say this is "just like" how Lisa Yee's awareness heightened during reaction to her first book. (She started out thinking she had written a mainstream book with Millicent Min, and the reviewers seemed to agree, but her thinking was challenged when it was proposed they change the ethnicity of the character for a TV show.)

But.

Her talk got me flashing back all over the place, so that half of me was taking in everything she said, and half of me was remembering and thinking exactly how it must be.

Afterward, I still didn't know whether I should have posted the comment. Actually, now that I look at it, I'm sure I shouldn't have. There are too many ways it could have been misinterpreted. But I spent so much time thinking about it, I decided to go ahead and post the whole thing here.

For anyone interested, here is what I meant.

All the Asian American guys I know are obsessed with basketball. They love to play, they love to watch, and, most especially, they love to play. They play all the time, as much as they can, which is multiple times a week even now, when we're near our mid-thirties. They're very much like their junior high and high school selves that way. In fact, when we were out of college I used to make fun of my then-boyfriend (now-husband) and his friends for thinking it was okay to wear basketball shorts all the time, even to the grocery store, which is not how I'd ever thought my "dream guy" would dress.

(They don't do this anymore, but they still deny there's anything wrong with it.)

So I didn't for one second question the truth of Lisa Yee's depiction of Stanford Wong that way. I didn't even realize how refreshing it was to see that in print until I'd made the comment aloud to Damon. Once I had, however, I was like, Huh! You know...??

So the first misinterpretation I'd want to avoid would be if someone thought I'd meant making an Asian guy a jock was an "original," "creative" idea, i.e. going against type. No, that's not what I meant. The type is so natural to me—with basketball in particular—I didn't even realize it was missing from children's books until Lisa Yee wrote Stanford Wong. claps hands "Of course!"

The second half was acknowledging that most Asian American guys I know have a common, grudging awareness that Asian males, in media, are never depicted as getting the girl—most especially if the girl is a white, romantic lead. Asian males can be good or bad guys, usually cast in minor roles (if they can get those); and my friends are fairly divided over whether they like seeing themselves depicted as scientists or doctors. (Of course, you can think up isolated, sort-of exceptions to this "never" rule, which we can spend all day debating.)

In my comment, I wasn't saying Lisa Yee was acknowledging or bucking or doing anything deliberate regarding this issue. In the book, it's not an issue. Stanford and Emily like each other. My comment was meant as gentle ribbing over how an Asian American guy might take an interest in knowing this "miraculous" event had been depicted in a book. In a successful, popular one!

But that's a lot to expect people to get from my comment. The worst interpretation would be if people thought I meant my husband had an undue interest in white women. Good grief.

I saw Lisa Yee at the conference, and we've met a few times, so I meant to ask her about this in person (after I heard her talk). But she was so besieged with fans right up to the very end of the autograph party, I didn't have the heart to take up her time with such a long, potentially vague question.

I guess I wanted to know if she would have known what I meant—and whether she ever thinks of Stanford Wong as giving Asian American male readers what they've been missing. I know she said she didn't become aware of herself as "an ethnic writer" until reception of her first book—and that she had become aware by the time she wrote Stanford Wong. That's when she brought out the theme of Stanford's resentment of Millicent for playing to smart Asian type, for example (which I greatly enjoyed). But these other points of Stanford's character—the basketball, the struggling in school, the getting the girl; and even the resentment of Millicent—were already set in place by the end of the first book. So does she think of these other elements that way now?

Or is that all so natural, she still doesn't?

I'm just curious.

(No, it doesn't actually matter.)


If you had seen my comment on Lisa Yee's blog, and had not read any of what I just wrote, would you have known what I meant?

Would you have made one of the misinterpretations I suggested above?

Love,
Rita

P.S.
I should probably mention—

When I say "Asian," in this post, I mean Asian American. I don't usually say the whole thing. In the context of my life, American's just implied.

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Hold on, let me get this fried chicken grease off my fingers. It's so difficult typing with just the one hand—

  okay—

My Friends!

The conference was lovely, and pictures are coming! Old friends, new friends, joy and despair. So much hope. And my hero.

I also just put up the first of two posts from last week, so please check those out here and here (the latter still to come!).

And I'm finally reading Harry Potter 7, aka The Book Which Must Not Be Named. I'm eating my favorite fried chicken at the same time (it tastes good cold; I could eat it everyday!!), so the whole adventure is taking on some delightful side associations.

Mmm.

More soon. (But maybe not too soon.)

Love,
Rita

P.S.
Please do not discuss.

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Life has been absolutely crazy lately, and there's been a mad case of "spoilage" paranoia going around over a certain book, too, which must not be named. (Don't tell me anything!!)

So my personal reviews of books keep getting shorter.

Read these.


The first one, in particular, I keep recommending to everyone—even people who don't enjoy reading fiction, let alone YA or Middle Grade.

But both these books are amazing.

Love,
Rita

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I could spend all my time blogging about children's books. And non-children's books, for that matter.

But, for the most part, I don't. To even mention what books I've looked at this week opens up a whole can of worms (in my mind) about what other books I have or haven't checked out; what I read last week, last month; what I have on hold at the library; and what's at the top of my list next, I swear.

I feel like I can't even mention a book online without apologizing first for why I hadn't read it earlier.

Take Ender's Game, for example, by Orson Scott Card. A classic. I just read Ender's Game last week—finally—for the first time. And guess what?

EVERYBODY, GO READ ENDER'S GAME RIGHT NOW!! IT'S A CLASSIC!!

You do not need to be a sci-fi head to love that book.


My life is a lot easier if I don't mention books (or writing) in my blog—yet it is a huge omission. At the moment, it's all I can do whenever I see a book raved about online to open up an lapl.org browser right then and put that book on hold. I go to the library every week and haul out books by the stack, trying to keep under limits, but also borrowing Damon's card when needed.

(I find the library's online hold system miraculous, by the way. Calvin changed my life when he told me about it four years ago.)

Having said all that, here is a smattering of books I've looked at this week.

Right after (read it read it read it) Ender's Game, I read The City of Ember, by Jeanne DuPrau.

Now I'm buying that, too.

I made Damon read both of these books back to back, after me. He recently gave me a rundown of themes he thinks boys like to read—bullying, competition, the bad guy gettin' his, the little guy winning—so I knew Ender's Game would appeal to him. But there was so much about the very confined, perfectly worked-out universe described in City of Ember I knew Damon would love, too; particularly that lottery right at the beginning where kids draw their future jobs out of a hat. Damon loved that!! 


Gossie, by Olivier Dunrea
Having read Greg's rave review at momready.com, I put both Gossie and its first sequel, Gossie & Gertie, onto my library hold list.

Adorable (x 2)! The storyline in Gossie & Gertie grabbed me in particular (and you have to know both the story and me to know why). I can see how fun both of these would be to read aloud, totally.

(Thanks, Greg!! I guess I'll let you recommend books to me in future, haha.)

One question, though: In Gossie the original, if Gossie loves to wear her boots every day, all the time, even sleeping, how did she ever lose them? Why'd she wake up without them? Did Gertie take them off Gossie's feet?? 


Library Lion, by Michelle Knudsen and Kevin Hawkes
Um, I'm buying this.
'Nuff said.
(You often hear me say that I "never" cry, but, for this, I teared up.)


And—
I must be super emotional this week because I also teared up not once but four times for Bloomability, by Sharon Creech. I'm almost embarrassed to mention where I got this recommendation, since it'll be so obvious to some. (Hi, Alvina! Thanks for endorsing this one with your blog!!)

The first time I teared up, I thought I must be daft. All that happened was the main character was given a pair of skis. A few sentences later, though, the character herself was crying, so I knew I was exactly where the author wanted me to be.

Keisuke's words are the best. (Such the best!!)


Here is another way for me to sideways-review books without really getting into them. I could just tell you which books I've bought lately and given to friends.



Dim Sum For Everyone (3 copies)
Zen Shorts (and I still need another for myself)
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (2 copies)
Punk Farm (and I still need another for myself)
The Monster at the End of this Book (a favorite of mine and my brother when we were little; 2 copies)
The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear (bought and waiting for the birthday)
Round is a Mooncake (bought and waiting for the birthday)

These are all picture books, of course, whereas 85% of what I read is middle grade (with the remaining three 5%'s distributed to picture books, YA, and non-children's). Picture books make fun gifts, and, right now, all my friends' kids are small.

If you've blogged about or authored or edited or even so much as thought about the aforementioned books lately—and made that fact known online—then, yes, it was probably you that bumped these books back to the top of my list. I'm just read, read, readin' along . . .

r


See? It's a whole can of worms. Now I want to go back and tell you all the other books I love, and what else I plan to buy. 

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Hi. 

I'm here to tell you that Ramona Quimby, Age 8 is genius.

Not earth-shattering news, I know.

But my charge to you today is to go out and read Ramona Quimby, Age 8. Are you afraid it won't hold up to your love from the past? I was not particularly worried about this, because I love Ramona Quimby, Age 8. But I was still stunned by how every word, every paragraph, every event, emotion, and phrase, has stayed with me over the years.

The last time I read this, I couldn't have been older than sixth grade, tops.

I almost didn't reread this today, because I remembered it so well.

But still.

You will be shocked.

Love,
rita




There is not one word wasted, that does not pull its weight times twelve hundred!

(I would give you examples, but I don't want to spoil the rereading for you!!)

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The Disco Mermaids have tagged me for a meme!

(Irvin and Felisa, I know you guys have tagged me for memes in the past—that I've ignored completely. I've figured out why I feel compelled to do this one, though. The Disco Mermaids use flattery.)

(RATS!)

Lucky lucky lucky for me, though: this one is about books!!



One book that changed your life:
When I was in high school, I really wanted to live forever. I also liked unicorns. So this bit from Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn came as a shock to my system.

"Whatever can die is beautiful—more beautiful than a unicorn, who lives forever, and who is the most beautiful creature in the world. Do you understand me?"

I printed these lines out and put them up on my wall. I meditated them every day.

(What could Schmendrick mean? Could fragility and things that are temporary be more precious than immortality??)

That was a huge perspective shift.

The character of Schmendrick, who spoke the lines, was also huge in my life. Schmendrick was this bumbling magician who had no ability to tap into his own true magic, in spite of having studied under the greatest wizard of all time. His all-powerful master finally decides Schmendrick's power must be so vast—but hidden so deep inside—that Schmendrick himself will grow old and die before he ever figures out how to use it. So Schmendrick's teacher gives Schmendrick the gift of more time. He makes Schmendrick stop aging—until such time as Schmendrick comes into his own.

(That story is hilarious and sad. And, you know: Schmendrick's story comes in direct contrast with the story of the last unicorn, who gets changed into a human and becomes afraid to die for the first time.)

I identified with Schmendrick. I wanted someone to give me more time to figure out whether I could be a genius, too! Except I wanted to be great at writing, not magic.

I confided all this to my friend Calvin years later. He laughed super hard. ("You thought you were Schmendrick! Hahaha!! You are such a freak!") ;)

The longer quote goes:

"I was born mortal, and I have been immortal for a long, foolish time, and one day I will be mortal again; so I know something that a unicorn cannot know. Whatever can die is beautiful—more beautiful than a unicorn, who lives forever, and who is the most beautiful creature in the world. Do you understand me?"

I should also mention Zilpha Keatley Snyder's The Changeling. This book didn't exactly "change" me. But it fed into the person I wanted to become.


Book you have read more than once:
???

Books I have read a zillion times: Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, Louis Sachar's Holes, Edward Eager's Half Magic, Bruce Coville's Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher, Richard Adams's Watership Down, Roald Dahl's Matilda . . .


Book you would want on a desert island:
Probably the Lonely Planet guide to that desert island. Also, I would want my travel companion Damon.


Book that made you laugh:
David LaRochelle's Absolutely, Positively Not. In fact, right now, I want to buy at least six copies of this book, to start giving out to friends!!

Every line. Out loud. Fantastic!

I also once laughed so hard at Charles Dickens' Great Expectations that I had to put the book down and hold my sides. Literally, I rolled back and forth all over my bed. Which was strange, cuz I had read that book in high school and not gotten the humor at all.


Book that made you cry:
Tears rolled uncontrollably down my face for Katherine Patterson's The Great Gilly Hopkins.

I also shed tears over Linda Sue Park's A Single Shard. Masterful! Genius! And the way she got me invested in the problem of the master potter, who is a perfectionist that takes "too long" . . . . (Wait . . . you know what?? That's kind of similar to the way I identified with Schmendrick, earlier, except from a different place in my life. Huh.)

There are others, but not many.

I never cried as a kid.

My husband wept over Bridge to Terabithia post-college. (That's just bonus information for ya.)


Book you wish had been written:
I'm working on it.

Not only do I wish this book had been written when I was a kid, I wish it was finished now.


Book you wish had never been written:
I agree with everyone who's said this is a terrible thing to wish for a book. However. There is a movie I wish had never been made.

You know how every story idea can be made to sound both wonderful or awful, depending on how you tell it?

There's a movie that has taken the exact same, basic premise of one of the two novels I'm working on, but makes it horrible!! I've worried this movie's very existence could kill people's willingness to believe the "same story" could be told better, in a way that might even be good.

Thankfully, the movie got so little press when (or if?) it was released, I'm not going to tell you its name.

Let it be as if it never was.


Book you are currently reading:
I just finished Lynne Rae Perkins's Criss Cross this morning (the 2006 Newbery winner). Amazing!!

I'm now four pages into Jasper Fforde's The Jane Eyre Affair. (Hi, Irvin, Felisa, and Lynn!)

I've got 28 more library books on my shelf, plus my Amazon box just came. Apart from Criss Cross and The Jane Eyre Affair, this entire current batch is conference-inspired. :D


Book you’ve been meaning to read:
This list has grown longer than our ridiculous Netflix list. But, unlike with Netflix, this list grows up, with none of the titles admitting they've been pushed down. I keep adding titles to the top.

(This must be how editors and agents feel. Except their reading piles are all of unpublished manuscripts. Good Lord.)

I actually go on children's book blog–reading binges (do you??), where I can't stop cutting and pasting recommendations, along with snippets of what the reviewers said. Then I go straight to the LAPL online system, where I put as many books as I can on hold.

Sites and blogs I currently crib recommendations from:
Linda Sue Park's "What I'm Reading" blog, A Fuse #8 Production, Bookshelves of Doom, Big A little a, The Edge of the Forest, Jen Robinson's Book Page, Bildungsroman (including this list she once posted), Publisher's Weekly, The Cooperative Children's Book Center "Book of the Week" Archive, Blue Rose Girls, and more.

(Most of these bloggers I haven't met. So if you happen to see this, Hi!!!)


One book I've been meaning to read forever is Gregory Maguire's Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.

Irvin's copy of Neil Gaiman's American Gods has also been sitting on my shelf for two years. (The problem there is that it's not a library book, so the time pressure isn't the same!)


Tag five people:
Irvin and
Felisa, you can now both take revenge on me by ignoring this.
Melissa, since you have no blog, you must do this right here in these comments.
Juvin, (and that's Julie and Kevin), if you haven't already been memed to death. It's up to you. :D
Damon, I love it when you talk about books.

love,
rita

WOW! Now I understand why people like to do memes!

It's just like getting interviewed, as if you are somebody!

Thanks!


P.P.S.
More bonus information!! I always wondered what book could have possibly beat The Great Gilly Hopkins for the Newbery Medal, the year it won an Honor (1979). Well, just now I looked: The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin. Ah. I loved that book!!!! So I guess . . . that's okay.

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