Wednesday, March 31, 2010
"Dear Lucky Agent" Contest Features MG and YA Fiction
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Blogger Comments
I'm trying to respond to comments made, but Blogger won't allow me to do so, oddly enough. Thank you to those of you who have written comments, nonetheless.
Write on!
Sharon
Write on!
Sharon
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
A Boy, a Book, and an Old Yeller Dog
[Note: Blogger has decided that today it will not necessarily retain my paragraph breaks uniformly. Sorry.]
I am so pleased to welcome guest blogger Kristi Rice today. How do the books children read affect their lives? Read Kristi's story and find out.
My "Yeller" Dog
I can't fathom the idea of not having any children in the single digit age group. As of today, that is exactly what has happened. Where did the time go? My St. Patty's Day boy has turned ten. We thought we would do something really special to mark this occasion and so decided to give him a pup--a yeller pup.
It all started this summer when my Ethan's cat ran away for the zilynth time. Ethan decided he was fed up with cats. Dogs were the way to go. My response? Heck no! I just had brand new carpet laid. No way were we going to house break a new puppy!
Then, my big mistake. See, the fall is my absoulte favorite time of year. I am an outdoor girl. I still love to climb into big old trees with a good book. I decided it would be sooo nostalgic to take my children along with me and read a classic novel. "How about Old Yeller? I thought. Well, let me tell you, it worked out just as I had it in my mind--no, better. My children loved the book. Ethan especially loved it. At the end of the novel, he looked up at me with a tear streaked face and said, "Momma, I want a yeller dog." Oh boy, if that didn't pull at my heart strings.
That brings us to this past Saturday. I put out a search to see if anyone knew where I could find one. A fellow homeschooler emailed me that he had golden retriever pups ready to take home.
It was road trip time! My daughter Olivia and I took Ethan in the car. (My husband would have come, too, but he had to attend to some other business.) We told Ethan we were taking him to get his birthday present.
His eyes lit up. "Are we going to Wal-Mart or Target?" Olivia and I laughed. Neither, was our reply. We told him he would never guess in a bizillion years where we were going.
When we pulled into the home of the dog owners, Ethan asked, "Where are we?"
"You don't remember this place?" I said. He, of coarse, had never been there.
"Uh...kinda..."
The front door opened, and a very smiley man invited us in.
"Ethan doesn't know why he is here," I said. "He just knows he is getting his birthday present." The man's smile broadend even wider. He said he had to go put the big dog away and then we could take a look.
As the man walked away, Ethan looked up at me with the same face I remember from right after we had read Old Yeller. My heart melted, and tears burned my eyes.
"I'm gettin' a puppy?" He spoke softly as tears leaked down his face. Oh boy, I lost it. We both stood there in this stranger's kitchen weeping. The man returned with a look of bewilderment on his face. I couldn't even speak to tell him what was happening. I'm not sure that I would have been able to explain it to him anyway.
Ethan went in to the kennel room, and within five minutes he had snuggled up to one "yeller" pup in particular. Now that pup, which he named Lady Bella Elizabeth Rice, is living in our home.
We have already had some pretty exciting adventures which I hope to write about soon.
Do, do tell us more, Kristi, as the days go by. Guests of this blog may visit Kristi's blog, also.
Now, gentle readers, would you be so kind as to comment about a book from your childhood that significantly impacted your life? If you are a writer of children's literature, how do you hope that your work will influence your readers?
I am so pleased to welcome guest blogger Kristi Rice today. How do the books children read affect their lives? Read Kristi's story and find out.
My "Yeller" Dog
I can't fathom the idea of not having any children in the single digit age group. As of today, that is exactly what has happened. Where did the time go? My St. Patty's Day boy has turned ten. We thought we would do something really special to mark this occasion and so decided to give him a pup--a yeller pup.
It all started this summer when my Ethan's cat ran away for the zilynth time. Ethan decided he was fed up with cats. Dogs were the way to go. My response? Heck no! I just had brand new carpet laid. No way were we going to house break a new puppy!
Then, my big mistake. See, the fall is my absoulte favorite time of year. I am an outdoor girl. I still love to climb into big old trees with a good book. I decided it would be sooo nostalgic to take my children along with me and read a classic novel. "How about Old Yeller? I thought. Well, let me tell you, it worked out just as I had it in my mind--no, better. My children loved the book. Ethan especially loved it. At the end of the novel, he looked up at me with a tear streaked face and said, "Momma, I want a yeller dog." Oh boy, if that didn't pull at my heart strings.
That brings us to this past Saturday. I put out a search to see if anyone knew where I could find one. A fellow homeschooler emailed me that he had golden retriever pups ready to take home.
It was road trip time! My daughter Olivia and I took Ethan in the car. (My husband would have come, too, but he had to attend to some other business.) We told Ethan we were taking him to get his birthday present.
His eyes lit up. "Are we going to Wal-Mart or Target?" Olivia and I laughed. Neither, was our reply. We told him he would never guess in a bizillion years where we were going.
When we pulled into the home of the dog owners, Ethan asked, "Where are we?"
"You don't remember this place?" I said. He, of coarse, had never been there.
"Uh...kinda..."
The front door opened, and a very smiley man invited us in.
"Ethan doesn't know why he is here," I said. "He just knows he is getting his birthday present." The man's smile broadend even wider. He said he had to go put the big dog away and then we could take a look.
As the man walked away, Ethan looked up at me with the same face I remember from right after we had read Old Yeller. My heart melted, and tears burned my eyes.
"I'm gettin' a puppy?" He spoke softly as tears leaked down his face. Oh boy, I lost it. We both stood there in this stranger's kitchen weeping. The man returned with a look of bewilderment on his face. I couldn't even speak to tell him what was happening. I'm not sure that I would have been able to explain it to him anyway.
Ethan went in to the kennel room, and within five minutes he had snuggled up to one "yeller" pup in particular. Now that pup, which he named Lady Bella Elizabeth Rice, is living in our home.
We have already had some pretty exciting adventures which I hope to write about soon.
Do, do tell us more, Kristi, as the days go by. Guests of this blog may visit Kristi's blog, also.
Now, gentle readers, would you be so kind as to comment about a book from your childhood that significantly impacted your life? If you are a writer of children's literature, how do you hope that your work will influence your readers?
Friday, March 12, 2010
What's in a Name? You'd Better Find Out!
Though this entry is a short one, it carries an essential message for writers. Simply put, be careful what you name your characters. Check potential names on the Internet.
While sipping my Plantation Mint tea this morning, I learned about a middle-grade novel--published by a Christian house--that sounded interesting. Since I write mg, I try to stay alert regarding that genre. I clicked on the blog link that had the author's interview. When I saw the protagonist's name, I was startled. No. Shocked. It was the name of a 1980s sit-com actress who was released from the show because of her heavy drug usage. Further, in a tell-all biography, the actress wrote of a long-term incestuous relationship with her father. Not exactly the baggage you'd want your pre-teen main character to lug around--Christian or not.
Exactly what is in a name? Check it out before your character gets stuck with it, and you have to be reminded of your oversight every time you crack open the cover.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I Love You, Tomorrow!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Review: SWEET BY AND BY by Patricia Hermes
Published by: HarperCollins Publishers, New York, NY, 2002
192 pages
First line: "Tell me about the snowstorm," I said.
If your taste in middle-grade novels runs toward fast-paced adventures, this is not the book for you. It is a quiet, rather sad, very sweet book.
Eleven-year-old Blessing lives with her grandmother, Monnie, up on the mountain. The two make beautiful music together. When Monnie tucks her fiddle under her chin and Blessing lifts her voice to sing, everyone stops talking and scoots closer to hear. Together they make the moutains echo with "The Old Churchyard," "Bar'bry Allen," "Amazing Grace," and "Sweet By and By."
But Monnie's health is declining, and Blessing must confront two terrible fears: Monnie could die, and "Wolf" Cotter, the social worker, could take control of Blessing's life, deciding where and with whom she would live.
Sweet By and By explores the relationships forged among Blessing, Monnie, and the mountain community. It also reveals the struggle Blessing has to gain some control over her own destiny.
Patricia Hermes is the author of nearly fifty books for readers from early middle grades through young adult, as well as two nonfiction books for adults. Her books have won many awards and recognitions, including American Library Association Best Book, Smithsonian Notable Book, and C.S. Lewis Honor Book. She also has won many state awards, four of them for the novel You Shouldn't Have to Say Goodbye.
192 pages
First line: "Tell me about the snowstorm," I said.
If your taste in middle-grade novels runs toward fast-paced adventures, this is not the book for you. It is a quiet, rather sad, very sweet book.
Eleven-year-old Blessing lives with her grandmother, Monnie, up on the mountain. The two make beautiful music together. When Monnie tucks her fiddle under her chin and Blessing lifts her voice to sing, everyone stops talking and scoots closer to hear. Together they make the moutains echo with "The Old Churchyard," "Bar'bry Allen," "Amazing Grace," and "Sweet By and By."
But Monnie's health is declining, and Blessing must confront two terrible fears: Monnie could die, and "Wolf" Cotter, the social worker, could take control of Blessing's life, deciding where and with whom she would live.
Sweet By and By explores the relationships forged among Blessing, Monnie, and the mountain community. It also reveals the struggle Blessing has to gain some control over her own destiny.
Patricia Hermes is the author of nearly fifty books for readers from early middle grades through young adult, as well as two nonfiction books for adults. Her books have won many awards and recognitions, including American Library Association Best Book, Smithsonian Notable Book, and C.S. Lewis Honor Book. She also has won many state awards, four of them for the novel You Shouldn't Have to Say Goodbye.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Review: RUBY HOLLER by Sharon Creech
Published by: Joanna Cotler Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, New York, NY, 2002
310 pages
First line: Dallas leaned far out of the window, his eyes fixed on a bird flying lazily in the distance.
From now on, I will include the first sentence of any book I review. We are told as writers that the job of that first sentence is to hook the reader so that they have no choice but to continue reading. By the time the reader finishes the first page, the hook should be deeply embedded in the gristle of the reader's jaw. That just didn't happen with this book.
As a child, I found myself reading a lot of first pages before tossing the books aside when those first pages failed to tantalize. At some point around junior high, I decided that was unfair and began reading the first one hundred pages before deciding whether or not to continue. So I did with this book.
Ruby Holler is a book of characters. I hear you. You're saying, "Sharon, all novels have characters." That's not what I mean. These people--on and all--are, to quote Merriam-Webster Online, people "marked by notable or conspicuous traits."
The protagonists are a set of orphaned twins, Dallas and Florida, who were abandoned as infants, left in a box on the steps of an orphanage operated by a couple named Trepid (think Miss Hannigan, Carol Burnett's character, in Annie). The Trepids treated all children in their care cruelly, but they especially disliked Dallas and his sister Florida, whom the Trepids called "the trouble twins."
If a line can be drawn between sympathy and pity, I drew that line, for I felt sorry for the twins, but it took awhile to truly sympathize with them. They were unlikable children who seemed bent on destroying everything around them that could be destroyed.
When Tiller and Sairy Morey, a couple of "old people," arrange for the trouble twins to spend the summer with them, Dallas and Florida expect more of the same treatment. They're astounded that the Moreys seem prepared to forgive any mischief they do.
Usually the foster parents (all of them quite bizarre)--and certainly the Trepids--dole out cruel punishments for misbehavior: hours of solitary confinement in dank, dark cellars with nothing for company but hairy spider, lizards, snakes, and "putrid" rats; scant rations of tasteless, meatless food; and days of back-breaking, heavy labor such as well-digging. The kids are baffled by the love the Moreys give them. There seems to be no limit to forgiveness, even when the children break two precious, hand-carved objects, split the railing of the front porch, cut down Tiller's favorite maple tree, and hack a "window" hole in the barn "to let in more light."
Love and forgiveness are streams that run through Ruby Holler. Though no one ever says, "I love you," it is expressed by the things the residents do for one another, even the trouble twins.
The book ends leaving a lot of questions unanswered, inviting a sequel. For example, who is Z, a character who jumps in and out of the story, gaining prominence toward the end? Are his suspicions about Dallas and Florida correct? Where is the twins' mother? Why did she desert them?
Ruby Holler can be understood on several levels, making it an excellent choice for multi-generational book discussion groups. In my days as a classroom teacher and gifted/talented facilitator, I often lead such groups that were made up of both the students and their parents.
Sharon Creech is the author of the Newbery Medal winner Walk Two Moons and the Newbery Honor winner The Wanderer. Ruby Holler was a Young Hoosier Book Award winner in 2005. Creech has written many other books, as well.
310 pages
First line: Dallas leaned far out of the window, his eyes fixed on a bird flying lazily in the distance.
From now on, I will include the first sentence of any book I review. We are told as writers that the job of that first sentence is to hook the reader so that they have no choice but to continue reading. By the time the reader finishes the first page, the hook should be deeply embedded in the gristle of the reader's jaw. That just didn't happen with this book.
As a child, I found myself reading a lot of first pages before tossing the books aside when those first pages failed to tantalize. At some point around junior high, I decided that was unfair and began reading the first one hundred pages before deciding whether or not to continue. So I did with this book.
Ruby Holler is a book of characters. I hear you. You're saying, "Sharon, all novels have characters." That's not what I mean. These people--on and all--are, to quote Merriam-Webster Online, people "marked by notable or conspicuous traits."
The protagonists are a set of orphaned twins, Dallas and Florida, who were abandoned as infants, left in a box on the steps of an orphanage operated by a couple named Trepid (think Miss Hannigan, Carol Burnett's character, in Annie). The Trepids treated all children in their care cruelly, but they especially disliked Dallas and his sister Florida, whom the Trepids called "the trouble twins."
If a line can be drawn between sympathy and pity, I drew that line, for I felt sorry for the twins, but it took awhile to truly sympathize with them. They were unlikable children who seemed bent on destroying everything around them that could be destroyed.
When Tiller and Sairy Morey, a couple of "old people," arrange for the trouble twins to spend the summer with them, Dallas and Florida expect more of the same treatment. They're astounded that the Moreys seem prepared to forgive any mischief they do.
Usually the foster parents (all of them quite bizarre)--and certainly the Trepids--dole out cruel punishments for misbehavior: hours of solitary confinement in dank, dark cellars with nothing for company but hairy spider, lizards, snakes, and "putrid" rats; scant rations of tasteless, meatless food; and days of back-breaking, heavy labor such as well-digging. The kids are baffled by the love the Moreys give them. There seems to be no limit to forgiveness, even when the children break two precious, hand-carved objects, split the railing of the front porch, cut down Tiller's favorite maple tree, and hack a "window" hole in the barn "to let in more light."
Love and forgiveness are streams that run through Ruby Holler. Though no one ever says, "I love you," it is expressed by the things the residents do for one another, even the trouble twins.
The book ends leaving a lot of questions unanswered, inviting a sequel. For example, who is Z, a character who jumps in and out of the story, gaining prominence toward the end? Are his suspicions about Dallas and Florida correct? Where is the twins' mother? Why did she desert them?
Ruby Holler can be understood on several levels, making it an excellent choice for multi-generational book discussion groups. In my days as a classroom teacher and gifted/talented facilitator, I often lead such groups that were made up of both the students and their parents.
Sharon Creech is the author of the Newbery Medal winner Walk Two Moons and the Newbery Honor winner The Wanderer. Ruby Holler was a Young Hoosier Book Award winner in 2005. Creech has written many other books, as well.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Taking a Breather--Well, Not Really
Recently, I read my first ARC, and I plan to write a review for it this week. Please stop back to read that. After today's trip to the library, I have three middle-grade novels to read: Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech (Joanna Cotler Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers); Sweet By and By by Patricia Hermes (HarperCollins); and North by Night by Katherine Ayres (Delacorte Press). Can't wait to start turning those pages!
Write on!
Friday, February 19, 2010
Oh, the Places You Will Go!
A beehive oven like the one in my story's summer kitchen
Today is a great day. As I start this entry, it is 8:30 a.m. and already so much has happened. The day began with a request from an editor for a full of a manuscript. Hooray! Then I got started on some research into Federal-style architecture and furniture, hoping to find some good photos to help in the development of my setting of place (see earlier post). Whereas I have the lovely home I can visit, it's nearly an hour's drive, and I wanted references I could keep handy. I found online exactly what I needed, including a video of Bob Villa's tour through "my house." I bookmarked it so I can walk through with Bob any time I wish.
The cellar door to "my house," though mine has a latch
Last night, or rather, very early this morning, I found some old Civil War correspondence online. What a great way to familiarize oneself with the language, phrases, idioms, events, and customs of the day!
Research is a wonderful thing. One never knows in what diverse directions it will go.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Comments, Please! I Just Love Comments!
Thank you so much for visiting my blog. Be sure to read the comments that other guests leave. I do, and I always learn something new. While you're on the "Comments" page, go ahead and share your own ideas and experiences. Write on!
Because of Christ,
Sharon
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