The Boy Problem--and an Autographed Giveaway!

In between drafts of my manuscript I’m working on character development using worksheets provided by the faculty of KidLit Summer School—a marvelous online class created by Kami Kinard and Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen. The first one that I tackled was by A.C. Gaughen where she challenged writers to consider the rules governing their character’s voice and  point of reference.

Since I recently read The Boy Problem by Kami Kinard, I thought I’d use Gaughen’s worksheet to review Kami’s book, a companion middle-grade novel to her first book, The Boy Project, which I reviewed exactly two years ago.

On the opening pages the reader meets breezy, funny Tabbi Reddy who believes in signs and desperately wants a boyfriend. Even spilling a pizza on the floor of the local pizza joint turns into a prediction about landing a boyfriend. She tries to convince her best friend Kara, and Kara’s boyfriend Chip, that the cheese on the floor is a lot more than a messy pile of mozzarella.

“And this is his hairline,” I pointed to a jagged edge that jutted out form the gooey forehead. “Don’t you think it looks exactly like a guy?”

“I guess I can kind of see it,” said Kara.

“Kind of see it? I’ll tell you what I see: the image of my future crush. Look at that handsome profile! He’s perfect for me!”

         …………

After the waitress cleans up the mess the girls return to their booth and Tabbi concludes,

“This is the best day of my life!” I said. 

“You’re either overreacting,” said Kara, “or losing it.”

 “Am not! That pile of cheese was a sign—a sign from the universe that the right guy is out there for me after all!” (p.7-8)

In this way Kinard sets up some rules about Tabbi’s voice and her character:

1. She’s going to interpret events—perhaps even misconstrue them—to fit what she wants to happen. (A savvy reader will recognize that this tendency will probably get Tabbi into trouble.)

2. She is totally an 8th-grade girl with a BFF who she can risk being slightly crazy with. 

3. She is slightly over-the-top dramatic.

Tabbi’s point of reference is math. Sprinkled throughout the book are equations, charts, lists, diagrams, and line drawings. For example, one of Tabbi’s inner goals is expressed in an equation on the first page at the pizza shop:  “ 2 +1 = Third Wheel.”  She attempts to meet her external goal (gaining a boyfriend) by methodically listing “Boys who have potential,”; creating a love-predictor cootie catcher;  surveying how other girls caught their boyfriends, and creating a game that will predict who her next boyfriend will be.

At the same time Tabbi is trying to find a boyfriend, her Algebra teacher is also tackling probability—with a more academic type  assignment. When Tabbi and Priyanka--a cupcake lover and the last person in the world Tabbi wants to be assigned to work with—are teamed up on a project that uses probability to predict the future, not only does a cupcake war take over their school and they raise money for a truly good cause, but yes…Tabbi finds her unexpected-yet-could-have-been predicted boyfriend. 

Although the book is full of Tabbi's boy-craziness, I appreciate how Kami wraps the book up at the end. I don't want to spoil it for you, so let's just say, it's a great "there-is-more-to-life than-finding-a-boyfriend" ending.

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For a cute book trailer full of images and equations, check this out:

And here's the trailer which Kami made:

To win an autographed copy of this fun book for your favorite middle grade girl, please leave me a comment by December 18. If you let me know which trailer you like better and your reason why, I'll enter your name twice. Or, become a new follower of my blog and share this on your social media of choice, and I’ll enter your name in the hat twice also!

Make sure you follow Kami and Sudipta's blog to stay up to date for Kidlit Summer School 2015!

Two Chances to Win Books + Three Writing Classes

To thank Rebecca Petruck for her support and writing instruction, I'm offering a copy of her debut novel, Steering Toward Normal as a giveaway on this blog. You'll find my review of this middle grade book for boys and girls here and directions for entering the giveaway below.

In addition, Joyce Hostetter and I are giving away another copy of Steering Toward Normal in Talking Story, as well as an ARC of Linda Phillips' debut novel-in-verse, CRAZY. You will find my review of this young adult book for girls here. By the way, Linda's book received a Junior Library Guild Selection award--pre-release!

If you live in Charlotte and you want to learn some of the tricks of plotting your novel that I learned from Rebecca, she is giving a workshop in Charlotte on October 13 entitled, "Plot Your Novel and Other acts of Joy and Heartbreak." Click here for more information.

Rebecca is joining Kami Kinard to teach an online class on writing a middle grade or young adult novel. Their class, "Crafting the Kidlit Novel" is sure to be jam-packed with information. As a participant in Kami's popular Kidlit Summer School (co-directed by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen I can vouch that these instructors know their stuff!

And finally, I'm starting my Intermediate Fiction Writing class at Central Piedmont Community College next week. There are still a few spaces left if you are interested in developing your children's or adult novel. 

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If you want to win Steering Toward Normal, leave me a comment by Monday, September 22 at 9 AM. Please leave me your email address if I don't already have it.

Holiday Giveaway #4: The Boy Project

Kami Kinard's book, The Boy Project, is one of those middle grade books that I read and wonder, "What a clever idea. Why didn't I think of that?" 

There's a lot to like in this cleverly written book in which the protagonist, Kara McAllister, decides to apply the scientific method to her goal of getting a boyfriend. Kinard's ability to integrate scientific principles into Kara's goal is a stroke of genius. Readers won't even notice how Kinard slips in data tabulation, hypothesis, observations, results and graphs into the book. This is actually a great example of what I advocate in Teaching the Story: Fiction Writing in Grades 4-8; fiction can include science and history if done well!

Besides a very clever plot, I admired how Kinard communicated Kara's voice. Here is an example when Kara is thinking about her math teacher:

Obviously Mr. DeLacey is too old to be my boyfriend. But what if we were meant to be together, you know, eternally? Now that I've visited Bebe Truelove's site, I can't help thinking that Mr. DeLacey would make a great soul mate. One thing he has going for him is that he already knows how to solve for x. X being an unknown answer. You just have to know how to use the information right in front of you to find it. Kind of like finding a soul mate (p. 43).

Not only are scientific principles interwoven into this fun read, but the reader will relate to a young girl's struggle to find a place for herself. I loved this great moment of insight that marks a turning point for Kara:

I know for sure that none of these boy-getting strategies will work for me. First of all, I can't help my looks. There's nothing I can to make myself look like Maybelline. Second, I can't stand running. I'm RELIEVED that Julie [her older sister] doesn't want to run with me anymore! Finally, I am not about to go hugging random boys to get one to notice me. That's just not me. If I started acting like that, I wouldn't be Kara (p. 123). 

I didn't realize how much this book had gotten under my skin until after I finished reading it and dreamt about my junior high boyfriends! Although I never applied the scientific principle to obtaining a boyfriend, that desire to be affirmed by a young man runs deep in many young (and not so young) women. I wish I had a book like The Boy Project to help me navigate those waters!

Now you have the chance to win an autographed copy of the book as well as a cute wristband for a young reader in your life. Here is how: 

• If you already follow this blog, please share this contest via social media then post a comment on my blog or tag me on Facebook.
• If you aren’t a follower, sign up, and then leave a comment (see #1).
• If you have never entered one of my contests, PLEASE include your email address so I can contact you if you win. No contact information--you can't win!
• HURRY! Contest ends TOMORROW NIGHT. Winner will be picked December 20th. I'll mail it out on the 21st!

There will be one more post-Christmas giveaway. Stay tuned for Stake Out by Bonnie Doerr.