Will Sparrow's Road

I have been a Karen Cushman fan ever since reading The Midwife's Apprentice , Catherine, Called Birdy, and Alchemy and Meggy Swann. Since all her books feature spunky characters in medieval England and are expertly written, I was excited to hear of the release of her new book, Will Sparrow's Road. 

From the opening of this middle grade book, readers discover that Will Sparrow, a small 13-year-old boy in 16th century England, is a runaway without a family or penny to his name. He is fast, quick-thinking, and a self-pronounced "lier and a thief" who is only interested in feeding his belly and finding a warm, safe place to sleep.

In his escape from servitude, he meets other characters who are better thieves than he as well as vendors and entertainers who travel from one Elizabethan fair to another. He finds employment with a traveling troupe of "Oddities and Prodigies;" a group that includes a feisty dwarf, a young girl with a hairy face, Grace, and an assortment of fabricated oddities. 

Although at first Will's loyalty is to his employer, he discovers that things aren't as they appear to be. His employer never pays wages and abuses the young girl. The dwarf who Will dislikes, wrestles men triple his size to obtain their dinner and also protects Grace. 

When Will first joins up with the troupe he separates himself emotionally from them; considering himself different and better than the oddities. Eventually, he discovers their true friendship and a family in which he finds acceptance and belonging. The book ends with his own actions bearing witness to the fact that he is a more than just a lier and a thief.

I listened to this book and found that Katherine Kellgren's portrayal of the characters was excellent.  As usual, Karen Cushman's accurate portrayal of the time period and life in an Elizabethan fair formed a great backdrop to the story. Please visit Kirby Larson's blog for a wonderful interview with Karen that includes Karen's research techniques and the value of well-written historical fiction. 

Holiday Giveaway #3- Hattie Big Sky on CD

Congratulations to Rosi Holinbeck, the newest follower of my blog and the winner of an autographed copy of Hattie Big Sky. For those of you who didn't win the book, here is your chance to win the book on CD. 

As promised, Kirby shares her own personal connection to Hattie's story: 

My beloved maternal grandmother was suffering from Alzheimer's and I was helping to take care of her. My heart was breaking over losing her, and at the same time, I was in a writing funk because I'd gone seven years without an acceptance letter. I was pretty sure I was supposed to quit writing. One day, I was with my grandma and she said, "The only time Mom was afraid was in the winter when the wild horses stampeded." Now, we live in the city so wild horses aren't generally something we have to worry about! 

Though I tried to get more information from Grandma, she didn't even remember saying those words to me. They stuck with me, however, and I asked my aunt if she had an idea if they meant anything. She recalled that my great-grandmother, Hattie Inez Brooks Wright,  (technically, my step-great-grandmother) had homesteaded as a young woman. And perhaps in Montana. I was so fascinated by that prospect, I began to poke around to find out if that was a true story. 

The real Hattie with her
niece and nephew

Though I wasn't able to find out much about her time on the prairie, I did learn that my great-grandmother did homestead, all by herself, in eastern Montana. I wanted to know more about what that experience might have been like for her, so I began reading homesteading stories/journals/diaries. That led to hours in newspaper archives, trips to Montana and a stack of books on Montana history! Before I knew it, four years had flown by, and I had a novel on my hands.

Lois Thomas Wright Brown, Kirby's maternal grandmother and model for the main character in Hattie Big Sky

Thank you, Kirby, for sharing this touching story!

And now that you've heard this "story behind the story", here is your chance to win Hattie Big Sky on CD. And yes, Kirby will find a way to autograph the CD for you or for someone you love.

Here are the rules: 

• 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 15th. 

Do Hattie and Charlie ever get together? You'll have to read Kirby's next book, Hattie Ever After  due out in February, 2013 to find out. My mother and I can't wait! 

**************

Next Holiday giveaway is Kami Kinard's book, Boy Project!

This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein

This book is not for the faint of heart. And it’s not for the reader who doesn’t have a stomach for scary, gory scenes and unpredictable mad scientists.

But, if you are intrigued by fast-paced adventures that seem impossibly dangerous—then This Dark Endeavor is a book for you.

I chose this book because I had enjoyed Kenneth Oppel’s book Airborn. Although they are both fantasy, the similarity ends there. This prequel to Mary Shelley’s gothic classic is a riveting, plausible read for older boy and girl readers.

One of the principles in my book, Teaching the Story is, “If You Want to Write, Read.” Following my own advice, I consistently read to learn how young adult authors successfully tell their stories. Here is what I learned from Oppel:

• Open with a scene that hooks the reader and foretells the story’s conflict. The opening dueling scene between Victor Frankenstein and his twin Konrad is a powerful metaphor for the struggles between the two.
• Set up a strong, convincing goal. When Konrad falls perilously ill, Victor is determined to find the elixir of life that will save his brother from death.
• Invent plausible characters. Oppel cleverly creates a convincing backstory of how this educated young man could become the legendary Frankenstein.
• Create nail-biting obstacles that the character must overcome to meet his goal and keep your reader turning pages. Victor battles huge flying evil birds, almost gets stuck in an underground cave, and donates his own—oops, I can’t tell you what—in order to obtain the elixir’s ingredients.
• Give your character mixed motives. Along the way Victor realizes that his motivations towards his brother aren’t totally altruistic.
• Create a love triangle with characters that have mixed motives. Elizabeth, a distant cousin they both love, chooses Konrad over Victor. But Victor has seen a side of her that Konrad is ignorant of.  Can Victor’s bravery win Elizabeth’s love?
• Provide an unexpected, but “of course!” end.  What will Victor do when he realizes the alchemist he trusted has his own plans for the elixir?

Sorry, no answers here.
 You’ll just have to read the book.


Here is the book trailer, which in and of itself, is spooky!

Two Books by Gennifer Choldenko

Al Capone Shines My Shoes (Dial, 2009)



In this sequel to Al Capone Does My Shirts, Choldenko takes the protagonist, Moose Flannagan, into closer contact with Alcatraz’s most infamous prisoner, Al Capone. Although this is a work of fiction, the book is based on research about the prison and interviews with adults who lived on the island as children. The relationships of the children among themselves, their interactions with the prisoners, as well as details about the island, make this great historical fiction for young readers.


12-year-old Moose faces a dilemma. He is indebted to Capone, who pulled strings to help get Moose’s autistic sister, Natalie, into a special school in San Francisco. In exchange, Capone expects Moose to return the favor. After Moose discovers a bar spreader hidden in Natalie’s suitcase when she comes home for a visit, Moose realizes that someone on Alcatraz is planning an escape. His fears abound and allegiances are tested. The manner in which the island children work together to foil the escape brings together many disparate parts of the story including idiosyncrasies of autism, pet flies, a bullhorn, and Mae Capone’s handkerchief.


Themes of loyalty to friends, the complicated relationships between the prisoners and the guards, and isolation and imprisonment, permeate the book and make this a captivating, educational read for boys in girls from 4-8th grade. Choldenko is working on her third book in this trilogy; I look forward to reading it.
***********************************************


If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period (Harcourt, 2007)


To be honest, this book started slow. I kept listening because I admire Choldenko’s writing and I figured that this had to be more than just a story about a suburban white girl (Kirsten) who overeats because her parents are having problems, and a black boy (Walker) with a single mother who is trying to adjust to his new, mostly-white private school.


My hunch was right. Since every chapter alternates POV, the reader gets to see inside each 12-year-old’s mind as they meet and interact. This proves to be funny and enlightening and makes the book accessible to both girls and boys.


The story increases steam when Kirsten overhears a fight between her parents. She discovers a startling connection between her and Walk which is the source of her mother’s anger and depression. When Kirsten’s younger sister inadvertently informs him of their connection, Walker is shocked and angry. Kirsten is instrumental in calming him down, and in the process, discovers a new character trait about herself.The story ends with both protagonists accepting who they are. As Kirsten states at the end, “It matters who I am. I fit in the world.” This statement equally applies to both characters.


As in inveterate tree-lover and writer, I loved how Choldenko wove trees into the story. If I were a middle-school teacher I would elicit my students’ reactions to this symbol. Since my work-in-progress also has a multi-racial theme, I appreciate how Choldenko challenges young readers to think about racial prejudices and preconceived ideas about racial identity.

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Ways That I am Like Karen Hesse (a very short list):

1 We both wake up early and look forward to writing.
2.We both eat our lunch standing up.
3.We both are excited about finding and using primary sources when we’re researching.
4.We both like historical fiction.



These are my conclusions after listening to an interview with her that accompanies her book, Witness. Although several of Hesse’s award–winning books are written in verse, Hesse wrote this short book specifically to be used in the classroom as Readers' Theater.

Suitable for upper elementary and middle school readers, this book tells a little-known segment of American life in the 1920’s. The plot is familiar: Jewish immigrants and a “colored” family are the targets of the KKK’s racial prejudice, hate, and violence. But the setting (rural Vermont) and the characters (eleven people whose lives are affected by the KKK) are unique.

Through sparse language but distinctive voices, the reader hears the unfolding story from each character’s perspective. As a result of this first-person point-of-view, the reader gets inside of Leanora Sutter, a young black girl who is scared and angry when she is teased at school: “At the Klan meeting last night/ the dragons talked about lighting you and your Daddy up to get them some warmth on a cold day” (p.10). The reader journeys inside Sara Chickering, a farmer who takes Leanora in out of the cold but “never had a colored person in my kitchen before.” (p. 12) And the reader feels the pain behind little Esther Hirsch’s observations: “In new York/I did see someone whose poor head/did have a bullet inside it/and he did/have blood everywhere in the street/where he did sleep so still.” (p. 17).

Eleven perspectives on a specific time and place in American history. As a new-to-fiction writer, I’m struggling to clearly communicate one perspective on a different time and place. Clearly, my self-comparison with Karen Hesse produces a very short list.

I highly recommend this book to be used as Readers' Theater as well as in Social Studies classrooms. I listened to it on a CD and although several months have passed, I can still hear the actors’ voices in my head as I reread passages. As I noted in my previous blog about Aleuthian Sparrow; I find Hesse’s word choice and use of imagery outstanding. Treasure this book with your students and for your own reading pleasure.

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Details Make a Difference

One of the instructional themes in Teaching the Story is that the details which an author includes make a difference in depicting a character, setting, or time period. I am repeatedly reminded of this fact in my own reading and writing.

Currently I am listening to Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson. This story of a young black female slave in New York City during the American Revolution is full of well-researched details. The foods the characters eat (eel pie, strawberry tarts, turtle soup); the clothes which the slaves wore (rags for gloves in the middle of winter); the fashion of the upper class women (mouse fur for fake eyebrows); the foods which the prisoners shared (buckets of moldy table scraps which friends or family brought)—all of these provide authenticity to Anderson’s thought-provoking story about the struggle for freedom. (By the way, this book would be a great supplement for upper elementary through high school students who are studying this time period. Make sure you download the reading guide and Anderson’s “Behind The Book” also.)

Recently I wrote a scene in my historical novel where my character puts her dog on a leash and walks him. Several days later, I interviewed George Snyder, a native Charlottean who lived in Myers Park in 1950—-the place and time period for my book. While showing me the house he grew up in and talking about his childhood George said, "We all had dogs. They weren't penned like they are nowadays. They would just run after us on our bikes. No one had leashes." I wouldn’t have guessed that in 1950 in Charlotte, NC dogs weren't on leashes. A minor detail, but one that is now correct.



Here is a picture of George pointing out the initials “LS” (for Luther Snyder) carved in the shutters of his grandfather’s eighty-year-old house. It’s an intriguing detail which would be tempting to work into my story. But as Karen Dionne warns in “Fact into Fiction” in the January 2010 issue of Writer’s Digest, “Facts are fun, but if a detail doesn’t move the story forward by establishing the setting, advancing the plot or shedding light on the characters, it doesn’t belong.”

In a few years when you read Half-Truths and you come across a savory detail—be sure that I have thought long and hard about including it. And if initials appear in a shutter somewhere you'll know there is a reason why.
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A Day of Tears: A Novel in Dialogue

Julian Lester's thought-provoking book, A Day of Tears, builds a fictional story out of of a real event: the day when the most slaves in American history--over400--were sold at one auction. The place is Savannah, Georgia, the time is 1859 and the slaveowner is Pierce Butler who is "forced" to sell his slaves to pay off his gambling debts. Known afterwards as "The Weeping Time," the four days were marked by torrential rain; thus the tie-in to the title of the book.

Many fine books have been written depicting the harsh and unjust conditions surrounding slavery. Jester's novel distinguishes itself by giving voice to each character who plays a part in the drama. As a result of sparse narrative, the reader is engaged in the immediacy of the setting and conflicts. Instead of the traditional novel format, Lester relies primarily on monologues to tell the story. Readers hear the voices of Pierce, his abolitionist wife Fanny Kemble, their two daughters (with two very different points of view on slavery), the auctioneer, several slaves (also with different perspectives on slavery), and the man who helps some of the slaves escape to Cincinnati. Interludes within the main story fast forward the action as the characters reflect upon the years and events that transpired after that pivotal day. The reader watches as families are torn apart--both slaves and their owners--over an issue that divided our country.

I listened to the book on CD and found the acting compelling. Even without much actual physical description of the characters, I could imagine them talking directly to me.

Since the book candidly shows a variety of perspectives on the same event, it makes an excellent Social Studies resource for classes studying the Antebellum Age in the south. In addition, language arts teachers should point out the different uses of syntax, word choice, and dialect to make the voice of each character distinct and powerful. Given the way it is written, this would be an excellent choice for readers theater in middle school or high school classrooms.

The author's notes at the end include glimpses into some of the resources which Lester used to write the book. Since I am researching my own historical novel, I was particularly interested in his resources. He cites a pamphlet "What Became of the Slaves on a Georgia Plantation?" which is in the Library of Congress and can be viewed online. Written by an observer to the entire event, it provides "up close and personal" details of the auction and makes a terrific companion tool to this book.

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The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place

What do two semi-retired Hungarian watchmakers, an unemployed billboard painter, a bald-headed art curator who wears a diamond stud in one ear, a high power attorney from a large New York communications firm, and a precocious 12-year-old girl all have in common?

Their passion to preserve three gigantic towers that are threatened to be torn down by city officials who consider them blights in the neighborhood.

These are not any ordinary towers, of course. But instead, they are outsider art built from pipes, scrap metal, pieces of porcelain, and a variety of glass shards (including such things as pieces of blue Noxema bottles) that took the two Hungarians 45 years to build.

In EL Konigsburg's 17^th novel, a reader can hardly find a character that is more spunky, determined, and resourceful as Margaret Rose Kane. Full of humor, pathos, and suspense, readers from 5^th grade and up will cheer along as Margaret Rose figures out a way to protect her uncles' beloved works of art from being destroyed.

I listened to this on CD and found Molly Ringwald's characterization of the Hungarian uncles particularly delightful. She captured their accents and my enjoyment of listening to their warm approval of their niece as well as their frequently funny arguments was enhanced by her performance. The uncles' astute observations of life add a rich depth to the story. "What you take away is as important as what you leave," Uncle Alex tells Margaret Rose as he "edits" (prunes) his roses. Through her characters, Konigusburg gives her readers—both young and old—a lot to think about.

This is a David vs. Goliath story that can be used in the classroom or home school setting to foster discussions about art, creativity, and the role of individual expression. (Atheneum, 2005)

 

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The Gatekeepers

Normally I wouldn't recommend ending a story with the words, "To be continued." But when the story weaver is Anthony Horowiz then I throw my hands up in the air. I can only hope that my library has the 4th book of the series on CD, or I'm in trouble.



I am generally not a fan of epic fantasies, but I am inexorably hooked on The Gatekeepers that should capture the attention of any middle schooler -- boys particularly. Horowitz masterfully interweaves the lives of five 14-year-olds (four boys and one girl--thus the draw for male readers) who have been chosen to save the world from the "Old Ones." These are powerful evil forces that "feed on human misery" as Scar, the female character relates.

Each of "The Five", as the young adults are referred to in the books, have paranormal powers. An intrinsic part of each book is how the characters come to grips with his or her powers and learns how to use them in this colossal struggle of good vs. evil. There is a great deal of leaving one part of the world and ending up on the other side of the globe, but for the most part, Horowitz has prepared the reader to successfully suspend disbelief and the ways in which the characters end up connecting with one another is convincing.




Horowitz is a masterful storyteller and suspense is hardly a big enough word to describe the predicaments which the characters face. Each main character is always facing imminent danger but the author "somehow" (a word he uses a lot) safely brings him through. These are great books for the writer-to-be to study and see how the author is constantly "upping the ante" through physical danger, time running out, or impossibly close calls. And talk about cliff hangers! The ending of each book entices the reader to go to the next.



Although I have obviously enjoyed these three books, I felt as if the detour in the third book into a time 10,000 years ago and the introduction of characters who mirrored "The Five" was a bit of a stretch. If I could discuss the books with Horowitz, more then once I would have said to him, "Is this really necessary?" But although it seemed long and drawn out, afterwards I understood how Horowitz used this detour to add another dimension to the saga.

Christians who read the books can have some interesting dicussions on the religous themes that run throughout all of them. There is a strong message of "this is what was meant to be" which Calvinists call "predestination." In the same way, there is also a theme of sacrifice as the characters consider that they might have to give up their lives to save the world. On the other hand, some Christian parents might be uncomfortable with the characters' paranormal abilities.



Overall, I highly recommend the books for adventure, descriptive writing, and a story that hooks the reader's imagination. But I'm in trouble. Book 4, Necropolis, isn't even at my library yet and there are 18 people ahead of me waiting to read it! To be continued....
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The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

"If you do start to read this book, you will go on a journey with a nine-year-old boy called Bruno. (Though this book isn't a book for nine-year-olds.) And sooner or later you will arrive with Bruno at a fence. Fences like this exist all over the world. We hope you never have to encounter such a fence."

This description from the cover flap of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (or in my case, on the cover of the CD) piqued my curiosity, but I was totally unprepared for the drama that lay in store for me. Told from the perspective of the son of a newly-appointed Commandant, young Bruno's voice of innocence permeates this atypical Holocaust story. The story opens with Bruno receiving the news that his family is packing up his beloved house in Berlin to move to an undisclosed location. The servants will only tell him that the sudden move has something to do with his father's important, yet highly secretive, job. Not pleased with the news that he has to leave his three best friends with whom he goes on exploring adventures, or that his "Hopeless Case" sister Gretel is also coming, Bruno contemplates the events in the unfolding days with a quiet seriousness. He is at the same time inquisitive (the explorer in him) and naïve (why do all of the boys, men, and grandfathers who live on the other side of the fence wear gray-striped pajamas? And if his father knew about the horrible huts they lived in, wouldn't he do something about it?) These traits are both endearing, and his downfall.

As the story develops, the reader sees life though the eyes of this young boy. We meet "The Fury" ("he was the rudest guest Bruno had ever witnessed.... he walked directly into the dining room and sat down at the head of the table—in Father's seat!"); and Shmuel, the boy who "happens to be on the other side of the fence" who Bruno finds out with delight, was also forced to leave his home—solidifying the friendship that Bruno longs for. Bruno struggles to make sense of the fence that separates the two of them, wondering why he can't crawl under it to play with Shmuel and the hundreds of other boys that Bruno imagines are happily living there.

It is this desire for the simple pleasures of boyhood friendships that propels Bruno into his final "adventure". The sad ending, as unfortunately inevitable as war, prejudice, and discrimination; hits the reader with bomb-like force. I would recommend it for 7^th graders and up, in conjunction with holocaust studies; or, in language arts, to discuss a character's voice. Bruno's distinct but naïve voice is evident in his comments to Shmuel about his clothing, the camp…even about Poland itself. As the book jacket testifies, this is not a book for nine-year-olds. But it is a book that will certainly prompt thought-provoking discussions in the classroom. (Random House, 2006)Technorati Tags:
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Brian’s Return

It's been a long time since I read Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, but I can still remember the eloquent detail Paulsen used to show Brian's survival in the wilderness. Since he first published that book in 1987, Paulsen continued the series with The River and Brian's Winter. I was not disappointed with the sharp account of Brian's return to the bush—authentic detail abound. The conflicts that Brian faces in trying to return to civilization are acutely captured in this short 2-CD audio book from Listening Library, but I kept thinking—how can this book end so quickly? I admit, I was hoping for a different ending. But after listening to the author's note at the end in which Paulsen talks about his own life and his difficulties coming back into "real life" as you and I know it, I realized that Paulsen wrote the only ending that would truly fit who Brian was (and who Paulsen himself is.) This series of books are unabashedly autobiographical and I would recommend them as stellar examples of an author mining his own life to create realistic fiction—an element which I talk about in Teaching the Story and in my workshop, Mining Your Students' Lives: Writing Rich Short Stories. Brian's Return
was released as Hatchet: The Call by Macmillan Children's Books in the UK on January 8, 1999.

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Audio Books

Since I am such a fan of books on CD, I was happy to read local teacher and columnist, Kay McSpadden, tout the merits of audio-books in the Charlotte Observer on August 11. As readers of this blog know, I'm a big advocate of reading books this way—since (unfortunately!) my time seems too limited to be able to sit down and read--as much as I love books. After McSpadden heard Jim Dale, the actor who has read all seven of the Harry Potter books for audio-books read, she wrote:

"…Before they are readers, all children learn by listening, and audio-books such as the ones narrated by Jim Dale can be a gateway to literacy. Granted, Jim Dale is a talented impersonator and mimic who has spent great care making each character's voice in the Harry Potter books distinct, and the Harry Potter books are so compelling that most fans read them more than once. But even an average parent reading a simple bedtime story aloud is giving her child practice in listening, memory, vocabulary, and imagination--skills that lead to fluency in reading later on."

Her column went on to discuss how TV watching has replaced reading and imaginary play—both so necessary to creative childhood development. She quoted a University of Washington study which indicated that, "For every hour per day spent watching videos targeted to them, babies had six to eight fewer words than babies who did not watch the videos."

She went on to say that many students who are considered reluctant readers might be hooked into reading by first listening to a story. Storytelling has been around since time began and well told stories, as McFadden concludes, speak to us all.

And speaking of audio-books…I look forward to telling you all about my latest great read: Peter Pan in Scarlet.

Blood Red Horse

I haven't been deliberately picking out books with colors in the title, but I'm always excited when my local library adds new YA books on CD's to their collection. I picked up Blood Red Horse by K.M. Grant and was not disappointed to listen to a book that would appeal to both boys and girls. (The SCBWI-Carolinas listserve has been having a lively discussion on what types of books appeal to boys and whether we as writers write to their interests, or write what we feel passionately about. Interesting dilemma for writers!)

This first book in the de Granville Trilogy recounts (in vivid, gory detail- thus the boy interest!) is written from the perspective of two young men during the 12^th century Crusade. One, a Christian knight, the other a Muslim emir. Through the events which are shown in remarkable, historic detail, they both end up loving the same "blood red horse." The valued animal ends up being a catalyst for partial reconciliation between the two enemies. The author not only portrays the conflicts and experiences of both young men, but it is also an eye-opening account of the Crusades. I highly recommend it for readers in middle school and high school. Younger mature readers might also appreciate it, although given the nature of the subject, there is quite a bit of violence.

Some Recent Reads

I recently finished listening to Rash by Peter Hautman. Although the language might offend some readers, the plot, story, and writing are excellent. Fast forward the calendar about 70 years and you'll see Hautman's view of the future. In this way, Rash provides a clever commentary on our present society which is preoccupied with health and safety. In addition, the manner in which Bo Marsten, the main character, handles conflicts with his family, peers, school, and government are true to life and lead to a satisfying resolution. I believe this book will appeal to boys and girls from ages to 11-15.

Copper Sun by Sharon Draper was the winner of the Coretta Scott King Literary Award in 2007. It is told from the perspectives of an African slave girl and an indentured girl whose lives intersect in a South Carolina rice plantation in the early 1700's. Although I found some of the story predictable, the vivid horrors of slavery and the cruelty of slave owners definitely made this book a worthwhile read. In addition, the girls' journey south to Florida and to Fort Mose was a departure from the stories of slaves escaping to the north. The girls' emotions, interactions, and the development of their friendship are portrayed well. There are several references to sexuality as the main character is bought as a 16^th birthday present for the masters' son, so parents should use discernment in recommending this book for younger readers.