Words With Wings - Audio Book Giveaway!

Congratulations to Sheri Levy who won an autographed copy of Lisa Kline's book, Eleanor Hill from last week's giveaway.  For those of you who didn't win last week, here's another chance!

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I've been a fan of Nikki Grimes' poetry ever since reading Bronx Masquerade; I love how she juxtaposes words and images. This is her second book I've read and once again, I enjoyed it a great deal. In this award-winning novel in verse, Grimes has written a tight story that will speak to readers, writers, and daydreamers of all ages.

Gabby is like her father - a dreamer who sees worlds inside everyday words. When she says a word such as sand, carousel, or roller coaster she immediately flies away from her school work or chores. 

After her parents split up, Gabby misses her father's comfort and empathy. Her mother decides they have to move across town and Gabby misses her neighborhood, best friend, and school:

Missing My Old School, 

My Old Life, My Old Family

Some days
sad is a word
I can't swallow.
It swells inside my throat
until it's stuck.
I hurry home from school
and beat Mom there.
The second she arrives, 
I crawl onto her lap
like when I was little.
She holds me, quiet,
and strokes my hair.
I stay there
til the sadness shrinks and I can breathe again. (p.33)

Daydreams are more than an escape from problems -- it's Gabby's way of thinking, breathing, and living. Here are a few of my favorite poems:

First Day

I duck down into the seat of my new class.

To these kids,

I’m not Gabby yet.

I’m just Shy Girl

Who Lives 
Inside Her Head.

No one even knocks 
on the door for a visit.

They don’t know
it’s beautiful 
in here. (p. 9)

Words with Wings

Some words 
sit still on the page

holding a story steady.

Those words 
never get me into trouble.

But other words have wings 
that wake my daydreams.

They fly in,

silent as sunrise,

tickle my imagination,

and carry my thoughts away.

I can’t help 
but buckle up 
for the ride! (p.11)

Maybe

Dad is a dreamer

And mom is a maker.

I’ve been thinking,

maybe
I can be both. (p.27)

Sled

Say "sled"

And my nose is cold and shiny

As the blades if the red racer I haul

To the top of the hill.

Then it’s down

Down

Down I go

careening through 
a lop-sided snow fort,

Waking the morning 
with laughter

steering straight 
into the sun.  (p.28)

Waterfall

Say "waterfall"

and the dreary winter rain

outside my classroom window

turns to liquid thunder,

pounding into a clear pool

miles below

and I can’t wait

to dive in.  (p. 30)

Gabby loves the places her daydreams take her--but her mother and teachers don't.

Stuck in Dreamland

Maybe something 
is wrong with me.

all this fancy dancing 
in my mind.

Where I see red and purple 
and bursts of blue,

everybody else sees 
black and white.

Am I wrong?

Are they right?

Too bad 
I can’t ask Dad. (p.38)

After hearing too many times that she needs to quit daydreaming, she resolves to stop. 

I quit

I pack my daydreams

kick them to a dark corner.

No more word journeys for me,

seeing what others don’t see. (p. 39)

When her new teacher confiscates one of her written daydreams, Gabby doesn't get into trouble as she expects. Instead, he proposes a solution that gives credence to all students' dreams and validates Gabby's aspirations.   

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Courtesy of Recorded Books, I am giving away this audio CD to one fortunate blog reader. Middle grade students in both the traditional classroom or homeschool will enjoy this book-and so will you!

Leave me a comment by 7PM on August 29th, along with your email address if you are new to this blog. If you want an extra chance to win, share this on your social media of choice and let me know which you do. 

The Return of Eleanor Hill-- And a Giveaway!

Congratulations to Linda Phillips who won a copy of last week's giveaway, Turning On a Dime. Stay turned faithful blog followers, I have more books to give away over the next few weeks!

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I met Lisa Kline when she presented a workshop on historical fiction at one of the first SCBWI events I organized in Charlotte. As she shared her process of writing Eleanor Hill and the way she used her family's history and primary documents, I was hooked. I knew after reading her book that this was the genre I wanted to explore. 

Here is a summary of the story from Lisa's website:

Twelve year old Eleanor Hill knows that women in other places do more than hang laundry, tend gardens, and fry fish for dinner. But in Atlantic Grove, her isolated North Carolina village, most girls see nothing more in their futures than marriage to a fisherman and the meager existence that goes with it. Eleanor longs to experience the fast-changing world beyond Atlantic Grove -- she'd like to drive an automobile, see a picture show, and most of all, attend high school. 

At last she has her chance. Without her papa's permission, Eleanor leaves home to live with her aunt and uncle in nearby New Bern. As she discovers the satisfactions of higher education, Eleanor also attracts the attentions of a handsome Italian immigrant boy and a prominent doctor's son. While spending her teenage years in New Bern, Eleanor begins to realize how valuable love and family are in her struggle for self-reliance. Set against the exhilarating backdrop of 1910's America, this engaging novel vividly portrays one girl's search for identity and experiences. 

Eleanor Hill was first published in 1999 by Cricket. In March of 2014, it was newly released. I asked Lisa to share some background about the book as well as the process of bringing it back into print.

CAROL: Where does Eleanor Hill fit into your career as a writer? What did you learn by writing it? 

LISA: This was my first novel. I used my grandmother’s letters and photos from her childhood and young adulthood as the basis for my story. I felt my way along and had absolutely no idea what I was doing. My grandmother’s spirit truly must have been looking over my shoulder as I wrote, because after I sent it out I had two publishers make offers for it. And then it won the North Carolina Juvenile Literature Award.  

CAROL: I know it is based loosely on your grandmother's life. Can you give some details about how you created the story? What about your grandmother's life prompted you to write this book? What did you include? What did you fictionalize? How did other family members react to the book?

LISA: I found out from my mother, the day before my grandmother’s funeral, that she had been one of the first women in New Bern, North Carolina to learn to drive a car. I was fascinated with that. I thought she must have been a spirited and independent young woman. It made me want to know more about her, and perhaps write about her.

Also, when I inherited her letters, I found a number of notes from young men. One said, “Will you company (sic) me to church this Wednesday?” Of course the young men couldn’t call girls up because a small town like Atlantic had very few telephones in 1910. I knew that my grandmother’s love life needed to be part of my story. She also kept her monthly budgets, and so I saw that she used some of her salary to help her family members, and that made me admire her deeply. I fictionalized some of it, borrowed some of it from the letters, and used some of what I’d learned from my mom about my grandfather.

Family members in general seemed pleased. I have a cousin who bought lots of copies for her friends and family members. I did later hear that some people didn’t like the way I’d portrayed some family members, and felt very bad about that. I’d changed everyone’s name, and almost all characters I’d made up since I hadn’t known them. But it opened my eyes to being even more careful about things like that.

CAROL: What was the impetus for bringing it back into print? Whose decision was it? Any challenges with that?

LISA: I was approached by a small press called The Bridge about republishing Eleanor Hill. (www.thebridgebooks.com) A board member had read and loved the book. The press takes on select projects and I was honored to have my book be one of them.  I had gotten the rights back from Cricket many years ago – that’s something writers should always do when a book is taken out of print – and you do that just by writing your publisher a letter requesting that rights be returned to you.

CAROL: Tell us about the cover change. Why and how was that image picked? 

LISA: The cover is a photograph of my real grandmother on a dock in her hometown of Atlantic. My daughter, Kelsey Kline, a graphic designer, designed this cover. I love it. There are two men standing on the dock, both ostensibly ignoring my grandmother but in fact very much noticing her. And much of the book is about my grandmother’s decisions about family and independence and men, so it captures the essence of the book perfectly.

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Here's your chance to win an autographed copy of this outstanding book for a special girl in your life--or just for yourself. Leave me a comment by 7 PM on August 22. Make sure I have your email address too! For every time you post this giveaway on your social media of choice, I'll add your name to the hat an additional time.  

If you don't win, look for Eleanor Hill on Amazon,  Barnes & Noble, Powells, or Indiebound. 

Turning On a Dime- A Review and a Giveaway!

Time travel. The Civil War. Multi-cultural. Horses. Romance. There aren't many books that fit such a wide variety of categories--but Turning on a Dime by Maggie Dana does just that.

Samantha DeVries' father is Lucas DeVries, a third-generation American of Dutch descent and master horseman; her mother, Gretchen, is an African American and a history buff who has traced her family's lineage back to 1875.

Caroline Chandler is the daughter of a plantation owner in Mississippi who prefers her brother’s riding breeches to petticoats and pantalettes. But in spite of her tomboyish interests, she has lived within the boundaries of privilege and mid-19^th century decorum. Soon after the story begins, Caroline is sent to a neighboring plantation for a dreaded social visit. While there, she learns that her family has fled their farm after Union soldiers commandeered it. 

Samantha (Sam) and Caroline’s worlds intersect when Sam visits her father’s friend’s antebellum home to look at horses. Sam picks up what appears to be a dime from her bedroom floor and falls asleep listening to Lady Gaga on her Iphone.  When she wakes up, Caroline is staring at her and wondering what a slave is doing sleeping in her bed.

Sam gradually convinces Caroline of who she is, although she admits that she doesn’t know how she got there. Caroline is barely prepared for her guest from the future: she has read about a man who travels to the future and sees horseless carriages and flying machines. But she is even less prepared to see a black girl who speaks, acts, and thinks as independently as Sam does. Fortunately, their mutual love for horses helps ease them over their initial discomforts. Or as Sam says, “No matter who you’re talking to, if they love horses you can get beyond whatever barriers you think are out there...” (p. 45)

Told from both girls’ points of view, the reader watches as Sam and Caroline experience slavery’s painful effects. I particularly enjoyed their “ah ha” moments.  When Sam first realizes she must act like a slave in order not to be detected she thinks,

“I am in a nineteenth-century horse barn facing a man with a whip—a mean looking thing with a knotted leather thong—and I can tell he’s dying to use it on me.
“Yes, mister,” I mumble.
He raises the whip. “Go.”
So I shuffle off trying to look as dejected as possible, but inside I am raging with fury. How did my people live like this? (p. 83)

Later, after Sam is mistaken for a runaway slave and is captured, Caroline thinks,

My fists curl into balls. Angry tears stream down my face. All I can think of is Sam huddled on the dirt floor of a slave cabin, being kicked and whipped. Without Papa to curtail him, Zeke Tuner will be brutal. He’ll unleash all his vicious fury on my dearest friend.
How did I not see this before?
Shame joins my angry tears. I’m angry with myself, and I’m ashamed of the world I’ve inhabited all my life without seeing it for what it really is.” (p. 137-8)

The author does a great job of showing the girls overcoming their initial distrust and forming their surprising friendship. In the process, each girl learns about the other girl's seemingly foreign world. Their wit and strengths are tested after Sam is captured; but working together they find a way of escape—and a way for both of them to return to their families. 

Maggie Dana’s love for all things equestrian is neatly woven into the narrative and the plot. Although separated by 150 years, from the moment that Sam asks Caroline,  “What is your horse’s name?”  they have a common bond. From the saddles, tack, to horse quirks and mannerisms, this novel is a great example of an author using what she knows to build a believable, fictional world.

I would recommend this book to girls from 6th-10th grade, as well as to adults who want to use their own life experiences as a springboard into fiction. And while you’re at it, it’s a terrific example of interlacing multiple genres into one novel. Read it. Enjoy it. Learn from it.

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To enter the giveaway for an autographed copy of Turning on A Dime, please leave a comment by 8 AM Friday, August 15. If I don't have your email address, make sure you leave that too. If you post this on your social media of choice or become a new follower to my blog, I'll enter your name twice. Thanks! 

My review of this novel originally appeared on LitChat on August 7, 2014.

A (Teacher's) Blast from the Past

I've been cleaning out filing cabinets-- a once a decade task--and have found some interesting items that I saved over the years. I thought I'd share this gem, courtesy of The Sam Houston Historic Schoolhouse in Maryville, Tn.

1872 Rules for Teachers

1. Teachers each day will fill lamps, clean chimneys.

2. Each teacher will bring a bucket of water and a scuttle of coal for the day's session.

3. Make your pens carefully. You may whittle nibs to the individual taste of the pupils.

4. Men teachers may take one evening each week for courting purposes, or two evenings a week if they go to church regularly.

5. After ten hours in school, the teachers may spend the remaining time reading the Bible or other good books.

6. Women teachers who marry or engage in unseemly conduct will be dismissed.

7. Every teacher should lay aside from each day's pay a goodly sum of his earnings for his benefit during his declining years so that he will not become a burden on society.

8. Any teacher who smokes, uses liquor in any form, frequents pools or public halls, or gets shaves in a barbershop will give good reason to suspect his worth, intention, integrity and honesty.

9. The teacher who performs his labor faithfully and without fault for five years will be given an increase of twenty-five cents per week in his pay, providing the Board of Education approves. 

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What do you think about these rules? I'd love to hear!