Authors

Middle Grade and Young Adult Reading/Writing

/ still a dreamer

In my search to learn more about writing on the middle grade level, I made a list of titles that have won Newbery Medals as the logical place to begin my education. As the ALA site does not break the titles down by MG or YA, some of the selections I made turned out to be YA. I figured it was all good, and went for what appealed most. And I have a number of books with some good pointers for me.

I read the following – Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff , Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli, Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech, Clay by David Almond, Dogsong by Gary Paulsen, A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park, and now Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell. Each of these books is extraordinary and deserves a write-up of its own. And all are very powerful in their own way. What I noticed in the first four is that part of their power comes from being written in the first person. A Single Shard is historical fiction, and along with Dogsong and Island of the Blue Dolphins, (an older title),  is about a way of life that is unique to their subjects and opened up new worlds to me, particularly A Single Shard.

I am a fan of David Almond, but have to say that with Clay, he has taken another step beyond the unknown, metaphysical or otherworldly, and was frightening even me. I believe a young YA reader HollisWoods-PRGiff2will be frightened as well, but it is impossible to put the book down. So in Clay, I might not be finding quite what I’m looking for – I don’t think. Then again, I do have an evil antagonist, so perhaps I may reconsider.

Of all these books, I am most drawn to Pictures of Hollis Woods. What attracts me is the suspense, the easy identification with the main character, Hollis, and the continuous alternation of the character’s current story with pictures she has painted which tell, little by little, the story of why she most recently ran away. The story lines join in the end, building up a tremendous suspense and a great ending. What I’ve found in this book is something I want to learn as I, too, have 2 story lines in my tale that must intertwine.

There’s a lot to think about, and while I allowed myself to completely immerse myself in the books while reading them, in the aftermath I see that they are teaching me and helping me with my writing. It is what the editor and agents we meet continue to recommend – read, read read in our genre. Clearly, it can only enrich our writing.

Full-Frontal Snogging – Humor on the YA Bookshelf

/ still a dreamer

Snogging-LRennisonHere’s the full title – Angus, thongs and full-frontal snogging – confessions of Georgia Nicolson by Louise Rennison. (Yeah – a tad too long for a post title!) My last trip to my local library had my very wonderful librarian, Jennifer, suggest a book to me in addition to my list of MG and YA titles. So far her suggestions have been great, and this book is no exception. I am writing this very short post to recommend this book to you if you read/enjoy YA. Written in diary format, Georgia, who is British, writes about her life and its typical teenage issues, which are not nearly so racy as the title would suggest. But funny. Very funny.

The author has a great sense of humor and a witty, sarcastic style – I had not expected that I would be laughing out loud by page 7! And it’s only gotten funnier. So if, in all your readings, you could use a change of pace and a little laughter, do pick up snogging – couldn’t we all use a laugh?

p.s. Hmmm – something else I did not expect – it’s 5 days since I started this book, and as cute and funny as it is, it’s not holding my attention halfway through. There’s nothing getting me terribly curious about what’s going to happen, and sadly, I’m not now convinced I’m going to care all that much. I’m thinking this is one of those YA books that really may have much more appeal to its intended age group. So I’ve put snogging aside, and have picked up Newbery winner, A Single Shard, by Linda Sue Park, which sounds much more engaging.

The Character Who Never Grew

/ still a dreamer

TradingUp-C.BushnellIt was my idea that when you read a novel, you should feel something for the character, identify with her in some way, and as you go through the course of the book, cheer her on through adversity, feeing her pain, and then rejoice in her overcoming challenges. But what if the character just never grows?

What if the character is defined at the get-go as a self-centered, manipulating, feckless social climber who proceeds to orchestrate one scenario after another, using whoever serves her purpose at the moment to get what she wants? What if, despite her repeated falls from societal grace, her redemption is always through luck, the guilt or kindness or another, kinder character, or her own delusions?  I know – why did I read this book?

I purchased Trading Up at the library’s annual sale because it was written by Candace Bushnell, author of Sex and the City. I was hoping for some of the fun and good spirited friendships of the TV series.  I was wrong.  Amazingly, Janey Wilcox, the main character, works her way through this entire novel without managing to elicit any sympathy. And even though, about 3/4 of the way through the book, we learn about why Janey may have developed this penchant for using others and sleeping with any man she thought could further her goals, it didn’t make you care about her one iota more. Even at the very end, her breathlessly described new and bright-with-possibilities future in Hollywood is merely the result of chance coupled with Janey’s own delusional idea that she deserves what she wants — just because.

I kept reading — always the optimist — certain that there was a moment of truth coming – that something would happen in Janey’s life and she would hark back to the more innocent soul she once was and become more feeling, if nothing else. Never happens. So while Trading Up does provide an interesting spotlight on the lives of the very rich and famous in NY and the Hamptons, I’m otherwise left empty in the face of a character who, throughout an entire novel, never evolves. So very odd.

It also gives me a lot of respect for Darren Star who created and executive produced the TV series Sex and the City from Bushnell’s series of essays. He  created friendships that were real and characters who grew over the seasons, and he enticed viewers who, despite learning odd things like the value of Manolo Blahnik shoes, grew along with them. That was the book I’d been hoping to read.

Dogsong – Gary Paulsen

/ still a dreamer / 4 Comments

Dogsong-GPaulsen2There are times when I’ve finished a book, that I don’t quite know where to put it. In my head, that is. The book is so different from anything I’ve read, that it seems to be searching for a place to settle in my mental bookshelf, and meanwhile, it seems to hover in space.

Dogsong by Gary Paulsen is one of those books. It might be best defined  as a coming-of-age story where a 14 year old Inuit boy, Russell, restless in his own life, searches to find himself. In so doing he moves in with an elder where he is taught how to hunt, run the dogs and survive. And then he lives it, gradually becoming one with his dogs. This is an oversimplification and doesn’t do justice to the nuances in the story, so let me just say it was a very compelling read.

Perhaps why it hasn’t settled in yet is that it is a vignette of a life so totally different from my own or even what I could imagine an Eskimo tribe’s life in Alaska might be, that there is not a real frame of reference for it in my head. And yet, I could not help but be in the trance with Russell, in the dream, to merge with the spirits of the dogs, as he trekked blindly in the snow for days, never seeing a single soul or a source of food.

I read up on Gary Paulsen the author of Dogsong plus a good bunch of other MG and YA novels he has written. I suspect these have the greatest appeal to boys, but maybe not. Paulsen ran away from home at 14, and his life – he is now around 70 – has been a series of amazing adventures in all kinds of situations and locations. Among his experiences has been living in Alaska where he has run the Iditarod twice. And while I am no fan of the Iditarod because of the suffering of too many of the dogs, Paulsen has truly lived that life in Alaska so as to have written this book from a deeply authentic perspective. I have to truly admire Paulsen for how he has lived his life; he’s humble, adventurous beyond what I could imagine, and just … well … very real.

Reading about him explained a lot about the book in a way; my personal connection with dogs/animals deepened the meaning; my willingness to try “living” in such a different culture helped. Soon Dogsong will find a place and settle in.

Perusing my bookshelves once again led me to one of my many finds at the annual county library sale and to as different a book from Dogsong as I could get – one by Candace Bushnell of  Sex and the City fame. I loved the series, never read the book, but figured how far wrong could I go? We’ll see …

Can Children’s Books Reduce Hate?

/ still a dreamer / 8 Comments

JohnGrishamI got a letter from John Grisham yesterday.

At least that’s what the envelope said. I found it to be an appeal on behalf of a person and an organization that I’ve heard of, but knew little about – Morris Dees, an Alabama lawyer and friend of Grisham’s, and the Southern Poverty Law Center.  It is the mission of Dees and the SPLC to put hate organizations out of business and to teach tolerance.

I read the enclosed piece and was literally horrified at the abuses, savage beatings, murders and more that still go in in this country perpetrated by any number of hate groups upon innocent individuals of some minority status or other. I was beyond horrified; I was deeply saddened. (And mind you, I am not writing this to drum up donations for the Southern Poverty Law Center, but if you want to know what’s going on in this regard, you may want to visit the SPLC web site and find out for yourself – it’s very disturbing.)

What struck me were two things … I hear so many people talking about those in the world who hate and would destroy our country. I wondered, are people aware of how much hatred is alive and well, right here, within our own borders? Do they know that people are still being abducted, beaten, and hung? AND if that weren’t enough, that it’s often being done in the name of the abuser’s God? How have we become a nation with so much hate?

So … as an aspiring children’s book author and illustrator … the second thing I wondered was, what is being read to the young children of those people whose mission in life is to commit violence against people of a color, nationality or religion different than their own? What happened to love? To hope? To tolerance? Compassion? Do these people’s children read the same books as other children do?

Children’s book writers aspire to show a child a world of wonder, fun, sharing, understanding, friendship and caring. Can a mother whose husband goes out to senselessly beat a 16 year old boy into permanent physical and mental damage be reading to her child about caring for others? I am utterly confused and lost.

So I wonder, when a child is raised believing that hate towards others is an acceptable emotion, can a mere book, albeit written from our hearts and souls, have the power to change a young mind?