Summer’s Last Breath

September 29, 2009September 29, 2009 / still a dreamer

As the sun and the earth dance through the Equinox, summer exhales and shares her final gifts.

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The last perfect rose of summer blooms, defying the empty, withering stalks of Hosta and drying grass.

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The tall grasses in the backyard bloom in bursts of sunlit wheat.

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The praying mantis I’ve been getting to know, mated, and the next day climbed high up on my office window. That evening she captured and devoured a large moth in the same spot, her last meal. Thereafter, she remained low, near the water spout. I watched, as each day, she became a paler brown and atrophied before my eyes. I thought to take one last picture of her, but could not be so disrespectful as to photograph her as her tiny life faded. In 3 days she was gone, her work on earth completed.

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Despite the temperatures already dipping into the 40’s and 50’s at night, my potted petunias and torenia continue to glow in the afternoon sun, holding their beauty `til the end.

Middle Grade and Young Adult Reading/Writing

September 22, 2009September 23, 2009 / 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-PRGiff2 will 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.

Play the Cheese or Font Game

September 18, 2009 / still a dreamer / 3 Comments

FONT-ina Here’s a fun little diversion for those of you who are mightily drawn to cheese and/or fonts. Play the Cheese or Font Game – it’s quite the challenge!

You are given the name of a cheese or font, and you have to decide which one it is. Sound easy? Guess again! The game seems to have an endless amount of selections, (can you say addictive?), you will be told after each choice if you were correct or not, and what percentage of players got it right.

So give the Cheese or Font Game a go, and let the cheese begin! (Gotta go – getting some crackers.)

Full-Frontal Snogging – Humor on the YA Bookshelf

September 14, 2009September 20, 2009 / still a dreamer

Snogging-LRennison Here’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.

Praying Mantis – Bravery? or Suicide Wish?

September 13, 2009September 13, 2009 / still a dreamer / 2 Comments

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This morning as I opened windows and doors for the wonderful fresh air, I noticed a small-ish bright green fellow (or lady) on the top of my side porch stairs. It was clearly a young praying mantis, so I very quietly went to check her out. She is about 3″ long, which makes her still a youngster, and in the way that only a praying mantis can do, she rotated her head, watching my every move as I viewed her from every angle without getting too close as to disturb her. Time to get the camera!

PrayingMantis-Pumpkin By the time I’d come back out, Pumpkin, the orange cat next door, was coming over to say hello and see what was happening, and was now right next to the praying mantis. I figured the mantis was a goner, but Pumpkin was totally oblivious to her presence. What was more amazing was that the mantis, while watching Pumpkin’s every move, (she’s actually looking right at him in this photo), only made one tiny move herself. It was quite easy to catch a couple photos after which I quickly lured Pumpkin to my back door and away from the mantis.

Now I know we’re not talking suicide wish here, but I have to imagine there is a sort of instinctual or inbred mantis bravery in maintaining one’s position in the face of a “monster” so much larger. I also understand the concept of camouflage in nature, but have to wonder … does a young praying mantis not yet know that they’re not exactly blending in?

So after Pumpkin had gotten bored and had exited the porch via the back steps, I switched to close-up mode and returned to snap a few more shots of my very photogenic subject.

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p.s. I just checked, and sunning herself on the side of the house is the now almost glowing, bright green praying mantis . I expect looking for a more suitably sized meal than Pumpkin is on her agenda.