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STEM Tuesday– Tectonics: Volcanoes, Ring of fire– Writing Tips & Resources

By STEM Tuesday on November 16, 2021 / STEM Tuesday, Tectonics/Volcanoes

How to Start a Story

What’s one of the hardest parts of writing? Writing very first paragraph (like this one)! The first paragraph of any piece of writing, also called the “lead,” has to accomplish a lot. It must give the reader an idea of what the piece is about. And it must pique the reader’s interest and encourage them to keep reading. How do writers do it?

To find out, I studied the openings in several books from this month’s book list.

Start with a Question

Did you notice I used this technique to begin this blog post? It’s the same technique Kathleen M. Reilly uses to open her book, FAULT LINES & TECTONIC PLATES:

“Did you know that the surface of the planet Earth is similar to one enormous puzzle? A puzzle is made up of anywhere from a few pieces to thousands of pieces. And each piece has a very specific shape that allows it to fit perfectly against another piece of the puzzle, right?

Take a close look at the shape of the continents on our planet. If you study them very carefully, you’ll see that they kind of look like puzzle pieces. …”

What else do you notice about Reilly’s beginning? She uses second-person point of view (you) to address the reader directly. That makes you feel like you’re part of the story. She also introduces the analogy of the puzzle, which she builds on subsequent paragraphs. It helps her explain plate tectonics in a reader-friendly way.

But are questions the only way to start a story? Nope. Read on.

Start with a Scene

In THE BIG ONE, Elizabeth Rusch starts her story this way: “At first you don’t notice the shaking. You think a bus or truck is rumbling by. But the trembling doesn’t start. A few seconds later, paintings and photos on the wall swing slightly. Glasses and dishes rattle. Thud. Bang! Objects all around you – cellphones, water bottles, books – slide off surfaces and clatter to the ground. …”

What do you notice about this opening?

Just like Reilly, Rusch has used second-person POV to put the reader in the story. But she’s gone even farther. She’s put the reader in the middle of the action – an earthquake! She’s used details from the five senses to help us see, feel, and hear what it would be like to experience an earthquake as it happens. And the action is unfolding minute-by-minute, like a television or movie. It’s a captivating opening for sure.

Make It Personal

Johanna Wagstaffe starts with a personal recollection in FAULT LINES: “When I was four years old, I lived with my family in Tokyo, Japan. I remember seeing the polite nods and warm smiles in the crowded subways, riding on the back of my mother’s bicycle through the alleys of the city, and wishing we could visit the five-story Sanrio store. I also remember the regular earthquake drills in our kindergarten class. We would scramble to get under the desks and then line up and march outside. It seemed like a fun game at the time, but there was a seriousness about it.

I first felt the ground move one day when I was playing at home after school. …”

Wagstaffe goes on to relate her first-hand experience of an earthquake.

What is your response to this opening?

Like Rusch, Wagstaffe paints a scene filled with vivid details, but instead of having us imagine ourselves in the middle of the action, four-year-old Wagstaffe is the main character. And she’s the main character and a character in real trouble – an earthquake. What will happen to her? We have to keep reading.

Your Turn

Grab several nonfiction books and study the first paragraph of each. How does the story start? Has the author used one of the techniques we’ve discussed or something different? Did the opening give you an idea of what the book is about and get you excited to read more? Why or why not?

Whenever you’re stuck, remember all these options for openings. Test some out and see what works.

Kirsten W. Larson

Website: kirsten-w-larson.com

Biography

Kirsten used to work with rocket scientists at NASA. Now she writes books for curious kids. She is the author of WOOD, WIRE, WINGS: EMMA LILIAN TODD INVENTS AN AIRPLANE, illustrated by Tracy Subisak (Calkins Creek), an NSTA Best STEM BOOK, A TRUE WONDER: The Comic Book Hero Who Changed Everything, illustrated by Katy Wu (Clarion), which earned two starred reviews, and the forthcoming, THE FIRE OF STARS: The Life and Brilliance of the Woman Who Discovered What Stars Are Made Of, illustrated by Katherine Roy (Chronicle, Spring 2022), as well as 25 nonfiction books for the school and library market. Find her at kirsten-w-larson.com or on Twitter and Instagram @KirstenWLarson.

Cover Reveal: THE TILTERSMITH by Amy Herrick

By Greg R. Fishbone on November 12, 2021 / Articles, New Releases

Drumroll please…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ViZqQkddCc

I am so excited for this chance to present a cover reveal and preview of Amy Herrick’s upcoming book, The Tiltersmith, which promises supernatural overtones that allude to the works of Susan Cooper and Madeleine L’Engle.

Spring is late coming to Brooklyn, NY, and while climate change might have something to do with the chaotic weather patterns bringing late snow and even a tornado to the city, there may be supernatural elements at work, too. A curious character named the Tiltersmith —Superintendent Tiltersmith, he claims — shows up at the kids’ school, in search of the tools that will bring Spring to life. But the Tiltersmith is trying to collect them himself and use them to keep the Lady of spring underground and in his power. Unbeknownst to Edward, Feenix, Danton, and Brigit, the tools have been entrusted to them, but competing forces are working to lead and mis-lead them. If the quartet can protect and use the tools properly, spring will arrive. But if the Tiltersmith has his way, as the underworld teems with life, our world will be trapped in an eternal winter.

The cover features a tight grouping of four young heroes surrounded by a maelstrom of colors. Lightning bolts strike leaves from the trees, hinting at the story’s chaotic weather themes. The kids are layered in brightly colored outerwear, arms akimbo, with hair and jewelry chains flying as if we’ve caught them in the middle of a dance.

And you’ll see it soon.

But first, an excerpt…

Edward Finds a Cocoon

Edward was dreaming. He was trying to pick something up with a spoon. The thing, which was going to lead him to a brilliant scientific discovery, kept sliding away like a piece of spaghetti. Then, just as he thought he’d finally got it, there was a tremendous kaboooooom! and he woke up.

He found himself in the deep middle of the night. A thunderbolt lit the sky outside his window, and in its brief flash of light, he saw that it was snowing again. Seriously? It was March 21. Enough already with the snow.

He lay there counting. Ten seconds and kaboooooom! This meant, he knew, that the storm was about two miles away. He waited for the next flash of lightning, which came quickly. It tore out of the clouds and shot down behind the houses beyond Ninth Street. Snow swirled madly through the air. This time the kaboooooom! came only five seconds later.

The storm was headed right this way.

Edward forced himself out of bed with his blanket around his shoulders. He stood in front of the window, scanning the sky. He wanted to see another bolt up close.

Perhaps thirty seconds later, the next strike happened, right up the street. This time the lightning appeared to burst out of the ground like an enormous electrified finger. It was met almost simultaneously by a bolt from the sky, followed by an enormous concussive baaadoooooom! The whole house shook, and the windows rattled. Peering into the darkness and the snow, Edward saw a round metal disk go flying through the air. It landed with a great crumpling noise on top of a nearby car. The roof of the car folded upward like a piece of origami paper. The disk then slid off the car and came to a stop balanced against its side.

A manhole cover! That was what it had to be. He’d read all about how these things happened. Between the flammable gases that could build up underground and the old and frayed electrical wiring down there, sometimes all it took was a little spark to cause an explosion and—boooom!—a manhole cover would go flying off.

His theory was confirmed when a long tongue of fire shot up from what he could see was an open hole in the middle of the street. All the streetlamps went out like the candles on a birthday cake as the tongue of flame reached higher and higher and slowly died back. He was surprised at what a short time it took before the fire department and then Con Edison began to arrive.

A few minutes later, Edward’s aunt Kit knocked on the door and came in without waiting for an invitation. She was barefoot and wearing her flannel pajamas. The storm had already begun to move slowly off. She joined him at the window. “Well, did you see it?” she asked.

“Did I see what? Could you be a little more specific?” Her vagueness often drove him crazy.

“The part where the lightning shot up out of the ground.”

“Well, yes, I did. That was pretty cool. But it’s common, you know. There’s a positive electrical charge on the ground, and it shoots upward to meet the negative electrical charge coming from the clouds. Happens all the time.”

“Does it, now? Well, that’s an interesting explanation.” “Isn’t it?” he said and hoped she wasn’t going to give him one of her crazy alternative theories.

She didn’t. Instead, she said, “Well, in any case, the timing is amazing, isn’t it?”

He didn’t like to encourage her, but he couldn’t help asking her what this meant.

“I mean with tomorrow being what it is.” “What’s tomorrow?”

“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten. Well, you’ll remember in the morning. We’d better get to bed. We’re going to need our sleep.”

Science and supernatural weirdness in a middle-grade novel that starts on a dark and stormy night… If you liked A Wrinkle in Time, this book will hook you for sure.

And now, the big reveal

The Tiltersmith releases on April 5, 2022 from Algonquin Young Readers.

About Amy Herrick:

Amy Herrick grew up in Queens, New York, and attended SUNY Binghamton and the University of Iowa. She lives in Brooklyn, where she has raised two sons, taught pre-K and grade school, written books, and kept company with her husband and numerous pets. A retired teacher, she loves traveling, learning Spanish, and above all reducing her carbon footprint.

WNDMG-Interview With Ann Clare LeZotte

By Lisa Schmid on November 9, 2021 / Author Interviews, WNDMG

I am delighted to welcome Ann Clare LeZotte to The Mixed-Up Files blog to talk about her award-winning book, SHOW ME A SIGN and her new release, SET ME FREE. I’ve never met Ann in person, but we are Twitter friends, and I’m a big fan, so I jumped at the chance to get to know her a little better.

Let’s do this!

Lisa: Tell us about Show Me A Sign and Set Me Free.

Ann: They are the first two books in a trilogy about a girl named Mary Lambert who lives in Martha’s Vineyard in the early 1800s. Mary is deaf, but that’s not unusual. In her town of Chilmark, hereditary deafness is common (I in 4 are born deaf) and all the descendants of English colonists speak a special form of sign language, which we now call Martha’s Vineyard Sign Language (MVSL). But we see that people outside of her community view deaf people as inferior. Both books include members of the Wampanoag Nation who are fighting to keep their land. Mary is very curious and independent and had many exciting and some frightening experiences. The books are a combination of (if I may say so) well-researched historical fiction and adventure stories.

Lisa: How did you come to learn about the deaf community in Martha’s Vineyard?

Ann: I lived on Cape Cod in the 1990s and I visited Martha’s Vineyard for the first time in the winter. It was a cab driver from the airport to my bed and breakfast who told me about the island’s history of deafness. I became immediately fascinated!

Lisa: How did you research this project?

Ann: On that first trip, I visited the Chilmark Free Public Library and local bookstores. I asked a lot of questions—using my pen and pad, I wasn’t using oral speech at the time. Everyone was very friendly. From there, I visited the island other times. I walked the land I was going to write about. I studied many texts and old maps. I had sensitivity readers whose input was crucial in understanding all the perspectives in the community. I believe in showing characters in an engaging but also realistic way, prejudices and all.

Lisa: How do your life experiences impact the stories you tell?

I grew up on a different island—Long Island, New York. Like Mary, I was a beachcomber from a young age. I’m Deaf, and it’s important for me to share my history, language and culture in books. Deaf people experience a great deal of prejudice, called ableism or audism, which must be acknowledged and dismantled. There are some painful personal echoes in the books. Like Mary, I lost my brother too young. Like Ladybird, I was the victim of childhood abuse and neglect.

Lisa: How did you decide the best way to translate sign language into written text?

Ann: Many people describe what signs looks like. I think that’s fine, but I try not to do it too much. Sign languages are fluid languages and I prefer to describe character’s styles of signing. It shows the individual personality. Like Ezra Brewer whose hand are “old and gnarled” but he “gathers words out of the air.” Anytime I was stuck in a conversation (and I have to always remember to situate everyone correctly and have an interpreter in sight) I’d put myself in the scene and it naturally worked out.

Lisa: What books did you like to read when you were growing up? Do those books influence your writing?

Ann: I was language deprived as a small child. That’s not uncommon, especially as I was born deaf in the 1960s, but, sadly, even today. My parents tried to include me in the reading experience in creative ways—like the ways Mary and Ben find to communicate nonverbally. I had a book of Aesop’s fables from my grandmother. I was fascinated by the not exceptional illustrations of the animals—Jerry Pinkney did them perfectly later in my life– and made up my own story. But I was a poor student, and it took years for me to catch up. Oddly, the first middle grade novel I could easily read from cover to cover was Daniel Pinkwater’s Lizard Music.

Lisa: When did you decide you wanted to become a writer and why children’s books?

Ann: I said I was going to become a writer before I could do it—very daring! I started writing short, lyric poetry in college. That was the first time anyone told me that I could write. Once I started working at the library, with a focus on marginalized kids and teens, I saw what was and what wasn’t on the shelves. I saw kids searching for themselves and not finding good representation. Then I realized (many years later) what I’d do with that initial Martha’s Vineyard research and how I could share Deaf history with all young readers.

Lisa: What advice would you give twelve-year-old Ann?

Ann: Don’t give up! Twelve was an awful year. I was so badly bullied and ill from my pulmonary disability that the school paid for me to stay home with tutors. I felt alien, like the world somehow disallowed me. I never thought any of this was possible. It took a long time, but I somehow didn’t give up. I’d tell myself that my experiences and my story mattered and eventually someone would see it.

Lisa: What do you hope readers will take away from Show Me A Sign and Set Me Free?

Ann: One thing I’ve asked kids for years is, which is the problem? That I can’t hear or how people treat me because I can’t hear? I want to create not just compassion but respect for d/Deaf kids. We’re capable (even remarkable) if given the chance. I like that Mary is a helper. She could stay at home after Show Me a Sign and hide from the outside world. But she learns of a deaf girl who is in a terrible situation, and she feels she has to go. She’s not a perfect tutor, by any means. At age fourteen, she’s more stubborn and passionate than ever. But she can and does make a difference. Make the leap, especially in service to others. You can be a hero too.

Lisa: What are you working on now?

Ann: There will be a third and last Show Me a Sign book in 2023, if all goes as planned. I’m working in a totally different medium, which is challenging and exciting. I can’t say anything yet. Keep your eye out.

Thank you and kiss-fist!

About Ann:

Ann Le Zotte is completely deaf and a bilingual-bicultural (ASL/English) member of Deaf community. Ann supports every kind of D/deaf person and the choices they make in terms of communication (she is oral and lipreads) and assistive hearing devices (she doesn’t wear any).

She has worked in public library youth services for over twelve years, with a focus on intergenerational ASL literacy and inclusive programming. An inclusive cis lesbian (she/her), she was a pioneer in working with LGBTQIAP+ teens in her district. She loves helping young patrons find books they like and they’ve taught her how to play Minecraft.

Born and raised in Long Island, NY, Ann has travelled widely and lived in Athens, Greece and Cape Cod, MA. She currently resides with her family in Gainesville, FL. She had a Hearing Dog named May who worked at the library with her for many years. Her bundle of joy is a small rescue dog named Perkins. He rarely barks, because he knows it won’t get Ann’s attention.

Ann’s Social Media Links:

Website

Twitter

Instagram

Blog

STEM Tuesday– Tectonics: Volcanoes, Ring of fire– Writing Tips & Resources