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Maps

By on July 13, 2020   /   Articles, For Kids, For Parents, For Teachers, For Writers, Homeschool Resource, Writing  

When I was a wee lad (5’ 11”, 210 lb.), back in my junior year of high school, we took one of those classic tests designed to magically deduce one’s most likely path to career and life success. My 55-year-old self can’t recall a single question from the test now. In fact, most of the memory from this event consists of filling in the ovals (completely) on the answer sheet (in #2 pencil) and the resultant career of choice subsequently handed down by the gods of career aptitude.

First, I do recall that, as a kid who liked to draw, I took great pride in filling out my answer sheet ovals. They were always impeccable, even if the answers were dead wrong. Second, in the haze of time passed, I recall meeting with my guidance counselor to go over my now clarified path to a well-lived life. The result?

Cartographer.

Yes, that is what the computer algorithm decided my career should be. A quick check of the dictionary told me I should be a maker of maps. The gods of career aptitude must have a sense of humor, right?

When I broke the cartographer news to the family at the dinner table that night, my brothers and sister rolled to the kitchen floor in uncontrollable laughter. My ever-supportive mother gave an enthusiastic “How nice.”, while my civil engineer dad responded,  “A mapmaker? Hmmm…that’s different. So how are you going to make a living then?”

Even though I love maps, I did not become a cartographer. My collection of National Geographic maps handed down from my dad is one of my favorite treasures. Books with maps, both fiction, and nonfiction, line my bookshelves. Eventually, I became a molecular microbiologist, a writer, and a sports coach, not a cartographer. For years, I’ve always wondered about that career aptitude test and how it could have been so wrong.

A few years ago, though, I realized the computer wasn’t wrong at all. The testing algorithm rocked it. Maps are an integral part of everything I am and do. From mapping molecular processes in infectious diseases to mapping stories and illustrations to mapping out sports practices and gameplans. Turns out, I’m a cartographer through and through.

Maps, at their very core function, are tools to give us direction. A map can be a tool to help a hiker get from the parking lot to the mountain vista and safely back to the parking lot. Maps can help a writer build the foundation of the story they want to tell. They can also be tools to help worldbuilding (think J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth) or be used as a plot device (think HP’s Marauder’s Map).

In short, don’t short the value of maps in any aspect of your life. They are especially valuable tools to have in your writing toolbox to help turn those story ideas wandering aimlessly in the desert into an actual fully-fleshed oasis of stories. 

Below are some of my favorite maps I use in my life as a scientist, a writer, and a coach.

Science Maps

Writing Maps

Sports Coaching Maps

  • Football scouting and game planning – A coach scouts the opponent by mapping out what the opponent has done previously. It takes a lot of work and most colleges and professional organizations dedicate many manhours toward this endeavor.
  • Baseball spray chart maps – I love to keep baseball hitter spray charts. First, like scoring a game, it keeps one mentally sharp during the course of a baseball game. Second, it allows a coach the data to better position his defenders in the field. 

Your MUF July 2020 Aptitude Test questions are below. Please use a #2 pencil and fill out any oval shapes or other doodles completely. The gods of middle grade thank you.

  1. What are your favorite middle grade books which contain maps? 
  2. What are some middle grade books you wish would have had maps?
  3. How do you use maps as tools in your own life? 
  4. How do you use maps as a writer or a reader?

Have a great summer! No matter how crazy 2020 is going for you, here’s hoping you have a reliable map to help navigate your way to the other side.

Stay safe. Be kind. Make good things.

 

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EXTINCT! Facts & Fiction for Middle-Grade Readers

By on July 10, 2020   /   Book Lists, Fiction, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, Nonfiction  

Many kids in this age group can rattle off more dinosaur names and the details about more species than most other twelve people put together. And they have learned much of this on their own, through eager reading! What could be more exciting during this pandemic, when schools are closed and normal summer activities are limited, than for young readers to find books that hold their avid interest for hours and days?

More books on the ever-hot topic of dinosaurs come out every year. I’ve been writing a book about extinct American animals and have been looking at just about everything available for middle-grade readers on the subject. I recommend the following page-turners:

Stephen Brusatte is a leading young paleontologist, but also an engaging author of books for children and adults. In his Day of the Dinosaurs: Step Into a Spectacular Prehistoric World (Wide-Eyed Editions, 2016), readers witness over 100 prehistoric creatures of the land, sea and air through 2nd-person narrative. Older middle graders might also enjoy his best-selling adult book, The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs (William Morrow, 2019)

Kelroy Pim and Jack Horner both fell in love with dinosaurs as kids and now have become leading scientists in the field. In their book, Dinosaurs—The Grand Tour: Everything Worth Knowing About Dinosaurs from Aardonyx to Zuniceratops (The Experiment, 2nd Ed., 2019), readers will find many of the mind-changing latest discoveries. The book also includes Jack Horner’s working field notes and suggestions for how and where readers might go to make their own prehistoric finds.

Extraordinary animals lived and went extinct millions of years before and after those great dinosaur beasts. This may be a whole new area for dino-fans to explore. Fortunately there are a number of wonderful books to help them get a sense of our vast natural history. One is Matt Sewall’s Forgotten Beasts: Amazing Creatures That Once Roamed the Earth ( Pavilion Children’s , 2019). The well-known and little-known creatures featured in this stunningly illustrated book span half a billion years, ending with the extinction of the Tasmanian Tiger in the 1930s.

In their well-researched, humorous, and visually compelling book, Prehistoric Ancestors of Modern Animals: If Extinct Beasts Came to Life, (Hungry Tomato, 2017), Mathew Rake and Simon Mendez use digital photography to show what modern animals might be like if they still had the attributes of their prehistoric ancestors. See also their Prehistoric Giants, Prehistoric Sea Beasts, and Prehistoric Predators, all published in 2017.

 For comprehensive, visually appealing reference books for this age group, you can’t miss with anything published by the Smithsonian or by DK Eyewitness books. Some examples: William Lindsay, Prehistoric Life: Discover the Origins of Life on Earth from the First Bacteria to the Coming of Humans (DK Eyewitness Books, Reprint ed., 2012). Or Paul Taylor, A History of Life in 100 Fossils (Smithsonian Books, 2014).

Would readers like to dig up some fossils of their own? Thousands of prehistoric animal and plant remains lie underfoot waiting to be found all over this country (except maybe in Rhode Island where, because of glaciation, fossil hunters may only come up with a trilobite or two and some Carboniferous cockroaches).  Amateur fossil hunters, (including children!),  have made many scientifically important finds

Mathew Rake and Dan R. Lynch’s Fossils for Kids: Finding, Identifying and Collecting (Adventure Publications, 2020) covers all those topics, but also explains how to collect responsibly so that you preserve the scientific record. Albert Dickas‘s 101 American Fossil Sites You’ve Gotta See (Mountain Press Publishing, 2018) shows state-by-state where to see prehistoric animals on display, or observe expert digs in progress, or dig on your own.

Would they like to read fiction about fossils? Try Monica

Kulling’s Mary Anning’s Curiosity (Groundwood Books, 2017), a fictionalized account of the childhood of the 19th century shell-collector who revolutionized paleontology 
with her discoveries. Or read Roger Reid’s Time: A Jason Caldwell Mystery (NewSouth Books, 2011) set in a world-famous Paleozoic Footprint site in northern Alabama.

At a moment when there is much uncertainty in the present and about the future, it may be refreshing for readers to focus on the long time of Earth’s natural past. At the very least, they can have fun reading about some fascinating ages and creatures. Please pass this list of books along to any middle-graders you know. There are many more titles that I could have included, but they will find them. I wish there were a reading equivalent of “Bon appétit!”

 

 

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Taryn Souders Interview + Giveaway

By on July 8, 2020   /   Author Interviews  

There’s nothing like a mystery to keep kids riveted to a book during these long days of summer vacation. Today, I’m thrilled to interview Taryn Souders about her new middle-grade mystery, Coop Knows the Scoop, which released this week. Once you read all about the book and Taryn, don’t forget to write in the comments section for a chance to win an autographed copy (USA only). I’ll pick a winner on Saturday, July 11, at noon and announce shortly after.

 

The whole town is talking about what’s buried beneath the playground . . .

Windy Bottom, Georgia is usually a peaceful place. Coop helps his mom at her café and bookstore, hangs out with his grandpa, and bikes around with his friends Justice and Liberty. The town is full of all kinds of interesting people, but no one has ever caused a problem. Until now.

And somehow, Gramps is taking all the blame! It seems like there are a lot of secrets that were buried in their small town after all . . .

Will Coop and his friends get to the bottom of the mystery and clear Gramps’s name before it’s too late?

 

 

Taryn has written both picture books and middle-grade novels. Her books have taken part in Battle of the Books, been named to state reading lists, including the Georgia Children’s Book Awards and the Sunshine State Young Readers Awards, and have been Crystal Kite Finalists.

Taryn is a member of both SCBWI and Word Weavers International, and is represented by Sally Apokedak of Apokedak Literary Agency.

She currently lives in Sorrento, Florida with her husband, David, their three children, and two cats—an overly fuzzy Ragdoll named Mordecai, and a polydactyl Hemingway named Sebastian—who like to terrorize flies (the cats, not her husband or children). While she’s somewhat decent at math, she is terrible at science and has an intense dislike of tarantulas.

 

What was your inspiration for Coop Knows the Scoop?

I’ve always loved mysteries—they were pretty much all I read as a kid. I also love watching them on TV. Writing a mystery was something I wanted to try, but I didn’t want it to be “gory” so I thought the discovery of a skeleton would be perfect. And an unexpected place for a skeleton to be found was a playground!

 

You’ve been praised for your depiction of small-town life in the novel. Is Windy Bottom based on a place you’ve lived in or visited?

I’ve lived a good chunk of my life in small towns in Ohio, Florida, and Texas. They really are THE BEST! They have their own personality—which is usually displayed through its citizens. Windy Bottom, Georgia, is a blend of Denton, Texas and Mount Dora, Florida—two of my favorite small towns. But the creation of A Latté Books—the bookstore/coffee shop (that sells new books, not just used books), is birthed from a cute café called The Horse’s Mouth in Buffalo, Texas. I’ve been there a couple times when visiting family and it was such a fun place to be—I knew I wanted to put it in a book.

 

Now I want to go there! Your characters are often called “quirky.” What’s your secret to creating such characters? Are they based on real people? You don’t have to name names :).

Quirky characters are also THE BEST! LOL! They aren’t based on anyone—just imagination. I create them to let loose and not feel restricted. What I mean by that is with main characters I need to know their weaknesses and strengths, conflicts, relationships, and so on. It can get pretty intense and sometimes, it’s not that fun (at least for me). With my “quirky characters” I can just get crazy. Typically, they’re there for comedic relief and I don’t worry about their arc or growth too much. My favorite one from Coop Knows the Scoop is probably Burma—who runs the Cut ‘n Curl. He is the town prankster and a lot of fun!

 

You’ve written two other middle-grade novels: Dead Possums are Fair Game and How to (Almost) Ruin Your Summer. Do you find that there are themes that you keep returning to in your work?

 Yes. None of us are perfect and we all make mistakes.

There was only one perfect person to walk this earth and it’s not us! Particularly for middle grade, there’s so much pressure to act or look a certain way—to try to achieve a perceived level of “perfection”, whether that be in school, sports, relationships, physical beauty, etc. It’s unattainable and unfair for kids (or adults) to put that on themselves. I want my readers to understand none of us are perfect, and that’s okay. None of us are going to be perfect, and that’s also okay.

 

What makes you want to write for the middle-grade reader?

I LOVE writing for middle-grade readers. They are at the age where they understand a lot of different types of humor like wit, sarcasm, and even dry humor. Their conversations are the best to listen to! They are energetic and funny and up for anything!

 

What would you like those readers to come away with after reading your novel?

The main theme of the novel is forgiveness. We all make mistakes, particularly when we’re young. Let’s face it, who we are now is not necessarily who we were “back then.” We’re constantly growing and changing—hopefully for the better. Fun fact: the original title of Coop Knows the Scoop was Remains to Be Seen. I loved this because it worked on two different levels. #1—Tabby’s remains needed to be seen in order for the truth to come out and for her to receive justice. #2—it echoed the theme of the story: who we ultimately become remains to be seen. We can learn from our mistakes of the past, but not let them hold us prisoner. The title got changed to Coop Knows the Scoop, which I also love, but the theme remains the same—and those concepts of redemption and forgiveness are what I hope readers take away.

 

That’s a great takeaway! Can you give our readers, who also write, one of your best pieces of craft advice, particularly for writing a mystery?

Plan it out ahead of time! Know your red herrings, clues, suspects, motives . . . everything before you get too far into your story. I am usually a pantser (I write by the seat of my pants) but I had to outline Coop Knows the Scoop to make sure I didn’t introduce a clue or a suspect before it made sense to. And of course, read a lot of mysteries (if that’s what you want to write). Study how each author lays out their story and take notes!

Thanks Taryn for a great interview and great advice!

READERS: Don’t forget to write in the comments section before Saturday at noon for a chance to win a signed copy of the novel!

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