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Take the Polar Plunge! (into reading and writing)

ice-caps-267298   Happy 2014! It’s that time of year.

Who’s up for a Polar Plunge? You know, the thing where crazy — I mean awesome people decide to jump into the  frigid ocean or lake on in the month of January to… to… well, invigorate themselves and start the new year off right!  Come on, who’s with me?

(Uh, I don’t know about you, but  that looks a little icy and… cold. REALLY cold)

Don’t  worry. I’m not talking about THAT kind of Polar Plunge. The one I’m referring to is more metaphorical. You can do it at home… in your comfy, cozy pajamas if you wish.  I say, let’s take the Polar Plunge into reading and writing!!

What does that mean? Well, people who actually do the Polar Plunge say they it gets their juices flowing, you know so they warm up.  That’s what we want to happen with THIS type of Polar Plunge. We want to get our CREATIVE juices flowing so our brains will warm up and be focused!!

So where do we start?

First of all, since this is January, think about any goals you might have for yourself. They don’t have to be big ones, but anything that pertains to reading and writing.

READERS

Do you want to read more books this year? Be specific. How many? What kind? Maybe you want to try different genres or expand into different authors or series.  If you feel the need to keep motivated to meet your goal, join a group that supports readers.  Here are a couple:

GoodReads.com  They have a 2014 Reading Challenge. Simply enter the of  number  books you plan to read this year. You can track what you read, take a look at what others are reading and see recommendations on new and exciting books.

Scholastic.com   Has a reading resolution that you can fill out. Get your kids to do it, too!

TBR Reading Pile Challenge   This blog has a “To Be Read” challenge that helps you keep track of what you’re reading, motivates you to post reviews and communicate with others. It even offers some giveaways!

Reading Olympics  Many schools, library systems and towns are having this contest. It is a way to get kids (and adults) excited about reading.  Simply do a web search on “Reading Olympics” and see if something comes up in your area. If not, start your own! (Good Reads has recommendations for Reading Olympic books here.)

There are TONS of blogs that cover the idea of “Reading Goals for 2014”. Simply do a search and see what you can find. If the blog looks interesting, follow it.  Or maybe start your own blog about cool books.  (We did!)

 

WRITERS

Have you always wanted to write a book? Well, 2014 is your year to do it!  If you’re nervous about it or don’t have any idea where to start, don’t worry. There are a phenomenal number  of ways to find information — and more importantly — support. The children’s writer community is a very welcome and open group and we all LOVE to help each other.  There are soooo many great websites and blogs out there about writing for kids — too many to mention in just one post. So I’ll focus on some motivational challenges that are going on right now to get you started:

KIDLIT411     A brand new blog that has  SO MUCH information on it, it’s hard to put it into words.

Start the Year Off Write!   This is great for the new writer who has no idea how to get started. The blog gives 21 fast and easy writing prompts to get you started. Perfect for a new writer who needs direction (and inspiration). The challenge started on Jan 5th, but you can still sign up and, if you go back and do all the exercises and post, then you could be eligible for some awesome giveaways.

Revi Mo  The sign-up for this Revision Month blog is closed, but anyone can access the awesome posts. Check them out for great revision ideas.

12 x 12 in 2014  If you’re ready to dive into writing, check out this fantastic challenge. You are challenged to write 12 Picture Books in 12 months. Wow! Plus, when join, you get access to tons of writing advice, connect with other writers, all of which will inspire you to keep going. Registration is open until the end of February. Even if you don’t register, there’s some wonderful information on Julie Hedlund’s blog.

Mini-WOW Non-fiction Pic   Is nonfiction your thing? Check out Kristen Fulton’s nonfiction picture book challenge in February 2014.

Chapter Book Challenge    Want to write chapter books? Sign up for this challenge in March of 2014.

Tara Lazar’s PiBoIdMo blog   And don’t forget this awesome event! Tara runs a Picture Book Idea Month challenge in November of every year. While it’s not going on now, this is a fantastic blog with tons of information!

 

These are just a few of the MANY places you can find writing inspiration. I know there are TONS more out there.

But hopefully, this list will give you the motivation to dip your toe in… Or maybe to just take a deep breath and jump! Come on in, the water’s fine. 🙂

Whatever the case, GOOD LUCK and HAPPY READING AND WRITING!

 

What are your goals for reading and writing in 2014? Post them below. Also, if you know of any more reading or writing blogs that offer terrific advice and provide great camaraderie, feel free to add them, too.

 

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Jennifer Swanson is the author of more than 16 books for children. When not writing, you can find her with a book in her hand. Her goal is to read 30 or more books in 2014!

 

 

 

 

 

Countdown to ALA Newbery Winners!

newbery medal

Many schools and libraries put together Mock Newbery Award book clubs, rallying their students to read the books that are getting “winner buzz” each year and then putting together discussion groups to talk about the books they’ve read.

In December or January, ballots are assembled and the students can vote on their favorites and see which book “won” that year’s Mock Newbery Award. Sound like fun? It is!

Here are a few links for more information to get started at your school:

Newbery Book Club

Eva Perry Mock Newbery

ACPL Mock Newbery and General Children’s Book Site

If you’re on Goodreads, there is a forum filled with librarians, teachers and readers, who discuss books all year long as books are published. They discuss the pros and cons about each title’s potential as a Newbery Medal contender.

I’ve often learned about new books that I’ve missed, and I enjoy the conversation about good books in these forums.

Newbery 2014 Discussion Groups on Goodreads (all the boards are at this link and it’s super easy to join – just one click at the top left!)

In case you’ve been a bit swamped with lesson plans or life (who isn’t?!), here are a few of the books (down below!) folks have been buzzing about all year long as potential Newbery winners. (We’re focusing on the Newbery since this is a Middle-Grade Savvy Site. Of course, all the awards from Picture Books through the Young Adult Printz Award are at the links below.)

Let us know which are your favorites for the 2014 Newbery Medal, and don’t forget to watch the ALA Newbery Broadcast next Monday, January 27th. (This link takes you to a full page from ALA with all the info and details!)

Information about how to log in and watch it LIVE is right here: Live ALA Youth Media Awards Broadcast (This is a direct link to the *live* broadcast Monday morning at 8:00 a.m. ET).

Just a *few* titles – and there is NO predicting what will happen!

navigating early

the center of everything

Counting by 7s

the real boy

doll bones

      courage has no color

true blue flora

Kimberley Griffiths Little’s next Middle Grade novel, THE TIME OF THE FIREFLIES, will publish July, 2014 by Scholastic. (Her Young Adult debut, FORBIDDEN, launches November 2014 with Harpercollins). You can find her hanging out a lot on Facebook. Enjoy Teacher’s Guides, Mother/Daughter Book Club Guides, and “filmed on location” book trailers at her website.

Writing for boys: an interview with Rich Wallace

Rich_and_Lenore

Good morning readers and writers! I’m here today with Rich Wallace. Rich is the author of many award-winning books for boys, ranging from his debut YA novel, Wrestling Sturbridge, to his popular sports series, “The Winning Season” and “Kickers.” He spent many years as an editor at Highlights for Children magazine and still pens the enormously popular comic strip “The Timbertoes” for that publication. Booklist calls him a “master of edgy sports fiction.” He is also an amazing teacher. Next month, he will be offering an amazing opportunity to work with him, Chris Crutcher, and Lenore Look. (That’s Rich and Lenore in the picture!)

Sarah: Hi Rich! Welcome to the Mixed Up Files! I have always been a big fan of your books. They always offer great voice and action, too. I also know you are offering a retreat at the Highlights Foundation for Writing for Boys. What an opportunity! But is writing for boys really something you can craft intentionally?

I’ll make my confession: After Head Case and Beyond Lucky, I was interviewed a few times about how to write for boys, and although I tried to sound earnest, the truth is: I don’t know if “writing for boys” is completely possible . . . for me. I wrote about “the lives of boys.”  I didn’t worry about who read the books. 

Rich: Exactly. I remember Jerry Spinelli saying that the key in writing books that will appeal to kids is not to write for kids, but to write about them. So this workshop is targeted to people who are writing about boys—of any age. But we’ll share a lot of great ideas and practices that will be pertinent to anyone writing for kids or teenagers (of either gender). The lineup of workshop leaders has written much for boys (though not exclusively) but there’s no great line in the sand that makes a book for one gender or the other. All of my books feature male protagonists, but I hear from a lot of girls who like my books. Still, it’s pretty clear that certain genres are targeted heavily toward boys or girls.

Sarah: Tell us about the retreat. What do you hope the writers will gain? 

RW: I hope they’ll find ways to probe deeper into the psyche of their characters by drawing on their own experiences and emotions. I know Chris Crutcher quite well but have never taught with him, so I expect to learn a lot myself. Lenore Look and I have done a couple of workshops together, and I immediately adopted some of her strategies after hearing her teach. These workshops are very organic – we spend nearly every waking moment together over the three days, sharing meals and chatting late into the evening and even doing yoga at 6 a.m. if anyone’s interested. There are a lot of prepared presentations and some manuscript sharing, but there’s a great deal of informal time that can be just as illuminating or more so.

Chris_Crutcher

(That’s Chris!)

Sarah: Boys are all different. We don’t pigeonhole girl readers the way we do with boys–and of course, pigeonholing is a dangerous thing. I sometimes feel like “writing for boys” is the PC way of saying: writing fast paced books with a lot of action–and here’s the thing: I like those kinds of books. (I came to reading very late in life.) I guess what I’m saying: books “for boys” are for girls, too. And lots of “girl books” appeal to boys.

RW: Of course. A more descriptive title for this workshop might be “Creating Male Characters in Fiction for Children and Teens,” but “Writing for Boys” is punchier. It’s all about perspective. We write from a male perspective, and there are many things to consider when doing that.

Sarah: That sounds great! Were you always a reader? Tell us about the books you enjoyed as a boy. 

 RW: I was fortunate that my mother was a huge advocate of the public library (and, at 86, still is). So from way before kindergarten we were making frequent trips to the library for the Curious George books, Caps for Sale, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, Make Way for Ducklings, etc. I became a serious non-reader around about third grade, when I started getting out in the neighborhood more independently and discovered stickball and street hockey. Even in college (as an English major!) I faked my way through a lot of classes. After I graduated, I went back and actually read many of the books I’d acquired, and have read ever more voraciously since.

Sarah: How do you start writing your books? Are you a plunger? Do you plot? Do you have specific boys in mind when you sit down to write? 

RW: It depends on the project. I’ve written several series that target somewhat narrow age groups, so I have those well planned before I start. With a stand-alone novel, I usually begin with a character in a situation (and a strong sense of place) and begin writing a scene to see where it leads. Outlining/plotting starts vaguely, but I look for anchors and plot development as the story develops, and I do outline a fair amount to help me get from one point to another. One great thing about the Highlights Foundation workshops is that there is a small “instructor-to-student” ratio, so we’re all together in a relatively informal environment and the sessions become more discussions than lectures. I’ll make sure that Lenore and Chris and I each talk about our writing process. No writer’s approach fits neatly with any other’s, but I’ve gained a lot over the years by hearing how others do it.

wicked cruel cover jpegSarah: What is the difference between “books for boys” and “books for girls?” What do boys write to you after reading your books?

RW: The majority of the letters I receive are prompted by my sports series books – The Winning Season and Kickers, which are written for middle-grade kids. Both boys and girls like to tell me about their own experiences in sports, particularly as it parallels something that happened to one of my characters. I think the more obvious delineations between books occur after a kid begins to come of age. But it’s all a spectrum, and no books could be said to appeal only to one gender. Start with the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. Safe to say that they were originally published to appeal to the two different genders, and I’d guess that the readership did reflect that.

Sarah: What do you think is the greatest challenge for writers today–especially if they want to write for this market? 

RW: There is so much daunting competition. But the great books do get published, so write one of those. A good friend who has attended a number of my workshops over the years sold her first novel last month. She’d been submitting novels for a couple of decades, and is in fact a really great writer. Matching yourself with the right editor at the right time with the right book . . . it’s difficult. Artistic efforts always are.

Sarah: Who are your favorite authors?

RW: I’ll be working with two of them at this retreat in Lenore and Chris. For fun, I also read a lot of John Updike, J.D. Salinger, E.B. White . . . (in other words, people who were writing mostly for the New Yorker before I was born!) Among writers who are still with us, a few would be Sherman Alexie, Annie Proulx, and lots of nonfiction science/nature material. I read way more nonfiction than fiction; probably 25 to 1. (I just wrote my first book of nonfiction, collaborating with my wife, novelist Sandra Neil Wallace. It’s a biography of perhaps the greatest female athlete of all time: Babe Conquers the World: The Legendary Life of Babe Didrikson Zaharias. It’ll be out in March.) Sandra will drop in on the workshop, too, and talk about her two novels that have male leads.

Thanks, Rich, for sharing your thoughts on The Mixed-Up Files blog!

If you are a writer and want to write realistic boy characters, go here and register for this amazing event! If you are a reader and like books with great action and conflict, check out Rich’s books! You won’t be able to put them down!

Sarah Aronson is a writer who loves sports. She and Nancy Werlin will also be offering a whole novel class for the Highlights Foundation in September 2014.