Blog

For Teachers and Librarians Page Update!

It’s smack dab (almost) mid-August, which means … time once again for our semi-annual update on what’s new on MUF’s For Teachers and Librarians page!

Here’s an overview of three great new resources and links we’ve added: (you’ll find them marked with New! on the For Teachers/Librarians page):

In the section, BLOGS (of special interest to teachers and librarians):

Top Teaching Blog by Scholastic:  Well regarded as a resource for literacy professionals everywhere, Scholastic also offers teacher-to-teacher support through the Top Teaching Blog.  Eight innovative teachers bring you right into their classrooms for ideas on how to enhance middle graders’ literacy experiences.  Even though summer is quickly waning, you’ll get some great ideas from team member Shari Edwards in this post: a challenge to herself to read a children’s book a day.

A Year of Reading:  Franki Sibberson and Mary Lee Hahn are classroom teachers and authors of acclaimed professional books on literacy.  Their blog is rich with ideas and resources for bringing middle grade readers and good books together!  Check out Franki’s thoughts on selecting that all-important first read aloud of the school year.

 In the section, GENERAL RESOURCES for teaching and literature

Finding Common Themes in Fiction Texts: 3rd grade teacher Beth Newingham offers a wonderful array of strategies and resources (downloadable posters!) to help you guide  middle grade students to find and learn from the themes in good books.  This is a rich site from Beth’s classroom in Troy, Michigan — take your time and dig in!  Beth is also part of Scholastic’s Top Teaching Blog team, so we encourage you to visit her there as well!

We invite you to share your new favorite teacher and librarian middle grade resources in the comments section below!

Three Ways Middle-grade Writing Is Like a Bowl of Lucky Charms

Inspiration can come from the strangest places. Like from a bowl of cereal that doesn’t exist.

Lucky Charms BoxI just watched my wife clear cereal boxes off the breakfast table. This got me thinking about my kids’ favorite morning repast, Lucky Charms, which we hardly ever have in the house because I’m a tightwad who only buys name-brand cereal when it’s on sale plus it’s double-coupon week plus the box includes “20% MORE FREE!” Yeah, that pretty much means my kids eat Lucky Charms like once every five years. But I digress. Let me explain what all this has to do with today’s blog post.

Although Lucky Charms are currently nonexistent in our home, I got to thinking about how a middle-grade novel is like a bowl of Lucky Charms. Here are my thoughts:

First, the mini-marshmallows are the sweeteners of your writing—the specific details that make a setting come alive and the descriptions of your characters that help your readers form their mental images. The important thing to remember is that these marshmallows must be distributed with care. If I chowed down on a bowl of pure mini-marshmallows every morning, I might get a sugar buzz, but I sure wouldn’t be very satisfied. Similarly, we have to be careful that the details and descriptions we provide don’t overwhelm our readers. They probably don’t need to know how many freckles Bobby has or where Lucy bought her underwear. Each “bite” of our stories must provide balance.

Lucky Charms Box-1964Lucky Charms Box-ChocolateSecond, change is good, but it’s also okay to stick with what works. Lucky Charms have been sugar-loading kids since 1964. The marshmallows get tweaked around to keep things new (blue diamonds added in 1975, purple horseshoes in 1984, etc.). In 2005, they began making Chocolate Lucky Charms. And sometimes you’ll see special-edition versions, such as Winter Lucky Charms. But still . . . they’re Lucky Charms. If I went out and bought a box today, the cereal would pretty much taste the same as what I begged my mom to buy when I was a kid. General Mills has a recipe, and it works. And writing a novel has a recipe, too: some form of conflict that will move each scene forward, the inclusion of a character arc that reflects a protagonist’s growth throughout the story, and so on. Play with the recipe. Tweak it to make your story unique. But don’t lose sight of the basic ingredients that every story needs. It isn’t formulaic writing. It’s good writing.

And now, since I need to wrap up this blog post and go have a cereal break, here’s a final, simple thought: Like a bowl of Lucky Charms, a well-written middle-grade novel can be enjoyed just as much by an adult as by a child.

Now go. Write. Create a story that’s “magically delicious.” And feel free to munch some cereal while you’re at it.

Big River’s Daughter

Like historical fiction? Like adventure? You’re in luck! Here comes

big rivers

Bobbi told MUF: 

 

David McCullough, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner for his historical creative nonfiction, wrote, “We are raising a generation of young Americans who are by and large historically illiterate…We have to know who we were if we’re to know who we are and where we’re headed…If you don’t care about it –if you’ve inherited some great fortune, you don’t even know that it’s a great work of art and you’re not interested in it – you’re going to lose it…”  History is literature, he says. And our history  is full of amazing stories.  The American frontier is the most significant event in our history. While everyone is familiar with the wild west and its hallmark character, the cowboy, the frontier began when the English colonial settled here in the early 17th century and ended when the last of the mainland territories became states in the early 20th century. The frontier is that archetypal symbol that designates the wild area beyond the edge of civilized life.  It’s that ‘other’ place where anything can happen.

In 1811, the frontier was the mighty Mississippi River, the land of the bayou, a mythic watery way where giant snakes and weird lizards hunted the unsuspected. It was the rough and tumble place full of outlaws and pirates,  the hiding place of Jean Laffite and his brother Pierre. The Brothers Laffites were heroes of the Battle of New Orleans, plundering British and Spanish ships for anything they could sell, including slaves. At one point, they were the most powerful buccaneers of the Caribbean. It was the time and place where the young United States finally came into her own.

In December 1811, a series of earthquakes shook the Mississippi  River basin. Three of these earthquakes would have measured at magnitude of 8.0 on the modern-day Richter scale. Six others would have measured between 7.0 and 7.5. The quakes were felt as far away as Canada. It shook so hard, it forced the Mississippi River to run backwards, changing the very landscape. It also sets into motion River’s story.

My first novel, Big River’s Daughter,  is a historical American fantasy released in April 2013 by Holiday House. Raised by her pirate father on a Mississippi keeler, River is a half-feral river rat and proud of it. When her powerful father disappears in the great earthquake of 1811, she is on the run from buccaneers, including Jean Laffite, who hope to claim her father’s territory and his buried treasure. But the ruthless rivals do not count on getting a run for their money from a plucky slip of a girl determined to find her place in the new order. Filled with down-home humor, raucous hijinks, and one-of-a-kind characters, this historical novel captures the Mississippi River at a time when its denizens were as untamed as its waters. In fact, you can read my article on American fantasy, and Big River’s Daughter, at: http://www.childrensliteraturenetwork.org/blog/radar/?p=827

For a wonderful educator’s guide on how to use Big River’s Daughter in the classroom, see: http://www.holidayhouse.com/docs/Big_Rivers_Daughter.pdf

For an interesting conversation by many experts in the writing and illustrating field on historical fiction , see “Why is Historical Fiction Important?” posted on  Children’s Literature Network: http://www.childrensliteraturenetwork.org/blog/radar/

Thanks, Bobbi! As River would say, “Who-op!”

Bobbi is giving away two copies of her book. You must reside in the U.S. or Canada to be eligible. Please leave a comment below!