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Welcome Super Librarian and Author Louise Simone!

By on February 7, 2014   /   Author Interviews, For Librarians  

Nobody knows the books kids love better than someone who’s surrounded by lots and lots of kids and lots and lots of wonderful books, which is exactly how I’d describe elementary and middle school librarian and author Louise P. Simone. What’s more, Louise is on the homestretch of her doctorate, on fantasy literature for children and young adults.

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Today I’m delighted to welcome Louise to From The Mixed-Up Files! Let’s get down to business, Louise. How do your students select great books- cover design, word of mouth, reading the first page or a random interior page, other?

In my experience the cover has a lot to do with which books go out and which don’t. Since I updated our copies of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House Series, which had 1970s era covers (the books were still in great shape, by the way, despite being loved by hundreds of students over the 35 years the library housed them), the books have been in almost constant circulation.  Same thing with the Box Car series. So much for not judging a book by its cover…

But just as important is another child/classmate’s recommendation. I can stand there talking up a book until I’m blue in the face, and get blank stares, until another student who I have managed to entice to read the story steps in to second my recommendation. Many kids are happy to take my word for the story’s worth, but when a friend recommends one, it’s gold.  I suppose the last thing a potential reader looks at is the jacket copy or the back cover’s description.  It has to be intriguing  and come almost to spoiling the story. Of course every publisher and writer knows the importance of a hook…I’m here to tell you they really, really work.

What surprises you about your students’ selections?

I must admit I take a great deal of time finding a book to meet my students tastes. I know who likes to cry, or who likes a fast paced adventure, or a mystery with just the right amount of puzzle to decipher. I don’t carry a lot of the really short, quick read series because they take up a lot of shelf space and kids go through them so fast I can’t keep them in the library long enough for them to check out the next one when they are ready. But because of the school’s demographics, most parents are happy to keep their children in reading material, so I am off the hook about purchasing those. But what surprises me is that even when I think I’ve figured out a kid’s preference, it changes, Which is great because then I have a whole new pile to recommend. I love watching a student venture off the mainstream into a new genre. It makes my job more interesting and keeps me thinking.

How do you go about steering kids to a just right book?

I use all the usual tricks: a five finger rule, grade level, and asking them what books he or she recently read and really loved. I also ask which books they hated and why, so I don’t offer those up, but it also helps me narrow down their tastes. Sometimes, when I get an especially tough reader, I ask what they like to watch on television or what video games they play. That helps me focus on the kind of things that keep them interested and focused over longer periods of time, and it really surprises kids when the Librarian asks about things most teachers don’t. Also, I’ve found, that students who wouldn’t touch a serious piece of fiction with a ten-foot pole, will often read some of the most intense nonfiction or biographies. They might not like to fight through a made-up story, but give them one about real people facing real obstacles and you’ve reeled them in.

 I suppose the only other trick I use is to ask them to tell me if they could write a book, what would it be about. I try very hard to come up with one that matches their interests whether it be pirates and battles or pink hearts and dinosaurs.

What are some of your current favorites?

Anything by Kathi Appelt or Kate DiCamillo. I love The True Blue Scouts of Sugarman Swamp because it combines wit and adventure with an environmental message. Any time a book is both entertaining and makes a kid think, is great. Of course Rick Riordan is a perennial favorite. Recently, the 39 Clues series and The Seven Wonders series have been popular. Although I try to read new things each year, a few I go back to regularly are Lloyd Alexander’s The Book of Three, R. J. Palacio’s Wonder, and Christopher Paul Curtis’s Bud Not Buddy.  I also loved this year’s Newbery Winner, Flora and Ulysses, and Clair Vanderpool’s Navigating Early. Two of my favorite sleepers are Christopher Healy’s The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom and The Hero’s Guide to Storming Your Castle.  They are hilarious. Also, Grace Lin’s books are very popular, and Kekla Magoon’s, Walter Dean Myers’s, and Rita William’s Garcia’s books go out all the time.  For older students, John Green. 

Is setting aside time for read aloud important for middle grade readers?

Everybody loves to be read to. I especially love it when after a few minutes of reading, I’ll look up and the squirmy, fidgeting middle schooler who I have had my eye on is suddenly fully engaged, completely still, listening with his or her mouth open. You gotta love a story that can do that. 

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Louise is the author of the action packed upper middle-grade/YA thriller HEIR OF THE JAGUAR. Hailed by Kirkus for “nail-biting suspense” and “tight, sharp and intelligent” prose, it’s great for daring advanced readers who aren’t afraid to be a little bit scared when they read. JAGUAR was a finalist for the Next Generation Indie Book Award and is now available as a graphic novel.

Thanks Louise!

Tami Lewis Brown is all for nail-biting suspense… as long as it stays on the page. She’s now working on a middle-grade murder mystery with a historic twist.

 

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Advice That Has Done Me No Good Whatsoever

By on February 5, 2014   /   Book Lists  

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I just finished writing my new middle grade novel. For the fourth (or possibly fifth) time. This book gave me more trouble than anything I’ve ever written–hard to conceive, even harder to birth, a terrible, difficult child from the very beginning. Now that it has, at long last, arrived, I love it with crazy, unreasonable fierceness. Amnesia is already setting in, though it’ll be a while yet till I forget the many nights it woke me from a sound sleep and set me scrawling bedside notes illegible the next morning. My husband remembers how, more than once, I threw myself onto the nearest flat plane and croaked, “It is killing me.”  The shelf behind my desk has a pile of folders, each about half a foot thick, stuffed with notes and old drafts, folders that could be labeled “Completely Wrong Roads to Go Down”.

If there was any justice in this world, I’d never have to go through all that again. But I’m not optimistic. My process seems doomed to be messy and excruciating, no matter how often I go through it. Even now, as I think about my next book, it’s hard not to plunge right in, ignoring my rational side as it waves red flags and hollers, Not yet! Wait and plan some more, you fool!

Still, I really don’t want the next book to take such a toll. And so I’ve been trying to think what I learned this time. What advice I could give myself, and maybe even others, should anyone be interested. Mostly what I’ve come up with, though, is well-meant stuff that didn’t work for me.

Stuff like:

Challenge yourself to try something new!  Okay! And so I tried to write a mystery. Who doesn’t love a mystery? While I was working on the early drafts, I’d tell kids I was writing a who-done-it set on an island, and I’d feel the excitement ripple through the crowd. I wrote two full drafts—one with a crime so obvious a five year old could solve it, and one with a crime so far-fetched it was ridiculous—before I remembered: plot is hard for me. Much, much harder than character or setting. I suppose it was all well and good to challenge myself to write a book whose success hinged on my greatest weakness, but what it taught me, in the end, was that I couldn’t do it. Yes, the finished book centers on a great mystery. But it’s a mystery of the heart. The kind of mystery that, I slowly, painfully came to realize, means the most to me.

Your characters will lead you places you never meant to go! I still believe this, in part. The problem with where my characters took me in those early drafts was that I didn’t know them well enough. I was traipsing along with acquaintances, people I’d met  only superficially. They had some interesting problems and opinions and were fun to be with (most of the time), but they never let me deep inside them. Or, the truth was, I didn’t work hard enough to understand who they were—what they wanted and needed more than anything and, even more important, why. By draft four, I had this crucial information. I was ready to follow Flor and Cecilia and Jasper, but only because I’d done all the hard work to fully create them.

Just get the story down–don’t worry if the writing stinks!  I can’t do it. I tried and tried, but in the future I won’t. I have to revise as I go. For me, each scene (I hate to say it because it makes me sound like a total prig, but maybe even each sentence) builds on the last one, and till I have it in place, there’s no going forward. If I ever manage to write an outline, so that the middle is not a muddle, maybe I’ll find it possible to skim along from start to finish, then go back and fine tool. But as my mother used to say when we begged for something we saw on TV, Don’t hold your breath.

So, how about you? Any advice that’s helped or confounded?

Tricia’s new middle grade novel, “Moonpenny Island”, will publish with HarperCollins in winter, 2015. 

 

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New Releases!

By on February 3, 2014   /   Book Lists  

Congratulations to the Seattle Seahawks! The Superbowl may have not have been all that super…and the groundhog may be predicting more winter…but we are happy! Why?

We have NEW books to read!

Let’s get to it!

Congratulations, Mixed Up Files Member, Jeniffer Duddy Gill!!!!!

The Secret of Ferrell Savage, by J. Duddy Gill

Middle school romance is hard enough, but cannibalism really gets in the way. This humorous look at first crushes and family secrets is sure to be devoured.

Ferrell Savage is finally twelve, and finally eligible to compete in The Big Sled Race on Golden Hill—the perfect chance to impress Mary Vittles. Mary is Ferrell’s best friend…and maybe, someday, something more.

Except the “more” Ferrell first finds is more information about his family. It turns out that his great, great, great uncle had an encounter with Mary’s great, great grandfather. And the encounter was, well, let’s just say…edible. Sure, the circumstances were extreme, but some facts might just be romantically indigestible. At least now Ferrell understands why his family is vegan.

But even as Ferrell and Mary encounter blackmail, a second sled race, and a particularly enticing bag of beef jerky, Ferrell realizes that he might still have a chance with Mary. If, that is, his family secret doesn’t eat them alive.

Lady Thief: A Scarlet Novel, by A C Gaughen

Scarlet’s true identity has been revealed, but her future is uncertain. Her forced marriage to Lord Gisbourne threatens Robin and Scarlet’s love, and as the royal court descends upon Nottingham for the appointment of a new Sheriff, the people of Nottingham hope that Prince John will appoint their beloved Robin Hood. But Prince John has different plans for Nottingham that revolve around a fateful secret from Scarlet’s past even she isn’t yet aware of. Forced to participate at court alongside her ruthless husband, Scarlet must bide her time and act the part of a noblewoman—a worthy sacrifice if it means helping Robin’s cause and a chance at a future with the man she loves. With a fresh line of intrigue and as much passion as ever, the next chapter in Scarlet’s tale will have readers talking once again.Scarlet’s true identity has been revealed, but her future is uncertain. Her forced marriage to Lord Gisbourne threatens Robin and Scarlet’s love, and as the royal court descends upon Nottingham for the appointment of a new Sheriff, the people of Nottingham hope that Prince John will appoint their beloved Robin Hood. But Prince John has different plans for Nottingham that revolve around a fateful secret from Scarlet’s past even she isn’t yet aware of. Forced to participate at court alongside her ruthless husband, Scarlet must bide her time and act the part of a noblewoman—a worthy sacrifice if it means helping Robin’s cause and a chance at a future with the man she loves. With a fresh line of intrigue and as much passion as ever, the next chapter in Scarlet’s tale will have readers talking once again.
(If you haven’t read SCARLET, check it out!!!)
snickerIntroducing an extraordinary new voice—a magical debut that will make your skin tingle, your eyes glisten . . .and your heart sing.Midnight Gulch used to be a magical place, a town where people could sing up thunderstorms and dance up sunflowers. But that was long ago, before a curse drove the magic away. Twelve-year-old Felicity knows all about things like that; her nomadic mother is cursed with a wandering heart.But when she arrives in Midnight Gulch, Felicity thinks her luck’s about to change. A “word collector,” Felicity sees words everywhere—shining above strangers, tucked into church eves, and tangled up her dog’s floppy ears—but Midnight Gulch is the first place she’s ever seen the word “home.” And then there’s Jonah, a mysterious, spiky-haired do-gooder who shimmers with words Felicity’s never seen before, words that make Felicity’s heart beat a little faster.Felicity wants to stay in Midnight Gulch more than anything, but first, she’ll need to figure out how to bring back the magic, breaking the spell that’s been cast over the town . . . and her mother’s broken heart.

Cress (The Lunar Chronicles) by Marissa Meyer

In this third book in Marissa Meyer’s bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and prevent her army from invading Earth.
Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl trapped on a satellite since childhood who’s only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she’s being forced to work for Queen Levana, and she’s just received orders to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.
When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is splintered. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a higher price than she’d ever expected. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai, especially the cyborg mechanic. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.

The New Olympians, by Kate O’Hearn

Emily and her companions, including the winged horse, Pegaus, must confront a legion of Olympic enemies in this third book of an action-packed series.

When Emily’s father and the goddess Diana return from a visit to Earth, they bring with them disturbing news. There’s a horse called Tornado Warning that’s winning all the races, with times faster than anyone’s ever seen. What could this mean? Emily, Joel, Paelen, Pegasus, and the sphinx Alexis return to Earth to investigate—and discover a CRU plot to clone Olympians and Nirads using DNA retrieved from their previous time in the human realm.

The CRU has already created dozens of Nirad warriors, Dianas, Paelens, Cupids, and Pegasuses. Now they want to create their own Emily clone—even if the original is killed in the process. Can Emily and her friends put a stop to the CRU’s plans before Jupiter finds out and carries through on his own threat to destroy the Earth?

Timmy Failure: Now Look What You’ve Done, by Stephen Pastis

 
 He doesn’t like to pull rank. To reveal that he’s this guy: Timmy Failure, founder, president, and CEO of the greatest detective agency in town, perhaps the nation. But he is.

And he’s about to crack the biggest case of his generation: a school competition to find a stolen globe. It’s his ticket to bringing home a $500 prize, which is guaranteed to set him up for life. But someone is clearly trying to game the system. Hoodwink. Con. Defraud. So it’s up to Timmy Failure, with the dubious help of Total, his lazy polar-bear partner, and his unlikely new ally, eccentric Great-Aunt Colander, to find a way to avenge these shenanigans. Defeat this injustice.
If he can only get his entry form in on time.

Ice Dogs, by Terry Lynn Johnson

ice dogVictoria Secord, a fourteen-year-old Alaskan dogsled racer, loses her way on a routine outing with her dogs. With food gone and temperatures dropping, her survival and that of her dogs and the mysterious boy she meets in the woods is entirely up to her.

The author Terry Lynn Johnson is a musher herself, and her crackling writing puts readers at the reins as Victoria and Chris experience setbacks, mistakes, and small triumphs in their wilderness adventure.

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