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The Great Library Giveaway Spotlight #7

By on October 13, 2012   /   Book Lists, Giveaways  

Thank you to everyone who has donated a book for our giveaway.  If you are interested in participating, there is still time to send books – check here for details.  And if you haven’t nominated a library, please do by entering a comment here.  We are only open for nominations open until October 16th so hurry, hurry, hurry!

Three lucky libraries will be chosen at random on October 20th.  Then you will have a chance to determine library will receive a big stack of books!  Here are ten more titles that will be included in the pile:

Bad Kitty for President by Nick Bruel

The votes are in–it’s a Bad Kitty landslide! It’s time to elect a new president of the Neighborhood Cat Coalition! Who will win the election? The candidate chosen by the kitties on the right side of the street or the candidate chosed by the kitties on the left side of the street? When election time rolls around, one candidate (guess who?) will discover that she never bothered to register to vote and the entire election will be decided by a surprise, last minute absentee ballot sent by Old Kitty.

Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson

“Hope is the thing with feathers” starts the poem Frannie is reading in school. Frannie hasn’t thought much about hope. There are so many other things to think about. Each day, her friend Samantha seems a bit more “holy.” There is a new boy in class everyone is calling the Jesus Boy. And although the new boy looks like a white kid, he says he’s not white. Who is he?

During a winter full of surprises, good and bad, Frannie starts seeing a lot of things in a new light—her brother Sean’s deafness, her mother’s fear, the class bully’s anger, her best friend’s faith and her own desire for “the thing with feathers.”

Imitate the Tiger by Jan Cheripko

Chris Serbo loves to play football. “I’ve played football so many years, it’s instinct to me. . . . I know the rules and I know the chaos. . . . There is nothing more satisfying than hitting someone with all your force. . . . When all else fails, I “know “how to play football.” But Chris Serbo has some problems–and one of them is that he drinks to hide from the other problems. In this powerful story of a high school senior trying to find some hope and meaning in his life, author Jan Cheripko gives us a look at the personal struggles of Chris Serbo as he battles against those trying most to help him: his aunt, his coach, his history teacher, his friends, and even a few enemies.

Louisiana’s Song by Kerry Madden

Livy Two is happy that Daddy is finally out of his coma, but the befuddled man who comes home is not the daddy the Weems family once knew. He forgets their names, he wanders off—he won’t even touch his beloved banjo. Set in Appalachia in 1963, this heartwarming, and heart-wrenching, follow-up to Gentle’s Holler is narrated by the irrepressible Livy Two, and traces the ups and downs of her large mountain family. Shy and awkward 11-year-old Louise (Louisiana) becomes the reluctant hero as she develops a talent for painting, takes care of Daddy, and shows a surprised Livy Two that sometimes the quietest sibling turns out to be the strongest.

Love Puppies and Corner Kicks by R.W. Krech

What?s a girl to do when Mom and Dad announce that the whole family is moving to Scotland for a yearlong teacher exchange? Can you spell d-i-s-a-s-t-e-r? When Andrea gets there, she finds she and her family are living with the principal and she is being pestered by the ultraweird Jasmin. But then she finds an amazing girls? soccer league and a cute boy named Stewart. Will Andrea?s new tough soccer girls accept that she is crushing on a boy from a rival team and not totally devoted to winning a championship? Perfect for fans of Lauren Myracle.

Neversink by Barry Wolverton

Along the Arctic Circle lies a small island called Neversink, whose jagged cliffs and ice-gouged rocks are home to a colony of odd-looking seabirds called auks, including one Lockley J. Puffin. With their oceanfront views and plentiful supply of fish, the auks have few concerns–few, save for Lockley’s two best friends, Egbert and Ruby, a know-it-all walrus and a sharp-tongued hummingbird.

But all of this is about to change. Rozbell, the newly crowned king of the Owl Parliament, is dealing with a famine on the mainland of Tytonia–and he has long had his scheming eyes on the small colony to the north. Now Neversink’s independence hangs in the balance. An insurgence of owls will inevitably destroy life as the auks know it–unless Lockley can do something about it.

Palace Beautiful by Sarah DeFord Williams

When sisters Sadie and Zuzu Brooks move to Salt Lake City, they discover a secret room in the attic of their new house, with a sign that reads ?Palace Beautiful? and containing an old journal. Along with their neighbor, dramatic Belladonna Desolation (real name: Kristin Smith), they take turns reading the story of a girl named Helen living during the flu epidemic of 1918. The journal ends with a tragedy that has a scary parallel to Sadie and Zuzu?s lives, and the girls become obsessed with finding out what happened to Helen after the journal ends. Did she survive the flu? Is she still alive somewhere? Or could her ghost be lurking in the nearby graveyard?

Samantha Hansen Has Rocks in Her Head by Nancy Viau

Ten-year-old Samantha Hansen is a mad scientist. But not the crazy kind—she doesn’t blow stuff up or mix potions or dissect bugs. She just loves science—especially rocks—and figuring out how the world around her works. But there are some things there just isn’t a scientific answer for. Like, why can’t her bossy big sister keep her hands off Sam’s rock collection? And why can’t Sam control her temper? There are some bigger questions, too, like why did her father have to die? And why won’t her mom talk about him anymore?

When Sam’s mom announces a family trip to the Grand Canyon, it’s a dream come true. But it’s also a challenge: If Sam can’t learn to calm down and ignore her irritating sister, she’s going to miss her chance to see one of the world’s biggest rocks and maybe find the answers to some of her questions.

The Crossroads by Chris Grabenstein

Zack, his dad, and new stepmother have just moved back to his father’s hometown, not knowing that their new house has a dark history. Fifty years ago, a crazed killer caused an accident at the nearby crossroads that took 40 innocent lives. He died when his car hit a tree in a fiery crash, and his malevolent spirit has inhabited the tree ever since. During a huge storm, lightning hits the tree, releasing the spirit, who decides his evil spree isn’t over . . . and Zack is directly in his sights.

The Lucky Place by Zu Vincent

Cassie finds her inner strength through experiencing heartbreaking events. “The Lucky Place “begins at a horse racetrack, where Cassie, age three, and her brother Jamie, age five, accompany their father on a drinking and betting spree. As she goes with him to make yet another bet, her hand slips out of his and she loses him. When Cassie has been delivered safely home, Cassie’s mother is angry and Cassie vows never to lose Daddy again. But before long, Mama has had enough of Cassie’s father. She introduces Cassie and Jamie to Ellis. Cassie’s father slowly exits from her life as Ellis enters it, eventually becoming her stepfather. Her father continues to pop in and out of her life unexpectedly, while Ellis provides a stable, loving home. Just when life seems pretty wonderful, Ellis is diagnosed with cancer. He takes the family on a summer-long camping trip where he spends time with Cassie. From early childhood to early adolescence, her experiences with both fathers generate conflict and loss and help Cassie discover that her true lucky place is within herself.

*All summaries are from IndieBound

 

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Where’d that Creativity Come From?

By on October 12, 2012   /   For Parents, Op-Ed  

 

It’s not uncommon for parents to look at personality traits as they develop in their children and think, Oh, that’s just like me. So a joint study recently released by researchers from Yale and Moscow State University should not come as any great surprise: that creative parents tend to produce creative children.

Okay, it’s not a surprise. But it is a wonderful confirmation that the creativity writers pour into their work is a trait that we may have received from our parents, and will likely pass to our children.

My youngest wrote his first story at age four. He wasn’t old enough to type the words, but he dictated while I typed. Called “Forest Adventures,” this one page story was about a man who goes into the forest where all sorts of horrific things happen, including being attacked by bees, and also bears who crawl all over the man’s bus “including that part where the people go in.”

Okay, so it’s probably not going to win the Newbery, but as both a mother and an author, it gave me a slight bit of hope that maybe one day, there might be another writer in the family.

There are several examples of literary families: the Bronte sisters and the brothers Grimm are perhaps the most famous, but David Updike, the son of John Updike, is a children’s and short story author. The daughter of feminist author Mary Wollstonecraft is Mary Shelley, author of “Frankenstein.” Mary Higgins Clark co-wrote several books with her daughter, Carol, who has gone on to write books of her own.

The joint study analyzed the creative writing of 511 children between the ages of 8 and 17 and compared it to their parents’ writing. The themes for the writing were the same for each age group, such as “were I invisible” for children and “who lives and what happens on a planet called Priumliava” for adults. The stories were then rated for their originality, plot development and quality, and creative use of prior knowledge. Factors such as general intelligence and the way the family interacted with each other were accounted for.

The researchers concluded what most parents have long known, that there are inheritable traits that have nothing to do with hair and eye color. They stated, “It may be worth further studies to confirm that creative writers are indeed born, as well as made.”

So how does this affect us as writers? Well, for those who are also parents, this is a reminder that the work we do is not solely for the story, or for our readers. Exploring our own creative instincts becomes a role model for our children, who, research shows, may have those same instincts. Let your children see you create so that one day they will create for themselves. And what parent would not be thrilled about that?

 

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Wishes for my son

By on October 10, 2012   /   For Parents  

My 18-year old son left for college this fall. He’s attending the University of Iowa, the only college he wanted to go to, the only college he applied to, and luckily, the college he was accepted to. Unlike many high school seniors, the choice was an easy one for Sam — his dad, grandfather, and two uncles were Hawkeyes. Sam’s easy-going, middle child thought process was this: why mess with tradition? It worked for them, it’ll work for me.

Among my many worries about Sam’s departure are the facts that he’s never done a load of laundry, has a knack for losing things, and has no idea what he wants to do in life. But among my comforts — he has an inner yearning to learn about subjects that interest him. And there have been many over the years: coins, constellations, basketball, the Beatles — to name a few.

Before he left, he asked me to help him go through the stuff in his room. His bookshelf was crammed with many favorites he had hung onto since his days in elementary and middle school. Seeing the books, I wasn’t just reminded of what he had loved to read for the past eighteen years, but the way the stories had shaped the young man standing before me.

And as we pulled down the books, I realized I had wishes for my son as he left the protection, familiarity, and security of the home he had known his whole life.

I wish that he will stay close with his sisters and hold on to his curiosity and thirst for knowledge, like Jack and Annie in the Magic Tree House series, those beloved books that Sam devoured throughout second grade. Sam and his sisters used to act out the stories, going on adventures that took them from their bedrooms all the way downstairs to the family room, through the kitchen and back upstairs. (They did not have Smartphones, tablets, or any type of texting device at this time.) Stuck among the piles of books was the pad of paper where they started writing their own version — Monkeys on Monday. They were determined to finish it and send it off to Mary Pope Osborne. (They didn’t, although I’m sure Ms. Osborne would have loved it.)

I wish that Sam will cling to his imagination for a while longer, before the weight and seriousness of adulthood forces it away. Like Joe Stoshack in Dan Gutman’s baseball adventure books, there was a point when Sam believed a boy could time travel just by holding a baseball card in his hand.

I wish that he will be brave and determined, like Harry Potter, as he faces the many obstacles that will be sure to block his path. He won’t have a wand, just his intelligence and heart. I wish that he always finds humor in life’s trying situations, like Louis Sachar’s Marvin Redpost, and holds tight to his passions, always continuing to seek out what makes him happy, like the main character in one of our favorite picture books of all time, Shy Charles, by Rosemary Wells.

And I wish that he will fight for what he believes in, and fight for those who cannot, like Annemarie in Number the Stars by Lois Lowry, and many other heroes in these books he read, who triumphed over enemies real and imagined.

There were many more wishes on my mind, but the bookshelf was empty.

Now there was room for college textbooks, the framed graduation photo, the Bob Dylan guitar chord book. I asked Sam if he was sad to pass these childhood books along to our local library. He said no, not at all, because the stories were “in my brain.”

In his brain. Wow.

Maybe, just maybe, those wishes have a chance of coming true.

Michele Weber Hurwitz still has her worn copy of Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott, which she read over and over as a child. She is the author of Calli Be Gold (Wendy Lamb Books/Random House 2011). Visit her at www.micheleweberhurwitz.com.

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