Fiction

What Exactly is a Book Birthday and Mistakes I Have Made

By on February 21, 2016   /   Fiction, For Writers, Publishing & Promotion  

IMG_2967I have to admit that when I first heard the term book birthday, I was really confused. According to the Merriam Dictionary, birthday has two meanings. It’s the anniversary of a birth or it’s the day of a person’s birth. Normally, we celebrate birthdays for humans or beloved pets in the anniversary sort of way. Not too many people say, “happy birthday” to a newborn infant, of if they did they might say to the mother, “Congrats on giving birth,” and hope that it was a safe and easy one. Birthdays don’t really get going until a full year later. So a birthday, in essence, functions more like an anniversary of a birth. The day we are born, we’re considered zero and then after 12 months we celebrate the YAHOO-very-big-deal first birthday.

Books are completely different.

On the day a book is born is considered the book birthday. The exact, very day.

The first time I saw people posting on Facebook that it was their book birthday, I honestly thought they meant their book had turned one-years-old. And I thought cool. They’re remembering their book anniversary. And I was seriously impressed that they remembered such a thing.

My seventh book, Queen of Likes, a middle grade, is coming out soon, in about six weeks so I remember that date, April 5. But I couldn’t tell you my other book anniversaries (unless I cheated and looked to see when the book were actually published). All I know is that my new book is coming out and it makes my stomach go all knotty. It feels more like getting ready for a really big deal date, maybe to the prom (which I never went to but I figure that must make a girl or guy get all butterfly filled).

Birthdays, regular ones, on the other hand, don’t do that for me. On birthdays, I sort of expect people to do things for me. You know, like presents, and for my kids to load the dishwasher and make me cute cards.

My book birthday is completely different.

My book is demanding. She’s a real diva. She wants a party thrown just for her. And she expects a whole lot of attention and compliments. And guess who’s got to do all the party planning? Me.

The book never does anything for herself. She’s pretty self-centered when it comes right down to it.

I’ve never once heard her say thank you.

Or paid me a compliment.

But I’m not going to complain because she doesn’t talk back to me either.

In the past, I would do anything to please my book.

Once, I tried a really gimmicky birthday party. I invited the Ugliest Dog in the World (yes, there is a such a thing. There’s a World’s Ugliest Dog Contest and the winners do the talk show circuit). That book was called Things Are Gonna Get Ugly, so I thought I’d be really clever, and you know, invite this celebrity dog to appear. Well, the dog came and, hundreds of people came to the signing. And it was even covered by several area Bay Area television stations. But who had the biggest line at the bookstore? Me or the ugliest dog in the world and her handlers?

You guessed it.

The dog won.

A much bigger line.

She was giving out autographs. And swag.

People had to pay for the birthday girl.

It really was no contest.

But this year, I’m just going to have a regular party, and am not going try anything flashy or gimmicky. I think my book will understand.

Hillary Homzie is the author of the forthcoming Queen of Likes (Simon & Schuster MIX 2016), The Hot List (Simon & Schuster MIX 2011) and Things Are Gonna Be Ugly (Simon & Schuster, 2009). She can be found at hillaryhomzie.com and on her Facebook page.

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Interview–and Giveaway–with Robin Yardi

By on February 10, 2016   /   Author Interviews, Fiction, Giveaways  

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Robin Yardi lives in the California foothills, where—every once in a while, in the dark of night—a skunk or two will sneak by. She loves good stories, animals of all sorts, homemade cakes, and kids. She blogs about books, teaches at her local Natural History Museum, and is the author of the nonfiction picture book, They Just Know: Animal Instincts, and the absolutely-not-nonfiction middle grade novel, The Midnight War of Mateo Martinez, scheduled for release on March 1.

Life is confusing for Mateo Martinez. He and Johnny Ramirez don’t hang out anymore, even though they used to be best friends. He and his new friend Ashwin try to act like brave, old-time knights, but it only gets them in trouble. His parents keep telling him to hold his sister’s hand when crossing busy streets, even though she’s the one who always runs ahead.

And last night, two skunks stole Mateo’s old trike.

Wait—two skunks stole his trike?

Mateo is too big for that rusty kid toy. He has a cool, shiny new bike anyway. But Mateo also has a neighborhood to protect. And he’s about to begin a big, stinky quest to catch the thieves. A quest that starts in the middle of the night!

Kirkus called The Midnight War of Mateo Martinez, “A magnificent novel that defines what it is to be an older brother, a friend, and, yes, even a knight.” Come visit her on the web to ask a question, schedule a Skype visit, or peek into her books: www.RobinYardi.com!

Your first book They Just Know: Animal Instincts (Arbordale Publishing 2015) features anthropomorphized animals and humor to teach about instinctive animal behavior. How does that compare to your approach to The Midnight War of Mateo Martinez?

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I’ve never thought about it before, but both books feature animals doing things kids usually do! In the picture book those funny images of animals playing board games, hugging teddy bears, and getting coached, are contrasted by spreads that show the real deal. Frogs don’t get coached—they just know how to hop! Snakes don’t need stuffed animals—they already are stuffed with animals!

Learn to Leap

The Midnight War of Mateo Martinez begins with two skunks creaking away on Mateo’s rusty old trike, again an animal doing something a kid would, but the real deal in the novel is all about being a boy, not a skunk, about being a big brother, and a good friend, and an honorable knight… even when you are nine.

So, I guess, my books leave room for real life and imagination. I believe kids need both!

You are obviously an animal lover. What can you tell us about your work with the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History? In a typical week, what animals do you interact with in real life? Any close encounters with skunks?

I teach in a special, very kid centered, section of the Museum that we call the Backyard. We have a clubhouse with specimens and live animals, an outdoor waterway with wooden boats and pumps, tins, spoons, pots, and pans for making mud pies, and a dig pile for finding worms and pill bugs and millipedes. All that is surrounded by a riparian woodland of oaks and sycamores! When a child comes into the clubhouse I become a librarian of creepy crawly animals.

  • Which snake should we bring out (we have three)?
  • Have you ever held a beetle?
  • Would you like to hold a frog?
  • Do you know what a stick insect is?

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I try to keep to the facts when I’m teaching at the museum, but I am the only naturalist, so far as I know, who has insisted on naming all of our tree frogs.

And don’t get me started on my animals at home… sometimes we name our spiders.

Where did the idea for skunks on a trike come from?

Well, the idea for that book started in my backyard. One night, through the backdoor, my daughter and I watched skunks, raccoons, and stray cats battling it out for some leftover dog food. I said, “I wonder if the skunks and raccoons play on the playground at night when you’re asleep?”

“How would they even get there?” my daughter asked.

“On your creaky old trike!” I told her. She laughed pretty hard, so I knew I had a good beginning.

Mateo, his little sister, Mila, and his best friend, Ashwin, were inspired by kids I know and teach in Santa Barbara. In fact I overheard one of my favorite Mila lines while working in the Museum Backyard. Someone asked a little girl, “How do you think snakes get clean?”

“They lick themselves like kitties,” was her answer, which I thought was brilliantly funny and completely plausible, so I stole it and snuck it into the book!

If there was one single thing that you wanted readers to get from The Midnight War of Mateo Martinez, what would it be?

Mateo is struggling to understand the world around him and how he fits into it.  He’s dealing with changing friendships, his Mexican-American identity, his need to be a good big brother and an honorable knight. That’s a lot. Any kid who reads my book is going to have their own worries, things they don’t quite understand, maybe some things they never will. I want kids who read the book to deal with those worries bravely and with honor, without leaving behind the fantastical thinking of childhood, because sometimes that’s the only way to find understanding, by following the trike-riding skunks that are creaking down your driveway, up your street, and through your dreams.

What other books do you recommend to readers who enjoyed The Midnight War of Mateo Martinez?

I love The Hoboken Chicken Emergency, the Dyamonde Daniel books, the Cold Cereal Saga, and the whole Clementine series. And this one is a bit of a throwback, but The Mouse and the Motorcycle has a tidy kinship to two skunks on a trike, don’t you think?

How long did it take from first spark of an idea to finished book in your hands?

SIX years. My daughter was three when we watched those skunks through the backdoor—she’s nine now.

Why do you write middle-grade?

First, middle grade kids don’t question how real life worries and trike riding skunks end up in the same book. They just know. They get it! I guess part of my brain never grew out of that kind of thinking.

Second, as a kid middle grade novels were a huge part of my life. Sometimes books were my best friends. Sometimes books were my only friends. They kept me company and taught me about the world. I hope my books can do the same!

What advice do you have for someone who wants to write middle-grade fiction?

Don’t underestimate your audience. Middle grade readers can be deep thinkers… deep thinkers who like fart jokes and talking animals. Respect what they can understand and respect what they like and want to read! Be funny, be adventurous, and be honest. Pretend you are still nine, or ten, or eleven—in short, be AWESOME!

Robin has kindly offered a signed hardcover copy of The Midnight War of Mateo Martinez and a bookmark for a giveaway. Leave a comment by midnight on Friday, February 12. The winner will be announced on Saturday, February 13.

Jacqueline Houtman is the author of the middle-grade novel The Reinvention of Edison Thomas (Front Street/Boyds Mills Press 2010) and coauthor, with Walter Naegle and Michael G. Long, of the biography for young (and not-so-young) readers Bayard Rustin: The Invisible Activist (Quaker Press 2014).

 

 

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Avian Flights of Fancy: MG Books That Feature Birds and Birdwatchers

By on February 3, 2016   /   Book Lists, Common Core & NGSS, Fiction, For Kids, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, Nonfiction  

I am a self-confessed bird brain. My Mom got me hooked as a bird watcher in the 4th grade. Something about watching birds go about their daily lives outside my window, and in the larger world, has always inspired me and made me want to know more about this amazing array of cretures.

They jockey for position in a hierarchy I can’t quite understand, persist against all odds, strut and preen and relax and fight, and it’s all before my eyes if only I will slow down and look. They’re beautiful and funny and puzzling.

Here are some Middle Grade reads that have something to do with birds. Some feature people as the main characters. Some feature birds as the main characters, or perhaps birds are important in some way for helping the characters to make connections. Some feature bird brains like me, kids obsessed with their binoculars or bird guides.  One nonfiction book and one picture book round out the collection, providing the reader with a broad look at the ways birds are shared in story, and the ways our actions affect their eistence on the planet.

All synopses from IndieBound.

Hoot, by Carl Hiassen

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A book for young readers. It involves new kids, bullies, alligators, eco-warriors, pancakes, and pint-sized owls. A hilarious
Floridian adventure!

Nest, by Esther Ehrlich

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For fans of Jennifer Holm (“Penny from Heaven, Turtle in Paradise”), a heartfelt and unforgettable middle-grade novel about an irresistible girl and her family, tragic change, and the healing power of love and friendship. In 1972 home is a cozy nest on Cape Cod for eleven-year-old Naomi “Chirp” Orenstein, her older sister, Rachel; her psychiatrist father; and her dancer mother. But then Chirp’s mom develops symptoms of a serious disease, and everything changes.
Chirp finds comfort in watching her beloved wild birds. She also finds a true friend in Joey, the mysterious boy who lives across the street. Together they create their own private world and come up with the perfect plan: Escape. Adventure. Discovery.

The True Blue Scouts of Sugarman Swamp, by Kathi Appelt

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Meet Bingo and J’miah, raccoon brothers on a mission to save Sugar Man Swamp in this rollicking tale and National Book Award Finalist from Newbery Honoree Kathi Appelt.
Raccoon brothers Bingo and J’miah are the newest recruits of the Official Sugar Man Swamp Scouts. The opportunity to serve the Sugar Man–the massive creature who delights in delicious sugar cane and magnanimously rules over the swamp–is an honor, and also a big responsibility, since the rest of the swamp critters rely heavily on the intel of these hardworking Scouts.
Twelve-year-old Chap Brayburn is not a member of any such organization. But he loves the swamp something fierce, and he’ll do anything to help protect it.
And help is surely needed, because world-class alligator wrestler Jaeger Stitch wants to turn Sugar Man swamp into an Alligator World Wrestling Arena and Theme Park, and the troubles don’t end there. There is also a gang of wild feral hogs on the march, headed straight toward them all.
The Scouts are ready. All they have to do is wake up the Sugar Man. Problem is, no one’s been able to wake that fellow up in a decade or four…

The Desperate Adventures of Zeno and Alya, by Jane Kelley

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An orphaned African grey parrot who can speak 127 words. A girl so sick she has forgotten what it means to try. Fate and a banana nut muffin bring them together. Will their shared encounter help them journey through storms inside and out? Will they lose their way, or will they find what really matters?

Here is a story that will remind readers how navigating so many of life’s desperate adventures requires friendship and, above all, hope.

Wild Wings, by Gill Lewis

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When Callum spots crazy Iona McNair on his family’s sprawling property, she’s catching a fish with her bare hands. She won’t share the fish, but does share something else: a secret.

She’s discovered a rare endangered bird, an Osprey, and it’s clear to both her and Callum that if anyone finds out about the bird, it, and its species, is likely doomed. Poachers, egg thieves, and wild weather are just some of the threats, so Iona and Callum vow to keep track of the bird and check her migratory progress using the code a preservationist tagged on her ankle, no matter what.

But when one of them can no longer keep the promise, it’s up to the other to do it for them both. No matter what. Set against the dramatic landscapes of Scotland and West Africa, this is a story of unlikely friendships, the wonders of the wild—and the everyday leaps of faith that set our souls to flight.

Sparrow Girl, by Sara Pennypacker

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Ming-Li looked up and tried to imagine the sky silent, empty of birds. It was a terrible thought. Her country’s leader had called sparrows the enemy of the farmers–they were eating too much grain, he said. He announced a great “Sparrow War” to banish them from China, but Ming-Li did not want to chase the birds away.
As the people of her village gathered with firecrackers and gongs to scatter the sparrows, Ming-Li held her ears and watched in dismay. The birds were falling from the trees, frightened to death! Ming-Li knew she had to do something–even if she couldn’t stop the noise. Quietly, she vowed to save as many sparrows as she could, one by one…

Blue Birds, by Caroline Starr Rose

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It’s 1587 and twelve-year-old Alis has made the long journey with her parents from England to help settle the New World, the land christened Virginia in honor of the Queen. And Alis couldn t be happier. While the streets of London were crowded and dirty, this new land, with its trees and birds and sky, calls to Alis. Here she feels free. But the land, the island Roanoke, is also inhabited by the Roanoke tribe and tensions between them and the English are running high, soon turning deadly.
Amid the strife, Alis meets and befriends Kimi, a Roanoke girl about her age. Though the two don t even speak the same language, these girls form a special bond as close as sisters, willing to risk everything for the other. Finally, Alis must make an impossible choice when her family resolves to leave the island and bloodshed behind.

One Came Home, by Amy Timberlake

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A Newbery Honor Book
An ALA-ALSC Notable Children’s Book
Winner of the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Juvenile Novel

In the town of Placid, Wisconsin, in 1871, Georgie Burkhardt is known for two things: her uncanny aim with a rifle and her habit of speaking her mind plainly.
But when Georgie blurts out something she shouldn’t, her older sister Agatha flees, running off with a pack of “pigeoners” trailing the passenger pigeon migration. And when the sheriff returns to town with an unidentifiable body wearing Agatha’s blue-green ball gown everyone assumes the worst.Except Georgie. Refusing to believe the facts that are laid down (and coffined) before her, Georgie sets out on a journey to find her sister. She will track every last clue and shred of evidence to bring Agatha home. Yet even with resolute determination and her trusty Springfield single-shot, Georgie is not prepared for what she faces on the western frontier.

Wringer, by Jerry Spinelli

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Palmer LaRue is running out of birthdays. For as long as he can remember, he’s dreaded the day he turns ten — the day he’ll take his place beside all the other ten-year-old boys in town, the day he’ll be a wringer. But Palmer doesn’t want to be a wringer. It’s one of the first things he learned about himself and it’s one of the biggest things he has to hide. In Palmer’s town being a wringer is an honor, a tradition passed down from father to son. Palmer can’t stop himself from being a wringer just like he can’t stop himself from growing one year older, just like he can’t stand up to a whole town — right? Newbery Medal winner Jerry Spinelli’s most powerful novel yet is a gripping tale of how one boy learns how not to be afraid.

Wildwood, by Colin Meloy

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For fans of The Chronicles of Narnia comes the first book in the Wildwood Chronicles, the New York Times bestselling fantasy adventure series by Colin Meloy, lead singer of the Decemberists, and Carson Ellis, acclaimed illustrator of The Mysterious Benedict Society.

In Wildwood, Prue and her friend Curtis uncover a secret world in the midst of violent upheaval a world full of warring creatures, peaceable mystics, and powerful figures with the darkest intentions. And what begins as a rescue mission becomes something much greater as the two friends find themselves entwined in a struggle for the very freedom of this wilderness. A wilderness the locals call Wildwood.

Wildwood captivates readers with the wonder and thrill of a secret world within the landscape of a modern city. It feels at once firmly steeped in the classics of children’s literature and completely fresh at the same time. The story is told from multiple points of view, and the book features more than eighty illustrations, including six full-color plates, making this an absolutely gorgeous object.

Supports the Common Core State Standards.

The Guardians of Ga’hoole, by Kathryn Lasky

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Ga’Hoole is a classic hero mythology about the fight between good and evil. This new version of The Capture will feature art from the movie, due out in September 2010!

After Soren, a young owlet, is pushed from his family’s nest by his older brother, he’s plucked from the forest floor by agents from a mysterious school, the St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls. When Soren arrives at St. Aggie’s, he suspects there is more to the school than meets the eye. He and his new friend, the clever and scrappy Gylfie, find out that St. Aggie’s is actually a training camp where the school’s leader can groom young owls to help achieve her goal–to rule the entire owl kingdom.

The Race to Save the Lord God Bird, by Phillip Hoose

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The tragedy of extinction is explained through the dramatic story of a legendary bird, the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, and of those who tried to possess it, paint it, shoot it, sell it, and, in a last-ditch effort, save it. A powerful saga that sweeps through two hundred years of history, it introduces artists like John James Audubon, bird collectors like William Brewster, and finally a new breed of scientist in Cornell’s Arthur A. “Doc” Allen and his young ornithology student, James Tanner, whose quest to save the Ivory-bill culminates in one of the first great conservation showdowns in U.S. history, an early round in what is now a worldwide effort to save species. As hope for the Ivory-bill fades in the United States, the bird is last spotted in Cuba in 1987, and Cuban scientists join in the race to save it….

“The Race to Save the Lord God Bird” is the winner of the 2005 Boston Globe – Horn Book Award for Nonfiction and the 2005 Bank Street – Flora Stieglitz Award.

If all these these books about birds and birdwatchers sparked your curiosity, maybe you’d be interested, as I have been, in participating in citizen science that involves watching birds. There are great opportunities to be a part of real science through your binoculars.

The Great Backyard Bird Count , coming February 12-15, 2016, is a great way to get out and see some of your  own neighborhood birds. Cornell University’s Project Feederwatch, through the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, is another good way to become a bird brain yourself! It’s great for just about anyone who has a window; everyone can participate, kids and adults alike. It’s not too late to join in this year’s watch season, either. Still hungry for more? Check out the Cornell Lab’s Education page for a wide range of information and activities.

Whatever you do, the world of birds is right outside your window, AND btween the pages of a book. Check it out!

In fourth grade, Valerie Stein touched an ancient artifact from an archaeological dig. Though she never got to travel the world in search of buried treasure, she ended up journeying to new and exciting places between the pages of books. Now she spends her time researching history, in museums and libraries, which is like archaeology but without the dirt. Valerie’s book, The Best of It: A Journal of Life, Love and Dying, was published in 2009.  Both her current work and an upcoming middle grade series are historical fiction set in Washington State. Valerie is Publisher at Homeostasis Press and blogs at Gatherings, the blog of Gather Here: History for Young People 

 

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