Book Lists

Living Lincoln’s Words

By on February 12, 2014   /   Book Lists, For Librarians, For Teachers  

On this 205th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth, I’m grateful for our 16th President’s lasting legacy.  Lincoln shepherded this nation through some of our most trying times, a life beautifully captured in Russell Freedman’s Newbery Medal-winning book, Lincoln: A Photobiography.

I’ve always admired the clear, thoughtful, and often poignant way in which Lincoln spoke and wrote.  He is among our history’s most quotable thinkers.  To honor the rich legacy that he left us, I’ve partnered favorite Lincoln quotes with middle grade books whose characters live his words.  Let’s hope that ongoing generations of young readers find inspiration to carry on Lincoln’s ideals.

Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor. “The vivid story of a black family whose warm ties to each other and their land give them strength to defy rural Southern racism during the Depression. . . . Entirely through its own internal development, the novel shows the rich inner rewards of black pride, love, and independence despite the certainty of outer defeat.” —Booklist (Indiebound description)

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed
is more important than any other.

  The Librarian of Basra: A True Story of Iraq by Jeanette Winter  Alia Muhammad Baker is a librarian in Basra, Iraq. For fourteen years, her library has been a meeting place for those who love books. Until now. Now war has come, and Alia fears that the library–along with the thirty thousand books within it–will be destroyed forever.  … this true story about a librarian’s struggle to save her community’s priceless collection of books reminds us all how, throughout the world, the love of literature and the respect for knowledge know no boundaries. (Indiebound description)

Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.

 The Underneath by Kathi Appelt; ill. by David Small  A calico cat, about to have kittens, hears the lonely howl of a chained-up hound deep in the backwaters of the bayou. She dares to find him in the forest, and the hound dares to befriend this cat, this feline, this creature he is supposed to hate. They are an unlikely pair, about to become an unlikely family. Ranger urges the cat to hide underneath the porch, to raise her kittens there because Gar-Face, the man living inside the house, will surely use them as alligator bait should he find them. But they are safe in the Underneath…as long as they stay in the Underneath. …a harrowing yet keenly sweet tale about the power of love — and its opposite, hate — the fragility of happiness and the importance of making good on your promises. (Indiebound description)

The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend.

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead  By sixth grade, Miranda and her best friend, Sal, know how to navigate their New York City neighborhood. They know where it’s safe to go, and they know who to avoid. Like the crazy guy on the corner. But things start to unravel. Sal gets punched by a kid on the street for what seems like no reason, and he shuts Miranda out of his life. The apartment key that Miranda’s mom keeps hidden for emergencies is stolen. And then a mysterious note arrives, scrawled on a tiny slip of paper. The notes keep coming, and Miranda slowly realizes that whoever is leaving them knows things no one should know. Each message brings her closer to believing that only she can prevent a tragic death. Until the final note makes her think she’s too late. (Indiebound description)

In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.

Anne Frank’s Story by Carol Ann Lee  Millions of people throughout the world have read Anne Frank’s unforgettable diary. But most readers don’t know much about Anne’s life before she went into hiding. This remarkable biography, written especially for young readers, chronicles Anne’s life from her earliest days. The book includes remembrances from Anne’s family and friends and features rare photos of Anne from infancy to adolescence. A powerful, moving tribute to an ordinary girl whose life has inspired millions.  (Indiebound description)

Whatever you are, be a good one.

  Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney  Alice Rumphius … longed to travel the world, live in a house by the sea, and do something to make the world more beautiful. The countless lupines that bloom along the coast of Maine are the legacy of the real Miss Rumphius, the Lupine Lady, who scattered lupine seeds everywhere she went.  (Indiebound description)

The probability that we may fail in the struggle
ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.

Nelson Mandela by Kadir Nelson  Kadir Nelson tells the story of Mandela, a global icon, in poignant verse and glorious illustrations. It is the story of a young boy’s determination to change South Africa and of the struggles of a man who eventually became the president of his country by believing in equality for people of all colors. Readers will be inspired by Mandela’s triumph and his lifelong quest to create a more just world.

Sincere thanks to Stephanie Guerra and Megan Sloan, my teacher/writer colleagues who contributed book suggestions!

Katherine Schlick Noe teaches beginning and experienced teachers at Seattle University. Her debut novel, Something to Hold (Clarion, 2011) won the 2012 Washington State Scandiuzzi Children’s Book Award for middle grade/young adult and was named a 2012 Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People.  Visit her at http://katherineschlicknoe.com.

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Tricks to Defeat Writer’s Block

By on February 10, 2014   /   Book Lists  

Does a deadline, blank page, or difficult scene make you break into a sweat, yank your hair out, or start cleaning everything in your house so you’ll have an excuse not to write? Don’t worry, we’ve all had times when it’s hard to write, but you can do something about it.

Writer's Block

  • Time yourself and type nonstop for twenty minutes or whatever amount of time works for you. Try to shut off any distractions (like ringing phones). You’ll have lots of editing to do later, but at least you’ll have something to mold into shape.
  • Remember that it doesn’t have to be perfect! Diving into a new project can be hard, especially when you’re leaving characters you love and know at least as well as your family. First drafts aren’t supposed to sparkle. Just get your ideas down. There’s plenty of time to make them sing.
  • Give yourself a small task. Sometimes, the project can intimidate you by seeming too big. Try working on a smaller goal first. Some authors have a word count per day in mind, others make a goal, such as two or five pages a day. The trick is to find a number that isn’t too hard to work into your day. A lot of times, writers get caught up and produce way more than the daily goal. Hopefully, that will happen to you, too!
  • Find a candle scent that reminds you of your manuscript, calms you, or gives you energy—whatever aroma makes it easier for you to plunge into your project.
  • Play music that makes it easier for you to dive into your character’s life. I happen to work best when it’s totally quiet, but many of my writing friends make a playlist for their characters and say it helps them immediately leap back into the manuscript.
  • Try writing late at night, when your internal editor is too tired to bug you. You can also experiment with writing during different times of the day or night to see what works best for you.
  • Word war with friends—you can even give winner a prize! Everyone can start at same time and write for twenty minutes, an hour…whatever works best for the group. Or you can have a contest over an entire day or weekend to see who can log in the most words. Again, you’ll have tons of revising to do later, but every first draft usually needs some hefty revisions.
  • Find others with the same goal you have, and start a group somewhere, like Facebook, where you can cheer each other on and log in your progress.
  • Get to know your characters better. Interview them or write journal entries from their point of view. Find out what scares them the most, and you could end up with some great ideas.
  • Think about your manuscript when you’re showering, exercising, driving, or lying in bed. It’s amazing how many issues you can work out in your mind while doing other activities! I had the idea for this blog post in mind when I showered, and by the time I got out, I knew what I wanted to say. Of course, I was almost late driving my daughter to her bus stop. Oops! But I made it in time, then rushed home to start typing.
  • Make a goal (or several smaller goals) and reward yourself when you hit it. Splurge on some music, get a massage, take a well-deserved TV break—whatever will motivate you to write, write, write.
  • Don’t let shiny new ideas distract you. If another idea starts screaming for attention, take a few minutes to jot down notes so you’ll be ready to plunge into it later, then get back to your current project.
  • If you have trouble getting back into your manuscript each day, write down a few things that should happen next before you leave your computer. That should help you leap back into it!
  • I had mentioned turning off the phone when participating in a word war, but it’s also great to get rid of as many distractions as possible when you write. I love feeling like I’m in the zone, and cringe when the doorbell rings. Do what you can to block the outside world—put a note on your door, turn off your e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, and other notifications.
  • You can collect pictures that remind you of your characters or the world you created, or place encouraging sayings around your writing area.
  • Realize that you CAN do it. That you WILL do it. And then glue your butt to your chair and write, write, write.

If you have any tips to share, I’d love to hear them!

Mindy Alyse Weiss writes humorous middle-grade novels with heart and quirky picture books. She’s constantly inspired by her two daughters, an adventurous Bullmasador adopted from The Humane Society, and an adorable Beagle/Pointer mix who was rescued from the Everglades. Visit Mindy’s Twitter, Facebook, or blog to read more about her writing life, conference experiences, and writing tips.

 

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Advice That Has Done Me No Good Whatsoever

By on February 5, 2014   /   Book Lists  

confusion

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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