Book Lists

I’m so excited to welcome my dear friend and online crit partner, Ann Marie Meyers, to MUF today. Her book, Up in the Air, released in July and she had a very successful launch in Trinidad! Her Canadian launch is coming up soon.

Ever since she can remember, ten-year-old Melody has always wanted to fly.
And when she leaps off a swing in the park one day and lands in the mystical land of Chimeroan, her dream finally comes true. She is given a pair of wings. She can fly! Life cannot be any better.
Yet, dreams do come with a price. Even with wings, Melody realizes she cannot outfly the memories of her past. The car accident that has left her father paralyzed, and her unscarred, still plagues her with guilt—she believes that it was entirely her fault.
In Chimeroan, Melody is forced to come to terms with her part in her father’s accident. She must choose between the two things that have become the world to her: keeping her wings and healing her father.

Book trailer and reviews

In the US: Amazon, Barnes & Noble

In Canada: Indigo, Chapters, Coles, Ella Minow Children’s Bookstore, Amazon.ca

In Trinidad: Paper Based Bookshop, Normandie Hotel, Nigel r. Khan Booksellers (several locations)

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Me: I had the chance to read Up in the Air many times in all its various stages. I can attest that it is a wonderful fantasy story. Chimeroan is a magical world that Melody visits – and probably one of the things I loved most about your book. Where did you find your inspiration for the world of Chimeroan? 

Ann Marie: The original idea for Up In The Air came to me one day while I was meditating. I was so excited that I ended the meditation abruptly and went to my computer to type up my ideas. But by chap. 3 I realized that I had no idea what came next. I immediately went back upstairs and sat down to meditate again, but I got absolutely nothing. It took several years and lots of trial and error to figure out the world of Chimeroan, which is a place where dreams, a person’s deepest desires, come true.

The original images I got during the meditation were this: a girl, unhappy, longing to fly, trying to escape her family life, landing in the magical world of Chimeroan and getting wings. The more questions I asked myself (e.g.: Who is this girl? Why does she want to flee? What is this place called Chimeroan? Why does it exist?), the more hooked I became, and the more I knew that this story had to be written. 

Me:  I love that! What child doesn’t dream of flying? I know I still do.  What does that say about me? LOL. Would you say that the main character, Melody, is like you? Or is she like someone else you know?

Ann Marie:  I’ve been asked this question several times, and I’ve always said ‘no’. Yet, the more I think about it, the more I am gradually realizing that, in fact, Melody does bear certain aspects of myself. Melody’s inability to trust is in some way reminiscent of how difficult it was for me to trust others when I was younger. At times I, too, would like to escape my problems and not face up to them. But of course, problems have a way of following you no matter where you go, or how far you run. Dealing with them, both Melody and I have learned, is the best way to achieve inner peace. And then, of course, there is flying. In many of my dreams, I love to soar through the sky. 

Me:  That’s a great message to send to young readers as well. As authors and crit partners we both signed with the same publisher – just weeks apart (and no, it wasn’t planned)! What has your experience been working with a small press? Did you have any expectations, especially pertaining to getting your book in the hands of readers?

Ann Marie: This is a tough question. I don’t think I gave this much thought when I signed with Jolly Fish Press. My mother passed away around that time, and all I could think of was how happy she was when I told her about the interest of Jolly Fish Press to represent my book. My main focus at the time was how wonderful it was to have someone in the industry love and appreciate the story. The idea of Up In The Air being available to everyone was exciting and thrilling and as the months prior to publication passed by, my hope was that people, especially children, would love Melody’s story as much as I did.

Me: That’s a very reasonable expectation and I’m betting that readers will adore Up In The Air!  I’ve seen the pictures on Facebook and you had a pretty incredible launch in Trinidad. Tell us a bit about that.

Ann Marie: The launch was wonderful, and the interest and turnout even more amazing than I could possibly have imagined. The owner of Paper Based Bookstore at the Normandie hotel, where the launch was held, was so happy and impressed by Up In The Air that she offered to arrange school visits for me in Trinidad for next year.

My daughter and I came up with three crafts for the library readings:

1)    On a piece of notepaper, she wrote: “If you could have one dream, what would it be?”’ I had some very interesting discussions with the kids about this.

2)    Coloring two of the illustrations from Up In The Air.

3)    Making wings.

Needless to say ’wing-making’ was the most popular. Here is a link to what this involved and the fun we had.  http://www.annmarie-meyers.com/2013/08/the-evolution-of-wings.html?spref=tw

Me: Fabulous! What creative ideas. So, one last question. Would you rather eat gooey marshmallows or have peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth?

Ann Marie:  I love marshmallows so I’ll choose the first option.  However, I wouldn’t have minded a choice like: would you rather win a trip to Venice or spend a year touring the world?

Me: I wouldn’t have minded a question like that either – especially if you’re paying! 😉  Thanks for joining us Ann Marie and congrats on your debut book!

Ann Marie grew up in Trinidad and Tobago and graduated from Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, Nova Scotia with a Joint Honors Degree in French and Spanish. After leaving university, Meyers took a job at the Trinidad and Tobago Tourist Board and later at the United Nations, New York. While at the UN, she took a translation certificate course at New York University, School of Continuing  Education, and went on to become a freelance translator. Somewhere in the middle of all of this, she started writing and never stopped.

Though adults were Meyers initial target audience, this changed soon after her daughter was born and ideas for children’s stories kept pouring in. Up In The Air, is her first children’s book.

Ann Marie is an active member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and facilitate a children’s writing group twice a month.

You can find her at her Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads and Pinterest

Would you like to win a copy of Up in the Air? Well, you’re in luck! Ann Marie is giving away a book to one lucky winner! Just fill out the rafflecopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Amie Borst writes twisted fairy tales with her 13 year old daughter, Bethanie. Their first book, Cinderskella, debuts October 26th, 2013.

Hi Mixed-Up Filers!

Hope everybody is doing well since my last post around five weeks ago.

Again, I know what you’re thinking. Isn’t it a little soon for you to be posting, Jonathan? And the answer to that, is yes. Yes, it is. But there’s a reason for it. You see, at the last MUF staff-meeting, where my function is basically to get fresh doughnuts and hot coffee for the other members, I crawled over to Elissa Cruz and requested an audience with her. Well, after getting reprimanded for not sorting the strawberry frosted ones from the chocolates, she agreed. It was then, that I practically begged her to let me post a little sooner than the normal thirteen-month rotation that I’m usually on.

Sure, at first she was skeptical. I mean, I probably would be too in her position, but when she heard me speak, she rolled her eyes and sighed. But after that, she agreed to let me post a little early, under the condition that she not be mentioned at all…oh, I should probably not have said that part. Eh, it’s okay, I’m sure I’ll remember to edit it out later.

Anyway, this week my kids, like many others across the nation, went back to school after a fun-filled summer vacation. So naturally, I thought it would be a great idea to write about the escalating inflation rate in the country. Well, she thought it might perhaps be better to write about books that dealt with schools or going back to school. In hindsight, I have to admit that her idea was probably a little bit better. But, anyway, I took that suggestion and ran with it.

Now, granted this topic seemed a little bit broad. Because, a lot of middle-grade books deal with the child’s school or school plays an important part in it. I had to do the only fair thing, and that was basically to pick whichever ones I wanted. So, I narrowed it down toward books that showed what it was like to be the new kid in school. That feeling of excitement, but also nervousness and fear. Wondering if you’ll fit in. Wondering if you’ll make friends. Wondering if you’ll like anyone or anyone will like you. It’s funny that as a teacher now, you get a lot of those same thoughts. As a child though, I both loved and hated going to new schools. But, I did it…a lot. My family moved frequently. And I was fortunate enough to see a lot of interesting places and to meet a lot of interesting people. I made many good friends, and some are friends to this day. But, on the other side of the fence, is the exact opposite of that. When you meet good friends, it sure does stink to have to move away from them. And I had to do that a lot too.

So, here is my small list of books where kids go to new schools.

One of the first ones that comes to mind now, wasn’t even a book when I was a kid. Yeah, I might’ve been just a tad older, but I really enjoyed it nonetheless. Anyway, it’s Carl Hiaasen’s Hoot. I thought Hoot captured a lot of that nervous feeling of going to a new school and trying to fit in and no matter what you do, you inevitably get on the wrong side of the school bully. I remember those times in middle school vividly. I also liked it because it took place in Florida, which is exactly the place where I had many an anxious moment in middle school, after moving to Florida at that time. Doesn’t hurt at all that Hoot has a good sub-plot about saving burrowing owls from a construction site. And with character names like “Mullet Fingers”, what’s not to love?

Another one that I loved, and was around when I was a child, was Thomas Rockwell’s, How to Eat Fried Worms. Right off the bat, great title. Definitely grabs a kid’s attention. The plot centers on ten-year-old Billy entering a new school and getting picked on by a bully. See a theme? I guess I identified a lot with this when I was a kid, since we moved so much, so that type of story resonated with me. But, in the book, the bully, Joe, bets Billy that he can’t eat fifteen worms in fifteen days. Plenty of gross-out moments, which kids will love.

Another more recent one, is Rick Riordan’s, The Lightning Thief. It follows twelve-year-old, Percy Jackson and his discovery that he is in fact the son of the God, Poseidon. Percy has to go to a new school to learn about himself and what worse school could there be to be a new kid of, than one filled with DemiGods and Goddesses?   This was a fun book and a fun twist to the new kid in school theme.

One more book that I’m going to list, is also a fairly new one. Trenton Lee Stewart’s, The Mysterious Benedict Society. This book was sooooo much fun. It’s about eleven-year-old orphan, Reynie Muldoon, who sees an ad seeking gifted children looking for special opportunities. After answering it, he has to compete in a series of tests, using logic and puzzle-solving ability. He then goes to where else? A new school! There, he and several other kids are trained by the mysterious Mr. Benedict, to infiltrate a sinister school. To me, it sounds like senior year of high school all over again, but it was a fun read.

I definitely recommend all of these and would love to hear about some of your favorite new-kid-in-school books as well! One of my friends mentioned to me that there was an obscure one about a kid who discovers he’s a wizard and goes to wizarding school, but I didn’t have time to authenticate it, so I left it off for now.

Anyway, wishing all the kids a great school year and all the parents the strength to get through it.

Until next time…