Book Lists

How to Give Your Readers a Hand…and a Foot…and a Face…

By on July 20, 2012   /   Book Lists  

Don’t get me wrong. Words like angry and happy and nice are perfectly good words that are long-standing members of the English lexicon. It’s nothing personal. I don’t dislike them. Really. It’s just that those words are about as energized as a solar-powered calculator in a cave at midnight—they won’t be lighting up a reader’s imagination any time soon. So authors work hard to follow the oft-repeated mantra: “Show, don’t tell.” But what does that mean exactly? And how is it achieved? I make no claim of mastery, but I do have a trick I’d like to share. And it’s a trick that may zap a bit of new life into your writing.

One way that authors “show” the underlying emotion in a scene is through characters’ dialogue—the words they say and how they say them. That’s not what I want to explore. I want to focus on three ready-to-use body parts virtually all characters bring to a story: their faces, their feet, and their hands. Because by focusing on just those three little things, you can give your readers’ imaginations a hand, too.

Double Dog DareInstead of starting with an explanation, I’ll start with an example from Lisa Graff’s middle-grade novel Double Dog Dare. In the midst of a “dare war,” one of the main characters, Francine, had to dye her hair green. When Francine’s mother attempted to speak with Francine about her hair, this is what happened:

Her mother stared into her mug for a long minute, silent. Then she got up, walked to the sink, and poured all her tea slowly down the drain. When she turned around, she leaned against the sink, arms jutting out from her sides, and studied Francine. (p. 116)

What’s going on here? Does Lisa Graff have to tell us that Francine’s mother is trying to figure out what to say? Nope. She’s used the mother’s face, feet, and hands to show us the mother’s hesitation, and she trusts us as readers to accurately infer what’s going on. Let’s examine the excerpt a little more deeply to see how it works:

  1. The Face: Her mother stared into her mug for a long minute, silent.
  2. The Feet: Then she got up, walked to the sink…
  3. The Hands: …and poured all her tea slowly down the drain. When she turned around, she leaned against the sink, arms jutting out from her sides…
  4. The Face (again): … and studied Francine.

The mother’s face sets the scene right away. As she stares at her tea, the slow, deliberate pace of the mother’s actions is established. When her feet carry her to the sink, we already know she’s not in a rush. Then the mother’s hands join the show, slowly pouring the tea down the drain, cementing our certainty about the mother’s cautious approach to discussing her daughter’s hair. And finally, we end back at the mother’s face as she studies Francine.

Sure, Lisa Graff could have written something shorter: “Francine’s mom didn’t seem to know what to say.” But she didn’t. Thanks to her character’s face, feet, and hands, Lisa Graff showed us instead, greatly increasing the vividness of the scene in the process. So the next time one of your characters needs to be angry or happy or nice, don’t tell your readers—show them. Then trust the power of inference to take care of the rest.

Wanna post a comment? How about starting with a one- or two-sentence glimpse at a character’s face and feet and hands? Try to “show” some emotion…and see if others can figure out what you’ve decided not to “tell.”

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Horses, Hearts, and Healing – Stand-Alone Middle Grade Horse Books That Leave You Smiling or Crying.

By on July 18, 2012   /   Book Lists  

Any child who’s been fortunate enough to spend time with a horse knows they are mirrors for our own feelings and emotions. It’s no wonder they are used so often in literature as a metaphor for healing, change, and individual freedom. The following list of non-series, single-title horse books, take us on journeys by horseback. They leave the reader feeling sated, sometimes happy, sometimes sad, but always with the fullness of having reached the end at a gallop.

 

Wild Girl by Patricia Reilly Giff (2009)

Wild Girl is a story about a Brazilian girl named Lidie and a racehorse filly called Wild Girl, the same nickname Lidie’s deceased mother used to call her. As Lidie is moving from Brazil to New York to join her horse-trainer father and jockey brother, Wild Girl is leaving her farm in South Carolina to start her life as a race horse. In New York, Lidie and Wild Girl share the feeling of being alone in a new place. Lidie doesn’t understand the language of her new country, Wild Girl doesn’t understand the language of humans. Together, they find the trust needed to adjust to the changes in their lives. This is a sweet story about change, acceptance, and how families grow together after time apart. And about a girl who was born to ride and the thoroughbred who helps her prove it. This is a sweet father, daughter story.

 

Ghetto Cowboy by G. Neri (2011)

Who knew there were urban cowboys in north Philadelphia? And not your John Wayne white cowboys, but black ones, just like Cole. When Cole gets caught tagging the cafeteria at his Detroit middle school, his mom drives him through the night to meet the father he’s never known. Harper, his daddy, is the real McCoy, a real black Cowboy living the Cowboy Way. At first, Cole wants nothing to do with the horses or his father’s way of life in this odd patch of broken down Philadelphia ghetto. But it doesn’t take long before he’s made friends with a scared horse he names Boo. When the city threatens to shut down and bulldoze the stables, Cole proves to everyone that he, too, is a cowboy. Just like his daddy. This book is a warm look into a real-life part of American culture that is not widely known. There are a few minor generic drug references comparing the lives of the kids at the stables to those in the gang-banging neighborhoods beyond their street.

 

Secret of the Night Ponies by Joan Hiatt Harlow (2009)

On the rocky coast of Newfoundland, ponies helped settlers clear the rugged land. But times are hard, people are moving inland, and the ponies are left on the islands to fend for themselves. Jessie Wheller is like the isolated cliffs she lives on, tough and cagey, and not afraid to do what’s right. After saving the passengers of a shipwrecked boat, Jessie accompanies them to the nearby town to visit her friends. While there, she rescues an orphan girl from an abusive foster home and discovers a mysterious corral of wild island ponies. When she and her friends discover the ponies are headed to the “knackers” for slaughter, they come up with a daring plan to save the ponies. And Jessie enlists her parents in a valiant plan to save Clara, the orphan. This adventure is full of Newfoundland vernacular and a seamless interweaving of plot and characters. Jessie is an amazing girl — strong, caring, and willing to stand up for what she believes in.

 

The Winter Pony by Iain Lawrence (2012)

James Prigg, as this white Manchurian pony was called by the sailors of Captain’s Scott’s expedition to the South Pole, narrates this heart-breaking story. From his capture in the hills of China, to his abuse at the hands of Mongolian horse-traders, to his eventual journey to the Antarctic, where he is treated kindly by men, but harshly by the environment, we follow this pony from his beginning to his end. Harsh, bitter, and cold is the world of the Pole. Men die, dogs die, and ponies die, but through it all James Prigg hangs onto his heart. This is not a book for a sensitive child, it is real and it is brutal. It does a great job of teaching about a time in history through the animal’s point of view and will most certainly bring up many excellent talking points on the ways in which man has used animals in his service, and the difference between true cruelty and knowing when to let an animal go. This is a beautifully written, impactful story, but prepare for tears.

 

Paint The Wind by Pam Munoz Ryan(2009)

Maya has lived with her paternal grandmother since the age of five, when her parents were killed. Her grandmother blames Maya’s mother for the accident. So Maya, while following her grandmother’s strict lifestyle, must content herself with the only memory she has of her mother, a collection of toy horses. When Maya’s grandmother has a stroke, the court orders Maya to be sent to Wyoming, to her mother’s family she didn’t know existed. At their rough horse camp, Maya learns she and her mother had more in common than she ever knew. And through the help of a wild tobiano mare named Artemisia, Maya finds her way to understanding herself.  This story alternates between Maya’s voice and passages from the point of view of Artemisia. Like all of Munoz Ryan’s books, the writing is richly evocative and poetic, painting gorgeous images as well as story.

 

The Fields of Praise by Patricia Leitch (1975)

In a style similar to that of Jeanne Birdsall’s Penderwicks or Hilary McKay’s Saffy’s Angel, we enter the world of Gillian Caridia and her large eccentric family. Her father, a novelist, has moved his wife and seven children into a ramshackle mansion called Hallow’s Noon. Gillian, twelve, is terrified she’ll die before achieving her dream of riding in the Horse of the Year Show at Wembley. When exploring the land surrounding her family’s new home, Gillian stumbles upon a fog-laden field that is home to the perfect dapple grey pony, Perdita. The pony’s owner, Mr. Ramsey, agrees to let Gillian care for Perdita and eventually show her. This novel is about reaching your wildest dream, then having to let it go with grace. Sad but heartwarming with a delightful cast of perfectly quirky British characters and pony girls.

 

Jaye Robin Brown has been riding horses and reading horse books since the age of five. Now she lives on a small farm in Western North Carolina where horses feature prominently in much of her writing. www.jayerobinbrown.com

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Muddling through the Murky Middle

By on July 16, 2012   /   Book Lists  

Although this is my first post for the Mixed-Up Files, I decided to write about middles. What better place than a blog devoted to middle grade books to examine the middles of stories, and specifically, how to muddle through them. I admit, this is a challenge for me, and I think (I hope) for other authors, too. It’s like rowing a boat across a really murky lake. I can see both shores clearly. I know my beginning, and I can completely visualize the end, but then there’s that whole lake to get across. That whole muddy lake, with floating tree branches, weird looking fish, deep water, icky brown stuff, and who knows what else lurking beneath the surface? How do I get from here to there without straying off course, or worse, sinking?

Working on my second middle grade novel, it seemed I was over-thinking everything — from characters to plot to pacing to…okay…the whole point of the story. Actually, I was stuck. In the middle of the lake. Not sure how to paddle ahead. My inner critic was working overtime, and I was getting worn out.

So I did what most writers need to do at some point. I put the novel aside and gave myself a mental break. During this time, I decided to find out: who navigates middles really well? What do they know that I don’t?

I took four of my all-time favorite middle grade books: Holes by Louis Sachar; So B. It by Sarah Weeks; Love, Ruby Lavender by Deborah Wiles; and Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan, curled up in my favorite chair, and did a “middle experiment.” I placed my thumb smack dab in the middle of each of these terrific books to attempt to solve this whole middle mystery. And here’s what I discovered.

In the middle of Holes, Stanley finds out Zero’s real name, plus in the historical part of the story, Sam is shot. Then there are these three amazing sentences. “Since then, not one drop of rain has fallen on Green Lake. You make the decision. Whom did God punish?”

In the middle of So B. It, Heidi meets Georgia Sweet on her bus ride and muses: “I had begun to think that certain things that seem to happen by accident don’t really happen by accident at all.”

In the middle of Love, Ruby Lavender, the Town Operetta is announced and the chicks are peeping and ready to hatch. And, in Esperanza Rising‘s middle, Esperanza, adjusting to her new life, takes a bath for the first time without her servant helping her bathe and dress.

Ta da! All of these “middles,” I realized, have a few elements in common:

1. The reader finds out something important (no rain fell on Green Lake), or gets a clue to a puzzle in the story (Zero’s real name is Hector Zeroni).

2. Something happens that will connect to the ending (the chicks are peeping).

3. The main character has a moment of insight (things don’t happen by accident).

4. There is a turning point (Esperanza finds out she can do something she never did before).

I jotted these words down: important, clue, connect, insight, turning point. But then I realized something else. In the middles of these books, the characters are also lost. On their journeys, searching for answers. Not sure how to forge ahead.

Just like I was, in the middle of my murky lake.

And I thought, gasp, what if being stuck in the middle is a good thing? Maybe it’s okay to be lost for a while. In fact, maybe I need to be stuck in order to figure out how to get to the end. What if not being sure where to head could prompt me to think outside of the box, or, um, water? Are the tree branches, weird fish, deep water, and icky brown stuff supposed to be there; all part of the grand plan? They’re just rough patches to navigate around, bumps along the way, places I need to row a little harder…each one bringing me closer to the opposite shore. When I pictured them like that, they seemed less like obstacles and more like challenges. After all, what would writing — or anything in life — be without challenges?

Now I have a different way of thinking about middles. I’ve decided it’s the perfect place to stop, let go of the oars, rest, look around, and listen to the stillness. And have faith that at some point, the right path will come floating my way, like a lily pad that was there all along.

Michele Weber Hurwitz is the author of Calli Be Gold (Wendy Lamb Books/Random House 2011). She’s happy to report that after floating around for a while, she recently completed draft #1 of book #2. Yay! Visit her at www.micheleweberhurwitz.com.

 

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