For Writers

Literary Descendants of Classic Characters + Giveaway

By on July 18, 2016   /   Book Lists, Fiction, For Kids, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, For Writers  

Throughout history, there have always been characters, fictional or otherwise, who capture our collective imaginations. Usually these characters possess supernatural powers of some sort, but sometimes they’re mere mortals, who have somehow fascinated us. In recent years, several middle-grade authors have been inspired by the gene pools of cultural icons. The most recent of these is Annabelle Fisher, whose novel The Secret Destiny of Pixie Piper, is out now from Greenwillow Books.

9780062393777Annabelle has generously donated an autographed copy of her book. Keep reading to learn how to win it and to read about other fabulous middle-grade novels about fictional descendants.

In  The Secret Destiny of Pixie Piper, an ordinary fifth grader with a talent for coming up with rhymes and poems without even trying discovers she is a direct descendant of Mother Goose. Pixie’s flair for poetry sometimes leads to unexpected challenges. But, eventually, she comes to accept and appreciate her uniqueness. The novel mixes charming literary allusions with magic, humor, and issues about family and friendship.

 

9781484720974Melissa de la Cruz’s well-known Descendants Series about the offspring of Disney villains is a favorite of many middle-grade readers. The Isle of the Lost and Return to the Isle of the Lost follow the adventures of Mal, whose mother is the evil fairy, Maleficent, from Sleeping Beauty. Mal is accompanied by Evie, Jay, and Carlos, who are descended from Jafar, Cruella De Vil, and The Evil Queen. These descendants of villainous characters are coming of age on the Isle of the Lost, where their parents have been banished.

 

9780062004963It’s not just the villains who fascinate us in fairy tales. In Sleeping Beauty’s Daughters, Diane Zahler takes readers to a time where Sleeping Beauty is married with two daughters, one of whom has been cursed similarly to her mother. When Aurora begins to struggle not slip into an enchanted sleep, the sisters accept the help of a young fisherman and embark on an ocean voyage to find their good fairy aunt who might be able to reverse the magic. They encounter beasts, storms, and  other dangers, but they can’t give up. If they do, Aurora could end up taking a one-hundred-year nap.

 

9780786856299Another series based on descendants of the famous and powerful is the well-known Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, by Rick Riordan. These mega-popular books follow the exploits of Percy, who finds himself at a camp for demigods and learns he is the son of Poseidon the Greek god of the sea. His companions include Anabeth Chase, the daughter of Athena, and Luke Castellan, the son of Hermes. The series includes The Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters, The Titan’s Curse, The Battle of the Labyrinth, and The Last Olympian.

 

9780312602123A certain famous fictional detective has inspired a few series about his descendants. One of which is Tracy Barrett’s The Sherlock Files, which follows the adventures of Xena and Xander Holmes, who think living in London will be boring until they’re handed a cryptic note that leads them to a hidden room and a secret society. When they discover they’re related to Sherlock Holmes and inherit his unsolved casebook, life becomes more exciting. In the first installment, The 100-Year-Old Secret, the siblings set out to solve the cases their famous ancestor couldn’t, starting with the mystery of a prized painting that vanished more than a hundred years ago. Other titles in the series include: The Missing Heir, The Beast of Blackslope, and The Case That Time Forgot.

 

9780810993228Real-life brothers, Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm, who collected and published folklore in the nineteenth century, have inspired a series called The Sisters Grimm, written by Michael Buckley. In these books, orphaned siblings Sabrina and Daphne Grimm learn they are descended from the Brothers Grimm. The sisters soon find out it’s their legacy to keep a group known as the Everafters, a parallel race of magical beings, in line. Books in the series include The Fairy-Tale Detectives, The Unusual Suspects, The Problem Child, and more.

If you have any favorite novels about the descendants of famous fictional or historical characters, please tell us about them. And for a chance to win the autographed copy of Annabelle Fisher’s The Secret Destiny of Pixie Piper, share this post and let us know where you shared in the comments section. The deadline is Wednesday midnight. We’ll announce the winner on Thursday.

Dorian Cirrone has written several books for children and teens. Her recently published middle-grade novel, The First Last Day (Simon and Schuster/Aladdin) is available wherever books are sold. You can find her on Facebook and on Twitter as @DorianCirrone. She gives writing tips and does occasional giveaways on her blog at: http://doriancirrone.com/welcome/blog/

 

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Writer’s Tools: Wisdom from a Third Grade classroom

By on July 15, 2016   /   Book Lists, For Teachers, For Writers, Writing  

UnknownOne of the things I love about school visits it that I get to go to classrooms all over the country and meet wonderful students and teachers. There are some comforting universals to a grade school classroom: a certain amount of clutter, a map, the alphabet along the wall. And then there are delightful surprises: a pet iguana, a stunning view of the wilderness, a reading loft, a tank of salmon fry to be released in a local stream, a flag flown by a student’s father over his army camp in Afghanistan. It’s a window into the thoughts and values of the community I’m visiting.

I recently visited a third grade classroom where I saw two student made posters on the wall. The first was titled Writer’s Tools in the Hand. Underneath was an illustrated list: paper, pencil, eraser, dictionary, word list, and illustration tools.Unknown-1
It was a good reminder to take a moment before I begin my writing session of the day to have all the tools I need at hand. I especially liked the word list idea. I know many teachers help their students brainstorm a list of likely words before they start a writing assignment to help them get started. Though I don’t need that technique, I have used a variation of it. Every writer has word habits, words or phrases that pop up more often than they should. I have about a half dozen that I lean on more than I should, so I make a word list of them and post it over my workspace to remind me to make stronger word choices and not lean over much on the familiar.
It was the second poster that really struck me though. It was titled: Writers’ Tools in the Head and Heart. The list included: thinking, good ideas, awareness, fun attitude, information, concentration, quiet or silence.
There are so many things to love about that list, and perhaps most importantly that writing well engages both the head and the heart. I love it that thinking comes before good ideas, an excellent reminder. Sometimes I have to think about a scene for days, even months, before I have a good idea about how to fix it.
    Awareness is a tricky idea, I asked a group of the third graders who had made the poster what they thought awareness meant. They said that it meant you should pay attention to all your ideas about a story not just the easy ideas that were in the last story you read. Excellent advice!
  images Fun attitude might just be the best advice of all though. If my writing isn’t going well, it’s almost always because I’ve lost the joy of it. Loss of joy may not be the cause of bad writing, but it is at least the reliable companion of bad writing. And when I change to a more positive and playful outlook, the writing reliably improves.
   Information and concentration are pairs I’ve been learning to use as a pair. I love research so much, I could spend all my time chasing the next dazzling fact and completely lose track of my story in my zeal to fill it up with the amazing details I’ve learned. But sometimes what I need is not more information but concentration on the research I’ve already done.
   Finally I love it that quiet and silence are not the same thing. Sometimes I need absolute silence for a particular task. Reminding myself to turn off the music for the duration of the task helps. Other times I just need the quiet of my brain focusing on just one thing, not email, not social networks, not housework or snacks but simply the quiet of letting myself be a writer and nothing else for a few hours–a true gift!
So how about you? Do you have a favorite tool of the hand, head or heart?  I’d love to hear about them in the comments.
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The Making of a Champion

By on July 13, 2016   /   Writing  
IMG_0818Earlier this month I took my daughter to the North American Championships of Irish Dance. It was the culmination of a decade of hard work for her and for dancers she’s known since first grade. Three of her dance friends did so well at this competition that they qualified for World Championships. One of the things I found encouraging is that one of the girls who’s going to Worlds was not the most promising beginner dancer. She had oodles of talent but couldn’t remember an entire step to save her life. The young man who is also going on to Worlds was the shyest little boy I have ever met—and yet there he was standing up tall, dancing his heart out, in front of hundreds of people. I never would have guessed seven years ago that he’d be in the limelight and loving it.
images-1These winning dancers put in a brilliant set of dances on competition day but what was telling to me was watching them practice  the day before under the intensely critical gaze of their teachers. They were so strong on that practice stage but even so their teachers had a torrent of corrections to their body position, rhythm, strength, and speed. These young dancers were capable of world class performances and yet there was still a long list of things to improve.  It made me think of my own experience of having my writing critiqued (thankfully a far less sweaty experience) Here’s my take away from Nationals.
1) A champion listens to her mentor as whole heartedly as possible, not defensively or with an attitude that her work is somehow the exception to the usual rules that govern the art form. She doesn’t hedge or make excuses for work when a mentor points out a flaw. Except when a clarifying question is needed, a simple thank you is the most useful response to criticism.
images2) A champion not only puts in the performance, but also the drill work that builds the strength for performance.  Barre work, weight training, stretches, and drills, are not wasted time and effort but an integral part of the eventual performance.
3) A champion watches other dancers with intensity and focus in order to learn from the best.  A champion is uplifted and not threatened by excellence in other dancers.
4) A champion dances with joy. This was perhaps the most moving part of watching these young dancers take the stage as world class competitors. There is no college scholarship or professional dance career for Irish dancers. It’s done entirely for the love of the art form and to honor the culture that saved it’s traditional songs and dances in the face of oppression. Each dancer I watched was there because they love dance enough to do it—not just at dance class but at the bus stop and at lunch and late into the night. And each one of them radiated that joy in every step on stage.
I love story like these young competitors love to dance. I love what story can do in the life of a reader and I love the puzzle of pulling a story together from the disparate threads of my imagination. Going forward I’m going to try my best to take critiques with equanimity and put in the hours of practice and pages of rough draft that make good prose roll freely. I am going to redouble my effort to read the best writers in my genre with more concentration to learn all I can from them. And more than all that I want to let my joy show on every page. The Olympics is coming up in a few short weeks and I hope we can all take some inspiration from the dedicated athletes we watch there.
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