Writing

State of the School Library-Interview with Lu Fiskin Ross

By on April 15, 2016   /   Book Lists, Fiction, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, For Writers, Nonfiction, Writing  

My first school visit as an author was arranged by my good friend and critique partner, Lu Fiskin Ross. She’s the award-winning librarian at Ewalt Elementary School in Augusta, Kansas. When I arrived, Lu greeted me dressed as the Statue of Liberty, which gave me a good laugh and eased my jangled nerves considerably!LuFiskinRoss

To help celebrate National Library Week, I’ve asked Lu to give us her perspective on the state of school libraries and tell us a bit about herself.

First of all, what book or series have you read recently that you’re excited about? My favorite series that I’m reading now isn’t really for elementary students. I LOVE Maggie Steifvater’s Raven Cycle books. I just finished Blue Lily, Lily Blue and can’t wait to get the new one later this month. Right now, I’m reading Pip Bartlett’s Guide to Magical Creatures that Jackson Pearce and Stiefvater collaborated on. Wow! What an imagination. It is middle grade, so I would like to buy it for my school’s library. Oh, and I love anything by Mo Willems. I would love to write like he does.

I always appreciate the expertise you bring to our critique group. Librarians have an advantage of being in the know when it comes to what’s marketable and what kids want to read. Tell us a little bit about what you’re writing these days. I must admit, I’m a fantasy/science fiction lover. I love to escape to other worlds and places that I can’t go to in reality. I was highly influenced by folk tales and fairy tales while I was growing up. And then came Star Trek. I can still watch reruns after all these years. I want to finish a YA paranormal novel this summer that I started several years ago. I’ve started a YA sci/fi about Mars that I want to jump into next. And I’ve also started doing the research for a nonfiction alphabet book on Celtic mythology.

SuperLuWhen I first started writing, I chose middle grade, since that is the age level of my library. However, after being told by critique partners and editors that it should be YA because of the subject matter, I’ve been in the process of converting. Writing time is sparse for a school librarian. It is taking much longer than I thought it would.

 

You recently won $1,000 for Ewalt Elementary School from KAKE News in Wichita. Congratulations! Please tell us about that experience.  The award I won was through one of our local TV stations. One of my volunteers nominated me and submitted photos of me dressed up in character costumes. The day of the award, the principal let us know we had a surprise assembly shortly after lunch. I didn’t think anything about it. At lunch, one of the teachers thought it might be the teacher award that the TV station also has each month. Again, I didn’t think much about it. Earlier in the week, my principal asked for one of my favorite books, so I gave her one by David Shannon. She had everyone go to the cafeteria and we waited and waited. The TV crew were running late. As soon as the TV personality came through the door, I was pretty sure what she was there for. My heart started pounding! Thank you so much to the volunteer! The students told me during library times different titles and subjects they would like to see us buy with the money.

luKAKE-1 (1)Speaking of money, Kansas (as well as other states) has been especially hard hit with cuts to educational funding. How has that affected your ability to purchase books and resources, bring in authors, etc.? The above really helped with funding. I have worked at my current position for about 19 years. My funding has been reduced many times. At one point, because of a change in the district distribution of funds, I did get a slight increase. This really tears me up since there are so many good books that we can’t afford to get. I’m especially concerned about funding for next year. It’s very scary to hear of districts who will cut their librarians. This is a subject I could go on and on about. Let’s just say I’m very disappointed. Our district is fortunate to have a “Meet the Author” program. The district is still helping to fund that program, with help from our PTOs and a share of the proceeds from book sales. This is another area where funding has not been increased in 19 years, so we can’t bring in as many big name authors.

Have you noticed any changes lately in what kinds of books kids are choosing to read? PeaceLoveBooksThe biggest changes I have seen in student reading is the interest in graphic novels and hybrid books like the Wimpy Kid series and Dork Diaries. A few years ago it was fantasy with the Harry Potter knock-offs. It will be interesting to see what comes next. I have started seeing more MG animal fantasies, recently.

How have changes in technology impacted libraries? I’ve got to get on my platform about school libraries again. Some administrators and politicians seem to believe that because of technology, the librarians aren’t needed. I would say they are needed even more. Students need help in learning how to search effectively. Especially at the elementary level, they have a hard time narrowing or broadening searches to find the information they need. Also, a student may read a review online, but it is usually the human interaction that sells the book to a student. Or, if they’re in a hurry and need a dinosaur book, a human can steer them to the correct area quicker than doing the search.

What are some of the fun and creative ways you’ve used to get students excited about reading? PopeyeLu2 (1)Fun ways? Never! A librarian is supposed to be 80 years old with a bun. I think of myself as a cheerleader for finding the information, whatever the form, to help the student thrive and create something original from that knowledge. We have different themes every two years for reading in our building. I dress up on the first day of classes most years, in a costume to go along with the theme. One year, the book fair had an Egyptian theme. I just had to be Cleopatra and call the students peasants. They loved it. Last week, I was super librarian, able to find information faster than a speeding bullet. One of the greatest compliments I’ve received from a student was a first grader. He told me I was weird. I hope he meant that I didn’t act like a normal teacher. I encourage students to use their imaginations whenever possible.

Since you’re retiring this year, do you have any advice for librarians about how to adapt and thrive in these times of change? My first year or two of being a librarian, I read an article in School Library Journal about how CD’s were awesome for storing information, but they were too expensive to use. Now, we’ve gone to even better ways to store and access information. The main trait a librarian needs is to be flexible. The format of story storage may change, but story itself is universal. Focus on the universal. It is timeless.

Great advice, Lu! Thanks for all of your years of connecting kids to great books and the resources they need to excel. To keep up with Lu and her writing, check out her blog.

We’d love to hear about creative methods other librarians and teachers are using to get kids excited about books!

Louise Galveston is the author of BY THE GRACE OF TODD, a 2015-2016 Young Hoosier Award Nominee, and IN TODD WE TRUST (Penguin/Razorbill.)

 

 

 

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Feeding the (Young) Artist Within: Books to Help Us Free Ourselves for the Journey

By on April 6, 2016   /   Book Lists, For Kids, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, For Writers, Writing  

I’m very excited to teach another summer camp this year at the school where I retired two years ago. Last year, we took the students on a science and poetry journey, using the observational tools we honed in the school’s forest to inspire a variety of poems. That was a blast!

This year, I wanted to tailor campers’ experiences to the wider age range – because to be honest, though we had a great time, poetry was a tough thing to focus on for 5 days straight for the youngest kiddos, who really wanted to play all day in the gorgeous weather.

It’s nature art camp this year, and I’m pumped. My campers range from 1st to 5th grade, so I want to challenge those kids the best way possible, and there’s lots of opportunity for fun, sharing and exploration.

But here’s what I’ve learned about art and personal expression. What I’m about to share is true for writing, too, but there is an in-your-face thing that happens with visual arts in particular, and it’s called being afraid to fail. With writing, I can produce a cruddy draft and craft the heck out of it before I show it to anyone.

Visual art is really fun, and it’s messy, and sometimes, we really do have to accept that it’s more about the process than the product. That’s fine when you’re in your own studio, but in a group setting, a visual product is out there for everyone to see from the moment creation begins, and sometimes it’s hard to own the uncertainty of the process.

This means I have to be prepared for disappointment, and I have to help kids of all levels be prepared for mistakes and to help them figure out how to be okay with that.

My goal in our five days together is to expose the campers to several art experiences, and to give them a safe space to explore personal expression. We’ll play with watercolors and go to the splash park. We’ll do some rubbings and sun prints from pieces of nature we find in the woods. We’ll read  SWATCH: The Girl Who Loved Color (Julia Denos), about a girl who loves all the colors and wants to collect them, then play with colors and maybe adopt some for ourselves. We’ll make hand-felted flowers inspired by the school gardens, while we explore textures of natural fibers in the natural world with our eyes and hands.

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On the last day, we’ll work together to create a piece of Andy Goldsworthy -inspired art as a gift to those who come to the next week’s camp. Here is a link to a kid-friendly Andy Goldsworthy-type project, and here is one from the Eric Carle Musem, with a great lesson plan and information about the artist.

Every day of camp we’ll start with a read aloud – because where else can we spark imagination better than between the pages of a book? Here are some titles I’ve found that seem to launch a feeling of safety and support in personal exploration for kids (or adults!) of any age. I enjoy re-visiting these myself when I begin to worry too much about the product and forget about the process.

Beautiful Oops!, by Barney Saltzberg

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This is a board book even the grownups want to play with: torn pages, folded corners, crumpled bits of paper – what if we made even more art from our mistakes?

The Dot and Ish, both by Peter H. Reynolds

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I once read The Dot to my art and design classmates when we were deep in the very stressful process of preparing for an important exhibition – there was a ton of self-doubt making its way around the room, and we were all exhausted. Then we were all freed by my reading of this book, with its advice to “make a mark.”. Ish is another simple picture book created by Peter H. Reynolds, and I have helped students work through difficult feelings of perfectionism by sharing this one as well.

The Most Magnificent Thing, by Ashley Spires

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This book is all about trying, and failing, to make the thing that is in your mind, but embracing the importance of walking away so that you can return to try again with a new perspective.

For all my campers, a feeling of purpose can spark inspiration, as well. I’ll also be sharing Maybe Something Beautiful: How Art Transformed a Neighborhood, by F. Isabel Campoy, Theresa Howell, and Rafael Lopez as we begin creating our community piece at the end of our week together.

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Have you ever thought of reading picture books to give your imagination some spark, or some creative support? I highly recommend it for any age!

 

 

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  http://www.homeostasispress.com/index.php, and blogs at Gatherings, the blog of Gather Here: History for Young People https://gather-here-history.squarespace.com/

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A conversation with Mitali Perkins, author and writing mentor

By on March 13, 2016   /   Author Interviews, For Writers, News, Writing  

Do you have a middle grade manuscript–and some spare time during the summer? Are you looking for a mentor to provide editorial feedback and guidance? Check out the summer programs at The Highlights Foundation in Honesdale, Pennsylvania. In addition to a middle grade whole novel workshop taught by M. T. Anderson and N. Griffin in August (and now accepting applications), they’re running other classes, including Summer Camp at the Barn: A Week of Creative Mentorship 2016 (July 17-July 23 2016).

One of the faculty mentors participating in the Highlights Foundation’s Summer Camp will be Mitali Perkins, celebrated author of middle grade and YA fiction (Monsoon Summer, Secret Keeper, among other titles). As she looks ahead to her “camp week”, she graciously took some time for an interview with Barbara Dee.

How did you become involved with the Highlights Foundation Summer Camp?

I taught there a few years ago and fell in love with the place. It’s a five-senses experience (the taste of organic, fresh food, lovingly prepared, the sound of laughter around meals, and birdcalls in the woods and a rushing creek, the sight of quiet trees and kind faces, the smell of good coffee, and the feel of your keyboard tapping under your fingers as you write, and write, and write). Highlights Summer Camp is saturated in a deep love for children’s books, which makes it the perfect venue to recharge our creativity and commitment to a unique and important vocation.

What do you hope to accomplish in the one-on-one sessions with your mentees?

My goal is to bring out the best in my mentees, give them the courage to champion their own voices, and challenge them to go deeper and wider in craft. Recently I found myself tagged in a Facebook post by one of my former Highlights mentees, so I’ll excerpt her words as my hope for this summer’s relationships:

“It was my time with Mitali that made me think ‘Maybe I *could* do this….’ She helped guide and hone the story and she said, “Writing a story requires certain things, not just good writing, but characters, and conflict.” Now I had known all this, but not really known it. I didn’t really pay much attention to the craft of telling a story–the method, if you will–of writing an interesting narrative. Our conferences did, in fact, change my life, and helped me clarify what keeps me sane–and that’s writing. Mitali entered my life precisely when I needed her, and in reading my work she gave me a bit of confidence no one else could. When the demons show up to criticize and shout: “What does this matter?”, “This is crap!”, or my least favorite, “Who cares????” I am reminded of Mitali’s words: “You write well…. and you have just as much right to speak as everyone else.” These words don’t slay the demon, but they do shut him up for a bit. I can think of no greater gift to a writer than those words: You have the right to speak.”

What topics will you cover in breakout sessions?

I plan to offer a session on crafting good dialogue as well as one on creating a sense of place. I will also offer tips on using social media as a pre- or post- published writer.

Did you ever have a writing mentor? How did he/she help you with your work?

Not really, but I wish I had. I’m still looking for one! Maybe I’ll find one this summer at Highlights! Essentially, my wonderful agent Laura Rennert has served as my mentor, as have my brilliant editors, like Yolanda Leroy of Charlesbridge.

What’s one thing about being a professional author you think writing students should know?

It takes grit. You have to take risks and make mistakes. Also, if you’re full-time, like I am, it’s like running your own business with you and your work as the product.

What’s the hardest thing about writing MG?

You have to forget about the gatekeepers (parents, teachers, librarians) who have purchasing power and keep writing for the child reader, but that’s hard given that you’re also trying to butter some bread in this profession.

In your view, are there some plots that are overrepresented in MG? Underrepresented?

No, because voice matters. A fresh, unique voice can breathe new life into that same old hero’s journey, making it a page-turner.

Do you feel white authors should avoid writing from the POV of a character of color?

No. I’m alarmed that this question is increasingly asked. As adults who write for and about children, ALL of us have to confront the intersections of our privilege before telling a story. As we honestly explore how we are crossing different kinds of power borders to tell a story, it should become more clear to us whether or not we should proceed with that story. For example, take my RICKSHAW GIRL. Naima, my main character, and I do share the same cultural origin, skin color, and gender — we are both brown-skinned Bengali girls. But she is an uneducated daughter of a Muslim rickshaw puller while I was and am the overeducated daughter of a Hindu engineer. Do Naima and I REALLY have the same POV, as some readers might reverentially gush? It’s tricky, though, as some power differentials shriek with pain in our culture thanks to the realities of American history while others are more muted. Tread carefully, friends, as all of us must in this powerful, mind-shaping vocation, but don’t set up some crazy apartheid system in the realm of stories. Last but not least, ethnicity is a social construct: in a world where we are mixing and melding more than ever, are you going to decide who is a Muggle and who is Pureblood enough to tell a story?

When you read MG, what do you respond to?

Unforgettable characters and a strong sense of place. I want to slip into the skin of my hero and be there, with all five senses (can you tell this is a motif for me?), in his or her life.

Which MGs of the last few years have stood out for you, and why?

I’ve recently read and enjoyed CRENSHAW by Katherine Applegate, ONE CRAZY SUMMER by Rita Williams-Garcia, A TIME TO DANCE by Padma Venkatraman, A LONG WALK TO WATER by Linda Sue Park, and THE CROSSOVER by Kwame Alexander. I like heroes who must overcome obstacles that aren’t typical “first world problems.”

Barbara Dee’s sixth novel for tweens, TRUTH OR DARE, will be published by Aladdin/S&S in September 2016.

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