Posts Tagged librarians

Stuck in a Midwinter Rut? Middle Grade Journey Stories to the Rescue

By on February 7, 2019   /   Fiction  

The very words make one shiver: polar vortex. We were plunged into the depths of one last week, here in Pennsylvania and across much of the country. School was cancelled, the lemon tea was steaming, and the furnace was valiantly trying to tame the chill. With a few extra hours to peruse some middle grade novels, I knew where I wanted to go: long journeys to faraway places.

Even if you live in a warm-year-round kind of place, you might be ready for a good book to take you away. February is a short month by its count of days, but it can feel quite long, no matter the weather nor where you live. If you are a teacher, student, librarian, or homeschooling parent, this month might require some extra patience; the holiday season is over, signs of spring are stubbornly holding off, last summer is a nostalgic memory, and next summer isn’t countdown-worthy just yet.

Many students and adult readers alike appreciate a good book journey at this time of year: questing through a fantasy world, trailing a real-life athlete toward a championship, playing time-traveler to witness historical events through the characters who experience them. I crave books in which I can follow the character on actual traveling experiences, planned or spontaneous, with ocean settings or road trips to new lands—I suppose because I dream of travels, old and new, in late winter.

After some reflection, I think readers might also be drawn to journey stories for reasons like these:

  • Atmospheric settings are an important, teachable element of MG works. A descriptive passage lends itself to analysis of figurative language devices such as imagery and metaphor. Often a setting symbolizes a character’s emotions or foreshadows an event yet to occur.
  • A character “leaving the ordinary world” is an iconic plot device (see Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces or Christopher Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey for more) that pulls in a wide variety of readers of all ages, as it speaks to a questing spirit and curiosity about other places, times, and cultures.
  • The culmination of a journey to a new place—whether that journey is a literal traveling experience or an internal, dynamic shift of emotion or conviction—seems particularly fulfilling with a well-drawn MG character, and often provides inspiration to readers of many ages.

Here are a few journey-themed books from recent years on my midwinter reading table.

 Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm – Turtle is a strong-minded girl who bravely faces reality: in the Depression-era South, her mama must take a live-in housekeeper job with a no-children-allowed rule. Turtle tries to be positive about being sent to live with an aunt and cousins in Key West, Florida; however, she is out of her element there (scorpions like to hide in shoes, so be careful; also, alligator pear is what’s for breakfast—rather, avocado on toast.) Turtle tries to find ways to get along with the relatives who were not expecting her arrival, and to open her heart to a deeper meaning of family.

Stowaway by Karen Hesse – The first-person journal narrative of Nicholas Young, a stowaway on Captain James Cook’s ship in 1768, relates a historical sailing story through the perspective of a bold narrator. The opening of Stowaway pulls the reader in to join Nick in his tiny, cramped hiding place on the Endeavour, waiting through long days and nights, until the ship sails far enough away from England for him to be revealed to the Captain and crew. Nick’s story brings the reader along for adventure and excitement in long-ago days of exploration and discovery as Captain Cook pursues a secret mission to relatively unknown waters.

A Bandit’s Tale: The Muddled Misadventures of a Pickpocket by Deborah Hopkinson — In the mood for a picaresque tale? Think “I-voice” narrative by a roguish young person setting out on independent adventures in the face of daunting surroundings or social circumstances; examples include Moll Flanders, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Oliver Twist, to name a few. In A Bandit’s Tale, main character Rocco’s story begins with an actual journey from late 1800s Italy to America following a misunderstood misdeed in his hometown. In New York, the guardian supposedly responsible for him requires that he and other boys play street instruments for money. Rocco’s “journey” continues as he learns to navigate difficult living conditions, the challenges of early immigrants, and historic reform movements to improve the treatment of children and animals.

 

Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell  — Baby Sophie is rescued after a ship sinks in the English Channel and brought up by Charles, an eccentric and loving guardian who quotes Shakespeare, serves meals on books, and allows Sophie to wear trousers and practice handstands. But once Sophie turns twelve, their enigmatic way of life catches the attention of the authorities, and Sophie is set to be sent to an orphanage for young ladies. Using only a few cryptic clues, the two set out on a journey to Paris to attempt to find Sophie’s mother–who may or may not still be alive.

Of course, the journey is just one theme that might interest midwinter snow day or “cold day” readers. What are your getaway titles, and do any themes connect them?

Thanks for reading!

 

 

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STEM Tuesday– Awesome Animal Antics– Interview with Author Patricia Newman

By on January 29, 2019   /   Animals, Common Core & NGSS, Cross-Curricular, STEM Tuesday  

Welcome to STEM Tuesday: Author Interview & Book Giveaway, a repeating feature for the fourth Tuesday of every month. Go Science-Tech-Engineering-Math!

Today we’re interviewing Patricia Newman, author of Eavesdropping on Elephants: How Listening Helps Conservation. This fascinating book is a 2019 Outstanding Science Trade Book for Students: K-12 (National Science Teachers Association and the Children’s Book Council) and won a Eureka! Gold Award from the California Reading Association.

Mary Kay Carson: Why did you write Eavesdropping on Elephants?

Patricia Newman: Back in the 1980s I visited Kenya and saw elephants in the wild for the first time. I watched the way they moved, observed their family groups, and experienced how fiercely the matriarch protects her herd when she charged our safari van. One day we took a hike outside the national park and came across a massive elephant skull. Any child who has seen The Lion King understands the circle of life, but it wasn’t at all clear to us how this elephant had died. Natural causes or poaching? The tusks were gone. Did a park official or a poacher take them? The idea that a poacher carried away the tusks under cover of darkness gave me shivers.

I must have passed my interest in elephants on to my daughter Elise, because she worked for Cornell’s Elephant Listening Project as an undergrad. She had daily contact with Katy Payne, Peter Wrege, and Liz Rowland. She explained their research to me and described how she sat in front of the computer cataloguing forest sounds. And she told stories of snatching the headphones off her ears when an elephant trumpeted a very loud alarm call. I knew then I wanted to write about them. Elise handled the introductions, and the rest…well, you know.

School Library Journal says about Eavesdropping on Elephants, “…this book does an excellent job of transporting readers and providing a clear, multifaceted picture of African forest elephants…The more you listen to wildlife, the more your mind opens up to new ideas about why the world is a place worth saving.”

MKC: How did you research this book? Did it involve travel? 

Patricia: I did not spend time with forest elephants. The scientists were not at their research station in the Central African Republic when I wrote this book, but I did sit in the Elephant Listening Project’s lab and listen to forest sounds. I had headphones on my ears and for hours I watched video and listened to sound files.

You might think listening to sounds is a poor substitute for actually being in the field, but it wasn’t. The sounds were transformative and immersive! I felt elephant rumbles and roars deep in my chest. I heard water sloshing as elephants walked through it. I literally swatted away a mosquito buzzing in my ear. I could imagine the forest mud sucking at my feet. And I learned how to identify the sounds of frogs, buffalo, parrots, gorillas, and chimps.

By allowing my ears to take over, I learned to appreciate the forest in a whole new way. And I wanted my readers to have the same experience. Eavesdropping on Elephants tells the story of field scientists helping an endangered species, but it’s so much more. Through the power of video and audio QR codes, the book allows readers to walk in the scientists’ shoes inside the forest. I always ask kids to tell me what they see in the videos or hear in the audio. Their responses would make Katy and Peter proud.

Patricia Newman’s books show kids how their actions can ripple around the world. Newman hopes to empower kids to think about the adults they’d like to become. Find out more about the author and her award-winning books at www.patriciamnewman.com.

MKC: To whom did you imagine yourself writing to while writing the book?

Patricia: Throughout, I imagined my daughter at age ten. What would she want to know? Elephant facts, for sure. But she was also interested in the “how” and “why” of the world. This book was a challenge because the narrative unfolded over the course of many years. How would I squeeze in Katy Payne’s early work with infrasound, sprinkle in some Elephant Listening Project history, and still keep the ten-year-old Elise engaged? I decided to use the passage of time to my advantage.

Science is not performed in a vacuum, nor is a long-term investigation quick. I thought the story of how Katy’s work on infrasound at the Oregon zoo morphed into ELP was a great example of real science in action. Questions and observations often lead scientists down unexpected paths and to unexpected conclusions.

Also, scientists sometimes age out of their work. When Katy retired from ELP, Peter carried on her vision but added his own flair. I thought the staff change was a great example of the inclusiveness of science—how different individuals can contribute to and build on the same project.

MKC: For readers who loved Eavesdropping on Elephants, what other middle-grade books would you suggest?

Patricia: A tough question because I don’t know of any other books about forest elephants for children (or for adults for that matter). They are just coming into their own as a species and few people know about them. Young readers interested in elephant research might consider The Elephant Scientist by Caitlin O’Connell and Donna M. Jackson, which features Caitlin’s work with savanna elephants. Also, consider Bravelands #3: Blood and Bone by Erin Hunter, the author of the Warriors series. The third installment of Bravelands is told by the African elephant—but it’s a savanna elephant, not a forest elephant.

Win a FREE copy of Eavesdropping on Elephants!

Enter the giveaway by leaving a comment below. The randomly-chosen winner will be contacted via email and asked to provide a mailing address (within the U.S. only) to receive the book.

Good luck!

Your host this week is fellow elephant fan Mary Kay Carson, author of Mission to Pluto and other nonfiction books for kids. @marykaycarson

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STEM Tuesday– Awesome Animal Antics– Writing Tips and Resources

By on January 22, 2019   /   Animals, Common Core & NGSS, Cross-Curricular, STEM Tuesday  

Let’s Get Organized!

When you are staring at a blank piece of paper, pulling your hair out because writing is so hard, I challenge you to do a double take. Is “writing” actually the hard part? For me, the hard part is:

  1. knowing what to write

or…

  1. knowing what not to write.

And if you’ve done your research and are boggle-eyed by a mountain of marvelous material, it can feel like you are facing Mount Everest. So what do you do?

You turn to your handy-dandy toolbox – the one labeled “Organization.”

When you are writing about STEM topics, you’ve got lots of organizational tools to choose from. It’s kind of like clothes in a closet; there are tons of ways to get organized.

Cubbies & Compartments

Some folks like those super-segmented organizers you can buy at the home improvement store. Those make sense because someone has already figured out what works for the standard items stored in a closet. There are shoe-sized cubbies, shelves for t-shirts, racks for slacks. And when you want to use the closet, you know where to turn for each type of item. Lots of expository nonfiction is organized like that. Pick up a field guide to birds and it’s super easy to find the range of a black vulture because you know where to look. With discrete chunks of information, those books make fun-fact lovers smile.

As for the writer, once you know what the sections are (and how much space you have in each one), pulling the right information from that mound of research becomes a whole lot easier! Organization is your friend. Of course there are still challenges. How do you handle pieces that don’t come in the “standard” size? What do you do when there’s a gap in the known information? Won’t that standardization be boring? A skilled writer knows how to handle that.

On Your Own

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.orgTake a look at any STEM book which uses this organizational tool. Animal Zombies: And Other Bloodsucking Beasts, Creepy Creatures, and Real-Life Monsters by Chana Stiefel is a great example. Compare the content provided on three different animals.  Make a list of the standard chunks of text. What are their labels? How long is each chunk? How do they vary in content?

Totally Traditional

For their clothes closet, other folks are choose a traditional clothes rack and hangers. A section for pants, one for shirts, shoes on the floor. Each section can be as large or small as needed, and there’s room within each section for items of varying sizes (i.e. a mini-skirt hangs just fine beside an evening gown). Need segments within the sections? No problem. Stick skinny jeans on one end of the rack and fancy pants on the other.

There’s a reason animal books have been relying on good old-fashioned, traditional chapters for years. They work. Readers know what to expect. Pick up a book about animals and most likely you’ll find chapters with headings and subheadings, grouped by animal type. This organization lets a reader get all the info about similar animals at one time, helping them mentally compare and contrast.

This strategy gives the writer lots of freedom. Material unearthed during research can be lumped together by similarities. Have a subject that needs additional explanation? There’s room for that. Want to be a get creative? You’re in charge of labeling the chapters!

On Your Own

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.orgFind a title with traditional organization. I got up close and personal with Death Eaters: Meet Nature’s Scavengers by Kelly Milner Halls. Looking at the table of contents, I saw that chapters 2 through 5 were organized by type of animal. One of the fun things about studying this book – besides all the ick appeal! – was that the author spiced up this traditional take on organization by using fun chapter titles. Boring old “Mammals” became “Furry Death Eaters.” Study the title you’ve chosen and ferret out the author’s unique twists on this traditional method.

Organized by Outfit

Snoop around in the closets of friends and you will find a few with unique organization. Some folks organize their closet by outfit. If you find that perfect combination – that sweater, scarf, and suede that set off your eyes just right – you might want to keep it together.

When a book works this way, the information in a chapter is integrated tightly to build to one point, cover one story, or address one discrete aspect of the topic. Each chapter is distinct, often focusing on an exclusive topic or category. Readers gain a more in-depth understanding of a single topic.

For the writer who is staring up at lots of single stories, anecdotes, or parts of a whole, this organizational took can be their ticket to free flowing words! Knowing that you can write just one piece at a time, crafting each chapter individually, can help you focus and get those words on the page.

On Your Own

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.orgPick up a book labeled “Field Guide” and you expect information in cubbies and compartments. But dive into Beavers (The Superpower Field Guide) by Rachel Poliquin and you’ll feel the power of this alternative organizational technique. Through a laser-tight focus on one body part – chainsaw teeth, paws of power, superstink – per chapter (plus a healthy dose of humor), Poliquin proves that adaptations are superpowers.  Find another book that uses this organizational tool. Why was this strategy chosen? Was it based on the type of information available? The content itself? Or, perhaps, the author’s purpose?

Looking at how other writers use their organizational toolbox gives us a peek into their writing process. Understanding these structures better can help us see our options. Every piece adds to our own writing toolbox, so that next time when we sit down to write, our words will spill (in an organized manner) onto the page.

Heather L. Montgomery writes books for kids who are wild about animals. The wilder, the wackier, the better. She’s tried on each of these organizing tools: Her Wild Discoveries: Wacky New Animals used chunked text that functions like cubbies and compartments; her Little Monsters of the Ocean used totally traditional chapters; her Something Rotten: A Fresh Look at Roadkill is organized by outfit. Learn more at www.heatherlmontgomery.com/books.html 

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O.O.L.F.

Random Fun Sites For STEM Writing Inspiration

Today I Learned: Today I learned that the bearded vulture’s diet is almost entirely made of bone! https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/

The Fibonacci Sequence in Nature: Photos and patterns to blow your mind! https://insteading.com/blog/fibonacci-sequence-in-nature/

Science News for Students: Current research written with kid appeal, such as a robotic jellyfish that spies on the sea. https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/

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