Scientist • Writer • Teacher
My honeybees, circa 1999
I submitted a writing project that was due today, and so can officially turn my attention back to the bee book. This makes me very happy. And as I was making room on my desk for the pages of research notes, stacks of interview transcripts, and giant binder of bee images, I came across this photo of my sons on their very first Halloween.
Feels like a good omen…
BLUE LIPSTICK
By John Grandits
Clarion, 2008
Category: Concrete Poems
I know! I know! A Poetry Friday post from me? Crazy. But I am so excited about this collection of poems that I have to share.
Concrete poems, for the uninitiated, are poems whose words are displayed purposefully and artistically so as to expand the meaning or context of the poem. The resulting images lend nuance and intrigue and humor. For example, the poem “Talking to my Stupid Younger Brother Is Like Swimming Upstream in a River to Nowhere” is a hilarious and oh-so-realistic conversation between fifteen-year-old Jessie and her younger brother Robert; the fifty-four lines of the poem are arranged in the shape of a river. (For a better explanation from a better-qualified explainer (is that a word?), check out this How-To by concrete poet Paul B. Janeczko.)
Anyway, I was inspired to pick up BLUE LIPSTICK after hearing John read from the collection at IRA last week. His poems are funny, realistic, accessible, and completely brilliant. BLUE LIPSTICK is a glimpse into the life of a contemporary teenager; Jessie touches on everything from bad hair days to silver spandex … and she brought me straight back to the 1980s (er, my teenage years).
The truly fabulous news is that BLUE LIPSTICK is a follow-up to John’s earlier collection of concrete poems, called TECHNICALLY, IT’S NOT MY FAULT, which gives reader’s a look at life from younger brother Robert’s point of view. TECHNICALLY is so on my To Read list.
Happy Poetry Friday!
MY DAD’S A BIRDMAN
By David Almond
Illustrated by Polly Dunbar
Candlewick, 2008
Category: Middle Grade Fiction
I’ve said it before, but I love meandering through the library stacks, judging books by their covers. Just last week I came upon MY DAD’S A BIRDMAN and was taken in by the title, the jacket art, the cover beneath the jacket. It is a gorgeous little package and there was simply no way to leave without it.
Reading the book felt the same way. One glimpse into Lizzie’s world and I was hooked: Lizzie’s dad, whose sadness is barely hinted at in words and pictures; Auntie Doreen, who just doesn’t understand sadness that cannot be cured with dumplings; and Lizzie herself, who loves her dad enough to don wings and fly. I thought the book was a Dahl-esque little masterpiece of oddness and irresistibility and I highly recommend it. In fact, I have been told by a certain kidoodle in this house that I should read it again … out loud.
The Boston Authors Club has named TRACKING TRASH one of six 2008 Highly Recommended Books for Young Readers, which means I will be attending the 11th Annual Boston Authors Club Award Luncheon at the Boston Public Library on Thursday. Believe it or not, I have only been to the BPL once, and that was one hundred years (or so) ago. I am excited to get back there!
I am also excited about the possibility of meeting the authors of these other Highly Recommended titles:
Ralph Fletcher, THE ONE O’CLOCK CHOP (Holt, 2007)
Jack Gantos, I AM NOT JOEY PIGZA (FSG, 2007)
Peter Johnson, WHAT HAPPENED (Front Street, 2007)
Mitali Perkins, RICKSHAW GIRL (Charlesbridge, 2007)
Jane Yolen and Robert J. Harris, THE ROGUES (Philomel, 2007)
These 2008 Young Reader Award Recipients will also be honored on Thursday (but as award winners, they have to give speeches!):
Brian Selznick, THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET (Scholastic, 2007)
Elizabeth Alexander and Marilynn Nelson, MISS CRANDALL’S SCHOOL FOR YOUNG LADIES AND LITTLE MISSES OF COLOR (Wordsong/Boyds Mills, 2007)
Mark Peter Hughes, LEMONADE MOUTH (Delacorte, 2007)
For a complete list of Boston Author Club 2008 Awards (including adult authors and titles) as well as details on Thursday’s award luncheon, visit the official Boston Author Club Award website.
Well, sorta.
These are my neighbors … and their brandy-new hive of honeybees.
Whenever I need a little inspiration, I need only head over to their place. How cool is that?
PIPPI LONGSTOCKING
Written by Astrid Lindgren
Translated by Tiina Nunnally
Illustrated by Lauren Child
Viking, 2008
Category: Middle grade fiction
Somehow I got through a childhood filled with books and stories without ever reading PIPPI LONGSTOCKING. And so I was tickled to find this newly translated and fabulously illustrated version in my daughter’s Easter basket. (Love that Easter bunny!)
Pippi captured my heart in Chapter Two, “Pippi Is a Thing-Searcher and Ends Up in a Fight.” What’s a thing-searcher, you ask?
“Someone who goes searching for things, of course! What else would it be?”
I am, in fact, a thing-searcher. I’ve never called it that, but as I listened to Pippi explain it all became very clear:
“The whole world is full of things, which means there’s a real need for someone to go searching for them. And that’s exactly what a thing-searcher does.”
And that, my friends, is exactly what I do. The world is full of things and there is a real need for someone to go searching for them. Pippi hunts for gold nuggets and ostrich feathers, I seek trash trackers and honey bee keepers. Like Pippi, I always find something. And after these many, many weeks of school visiting and writing conferencing and in-general gallivanting, it is high time for me to get back to it … “before some other thing-searchers show up and make off with all the gold nuggets around here.”
Tuesday evening’s Readings and Reception event, my last formal event at this week’s International Reading Association convention, was a complete blast. I got to meet and read alongside these Houghton Mifflin, Harcourt, and Clarion* authors:
John Grandits
John wrote a concrete poem especially for the evening, and the poem featured all of the authors in attendance. Including me! John also read from his latest collections of concrete poems, BLUE LIPSTICK (Clarion, 2007), and his choices were incredibly entertaining; John knows how to warm up a crowd.
Karen English
Karen read from her latest chapter book, NIKKI AND DEJA (Clarion, 2007). Karen is passionate about creating high interest books for early readers, and the chapter she shared with us proves she is quite good at it.
Marla Frazee
Marla shared her latest picture book, A COUPLE OF BOYS HAVE THE BEST WEEK EVER (Harcourt, 2008), and she shared it beautifully. Her casual way of reading her text and sharing her illustrations mesmerized the crowd; they were grinning one moment and sucking in their collective breath the next. It was stupendous.
Don Brown
Don read from his picture book biography DOLLEY MADISON SAVES GEORGE WASHINGTON (Houghton Mifflin, 2007). Before the readings began I tried to tell Don how much I adore his work, but he wouldn’t hear it. He is a very modest and uber-talented guy. And I DO adore his books!
Melissa Sweet
Melissa read from her new picture book, TUPELO RIDES THE RAILS (Houghton Mifflin, 2008). My turn was looming, and so I was unable to give Tupelo the attention he deserved. But I spent time with Melissa later in the evening, at dinner, and she is a sweet as her name.
I read next. After John’s poems and Karen’s humor and Marla and Don’s genius and Melissa’s sweet story … my trashy-ness felt a bit out of place. Even still, I enjoyed sharing my book this way. And I didn’t trip on my way to the podium. Or even at the podium. I am calling it a success!
Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel
Thank Heavens—THANK HEAVENS!—I read before Janet and Susan, because they rocked the house. Literally. Their reading was a multi-media theatrical affair with costumes and voices and images and music (“Who Let the Dogs Out? Woof! Woof!”). The crowd went wild for these amazing sisters, and I did, too! Look for their latest picture book, HELP ME, MR MUTT! (Harcourt, 2008); it’s a hoot.
After the readings, every audience member received one of the featured books and there was a lovely reception at which we authors/illustrators mingled with educators, literacy specialists, and book lovers from around the country. We talked about kids and books and reading and IRA and so much more. Susan B. from Arkansas made my night by clutching a copy of TRACKING TRASH and telling me she had traded for it. Seriously. I could have kissed her.
What a night.
What a week.
What fun to re-live it all here on my blog.
Thanks for reading!
* There are three children’s imprints at the newly formed Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company: Houghton Mifflin Children’s Books, Harcourt Books for Children, and Clarion Books. They all rock.
I am home again and my Inbox is (mostly) cleared and the laundry is (mostly) finished and the kids and I have got a new book going (Avi’s THE END OF THE BEGINNING). It is time to get back to work. But first, a few more posts about IRA …
Did you know Sneed B. Collard III has a new “Scientists in the Field” book coming out in the fall? Or that Jim Arnosky’s next book will include an original recording of a song Jim wrote? I gathered these tidbits at a morning presentation by Sneed and Jim; both thoughts make me happy.
I am also happy about THE SILVER CUP, by Constance Leeds. Connie received the 2008 IRA Children’s and Young Adult Book Award in the Intermediate Fiction category and I got to sit beside her on the dais during the award luncheon. We ended up on the same flight home and Connie had the lovely idea of exchanging copies of our books. (TRACKING TRASH is on its way to you as I type, Connie!)
Other books and authors honored at the Young Adult Literature Luncheon included:
Ibtisam Barakat for TASTING THE SKY: A PALESTINIAN CHILDHOOD (Young Adult Nonfiction)
Laura Resau for RED GLASS (Young Adult Fiction)
I am surprised and disappointed to realize that I didn’t actually meet Ibtisam or Laura during the festivities. (Picture me slapping my forehead and saying, “Duh!”) I hope I will have another chance one day. In the meanwhile, I plan to read their books.
And while I am adding books to the To Read pile, I cannot forget Suzanne Fisher Staples’s THE HOUSE OF DJINN (and since it is the third in a series of novels, I must add SHABANU and HAVELI as well). Suzanne gave the keynote address at the luncheon, and her stories of the people and places that inspired these books intrigued me. Suzanne believes that the best way to fight hatred and violence is to bring peoples and cultures together, to help them know each other; so comes love. Amen to that.
After the luncheon I signed copies of TRACKING TRASH at the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt booth. Guess who stopped by?
Steve THE WOODS SCIENTIST Swinburne! Steve ONCE A WOLF Swinburne! And do you know what he said? He said, “You wrote TRACKING TRASH? I love that book.”
Steve Swinburne and me
I spent much of my time at IRA awestruck at the people I was meeting: publishers I admire, editors I admire, writers and illustrators I admire. Talking with Steve made me realize, for the first time, that these talented and amazing people are my colleagues. It was a giddy moment.
My whirlwind visit to Atlanta, Georgia and the International Reading Association convention will end in the next few hours, and I am desperate to post at least once before I go.
I arrived on Monday and had time for only a short visit to the convention floor before it closed for the day. I made good use of the time, though, and managed to track down two writers I wanted to meet. I found Sally Walker in the Anderson’s Bookshop booth, where she signed a copy of FOSSIL FISH FOUND ALIVE for me. It was with this book in my hands that it occurred to me, finally, that writing about science and scientists would be the perfect way to combine my love of writing and my passion for discovery. It was a treat to tell Sally in person how she and her work have inspired me.
Next I found Greg Neri in the Lee & Low booth, where he was signing copies of CHESS RUMBLE. I bought a copy for the family and am looking forward to reading it with my kids for a second time. As I told Greg, my boys were mesmerized by his book … it presented them a world they are somewhat unfamiliar with—a world of anger and violence—and let them stare at it, wonder about it, live it for a short, safe while.
Somehow I didn’t think to take a picture with Sally or Greg when I had the chance. But I did take this shot of my newly inscribed books back in my hotel room. It will have to do.
The only other shot I managed the first day was this image of Two Urban Licks, the funky Atlanta hotspot where I had dinner with my HMH editor on Monday night. We were a bit nervous when our cab pulled up to what looked at first glance like an abandoned warehouse, but inside was culinary bliss.
More when I get home, including an actual photograph of an actual author. I did manage one…
Although there is much happening between now and then (including this Cambridge Science Festival presentation tomorrow … do come if you can!), I am gearing up for next week’s International Reading Association Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.
The highlight, for me, will be accepting the 2008 IRA Children’s and Young Adult Book Award (Intermediate Nonfiction category) at the Young Adult Literature Luncheon on Tuesday. I am thrilled and honored and the tiniest bit overwhelmed at the very idea. And, of course, I am very, very grateful to everyone at the IRA and at Houghton Mifflin Company. Absolutely everyone.
There are other moments I am excited about, too: traveling back and forth from Atlanta with a Houghton pal, dinner with colleagues, signing books in the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt booth (#1917 at 3pm on Tuesday … please stop by!), reading from TRACKING TRASH in public (for the first time … Ack!), and catching up with writer friends I hardly ever get to see.
Thinking about it all makes me giddy and reminds me of the night before a childhood trip to Disney World: my sister and I huddled in bed that night and whispered about the incredible things we knew were in store and we were both sleepless with excitement and feverish with worry that our dream trip would somehow, Somehow, be cancelled. It’s a deliciously scary kind of feeling and I am enjoying it as much now as I did then …
** I just edited this to include the proper signing information … I’ll be in the HMH booth on TUESDAY at 3pm. Sorry for the typo. And thank you, Greg, for helping me realize the mistake!**
