Monday 17 November 2014

On Hiatus

Greetings fellow readers, writers and storytellers!

The time has come for me to take a step back from the world of blogging. This will be a good long break this time, quite possibly until Christmas 2015.

Taking some time for myself and doing some re-visioning.


Until then, 

thank you for

 your support, 

your spirit--your love of great books for 

young readers.


Until then, from my house to yours an early

Merry Christmas!


Monday 20 October 2014

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday-Reading Round-Up


Here's a few "As I Read Thoughts" on some books I recently finished.


From Goodreads: Albie has never been the smartest kid in his class. He has never been the tallest. Or the best at gym. Or the greatest artist. Or the most musical. In fact, Albie has a long list of the things he's not very good at. But then Albie gets a new babysitter, Calista, who helps him figure out all of the things he is good at and how he can take pride in himself.

As I Read Thoughts:  Great, great voice. A kid boys and girls can relate to. Right in that sweet spot of middle grade in terms of the MC. Great book for #weneeddiversebooks. Good world view of middle grade life. The story of an average boy with well above average writing.




From Goodreads: Adrian is small for his age, even for an almost thirteen year old. It doesn't help that  he has albinism, which makes those he meets wonder if he's an angel or a devil. His father is a bowyer, and all Adrian wants to do is become apprenticed and go off to war as an archer. But that's not what his father wants for him. Since Adrian can write, his father wants him to be a scribe. That's just about the last thing Adrian wants. When the Scots invade England and Adrian's best friend Hugh runs off to find his father and fight in battles, Adrian soon follows, intent on finding Hugh and joining him in glorious warfare against the pagans invading England from the north. When Adrian finds Hugh, who is caring for a wounded Scotsman, he's horrified that Hugh would aid an enemy. But soon, as Adrian gets to know Donald, he begins to question what he's been taught about the enemy and the nature of war. In this epic journey an afflicted boy finds an inner strength he never knew belonged to him.

As I Read Thoughts: Historical fiction that is compelling enough to keep young readers going because of the main character and his deep desire to become a bowman in the English Army. The adventure he goes on is fast paced and not bogged down whilst establishing setting. The writing is approachable and smooth making this a read that a reluctant reader just might jump in and stay with it.



From Goodreads: The unofficial town motto is "Nothing bad ever happens in Rosemont" where  twelve-year-old Anna has come to stay with her grandmother, Mim, hoping to forget her worries about her parents' troubled marriage.  She'll be busy with the town's annual Flower Festival, a celebration with floats and bands that requires weeks of preparations.

But before long, Anna finds herself involved in a very big problem. When she observes a girl her own age who seems to be being held against her will, Anna can't forget the girl's frightened eyes and she is determined to investigate. "When you see something, say something" she's been told—but what good does it do to speak if no one will listen? Luckily, a take-charge girl like Anna is not going to give up.

As I Read Thoughts: Long time fan of her books. Unique character in a fun and quirky setting with a fun and quirky grandma. And what is key to this working and being natural is the writing is such that nothing feels forced. The quirk isn’t there for the sake of being quirk. This is the way the world that Anna lives in is. I would expect nothing less. Feels like there might be too much going on at times or the subplots didn't blend into the overall story as well as they could have.

Happy Marvelous Middle Grade Monday and "see" you back over on Shannon Messenger's blog looking for more great middle grade reads!

Saturday 18 October 2014

24 Hour Read-a-thon!

Well...it is over. Got some books read, not as many as I like and I've also determined that in April I want to schedule in more social time. One of the best things about this read-a-thon is the spirit and energy created by those running the event (Heather and Andi of The Estella Society), those participating. Last year, I took part more and think that is what energized me and kept me awake for way longer. Here is the final meme:


  1. Which hour was most daunting for you? Nine o'clock I was really dragging my butt and wanting to sleep. Decided to have a power nap around ten...woke up at one...hmmmmm
  2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? I would suggest Tabula Rasa by Kirsten Lippert-Martin. Talk about grab you from the beginning and not let you go! Looking forward to purchasing this one for my library so I can hand it to students who have been asking for just this kind of fast paced action novel. 
  3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? I honestly have no suggestions. This is so well run and organized...
  4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? Besides everything, I really liked the hourly posts with videos and links to a handful of meme's/challenges. 
  5. How many books did you read? I completed three and have two that I made it halfway through.
  6. What were the names of the books you read? The Great Greene Heist, The Crossover, I Even Funnier, The Magicians, Tabula Rasa, The Dirt Diary
  7. Which book did you enjoy most? The Crossover, The Dirt Diary and Tabula Rasa
  8. Which did you enjoy least? The Magicians-by mid book the characters were becoming less and less appealing to me, they felt so self-indulgent and directionless which may well be the intent, but it wasn't working for me. 
  9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? Wasn't a cheerleader this year. 
  10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? Will be participating and want to be a cheerleader next time. Really missed being more social this year. Cheerleading helps me (makes me?) get out there!

I am up and at 'em and ready to read. The reading I am doing is a mix of middle grade, young adult and adult fiction.



And here's my answers to the opening meme:

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Canada-Alberta
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? Omens by Kelley Armstrong
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? The second stack posted above4) Tell us a little something about yourself! I am a librarian at a junior senior high and also a judge on this years middle grade fiction Cybils Committee. 5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? This is my second time. Tried to get my reading piles ready to go a little earlier so and have them with a wider variety so I can literally pick one book after the other. Got more snacks...of course I started in on them last night. Hopefully I have enough left, ha ha!


GOOD LUCK EVERYONE and HAVE FUN!

Monday 6 October 2014

MMGM-A Bird on Water Street by Elizabeth O. Dulemba

Greetings all! Before I get to my MMGM post, let me give a shout out to The Cybils. Nominations are now open (until October 15), so do head on over to check it out and get thee to nominating!

For this Monday of Marvelous Middle Grade-ness I would like to tell you about A Bird On Water Street by Elizabeth O. Dulemba.


A Bird on Water Street is a coming of age story about Jack, a boy growing up in a Southern Appalachian town environmentally devastated by a century of poor copper-mining practices and pollution. Jack is opposed to the mine where so many of his relatives have died, but how can he tell that to his Dad who wants him to follow in the family trade? Jack just wants his dad safe and the land returned to its pre-mining glory with trees, birds, frogs, and nature—like he’s learning about in school. After Jack’s uncle is killed in a mining accident and the Company implements a massive layoff, the union organizes and the miners go on strike. It seems Jack’s wish is coming true. But the cost may be the ruin of his home and everything he loves. (from Goodreads)



It took me a moment to wrap my head around the fact that 1986 really is historical and when I was first starting with the library kids like Jack were living in places like Coppertown. Although a quiet, coming of age story the opening chapters pulled me in and kept me reading, wanting to know more about Jack and the place he lived. This was especially so when the town alarm sounded and everyone in town dropped what they were doing to run to the mine.  The author made me feel as if I were there, pushed up against the fence trying to see who was coming up from the mine, trying to see who was hurt. Such a well written, breath holding scene, as was the opening scene where Jack is dared to walk a train trestle.  In other words the opening chapters pulled me along and fully into the story. As the story continued I grew to love this quiet boy and budding environmentalist struggling to find his voice. But, not once did I feel as though I was being taught a lesson. The storytelling is powerful, believable, compelling and natural. Already have plans for the book talk and some students in mind who I know would like this one.

For more MMGM marvelousness head back to Shannon Messenger's. Ta for now!

Monday 22 September 2014

MMGM, Book Giveaway and Cybils

Just a few things on this fine Monday morning.

No MMGM post today, but do head on over to Shannon Messenger's to see what's out and about MG read wise this Monday.

There is still time to enter for a chance to win a copy of Wheels of Change with a signed book plate from author Darlene Beck Jacobson.

And!! I am thrilled to say that I am once again one of the first round judges in the Cybils Middle Grade Fiction category. Check out the judges in the other categories and start thinking about those nominations you want to make beginning October 1, 2014.

Bye for now!

Friday 12 September 2014

Blog Tour Wheels of Change by Darlene Beck Jacobson w/giveaway!

It is such a pleasure to be part of the blog tour for Wheels of Change by Darlene Beck Jacobson! I have the grandson with me this weekend and I will be sharing the book with him (between bouts of lego).

I hope all of you either get a copy to read for yourselves and even better, to share with someone special. To help out with that I also offering a giveaway to  one lucky commenter. The giveaway will end at the end of the tour.

A little more about what is now one of my favourites from 2014.

From the bookflap:

Racial intolerance, social change, sweeping progress. It is a turbulent time growing up in 1908. For twelve year old EMILY SOPER, life in Papa’s carriage barn is magic. Emily is more at home hearing the symphony of the blacksmith’s hammer, than trying to conform to the proper expectations of females. Many prominent people own Papa’s carriages. He receives an order to make one for President Theodore Roosevelt. Papa’s livelihood becomes threatened by racist neighbors, and horsepower of a different sort.  Emily is determined to save Papa’s business even if she has to go all the way to the President.

And take a look at what Kirkus had to say!

Changes fomenting both locally and nationally during the final year of Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency are seen through the eyes of feisty, bighearted Emily Soper, daughter of a carriage maker in Washington, D.C.
Twelve-year-old Emily loves helping her father in his barn; she even dreams, in futility, of becoming a blacksmith like her father’s beloved employee, Henry. She and her best friend, Charlie, ponder such things as gender roles, women’s suffrage and “horseless carriages.” She dutifully tries to become a lady even while working on a secret that uses her “masculine” skills. As the year progresses, Henry falls ill, and Emily and her family are subjected to the uncertainties of changing times as well as some nasty treatment from white supremacists. Resemblances to To Kill a Mockingbird are strong, especially during a tea party hosted by Emily’s mother. A nice touch: Throughout much of the book, Papa teaches Emily—and vicariously, readers—new vocabulary words. The strength of the text lies in Jacobson’s ability to evoke a different era and to endear readers to the protagonist. The prose is straightforward and well-researched, heavily peppered with historical references and containing enough action to keep readers’ attention.

Readers will empathize with Emily as she goes through her own changes, and they will applaud her heroism in more than one chapter. (author’s note, photographs, recipes, bibliography, websites) (Historical fiction. 8-11)


Before reading the book I had asked Darlene if she could talk a little bit about setting in historical fiction. After reading it I know she knows what she is talking about. Read on to find out what Darlene has to say.



Setting in Historical Fiction

            Setting in historical fiction is just like setting a scene in any kind of writing.  The writer needs to pay attention to details. As a reader, I’m more likely to immerse myself in a story universe that is believable and accurate.  If I want readers of WHEELS OF CHANGE to follow Emily Soper’s adventures, they have to be grounded in the reality of 1908 Washington DC.

            What was life like in the Nation’s Capital 100 years ago?

            It was very rural for one thing.  With the exception of Pennsylvania Avenue and a few streets bordering 7thStreet – the main street of commerce - there was only gas lighting and no electricity.  Indoor plumbing was still a novelty.  Many roads were unpaved or had cobblestones. There were farms and wooded areas surrounding the government buildings. Most people still rode in horse-drawn wagons, carriages, or buggies.  Many goods were still made by hand.  Incorporating these details into the story grounds it and fixes the time and place.

            Since Emily’s Papa owned a carriage making business, Emily spent a lot of time in Papa’s barn.  For many readers, this would be a foreign place and hard to imagine.  Using the senses helped me bring the barn to life. 

            Here’s the opening scene from Chapter 1 that illustrates what I mean:

Chapter 1 
Henry’s hammer hits iron – ping, pa-ping.  Its music feels warm against my chest, like a wool sweater.  A blacksmith is a magician.  To bend iron like clay and make it hard again is the best trick.
“Is this carriage really for John Phillip Sousa, the composer of all those peppy marching tunes?”  I ask Henry.
“One and the same, Miss Emily.”
“Mr. Sousa must want the best carriage he can find,” I say.
 Henry chuckles.  “He’ll get that sure enough.”
 Papa is owner of the Soper Carriage Works and makes the fanciest, most expensive carriages in Washington, DC.  I keep an eye out for him, since he would send me home, saying that the barn is no place for a young lady.  The truth is, it's the perfect place for me.
                 I dance across the sawdust-covered floor past Sam, Papa’s woodworker.  His saw hums like a busy beehive, slicing planks of wood.   I pick up handfuls of the slivers, inhaling their fresh-cut fragrance.  The slivers stick to my sweaty palms; I wipe my hands on my dress to loosen them.  The slivers stick there as well, like they’ve found a home. Mama would frown at my soot-and-sawdust gown. I duck behind a post, breathing in the sweet wood and varnish smells.
            I glide back to the forge and lean on a wooden carriage wheel propped up next to Henry’s work area. Even in this soot-covered space, things are neat and tidy, nothing out of place.  Papa rents the land, but owns the building and all the equipment inside.  Except Henry has his own box of tools that he keeps at the forge.  When I ask him why he doesn’t use Papa’s tools, Henry says, “I’ve been usin’ these familiar ones so long now that they feel like part of my hand.”
Pulsing waves of heat makes it feel like summer year round.  The fire needs to burn red hot to be the right temperature for bending iron.  I stare into the fire’s belly, watching it move and change colors as if it were a living thing.  Some folks might think the forge is dark and dreary with only one small window.   But the fire is like a beacon that lights up the whole barn and makes it shimmer.  Papa’s barn without the forge would be like Mama’s house without the kitchen.  The heart would be gone.
         The rhythmic tapping of Henry’s hammer is a symphony.  If I had but one wish, here it is – to be a blacksmith.

            After reading this opening, readers should have a much better idea of what it’s like inside a carriage maker’s shop.
            Concentrating on specific details makes the story come to life and immerses the reader into the setting and world the writer has created. 
***
Darlene Beck Jacobson has loved writing since she was a girl. She wrote letters to everyone she knew and made up stories in her head.  Although she never wrote to a president, she sent many letters to pop stars of the day asking for photos and autographs.  She loves bringing the past to life in stories such as WHEELS OF CHANGE, her debut novel.
She also likes hanging around forges watching the blacksmith work magic. She’s never ridden in a carriage like the one in the story, but hopes to one day.

Her blog features recipes, activities, crafts and interviews with children’s book authors and illustrators. She still loves writing and getting letters.  

Check out her website at: www.darlenebeckjacobson.com
Or on Twitter@dustbunnymave
Darlene's next stop September 16 at Robin Newman Books. Hope you head on over. 
And remember....please leave a comment to win a copy of Wheels of Change!


                                   

Monday 8 September 2014

MMGM-The Fourteenth Goldfish-Jennifer L. Holm

Been gone a wee while and busy with a new job in a junior/senior high school library. It's keeping me busy let me tell you.

Did get some reading done these past while, though. And with that said I am here today to recommend you get on out and read and share The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer L. Holm. What I would call a contemporary fantasy that will capture a wide range of readers from boys to girls. Yes, the MC is a girl, but in this quirky grandpa turned himself into a teen book the gender of the reader isn't going to matter. It's funny, it's relevant and the writing is so smooth, so skilled that I also think this could be one for reluctant readers. I wanted to start re-read this one the minute I was finished.

Eleven-year-old Ellie has never liked change. She misses fifth grade. She misses her old best friend. She even misses her dearly departed goldfish. Then one day a strange boy shows up. He’s bossy. He’s cranky. And weirdly enough . . . he looks a lot like Ellie’s grandfather, a scientist who’s always been slightly obsessed with immortality. Could this pimply boy really be Grandpa Melvin? Has he finally found the secret to eternal youth? (From Goodreads)

#ReadtheNorth

Over the last while there has been a hashtag you may have seen about called Read the North. It's a campaign encouraging people to read C...