Just the Right Size

Think of a book about mathematical theory and physics. Now imagine people passing it around at a party. Well that's what happened with Just the Right Size by Nicola Davies. I handed it to one friend to read, he passed it along to someone else. I could tell who had it by following the guffaws and chuckles. This is a very funny book for kids based on very good science.

The Heart of a Shepherd

One of my favorite recent middle grade novels, The Heart of a Shepherd, was named one of the year's best by Horn Book. I'm thrilled. The book has just the right combination of action, adventure, drama, and humor. Yet it also has a character-driven plot, and raises questions about life, death, and faith.
I wish I could pull this off so well!

Fact or Truth

Stephen Koch has an interesting discussion of facts vs. truth in his book Writer's Workshop: A Guide to the Craft of Fiction. (I'm loving this book.) He says that whether you're writing fiction or nonfiction, facts alone don't make it. You have to get "possession" of the facts. Internalize them, find their inner truth. It doesn't matter where the "facts" came from, whether they came from they came from reality or your imagination (as in making up a character). John Keats said it this way, "A fact is not a truth until you love it."

I can totally relate to this in writing biographies for children. It wasn't the facts, it was the truth that I found in them, that made middle schoolers tear up when I read aloud Dian Fossey's biography from Women of the Golden State.

Thanks to the Alan Shawn Feinstein Middle School for inviting me to take part in their readathon.

Gratitude

Last week my yoga instructor's class focused on gratitude. Practicing gratitude is more than just reciting a list of what you're grateful for. It is a way of approaching life.
We are such a goal-oriented society. Sometimes we are so busy striving for what we don't have that we forget all that we do have.
So when you feel bombarded by the media message of "buy, buy, buy," this season, take a moment to reflect on your bounty of blessings.

Despite what I said earlier about gratitude being more than a list, here are some things that make me grateful:
Family and friends
The russet gold of New England November
My ongoing assignments with the American Notable Women Series. (I just got my list of Illinois ladies.)
Early morning walks with my golden retriever, Willow, even when it's raining.
And my wonderful yoga teacher--Ellen Schaeffer www.youphoria.biz/

Heaven to Betsey!

I recently returned from a Florida trip. I had picked up a couple of paperbacks to read on the plane. I was drawn to one by its quaint cover and Anna Quinlen's plug--"There are three authors whose body of work I have reread more than once over my adult life: Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, and Maud Hart Lovelace."
So I was surprised to discover that this title was actually a children's book--the high school (two books in one) sequels to the Betsy-Tacy series, HEAVEN TO BETSY and BETSY IN SPITE OF HERSELF.
The books were very quiet. I'm not sure they'd be published today. Betsy's small problems were readily solved. Yet I was totally caught up in her character by the end of the books, enough so that I ordered the first title in the series from my library. I'm not sure what made Betsy so captivating, but I mean to find out!

Recuperative Reading

I've been laid low by a nasty upper respiratory infection. The good side of this is that I've had the chance to catch up on three wonderful middle grade novels, Avi's Poppy and Ereth, the hilarious Mississippi gambling Crows & Cards by Joseph Helgerson, and my favorite, Heart of a Shepherd by Rosanne Parry.

Let me warn you now, there are some spoilers here.
As usual, I like to figure out what makes a book work so well...
Avi is a master storyteller, and his use of multiple POV in Poppy and Ereth is phenomenal. He opens with Poppy and Rye, enjoying a cozy winter snooze together. Then he switches to Rye's POV as he forges out into the snow to write a lovely winter poem. Rye returns coughing. Next chapter Avi switches to Junior, the son. Junior is pounding on Ereth's door to inform him that Rye died.
Wow! Who kills off a main character in the second chapter? But Avi cushions the blow by pulling back and telling us the news through Junior's perspective. Amazing.

Celebrate

As it snowzles outside my window this raw October day, I keep warm thinking about last night's meeting of the Story Spinners critique group. We talked about finding new ways to celebrate one another.
The Story Spinners always broke out the champagne when someone published, but we decided we also needed to celebrate rejection letters--hey we were brave enough to send that baby out, and we got a response.
That naturally flowed into celebrating submissions--five of us submitted something lately.
Most of all we celebrated the gifts each of us bring to group. Apparently I'm the mother/nurturer of Story Spinners. Sweet!