It’s been a while since I’ve shared a book recommendation, but that’s not for lack of great titles to talk about. Here’s a round-up of what I’ve been reading (and loving!) lately…

In DASH AND LILY’S BOOK OF DARES, David Levithan and Rachel Cohn tell the story of two New York City teens who meet through a notebook and get to know one another as it’s passed back and forth in some most entertaining ways. I loved this book, in part because Lily reminds me so frighteningly of a teenaged me, and in part because it’s just so warm, wonderful, and funny. It’s a delightful literary love story, and really…how do you not love a romantic comedy where the main characters are introduced via a red Moleskine notebook left on a shelf at the Strand bookstore? Highly recommended with a mug of hot chocolate and marshmallows.

Kids who live in a dump site of an unnamed third world country survive by what they find in the trash, until one day they find something that changes everything. It’s valuable, though they’re not sure why at first, and some people will kill to get it back. Some things I love about this book: It’s set in an unnamed third world country that felt at times like India and at times like Latin America to me, so it has a real multicultural feel without that being the point of the story. I’d love to see more books like this, where the multiculturalism isn’t the point — but where it’s just one element of a larger story, and in this case, that larger story is full of mystery and intrigue.

I also loved that the world in this book isn’t black and whi…moreSome things I love about this book: the unnamed third world setting felt at times like India and at times like Latin America to me, so it has a real multicultural feel without that being the point of the story. I’d love to see more books like this, where the multiculturalism isn’t the point — but where it’s just one element of a larger story, and in this case, that larger story is full of mystery and intrigue.

I also loved that the world in this book isn’t black and white – the poverty-stricken kids who are the main characters do some questionable things — stealing, lying to the police, etc. to help achieve their goals and frankly, in the name of survival. The real world has so many gray areas that I think this will be a great discussion starter.

And finally, I liked the multiple perspectives. Sometimes it feels like an author uses multiple narrators just for the sake of it, but in this case, the different voices really led authenticity and perspective to the story and painted a more vivid, compelling picture of the community in which it happened. All in all, TRASH is a compelling page turner – and a unique read that I’d recommend for middle school readers.

Love-love-loved this book. It’s a story about friendship and promises, faeries and ancient debts, but more than that, it’s about how our lives and selves are shaped by the people whose lives intersect with ours. A beautiful, page-turner of a paranormal novel with a social conscience. This would make a great literature circles book for older middle school and high school readers who love paranormal because they’ll get their magic and romance, and some weighty issues to talk about, too. Highly, hi…moreI love-love-loved Nancy Werlin’s EXTRAORDINARY. It’s a story about friendship and promises, faeries and ancient debts, but more than that, it’s about how our lives and selves are shaped by the people whose lives intersect with ours. A beautiful, page-turner of a paranormal novel with a social conscience. This would make a great literature circles book for older middle school and high school readers who love paranormal because they’ll get their magic and romance, and some weighty issues to talk about, too. Highly, highly recommended. And if you’ve already read it, you should check out this recent post from Janni Lee Simner ( ), who discusses the book from the point of view of a Jewish reader who is also a lover of things Faerie. Lots to think about, but don’t read it until after you’ve read the book because, as Janni warns in the post, there are spoilers.

THE DAY BEFORE by Lisa Schroeder is the story of a precious 24 hours, in which a girl whose life is about to change the next day crosses paths with a boy with a secret deadline of his own. I requested this book through Simon & Schuster’s e-galley program for two reasons. First, I’m a fan of Lisa’s beautiful, poetic writing myself and second, because I have a contingent of seventh grade girls in my classes who devour everything she writes. I read this book in a night (be warned…it’s tough to stop once you get going!) and loved it for its romance, its mystery,  its magic, and its moments…those moments that we sometimes don’t stop to appreciate until something makes us. The poems here sparkle like a collection of favorite seashells at the beach, and I can already tell I’m going to have to referee fights over this one when I pick up a copy for my classroom library when it releases in June.

And finally…two writer-ish books…

In writing THE FOREST FOR THE TREES: AN EDITOR’S ADVICE TO WRITERS, long-time editor Betsy Lerner has crafted a book that’s part literary memoir, part self-help for writers, and part behind-the-scenes in publishing. All of it is entertaining or useful, and often both.  As a writer, I appreciated everything from the tough talk on getting down to work (without excuses) to the thoughts on staying creatively focused in an industry that sometimes knocks that spirit down. And of course, I loved the behind-the-scenes stories that pull back the curtain, like in the Wizard of Oz, to reveal that our editors are very much human, too. A great book for writers and people who want to write, and probably for editors, too.

Though I read SPARK: HOW CREATIVITY WORKS through the eyes of a writer, I truly appreciated the common ground that creative people in all sorts of disciplines share…the willingness to take chances and fail, the need to "fill the well" from time to time, taking in scenery and art of other kinds. And the variety of artists included — author Julie Burstein produces the public radio show STUDIO 360 and draws from a decade of interviews — is truly impressive, from poets and novelists, to sculptors, landscape artists, photographers, and musicians. The collection of essays and interviews between these pages is both inspiring and comforting, I think, for artists who spend so much time working alone and yet need to know that we aren’t really on our own at all.

So…I’m reading Suzanne Selfors’ MAD LOVE right now (funny and wonderful!) but will need a new book when I finish.    I’d love recommendations for MG or YA fiction or narrative nonfiction and also a good craft book for writers…something like BIRD BY BIRD or ON WRITING.  Any suggestions?

I’ve been reading Laurie Halse Anderson’s CHAINS with my 7^th graders as they study the American Revolution next door in Social Studies.  If you haven’t read it, it’s an amazing historical thriller full of great writing and topics for discussion — a perfect class read-aloud/read-together. We were all set to read Chapters 12-14 this afternoon, then review poetic devices like similes, metaphors, and personification and talk about how Laurie makes use of them in her writing.

But at lunchtime, I popped onto Twitter and saw the news from Egypt, tweeted far and wide.  Including this:

 

In the last ten minutes of lunch break, I shortened the poetic language lesson to free up some time so we could start class with live video from MSNBC…millions of people waving flags and cheering in the streets of Egypt.

We talked about what it might mean for the future of Egypt and United States foreign policy. We imagined the conversations happening in other nations’ presidential palaces tonight. We compared Egypt to Tiananmen Square of 1989 – a demonstration that ended so differently.  Could there ever be another Tiananmen Square, given how small and connected our world has become? We talked about the fact that this peaceful revolution is history happening, history that probably couldn’t have happened, couldn’t have come together the way it did, even five years ago, and we talked about why – 24-hour news, cell phones, the Internet, Facebook, and Twitter.

When I showed the kids Laurie’s tweet, they grabbed their books. "She wrote this!"  And we talked about Isabel and where she might have fit into all this, were she living in 2011 Cairo instead of 1776 New York.  Then we read our next installment of CHAINS with bigger thoughts about revolution and freedom and what it all means.

Huzzah, indeed.

A couple months ago, my teaching colleague Marjorie Light and I got talking.  Our creative writing class had just Skyped with author Lindsey Leavitt in a win-win situation. Our kids got to meet and ask writing questions of an author, and Lindsey got a chance to plug her upcoming YA novel to some enthusiastic readers.  Wouldn’t it be great, we thought, if there were an easy way for authors promoting a new book to connect with teachers & librarians who would love to have more virtual author visits in their schools?

So we’ve launched a new blog called  , where authors who want to do a limited number of free, no-strings-attached Skype chats to promote a book can list Skype Tours, and where teachers and librarians can search by theme, age level, and writing topics to find authors whose Skype chats will enhance what they’re working on in class. Everything’s free, and there’s no requirement that kids read the book ahead of time — this type of visit is designed to introduce kids to an author and a particular title and enhance classroom curriculum at the same time.  The listings will look like this:

Lindsey Leavitt agreed to be our first victim guinea pig author volunteer, and I have a spring Skype tour listed for SUGAR AND ICE, too. There are detailed directions on the blog for how to list a tour and how to book one.  And of course, it’s a LiveJournal site, so feel free to add   to your friends list or just bookmark us to keep up to date on who’s on tour.

We’re excited about this and curious to see how it works out.  Comments & suggestions are most welcome!

My Spring 2012 novel EYE OF THE STORM is on its way to copy edits.

Copy edit notes for REAL REVISION: AUTHORS’ STRATEGIES TO SHARE WITH STUDENT WRITERS are on a UPS truck somewhere, heading back to Stenhouse for the book’s release this May.

My mail from readers is answered. The email in-box is empty.

And my fingers are twitchy.

Does anyone else feel this way when it’s time to start a new project? 

Part of me wants to get on with it, to meet the new characters and get lost in the new setting.  But part of me also loves the feeling of not knowing. It reminds me of this photo I saw a while back…

from http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2011/02/03/the-museum-of-possibilities/

It’s Montreal’s "Museum of Possibilities," a one-day installation last spring that invited visitors to share their ideas for the Quartier des Spectacles public space by writing them on slips of paper and attaching them to colorful balloons.  Then other visitors could vote on them by putting stickers on their favorite. Lovely, no? In so many ways…

But of course, at some point, the balloon people had to choose one plan or there would never be anything in that public space. And at some point soon, I need to decide on a new book project. There are three that are looking particularly shiny, so I’ve sent those to my editor. I’ll let you know if she puts her sticker on one.

For now, though, I’m enjoying the bright rising maybes, the rainbow of ideas, and this feeling that that next book could be anything…anything at all.

About a year ago, my son started teaching himself how to write code for iPhone, iPod, and iPad applications. The endeavor has taken on a life of its own, to the point where he’s commandeered one of our basement rooms and dubbed it "Snowfire Software World Headquarters."

This summer, the boy’s first app, a custom-background calculator for the iPad, was released for sale in the iTunes app store, and he’s been working on some new applications since then.  His latest project is particularly exciting for Mom…

The SUGAR AND ICE Skating Checklist has a list of different moves, spins, and jumps at different levels so skaters can use it to practice at the rink, and of course, there’s a little about the book included, too. It’s a free download if you’d like to check it out – just click here, or do a search for "Sugar and Ice" in the app store on your device.

I’ve been reading Betsy Lerner’s book THE FOREST FOR THE TREES: AN EDITOR’S ADVICE TO WRITERS – it’s entertaining and thought-provoking, a great book for writers and people who want to write. 

Here’s what she has to say about our ritualized writing behaviors and excuses for not showing up at the keyboard:

If you are meant to write, if you are ready to write, if what you must do is write, then all you really need is paper and pencil…. the more you indulge any neurotic notions about a set of necessary conditions that will enable you to write, the colder the trail will get.

With that, I’m off to review copy edits on my teacher revision book.  Just as soon as I have my Post-It notes.  And some tea. And my very sharp blue pencil.

What about you?  What are your "necessary conditions" that you may not need to write but you sure do like?

Last year, I had an author visit with students at Highgate Elementary School in Vermont, and the kids told me all about the project they were working on — a book called Lake Champlain, A to Z, Past & Present.  They were in the research stages when we met to share writing stories, and they knew that there would be a whole lot of writing, revision, and editing ahead of them.

Fast forward now to a couple weeks ago, when I received an invitation in the mail.  The Highgate kids were planning a big celebration of the publication of their finished book!  I was scheduled to be away at a conference on that day, but thanks to the magic of Skype and some tech-savvy teachers, I was able to be a virtual guest so I could congratulate the kids on their accomplishment, author to author.  Their librarian also sent me a digital copy of the book, which is just gorgeous.  Here’s a sampling, shared with permission.

Pretty fantastic, huh?  I have a feeling we’ll be hearing a lot more from these authors.

Congratulations, Highgate Elementary students, on a job so very well done!

The Tiny Glass Tub Vial Jar : Why Revision Takes So Long

Picture the scene: I’m sitting in my writing room one recent afternoon, on deadline with the final revision for my 2012 Walker/Bloomsbury dystopian novel, EYE OF THE STORM.  And I’m staring at this line:

She pulls out a tiny round tub filled with some kind of fluid.

Next to the word “tub,” my editor has scribbled, “Tube?”

My editor obviously isn’t there with me, but that does not stop me from talking to her.  “No, Mary Kate…it’s not a tube, really. If I say that, people are going to picture a test tube, especially because they’re in a lab, and that’s not what this is. Know what I mean?”

Invisible Mary Kate does not answer.  So I keep talking.

“I said tub because this is like one of those little tubs of lip balm…the kind you use when Chapstick isn’t strong enough because your lips are really, super-chapped and you need something, like, medicinal. And it comes in this little blue tub. At least, mine does. That’s the kind of tub I mean here, only this one’s glass and you can see through it.  Okay?”

Again, there is no answer. But I know it’s not okay.  Because if Mary Kate saw the word “tub” and immediately thought I meant “tube,” then at least some readers are going to make that leap, too.  So what do I call that darn container?

Does it really matter that much? Yes.  It does.  Because this little tub/tube/vessel contains something that’s going to be the key to my main character’s success in getting what she needs. It’s a sneaky thing. And she needs to conceal the vial/jar/container/thing in her pocket through some tense situations during which she will fear discovery and feel it poking into her hip bone. It needs to be this exact size and shape that I am thinking of.

I turn to Twitter for help.

“You know the shallow little round type of container for lip balm or maybe contact lenses? What would you call that?”

A flood of friends reply. Tube? Vial? Carrying case? Compact? Pot?

Lip balm comes in jars or tins, depending on what the container is made of, says one Twitter friend.

I consider all of this.  Then I write:

She pulls out a shallow glass jar filled with some kind of fluid. It’s shaped like the tiny container where Mom used to keep her contact lenses before she got her eyes fixed. 

Risha lowers the tissue into it.  “Don’t take it out until you need it.”

Onward!

One page down.  232 to go…

     ***

In other EYE OF THE STORM news, I got to see a very early cover sketch this week, and it’s pretty amazing.  I adored both of my covers for THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z. and SUGAR AND ICE, but because this book is so different and darker, the team at Walker/Bloomsbury wanted a different look for the cover, and they found an artist I think is a perfect match for this story — Vincent Chong, who has done some cover art for Ray Bradbury and Stephen King books. I can’t share the cover sketch because it’s a long way from finished, but you can peek at Chong’s online portfolio here.

There is no school today. The temperature is -17…the wind chill -31.  Inside the house today, there will be reading aloud (we just finished Ellen Potter’s THE KNEEBONE BOY over breakfast, and wow! What an ending!)  There will be hot chocolate and Scrabble and chicken chili and some writing time. 

Outside, there is a very, very cold lake. I stepped onto the back deck just long enough to snap a couple photos of the frozen morning.

Stay warm!