I picked up an ARC of this YA novel at NCTE last month – not sharing cover art here because I’m not sure it’s final yet, but oh…what a book.

Lauren Myracle’s SHINE opens with a newspaper report about an apparent hate crime — a gay teen is beaten and left to die, and his former best friend, the story’s narrator, takes it upon herself to look for answers and justice when the town sheriff isn’t doing enough.  This is a powerful page-turner that shines a painful light on the hopelessness and bigotry festering in one small town in rural America. From a reader’s point of view, I was hooked on this YA novel from the first page. It’s as compelling a mystery as I’ve ever read, and the last third of the book so had me turning pages so fast my family stopped reading their own books to stare.

From a writer’s perspective, the craft in this book was amazing. The first-person prose was poetic without ever feeling like an inauthentic voice, and the small-town dialect was pitch perfect — it never felt overdone like I’ve seen in some books set in the south. The characters were so real my heart ached for them, and the language was vivid and evocative. I’m gushing…and I’ll stop now. But I really loved this book. There is one thing that bothered me a little about the ending, but it’s on a personal level — not a writer’s craft issue — and that in itself will make great fodder for literature circles and book club discussions.

My ARC is headed up to the high school tomorrow, for one of my former 7th graders, now a freshman, who still visits for book suggestions from time to time.  She’s going to love it.  This one’s probably best for 8th grade and older, though I do think some of my more mature 7th grade readers will appreciate it. Teachers & librarians, read it first (you’ll want to anyway) and decide. Due out from Amulet in April.

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.

Our local newspaper featured my new book, SUGAR AND ICE, in this morning’s edition.  The reviewer wrote, "Kate Messner plucked the best of the North Country and plunked it between the pages of her new novel, Sugar and Ice, published by Walker & Company."  I love that line because setting is important to me, and I’m so happy that people who share Claire’s landscape are recognizing those details and smiling.  The full article is here.

And the timing is good…because I’m doing my last 2010 event for SUGAR AND ICE this afternoon…at the Skating Club of the Adirondacks Holiday Extravaganza!

Our local skating club kids have been working hard on their routines, choreographed to holiday music that’s had me singing along all week. They’re cheerful, talented, and awesome — and they skate today at 4:30 at the Plattsburgh State Field House.  I’m doing a fundraiser book signing before and after the show; all proceeds go to the skating club.  If you’re planning to come, admission is $4 for adults, $2 for kids, or $10 for a family, and that includes the show, refreshments, and public skating with free skate rentals after the show.

This signing is a special one for me because much of SUGAR AND ICE was written in the bleachers of this rink while my daughter skated.  These were the kids who read my drafts, corrected me when my characters planted their toe picks at the wrong time, and shared their thoughts on the early cover sketches to make sure our cover skater rang true to skaters themselves. They are fantastic people as well as talented skaters…and I’m so excited for their show today!

My creative writing students took a break from their novel-drafting this week for a terrific opportunity to chat with author Lindsey Leavitt.  You probably know her name from her first book, PRINCESS FOR HIRE.  But did you know she has a new book coming out from Bloomsbury this March? 

It’s called SEAN GRISWOLD’S HEAD, and it’s about a girl dealing with her dad’s MS diagnosis by following her counselor’s suggestion to choose and write about a focus object.  She chooses the head of the boy who sits in front of her in biology class, and then…well, you know how it is… you start writing about the back of somebody’s head and one thing leads to another.  This book is the most wonderful mix of family tenderness, first love, friend drama, and laugh-out-loud humor.  (I actually snorted during silent reading time yesterday. Snorted!)

Our tiny writing class enjoyed a read-aloud of the first few chapters and then connected with Lindsey via Skype yesterday after school to talk about writing. 

Lindsey shared the inspiration behind the book as well as her secrets about planning (what is this thing you call planning?), titles (she got to keep her original title, something that I have yet to accomplish with a book), and even rejection. 

Right there on camera, she unrolled this long string of rejections that came before her first published book and really inspired the kids to be persistent with their dreams. Her enthusiasm and sense of humor made this a great way to end our day.

And I love the way Lindsey explains how to write a book.  "You just sit down and you write it. And that sounds like the easiest thing, but really it’s the hardest thing sometimes, but that’s what you do. You sit down and you write."

Here’s a special offer for teachers & librarians, from Lindsey…

For the 2010-2011 school year, Lindsey is offering a FREE ARC of SEAN GRISWOLD’S HEAD, along with a FREE 20 minute book chat to schools, libraries, or book clubs. The group does not need to have read the entire book, but they should read three or more chapters so that they’re familiar with the story. Signed bookmarks and bookplates are available to those who read the book. Click here for the contact page from her website.

One last note from Kate:

I’ll post a more in-depth review closer to the pub date, but I really love this book, and this is a great opportunity for middle school & high school teachers. SEAN GRISWOLD’S HEAD is funny & wonderful, with lots of opportunities for classroom writing spin-offs, too.  Probably best for grades 7 and up.

Because a December book launch means snowy roads, busy schedules, and holiday craziness, I’m only doing a  handful of in-person book signings for SUGAR AND ICE, but I have been doing some virtual travels.  It’s been great fun to share a sneak preview of SUGAR AND ICE and tell some of the writing and revision stories behind it in Skype visits with classrooms.

If you’re a teacher or librarian who would like to schedule a free 20-minute behind-the-scenes SUGAR AND ICE lunchtime chat with your students to talk about writing, research, & revision, just drop me an email at kmessner at katemessner.com and we’ll find a date.  No need to read the book ahead of time – I’ll share a short excerpt with kids before we talk about writing. I’m making these special SUGAR AND ICE chats available through January & then going back to my usual policy of free Skype chats after a class or book club has read one of my books.

A few people have also asked that I share the full list of guest blog posts and interviews I’ve done this month as a reference for teachers, since there’s a lot here about the writing life, research, revision, and even a little math!  Here’s the rundown so far:

Writing About Fibonacci with Greg Pincus at Gotta Book
Parent-Kid Relationships in MG/YA Literature with Laura Pauling
A Sense of Place in Writing with Janni Lee Simner
Research & the idea that sparked SUGAR AND ICE with Jen Petro Roy at Stacked Books
Student Athletes & Literary Role Models with Carol Rasco at Reading is Fundamental
An Interview at The Reading Zone
Balancing Life and Figure Skating with IceMom
A Look inside My Writing Room at Jennifer Bertman’s Creative Spaces
Advice for Reluctant Writers at Jo Knowles’ blog
Interview with Jill at the O.W.L. for YA blog
Winter Inspiration with Terry Lynn Johnson
For parents who write: Including kids in research & writing with Mary Ann Scheuer at Great Kid Books
Researching skating, bees, and maple season for SUGAR AND ICE with Samantha Clark at Day by Day Writer
SUGAR ON SNOW SUGAR AND ICE: A Revision Story with Sherrie Peterson
A Letter to My Younger Self with Anna Staniszewski

Lake Placid was all lit up for the Holiday Stroll this weekend.

But the window of The Bookstore Plus was my favorite!

Inside, the store was crowded with holiday shoppers. (I am up there at my table somewhere!)

Having a book launch event at a great indie is like showing up at a friend’s house for a party.  Owners Marc & Sarah greeted us with hugs, hot cider, brownies baked by their adorable daughter Norah, and a big stack of pre-ordered books waiting to be signed.

That’s me with Bookstore Plus co-owner Marc Galvin.

If you ordered a book to be signed, it’s in this pile…and will soon be in the mail…and thank you! It was so much fun to sign books for far-away friends and made it feel like you were there, too. 

I have one more SUGAR AND ICE book signing in 2010…at the Skating Club of the Adirondacks Holiday Extravaganza Saturday, December 18th at the Plattsburgh State Field House.  The figure skating show starts at 4:30, with refreshments & public skating with free skate rentals to follow, and I’ll be signing books as a fund raiser for the skating club before and after the show.

The temperature here dropped below ten degrees Thursday night, so I woke up Friday to the first real ice fog of the year over Lake Champlain. I stood and watched the sky change for so long, I was almost late for school. But I think I could have used these photos as my excuse…

Doesn’t this look all the world like a tornado or waterspout?  I can’t offer a scientific explanation, but it sure looked cool

School (yes, I did manage to make it on time) brought a day of Colonial America research & diary writing with my 7th graders and a lunch hour Skype chat with Alison Follos’ 6th graders at North Country School in Lake Placid.  They’d read the first chapter of SUGAR AND ICE and were excited to ask questions.

After dinner, it was off to visit the kids at the North Country Skating Club in Rouses Point, where I signed lots of books, and autographed my first skate!

Here I am with Miranda.  I told her she needs to read Rebecca Stead’s WHEN YOU REACH ME, partly because the main character shares her name but mostly because it is amazing.

This afternoon, it’s off to Lake Placid for the official SUGAR AND ICE book launch at The Bookstore Plus from 3-5.  It’s part of the village’s Holiday Stroll, so Main Street will be all decked out for the holidays.  Can’t wait!

No, the answer has nothing to do with the fact that we can now access our BookScan sales numbers.

It’s this photo that Sarah, the owner of The Bookstore Plus in Lake Placid, sent of their store window.

From the sap buckets to the figure skates, she captured the spirit of SUGAR AND ICE so perfectly!

Our launch event for SUGAR AND ICE is Saturday from 3-5 this Saturday, and I’m so, so excited!  If you live near Lake Placid, I hope you’ll stop by and say hi.  And if you don’t but would like a personalized, signed copy, just call The Bookstore Plus to order one – (518) 523-2950 – and they’ll send it out right after our signing.

The boy is taking an absolutely terrific engineering class at his high school this year, so there’s been a lot of design & construction going on at our house lately.  Last week, it was mousetrap cars, and I came home one afternoon to find the boy at the kitchen table, sawing away at a piece of particle board with my bread knife.  "I couldn’t find the hack saw," he said.  (If you come for dinner any time soon, you’ll have to tear the bread apart with your hands, but we’ll be able to show you a mighty fast and accurate mousetrap car.)

Now, he’s working on a Rube Goldberg device for Science Olympiad, and we’ve been watching some examples of these online. I have to say, I think this one takes the cake. It’s too cool not to share.

Pretty amazing, no?  You can learn more about how it all came together here.