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Book trailer for THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z

THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z will be out two weeks from today! If you’re a Vermonter, please mark Saturday, September 5th on your calendar if you can make it to the launch party at the fabulous Flying Pig Bookstore at 11am. We’ll have the usual reading & book signing, along with Nonna’s wedding cookies, the Great Tree Identification Challenge for Kids. Teachers & librarians present can enter a drawing to win a drawing for a free school or library presentation, so spread the word to your teacher & library friends!  My other 2009/2010 appearances are listed here, and of course you can always order GIANNA Z through IndieBound. 

And now…here’s my extremely non-traditional book trailer for THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z (courtesy of many great people at ALA 2009 and my background as a tv reporter/interviewer). It’s based on a game that main characters Gianna and Zig play as they’re working on their school leaf collection project.

If you’d like to share the book trailer on your own blog or site or really anywhere, please feel free to copy & paste:

Here’s the YouTube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwsgo3vOAGY

And the embed code:

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xwsgo3vOAGY&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xwsgo3vOAGY&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

Many, many thanks to the kind-hearted authors and librarians and illustrators and cats, etc. who participated in this video!  Gianna Z. and I are forever grateful.

How They Got Here: 2009 Debut Author Jennifer Jabaley

This post is part of a year-long series of blog interviews I’m hosting with my fellow 2009 Debut Authors, called "How They Got Here." 

It should be an especially helpful series for teens who write, teachers, and anyone who wants to write for kids.  2009 debut authors will be dropping by to talk about how their writing in school shaped the authors they are today, what teachers can do to make a difference, how they revise, and how they found their agents and editors.  (You’ll even be able to read some successful query letters!)  If you know a teacher or two who might be interested, please share the link!

Today…Jennifer Jabaley, author of LIPSTICK APOLOGY!

Four little words written in lipstick mean Emily must say goodbye to everything she knows.  Emily Carson has always been a good girl.  So when she throws a party the night her parents leave for vacation, she’s sure she’ll get busted.  What Emily doesn’t know is that her parents will never return.  That their plane will go down.  And the only thing left amidst the wreckage will be a tray table with the words: Emily please forgive me scrawled in lipstick – her mother’s last words.

Now it’s fall in New York City and Emily’s trying to pick up the pieces of her shattered life.  Her public tragedy captures the attention of more than just the media – and soon two very different boys at her new school are pursuing her: the cute, popular Owen, and the quirky chemistry partner slash pastry-baker-by-night, Anthony.  But even with such delicious distractions, Emily can’t let go of her mother’s mysterious apology.  Does she have the courage to face the truth?

With help of a whole new kind of family – one that includes a make-up artist to the stars, a teen hand model, and a wacky hairdresser – Emily must choose between the boy who makes her forget it all, and the one who encourages her to remember, and ultimately, heal.

Welcome, Jennifer! Tell us about the first thing you ever wrote that made you think maybe you were a writer.

The very first thing I submitted was a story for a contest for the magazine "Highlights". I didn’t win, but they purchased the piece. I was stunned, I had always heard how particular that magazine was and how hard it was to get a story accepted! It was the first time I thought, hey, maybe I really can do this!

What books did you love when you were a kid?

Judy Blume, Lois Lowry and Beverly Cleary were my favorites.

Is there a particular teacher or librarian who was a mentor for you in your reading and writing life?

I clearly remember the day my elementary school librarian handed me a Judy Blume book and said "I think you’ll love this author." She was instrumental in nuturing my love for reading.

Moving on to the here and now, most writers admit that making time to write can sometimes be a challenge.  When and where do you write?   Do you have any special rituals?  Music?  Food & beverages?

Now with two young kids (with vastly different sleep schedules) I rely on a baby sitter. When she comes I like to go to a local bakery with big wooden tables, strong coffee and great pasteries.

Do you have a favorite strategy for revision?

Honestly I think the best strategy for me is to take some time away. When receiving a huge revision letter it can be very overwhelming. If I try and tackle it immediately I can get very overwhelmed and frustrated. With just a little time away, suddenly things seem more reasonable.

What’s your best advice for young writers?

Find an idea that excites you! Accept criticism and use it to make your work better. And write because you love to write, not because you want to be a best seller or rich and famous.

What’s special about your debut novel?

II think what makes LIPSTICK APOLOGY special is that it combines both heart and humor.

What were the best and worst parts of writing it?

Best: falling in love with my characters.
Worst: That overwhelming feeling whey you’re uncertain how to proceed.

How did you find your agent and/or editor?
Tried and trued – query letter. I created my list of agents to query by reading the acknowledgement sections of the books I loved to see who the author’s agent was.

I think the best piece of advice for writing a query letter is do your homework! Reference a book that the agent has represented. For example in my letter I said "I’m writing to you because you represented The Nanny Diaries and I feel my writing style is similar."

Thanks, Jennifer!  Click here to learn more about Jennifer at her website. You can pick up your copy of LIPSTICK APOLOGY at your local independent bookseller, order it through one of my favorite indies, Flying Pig Bookstore (they ship!), or find an indie near you by checking out IndieBound!

Jump off a swing today!

Happy Book Birthday,  !

And in addition to those good wishes for Jo Knowles, author of JUMPING OFF SWINGS, I have some advice for the rest of you.  You need to read this book.

I had already heard praise from some early readers of JUMPING OFF SWINGS when I picked up an advance copy at ALA last month, and I adore Jo, so I was ready to like this one. Even so, I was blown away by the characters and the spare, poignant prose.

JUMPING OFF SWINGS is a book about love and sex and friendship, about loss of innocence and how we all survive it.  It’s one of the most beautiful, most honest YA novels I’ve ever read and reminded me of Judy Blume’s FOREVER in the way it approached the realities of teenagers’ decisions about sex without ever being heavy-handed. 

Read it. Your heart will ache for friends Ellie, Josh, Caleb, and Corinne as they deal with Ellie’s pregnancy after what was supposed to be a "one-time thing" at a party. The characters are so beautifully whole and real that I found myself thinking about them – worrying about them and wishing futures for them – long after I’d turned the final page.

The chapters – alternating between the four main characters’ points of view – are short, making this a perfect choice for reluctant teen readers, but really, it should be a must-read for every teen, boys and girls alike.

I’m with the Lorax

Rattlesnake Mountain has long been one of my family’s favorite hikes around the Adirondacks.  It’s always had a great mix of the things we love in a hike: a great view for a moderately challenging climb, cool mushrooms to look at, the occasional garter snake, a rock shaped like a chair that’s located at a perfect spot for a water break, and a tree that we’ve been calling "our tree" for ten years.  Here’s a picture of it we took a few years ago.

Rattlesnake Mountain was the first mountain my son ever climbed as a toddler. He was two and a half, and we made it as far as this tree before he was too tired to go on.  We played hide and seek around the tree for a while before heading down; he hid in the hollow, and I peeked around from the other side.  At one point, he lost his balance and started rolling down the hill until my husband caught him. 

On other climbs, as he got older, we’d pause at the tree and remember it as the milestone he reached on that first climb and talk about how much bigger and taller he was on each hike. And when my daughter came along and got big enough to go hiking, we told her the story and played hide and seek here, too. This strange-looking tree has become a Rattlesnake Mountain landmark for our family. A place to stop and catch our breath and say, "Remember when…."

J is 13 now, as tall as I am, and beyond fitting in the hollow tree, but he came along with E and me on our hike up Rattlesnake today.  Right away, we noticed something was different about the trail.  There’s been some serious logging on the mountain, which is private land, and there are scars.  Trails that are muddier. Tree stands that are more sparse.  E was immediately furious.  We reminded her that it is indeed private land, that the owner has the right to cut some trees, and that it’s been great that they’ve kept the mountain open to hikers all this time when it’s private property.  And the logging wasn’t irresponsible; nothing was clear cut. 

I thought I was doing a great job being the voice of reason, but then we came to this.

Our tree.

We were all so very sad. I felt like we should have tacked a little sign on it when we were here last fall: "Please leave this one. It’s important."  But that’s not the way the world works.

We continued to the top, where the view of Lake Champlain was as spectacular as always and had the added benefit of being filled with giant, prehistoric-looking dragonflies.  Can you see them?

It made us feel a little better.  Sort of.

But tonight, I can’t shake the feeling that a little bit of my kids’ childhood got chopped down along with that tree. Even here at home, hours later, I can’t believe how much I miss it.

SLJ Article and some nice reviews for GIANNA Z

It’s less than a month until THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z will be released from Walker Books for Young Readers, and while my attention right now is mostly on revisions for my Fall 2010 book, SUGAR ON SNOW, I’m taking time out to share some cool bits of GIANNA Z news…and some thankfulness.

Some of you might remember this post about Authors Who Skype with Book Clubs and the list of those who do.  Well, through the magic of the Internet and Twitter, one thing led to another after that post, and I ended up writing a technology feature for School Library Journal, which thrills me to no end. I love School Library Journal and stalk it every month when it arrives at my middle school.  I have been known to stealthily sneak into the room and snatch it off the librarian’s desk before he’s even had a chance to read it (sorry, Russell), so having an article in SLJ is mighty exciting for me.  The feature is called "Met Any Good Authors Lately?" and you can read it online here.

Some people have started saying nice things about THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z, which also thrills me. 

From Booklist: "Laced with humor and heart…this is an insightful and affecting read, offering a compassionate portrayal of a family member’s illness and the discovery of beauty and inspiration in nature and poetry.

And Kirkus (which was very complimentary despite all my worries because they are…well…Kirkus): "Messner succeeds in creating an engaging saga….jazzing up the plot with a riddle-loving younger brother, making Gianna’s family proprietors of a funeral home and sprinkling in a hearty helping of references to art and poetry keep things interesting. An ending that’s hopeful without being saccharine is another big plus."

School librarian and blogger Stacy Dillon of Welcome to My Tweendom says:

Kate Messner has written a poignant novel about family, friendship, and change. Gianna is so close to her Nonna, and the possible onset of Alzheimer’s is a reality that many families face, but not many kids get to read about in a relevant way. Messner handles this weighty topic with grace. Gianna is a lovely mix of a dreamer, an artist, and an advocate.Read the full review here.

  listed GIANNA Z as a favorite on her Family Fun Together blog’s list of tween books  "because of the beautiful story, the wonderful science input (through Gianna’s tree project), and the poignant discussion of grandparents and aging."  Read more…

  calls THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z   "a sweet story of family and friendship featuring a likeable, energetic main character, who manages to be both realistic and funny…." Read more…

Thanks, Stacy and Robin and Brenda – and to everyone else who’s had a chance to read GIANNA Z a bit early and shared the title with friends. To an author waiting for a book to arrive in the world, those lovely early reviews and GoodReads posts and little notes on Facebook and elsewhere are like warm blankets and freshly baked brownies and big bouquets of flowers all rolled into one.

How They Got Here: 2009 Debut Author Megan Frazer

This post is part of a year-long series of blog interviews I’ll be hosting with my fellow 2009 Debut Authors, called "How They Got Here."  

It should be an especially helpful series for teens who write, teachers, and anyone who wants to write for kids.  2009 debut authors will be dropping by to talk about how their writing in school shaped the authors they are today, what teachers can do to make a difference, how they revise, and how they found their agents and editors.  (You’ll even be able to read some successful query letters!)  If you know a teacher or two who might be interested, please share the link!

Today… Megan Frazer, author of SECRETS OF TRUTH AND BEAUTY!


Secrets of Truth & Beauty — When Dara Cohen was little, she was crowned Little Miss Maine. That was then. Now Dara’s seventeen and she’s not so little anymore. That’s just one of her many problems.  Another is that her control-freak mom won’t get off her case about anything. Yet the one that hurts the most is the family secret: Dara has an older sister her parents tried to erase from their lives.

Welcome, Megan! Tell us about the first thing you ever wrote that made you think maybe you were a writer.

In sixth grade language arts, we did an assignment where the teacher read the first half of a scary story, and we had to write the ending. Mine was super gory and scary! When the teacher read the actual ending, I was disappointed in it, and thought mine was better. I had been writing for fun for as long as I could remember, but that was the moment when I first started to think about myself as a writer and doing it professionally.

What books did you love when you were a kid?

I read constantly. I had an upstairs book, and a downstairs book, and my brother always said not to bother even trying to get my attention when I was reading (full disclosure: sometimes I was pretending I couldn’t hear him). So, it’s very hard for me to pick a favorite. Here are a few middle grade novels off the top of my head, but I know I will forget some. Tuck Everlasting, Bridge to Terabithia, The Great Gilly Hopkins,  the Ramona books, Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret, Wait Till Helen Comes.

Is there a particular teacher or librarian who was a mentor for you in your reading and writing life?

I think all of my teachers did a great job. In particular, the elementary school program focused on writing as a bridge to reading. My teachers encouraged us all to write, even my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Hilliker. In high school I found support from a writing teacher, Kay Morgan, and one of my English teachers, Liz Dodge, who mentored me on my senior project, a picture book about vegetarian dragons that was a collaboration with a friend of mine.

Now that I’m working in a high school, I see how much passion and effort teachers give to their students, their subjects, and their classes. I think I was a grateful student, but I could have been much more so. This is a tough job, and I didn’t realize how much I got from my teachers until well after I graduated. That’s one thing, though, that has been cool about getting published. One of my former teachers, Liz Whaley, now works at the Water Street Book Store, and I was able to give her a copy of my ARC and let her know how my education allowed me to become a writer.

Moving on to the here and now, most writers admit that making time to write can sometimes be a challenge.  When and where do you write?   Do you have any special rituals?  

I am a full time school librarian, and have an infant, so yes, finding time is very difficult. I stay at work half an hour every day to work on writing, be it actual writing, or, more recently, interviews like this one. Half an hour may not seem like much, but it’s 30 minutes of actual writing: not surfing the web, checking email, what have you. I got the idea from the article Writing In the Age of Distraction by Cory Doctorow (http://www.locusmag.com/Features/2009/01/cory-doctorow-writing-in-age-of.html).

(I highly recommend this article for all creative-types.)
Of course, having the summers off is also a big help. There’s no way I would have completed the draft of Secrets of Truth & Beauty without it.

Your favorite strategy for revision?

It depends on what kind of revision you mean. When I am still working on it myself, I try to do the “put it away for at least a month” thing. This works best if I’ve given it to a friend to read. Then I can come back to it with a new eye.
In terms of revisions with my editor, I tend to work chronologically. I start with the line edits, and just go through doing them, which gets me back into the book. Then when I come to a more substantial fix, I either do it then, or put it aside to really focus on later.

Best advice for young writers?

Live. Get out into the world and things that challenge you and maybe make you a little bit uncomfortable. I believe that the more experiences you have, the wider your perspective grows, and that can only improve your writing.

What were the best and worst parts of writing your debut novel?

Writing the first draft is always so freeing. I’m not an outliner, so for me it’s about discovery – I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m also a very analytical person, so going back and revising is fun for me, too. I like to see what’s there, strip away what doesn’t belong, and build up the strengths.

The worst part was when it felt like it was never going to be finished. I had countless rounds of revisions. It was great to have such a supportive editor. She was demanding, but in a good way. It was like I was running a marathon, with her a few steps ahead, saying, “Just a little bit more! You can do it!” And in the end, all of the work was worth it.

How did you find your agent and/or editor? Would you like to share your successful query letter?

My query letter (with notes from my agent!) is up on the web for all to see right here: http://acrowesnest.blogspot.com/2008/11/sara-queries-that-worked.html

In retrospect, I’m a bit embarrassed by the name-dropping, but I’d read somewhere that’s the way to do it, so I did. I’m not sure that it helped at all.

Thanks for sharing your journey, Megan!

You can read more about Megan at her website, and of course, you can ask for SECRETS OF TRUTH AND BEAUTY at your local independent bookseller.  You can also order it through one of my favorite indies, Flying Pig Bookstore (they ship!), or find an indie near you by checking out IndieBound!

The Frog Catchers

We spent last night camping in the Adirondacks, and since I like to focus on the positive things in life, I didn’t actually take photos of the two inches of water in our tent this morning.  (I am pretty sure the air mattresses were floating.) Instead, I’ll tell you about the s’mores and the three ponds we visited on our hike.  We spent the afternoon at our favorite mountain swimming hole, Copperas Pond, diving into the clear water, standing on the rocks while tiny fish bumped into our toes, drying off in the sun, and then diving in all over again.

And the frog-catching was outstanding!

E must have caught at least two dozen frogs at various stages of their tadpole-to-frog transformations.  Some of them had fully formed legs and tails.  She released them all…which is more than I can say for this other frog-catcher.

We were wading in shallow water when my son stepped onto the log and said, "Hey!  A snake!"  and then "Whoa!! It just caught a frog!"  We watched for almost a minute while the snake maneuvered the frog off of the log, into the water, and then into what we assume was its den in the rocks at the edge of the pond.

It disappeared, presumably to have dinner, and then it was time for us to do the same.  I’m pretty sure that our hamburgers and veggie burgers, though not quite as fresh, were both tastier and easier to come by.

The Boats, the BIG waves, the Books & the Bees

Be warned. This is one of those rambling, little-bit-of-everything posts.

First the boats… which were a theme of the League of Vermont Writers summer picnic at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum last weekend.  The League invited me to be one of two speakers for the event, and we had a great time talking about research for both historical fiction and for more contemporary pieces.  I was so glad I stayed to hear poet Daniel Lusk speak after lunch, too.

He was charming and read from his latest work-in-progress, a collection of poems inspired by what’s under the surface of Lake Champlain, from fish to shipwrecks, to our elusive lake monster, Champ.  And for those of you planning to attend the Burlington Book Festival this fall, take note… Daniel will be reading from his work at Burlington’s Waterfront Theatre on September 27th.  He wasn’t sure what time yet, but if you check the festival website, I’m sure they’ll have a schedule posted before long. 

In other news this week, my husband and I have spent a fair amount of time rescuing our dock pieces from waves as Lake Champlain’s water level continues to rise with all our summer rain. 

I think naked docks look funny, don’t you?

After we finished lugging all the pieces around, I plopped down on the sun porch and devoured my ARC of this book in a single day.

Don’t miss this one when it comes out in October.  L.K. Madigan‘s FLASH BURNOUT has one of the best teen boy voices in any book I’ve ever read.  I can’t begin to tell you how many times the dialogue made me laugh out loud.  So, so perfect and funny.  But not fluffy either – this book has a way of being hysterically funny and deeply profound all at once, and it tackles some tough issues.  I loved it and was sad when I finished.  Up next on my reading list (and saving me from too much pouting) is THE EVOLUTION OF CALPURNIA TATE, which I’ve heard great things about, too.

I haven’t had much reading time today yet because I spent the afternoon at the public library in Alburg, Vermont for a presentation about my second Lake Champlain historical novel, CHAMPLAIN AND THE SILENT ONE.  No matter how many presentations I give, I’m always moved by a welcome like this. 

Those balloons have had me smiling all day.  And I loved the group of people who came out for this event, a mix of all ages, including a high school freshman who just had her own poem about the Holocaust published.  It was fun to talk about writing with her and her sister!

My other big highlight of the week was a research appointment to help me write a new scene in SUGAR ON SNOW, my middle grade ice skating novel that’s coming out with Walker Books in 2010.  The main character’s friend takes care of the bees in her family’s apple orchard, and I’ve decided to set the new scene there.  (If you read the book later on, you will see why – it just fits the mood of the conversation perfectly.)  So yesterday, in 87-degree weather, I met up with a delightful area beekeeper (thank you, Dave!), zipped myself into a borrowed beekeeper’s outfit, and got to work watching and listening to 100,000 honeybees and learning how to care for them.

It’s probably good that you can’t see in the photo how sweaty I was.  Despite the heat, it was a fantastic afternoon, and I learned some amazing things about honeybees, some of which are perfect for the new scene and some of which are fascinating but don’t belong in my book, and so I’ll just quietly enjoy those.  For those of you who write & research, it’s a challenge, isn’t it?  Knowing what has to be left out, even when it’s information you love? 

The Alburg Library was my last author event until Labor Day weekend, when we’re throwing a launch party for THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z.  More on that soon, but for now, know that you’re invited to Flying Pig Bookstore in Shelburne, VT on Saturday, September 5th at 11:00.  Nonna’s famous funeral cookies from the book will make their debut, too!

For now…it’s back to the revision, with some camping, family visits, and general summer frolicking sprinkled in, too.  I hope you’ve had a terrific July!

WHEN YOU REACH ME by Rebecca Stead

If you’re anything like me, you’ve already heard about a million great recommendations for Rebecca Stead’s WHEN YOU REACH ME, and that can be a bit of a double-edged sword.  The great reviews made me really, REALLY want to read the book, but they also set up what I worried might be unrealistic expectations.  Could it really be THAT amazing?

It could.  And it is.

These young characters, growing up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, are reminiscent of Judy Blume’s families in TALES OF FOURTH GRADE NOTHING and the FUDGE series. They’re authentic, multi-faceted, funny, and real.  Their story of friendship and first crushes and first jobs would have been enough to win me over. But then the letter comes. When main character Miranda reads it, she she learns that a mysterious someone says he or she is coming to save her friend’s life, and the story evolves from a coming of age tale into a mystery/science fiction, genre-bending marvel. At the heart of WHEN YOU REACH ME is a thread about time travel — the possibilities, the what-if and the how-might-we, and the sheer wonder of believing.  When I finished, I wanted to pick it up immediately and start reading all over again.

This is going to be the first book that I share with my middle school students as a read-aloud in the fall. I absolutely, positively can’t wait.

Editing to add: I loaned my copy of WHEN YOU REACH ME to

[info]marjorielight

 , who has also posted a recommendation today. Hers is longer and way more detailed because she is like that and also makes fancy little place cards when you go to her house for dinner.  You can read her thoughts here.

Knowing your Secondary Characters

So I’m knee-deep in my revision of SUGAR ON SNOW right now.  I’m sitting on the sun porch with my coffee and a nice breeze from the lake, merrily checking off all the little revision jobs my editor asked me to consider in her editorial letter.  I’ve been moving right along, which is a good thing because the publication date for this book is likely being moved up to Fall 2010.  And I’ve been getting lots done this week and feeling good about the revision.  But I’ve just come to a screeching halt.  Because editor MK says:

Claire’s Mom – I wanted to see more of her. Claire spends a lot of time away from home, but I think the addition of a scene between them would help us get a better idea of who Claire is and where she comes from…..  What does her mother really think of all the skating?  What would her mom say about how Claire has changed?

And so I started adding a new scene with Claire and her mom together in the kitchen of their farmhouse.  They are sewing sequins onto Claire’s skating dress, and Claire’s mom looks at her and says….

I don’t know.

Because I’ve just realized that I don’t know Claire’s mom the way I need to know her to make this scene real.  I know the "Mom-of-the-moment" and how she spends her days, but I’m not entirely sure who Mom used to be. That feels important now, before I can move forward.

So I’ll be here on page 109 for a while.  I thought I’d do a little thinking-aloud on the blog, for process fans. Here are the questions I’m considering:

Right now, Mom’s whole life seems to be Claire and the boys and the maple farm. Who was she before?  When she was 16, before she met Claire’s dad, what did she want to be when she grew up?

She loves the maple farm, loves the work her family does there.  Why?

What does Mom think about while Claire is skating in Lake Placid?  What are her worries?  What is she hoping for Claire?

What was Mom’s relationship with her own parents like?

What makes Mom feel talented and special? What used to make her feel that way when she was a teenager?

Did Mom have a dream she didn’t get to follow or chose not to follow? 

What changes has Mom noticed in Claire since she started training in Lake Placid?

Mom is a listener, but Claire hasn’t had time to talk much about all this.  What has Mom heard from her? And what is she wondering about?

Where did Mom learn how to sew?  (And does Claire already know, or is Mom teaching her during this conversation, too?)

Time to shut down the laptop for a bit… This part of the process is a pen and notebook thing for me. 

What about you?  What are your favorite strategies for making secondary characters ring true?