The debate over what to do with the wreck of the Spitfire, the Revolutionary War gunboat featured in my first historical novel, seems to be resurfacing.
Librarian Cally Flickinger alerted me to this article in the Burlington Free Press. I expect it will reinvigorate our conversations about the value of historical resources.
What do you think should happen?
There are so many exciting steps along the way in a writer’s journey. Some of them, like getting books in the mail or doing a first book signing, you’ve heard about and expect to be amazing experiences. But some of the other milestones have taken me by surprise. Like when my editor emailed me last year with the ISBN number for Spitfire, my first regional historical novel.
ISBN number??? I have an ISBN number? I have an ISBN number!!!
I was so giddy that a slightly snarky friend suggested I have the number tattooed on my forehead.
Today was another one of those memorable milestones. I got an email from Melissa, my editor at Chronicle Books, which is publishing my first picture book, Over and Under the Snow. She’d just come from a meeting with Chronicle’s design department, and she wanted to share the short list of illustrators under consideration. They are all amazing. I spent half the night online, looking at websites and portfolios and requesting picture books from the library. Obviously, it’s way too early in the process for me to share much. But I can share this…
Wow. Just wow. It’s humbling to think that someone with such incredible talent will create art to tell a story with my words.
I’d love to hear thoughts from those of you who have been through this process. I can’t begin to imagine how exciting it will be to see the final illustrations.
I know there’s more work to do with this manuscript. There’s editing. I still have to fill out that long author questionnaire (I’m working on it, really…). And I’m sure there will be bumps in the road before my picture book is a book. But for now, what a gift – to be able to look at the work of such amazing artists and imagine what each of them might bring to SNOW with their unique styles and moods.
Tonight, I’ll be dreaming in pen and ink, watercolor, mixed media, and everything in between.
I said goodbye to some old friends on Friday.
It was time for these little guys — salmon that my students raised from fertilized eggs in their science classroom — to make their way out into the river. Our 7th graders spent a gorgeous Friday on the river bank, releasing the fish, conducting a watershed survey, and relaxing in the sunshine to do some journaling and reading.
They loved the hip waders we used to collect temperature readings and macroinvertebrate specimens.
Here I am, releasing the stragglers after all the students let their own fish go from paper cups.
They seemed happy to be free, but I can’t help but worry. It’s been three days, and I haven’t heard from any of them. They don’t write… They don’t call… I’m guessing some of you who have had kids go off to college can relate.
Guess what?? I’m going on a field trip tomorrow! (I know that makes me sound like a third grader, but I love field trips just as much as a teacher as I did when I was a kid.)
We’re taking our 7th graders to the river to release the baby salmon that they raised from fertilized eggs in their science classroom.
Then we’re putting on hip waders and collecting macroinvertebrates for a watershed survey.
And then we’re having a picnic lunch and lounging on the grass and reading our novels until it’s time to go back to class. Now that’s my kind of school day.
My students have also been working on another interdisciplinary English-Science activity called the River City Project. We’re participating in a Harvard University School of Education research project to determine how video game concepts can best be adapted to engage kids in academic settings. In this game, kids travel back in time to a 19th century river town where residents are getting sick. Students work online in collaborative teams, use their 21st century research skills to gather data, form hypotheses about the causes of the illnesses, and design experiments to test their hypotheses. Afterwards, they write letters to the mayor of River City explaining their conclusions and making recommendations to improve the city’s health. You can read more about the River City Project here.
I thought this was all worth posting because there’s been an awful lot of talk online lately about No Child Left Behind and the damage that high stakes testing has done to many schools. It’s a huge problem — one that’s chasing many great teachers out of the classroom. (Read Jordan Sonnenblick’s heartbreaking SLJ column.)
But there are also lots of teachers like
, whose recent post on testing reminds me to keep fighting the fight for authentic learning.
We don’t test our kids to death at my school. We don’t have them fill out bubbles in workbooks for weeks on end. We read and write and think and question and get outside and learn. I have faith that these kids are going to be critical thinkers and real-life problem solvers when they leave us. And you know what else? When it comes time to fill in the bubbles on the test, they do just fine.
I spent a fabulous day with the 4th and 5th graders at Chamberlin School in South Burlington earlier this week. Their amazing librarian, Cally Flickinger, even set up a special blog so we could chat a little online before my visit.
I did a large group presentation for each grade level; both went long because the kids had so many fantastic questions. They had all read Spitfire and asked very detailed questions about specific scenes in the book – terrific fun for me as an author!
After the two presentations, I got to work with small groups for historical fiction writing workshops! The kids who signed up for the workshops were just amazing. We spent an hour doing different kinds of research — from deciphering 18th century journals to trying out some of the games, tools, and foods that would have been part of everyday life.
The kids went back and forth with their “experimental archaeology,” trying things out and then taking notes with loads of sensory details relating to each experience.
There was the ever-frustrating bilbo-catcher, a game that I managed to win once — the first time I tried it. I haven’t been able to catch the ball on the post ever since. Not surprisingly, some of the 4th and 5th graders were much, much better at it than I was.
The kids also tried their hands at tabletop ninepins…
…making sparks with flint and steel…
…and practicing penmanship on a slate.
They’re using their notes to write stories set in the 18th century, and they’ve already posted some terrific first drafts to the blog their librarian created.
We talked a lot about revision during my visit. I told them some of my revisions stories and pulled the messy, marked-up manuscript I’m working on now out of my tote bag to share.
They’re excited about revising, and I’m excited that I’ll get to play another part in their writing process. After they’ve critiqued one another’s work and made revisions, they’ll post to the blog again, and I’ll be making comments to them online, offering “editor feedback” for one more round of revisions before they complete their final drafts.
With their permission, I’ll post some excerpts from those final stories when they’re done. I can already tell they’re going to be fantastic. Chamberlin School has some seriously talented writers!
My Mother’s Day weekend started off in a room full of readers and writers. I got to say hello to LJ friends
,
,
, and I heard two amazing lectures at the Children’s Literature New England Colloquy.
First came M.T. Anderson, discussing “Experimental” opening pages. If you’ve never heard Tobin Anderson speak, you should do everything you possibly can to find an event where he’s featured. He’s simply brilliant and speaks so eloquently that I’d drive a couple hours just to hear him read the phone book, because he’d probably make such smart, funny comments about the names after he read them. (I was too enthralled to take a picture on Friday, but here’s a photo my friend Stephanie took after we heard him speak at Vermont College’s Special Event Day last summer.)
And look what Candlewick handed out after Anderson’s presentation…
I’ve already started reading my ARC of The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves and will be sure to post a review before the book comes out in October.
I had remembered my digital camera by the time Gregory McGuire (the one at the podium) introduced the Friday afternoon speaker, Arthur Levine of Scholastic (the one smiling even though he has a broken hand).
Arthur wouldn’t tell us how he broke his fingers (
, do you know?), but he did tell lots of fascinating, funny stories about his own “first pages” that led him to be the über-editor that he is today.
I was surprised — but thrilled — when I ran into Brian Selznick, who wasn’t speaking until later in the conference. I couldn’t stay to hear his presentation, but I did get to chat with him about how The Invention of Hugo Cabret started out as a fairly traditional middle grade novel and evolved into the incredible book that won the Caldecott Medal.
Brian signed this copy of Hugo as a Mother’s Day gift for my mom who arrived at my house for the weekend with my sister right after I returned from the conference.
Mom (
) loved the artwork in Hugo; she’s the artist who created the cover art for Spitfire. The publisher of my regional historical novels, North Country Books, has also asked her to do the cover for Champlain & the Silent One, which comes out this fall. It’s almost finished, but not quite. I got to see the current version this weekend, and I’m so excited. I’ll be sure to share the final painting when it’s done!
As for the rest of my weekend…the sun is shining, and the bike path is calling. Have a terrific Mother’s Day!
I’m thankful because I’m going to see M.T. Anderson and Arthur Levine speak at Children’s Literature New England tomorrow. Is anyone else going to be there?
Also, two nights ago, I finished a new round of revisions on my MG novel MAPLE GIRL and clicked the send button. My agent read it in 24 hours (I don’t think she sleeps) and says it’s ready to go. Think good thoughts for my manuscript, okay? It’s a big, bad world out there….
Oh – and one more thing… tomorrow’s the deadline to comment on this post and enter to win an ARC of KNOWING JOSEPH by Judith Mammay.
Judith Mammay’s debut novel, Knowing Joseph, opens with a little kid making a scene in a bowling alley parking lot. Brian Bertram walks away from him. “I’m glad I don’t know that kid!” he says.
But the boy kicking and screaming and throwing himself on the ground is Brian’s autistic brother, Joseph. So begins Brian’s struggle — to deal with his brother, to defend him, and ultimately, with the help of a surprising new friend, to understand him.
Judith — Judy, to her friends and
on LJ– is one of my online critique partners. I always enjoy her writing, so I picked up JOSEPH expecting to like it. I wasn’t disappointed, and I was especially taken with the details that let readers see Joseph as a real person and not just “the kid with autism.” Judy has an autistic grandson, and that was important to her. Knowing Joseph is a natural book choice for older siblings of autistic kids, since Brian grows to model so many caring, supportive strategies for helping his brother. It’s a great title for schools, too, because it helps readers understand what’s behind scenes like the temper tantrum at the bowling alley. And understanding leads to acceptance.
This book has many of the same themes as Cynthia Lord’s Rules, one of my favorites. Knowing Joseph is probably geared toward a slightly younger audience, though. I’m guessing the 8-10 crowd will like it best, and it has nice big print and plenty of white space so reluctant readers won’t be intimidated. Kudos to the BTP design team for making sure this book will be accessible to kids with special needs, too.
If you’d like to win an ARC of Knowing Joseph, just leave a comment below about why you’d like to read it (or with whom you’d like to share it). I’ll choose a name at random Friday night at 6pm EST to win!
I’m wrapping up a new revision pass on a middle grade novel. It’s been through all my regular critique partners, and I needed a fresh perspective before I finish and send it back to my agent. I especially wanted to identify any places where the pacing was slow.
So earlier this week, I gave it to a few of my book-loving 7th grade students, along with three stacks of Post-It notes. I asked them to put a pink Post-It in spots they liked best, a blue one in places where they were getting bored, and a green one with a comment where they had something else to say. One student returned the manuscript two days later, and I just finished working through her comments.
She pointed out seven places where I was able to tighten up the pacing and went on to offer another 38 suggestions on everything from voice to consistency. Check out the variety of feedback…
It’s kind of weird that she’s crying from that comment, which wasn’t even that bad. Maybe you should make it meaner.
This whole cross-country part is really entertaining.
How old is Ian?
Oh – I can relate to this part!
Too much science talk.
I thought it said she zipped up her sweatshirt when she went out, and now you’re talking about a jacket.
Is Nonna her dad’s mom or her mom’s mom?
A real kid wouldn’t say this.
I love evil school people.
Too much blushing here- too sappy.
Does this kid have a future in editing, or what?
Her last comment made me laugh in recognition. I really try to guard against sappiness in my writing, but when you’re the kind of person who listens to Barry Manilow and cries at Folgers commercials, it creeps in occasionally. Thank goodness I have a twelve-year-old editor to help me root it out.
It’s official! Super-Agent literaticat says I can share the news that’s had me over the moon for the past three weeks or so….
She sold my picture book to Chronicle Books! Here’s the official announcement from Publishers Marketplace:
| Children’s: Picture book |
Kate Messner’s OVER AND UNDER THE SNOW, in which a girl on a ski trip discovers the secrets of the animal kingdom beneath the snow, to Melissa Manlove at Chronicle, by Jennifer Laughran at Andrea Brown Literary Agency (World).
|
…and here are some of the juicy details.
If you read my blog much, you know that I love spending time outdoors in every season — especially winter. Really astute blog readers might even remember this entry, where I talked about a snowshoe trip I took with my 7th grade students in the Adirondacks. We saw tracks like these…
…disappearing into a crevice in the packed snow and heard all about the tunnels of the subnivean zone, under the snow. I was enchanted. So I started reading and researching and writing, and playing around with the poetry of snow, and then I went to the Kindling Words retreat and shared the manuscript with a new writer friend, Joan. She loved it and gave me a few ideas for revision. In early February, I sent OVER AND UNDER THE SNOW off to Jennifer, my agent. She fell in love and sent it out to a few editors she thought might fall in love, too.
One of them did. She took the book through the acquisitions process, and Chronicle’s formal offer came a few weeks ago.
I am thrilled — more than thrilled — to be working with a house that publishes such beautiful, beautiful picture books. Plus, there’s the added bonus of Ivy & Bean. My daughter LOVES the Ivy & Bean series and was very excited when she found out it’s the same publisher. I told her this kind of makes her related to Ivy and Bean in a way…like distant cousins or something.
Since then, my house has been a chatty, excited place — even more so than usual. There’s been a lot of squealing and jumping up and down and imagining what the illustrations will look like. I’m early for the Thankful Thursday blog post, but this time, I was too thankful to wait.
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