Book Review: SIGNED, SKYE HARPER by Carol Lynch Williams

21 Monday Jul 2014

Posted by Ginger Johnson in Book Giveaway Contest, VCFA

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Carol Lynch Williams, SIGNED SKYE HARPER

When fifteen-year old Winston and her nanny receive a letter from Winston’s absent mother, Skye Harper (formerly known as Judith Lee Fletcher), they know that something is afoot. Winston’s momma ran off eleven years ago to become a star, leaving Winston in the care of her grandmother, Nanny, and though postcards have been few, letters have been even more scarce.

Winston’s momma writes that she has “run aground” in Vegas after having danced and sung and done a few bit acting parts. She is out of cash and out of steam and asks Nanny and Winston to come get her. Winston has little but disdain for her mother, but Nanny misses her daughter and makes plans to bring her home — plans that include a “borrowed” RV. Nanny, Winston, Thelma the dog, and Denny the one-legged rooster head toward Vegas, but they don’t count on the RV containing a stowaway in it: Winston’s crush, Steve.

What ensues is a charming 1970’s young adult road-trip novel with character, romance, expectations, and a careful negotiation of family relationships. Carol Lynch Williams delivers in Signed, Skye Harper.

NOTE: For the sensitive, there are a few swear words in the text.

BOOK GIVEAWAY: To be entered in a drawing for an advanced reader copy of Signed, Skye Harper by Carol Lynch Williams, tell me where you would go in an RV on a road trip with your grandmother, a cute boy, and a one-legged rooster. Winner will be notified on Friday, July 25th.

10 HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE VCFA AMR July 2014

15 Tuesday Jul 2014

Posted by Annemarie O'Brien in In Real Life, The Writing Biz, The Writing Life, Uncategorized, VCFA, Writing Craft

≈ 10 Comments

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A Girl Called Fearless, A.S. King, Alexandra Penfold (Upstart), Annemarie O'Brien, Barbara Fisch, Berenson series, Blue Media Slip, Cafe Anna, Candlewick, Catherine Linka, Christine Dowd, Deb Gonzales, Elizabeth Bicknell, Heather Alexander (Pippin), Jacqui Lipton, Jessica Echeverria (Lee & Low), John Cusick, John Cusick (Greenhouse), Katherine Paterson, Kathi Appelt, Kelley Lamb, Lara's Gift, Lisa Doan, Louise Hawes, M.T. Anderson, Margaret Bechard, Marion Dane Bauer, Mikki Grimes, Rita Williams-Garcia, Rubin Pfeffer, Rubin Pfeffer (Rubin Pfeffer Content), Sarah Ellis, Sarah Shealy, The Dramatic Writer's Companion, THE STUFF OF STARS, VCFA, Will Dunne

Sarah Ellis, the S3Q2 graduation speaker, reading in the Cafe Anna.

Thirty-two MFA alumni from the VCFA Writing for Children & Young Adults Writing Program were once again warmly welcomed by faculty, students, and the administration this past weekend. While my fellow S3Q2 classmates were sorely missed for what would have been our 5^th reunion, it was nice to see a good alumni showing celebrating their 10^th anniversary under picture perfect blue skies and zero humidity.

Deb Gonzales

Deb Gonzales (Cliffhangers ’08) and Kelley Lamb, Director of Development and Alumni Affairs whipped up a stellar line-up of speakers: Marion Dane Bauer, Nikki Grimes, Margaret Bechard, and A.S. King. The dynamic duo also put together panels of editors, agents and publicists including: Jessica Echeverria (Lee & Low), Heather Alexander (Pippin), John Cusick (Greenhouse), Alexandra Penfold (Upstart), Rubin Pfeffer (Rubin Pfeffer Content), and Blue Slip Media publicity gurus, Barbara Fisch and Sarah Shealy.

The Table at the VCFA Bookstor

What a lovely surprise it was to see LARA’S GIFT featured on The Table at the VCFA bookstore alongside some of my favorite writers! It was also displayed cover open in another prominent spot. Thank you, VCFA Bookstore!!

Highlight # 1 – Friends

I’ve been making the long haul from California to Vermont every year since I graduated in 2009 to visit with old friends and meet new ones. Cyber hugs can’t beat the real thing and this girl likes to get her yearly fix.

Thai Dinner with Marion Dane Bauer

With Kathi Appelt

With Jaqui Lipton, my former student, now a first semester resident

Highlight # 2 – Nikki Grimes Lecture

Nikki Grimes – AMR 2014

Nikki Grimes delivered a Master Class on voice, poetry, and metaphor that inspired all of us. Some quotes I culled from her lecture include:

“If a reader loves a character, he will follow that character almost anywhere.”

“Do a good job creating your characters and readers will talk about them like they are real people.”

Highlight # 3 – Author Introductions

Nowhere in the world, but at VCFA, can you get an introduction worthy of a beloved King. Rita Williams-Garcia and Louise Hawes lived up to the VCFA tradition when they had the honor to introduce Nikki Grimes and Marion Dane Bauer, respectively.

Rita Williams-Garcia

Louise Hawes

Highlight # 4 – Reading by Marion Dane Bauer

Marion Dane Bauer dazzled us with a reading of a Sure-To-Become-World-Classic-Picture Book titled THE STUFF OF STARS recently acquired by Candlewick. Her agent, Rubin Pfeffer thought it was so good, he bought a dozen designer cupcakes and presented it in person to Editorial Director, Elizabeth Bicknell and her staff.

Highlight # 5 – Nikki Grimes Word Play Exercise

If the first words that come to you are cliché and you struggle to find something fresh to describe your characters or setting, what do you do? Look no further. Nikki Grimes, poet extraordinaire and award-winning author, offered a Word-Play Exercise to help you study a word from the inside out.

Close your eyes and think of a word. Hold it closely, but give yourself permission to play with it and as you do sift that word through your senses, and think about all of the possibilities of that word. What does that word taste like, sound like, look like, feel like, and smell like? When you’re done, open your eyes, and write a poem about that word using poetic tools like metaphor, similes, alliteration, repetition and/or formats like haiku, cinquain, or rhyme to describe that word for someone who has never experienced that word.

Highlight # 6 – Lisa Doan’s Reading

Lisa Doan, author of the BERENSON SERIES had all of us laughing during her alumni reading from her next book.

Highlight # 6 – Margaret Bechard’s Lecture

Margaret Bechard

Margaret Bechard gave a lecture on Questions and Answers and How it Relates to Tension in Typical-Witty-Brilliant-Margaret fashion. Her lecture was based largely on Will Dunne’s book, THE DRAMATIC WRITER’S COMPANION—a book every serious writer should have in their library.

Some of Margaret’s quotes include:

“The function of a story is to make the reader worry. Questions keep the reader in two places at once and engage your reader by what’s happening in the now, as well as what’s going to happen.”

“When you have answered one question, you must immediately pose a new one. Furthermore, as you are in the process of answering a question, you should be setting up a new question.”

“Music is not in the notes but in the silence between them. This kind of gap in your writing is the tension in your story.”

“The million-dollar question for writers is: When do you pose and answer the questions in your story? The quick answer in building tension lies in the Goldilocks Rule: not too early, not too late, but at the just right moment.”

Highlight # 7 – Nikki Grimes Metaphor Tip

Metaphor comes best from the images and words of your character, setting, or world. Be sure to use words and images related to the environment and the time-period of your own story.

Highlight # 8 – Café Anna

Cafe Anna

Café Ana was a pleasant surprise on campus and where most of us had an Earthy-Crunchy-Organic-Vermont-Breakfast each morning to start the day.

Highlight # 9 – Noble Lounge

At the podium talking about Content Marketing

VCFA has grown so big that the current students now meet in the Chapel leaving alumni with Noble Lounge. What a treat it was to go back in time to where we heard our first lectures and delivered our graduate lectures! Here I am at the podium lecturing on Content Marketing.

Highlight # 10 – Catherine Linka’s Talk

Last, but certainly not least was the time we had with Catherine Linka, bookseller and author of A GIRL CALLED FEARLESS. She shared some tips on working with bookstores. She highlighted the important role that Edelweiss Above the Treeline plays in educating booksellers about our books and stressed that we must all take the marketing questionnaire that our publisher sends us seriously.

The 2014 AMR ended for me at Morse Farms in Christine Dowd’s company with a soft serve maple ice cream cone. Delish!

Mark your calendar! The next AMR will NOT be held during the residency. It will be held from June 18-21, 2015 and the featured authors will be M.T. Anderson and Katherine Paterson!

And be sure to share your highlights in the comment section for VCFA alumni unable to make the trip home.

We Mourn

07 Monday Jul 2014

Posted by Danielle Pignataro in Uncategorized

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Last week, the world received the news of the death of Walter Dean Myers.

In the summer of 2011, I had the privilege of meeting and assisting him when he visited the Vermont College of Fine Arts. I wrote about it here.

I’m finding it hard to put into words how I’m feeling. As a reader, as a writer, and as a teacher, I have been profoundly influenced by Mr. Myers’ writing and I have seen first hand what his books do for children. As a Graduate Assistant at VCFA, I had the opportunity to actually get to know him a bit, and the person he proved to be was just as kind and wonderful as I had imagined.

Since I’m having trouble writing about Mr. Myers (perhaps because I still refuse to believe he is no longer with us), I’m going to point you to two my favorite pieces about him so far. Read Lyn Miller-Lachmann’s post here. See what Felicia R. Lee of the New York Times wrote here. I love the photo of Mr. Myers included with that one.

Please add your thoughts and favorite links about Walter Dean Myers in the comments section.

Speech, Speech!

23 Monday Jun 2014

Posted by Varian Johnson in Uncategorized

≈ 5 Comments

Although I don’t watch the Emmys, Oscars, Tonys, etc; I understand the fascination with these award shows. The glitz. The tears. The surprises. And the speeches.

I’m a junkie for speeches as well, especially author acceptance speeches (especially when I’m struggling with my own writing). Whether it’s for the Newbery, Printz, Boston Globe-Horn, or whatever, I love hearing authors talk about their process, or why they were drawn to write a book, or how, even with past success, each new book has its own traps and pitfalls. And since I just so happen to be stuck on yet another manuscript, I figured I’d share excerpts from some of my favorite author’s acceptance speeches.

Tim Wynne-Jones (from his acceptance speech for the 2011 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction for Blink & Caution):

The part about being a writer I like best is the time between books. It’s when you allow yourself to imagine that the next book will really be good; the next book will be the one you were meant to write. No story is as full of promise as the one that’s in your head. You get over this heady sensation soon enough, once you actually start writing, but the time before writing is…well, it’s rather like being in love. Or I should say being in love with love. You are open to anything.

Rebecca Stead (from her acceptance speech for the 2010 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction for When You Reach Me):

[S]everal years ago, I didn’t even admit to most people that I was trying to write. When I did talk about it, I sometimes referred to my own work as “stupid.” I probably thought I was protecting myself from disappointment, calling my work stupid before anybody else could do it. But it turns out not to work that way. There is no protecting yourself.

E. Lockhart (from her acceptance speech for the 2009 Printz-Honor winning book, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks):

All too often, I think, both well‐meaning and nefarious adults treat YA novels as if they are billboards. As if the books are moral lessons cloaked as entertainments, and the youth of today should read these novels in order to learn to have hope, stay strong, or speak out. We also fear they’ll read the wrong things and lust for bad boys, embark on disordered eating patterns or experiment with drugs.

“But books are not billboards. They are meant for complicated responses. They are ambiguous. They are meant to be argued over, unpacked, disagreed with, loved and hated simultaneously, and reread at different times of life for different meanings. That is the wonder of this art form, the way it invites multiple interpretations.

Melina Marchetta (from her acceptance speech for the 2009 Printz award-winning book, Jellicoe Road):

I know some people have a thirty page rule (for when they give up on a novel). I wish they didn’t. I’d like to think there are so many wonderful surprises on page 31 of someone’s story. I’d like to think that the first line of a novel doesn’t make sense if you haven’t read the last.

And

It’s a privileged place we hold in (young readers’) lives. We have access to places that most people don’t. We’re in those bedrooms late at night; we’re in the very dark place of a young person who feels rage at the world; we’ve been told we make black holes a bit smaller. We try to make sense of a world that stopped making sense to even their parents.

“I don’t think for one moment, that’s our responsibility as writers, but I’m glad that it’s our reality.

What about you? Are you an acceptance award speech junkie, too?

So Many Books, So Little Space

16 Monday Jun 2014

Posted by lindenmcneilly in Uncategorized

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A stack of books stands as sentinel at my bedside. My husband’s side towers equally high. My daughter’s bedroom…. well, let’s just say that she got a double dose of the book-loving gene and her shelves are packed.

In my twenties and thirties I moved so much that my belongings were forced through a regular winnowing process. You can only pack so many books before you start giving them away to your college roommate, whose father arrived with a pickup truck, or that neighbor who had his own “Free Lending Library” before it became fashionable. Though I kept the ones that were close to my heart, I have given away or sold most of the books I have ever owned mainly because I had to.

Now I have been in the same house for more than twenty years. My family has read thousands of books in that time, many of which we’ve owned. We’ve been in the same book club for two decades. Our friends and family have written books that we want to read. But I haven’t built a personal book annex to store all these precious things, and no time to reread them if I did store them.

What to do?

Here’s what I do: I belong to Paperback Swap. It is a combination swap meet (in the true sense of the word) and buddy-book-exchange. It is a winning combination of celebrating the love of reading and making way for future books to adore.

What is Paperback Swap?

It is a huge, revolving list of books that are mailed from the home of one reader to another. (At this moment, there are 4,580,492 books available to swap).

It is a low-cost way to obtain books you really want to read, or need to own. I got my high school-age daughter’s five required summer books this year through trade.

It is a way to share books you’ve loved but don’t need to keep.

How does it work?

First, you register. You need a valid email, a valid USPS mailing address, and books you want to swap. You’ll put a little money in your account—via Paypal or a credit card. Then, you enter the ISBN numbers of the books you want to swap. You’ll get a couple of free credits for listing your first ten books, and you can request two books with those credits. Just browse in the “library” for books that interest you (or leave a request, and when that book is available somewhere, you’ll get a note). When you find books you want, simply click to order, and the member will send them to you, postage paid. You can keep them forever or swap them again after reading them.

When members request books from you, you’ll get an email and note in your inbox. When you accept the request, you can preprint the book mailer at home, wrap it around the book, and send it off without going to the post office. The postage on the mailer is deducted from your account. You don’t need an envelope or anything special. When the member receives the book, you get a credit for another free book! All books are guaranteed to be in good condition, with covers and no excessive wear. Most that I have received have been in nearly new condition.

I think of Paperback Swap as an enormous river of books that I can add to or dip into as desired. And what is better than a moving supply of books?

Give it a try!

http://www.paperbackswap.com/home.php

Secret Nighttime Reading

09 Monday Jun 2014

Posted by Danielle Pignataro in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

As a teenager, I often was awake well past midnight reading, but I also had endless amounts of energy and could function the next morning. These days, not so much. If I’m not asleep by 11p.m., the next day is truly a struggle, and one needs mucho energy when managing 13- and 14-year-olds. If you recall my last post, my school year is coming to a close, which means I’ll have some much-needed time off.

This is why Ginger’s last post has me PUMPED for summer. And when I say PUMPED, I mean it. I often revert to my teenage schedule and my nocturnal tendencies during the summer. Well into the wee hours of the morning, my little light is on, and I am reading reading reading. I’m psyched to spend those hours with friends- not literally, of course; however, Ginger reminded me of not only the books that would be coming out soon, but of the books that have recently arrived and are waiting to be read.

I’ll spend all summer with Adi Rule, Robin Herrera, Sarah Ellis, Ann Westrick, Catherine Linka, and Varian Johnson. Into the wee hours of the morning, I will escape into the worlds they have created. I love that feeling- when my eyes begin to droop at 3a.m., but I MUST finish this page, this chapter, this entire book. Everything else fades away- the room I’m in, the house I’m in, the neighborhood I’m in- and I’m just that teenage girl again, listening to the deep sounds of night, reading until the sun comes up.

What are your summer reading suggestions?

ARC-angel

02 Monday Jun 2014

Posted by Ginger Johnson in The Writing Biz

≈ 2 Comments

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BEA, EVIL LIBRARIAN, FAT & BONES, I'LL GIVE YOU THE SUN, IF YOU'RE READING THIS, Jandy Nelson, Larissa Theule, Mette Ivie Harrison, Michelle Knudsen, THE BISHOP'S WIFE, Trent Reedy

While many people in the publishing world were traipsing about the Javits Center this past weekend reveling in books, books, and more books, I was painting my bathroom in stripes. Black and white stripes. Like prison wear.

I’m not bitter; I actually quite like the bathroom.

However.

I really wish I could have been an ARC-angel this weekend, swooping down on publishers’ booths and snatching a few coveted titles. I recognize that an angel would never steal, let alone cut in front of a line of hundreds of people, but whatever. I’m going with it.

First, I would have snagged a copy of our own Larissa Theule’s Fat & Bones and Other Stories, coming from Carolrhoda Books in October. I have looked forward to reading this for five years, from the first time I heard Larissa read from it. I’ve been haunted by piggy blood ever since. During our retreat in 2012 she read another story, and I was simply and utterly blown away. Larissa is a brilliant and funny and quirky writer and I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy of this book.

Aren’t the illustrations by Adam S. Doyle gorgeous?

Next on my wish list would be a copy of Jandy Nelson’s I’ll Give You the Sun, available in September from Dial. I adore Jandy’s lush prose almost as much as I adore Jandy herself. And if you haven’t yet read her debut, The Sky is Everywhere, drop what you’re doing right now and get thyself to a bookstore, or else I’ll lock you up in my jail-bathroom.

Hm. That doesn’t sound very angelic.

Ok, halo back on, I would swoop down and grab a copy of Mette Ivie Harrison’s latest book, an adult mystery called The Bishop’s Wife, coming in December from Soho. I had the pleasure of meeting Mette this past weekend and talking to her about this book, which was inspired by a real-life tragedy. The protagonist is a Mormon bishop’s wife investigating the disappearance of a woman in her congregation. I got the sense that this book covers the Mormon experience in general, as well as male/female dynamics in the church and real-life marital issues, all wrapped up in a mystery. Being Mormon myself, I look forward to reading a book that speaks to my culture. (Would this be an appropriate place to say #WeNeedDiversity?)

Then, of course, if my ARC-angel wings weren’t droopy, I’d slide in for copies of Trent Reedy’s latest, If You’re Reading This, coming in August from Arthur A. Levine Books and Mikki Knudsen’s Evil Librarian, coming in September from Candlewick.

Alas, I am not an ARC-angel, and thus I have no ARCs. If anyone wants to take pity on me, feel free to send any of these my way. In return, I’d be happy to take you on a personal tour of my striped bathroom.

And teachers rejoice…or do they?

26 Monday May 2014

Posted by Danielle Pignataro in In Real Life

≈ 5 Comments

It’s the end of the school year. Again.

As June approaches, New York City teachers rejoice. Or at least that’s what most people think.

In fact, like so many of my peers, I go through a spectrum of emotions. The following list sums up just some of them. Please add yours in the comments section below.

Excitement: The year is almost over! In one month I will have the time to sleep late, exercise, write, and nap.

Panic: How are we going to finish everything we need to finish before the year is over? It’s impossible.

Disbelief: I can’t believe the year is almost over! There’s no way that there is only one month left.

Resignation: Oh, well. If we don’t finish everything before the year is over, we don’t finish it.

Pleasure: I made it through the year, and I think I did a pretty good job.

Frustration: Why are we even still in school? Isn’t the year over yet?

Curiosity: What am I going to do once the year is over? What are my students going to do all summer?

Confidence: I WILL make it to the end of the year. I can do it.

Anger: Why won’t my students listen to me? Why are we still in school in June?

Premature Nostalgia: I’m really going to miss my students once this year is over. I miss them already. I’m going to try and enjoy every moment left with them.

An Open Letter to Unpublished Writers

12 Monday May 2014

Posted by Ginger Johnson in The Writing Life, We're Inspired

≈ 19 Comments

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Martine Leavitt, writer's apprenticeship

Dear Unpublished Writer,

When you started writing, you happily proclaimed yourself to be a writer. After all, that’s what everyone told you to do: own it. Claim it. And so you did, certain that you would publish any day.

But years have gone by…and you haven’t published yet. When you meet people and they ask you what you do, you dread the answer, no longer so willing to claim the title of “writer” because you know what comes next: “Are you published?”

To which you always answer sheepishly: “It takes a long time. I’ve got things in the pipeline.”

Invariably, the person you’ve just met will turn away, no longer interested. Or at least that’s your perception. You begin to think of yourself not as WRITER, but as UNPUBLISHED writer, a synonym for LOSER.

Does any of this sound familiar?

If so, allow me the privilege of re-branding you. Unpublished Writer, I hereby title you APPRENTICE. You are serving your apprenticeship. You are not in purgatory. You are not a loser. You are right where you’re supposed to be.

I think I first heard this term applied to writers by Martine Leavitt. I was ~~whining about~~ discussing my writing and she simply noted that I was serving my apprenticeship.

One of my characters is a medieval apprentice, so I’ve done plenty of research on apprenticeships. In medieval times, an apprentice performed low-level tasks while observing their masters and gradually learning the skills of the trade, usually for a period of seven years.

Seven years, my friends. Seven years of chopping wood, stoking the fire, grinding pigment, sharpening knives. Seven years of labor.

This April marked my seventh year writing seriously. Seven years of character development, reading, plot structure, narrative arc, voice, point of view, conflict, scene, backstory, pacing, dialogue, butt-in-chair, conferences, and emotional ups and downs. Seven years of labor (but with better plumbing, better nutrition, and fewer fleas than medieval apprentices). It’s been quite a journey. It hasn’t been easy, but I value it more than I can say.

Though my apprenticeship isn’t over yet, experience has taught me a few things about making the period of apprenticeship easier:

Recognize your apprenticeship. Call a spade, a spade. Sometimes the act of naming something gives you control over it. If it helps, write the word APPRENTICE on your bathroom mirror in soap, so every morning and every night you’ll be reminded. Stick post-it notes to your steering wheel (The Apprentice Mobile). When you order a fancy hot beverage du jour ask the barista to put an “A” in cream on top (no, not the Hester Prynne letter A). Drink your apprenticeship in. Recognize that you are a writer-in-process.
Serve your apprenticeship. It’s ok to be in the process. You may desire overnight success — our society primes people for instant gratification — but appearances are deceiving: what may look like an overnight success for a writer might hide years and years of hard work. There’s no cheating–an apprenticeship must be served, regardless of whether it is public or private. Ars longa, vita breva, or as Geoffrey Chaucer said, “The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne.” Trust the process. Take the time to learn the craft of writing in an integrated way.
Honor your apprenticeship. Be grateful for those who have helped you along the way, then pay it forward. There are so many opportunities to learn the craft of writing, in part because the children’s writing community is so generous. Respect the things you have learned, and teach them to someone else who is an apprentice.

Go forward and create, Apprentice, until you become Master.