MotherReader

Sure, lots of people like to talk about the conferences that they attended while everyone still remembers that there was a conference. But while everyone is moving on to Cybils nominations, I’m still here throwing out updates. Let’s say it’s because I want to keep talking about it. You know, as opposed to me being lazy about writing this week.

Anyway, I left my updates after only the first session. I sat for the second session — The Future of Transmedia Storytelling — with no preconceptions about the subject. And boy, did that panel blow my mind! In case you are wondering about the topic, as I kinda was, I’ll give a definition. And since I can’t remember if this was their words or my notes, I’ll put it in quotes to be safe. “Transmedia refers to the delivery of story through a variety of media. Story lines are interwoven and connected, but not repetitive. Each story element is individual, but true transmedia brings things together as one concept.” The Angel Punk group described several types and versions of transmedia. I noted the following: Pottermore, 39 Clues, Inanimate Alice, iDrakula, Cathy’s Book, and Skeleton Creek. Being the creators of Angel Punk, they talked the most about that as a combination of film, comic book, novel, and interactive experience with blogs, Facebook pages, and Twitter feeds for the characters. I had no interest in this stuff before, but I am really curious now and can’t wait to investigate.

After that session, it was lucky that I went to one on blogging the backlist. Here I could settle in with the comfort of a cozy couch on a winter day, because I’m all about the backlist. Especially now that I realize that six months from publication is backlist! Seems surprising that that shiny new book isn’t all that new anymore in the publishing industry. Here I didn’t take notes so much as raise hands and shout Amen as Jen Robinson, Melissa Madsen Fox, and Maureen Kearney led the discussion on how both old and new books are important for librarians, for awards, for readers, for each other and for publishers. I say it again: AMEN!

With lots of activity and little sleep, I hit the wall before the next session and had to retire to my room. I was so tired that I missed the free wine in the lobby. Missed. The free. Wine. So I can say that I was completely sober as I attended the Meet-and-Greet that evening, and yet I remember almost nothing about it. I know I saw some friends and conversed with Melissa, Sondy, and Farida. I remember that the appetizers were far more like a buffet than I would have expected, meaning that I did not have to scout out a late dinner. I recall a conversation with Kevin Emerson, because he seemed pretty cool at the author introductions that were done prior to the eating part. Oh, and I got to say hello to Most Popular, Lee Wind. And that’s about all I can swear to.

Now I’m off to take my Girl Scouts camping, hoping for better weather than I am expecting. With any luck I’ll finish off with the actual first full day of the conference on my third write-up two weeks later.

It makes the most sense to start with the session I did, even it is the one that I’m having the hardest time writing up. In order to combat my own writer’s anxiety, I’ve decided to break it down into points, and you’ll simply have to assume and/or understand that we went into far more depth at the session itself.

Bloggers and Writers and Pubs! Oh My! was a panel discussion of the relationships among the players in the kidlitosphere. Liz Burns and I, with author Kirby Larson and Little, Brown representative Zoe Luderitz, opened up the questions with what we loved, didn’t like, and wanted to convey to each other. Some thoughts then:

Writers: Bloggers love when you are engaged with the community and contribute to conversations other than publicity for your book.

Bloggers: Publishers and writers love what you do to promote their books, and while they would love a review, even a title mention is nice.

Publishers: Bloggers love when you send out catalogs with checklists — either electronically or by snail mail — as it allows them to select the items to review according to their interests and expertise and...

Bloggers: Publishers don’t like when you check off everything on that list.

Publishers: Bloggers don’t like when you send things that are way off-base.

Writers: Bloggers don’t like when you argue with their review in the comments or by email.

Publishers: Bloggers want you to understand that they are generally not paid and are doing this for their love of reading, writing, and/or community — not to get free books.

Bloggers: Publishers want you to understand that they are trying to navigate this newer world of blogging with the techniques developed from a century of print reviewing, techniques that are still evolving.

Writers: Bloggers and publishers want you to understand that your website — kept up to date, with a blog that has your name and books clearly listed — is a valuable publicity resource.

Bloggers: Writers want you to understand that there are people behind the books, people with feelings, and they’d rather not receive the tweet about your one-star review of their books.

While I would say that these are majority viewpoints, a key factor of our presentation was that it was less about coming to a consensus of answers — in fifty minutes or less — than about starting the conversations with the questions. So, I give them to back to you to discuss:

Bloggers/Writers/Publishers: What do you love/dislike/want to convey to each other?

At the Hotel Monaco in Seattle, you can request a goldfish for your room. Um, ours died the first night.

See, that’s the kind of lead-off you can use when you let everyone else write their KidLitCon Seattle wrap-ups before you. While they talk about the takeaway theme of “relationship,” the incredible, informative sessions, and the amazing keynote address of Scott Westerfeld, I can cover the subtle, personal experience. Which was better, the scones or the brownies? (Too close to call.) Were the pens provided by the hotel adequately “clicky”? (They were.) How many slices of carved turkey can one stack on a small slider bun? (Four.)

Then there’s the goldfish thing. I was so excited when my roommate, Liz, told me that we could get a goldfish for our room. How cool, right? She turned in before me on that first Thursday night because I was helping conference organizers extraordinaire Colleen Mondor and Jackie Parker-Robinson get presenter giftees ready. (See, Colleen? I told you envelope stuffing would be involved!) When I got back to the room, I realized that our fish was swimming in an odd sidestroke unusual to a fish. I knew that guy was a goner, but not knowing any fish rescue techniques I went to bed. Liz and I woke up to find him floating on top of his tank, and both of us had to pull back on a bit of... glee. Not because we hate pets, but because it was funnier that the fish died.

And this is why I go to KidLitCon. I mean, not to kill goldfish, but to be with my people. The friends I rarely see, but who look at life and humor and books with the same feeling. Not always the same opinions, but with a rare meeting of the minds that I find few other places in real life. In fact, as I was making my way to the hotel after a long, annoying, exhausting day of travel I was swearing to myself that I would NEVER cross-country again. I went straight to the KidLitCon Operation Center (otherwise known as Colleen and Jackie’s room), and that oath disappeared from my brain as I hugged Colleen, Jackie, Liz, Jen, and Anne. Kelly handed me a glass of wine. And I was home.

Well, except that at home, I don’t pay seventeen dollars for three scallops. (WTF?) But was very grateful to my dinner companions for sharing their extras in their more normally priced and generous meals. With team spirit, we headed downstairs to the conference room to set up for the next day. Which seemed like the same day in my mind, given my jet-lagged lack of sleep and the sameness of the morning where the same collective headed off to a hardy breakfast at a diner around the corner that I scoped out for the group. I’ve never appreciated a seven-dollar omelet more. After the meal, Jen, Anne, Liz and I walked around Pike’s Market while Liz and I fine-tuned our presentation. Meaning that Liz worried that we didn’t have enough to fill the time, while I laughed at the idea that Liz and I — either of whom talk for an hour about The Giving Tree — would have any chance of dead air in our presentation.

Small break back at the hotel, and then we were on with our panel Bloggers and Writers and Pubs! Oh My! with our very special guests, Kirby Larson (Newbery Honor winner) and Zoe Luderitz (Little, Brown marketer). I feel like I’ve blanked on much of what we talked about, but have decided to piece that together in a separate post anyway. I was pleased with my introduction to the topic, which went back to the early days of the kidlitosphere, when a group of us talked about this new dynamic of reviewers, librarians, authors, editors, parents, et al. talking about books and if this coziness made us less objective reviewers. We didn’t come to any consensus then, but in a way I did come to my own conviction: If the possibility of less objectivity comes with this vibrant, unique and special community we call the KidLitosphere... I’ll take it.

And you know what? Four years later, I was saying that to a roomful of people who were there because we embraced that risk. There we were — reviewers, librarians, authors, editors, parents, et al. — continuing that discussion of how we could all work together with understanding, respect, and integrity. Some of us had traveled thousands of miles to be part of that conversation, and online we keep talking, adapting, and refining those relationships.

Among our community, we find real friends. Later we may laugh with those friends about the goldfish that died in our care. And we get another goldfish. Her name is Natalie, and I believe that she is doing just fine.

In the next days, we’ll be releasing the names for this years Cybils panelists and judges. It is important to know that the selection process is not done lightly, and yet at the same time doesn’t make a definitive statement about you or your blog. Ann has written a bit about it at the Cybils blog, and she is right on target. The organizers work to create panels that are balanced, looking at literary experience and fresh voices and job titles and community participation and voracious reading and thoughtful writing and certainly a dozen more factors.

This is true for all categories, but I wanted to say something particularly to folks who made Fiction Picture Books their first choice. In terms of Cybils, you should know — well, I’m a giver. I do get a fair number of candidates and do share liberally with other related categories like Nonfiction Picture Books, Early Readers, and this year, Book Apps. The other organizers and I discuss best placement looking at your preferences and the skills you could bring to each category along with the needs of the panels. In the end, I can’t take all the potential volunteers in my category, but I thank you for your interest in this genre of books that holds my own heart.

I’m sitting in an airport in Kansas City waiting for the next leg of my journey to Seattle. I’ve managed to get a two-hour layover to change planes, where the next plane is coming back to the same gate I just left. Leaving this room means that I have to go through security again, so I’ve spent the two hours in a room the size of a high school gym reflecting on all the times I’ve hustled through a huge airport to make a forty-minute leeway of a connection. It doesn’t seem fair, somehow.

I am on my way to KidLitCon Seattle. I’d be more excited if I weren’t so tired. And a little overwhelmed by the Cybils judge selection process. And a bit anxious for flying cross-country. Let’s say that I am ready to be excited to hang out with my best blogging friends. The sessions lined up by Colleen and Jackie are so good that I can’t find a time to skip out and see the town! Darn you, ladies!

Liz and I will be starting the party off with our session on the relationships among book bloggers, authors, and publishers. (Oh, my!) We’ll be joined by an actual author — Kirby Larsen — and publisher from Little, Brown. (Hey, Zoe!) Next week, we’re sure to be back here with a complete plan of action to smooth the path, align the stars and all that jazz for all of us here in the kidlitopshere. And like, world peace, too. Want to play along at home? Finish these thoughts from your perspective as a book blogger, author, or publisher about one of the others in our cozy family.

• I love it when bloggers/authors/publishers...

• I wish that bloggers/authors/publishers wouldn’t...

• If the others should know one thing about us, it’s...

If you’re fast, maybe we’ll use it tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll come back with all sorts of great ideas, thoughts, and advice from KidLitCon Seattle. Maybe even with a new burst of energy. It could happen.

My daughters are twelve and fifteen years old. On September 11, 2001, they were too young to understand what was going on. The teen remembers me watching TV and wondering why I was so sad. She was unaware of the scary phone calls of that day, as her father and I worried about him getting out of Washington, DC. They could see the smoke of the Pentagon from their building, and reports were circulating of bombs in embassies near his office.

In the years after, we or they might refer to the day as “when the two towers fell” or some such approximation. They had a basic idea of what had happened then, and certainly over time had picked up the implications of that day. People attacked us, we went to war to bring them down, and that war was not as easy as we thought. They know kids whose parents are or were deployed, as we live in a community with many military families. They watch The Daily Show and The Colbert Report with us, and can’t miss the continued discussion of the events that followed.

But the matter-of-fact tone they used about the towers falling has over time made me more uncomfortable that I was shielding them from the worst of that day. It is a part of their history, and more so because it wasn’t about one day but the weeks, the months, the decade that followed.

I know that I’ve brought home a few books before now, and maybe it is the wrong use of Nonfiction Monday that I didn’t find what I needed in their pages. Instead, last night we watched a documentary of that day in New York — which started with blue skies and ended in gray ash. We talked a bit throughout to clarify events. We sat together in constant contact — leaning on each other, holding a hand, wiping a tear.

It wasn’t easy to watch, and at times I doubted myself in my mission to educate. But in the end I felt that I had to bring them to that place, because they could speak of that day with respect, but not with understanding of the emotional content of that day that shaped their decade. However painful, they deserved that much.

Two years ago I was inspired to write a list poem in response to the weekly challenge of Miss Rumphius. Today I was planning to post something else, but then it hit me that I am leaving for KidLitCon Seattle in less than a week. Wow! As I thought about my packing, I realized that perhaps my fellow travelers could use some advice. So here goes:

Packing

Start with
A carry-on bag
With a noticeable tag.
Black pants to dress up
The essential black T-shirt.
A jacket adds color or slims in black.
A cotton dress cut just above the knee
Easily goes from daytime to evening with
Comfortable heels and versatile accessories.
(Colorful bangles for day, silver chains for evening.)
Shorts and shirt to sleep in provide emergency clothes.
One interesting shirt that can start a barstool conversation.
Undergarments, socks, belts, extra shirt, and toiletries.
(Liquids in a plastic bag on top, for airport security.)
Two books of different styles, and the guidebook.
Don’t pack pinchy shoes, no matter how cute
No organizers, calendars or work numbers.
Leave behind preconceived notions about
Sushi, planes, or talking to strangers.
Wear the really flattering jeans.
Slip on walking shoes.
(Black is best.)
And go.

Looking forward to seeing many of you at KidLitCon next weekend! Please don’t be shy, come and say hi! (See, another poem! I’m on a roll!) Poetry Friday round-up is hosted at Secrets and Soda.

All right, so a post on summer’s end is a bit overdue, but I was desperate to hold onto those last days almost to the point of denial. With the girls in the second day of school and the temperature hovering around sixty-five degrees, I think I might have to accept the close of my favorite season.

We had a good run, summer and I. There’s no arguing that. Spent several days going to the beach and had my niece with us for a total of three weeks. Having a five year old around gave me and my big girls a chance to check out the new American Girl store, go to the zoo, splash in the pool, and basically visit all the things we used to do when they were little. We even dug out the Barbies. It was kinda magical. If a bit exhausting at times, because My God the boundless energy of a kindergartener was a shock to my lackadaisical system.

Of course, the New York City trip was amazing. Spending two weeks there very gave us a feel for the city and really, the city life as we negotiated the subway and carried our groceries up two flights of stairs. The tween had the most fantastic opportunity to learn Broadway skills from actual Broadway actors/singers/dancers, choreographers, and agents. It was thrilling in every way. The teen and I spent our time exploring the city and enjoying each other’s company. And there were shows, museums, and stores — oh my!

Here at home, we simply hung out. Sometimes there would be people in town to visit or a sleepover to attend, but we spent a lot of time just being around each other. Watching movies, reading books, playing video games, hitting the mall, and taking a swim. I really, really like being with my girls and feel extremely fortunate to be able to say that.

Which is why the end of summer and the beginning of school is so hard for me. I really miss them during the day. But I have to admit that I do better getting on a schedule in terms of housework and well, blogging. So I hope to be back here with more consistency and let’s say, effort as the KidLitosphere lights up with Cybils, KidLitCon, and fall season books. It’s go time!

Yesterday was the secondary school’s open house, and this morning the tween is going through middle school orientation. I’m not really ready for this, like, at all. But here is a quick nod to school as I get off the computer to enjoy the last days of summer. See you on the other side.

Armando and the Blue Tarp School
by Edith Hope Fine and Judith Pinkerton Josephson, illustrated by Hernan Sosa

This book is based on the true story of a teacher who set up a school in Tijuana, Mexico with only a blue tarp. The poverty of the children is harsh, and their garbage-dump surroundings vile. But with hard work and hope, the children begin to go to school. This is a picture book, but due the theme and length is intended for school-age children. Interesting and inspirational, it manages to teach without being preachy. The real story is included at the end of the book, as well as a glossary of Spanish words.

Why hello, KidLitosphere. Have a nice summer? (Yawwwn.) I feel like I’m waking up from a long sleep and still need my coffee. Sure I was up a few times during the “night,” for a quick posting or two, but now it is time to wake up and get going.

If the smell of bacon might get me stirring from my bed on a lazy Sunday morning, than it is the call for Cybils judges that stirs me now. You, potential panelists, are my bacon. I’m excited to meet you. Now, don’t email me for your Cybils scoop, even if I am the organizer for Fiction Picture Books. Read over the Cybils judging info and then submit your name for consideration on the Cybils form.

Of course, I’m also being pulled from my blissful repose by a steady sizzle. Not of pancakes on the griddle, but the upcoming KidLitCon Seattle. I’ve registered, snagged a panel presentation, and booked my flight/hotel. I’ve been processing your checks for the KidLitCon 2011 team and looking forward to seeing — and meeting — my blogging buddies. There is still time to register for this fabulous conference. In fact, I’d say there is no time better. The line-up of sessions looks fantastic, and the keynote speaker is Scott Westerfeld! And even so, I’ll still bet that the best moments for you as an attendee will come from meeting the bloggers and authors in real life. There really is nothing like it.

So, with all the excitement, it is time to get going, KidLitosphere! Just let me get my coffee...

Like last week’s post of summer chapter books, I’m giving quick summaries of thirteen picture books. And these are special picture books, selected by me over my years of experience with the titles to put together a list that represents many different and diverse summers. Even as a proclaimed beach bum, I’ve limited my shore stories to only two, leaving room for the many ways people see summer in the city, in parades, in the pool, and even abroad. I’ve also organized this list in order of the author, making it easier to print out and find the books at your local library. Let us begin with my personal favorite that just happens to be first...

Beach
by Elisha Cooper
A day at the beach is captured beautifully in a series of seashore scenes from suntanning to swimming to shoveling sand. A beach-lover’s delight.

And Then It Rained : And Then the Sun Came Out...
by Crescent Dragonwagon, illustrated by Diane Greenseid
In one side of this story, the rain just won’t stop, but turn the book over and it’s the story of a blaring sun-baked town that needs the refreshing (turn it over) rain. Very clever.

Bebé Goes to the Beach
by Susan Middleton Elya, illustrated by Steven Salerno
A sprinkle of Spanish words throughout the text sets apart this beach tale of one bebé who keeps his mama quite busy.

A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever
by Marla Frazee
Two boys spent the week at Grandpa’s “camp,” with different interpretations of the activities than those of the adults around them. Terrific fun.

Mermaids on Parade
by Melanie Hope Greenberg
Everyone loves a parade — and mermaids for that matter — and this book celebrates both in its depiction of the annual Coney Island event.

Come on, Rain
by Karen Hesse, illustrated by Jon J. Muth
In the heat of the city, a girl waits for the rain to cool things off, and then celebrates by dancing outside with friends and family when it finally comes. Joyful and lovely.

When the Fireflies Come
by Jonathan London, illustrated by Terry Widener
A slow summer day of barbecue and baseball turns into a slow summer night with friends and fireflies. What could be better?

The Boy Who Wouldn’t Swim
by Deb Lucke
Regardless of the heat, a young boy won’t swim in the pool, but finally gives in to find that he never wants to get out!

Summer Sun Risin’
by W. Nikola-Lisa, illustrated by Don Tate
A day on a farm in the summertime includes plenty of chores, but also time for fishing and stories for an African American family.

Think Cool Thoughts
by Elizabeth Perry, illustrated by Linda Bronson
A young girl tries to keep cool in her city apartment, but is excited by the prospect of sleeping on the roof with her mom and aunt.

Summer: An Alphabet Acrostic
by Steven Schnur, illustrated by Leslie Evans
Summer stables become poems as linoleum-block illustrations set the scenes.

Monsoon Afternoon
by Kashmira Sheth, illustrated by Yoshiko Jaeqqi
On a visit to India, a boy learns of the pleasures to be found in the summer monsoon season through the eyes of his beloved grandfather.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation
by Mark Teague
An imaginative boy spins a tale of Wild West adventures when asked about his summer vacation. How’s yours going?

(This post was previously published at PBS Booklights)

Ten years ago, nonfiction books about animals would feature a block of text on one page with a second-rate photo on the opposite page. Then came the trend — still popular — of having several text boxes, a few photos, several captions, and maybe a “fun facts” box — the busy look catering to the short-attention-span crowd. But in the last few years a new generation of books is putting more focus on the photos, with amazing results. I’ve blogged about the Nic Bishop books and the Face to Face series, but here’s another find from my local library.

Parrots (The Wild World of Animals)
by Jill Kalz
The text is pretty standard, informational stuff — but the photos are spectacular! One huge, stunning, no-borders, full-page picture, with text in a box over the photo itself. Some of the pictures fill up the two-page spread. Now with a subject as colorful as parrots, this style is exceptionally stunning, but you’ll also relish the chance to explore many other topics in the series, The Wild World of Animals, including koalas, lions, dolphins, swans, and giraffes. The series has been around for a while, so you’ll want to look at the redesigned books published in 2006 or later. Here is an Amazon link to that listing.

Nonfiction Monday is hosted today at Ana’s Nonfiction Blog

I’m doing something a little different today. Instead of writing single-paragraph reviews of three books, I’m giving quick summaries of thirteen books for the elementary school crowd. But in missing the review, you’ll get my personal stamp of approval over the many summer books I have known — and I’ve known quite a few. These are in addition to my already profiled summer books. I’ve listed the books roughly in order of the target age of the reader, from youngest to oldest. That said, many of the books would be great to read aloud to younger readers, as I’ve made up this collection of mostly lighter summer books.

Lunch Lady and the Summer Camp Shakedown
by Jarrett Krosoczka
A new addition to younger graphic novels is this series featuring a Lunch Lady with astonishing abilities to fight crime and serve tater tots. With the Breakfast Bunch kids, she tackles a new enemy at summer camp. Silly fun!

Babymouse: Beach Babe
by Jennifer Holm and Matthew Holm
An earlier book in the Babymouse graphic novel series brings us a trip to the beach that can’t help but go wrong. Oh, Babymouse, I love you so. (Also look for Camp Babymouse.)

The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis
by Barbara O’Connor
Feeling bored in his small Southern town, Popeye befriends a newcomer named Elvis who finds adventure in everything. A great book for seeing the wonders in the everyday world.

Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little
by Peggy Gifford
Someone has been putting off her summer reading — and continues to find ways to do so in amazingly elaborate ways. The photographs and the clever section titles add to this amusing book. (Also, one of my favorite covers of all time.)

Summer Reading is Killing Me
by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Lane Smith
Summer reading doesn’t work out well for the Time Warp Trio either, as the boys put their booklist in “The Book” and end up caught in a world of good and bad characters from children’s literature. Mayhem ensues.

Lowji Disovers America
by Candice Fleming
When Lowji arrives from India, he comes with wishes for new friends and pets. But summer vacation makes it hard find kids in his neighborhood, and his landlady is not fond of animals. No matter, as Lowji’s positive attitude and clever solutions get him results in amusing ways.

Summer According to Humphrey
by Betty Birney
The little hamster with the big series of adventures gets to go to Camp Happy Hollow where he meets a wild mouse, visits the lake, and helps the kids adjust to the outdoor life and each other. There’s always fun to be had with Humphrey.

Minn and Jake’s Almost Terrible Summer
by Janet Wong, illustrated by Genevieve Cote
Jake returns to his home for a visit, but didn’t expect his camp-free summer to be ruined by his Halmoni’s plans and his little brother’s annoyances. When his best friend Minn makes a visit, even that causes conflict. Can this summer be saved?

The Lemonade War
by Jacqueline Davis
When Evan finds out that his younger sister Jessie is going to skip a grade right into his class, he channels his anger into a challenge as to who can make the most money with competing lemonade stands. An interesting and often amusing story of marketing strategies, sibling rivalry, and making lemonade.

Any Which Wall
by Laurel Snyder, illustrated by LeUyen Pham
“Common magic” takes four kids out of their boring summer doldrums when a magical wall transports them into different worlds of adventures, including a pirate ship and Camelot. Delightful story with a timeless tone.

Lawn Boy (and Lawn Boy Returns)
by Gary Paulsen
A lesson in business and the free-market economy is contained in this story of a boy who starts with a old riding law mower and ends up as a young tycoon. Funny and yet highly educational.

Tortilla Sun
Jennifer Cerventes
When twelve-year old Izzy visits her Nana’s remote New Mexico village for the summer, she discovers secrets about her father, along with a view into a different world. Sweet with a touch of magic.

One Crazy Summer
by Rita Williams-Garcia
Sent out to stay out of the house by their estranged mother, three sisters spend a summer in 1968 among the Black Panthers learning about revolution, identity, and personal responsibility. A deeper book, for certain, but with its own lightness and humor.

Free Baseball
by Sue Corbett
Mistaken for a batboy by a local Cuban team, Felix takes the opportunity to hang out with the ballplayers — and maybe find out something about his dad. Certainly a book that features the game well, but also the complexity of relationships and secrets.

(This post was previously published at PBS Booklights)

For our summer vacation we went to New York City. Generally it would be an odd choice for late July, when the heat of the concrete brings the temperature most closely approximate to that of Hell. And that’s not even counting the smell...

But we had a purpose in the tween’s Broadway Artists Alliance two-week program and a drive to enjoy the city to the fullest extent. With the experience of our previous visits, we no longer felt the need to hit the tourist places, but instead to experience the city life and to try new things.

Tween had a wonderful time at BAA, honing her performance skills with some illustrious Broadway faculty. Her favorite moment was practicing her song “Lamest Place in the World” by singing directly to Adam Kantor — of RENT fame. Our favorite was seeing her monologue in the final showcase, which she delivered perfectly. Truly, I found the showcase for parents and industry astonishing, in that every one of those kids was fantastic. There was one boy who sang well but looked nervous, which just reinforced for me how amazing it was that seventy kids under fifteen years old performed well and with confidence.

Teen and I had a blast exploring the city. We often feel like best friends, but even more so on this trip where we were really travel buddies. Together we’d figure out what we wanted to do, we each made compromises for each other, helped soothe over each other’s cranky spells, and looked to find the humor in things. We walked until our feet hurt. We shopped, but bought very little. We laughed a lot, and treated ourselves to cupcakes, cookies, and chocolates as needed.

I don’t even know how I would go into everything we did, or who would care to read it, so I’ll go for a summary of our adventures. We window shopped at Saks, Tiffany’s, FAO Schwarz, Apple, Prada, and American Girl. At Bond No. 9 we decided on our signature scents and wished we could be “job creators.” We went to the American Museum of Natural History, Museum of Modern Art, Tenement Museum, and the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens. Teen toured Columbia University (and loved it — oh, no...), New York University (great film studies program) and NBC Studios (possible future page postion). Teen and I took a dance class at BAA with Tyrick Jones, watched Broadway in Bryant Park, and toured the New York Public Library.

We saw RENT off-Broadway, and would have liked it better if our seats hadn’t been so bad. Teen and I saw Avenue Q, which was funny, brilliant, and quite raunchy for a show with puppets. We all went to see two Broadway plays, Catch Me if You Can — which was fun — and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying — which was ridiculously entertaining, especially Daniel Radcliffe, who was working as hard as I’ve ever seen an actor work. No phoning it in for this kid. Look at him dance:


Over the two weeks the family sampled street fairs and sample sales, gelato and gyros, the Strand and the High Line, Rockerfeller Center and Fort Tryon Park. Our home base for the first week was a friend’s apartment in the peaceful, lovely, birdsong-filled Washington Heights. We spent the second week in my cousin’s place in the accessible, lively, city-at-your doorstep East Village. There was no drive to purchase “souvenirs,” but we bought books, sundresses, fun jewelry, and feathers for our hair. (It’s a thing!) Breakfast meant bagels, and we had our favorite dollar-a-slice pizza place to nosh after class. We knew which direction to turn on the grid of city streets. The subway lines began to make sense.

Which meant it was time to come home and recover from becoming New Yorkers. The detox took about a week, and while I don’t miss the stench of the subway platforms or the steady drip of condensation from a thousand air conditioners, I can’t wait to go back. In fact, I kinda want to live there. Who knew?

Huzzah! It’s time again for a Threadless sale. Their highly creative, often artistic t-shirts are selling for ten or twelve bucks — an absolute bargain for a book lover to make a statement like this:


The Best Channels since 1465 is just one of the many cool shirts featured. On the reading end, you might add Brainy Rainbow to your collection:


This Book Lover is a natural for me, with both a giraffe and books:


Or on a completely different note, you could share some feelings about couplehood with Love is Love:


This is the time to stock up, because sizes sell out fast. Along with the fourth selection here, I bought the lovely Secret Lake for me and Squinjas!, the humorous portrayal of ninja squirrels trying to steal scout cookies, for the tween. What Threadless shirt do you love?

I never take a trip without consulting some sort of written word about the destination. Sometimes an Internet search will suffice, but when exploring New York City for two weeks, a person needs a travel guide. And having investigated the choices over several trips, I can recommend two titles that you can carry with you. And that carrying is important, as many guidebooks spend precious pages describing the hotels of the area, but once you’ve arrived at your travel destination those pages are dead weight. Personally, I’m also not much of a foodie and tend to skim over the next hundred pages of restaurants I won’t go to. So these all-purpose travel guides are worthless to me as they don’t provide the one thing I really need: easily accessible information in a concise volume.

Two years ago I found a used copy of Moon Metro: New York City, and after enjoying it for several trips am loving it enough to purchase a newer edition. This book is perfect for the traveler on the go in New York. Each section of the city is broken down with a short description on a two-page spread. Open those pages for an easy-to-read map of that area and a key to important points of interest. For just a quick look at the streets, you’re only discreetly opening one fold, instead of struggling with a huge, tourist-indicating map. The second half of the book includes quick summaries of top sites, restaurants, shops, amusements, and hotels. You won’t get the detail, descriptions, and pricing listed in bigger books, but that’s what the Internet is for.

The second book I tried out on this trip was Frommer’s New York City Day by Day, which I had received for free at Book Expo America. Again, a small book with the focus being on the city, not on hotels and the logistics of getting there. The front cover folds out to cover the two biggest sections of New York — Downtown and Midtown/Uptown — with streets, subway lines, and major places of interest. A larger, sturdy fold-out map is included to cover the rest and give more detail. Personally, I didn’t carry the book around every day, but I sure kept this map with me at all times. The focus of this title was to break down the city not only into neighborhoods to visit, but into other ways to tour — like by greatest buildings, best walks, or famous film sites. The descriptions of sites are brief, but fleshed out with addresses, prices, and hours of operation.

I found that the subway information in both books was tightly squeezed, making it hard to read — especially for a subway newbie like myself. I recommend supplementing with the huge map you can get from any of the stations. The map is geared toward displaying the subway stops accurately, and as such often distorts the streets in a way that they are not to scale, but it certainly lays out a lot of useful information. I got two and cut one down to only show the Manhattan info, making it easy to carry in my purse.

I don’t always remember to participate in Poetry Friday, but with a topic like New York City it seemed that I couldn’t go wrong in finding a poem. That view wasn’t quite accurate, as many a verse that describes the Big Apple does so with disdain. This selection does end on a down note, but I loved the extolling of the city and the old references. As I look at my budget for the two weeks, the five cents’ fare is a particularly dreamy notion.

Jottings of New York: A Descriptive Poem

Oh mighty City of New York! you are wonderful to behold,
Your buildings are magnificent, the truth be it told,
They were the only thing that seemed to arrest my eye,
Because many of them are thirteen storeys high.

And as for Central Park, it is lovely to be seen,
Especially in the summer season when its shrubberies and trees are green;
And the Burns’ statue is there to be seen,
Surrounded by trees, on the beautiful sward so green;
Also Shakespeare and Sir Walter Scott,
Which by Englishmen and Scotchmen will ne’er be forgot.

There the people on the Sabbath-day in thousands resort,
All loud, in conversation and searching for sport,
Some of them viewing the menagerie of wild beasts there,
And also beautiful black swans, I do declare.

And there’s beautiful boats to be seen there,
And the joyous shouts of the children do rend the air,
While the boats sail along with them o’er Lohengrin Lake,
And the fare is five cents for children and adults ten is all they take.

And there’s also summer-house shades and merry-go-rounds,
And with the merry laughter of the children the Park resounds
During the livelong Sabbath day,
Enjoying the merry-go-round play.

Then there’s the elevated railroads, about five storeys high,
Which the inhabitants can see and hear night and day passing by,
Oh! such a mass of people daily do throng,
No less than five hundred thousand daily pass along,
And all along the City you can get for five cents,
And, believe me, among the passengers there are few discontent.

Read the rest of the poem by Knight of the White Elephant of Burmah William McGonagall at Poetry Foundation. Poetry Friday is hosted today at The Opposite of Indifference. Pictures are from vintage postcards available at Timefreeze.

It would surprise no one to learn that I approach travel with reading up on the area. I’m addicted to travel guides — both the regular and the “with kids” variety. But I also like to involve my kids in the reading too, as I find it adds to the anticipation of the trip and can make it an educational experience. For those of you who remember the dry nonfiction books of our youth, know that it’s a whole new era in informational text, with many of them sporting amazing artwork or photography and a fresh approach to writing. So here are some ideas if you are headed to...

1. The Beach
Almost too easy, as the picture book section of your library will have tons of books about the beach and the ocean. Some will have some educational elements blended in, like Over in the Ocean. Check out the nonfiction section for books that talk more about what can be found on the shore — giving you a little scavenger hunt. There are tons of great books about life under the sea, including titles about specific iconic animals like dolphins (try Face to Face with Dolphins). Though I’d steer away from shark books, unless you want to spend your entire vacation explaining again and again how sharks are truly unlikely to swim in ankle-deep water.

2. The Mountains
Or maybe the woods, or wherever you might go to encounter Nature in all its glory. If you’re camping, bring along books for identifying trees, rocks, or wildlife tracks. You can also identify the many things that making camping exciting with S is for S’mores: A Camping Alphabet. If you prefer your outdoors in smaller doses and will not be tenting it, make the hikes or even walks more interesting with Fun with Nature, by Mel Boring, which provides a guide to lots of different bugs, reptiles, animals, and trees.

3. The City
Many big cities will have at least one book about them, but they aren’t always the most engaging of titles. Some are certainly better than others, and I’d give the prize to New York City for having the best and most books that will enhance your trip. ABC NYC: A Book About Seeing New York City and 123 NYC: A Counting Book of New York City, by Joanne Dugan, pair photographs of letters/numbers in their city environment with pictures of urban representations of those letters/numbers. For city kids, it makes more sense to see H for “hot dog” instead of “horse,” and for visitors, it provides a checklist of things to notice about life in the city. Another great and more detailed book is New York, New York! The Big Apple from A to Z, which focuses on the attractions of NYC with added facts and point of interest. It’s like a kids’ version of those travel guides I love so much.

(This post was previously published at PBS Booklights.)

I am freaking out. I’ve known for six months that we’d be going to New York City for two weeks, but it didn’t seem real. I’ve arranged housing, with grateful thanks given to a kind friend and a bicoastal cousin. I’ve met program deadlines and booked theater tickets.

But with the ending of the school year, taking care of the ailing cat, hosting my niece for a week, and having my dad for a short visit, I haven’t had time to really think about the trip. Which I’m doing now. And freaking out.

It’s for business and pleasure, but the business end has nothing to do with me or my husband, who won’t join us until later. The trip is undertaken for the benefit of my twelve-year-old daughter, who was invited to return to the competitive theater program Broadway Artists Alliance. For two weeks she will work on voice, acting, and dance with an audition/performance for agents and casting directors at the end of each week. She will put in long days, with endurance sort of part of the training. After all, kids who can’t hack this kind of intensity aren’t ready for Broadway.

My job is to get her to and from the program, go over her audition pieces with notes from her coaches, and most importantly, to be a calming, gentle refuge at the end of each day. Sounds simple enough, but the anxiety of a new, stressful place in the city heat can tax the most patient of people — of which I am not. But I will do my best.

In any case, I just don’t feel like I’ve thought about this trip enough. Other than our theater tickets, I’ve made no plans for me and my older daughter during the days. I don’t know if/when I will be switching apartments, which will affect other aspects of the trip. I’m worried about the new pieces that tween is learning and also if I remember the right keys to get into the apartment. I’d like to see some New York friends, but in the era of Facebook friends, I honestly don’t know who’d like to see me. So I’m putting it out there that I’m free business hours all day with the most charming TeenReader — who could also use a friend or an agent.

I’m not sure what I will be doing on the blog, though I’m accepting guest bloggers. Again, if you’re interested get in touch. I’m finding it hard to write anything of bookish value. In fact, I’m finding it hard to even read anything. The best literary thing I’ve done is start watching all of the Harry Potter movies over again with the family in preparation for our viewing of the final movie on Sunday. The next day I’ll go to New York with my girls, three suitcases, and perhaps a bottle of Jack. Wish us luck.

This interview started more than a month ago in a bar in New York City. I was attending the Kid Lit Drink Night after Book Expo America when I ran into someone I actually knew: Eric Wight of the Frankie Pickle books. He introduced me to his fellow author buddies; I did not recognize the names, but the books I knew. Aaron Starmer’s Dweeb is on my actual home bookshelves. When Matthew Cody told me his book was Powerless, I proved the importance of a good book cover by affirming that it was indeed the book with the blue cover and the superhero flying down. From there we starting talking about Book Expo America itself, where I had found the book promotion on the floor focused strongly on dark and dystopian titles, making it difficult to even locate lighter middle-grade books. I’d say that this is the grain of truth in that Wall Street Journal article BUT this was a week before it hit the Internet, so we get full credit for our subsequent discussion.

In talking about this trend with these two middle-grade authors, I came to find out that both of them had new titles that fit the current tone. From there we had a fascinating conversation, one that I simply had to replicate as best possible for the Summer Blog Blast Tour. Readers here will miss a bit more of the line-by-line conversation of our barroom discussion, but will also be fortunate not to be be shouting said conversation over a throbbing bass line.

Both of you moved to darker novels in middle-grade from your debuts. How did that transition happen for you?

MC: This may sound odd, but when I was looking at doing a follow-up to Powerless, I went darker because I had a desire to do something actually more traditional. I say that may sound odd because when most people think of middle grade — or children’s novels as they were once called — they don’t think about them as dark, but the long history of children’s literature is filled with some very dark stuff, indeed. The unsanitized Grimm’s fairy tales, Alice in Wonderland. These stories are downright creepy in places.

AS: When I was writing The Only Ones, I just had an urge to create something slightly more mature. I wanted to take innocent characters and drop a monumental problem in their laps. The apocalypse! The stewardship of the earth! Because when I was twelve or thirteen, just inching past my innocent but curious phase, every problem was the apocalypse to me. I was thinking about mortality for the first time, and it was terrifying and I felt that my life could be derailed at any moment. It was tragic stories that helped me deal with those feelings. The Pigman. A Separate Peace. Where the Red Fern Grows. They weren’t blood and guts tales, but they were shocking and sad and they had a cathartic effect. My logic wasn’t perfect, but it went like this: If the terrible things happened in the books, then they might not happen in life. And if they did, I might be a little more prepared for them.

Where do you think the line is or should be from middle-grade to Young Adult?

AS: I’m a little confused about that line myself. When DWEEB came out, I’d tell non-publishing people it was “middle-grade“ and I’d get blank stares. Ages nine to twelve seemed a bit arbitrary, so I’d say, “It’s for people who’ve never kissed someone, but might want to kiss someone someday.” I guess that can cover a wide age range, but I kind of like it as a definition. Innocent but curious. Not quite ready. Whatever the age.

MC: I think the major publishing difference between darker middle grade and darker YA has to do with what kind of “dark” you put in your book. I did not shy away from some really scary things in The Dead Gentleman, but it’s the kind of fantastical fright that is meant to entertain. Kids want to be scared and if you tone it down they feel the patronizing adult coming at them a mile away. If it’s scary, it should be scary.

Building on that, where do the darker ideas belong in middle-grade versus Young Adult?

MC: As best as I can understand it, the current debate in YA (is it really even a debate?) has to do with real-world subject matter, depictions of some very heavy stuff, having to do with some very heavy stuff that real-life teens are going through. As a middle-grade writer, I’m not setting out to address those same issues, at least not as directly. I do think middle-grade works well in dealing with important themes, though. For example, victimization is a strong theme in my work, but it’s explored in superhero and ghost stories. I’m not disguising it, but I find it easier to “talk” to my audience that way. But in the end, truth is truth.

AS: In The Only Ones there’s no swearing, only a couple of PG-rated kisses. In that way, it’s very middle-grade. Yet there’s violence too. And I was concerned about how to portray that. I didn’t want it to be graphic or sensational. I wanted it to arise from natural emotions, but be surprising. I wanted it to have consequences. Violence always does. It’s probably too much for most eight- or nine-year-olds, but I don’t think they’ll be interested in the book enough to get that far. I do hope it will connect with kids straddling that blurry and confusing line in adolescence. And I’m confident that most teenagers and adults won’t care about the lack of sex and drugs and four-letter words and just find an engaging tale. People can talk all day about what audiences “want” and “need.” To me, the answer is good storytelling, plain and simple.

I love how you both came to the same point there. How did you two meet?

AS: Matt contacted me when our debut novels came out and we met for coffee to see if we could think up some genius marketing schemes that would benefit both books. We were new to the kidlit world and were just trying to get our bearings (I still am!). Life and other projects got in the way and we never took it much further than that. But we kept in touch a bit via Facebook and Twitter and we ran into each other at BEA (where we met you!) and saw that our new books had similar themes and would probably once again make a good pair.

MC: Like Aaron said, our first books came out around the same time. We were both included in a nice promotion Random House put together for debut authors, and since we are both New York-based, I thought we should put our heads together and devise a plan to dominate the publishing world (domination pending).

Who inspires you, personally or professionally?

AS: Pretty much anyone who’s stupid enough not to give up. Don’t get me wrong, anyone who loves writing and gets paid to do it is blessed and shouldn’t put up a big stink about how oh so tough it is to be an artiste, but the publishing process is full of so many rejections and knockdowns that it’s easy to say, “Screw this, I’m just going to work at a cupcake shop.” About ten years ago, I was reading a lot of Paul Auster and he talks about that stuff in his book The Art of Hunger. Books like that can be a little too self-aggrandizing, but if writers like Auster had quit early, they wouldn’t have inspired me and maybe I would have quit too, and ended up working at a cupcake shop and... well, then maybe I’d have a show on Bravo, so it wouldn’t be that bad.

MC: I wear my influences on my sleeve. Powerless was an homage not just to superheroes but to the dynamic storytelling styles of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The Dead Gentleman takes its cue from adventure/science fiction of the 1800s. Jules Verne, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Lost World stuff. There’s even some weird pulp in there in vein of Clarke Ashton Smith. I love stories with big ideas, that really put my imagination to work. Although I have wider reading tastes as an adult, when I was younger I devoured science fiction and fantasy in all its forms — prose, comics, movies. So when I’m writing for younger readers I guess that’s what strikes my fancy. I’m writing for the twelve-year-old me. (You’re welcome, twelve-year-old me!)

For your upcoming titles, why did you want to write this book?

MC: It came out of my love of a certain kind of fiction (see above) but it also came from a childhood fear of mine — the closet door. My older brothers used to tease me about this, but I was convinced that my bedroom closet hid all sorts of monsters and baddies. (It didn’t help that my closet also led to the attic. Double-threat, there!) After finishing Powerless, I was looking around for my next project and talking with my editor about several possible things I wanted to work on — a historical fiction, a steampunk adventure — but none of them really grabbed me (or my editor!). But then I got to thinking about that closet door again, the closed closet door at night, and how universal that image was and I knew I needed to do something with it. In the end that idea kind of pollinated the steampunk book I was toying around with and The Dead Gentleman was born. 

AS: I was in Maine a couple of years ago and I was looking at a painting of this kid who was sort of like a modern-day wild child who lived on an island. And I instantly had this idea about a thirteen-year-old kid who lives in seclusion on an island and he decides to go explore the world, only to find out that the world isn’t there. Everyone is gone. Of course there had to be a few other characters, so I cooked up a village of oddball kids, like “The Little Rascals” as imagined by David Lynch. The world is one big playground for these kids. I had tons of Swiss Family Robinson-style fantasies when I was young and I guess The Only Ones was my way to indulge those fantasies.

What’s next for you?

MC: I’m finishing up a sequel to Powerless now, which will be out in late 2012. And then I’ll be working on another book for Knopf. In the meantime, I’ve been doing some writing for Marvel and DC comics, which has really been a blast. (You’re welcome again, twelve-year-old me.)

AS: Not anything on the publishing schedule at the moment, but at the end of The Only Ones, a new world is introduced. So I’m writing some stories set in that world and they may end up being a sequel/spin-off. I also have a few adventure stories mapped out that I have to find time for, including a whitewater rafting thriller called “Lava Falls” and a modern Western with kids on BMX bikes called “Kickstand Donkeys.”

Of course, the other thing next for these fantastic authors is a lot of publicity kind of stuff come the fall, when their new books are released — The Only Ones in September and The Dead Gentleman in November. Don’t miss them! You can learn more about Matthew Cody and Aaron Starmer at their websites, or by getting to the right Kid Lit Drink Night and sharing a drink with them — which I highly recommend. Thanks, guys!