By Peter Hunt Captain Frederick Marryat, an experienced Naval Officer, was a pioneering writer of sea-and-island adventure stories, such as Peter Simple (1834) and Mr Midshipman Easy (1836). One day his children asked him to write a sequel to The Swiss Family Robinson, Johann Wyss’s extravagant embroidering of the Robinson Crusoe story, which had found its circuitous way into English via William Godwin’s translation of a French version in 1816. Marryat was not amused.
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Blog: OUPblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: stevenson, adventure stories, treasure island, robert louis stevenson, oxford world's classics, Humanities, Peter Hunt, *Featured, captain marryat, long john silver, marryat, stockade, henley, stevenson’s, pirates, Literature, children's literature, Add a tag
Blog: 123oleary (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Graphic Novel, Stevenson, Scots, Jenny Davidson, Add a tag
I was looking up Jenny Davidson's blog in order to recommend it to the Bookwitch (who is intrigued by The Explosionist) and also to add to my list of links for children's writers on the web. Then - as I do - I started wandering around and happened on a post she'd made about Harry Potter being translated into broad Scots. When I followed the link I saw that the publisher was called Itchy Coo Books. So naturally, I had to look. I was tickled to see that their menu includes a "hame page" and a section titled "aboot us." And I really, really think we need this:
KIDNAPPIT by Robert Louis Stevenson
Adapted by Alan Grant
Illustrated by Cam Kennedy
Translated into Scots by Matthew Fitt & James Robertson
Wi his mither an faither deid, an wioot a bawbee tae his name, David Balfour sets oot for Embra an the hame o his sleekit auld Uncle Ebenezer. But Ebenezer is no pleased when his young nevoy chaps his door.
Efter narrowly joukin death at the Hoose o Shaws, David is swicked intae gaun aboard the brig Covenant whaur he finds himsel KIDNAPPIT an aboot tae be sellt intae slavery. When the ship gangs doun in gurlie seas, David, alang wi gallus Jacobite rebel Alan Breck, begins the lang an dangerous stravaig back tae Embra through the Hielans o Scotland tae claim his richtfu inheritance.
Published in collaboration with Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature's One Book – One Edinburgh reading campaign, KIDNAPPIT is the first ever graphic novel in Scots.
For very young readers there are "keek-a-boo" books, while for slightly older readers there is this: King o the Midden - Manky Mingin Rhymes in Scots, Edited by Matthew Fitt and James Robertson and illustrated by Bob Dewar
or this:
The Eejits, By Roald Dahl, Translated by Matthew Fitt and iIllustrated by Quentin Blake
Eejit was actually one of our second son's first words. It was sort of term of endearment - "Eejit, you are one," he used to tell his elder brother.
Blog: Booktopia (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: swimming, accidents, sisters, Wendy Lamb Books, hospitals, summer story, arc 7/08, YA, Friendship, jobs, sisters, swimming, accidents, Wendy Lamb Books, hospitals, summer story, arc 7/08, Add a tag
Ahhhh...summer when you're a teenager. I don't care if you lived in city or in country, chances are you were wandering the streets with a group of your friends getting into various amounts of trouble. You were free of adult constraints answering your parent's question of "Where are you going?" with the simple word "Out!"
This is the summer scene for sisters Claire and Natalie. Claire is soon heading off to university. She's ready to dump her boyfriend for an unknown future full of promise, and she cannot really wait to go off on her own. Natalie, on the other hand, is a bit anxious. She's never been without Claire, and cannot imagine going from sharing a room to seeing Claire occasionally. But Natalie is spending her summer like she always does. She's hanging out at the Ding-Dong where Audrey works with the rest of her friends. She's playing hideous games of "Would you rather..." with them, waiting for everyone to show. You know...how gross can it get? The rest of the night is spent pool hopping when the owners aren't around.
And then everything changes.
After the accident, Natalie doesn't know what to do. Is it wrong to go to work while your sister lays comotose in the hospital? Is it wrong to kiss a boy when your parents are so distraught that they can't even talk to you? Would you rather see your sister die, or be hooked to machines for the rest of her "life"?
Written in sparse prose, Marthe Jocelyn brings the reader into a family tragedy, and introduces some amazing teenage characters. Natalie's feelings are so raw, and her life with her friends is incredibly realistic. They are smart, and sharp, and genuinely care for one another. While this is a sad story, readers will find themselves hoping that Natalie can find her way and hoping that her family can keep it together. Would You is a perfect choice for the teens who have recently enjoyed Before I Die, by Jenny Downham
Again, in the interest of full disclosure, I do know Marthe Jocelyn, but rest assured, this book would not appear on my blog if I didn't think it was great!
Blog: Cynthia's Attic Blog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: friendship, sisters, hospice, mandela, south africa, kruger, table mountain, hospice, kruger, south africa, sisters, mandela, table mountain, Add a tag
Okay...I promised an update on my best friend's trip to South Africa,
so without further adieu...here's Diana sticking her toe in the Indian Ocean! (pretty impressive, huh?)
Molweni!
Well, I feel just like a celebrity. You know: Where in the world's Matt Lauer and Diana Black!
Mary's so right. The trip to South Africa was life-altering. For example, I didn't have a sinus infection when I left, but I do now...
No, wait. Maybe there is something a bit more profound to glean from the experience.
Like how courageous and resourceful people can be after hearing a life-altering diagnosis or forcibly removed from their homes, their neighborhoods and required to live in "houses" pieced together with metal scraps and discarded window frames.
How people can rise above wrongful imprisonment and continue to struggle against injustices to humankind.
How strong women are, and how much we are alike regardless of cultural differences.
And how everyone loves to laugh. I believe it was Victor Borge who said, "The shortest distance between two people is a smile."
The opportunity to make this trip and share it with Mary's blogger buddies sure makes me smile.
Okay, I think this is where I'm supposed to say how wonderful she is (right, Mary?), and how without her, I would be nothing. That she has made me everything I am, the woman among women I model myself after as should every other woman in the universe. (Did I forget anything? Oh, yeah...) And she's beautiful and a wonderful writer and my bestest bud. (Those last comments? Right from my heart.)
So thanks, Mary, and all of you who expressed an interest in my little jaunt. May each of you succeed with your own individual "trip of a lifetime." Be it that trek to the mailbox with your first manuscript or to a foreign corner of your imagination and/or the earth.
Hamba kakuhle (Xhosa for "go well"),
Diana
Want more pictures? Here's the link to Diana's amazing blog. You'll see amazing pictures of scenery, Diana's "sista sojourners," lions, native birds, and you'll even (almost) see a picture of a giraffe!
South African Sojourn
Blog: Books4Ever (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: romance, sisters, tragedy, contemporary romance, blind, Add a tag
I pride myself on the fact that I di not read Danielle Steel. Or at least I used to. Though I read romance, I have never fallen in love with Steel’s work. But my sister said that I should read this one so I did. Unfortunately, I really liked it which means I can no longer look with distaste on her work. It may even mean I should read some of her other stuff. It just goes to show that you can change. This is a great book about sisters that all have happy successful lives until a tragic accident leaves them without their mom and with their artist sister blinded. It is a happy and sad book that shows he year after the death of their mom and the blinding of their sister. They stick together and show what true family is. Though all is not sunshine and roses at the end, there is definitely a ray of light shining down on them
Blog: Welcome to my Tweendom (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: military, Afghanistan, Afghanistan, Tween, Afghanistan, sisters, Friendship, sisters, Tween, military, Add a tag
Have you ever made one of those lists? You know, the ones that will get you kicked out of school these days?
Sprig is working on one about her sister Dakota. Sprig and Dakota used to get along, but now Dakota thinks that since she is older, she has all of the answers. Just because Sprig is quick to tears, and misses her dad more than anything when he goes away on business, doesn't mean that she is the baby in the family.
Now dad is talking about going to Afghanistan! Sprig knows that he is going for a very good reason (to build schools for girls) but she has looked online, and it's dangerous over there!
And school is getting confusing too. Sprig's best friend Bliss keeps siding with big old Russell, who Sprig thinks is nothing more than a bully. Are Bliss and Russell becoming more than friends? To top it all off, Sprig's teacher is off on maternity leave and Mr. Julius is subbing. Nothing is like it was!
Norma Fox Mazer has written a story about growing pains, and change. Kids with family in the military will appreciate her references to those in service, without making the whole book about the war. Sprig is learning that wishing Dakota away may not be the answers to her problems. After all, during rough times, sisters end up needing each other.
Blog: Read Write Believe (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Writing, Letters, Depression, Sisters, Letters From Rapunzel, Evil Spells, National Depression Screening Day, Add a tag
(I'm posting this several days in advance so the word will get out. Feel free to forward it or re-post it anywhere you think it might be helpful.)
Is it a stretch to call clinical depression "An Evil Spell"?
When I had finished a draft of Letters From Rapunzel, and before I gave it to anyone else, I showed it to my sister and asked her: Is this how you feel?
"Yes," she said. "And more."
I had described The Evil Spell as:
"...being locked in a dark room, and you've forgotten your name, why you're there, where the door is..."To my words, she added:
"and even that there is a door."
"Once upon a time, there were two little girls who slept in a wide bed under a rose-patterned comforter. Before they fell asleep, the younger (not by much) of the two would describe for her sister the spectral objects appearing before her eyes: 'Look...a wedding ring!...there's a piano!...now I see a mushroom...' The older sister strained to see what her sibling was identifying, calling out by name in the darkness. Sometimes, she could almost believe she saw those filaments of her sister's imagination, but mostly she enjoyed hearing her voice exclaiming, 'Look! There goes a...'
Reading Letters From Rapunzel, I heard my sister's voice again, saw her imagination forming images into words on a page. Piecing together letters, lists, fortunes, essays, free-writing, and fairy tales into a telling collage. Believing that if she can only name what she sees in the deep space of her imagination, others will glimpse the fairy trails also. Hoping that they will be as delighted and comforted as I was.
Thanks, Sara, for keeping me company in the dark and for having the courage to break the Spell of Silence."
Ah, Sister Bear. You showed how me how.
National Depression Screening Day is next week: October 11, 2007. You don't have to be alone in the dark.
Blog: Booktopia (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Friendship, Children's, adult fiction, chronicle books, Series, sisters, Add a tag
So, I almost named my youngest daughter Ivy, after one of my grandma's friends. Back then I thought ... "Hmmm. It may be a bit too old fashioned." Now as Ivy's pop up all over children's books, I am kicking myself.
Here is a read that pairs up nicely with the Grace books!
Bean's mom is always bugging her to go across the street and play with that nice new girl, Ivy. But Bean knows what nice means. Nice = Boring. Why would she want to play with a girl who seems to like to simply sit on her porch alone, when Bean could be tormenting her older sister Nancy? That is a much more interesting pursuit!
One day, however, fate throws Bean and Ivy in the same vicinity and friendship quickly blooms. Getting into mischief is so much sweeter when you have a partner in crime!
Number 1 in the series by annie barrow and sophie blackhall fits nicely into the early independent reader arena. With just enough black and white illustrations and a couple sassy protagonists, Ivy + Bean is sure to find a place in the hearts of fans of Judy Moody, Just Grace, and those on the way to Hannah West.
Sara, what beautiful gifts you and your sister have given each other. Thank you for sharing.
Being a sister of a sister, this one really made me cry...
It is such a good reminder, too, that we're not alone, that there is a door, that there's a good, solid way out. Even when things seem awfully, dreadfully dark...
Very moving, Sara.
Aw man, seven impossible tears before breakfast here in middle TN....
Oh, that moved me to tears. How lovely.