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Scholastic has enlisted 13 children’s books authors to help with the Summer Reading Challenge program.
The participants include R.L. Stine, Maggie Stiefvater and Jackson Pierce, Gordon Korman, Michael Northtrop, Varian Johnson, Jude Watson, Blue Balliet, Patrik Henry Bass, Roland Smith, Tui T. Sutherland, Lauren Tarshis, and Wendy Wan-Long Shang. These writers will create original short stories; kids will be able to access these “rewards” by tracking the minutes they spend reading.
According to the press release, “each of the authors has written a unique short story using the same opening sentence which is, ‘I glanced over my shoulder to make sure that no one had followed me into the shadowy library, then took a deep breath and opened the glowing book…'” The organizers behind this venture hope to break the record of 304,749,681 minutes (spent reading) that was set last summer.
We’re soon to touch down in one of our absolute favorite literary states for theTexas Library Association Conferencein Austin! If there’s anything better than talking books, hanging out with authors and librarians, and enjoying sunshine and Shiners, then we don’t want to know about it.
If you’ll be in the Lone Star State, too, please swing by our booth, #1341, for galleys, giveaways, and face time with the HarperCollins Children’s Books School & Library team. We can’t wait to chat and put books in your hands.
But if you’re reading this thinking, “sure, you guys are nice, but we’re here to meet the AUTHORS, silly!” check out our top-notch signing schedule, here:
You don’t want to miss our coupon in the aisle by aisle guide, either! It points you to our booth for a free copy of BONE GAP, by Laura Ruby (*while supplies last), and a chance to enter to win a piece of framed original art by Jef Czekaj, from his upcoming picture book, AUSTIN, LOST IN AMERICA.
You have probably heard over and over again how important it is to keep reading during the summer while you’re not in school. If you haven’t heard this before, well then let me be the first person to tell you summer reading is important, people! You SHOULD read over the summer while you’re not in school!
We asked 2 very special Scholastic authors why this is true. Gordon Korman is the author of the Swindle series
, a few books in The 39 Clues series, and, like, a million other books. He published his first book when he was 14 years old! David Shannon is the author of picture books such as Alice the Fairy,A Bad Case of Stripes, and No, David!
Q: What is the top reason kids should read over the summer?
Gordon Korman: I think reading is kind of a self-feeding cycle — the more you read, the more you WANT to read. But when I write, my goal is primarily to entertain my readers. So my top reason kids should read over the summer is for fun.
David Shannon: To keep from becoming a slug! Reading keeps your imagination running in a way that TV and video games can’t. It works out your brain but relaxes your body, and those are both good things. There’s more down time in the summer, too, and you can read whatever you want.
So there you have it. Have fun and don’t be a slug! READ! When you do, you can log your minutes and be eligible for prizes in the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge.
Leave a Comment to tell us why YOU love summer reading, and whether or not you agree with these authors’ advice.
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Here’s the scoop: Someone on Long Island bought a lottery ticket worth $29,876,454.53. The problem is they never cashed it in. It’s missing, and it needs to be found soon. The deadline for cashing it is one year, and that year is almost up.
Griffin and his friends live near where the multi-million-dollar ticket was bought. As revenge for multiple bullying incidents, they team up and send Darren Vader on a wild goose chase digging through the garbage cans of Cedarville (thinking that the ticket is in one of them). However, the prank goes awry and soon, people from all over are Dumpster diving, hoping to find the missing lottery ticket.
Plus, there’s a new kid in town who might actually hate Griffin more than Darren does: Victor Phoenix. Victor sees Griffin as a bully. Next thing he knows, Griffin’s friends are spending their time with Victor and not him. It seems like everyone is against him!
Griffin resorts to his worst nightmare: working with Darren to find out who purchased that missing lottery ticket. Do they succeed? Or is that prize money as good as gone? Read Chapter 1 now!
What would you do if you won almost 30 million dollars? Tell us in the Comments below!
Scholastic will launch a new initiative called “Worlds Collide” to bring together three popular multi-platform series: The 39 Clues, Infinity Ring, and Spirit Animal.
Here’s more from the press release: “As part of the ‘Worlds Collide’ initiative, Scholastic will release for the first time a digital ‘Powerpack’ ebook bundle—including three first-in-series books in one volume—featuring The 39 Clues #1: The Maze of Bones by , Infinity Ring #1: A Mutiny in Time by , and Spirit Animals #1: Wild Born by . Scholastic will support the ‘Worlds Collide’ initiative with an extensive marketing campaign to link together the global audiences of The 39 Clues, Infinity Ring and Spirit Animals through a dedicated ‘Worlds Collide’ online hub (www.scholastic.com/worldscollide).”
Through the Worlds Collide website, fans are encouraged to play around with the stories from all three series and create mash-ups. To extend beyond the internet community, the minds behind this initiative have also organized the “Worlds Collide #1s” live tour. Fans will also get a chance to meet some of the authors who contributed books to these popular series including James Dashner,Brandon Mull, Gordon Korman, and Jude Watson. Rick Riordan will make a special appearance at one of the events. See below for the complete list of tour dates.
You folks have been awfully good about my recent shoddy blogging, so I tip my hat in your general direction. Jules of 7-Imp and I are putting the final touches on our book for Candlewick editing-wise and, as you might imagine, it eats up large swaths of time like an irate and hungry badger. There is no situation in which a badger cannot be used as an example. True fact.
In other news, there’s an author/illustrator out there that I happen to like very much. His name is Aaron Zenz and over the years he has startled me time and again with the relative brilliance of his creativity. If he wasn’t making multiple inspired pieces for the Re-Seussification Project then his kids were contributing to the stellar Boogie Woogie blog. Well, Aaron and Co. are some of my favorite folks so when I saw the Friends of Zenz page asking to help ‘em out in the midst of some pretty upsetting surgery, you can bet I jumped on board. If you’ve a minute, you can too. They’re swell folks.
So I got to meet J.K. Rowling the other day. Yup. The woman who basically set me on the path of children’s librarianship in the first place via her books and I up and met her. You see the good Dan Blank had tickets and one of those tickets happened to have my name on it. So I got to see her speak with Ann Patchett about this adult novel of hers The Casual Vacancy (a title I’m certain she stole from the notes of Lemony Snicket) and then I stood in a long line and got my copy signed. The conversation between us is as follows:
J.K. Rowling: Thanks for coming.
Betsy Bird: Guh.
Many thanks to Dan for the opportunity. He’s blogged about the experience here and just so you writer folks know, he’s doing another session of his author platform course starting Oct 31, with a free webinar. The course features Jane Friedman, Richard Nash, Colleen Lindsay, Kathleen Schmidt, Joanna Penn and Jeff Goins as guest speakers. Info on the session is here and the webinar is here.
“COMIC LEGEND: There was a Winnie the Pooh comic strip where the characters acted a lot more aggressively than most Winnie the Pooh fans are used to.
STATUS: True”
Thus we find the strangest and maybe most engaging link of the day. Apparently there was a Winnie-the-Pooh syndicated comic strip out there for a while that contained the Disneyfied Pooh and friends. And apparently it was written by some seriously odd souls. How else to explain some of these downright weird inclusions? Comic Book Legends Revealed explains more (you’ll have to scroll down a little but they’re worth finding). This one’s my favorite:
Wowzah.
And speaking of bears . . . how do you get kids interested in the political process? Have ‘em vote for bears, of course! The West Linn Public Library had an inspired idea. They’re holding a bear election through election day on November 6 and, as they explained it to me:
“inviting kids (and adults) to vote for their favorite bear from children’s literature: Pooh, Paddington, Mama Berenstain, or Corduroy. We have also gotten staff involved by asking them to volunteer to be bear campaign managers. The response from staff and patrons has been tremendous! Our campaign managers have embraced their roles beyond my wildest dreams by designing posters, stickers, bookmarks, and games to support their bear.We are having so much fun that I thought I would share with other libraries. I have even created a campaign video for my candidate, Mama Bear—here is that link: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=vb.153513568034372&type=2“ Love it! I suppose I’m a staunch Pooh supporter thanks to my job, but it’s tough. Paddington comes in at a close second in my heart.
Okay, let’s do the Me Stuff all in one fell swoop today. First off, I made a reading list for NYC’s New Victory Theater to accompany their upcoming shows. Check it out here. I never properly thanked Miss Kathleen at Mental Floss for including me in the 24 Library-Centric Sites We Love round-up, to say nothing of the compliments regarding my video with Travis Jonker. Thanks to Maureen Petry for the links! I’m speaking at a Joan Aiken event tonight so enjoy this piece written by Lizza Aiken, Joan’s daughter, entitled Voices: The magical mysteries of children’s literature. I was interviewed at the blog The Children’s Book Review as part of their ongoing librarian series. And the Children’s Media Association blog gave me what could well be the most flattering spotlight I’ve received in my long internet life. Whew!
There was a Bibliography-Off between Judy Blume and one of my favorite comics Patton Oswalt not long ago. As Jezebel described it, “The only thing that could really be better than this (for a Sunday, anyway) is if Calvin and Hobbes were real and they spoke at a TED Talk about the vividness of a small child’s imagination.” I just wish S.E. Hinton had heeded Patton’s call to give him a hand. She’s on Twitter all the time, y’know. Thanks to Marjorie Ingall for the link!
Maybe you can’t see Phil Nel speaking in my library tomorrow about Crockett Johnson. If not, here’s the next best thing.
All right. Enough with the books. Let’s look at some up-to-date movie news directly from Cynopsis Kids. First up:
“Nickelodeon begins production this month on its new original comedy/caper TV movie, Swindle, which will star a bevy of the network’s stars including Jennette McCurdy (iCarly), Noah Crawford (How to Rock, You Gotta See This), Noah Munck (iCarly), Ariana Grande (Victorious), Chris O’Neal (How to Rock, You Gotta See This) and Ciara Bravo (Big Time Rush). Based on the popular kids book of the same name by Gordon Korman, the movie will be shot in Vancouver Canada. The movie is set to begin airing in 2014 on Nickelodeon’s 40+ international channels across Europe, Latin America, Asia and Australia. The story begins when an evil collector cons Griffin (Crawford) out of a million dollar baseball card that could have saved his best friend’s (O’Neal) home, he teams a ragtag group of his classmates (Grande, McCurdy, Munck and Bravo) to take down the swindler. Directed by Jonathan Judge (Big Time Rush, Fred 3), Swindle is written by Bill Motz (Brandy & Mr. Whiskers) & Bob Roth (Lion King 2), Eric Freiser (Road to Ruin) and Adam Rifkin (Small Soliders, Mousehunt). Marjorie Cohn (Big Time Movie, Rags), Lauren Levine (Bridge to Terabithia, Best Player), Loris Lunsford, Karen Glass and Paul Barry serve as executive producers. Scott McAboy’s Pacific Bay Entertainment is producing.”
Second up:
“Toronto-based Radical Sheep Productions (Stella and Sam, Yub Yubs, The Big Comfy Couch) acquires the rights to the graphic novel series Fangbone! Third-Grade Barbarian, by author/illustrator Michael Rex (Goodnight Goon, The Runaway Mummy). Under the deal Radical Sheep will develop a K6-11 aimed animated series based on Fangbone! The story revolves around Fangbone, a nine-year-old barbarian warrior from Skullbania who winds up in third grade at Eastwood Elementary in order to save his native land from the evildoer Venomous Drool. With the help of his new pal Bill, a lovable, average, goofy kid, Fangbone outwits his enemies while discovering the modern world.”
New Blog Alert: The election’s coming up and everyone’s getting ready. With that in mind, did you know that there’s a blog out there solely dedicated to talking about political children’s books? Kid Lit About Politics it’s called. One for the radar.
New Blog Alert II: For that matter did you know there was a mother-son blog out there (adult mother and son!) called crossreferencing: a hereditary blog? Yep. There you can find Sarah and Mark Flowers as they, “discuss YA Literature and Librarianship from our dual perspectives.” It’s pretty cool.
New Blog Alert III: Tis the season. This third new blog is actual that of The Junior Library Guild called Shelf Life. It’s currently doing a wonderful job of discussing current issues and hot books. Of particular note is the post Save [Books of Wonder] and Save Your Soul. Couldn’t have put it better myself.
Have you ever watched the movie Matilda and thought to yourself, Whatever happened to child actress Mara Wilson? Thank god for the internet, eh? Thanks to Brita for the link.
On a serious note there is a lovely memory of Peter Sieruta up at the blog Archives and Special Collections. It happens to include what may be the first picture of Peter to ever make it to the world wide web. God, I miss that guy.
The Onion’s A.V. Club has been a bit lazy in their looks at children’s and YA literature but this recent post on 2012 graphic novels is well worth reading. Many thanks to Eric Carpenter for the link!
Daily Image:
Just knowing that Gabi Swiatkowska has a blog where she displays art like the pieces below is enough to make my life complete.
Thanks to Jane Curley for the link.
5 Comments on Fusenews: Paddington V. Pooh (supporters could call themselves marmalites and hunnies), last added: 10/27/2012
My day is now complete, I have read your blog. Boy, how I have missed them. Thanks for all of the updates. The information on S.E. Hinton on twitter is especially helpful. The Bear election is a terrific idea. What fun, for the record, I would vote for Pooh!
Lisa Yee said, on 10/26/2012 9:06:00 AM
Urrg. I can’t believe how far we have strayed from A.A. Milne and Ernest Shepard.
Elizabeth Bird said, on 10/26/2012 7:52:00 PM
Funny you should mention Shepard. One link I wasn’t able to include this time around was to an awesome article about Shepard’s adult art. It was a great piece but sadly disappeared from the web for mysterious reasons. Conspiracy theorists, it’s go time.
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Gordon Korman’s Swindle team is back and in Showoff, they’ve gone to the dogs. When Luthor, the massive Doberman, destroys a dog show and injures a champion dog, his family faces a massive lawsuit and are forced to take him to the pound. Griffin and his friend Ben can’t let Luthor be left there—but the only way to keep the dog safe would be for him to win Best In Show at a national championship. Is it possible to do this before Luthor eats his competition?
Howdy ho, gang! The Iron Guy has been busy once again, swimming laps around the Atlantic Ocean and checking out books for all the good people of Charlotte. I've been so busy, in fact, that I didn't think I'd have time to tell you about any more terrific books. But there was no reason to fear--our good friend Michael, (King of Books and Time Travel)has stepped in and written about two really good-sounding reads. Let's hear what he has to say:
Titanic, book 2
Collision Course
by Gordan Korman
With the notorious gangster Kevin Gilhooley in the brig of the Titanic, Paddy Burns is finally safe... or is he? He and Alfie have found a mysterious notebook belonging to a murderer from long ago. Is he onboard the ship? Alfie has his prime suspect: a grumpy old man with two lame legs. All the clues point to him, but could he really be a ruthless killer? Sophie and Julianna get caught up in the mystery too, plus, there are rumors about the ship of approaching ice glaciers. Is it true? Is the old man a murderer? And, most importantly, just how safe is the unsinkable Titanic? Gordan Korman takes his writing to new heights with incredible true facts and shocking twists and turns. You won't want to miss out on this exciting read! Also, look out for book 3: S. O. S.
The Missing, book 4
Torn
by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Jonah and Katherine are trapped in time again. Only this time, they have no contact with JB, no helpful gadgets, and worst of all, no tracers! They've all disappeared! The two are trapped in 1611 aboard Henry Hudson's ship. But after the tracers disappear, things aren't as they seem. Hudson was supposed to be left in a rowvoat at sea, but instead, his ship came back for him! Plus, he's looking for the Northwest Passage, which doesn't exist, but suddenly, it appears out of nowhere! And one of the crew members on board isn't what he appears to be... or, more accurately, he isn't who he appears to be. How are Jonah and Katherine supposed to get time back on track? How can they survive on the ship? And how can they save JB and the rest of their friends who are still trapped in 1611? You can never guess what will happen next in Haddix's new masterpiece, plus, she goes even deeper in exploring new aspects of time. If you haven't read The Missing, you're surely missing out on one of today's greatest classics!
Thanks, Michael! You always find the best books. And you always make me want to read them! I read the first book in the Found series but haven't gotten around to the others. You really made me want to read this one. I'm also a big fan of Gordon Korman's Island trilogy. (If you want to find find out what we've written about Found or the Island trilogy or those two authors, click on the Labels section under this post) Well, back to checking out more books to our friends. Stand back, everybody--the Iron Guy can check out books only at supersonic speed, not light speed!
0 Comments on Michael Tells Us About a Couple of Winners! as of 1/1/1900
Last week, Florida crumbled into submission. This week, it’s Virginia tapping out under the brute force of my choke hold of a book.
No, it wasn’t you; I have no idea what I just said, either. Gibberish, mostly. I’m gibbering. Perhaps it’s time to contact the people at the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. So let’s try again and not bury the lead this time:
I keep finding out about these award/contests in seemingly random ways. There’s no official letter, no word from my publisher. It’s usually an email from someone who figures I already know.
But I don’t. I so don’t.
Anyway, again, great news for Bystander to be nominated as one of the better books for middle school readers. That’s six states I’m aware of, or seven, if we’re willing to count Confusion as a state. I always make a point of listing the other titles nominated for these awards. I do that because this blog won’t be of interest to anyone, including me, if it’s all about James Preller all the time. Also, I enjoy discovering the titles of these books, something new and unexpected always pops up, and I’m forever looking for good books to read and/or purchase for my kids. It’s an honor to share a ballot with such accomplished writers.
Virginia’s Reader’s Choice Awards for Middle School
The 39 Clues Book 11, Vespers Rising is out in bookstores now, so it's already a great week, but there's more! We also have for you a SNEAK PEEK of the next 39 Clues book:
The 36 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers Book 1: The Medusa Plot by Gordon Korman
After the mysterious Vespers kidnap Cahills around the globe, they order Amy and Dan to steal a priceless painting in exchange for the hostages. The siblings rush to Italy to execute a heist that rivals the most famous art thefts in history. There's just one problem -- the painting they steal is a fake. With the clock ticking, Amy and Dan have to track down the real painting before one of Cahill hostages pays the ultimate price. But Dan and Amy can't stop the Vespers alone.
I’m an unapologetic GLEEk. Like a lot of adult fans, I think I follow the show so closely because I’m a frustrated band/drama/choir geek from back in high school. I couldn’t play an instrument, I couldn’t act, and I most certainly couldn’t sing. But, dang, if I didn’t hang out with that group, wishing that I had some shred of talent. So for people like me, there’s GLEE.
Naturally, though, young adult literature caught on to this segment of high school society way before the show was born. Some of my personal favorites (yes, I’ve read them all) include ENTHUSIASM by Polly Shulman, NO MORE DEAD DOGS by Gordon Korman, and the hilariously raunchy CASTRATION CELEBRATION by Jake Wizner. And this list wouldn’t be complete, of course, without mentioning E. Lockhart‘s spot-on DRAMARAMA. If you haven’t read these yet…well…then I worry about your GLEEk cred. Pick them up today.
I also want to tell you about two upcoming books that’ll appeal to the teen GLEEks you work with (and your inner GLEEk, of course):
In the midst of competing against each other at a singing competition, two ex-friends try to figure out where their relationship went wrong. (On-sale 2.15.11)
From the author of the series The Confessions of Georgia Nicholson, comes a new series about 14-year-old Tallulah who attends a summer performing arts program. (On-sale 6.28.11)
And don’t forget: there’ll be a new GLEE episode this Sunday, February 6th. GLEEk out!
This book is a great example of what happens when someone things, "What would happen if a character were thrown into Y situation?"
Capricorn Anderson has been home schooled all his life. That's not so unusual. What is unusual is that he has been homeschooled by his hippi grandmother, Rain, who has been careful to keep him from being exposed AT ALL to the materialism and competitiveness of the world. When he is elected school president as a cruel joke, he doesn't get it. His feelings aren't hurt and he calmly responds when taunted. Soon he is joined on the school lawn for tai chi, and the bully who got him elected finds that Cap is now the big man on campus, even if he has no idea what that means, is completely unconcerned with building a power base, and just wants to help everyone.
This story is funny and poignant. The plot line is fairly simple. The entire story takes place between the beginning of school and Halloween. What drives this book is the sweet nature of Cap, and the absolute confusion of those around him to his total disinterest in manipulation and that all elusive goal of "popularity".
I wholeheartedly recommend this one!
P.S. Someone told me that I can't just give positive reviews. At some point, I'll review books I don't like, but I'm struggling a little with doing that publicly. My mama always said, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all." So for right now, I am selecting books to review that I can recommend.
3 Comments on Book Review -- Schooled, by Gordon Korman, last added: 8/11/2010
Hey, life is too short to focus on the negative. Besides, there are so many good books to read, why review one you don't like. UNLESS, it's acclaimed elsewhere and you have the dissenting vote.
Yes, you can just give positive reviews. I don't read things I'm not going to like and I may not know I don't like it until I'm part way through. If that happens I put it down and move on. I like to review books that I can honestly recommend to read. I'd rather not recommend someone not read a book just because of my personal opinion. After all, the book has been published so someone out there likes it. You just do what feels right to you.
Gordon Korman addresses over 1,100 rapt attendees!
We're starting off Saturday morning with jokes, a door prize drawing, and Gordon Korman!
I'm really excited, Gordon wrote "Schooled" (which was awesome - and juggled so many points of view so deftly)
and 2 of the 10 books in the 39 Clues series, "One False Note" and "The Emperor's Code," and 67 more!)
As Lin Oliver said in her introduction,
Gordon writes books that kids WANT to read!
Gordon started off his speech sharing his appreciation for Paula Danzinger, how he met her when he was 17 (and she was doing a school visit) and how her being there for him, the new guy, made such an impact on his life and career.
He has the room cracking up about all the books kids have to read in school where the dog dies... in fact, it inspired one of his books, "No More Dead Dogs"
He's talking about his career (he wrote his first book at age 12 - his Mom had to drive him to his first school visit at age 14!) He wrote it as a class project, and got a B+. He mailed it to the address on the Scholastic book fair order forms... And the guy in the warehouse at Scholastic Canada took it over to the editors... and ultimately it got him published!
"So my advice is to find a forklift operator with an eye for new talent and get out there and start!"
He is so funny. The room is rolling, wave after wave.
He just told a story about the problem translating the title of his book, "Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire." to French, where it might have become... when you translated it back - and because idiomatic expressions don't translate... "Teller of Untruths, Your Trousers Have Combusted." HA!
But through the humor, his main advice shines through:
Write what you think is cool.
What Gordon thinks is cool? Old heist movies like "Oceans 11" (the one with Frank Sinatra.) That was the genesis of his coming up with the idea for "Swindled." (Which now I can't wait to read!)
So many great (and funny) stories!
0 Comments on Gordon Korman's Keynote: Writing for Kids: A Three-Quarter Life's Work as of 1/1/1900
Korman uses a “lighten up” kind of approach to writing page-turners. Lighten up already!
He notes, kids are pretty sophisticated in ways you don’t expect them to be.
Korman thinks writers, like Seinfeld, are the ultimate did-you-ever-notice guys. If any of us look at our work, he bets there is, somewhere, a kernel of did-you-ever-notice in there.
An example from his own life: If a team gets sponsored, it’s always by someone humiliating. His hockey team was sponsored by “Pretty Polly Paint and Wallpaper.” How about that on your jersey?
Korman loves observation-fed writing.
During school visits he likes to ask kids, “What are the did-you-ever notices in your life.”
What the weirdest school bus driver you ever had?
What’s the worst food in your cafeteria?
What would a sixth graders comedy routine be like? This is the question Korman had to ask himself when writing MAXX COMEDY.
School visits are a way to subversively keep an eye on your audience, to see what’s funny to them. The failures during school visits are much more interesting than the ones that succeed.
“Not bad, pretty good” is about the best praise you’ll get from an eighth grader. Korman looks at eighth graders as New Yorkers; they’ve seen it all and done it all. They’re hard to impress. That’s our audience. Tough crowd!
The Children's Book Council hosts the Children's Choice Book Awards. The favorite book finalists for this year were determined by close to 15,000 children and teens. I highly recommend checking out these books!
Hockey fans of a certain age may think this post is about an erstwhile Detroit team nicknamed the "Dead Things" that, once upon a time, couldn't buy a win. Then local fans started throwing dead octopi on the ice and later the team created an octopus mascot and things started looking up.
But it's not. This post, I mean. It's not about hockey at all but about dead things. Dead things on young adult book jackets. And a challenge about dead things on YA book jackets.
[Spoiler alert: If Carrie Mac's The Gryphon Project (Puffin Canada, 2009) is on your to-be-read list, click away now. Actually, you probably should not have clicked on this post at all because talking about dead bodies gives away some of the plot. But only up to about p. 129, so you're cool.]
The cover of The Gryphon Project, designed by Sam Weber, is quite attractive. Handsome, athletic and possibly naked young man with longish, flowing hair. What's not to like?
Nice, right? Then you find out on or around page 129 is that this image depicts the lifeless body of a major character. Yeah, he's dead. Technically, he is being kept in a state of stasis while the powers that be decide whether to bring him back to life or not. Dead bodies on the cover? It's a little creepy. I can find only two other YA novels with dead things on the cover: The Curious Incident of the Dog in Night Time by Mark Haddon:
No sign of another book for teens with a dead human body on the cover. Now the challenge. Can our readers find any more? Double points if you know of one for middle graders, and I'll send you my copy of The Gryphon Project if you know of a picture book.
Unlike throwing octopi on the Red Wings' ice, I don't think this will become a trend. If it caught on, we might be seeing gruesome cover art for titles like these:
Now We Are Six Feet Under
Hatchet
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!
Green Eggs and Ham: The story of ptomaine poisoning
Tuck Everlasting: Modern Methods in Embalming
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang you're
6 Comments on The Dead Things Challenge, last added: 1/7/2010
Dead birds must be the limit of what most picture book writers think most picture book readers (and their parents) can handle - there's also SHE'S WEARING A DEAD BIRD ON HER HEAD by Kathryn Lasky, and THE DEAD BIRD by Margaret Wise Brown. Dead birds everywhere. My favorite "dead things" cover, though (no birds, sorry) is for Babette Cole's DROP DEAD.
Wow. Creepy. I didn't know about Margaret Wise Brown's book--or any of the others for that matter. Poor George the Goldfish! Hey, elsewhere.org, let me know where to send your copy of THE GRYPHON PROJECT. carol (at) carolbrendler (dot) com
The up-coming Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan, the second in her zombie series, has a creepy dead woman on the cover. While I appreciate the dead body on the cover, as it's pretty accurate of the book, I really liked the cover of the first book, The Forest of Hands and Teeth, which was more haunting with no dead bodies.
On Thursday I will be chaperoning students in my son’s class to Event #29 - Hide and Seek with acclaimed young adult authors Gordon Korman and Matthew Skelton. My son Evan is most excited to see Gordon Korman in person! Last year Evan “discovered” Korman and was instantly hooked on his books especially the Dive, Everest and Island series. This promises to be a great experience for the students (as well as us chaperones!). Here’s the preview for the event:
Adventures around the world and through time join together these two skilled authors. A phoenix-like bird in a nest guarded by crows, a daring hot-air balloon ride, a skillful heist of animals from a floating zoo, a speedboat chase through the canals of Venice, modern Europe and 18th century Antarctica and 16th century England—all find their way into the books of Gordon Korman and Matthew Skelton. Novels can take you to places you’ve never been and times that you’ll never see. Come and play hide and seek with two of the best children’s authors writing today.
To read and watch the events unfold at this year’s festival visit the Festival Blog. 7 bloggers will be contributing text, audio clip interviews and photos on a daily basis.
0 Comments on Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival ~ Oct 18 - 25 as of 1/1/1900
I read some series books this month, most of which have been reviewed countless times throughout the blogosphere, resulting in my "Mini-Reviews" feature. Just a quick synopsis and my thoughts on each title. Enjoy!
"The 39 Clues" series has appeared to be hugely successful so far. I had the chance to review books 2 and 3 this month, both of which had the same excitement and page-turning aspects as the first. In book 2, One False Note, written by Gordon Korman, brother and sister team Amy and Dan Cahill, along with their nanny Nellie are still traveling the world in search of the 39 Clues. Vienna and ultimately, Mozart, play a large role in this one.
Book 3, The Sword Thief, written by Peter Lerangis tkaes us to Japan in search of the third clue. The Cahill's Uncle, Alistar Oh, seems to be the only one that can help them locate this clue, but whether he is trustworthy or not is still yet to be determined. Lots of puzzles in this one, which makes it even more intriguing, resulting in some mind work as well!
I do have to make a complaint about The Sword Thief and though it may not be quite necessary, I wouldn't be who I am if I didn't state my thinking. The role of the "pit bull" in this third installment is absolutely horrible. I counted at least four instances where the kids were almost attacked by another team's pit bull or the dog was referred to as vicious or menacing (almost all of chapter6). Seriously? Haven't we moved on from this issue yet? I hate reading stories where a specific dog breed is stereotyped so badly that it takes my focus away from the plot and the characters and that is exactly what happened for me in this one. Not a happy camper here.
Book 4 is out in June and is being written by Jude Watson!
One False Note/The Sword Thief Gordon Korman/Peter Lerangis 160/160 pages Middle Grade Scholastic 9780545060424/9780545060431 Dec 08/March 09
Ok, moving on...I also read the first two installments of the "Blue Bloods" series by Melissa De La Cruz. Love them! After falling in love with the Luxe series earlier this month, the combination of rich people and vampires is awfully intriguing and De La Cruz can write one heck of a story!
Blue Bloods introduces us to the huge group of Manhattan socialites that just happen to be vampires as well. The plot focuses on Schuyler, a member of a very important Blue Blood family and the last of her line. When the old group of Silver Bloods, destined to kill Blue Bloods, returns and begins killing off members of their elite group, Schuyler knows there is trouble brewing but has a problem convincing others of the same thing.
Masquerade, book 2, brings even deeper into the Blue Blood world, showing us how evil rich vampires can really be...and how innocent. We learn more about Mimi and Jack Force in this novel, as well as where Schuyler's only living relative stands in with the rest of the Blue Bloods. More awesome descriptions of clothes and houses and lots of silly material things (which make us love these books so much). Oooh and the cover is great! Very creepy!
This series holds just the right mixture of action, romance, supernatural, and rich teens. It's like The Luxe gone vampire. Blue Bloods/Masquerade Melissa De La Cruz 336/320 pages Young Adult Hyperion 9780786838929/9780786838936 April 06/May 07
To learn more about any of these books, or to purchase, click the book covers above to link to Amazon.
1 Comments on April Mini-Reviews and a bit of a rant, last added: 4/30/2009
Hey, groovy dudes, this is Carl with another good review from cyber kid 303:
Thank you so much for all the great prizes! I had never tasted salt water taffy before. It's good! Speaking of good, you should read the book Schooled, by Gordon Korman. It's about thirteen-year-old Capricorn Anderson who lives in a hippie commune. His parents are dead so he lives in the commune with his grandmother, Rain. When Rain falls from a tree and breaks her hip, Cappricorn is sent to live with strangers and has to go to public school (he was homeschooled in the commune). At the public school, the kids pick the biggest nerd and nominate him for school president and watch him make a fool of himself. Cap is picked. At first, Cap is a target for bullies, but things start to change. Find out for yourself how it changes. Other good books I've ready by Gordon Korman are No More Dead Dogs and One False Note from the 39 Clues series.
Gordon Korman is a really good writer. Darth Bill absolutely loved No More Dead Dogs. The Island trilogy by GK is one of the very, very best things I've read! I'm going to find this one and check it out. Thanks, cyber kid!
Ah, yes, I remember the hippie days. I wasn't one myself, but those were fun, exciting, and scary times--kind of like today! The more things change, the more they stay the same, huh? Well, here's a video of one of the great hippie bands of all time, Jefferson Airplane, singing a very uptempo version of "Somebody To Love," one of their big hits. This is from the Monterey Pop music festival in 1967. How much more authentic can you get??? Rock on, young reader guys and old hippies everywhere!!
0 Comments on Peace, Love, and Hippie Grandmothers Who Fall Out of Trees as of 4/27/2009 4:15:00 PM
Hey, everyone, this is Carl, welcoming 2009 with my first review of the year. And what better book to start the year than One False Note by Gordon Korman, the second book in The 39 Clues series. This one finds Dan and Amy Cahill, with their au pair Nelllie Gomez, traveling to Vienna, Salzburg, (in Austria) and Venice to track down the next mysterious clue left by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. I turns out, though, that Mozart had a sister Nannerl that was as brilliant as he was. The location of the clue is in her diary, but the megastar rapper Jonah Wizard has already gotten hold it. And that's just the start of their troubles! They have to outsmart their incredibly rich, sinister, and tricky Cahill relatives, jump out of hotel windows, survive an underground cave-in, and out race the bad guys in the canals of Venice. Does this sound exciting? It is!! In fact, I missed the stop on my bus ride home last night because I was so totally into the story!!! You'll enjoy it a lot. Now I will have to say that I liked the first one better--there seemed to be more danger and suspense, but his is a minor detail. I liked this one a lot and I bet you will too. I have one criticism though--in an early chapter, Dan and Amy debate wheteher or not they should steal Nannerl Mozart's diary from Jonah Wizard's hotel room. They talk back and forth over whether or not it's right to steal and finally decide that they should do it. This is the kind of thing grownups love to do. They love to complicate things. A lot of grownups have bought into the idea of "situational ethics", which basically means that nothing is right or wrong in itself; the situation determines whether something or right or wrong. Don't believe it guys--we know deep in our guts what's right and what's not. Does that mean the author sat down and tried to write a book to get us to believe it? Of course not. But some grownups will and you guys should be aware of it. Besides, this was an unwelcome intrusion in good book. That whole discussion could have been left out and it wouldn't have made the slightest difference. But, as I said, these are minor criticisms of a really good story. The next book, The Sword of Thieves, comes out on March 3. Ohhhhhh, boy!! I'll be ready!
1 Comments on One False Note, last added: 1/20/2009
Hey, I love that book!!!!! I'm waiting for my birthday (end of march)to read the 3'rd book. My favorite part was when those guys that they stole the recipe from chased them until Nellie got them. I signed up to the website and have a lot of cards. I also like the part where the kids took the thing from Saladin's neck and put it in Alister Oh's cane.
Hey, everyone, this is Carl. We have a new review from Sophia, that nice and intelligent girl from Metrolina Regional Scholar's Acacemy. I thought she had tried a hostile takeover of our blog, but as you will see, I was mistaken. She didn't want a takeover; she only wanted the free books! Well, as we've said before, we don't mind when girls write in; in fact, we welcome them and give them the greatest honor we can bestow by making them Honorary Guys!! And to show how fair, impartial, and generous we are, I'll also give this review to Ellen the Excellent, who started the very-awesome Girls Read Girls Rule (the World) blog. You'll be the first one to have your review appear in two blogs!!!
Island: Book One: Shipwreck
This book is by Gordon Korman. Even though this isn't about the book, I need to explain something to you guys. OK, so I'm a girl, that doesn't mean I want to take over your website. I just think your website is totally awesome! I love reading. Now, Shipwreck is the first book in the Island series. It's about a bunch of of boys and girls who were on a boat, then the boat got in this storm,and the six kids got washed up on a desrted island.
I think you should read this book, it's awesome and I love it!! Gordon Korman is a very good writer and I think you shou;d read all his books. The ones I like his Island series, Dive series, and his Everest series.
Most likely they're at a library, but if you want, you could also buy the books. They're cool. In the Island series, there are two girls and four boys. In the next book, Survival, they have to survive on the island until the can Escape, book three. Gordon Korman writes awesome books!!
Thanks, Sophia, and thanks for the compliments about our blog. We think you're pretty awesome too. A lot of kids have been reading the Island series lately; look at the posts from 11-6 and 10-29 to see what Koko B. Ware from the Guys Read blog had to say about it. BTW, I'm sending out a word of sympathy to our good friend Koko B. Ware--he lost his grandmother earlier this month and we know that must be hard for him. Take a moment and send a comment of sympathy on his post about it.
(PS--Gordon Korman really is a good writer. If you'd like to see other things we and your fellow readers have said about his books, click on the label at the bottom of this post that says "Gordon Korman")
And here's one from our new friend Jason:
The title of this story is I'll Never Share You, Blackboard Bear. I think the story iscalled The Blackboard Bear because a bear came off a blackboard. I think this story is a fairy tale because a bear can't come off a blackboard. This story is aminly about a boy named Anthony that drew the bear off the blackboard. Anthony will never give away the bear for nothing. The bear has told him to share and Anthony did what he had said. Finally everyone came happy.
And thanks to you, Jason! Here's a picture of him with his free book. Now I have to say that Jason outsmarted us--he wrote a review of a picture book!! I did tell him yesterday that he coudl get his free book if he wrote a review, so he wrote one right here in the library! Of course, I didn't say what kind of book it had to be! But I did tell him afterwards, as I'm telling all you out there, that your reviews need to be about chapter books or graphic novels or nonfiction (of more than 32 pages!) or biographies (ditto!)--in other words, you all are old enough to handle longer books! So don't just run in here or Matthews, read some picture book in 5 minutes, and expect to get your free book!!! To tell the truth, Jason didn't really try to trick us--he really didn't know. And we gave him credit for making a good effort. Besides, I'll Never Share You, Blackboard Bear by Martha Alexander is a good story about loving something so much that you don't want to share it and what happens when others ask you to share. It's good for young kids and older readers too. In fact, once I recommended a picture book to a grownup. Not for his son or daughter, but for him!! He worked for a bank, was going to make a presentation to other bankers, and wanted a simple picture book about not giving up. So I showed him The Carrot Seed by Ruth Kraus, one of the simplest picture books I know but one of the best. And the man checked it out!
0 Comments on Sophia Sends Us Another One--About the Island Trilogy! And Jason Writes About the Blackboard Bear as of 11/18/2008 8:22:00 AM
The 39 Clues, Book 1: The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan - How would you feel if you had a close relative who you thought you knew very well and they passed away leaving you wondering if you really knew them at all? Add to this that you find out that you belong to a huge family whose family tree is divided into four clans that includes some of the most famous individuals in world history such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Harry Houdini, Mozart, Annie Oakley, Marie Currie and so many more. Finally let include one more ingredient, you along with many other relatives, some you know, some you do not, are invited to the reading of the will and given the choice between receiving 1 million dollars or receiving a clue that could lead to something so grand and wonderful that its value is incalculable. Well this is exactly what happens to orphaned brother and sister Dan and Amy Cahill. They find out near the start of the book that their beloved Grandmother Grace, whom they were both close to, has passed away and that they along with many other relatives are in her will that offers the strange and challenging choice described above. Of course Dan and Amy take the clue and thus begins a great story that you will not be able to put down and will keep you up into the late hours of the night reading.
Now the book alone would be cool, but if you go to the very cool "39 Clues Website" at http://www.the39clues.com/ you can sign-up and chase after clues with the characters of this great book series. As a part of the signing up process, you get to learn what clan of the Cahill Family you belong to of the four that exist (Janus - that's what clan I the Great Dark Sith Lord Darth Bill belongs to, Lucian, Ekatrina and Thomas). After that you can start searching the web site for more clues and information not included in the books. There are also cards you can purchase that will help you as seek to solve the mystery that is the "39 Clues." There will be ten books in all each written by a different author. The next book in the series to come out will be written by Gordon Korman and will be titled One False Note. This is a great book without the website, but I highly encourage everyone to checkout the website. I will warn you though that once you do you will not have any choice be to keep revisiting.
0 Comments on The 39 Clues as of 9/21/2008 12:19:00 AM
Scholastic has enlisted 13 children’s books authors to help with the Summer Reading Challenge program.
Scholastic will launch a new initiative called “Worlds Collide” to bring together three popular multi-platform series: 
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1 Comments on Gordon Korman: The Page-Turner Principle, last added: 7/30/2010
Betsy,
My day is now complete, I have read your blog. Boy, how I have missed them. Thanks for all of the updates. The information on S.E. Hinton on twitter is especially helpful. The Bear election is a terrific idea. What fun, for the record, I would vote for Pooh!
Urrg. I can’t believe how far we have strayed from A.A. Milne and Ernest Shepard.
Funny you should mention Shepard. One link I wasn’t able to include this time around was to an awesome article about Shepard’s adult art. It was a great piece but sadly disappeared from the web for mysterious reasons. Conspiracy theorists, it’s go time.
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