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Could we be leaving our children not only a far hotter world, but a more geologically unstable one too?

In Waking the Giant, Bill McGuire argues that now that human activities are driving climate change as rapidly as anything seen in post-glacial times, the sleeping giant beneath our feet is stirring once again. The close of the last Ice Age saw not only a huge temperature hike but also the Earth’s crust bouncing and bending in response to the melting of the great ice sheets and the filling of the ocean basins — dramatic geophysical events that triggered earthquakes, spawned tsunamis, and provoked a series of eruptions from the world’s volcanoes.

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Bill McGuire is Professor of Geophysical and Climate Hazards at University College London. His books include Waking the Giant: How a changing climate triggers earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes, Surviving Armageddon: Solutions for a Threatened Planet, and Seven Years to Save the Planet.

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My next entry for the Sketchbook Project 2011, “Jack & The Beanstalk”  Probably my favorite so far.  I really like the colors in this one.

World AIDS Day on BET (music countdown show, 106 & PARK, dedicates a full episode to the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic, along with other weeklong programming events. Also Alicia Keyes performs live on YouTube as global ambassador for Keep a Child... Read the rest of this post

This is the cover of a projected picture book I wrote called Where are the Giants? that unfortunately remains unpublished.

Just a little something I sketched last night while laying in bed, half asleep. I'll save you the annoyance of sitting though any of my "witty" banter today.

Steve~

One of the best things about working at Oxford University Press is finding older books you didn’t know about. A couple of days ago I came across The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales: The Western Fairy Tale Tradition from Medieval to Modern, edited by Jack Zipes. I decided to put the volume to the test. Would it have the modern musical interpretation of fairy tales? It did! Below is the entry about one of my favorite shows, Into the Woods.

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What People Are Saying About the Recent SCBWI New York Conference...

In my recent newsletter (click here to subscribe), I asked to hear from writers and illustrators who attended the SCBWI Mid-Winter Conference which took place in New York February 8-10. I was not able to attend so this was my way to live vicariously through those of you would did.

These bloggers alerted me to their posts about the conference: Kristi Valiant; Mary Cronin; Donna McDine; and Darcy Pattision whose blog includes links to other attendees conference reports.

I'm keeping me fingers crossed that I'll get to attend the SCBWI Conference in LA this summer.
If I do, I'll be blogging like mad, just as I have the past two years. (See my August 2007 and August 2006 archives if you're interested. I just now relived the last conference as I read through my old post. It was lovely to think about being in sunny Los Angeles, abuzz with children's book people, instead of here in cold, snowy, icy Cincinnati.)

Title: Listen to the Ghost
Written by: Beverly Stowe McClure
Soft cover: 159 pages
Ages: 12 & up
Publisher: Twilight Times Books
ISBN: 1-933353-51-1
Publication: 2003

Jade Dalton is at the threshold of her eighteenth birthday and is to spend summer vacation at her grandparents’ home in Charleston, South Carolina with her brother David and her best girlfriend, Elaine. Strange occurrences happen to Jade, from musical sounds at night to pink mists.

“Out of the corner of her eye, Jade caught movement. Ha! I see you. She swung around. She blinked. She blinked again. She rubbed her eyes and stared in awe at a faint pink mist hovering over the fireplace mantel on the far wall.”

Over time, events and auras are seen by all, and a journey of past truths is the path Jade must take to put the spirit to rest. As the summer progresses, it is revealed through the resident ghost, Phoebe, that the lives of Jade, Matt, and her ex-boyfriend Kurt are intertwined with the past. To be able to fit all the pieces together, Jade is more determined then ever to solve the mystery and reunite past loves, so all involved can continue on their paths…whether it be in this life or the afterlife.

Beverly Stowe McClure places you in the midst of the action from the get go. And her expertise brings you along for Jade Dalton’s mysterious journey with the feeling that you are there and you can’t help but cheer the heroine on.

Visit Beverly Stowe McClure’s website.

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Reviewed by Donna McDine for the National Writing for Children Center

Title: Saving Grace

Written by: Katherine Spencer

Soft cover: 246 pages

Ages: 12 & up

Publisher: Harcourt, Inc.

ISBN: 978-0-15-205740-4

Publication: October 2006

Grace Stanley is like any other 15-year-old high school girl until tragedy strikes her so-called wonderful life. Her older brother (whom she adored), Matt, is killed in a car accident. Grace’s life is shattered and she cannot help but blame herself for his death. She becomes a recluse for the remainder of the summer months and shuts out the people closest to her.

Grace’s parents are consumed by their own grief and spend an enormous amount of time at church and are unaware how grief ridden and troubled Grace truly is.

At the start of junior year Grace makes a radical change in attitude and behavior. She becomes involved with the “it” crowd and tailspins out of control by dropping her best friends, cutting classes, and escapes into a faze of alcohol, expensive shopping sprees and risky behavior with dating.

With the truth of her brother’s death too horrible to deal with, and the choices she makes and the lies she tells to cover her tracks, it all becomes too much for her to cope with.

At the most unexpected time in Grace’s life the strange new girl at school, Philomena, befriends Grace and guides her back to the secure circle of her parents and best friends and reinstates her belief in God.

Katherine Spencer expertly tackles the emotions of being a 15-year-old girl who is forced to deal with the tragedy of her brother’s untimely death and the roller coaster ride of finding her place among her peers.

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Reviewed by Donna McDine for the National Writing for Children Center

Title: Remembering Raquel
Written by: Vivian Vande Velde
Hardback: 137 pages
Ages: 12 & up
Publisher: Harcourt, Inc.
ISBN: 978—0-15-205976-7
Publication: November 2007

There are times when a person drifts through everyday life without being noticed all that much by those around them. Fifteen-year-old Raquel Falcone is that person in Remembering Raquel. Her life appears to be quite mundane and her story is told through the eyes of her best friend, family, classmates, and the woman who accidentally struck Raquel with her car.

Raquel’s death shakes the community to its core and proves how we all affect one another’s lives even if for only a brief moment. At first it appears that Raquel would have no lasting impact on her town. As one classmate put it, “”Oh crap. That makes me the class fat girl.” But through the eyes of the people Raquel came in contact with, we learn of Raquel’s gentle kindness, the traumatic impact her mother’s death from cancer had on Raquel, the way Raquel’s classmates perceived her, and the heartwarming frustration of her best friend. Even through cyber-space, it is shown how Raquel connected with others in her own way.

Vivian Vande Velde is an Edgar Award winning author and tackles the array of emotions all age levels go through when a death occurs.Remembering Raquel will tug at your heart. Visit Velde at: http://www.vivianvandevelde.com

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Reviewed by Donna McDine for the National Writing for Children Center

Title: A Crooked Kind of Perfect
Written by: Linda Urban
Hardback: 211 pages
Ages: 8 to 12
Publisher: Harcourt, Inc.
ISBN: 978-0-15-206007-7
Release Date: 2007

Zoe Elias aspires to be a prodigy piano player and holds onto her dreams of Carnegie Hall. She believes that if she can only get a baby grand piano her wishes will come true. She is dismayed that her father buys a Perfectone D-60 electric organ instead of a beautiful piano. Not only does Zoe have to deal with her disappointment, but she is dumped by her best friend Emma. Before she knows it, Zoe accepts an invitation to play in the Perform-O-Rama organ contest. Determined to do well in the contest, Zoe practices after school every day.

Zoe’s family consists of herself, her mom, and her dad. Mom is always at work and Dad is a recluse. His favorite pastime is taking mail diploma courses from Living Room University. The times he does venture out result in chaos. He always gets lost and has to call Eastside Wreck and Tow for directions every time. What’s a girl to do?

Friendship is found in the most unexpected person, Wheeler Diggs. Wheeler is from school and his family life is not exactly what you would call “perfect” either and he develops an endearing friendship with Zoe and her father.

Linda Urban creatively brings Zoe and company alive through their quirks and responsiveness to their circumstances. You will be intrigued from the first words to keep reading this fine novel about perception of families and how everything is not what it seems.

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Reviewed by Donna McDine, Middle Grade Book Reviewer for the National Writing for Children Center

Title: Firegirl
Written by: Tony Abbott
Publisher: Little, Brown for Young Readers
ISBN-10: 0-316-01170-3
ISBN-13: 978-0-316-01170-9
Ages: 8-12
Paperback: 145 pages
Publication: 2007 (reprint edition)

The most important thing in Tom Bender’s life at St. Catherine’s School was to gain the attention of Courtney Zisky and to take that long awaited ride in his best friend Jeff’s uncle’s Cobra. However, Tom’s life was about to change in unexpected ways when a new student was introduced by the teacher, Mrs. Tracy.

“I felt as if everyone’s eyes were on me. I must have dropped a gallon of sweat into my shirt. I felt my arms, sides, and waist dripping wet. But with that curled thing held out in the air toward me, I couldn’t not take it. I had to hold it. My hand reached out to hers and took it. I held it lightly, and I think she helped by not squeezing. My hand must have been sweaty. Her palm felt pretty normal. The skin felt cool.”

Firegirl is presented in first person from the events leading up to the introduction of the new classmate, Jessica Feeney, through the small steps that Tom takes in establishing a friendship with Jessica.

This heartwarming novel will inspire you. Share this book with your students and/or children and show them that simple acts of kindness can go a long way in making people feel loved and accepted.

It is no wonder that Firegirl was awarded The Golden Kite Award by the SCBWI.

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Reviewed by Donna McDine

Donna is a 2007 graduate of the Institute of Children’s Literature, Writing for Children and Teenagers program. She is also a member of the SCBWI. Donna has published in Stories for Children Magazine, Kid Magazine Writers, and Long Story Short.