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By: Lee Wind, M.Ed.,
on 7/29/2016
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The Official SCBWI 10th Annual New York Conference Blog
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| Right to Left: Pat Cummings, Stacey Barney, John Parra, Don Tate, and Lisa Yee |
In this discussion-based breakout session, we have multiple perspectives from different parts of the children's literature community:
Pat Cummings, author/illustrator of over thirty-five books for young readers (and Board member of SCBWI, the Authors Guild, and the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, among others.)
Stacey Barney, Senior Editor at Penguin/Putnam Books for Young Readers
John Parra, Golden-Kite winning illustrator.
Don Tate, author and illustrator, winner of the Ezra Jack Keats Award.
Lisa Yee, author of 16 books and winner of the very first Sid Fleischman Humor Award.
Some highlights:
Stacey Barney:
"Write organic stories." Sometimes she finds that it's almost as if writers are checking off boxes for diversity with their diverse cast of characters, but "character shouldn't feel like categories."
John Parra:
"Be respectful. Show it to others who are part of those communities. Make sure authentic is how it's portrayed."
Don Tate:
"Study. Research. Vet. ...Make sure you're not exploiting the topic."
Lisa Yee:
You can write outside your experience "but you have to get it right."
The panel are telling us fascinating stories, like Lisa sharing how her Millicent Min (in 2003) was the first middle grade book with a photo of an Asian American kid on the cover.
Don shares about doing a school visit when he was asked by a 5th grade class if he only illustrates Black people, and how he asked the two African American boys in the class if they felt like they've read books that represented them - and they said no. So he turned to the rest of the class and explained that he's made it his mission, he's built his whole career, to create positive portrayals of people that look like those two boys… and the whole class clapped.
Stacey tells us about teaching (elementary and preschool and high school), and reading picture books to the kids, and how she made an effort to choose picture books that reflected their experience. "Kids are kids."
Pat speaks of her school visits, and how kids pick up books out of curiosity. She shares how she was asked once by a British author why she only does books with Black characters. Pat countered, asking the British author why
they only created books with British characters…
John speaks of how he sees diverse books being published, but the awards and reviews and the best lists of the year aren't that diverse. After they've published, how do they get recognized and supported?
They cover editorial staffing (and the importance of diversity in staffing across departments, including marketing, publicity and sales), being vetted by additional experts, and much, much more.
Enter to win a copy of Wonder Woman at Super Hero High: DC Super Hero Girls, by Lisa Yee.
Giveaway begins April 9, 2016, at 12:01 A.M. PST and ends May 8, 2016, at 11:59 P.M. PST.
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By:
Chris Barton,
on 11/17/2014
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There’s nothing better than a crowd of librarians and authors to remind me how lucky I am to be in this line of work, and to inspire me to keep on writing and earning my place among this bunch.
This past weekend, Austin hosted the annual YA symposium of the Young Adult Library Services Association. I participated in the Saturday evening Book Blitz — in which authors seated behind stacks of publisher-donated books get blitzed by librarians snagging their share of signed copies — as well as a Sunday-morning panel discussion including (left-to-right in Paula Gallagher’s photo above) Jonathan Auxier, Lisa Yee, Andrew Smith, moderator/organizer/wrangler Kelly Milner Halls, Bruce Coville, and Laurie Ann Thompson.
It’s going to be a full week, as I’ll also be speaking at the Indiana Library Federation’s annual conference — Shark Vs. Train is a winner of the Young Hoosier Book Award — and then reading Attack! Boss! Cheat Code! at a Barnes & Noble back here in Austin.
If you’re interested in hearing me talk for, oh, 27 minutes and 59 seconds, but won’t be making it to either of those events, I’m happy to offer a third option: this podcast interview that author Jason Henderson recorded with me last week. Enjoy!
Lisa Yee is the the award-winning author of many novels for children, including Millicent Min, Girl Genius, which won the first Sid Fleischman Humor Award in 2004.
You might also know her because of her famous pal, Peepy.
 |
| Lee Yee works the room. |
The crowd is playing a game with Lisa Yee: Name That Line. After reading through well-known first lines and trying to name the title, the room now goes through, choosing their favorite three, and thinking about why they chose them.
Here's a sampling:
"All children, except one, grow up." ~
Peter Pan"There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife." ~
The Graveyard Book"If your teacher has to die, August isn't a bad time of year for it."~
The Teacher's FuneralFirst lines are very personal. They sets the tone for your story. With that line you're giving a clue as to who is telling the story.
There's no formula for the perfect first line. Lisa likes to think of first lines like food. They can be an appetizer (a bit of a taste or a tease), an entree (nice and meaty), or dessert (really lovely and delicious). A first line needs to wet the appetite.
Check out Nancy Pearl's
Book Crush to find lists of things in books for kids/teen, like great first lines. You'll find the first line of
Millicent Min, Girl Genius included in that list of great first lines.
Here it is:
"I've been accused of being anal retentive, an overachiever and a compulsive perfectionist, like that's a bad thing."
Definitely worth of that list.
What makes a great last line?
If your first line is the promise of the story, your last line is the payoff.
When you write your last line it can be helpful to know what you are writing towards as your draft.
Don't ignore that your you have first and last lines within a book. Pay attention to those too, like the first and last lines of a chapter.
In 2008, we chatted with author Lisa Yee in person. In May 2010,
we picked her novel Absolutely Maybe for our book club discussion. Now it's 2014, and Lisa's about to reveal...
7 Things You Don't Know About Me1. I fail at taking naps, but want to get good at them.
2. Telephone conversations make me anxious.
3. I once had a pet chicken named Herbie Gordon.
4. Last year I rode a camel in the Dubai desert.
5. I am frequently confused over, where to put commas.
6. One time, while running the spotlight for a community theater production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, I was daydreaming and left Joseph in the dark for about a minute.
7. I was never asked back to run the spotlight.
Remember, we're catching up with spotlighted authors* all month long here at readergirlz, so come early and comment often! :)
* Yes, that was intentional. You must have seen that coming.
By: Edi,
on 9/15/2013
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The Hispanic Division and the Center for the Book of the Library of Congress will honor Sonia Manzano for The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano (Scholastic) with the America’s Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature by the Consortium of Latin American Studies Program on Monday 23 September in Washington DC.
First Book made headlines this past summer when they targeted purchases from two publishers to increase the availability of diverse books for young readers. After distributing books from HarperCollins and Lee and Low around the country, First book has announced the second phase of their program.
So what’s next for First Book? In June, the group unveiled at the Clinton Global Initiative America the planned next phase of the project, a “Commitment to Action” that includes outreach to 30,000 new schools and programs, special collections of diverse and multicultural titles, matching grants for educators, and an influential council of authors to help inspire new books and stories.
In the past few weeks, I’ve noticed a growing dynamic in the demand for diversity in characters and authors in YA lit. Sure, it may be just another phase that the industry is experiencing, but I feel a real commitment from the individuals who are speaking up. They’re making statements that express concerns and beliefs they live with all the time. School Library Journal recently held a virtual conference “Embracing Diversity” which resulting in an article full of diversity resources.
The mosaic on Elephant Rag blog is a great place to find new books that reflect the world around us.
From authors Kelbion Noel and Zetta Elliott
Everyone deserves to see themselves in the pages. That’s what Diversity Reads is all about. Allowing youth the opportunity to enjoy speculative fiction featuring characters who look and deal, just like them. The non-profit is introducing a quarterly series, featuring multicultural authors of speculative fiction works, featuring main characters of color. Stay tuned for an event near you!
Their first event, “Black Magic” is in Toronto on 21 Sept.
Author Carole Boston Weatherford visited the Brown Bookshelf to discuss her book, Birmingham 1963 which pays homage to the four girls who lost their lives in a church bombing 50 years ago.
Lisa Yee is publishing on Paper Li. STET, Good Books and Bad Dogs and Outer Space Stuff is brought to you daily.She’s much better at that than I am! I have a weekly publication but all I news I manage to collect comes from YALSA. I’m working on it!
Author Cynthia Leitich Smith will be presenting a Graphic Novel Writing workshop in Austin on 5 Oct. To prepare for this event, her blog recently featured an interview with her conducted by Samantha Clark, Austin SCBWI’s regional advisor, Why did she take her Tantalize series to graphic format?
The Tantalize series struck me as a great fit for graphic format. The books are genre benders–Gothic fantasies with strong elements of romance, mystery/suspense and some humor. They’re high action, rich in setting – an alternative Austin; Dallas; Chicago; small-town Michigan; Montpelier, Vermont – and offer diverse protagonists and visually arresting creatures (angels, vampires, werearmadillos).
Me? I’m working at the reference desk today! I’m looking forward to my first visit to Rose Hulman’s library this week to hear a speaker that’s part of the Muslim Journey bookshelf on which we’ve partnered. And, I’m reading reading reading for BFYA! With regards to BFYA, I’m really excited to have identified several ways to distribute the books I’ve been receiving. Of course, some have been going to the Indiana State University library! Advanced copies have been going to area teachers for their classroom libraries. Others will soon ship to the Boys and Girls Club of Burbank and in March I hope to distribute the remaining hundreds to school libraries here in Indiana. Thanks to a wonderful suggestion from Suzanne Walker, the Children’s Librarian for the state of Indiana, I’m planning a mini-grant program to send the books to the neediest libraries in the state. Hopefully, I’ve found a way to get it funded as well!
You?!! I hope you have a fantastic week and that your favorite team wins, unless they’re playing the Colts!
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Head on over to the main PaperTigers website to read our new interview with the wonderful Lisa Yee and find out about the background to some of her best-selling books.
After having my emotions wrenched between tears of laughter and genuine weeping during Lisa’s presentation at Serendipity 2012 in Vancouver earlier this year, I came back to the UK laden with her books. Older Brother, Younger Brother and I have been hijacking them from each other ever since – and it’s just as well I’ve read them as Younger Brother will bring a character matter-of-factly into conversation while I now have the necessary knowledge to do the mental somersault towards the fictional identity of this “person”. So if you don’t yet know Lisa’s books, I can thoroughly recommend them for you and any middle-grade/YA readers you know. In the meantime, head on over to our interview to find out more…
By:
Mark G. Mitchell,
on 5/10/2012
Blog:
How To Be A Children's Book Illustrator
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Erik Kuntz, Amy Rose Capetta and Nick Alter made this video of the Austin Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators 2012 Regional Conference, Something for Everybody. I get a kick out of how the thumbnail on YouTube shows me in the crowd, getting a hug from illustrator Marsha Riti. So of course I had to include it here. Erik, [...]
It’s been a wondewrful few days here in Vancouver. Serendipity was fabulous – and many thanks to the Vancouver Children’s Literature Roundtable for hosting us and for putting together such a great program. I’ll be heading for the airport shortly, on my way back to the UK, and taking with me some wonderful memories, as well as a suitcase full of books…
Here’s a selection of the many photos I took -
Friday’s Gala Dinner:
Allen Say and Lisa Yee:
Our table, lef to right: Corinne, our lovely “Guardian Angel” for the conference Kat Thomson, Lisa’s “Guardian Angel” Rob Biittner, Lisa Yee and me behind.
Saturday – Serendipity 2012 at the Neville Scarfe Building, University of British Columbia – “The Year of the Dragon”
Paul Yee and Lisa Yee:
PaperTigers’ Paper Tiger meets Peepy Peep:
Getting our presentation set up…
Allen Say’s prsentation – here with his photograph with Sensei Noro Shinpei:
Making dragons at the lunchtime workshop with Origami Master Joseph Wu:
Then waking everybody up post lunch with some dancing from Shiamak’s Bollywood Dancers – billed to “rouse your inner dragon” – they sure did!
Saturday evening –
By:
Aline Pereira,
on 2/1/2012
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Black History Month~ Canada
African American History Month~ USA
National African American Read-in~ USA
National Year of Reading~ Australia
National Storytelling Week~ ongoing until Feb 4, United Kingdom
Kolkata Book Fair~ ongoing until Feb 6, Kolkata, India
Japanese Children’s Literature: A History from the International Library of Children’s Literature Collections~ ongoing until Feb 12, Tokyo, Japan
Taipei Book Fair~ Feb 1 -6, Taipei, Taiwan
28 Days Later: A Black History Celebration of Children’s and YA Lit~ Feb 1 – 29, USA
Children’s Literature Symposium: The Same Text but Different: Variants in Children’s Media~ Feb 3 – 4, Sarasota, FL, USA
2012 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour~ Feb 5 – 10
The Association of Writers and Illustrators for Children (AWIC) Presents an International Conference on Book Therapy~ Feb 9 – 11, New Delhi, India
Imagine Children’s Festival~ Feb 10 – 26, London, United Kingdom
Writer-in-Residence Launch: Meet Sarah Ellis~ Feb 11, Toronto, ON, Canada
47th ACELT Conference: Reading Ourselves, Reading the World~ Feb 11, Manila, Philippines
2011 Cybils (the Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards) Winners Announced~ Feb 14
First Nations Public Library Week~ Feb 14 – 19, Province of Ontario, Canada
Chapter & Verse’s (A Book Club for Adults Discussing Children’s Lit) Discussion of ALA/ALSC Award Winners Feb 15, USA
Sun Gallery’s Twenty-third Annual Children’s Book
By: Kathy Temean,
on 11/4/2011
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Writing and Illustrating
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One day a year he is Santa Claus, but the other 364 days Dan Santat works as a children’s book writer and commercial illustrator. He is also the creator of Disney’s animated hit, “The Replacements.”
Dan has written and illustrated his own books and books by other writers. His new graphic novel, SIDEKICKS came out in July and he has another wonderful picture book coming out this month that is written by Jill Esbaum titled, Tom’s Tweet which is a slapstick funny story that pays homage to the selfless act known as parenting. All in all Dan has written and/or illustrated nineteen books.
He graduated with honors from the Art Center, College of Design and lives in Southern California with his wife, two kids, a rabbit, a bird, and one cat.
For all you writers and illustrators who have wondered, what is the best way to develop and present a graphic novel, you are going to love this post.
Dan takes you through his process on developing his new graphic novel about SUPERHERO PETS!
Captain Amazing, superhero and savior of Metro City, is getting old. He’s out all hours battling arch-villains, catching thieves, and helping little old ladies cross the street. He doesn’t even have time for his house full of pets. He needs – a SIDEKICK!
Captain Amazing’s four pets agree. But each one of them thinks HE should get the sidekick spot – and a chance for one-on-one time with the Captain. Get ready for sibling rivalry royale as pets with superpowers duke it out for the one thing they all want – a super family.
It began with a simple painting. Back in art school I took a class where we had to do a series of paintings that revolved around a theme. At the time I thought I wanted to go into the animation field so I decided to work on my character design skills and flesh out simple ideas of animals doing silly things. Towards the last month of the course I painted an animal super hero, which I called The All-American Beaver. The idea of a super animal really intrigued me and so I decided to paint another superhero animal. The next week I followed up with a painting of a cat who could generate large amounts of static electricity with his fur which I properly named Static Cat. Even though the term had ended before I could explore more possibilities I was suddenly obsessed and wanted to create more.
As I was sketching the characters over and over again I really didn’t think of a solid storyline until I had sold the manuscript to my editor. All I knew for certain was that they were all starving for attention and wanted to compete for the affections of their owner to find out who would be the favorite house pet of the house. In my mind I originally thought that Fluffy would be the leader of the group. He was going to be this arrogant loudmouth who wanted to just be bossy and give orders to everyone so he could wear a costume and be famous. Roscoe was the young naive kind hearted softie with massive strength (Think Lennie from “Of Mice and Men”)
A word of
Lisa Yee, the hilarious and wonderful author of 10 novels for kids and young adults, made me cry during her session on bullies and antagonists.
But it wasn't on purpose.
She was just talking about the story she wrote for the DEAR BULLY anthology due out next month.
Her entry perfectly illustrated the importance of creating dimensional bullies: characters who have wants and needs, and who have reasons for harming those around them--getting as specific as identifying the day our antagonist was hurt badly enough to want to hurt others.
So, yes. Tears. But also lots of laughs as she walked us through the paces.
 |
| Lisa Yee |
We started off with a rather thrilling promise: "We're going to tap into your evil side," she said.
And then we identified our favorite literary villains. Lord Voldemort, we love to hate you. The British press, meanwhile, really loves to hate Satan. They identified him--and not Camilla Parker Bowles (kidding! she's real!)--as literature's foulest villain. Which, when you think about it, seems kind of stereotypey.
We moved on to some key definitions:
A
bully is a person who uses strength or power to harm or intimidate those who are weaker.
"Bully" started out as a good thing, she mentioned. Over the years, the definition morphed and it changed.
A
villain is a person guilty of capable of crime or wickedness.
That word, she said, is French. A villain worked in the fields in a time when everyone wanted to be a knight. When bad things happened, they blamed the farm people. “A villain did that.” Mon dieu!
An
antagonist, who could be a bully or a bad guy, is a person who actively opposes or is hostile to someone or something.
"Your antagonist in your story is going to be working against your protagonist," she said.
She shared with us seven story archetypes we writers use, from "man vs. himself" to "man vs. society," and we came up with examples of stories that fit each archetype.
Then she walked us through a couple of writing exercises: one in which we outlined a variety of characteristics we'd need to know about our antagonists (everything from their age, outward appearance, self-perception, wants and needs, as long as one word that best described them). We used that as the basis for a revealing paragraph about our antagonist.
My favorite part, and not just because I played a teen thief, was doing a Q&A with participants to figure out the characters' backstory and motivations. We then wrote a murder scene from three points of view--a third person, and first person from both the teen thief and her rich-lady murder victim. The effect was stunning. By having well developed characters with clear motivations, we ended up with richer writing that was more nuanced and compelling.
Lisa Yee
Yesterday novelist Lisa Yee warned her followers about an online fraud–somebody pretending to be her agent has been contacting writers about book deals.
Aspiring authors should beware. Here is the complete tweet: “Someone is impersonating my agent, Jodi Reamer & offering book deals. If the email addy doesn’t have Writers House in it it’s fake!”
You can read more about the real Jodi Reamer at Literary Rambles. Her all-star list of clients includes Stephenie Meyer, John Green and Lisa Yee.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
By:
Betsy Bird,
on 6/15/2011
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In brief . . .
Yeah. I thought it was an Onion headline too: Werner Herzog reads potty-mouthed bedtime audiobook. I think that’s overseas, though. Here in the U.S. we got someone else.
That’s a good headline. This one’s not bad either: Children’s author ejected from plane for bad language. Strange thing is, it says the fellow in question (a New Yorker) has a book for kids due out this August. Can’t find any evidence of this on Amazon, though. Hmmmmm. Thanks to Jennifer Schultz for the link.
- Author Lisa Yee recently came to town for BEA. While here, she met with a veritable TON of folks, including myself. For an image of me balancing a Peep on my once massive belly, her blog is the place to be.
- I love the Twin Cities, particularly when their schools offer fun free courses for kids on making their own books. Thanks to Monica Edinger for the link!
- Twitter rumor: Due to a recent exchange between Neil Gaiman and Adam Rex, it sure as heck sounds like Rex has illustrated a book by Gaiman with a target audience of 2-year-olds. I am now officially a gossip columnist, am I not?
- I love me those Boogie Woogie kids. Best blog of kids reviewing children’s books out there. Now they’ve done review #100 and they want to accept nominations for their next review. More info here.
Eliot Schrefer is a member of my children’s writing group. Right now he’s penning a really impressive YA novel about bonobos in the Democratic Republic of Congo. So how does one research such a book? Go there! Eliot has a great blog up right now that is currently following him on his trip.
- I was intending to go this awesome event fo
By:
Liz Goulet Dubois,
on 3/2/2011
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ChatRabbit
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We found out that Lisa Yee was going to follow up her American Girl signing with a signing of her latest book at The Blue Bunny. I have been wanting to check out this store for quite a while, so it was the perfect excuse to head up to cute, old town center in Dedham Mass.
The Blue Bunny is the brainchild of author/illustrator Peter H. Reynolds. I have a lot of respect for his philosophies and work, so I expected that the store would be a great blend of toys, books, art, and fun. And it was!
Here we are with our friends the Sheas, who came up from CT for the signing.
Seriously, for me as a toy designer and a children’s book creator, it doesn’t get much better than this! The children and adults who were there that day seemed to agree- it’s a grand place to explore.
According to Lisa, ours was the very first copy of her new book, Warp Speed, to be signed. WooHoo! The book is about a Star Trek geek (there might be a couple… a few…OK, FIVE Star Trek fans in our house), so it was a must-have addition to our nearly complete Lisa Yee library. She’s such a great writer- and just the kind of role model that you want your kids looking up to.
I got to hold Peepy! She’s clearly a girl. And we both were rockin’ the stripes.
Lisa’s back in sunny California now, but we are glad to have seen her here on the East coast. We will certainly be back to The Blue Bunny- and if you live in these parts, check it out. You won’t be disappointed!
Guess who came to the local-ish American Girl store the other day?
None other than Lisa Yee! She wrote the latest Girl of the Year Books about Kanani, a Hawaiian girl. She also wrote Millicent Min, Girl Genius, and the subsequent stories relating to it. Oh, and also, she’s awesome. Add to that a few kids who are both American Girl and Lisa Yee fans, and you have the ideal day trip!
Lisa is from California, so it was great to get to see her on our coast! Here she is with the Dubois girls. Amazingly, she is still smiling after having met with approximately five thousand (mostly) little girls, with another thousand still to follow.
Poking around in the American Girl store, we couldn’t help but notice that our pal Mary Beth’s new book was on the shelves there, too! Check out the Paper Shaper Forest Friends, a make-it-yourself book of adorable animals in MB’s signature style.
Yes, Millie thought you should see what the back of the book looks like, too!
I bought some stylin’ shoes while we were there, too.
Doll shoes. Unbearably cute saddle shoes!
They do not fit me. But so help me, I will find the ideal miniature feet for them to fit on.
It’s a shame we don’t have any cats anymore!
By: Adventures in Children's Publishing,
on 11/2/2010
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Marissa and I recently attended the SCBWI Mid-Atlantic Regional Confernce and had the pleasure of hearing Lisa Yee give the keynote address. Lisa has long been a writer, with numerous food labels, menus, jingles and commercials under her belt. She became an author with the publication of
MILLICANT MIN, GIRL GENIUS in 2003, quickly followed by five additional novels for young readers or young adults. She and her books have received the Publishers Weekly Flying Start Award, the Sid Fleischman Humor Award, an ALA Notable Book Award, a Junior Library Guild Selection and many, many more accolades. She admits she wanted to be an author since she first started reading. She just never gave herself permission to admit it aloud. Sound familiar?
Her speech was so funny, modest, and inspirational, I caught up with her by email after the conference to ask her additional questions. Here's what she said.
Q. How long did it take you to write your first novel and how many drafts did you do?A. It took me over six years to write my first novel and I probably wrote twelve bijillion drafts. Maybe more. Actually, there were so many drafts that I lost count. I do know that I wrote three entirely different novels, but kept the main character each time. The final version ended up being MILLICENT MIN, GIRL GENIUS.
Q. What do you think made the difference in making it good enough to be published?A. I was so stressed out about writing well, that I forgot how to write at all. Everything I did was so self-conscious. It wasn't until I approached the book as if I were writing email (where I don't think at all, I just write), that I found my voice and gained confidence.
Q. What’s the one piece of craft advice that changed how you approach a novel?A. I think it was Stephen King, in ON WRITING, who said that you should approach dialogue like gossip. That is, something you want to overhear.
Q. What do writers starting out now need to know and remember as they start on the path toward publication?A. I often hear writers say that their goal is to be a bestselling author. That's a lot of pressure to put on yourself. Your goal should be to write a good sentence, a good paragraph, a good page . . . and eventually a good book. It takes time, so remember, small steps.
Want to know more? You can catch up with Lisa Yee at her
web site or via her
blog.
How can books I loved as a child remain popular, when society changes so quickly? Nobody had cell phones or internet when I was in elementary school. So how can books written at that time still appeal to today’s kids? I believe the books that stand the test of time have unique characters readers can relate to, cheer for, and fall in love with, combined with situations that kids still have…like annoying siblings, school issues, fights with friends, and trying to see where you fit in our world.
I blogged about this on the Mixed-Up Files...of Middle-Grade Authors site today. I'd love to know why you think some middle-grade books remain popular for over thirty years, and which current books you believe will become timeless. Hop on over and see which book I believe will become timeless, and find out what amazing authors like Lauren Myracle, Wendy Mass, Bruce Hale, Laurie Friedman, and Lisa Yee think about timeless middle-grade books.
Don't forget to check out our second summer giveaway, where one lucky reader will win these three fabulous middle-grade books:
The Reinvention of Edison Thomas by Jacqueline Houtman (ARC)
Mallory Goes Green by Laurie Friedman (hardcover)
A Dog's Way Home by Bobbie Pyron (ARC)
Bobby vs. Girls by Lisa Yee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book may appeal to my fifth grade students for the mere fact that it is a story where the boys go up against the girls, which always seems to be popular. But the fact that Bobby, the main character, and his friends are only in the fourth grade may turn off some of my fifth grade students who seem to think they are so far away from fourth grade. (Even though they are not.) The story itself though is perfect for a third or fourth grade student.
View all my reviews >>
by Lisa Yee illustrations by Dan Santat Arthur A. Levine / Scholastic Books 2009 Bobby and Holly are friends and have been for some time, they just aren't friends in front of other kids. Because everyone knows that boys and girls cannot be friends, Bobby and Holly have tried to keep their private friendship separate from their school freinds, but things get complicated (and confusing for Bobby)
By: SCBWI,
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L to R, Arthur, Linda Sue, LisaLisa Yee gems:
If you've ever been to Red Lobster, I wrote the menu. Crispy Golden Fries? That's me.
(laughter)
Hey, a menu is a story: beginning, middle, and end.
Lisa said that she was working on a book, sure that the main character was 11. She morphed into being 12. And ultimately, telling the story that needed to be told, the character ended up being 17, and the book was a YA.
Arthur's advice to Lisa back then (and now):
Just write the story it needs to be.
Arthur:
In all the genres, the difficulty is letting go of the anxiety of what you percieve to be the rules of the form.
Lisa chimed in on that - she had a character who was a run-away, and her first instinct was that the character would swear a lot - the percieved rules of the form. But then she realized that her character DIDN'T swear a lot.
Linda Sue:
I want to write a story, and the best story I absolutely can. When she wrote "A Single Shard," she thought it would be an adult book.
When I write my novels, I don't know where it's going to be shelved when it's out.
And they shared so much more great advice and insight!
By: SCBWI,
on 8/10/2009
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Lisa Yee (far right), Linda Sue Park (center),
and Arthur A. Levine (speaking as Sid Fleischman)
Since Sid wasn't able to attend, Arthur A. Levine graciously stepped in. Arthur read Sid's contribution for this panel, including these gems:
Most our lives are sequences of scenes - and in this respect, art is like life.
Emotion is common to all genres.
Without emotion to touch us, one is left with typing paper.
Linda Sue Park:
Still, today, when revising my novels, there are several run throughs on the language level, in which I revise my novels like a poem.
She even goes through the draft one time during revisions, focusing solely on where the period falls - like in poetry!
She writes poetry in the fallow times between novels.
Her first picture book was adapted from a poem she had written thinking it would be for an adult poetry collection.
More on this great panel to come! Hey, people keep coming in - it's standing room only now!
Posted by Lee Wind
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on 3/20/2009
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Ignore the fact that SCBWI Miami took place in January--I've finally downloaded/uploaded my pictures, and I want to post them. (Click to make them larger.) I was not only an attendee, but I also appeared as a speaker on the First Books Panel, along with Marjetta Geerling and Debbie Reed Fischer.
Linda Bernfeld, SCBWI Regional Advisor of Florida, (on the right) is ready to party down after months and months of planning! It paid off, Linda! From left to right, the other conference attendees are Lynne Hansen, Shannon Hitchcock, me, and Angelina Dunbar. Lynne writes YA horror and gave me great tips on how to drum up book signings. Shannon and I had some great conversations, and Angelina was my conference buddy.
I'm standing next to Marjetta Geerling, Alex Flinn and Mindy Weiss. Marjetta wrote Fancy White Trash and signed my copy with a fancy pink pen. She told me YA doesn't have to be depressing and she was right! I read her book, loved it, and saw positive themes throughout the novel even in the midst of serious subject matter. Alex Flinn is the author of many books and the recipient of many awards. Go Alex! Mindy is a Blueboard friend and it was nice to meet her in person.
The great Lisa Yee! What can I say? I loved Millicent Min! Don't let Lisa's small stature and cuteness fool you--she's sharp as a razor and really funny (very quick texter, too).
Gaby Triana worked behind the scenes for months to get the conference going. Not only is she the author of several award winning novels and a nice person to boot, she's hot, too!
Donna Gephart wrote As If Being 12 and 3/4 Wasn't Bad Enough, My Mother is Running for President! My daughter snagged this book from me when I got home and she loved it! Donna and I had exchanged a few emails before the conference, and I was eager to meet her. She is a warm and caring person, and I love her for that.
I had a blast hanging out with Debbie Reed Fischer. She introduced herself as a military brat like myself, and said we had much to talk about. The author of Braless in Wonderland and Swimming with Sharks, Debbie is quick, funny, and just as pretty as the models she writes about.
This is what it looks like when children's writers party! Kimberly Lynn constructed all the decorations, and she did a fantastic job!
Everyone, it's time for some whistles, cheers, and big time whoops!!
Today, we are celebrating the official release of Absolutely Maybe (Arthur A. Levine Books, 2009), penned by the one and only Lisa Yee! Woo Hoo!!
ABSOLUTELY MAYBE by Lisa Yee (Arthur A. Levine Books, 2009),
Young Adult, 288 pp.
That's right, the former Miss America and author of the wildly popular Millicent Min, Girl Genius; Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time; So Totally Emily Ebers; and Good Luck, Ivy!, has written a funny, touching young adult novel about 16-year-old Maybe (short for Maybelline), who hitches a ride from Florida to California, where she discovers just what she is made of. Phew! This book is coming out just in time; ever since I finished Good Luck, Ivy!, I've been suffering from serious Lisa withdrawal, simply wanting more more more from this Sid Fleischman Humor Award winner.
Anyway, Maybe's life is pretty tough. Her mom, who goes through men like Kleenex, takes her scuzzball boyfriend's side after he tries to rape Maybe, so she's left no alternative but to run away from home. She takes to the road with her friends Hollywood and Ted, hoping to find her real father, whom she thinks is a famous movie producer.
After they get to California, her friends get in the groove right away. Hollywood, who's been accepted to the USC film school, starts working on a documentary, and Ted finds a job and moves in with the famous Gloria de la Tour. This leaves Maybe to fend for herself. She is traumatized by the idea of babysitting triplets, stops for some tacos (my kind of book!), and ends up working at Taco Truck #4, where she proves to the owner and herself that she's capable of creating some pretty awesome stuff.
What else? Finding her real birth father is not as easy as she thought it would be. She does meet her former stepfather and his girlfriend, but is hurt and betrayed when she sees Hollywood's documentary. Who are her true friends? More importantly, if she's not the charm school beauty queen her mother wants her to be, just who is she? There are many life lessons to be learned for this determined, spunky, resourceful main character who eventually comes into her own -- Kool-Aid dyed hair and all. It promises to be a great read!
Now, in honor of Lisa, put on your sunglasses, grab a taco, and slurp some souperstar soup. Oh, and have your peeple call my peeple.
Today's Special: Glitterati Gumbo (guaranteed to induce delicious fantasies
of Brad and Colin, maybe).
Absolutely Maybe may be purchased through IndieBound or your favorite online bookseller. What are you waiting for?
Be sure to check out Absolutely-Maybe.com.
Scholastic did a series of wonderful interviews with Lisa that are not to be missed. It's totally cool hearing about all her books and her writing journey.
Lisa's official website is here, and her Live Journal blog is here.
I Made The Lisa Yee Blog...
Click here to see Lisa Yee's continuing coverage of Peepy's conference adventures, including one involving me. (Peepy is fun at parties.)
Note: One scene depicts violence against an editor. Parental discretion is advised.
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Great photos, Liz! The girls look beautiful and you can tell they had a great time at AG with Lisa Yee.
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I wish I had time to look at this tonight! But now I REALLY can’t wait to REALLY look at it on Sunday!