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November 29, 2007
The Future
Do not worry about our future! It is in the capable hands of young people like this amazing young woman. Phoebe had put together a power point all about me and it was as professional a production as anything I've ever seen. I'm voting for her for president.
It was at Franklin, Phoebe's school, that a third grader asked me what I thought about story structure as I wrote. Story structure?! This is a third grader! No wonder the students in Missouri are acing all their writing tests. I tried to answer his question as best I could. I didn't want to break his heart and let him know I hardly know what story structure is.
My visit to Franklin convinced me that I could never make it in grade schools these days. Too hard!
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Franklin Elementary
Stop two was at Franklin Elementary, the oldest school in the city. Chris Anderson greeted me warmly and look at the display she put up in my honor!
Posted by kirby at 11:13 AM | Comments (0)
Liberty Oaks, Missouri
My first stop in Missouri was at Liberty Oaks Elementary. Librarian Susan Miller took very good care of me and prepared the kids well for my visit. So well, in fact, there were about 9000 huge sheets of poster paper, covered with questions for the author! You can see some of the yellow sheets in this photo. (Okay, maybe it wasn't 9000 but it was a lot).
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This exquisite statue is a tribute to a much-loved library supporter in Bowling Green. It's called "Ferris' Chair," and Hattie was quite pleased to sit a spell there.
Posted by kirby at 11:07 AM | Comments (0)
Treated Like a Queen in Bowling Green
You'd be hard pressed to find a more wonderful group of public librarians than this team in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Not only did they arrange for me to visit five middle schools in 2 days (!), they made sure this caffeine fiend got her daily fix.
Posted by kirby at 11:04 AM | Comments (0)
Agent Larson Reporting for Duty
The theme of this year's Humboldt Author's Festival was "Authors: Agents of Intrigue."
And I have the t-shirt to prove it.
Posted by kirby at 11:01 AM | Comments (0)
Eureka! I have found it!
Is there a sight that is more rewarding than this one? While I was in Eureka, California for the Authors Festival I was reminded that nothing will ever replace a book!
Posted by kirby at 10:57 AM | Comments (0)
The Higher Power of Sorta Lucky
After my October trip to Kentucky and California set world's records for lost luggage, my husband bought me this great necklace which I now faithfully wear on trips. I also am now a carry-on girl. After my bag failed to arrived in Birmingham and I had to face 1500 middle school kids without make-up and having to use my follicly-challenged husband's styling tools (read: one 99 cent hairbrush), I have made a Scarlett O'Hara pledge: I will never check bags again!
Despite lost luggage, I am indeed one lucky girl. I have been:
treated royally by the library queens of Bowling Green,
feted at the Humboldt County Author's Festival,
greeted by an entire school wearing construction paper Magic Kerchiefs,
learned why Missouri school kids blast their standardized writing tests out of the water,
and had a middle school cafeteria dedicate part of their menu to Hattie.
Since I am too much a techno-dweeb to figure out how to imbed more than one photo in a blog entry (anyone out there willing to enlighten me?), brief blog entries with photos of above mentioned events to follow.
2007 has been one "lucky" year for me -- and I certainly don't need the necklace to prove it.
But I'm glad I have it.
Posted by kirby at 10:22 AM | Comments (0)
November 21, 2007
Better than Pumpkin Pie
I'll catch you up on my great trip to Missouri and Alabama in my next post, I promise. One of the great things about being on a plane so much lately is having time to read some of those titles on my to-read list. (One of the crummy things about flying so much lately is having my bags lost three times out of four flights. I'm a carry-on girl only from here on out.)
I've got to tell you about two of the books I read on my latest trip. The first is Alabama Moon, by Watt Key. If I ever get stranded on a deserted island, this is definitely the book I want with me. Moon is a 10 year old boy raised by a survivalist father who has just died. From Moon, I learned things I didn't even know were possible -- like making paint from a deer's eyeballs. But Moon's journey is not just about surviving in the wild -- it's about surviving in civilization. He is a great kid who opens his heart to some unlikely new friends and who struggles to conquer a relentless and cruel enemy. I am in awe of Watt Key's spare prose and the powerful wallop it packs. Let me tell you, if his uncle hadn't ending up adopting Moon, I was going to! This was a can't-put-it-down read. If you know any kids who say they don't like to read, give them this book. I guarantee it will make them readers. I will confess that I finished the book quite curious about why Key's occasional salty language didn't seem to attract anywhere near the attention Susan Patron's now-famous word did. Maybe someone out there can explain that to me!
I met the author of A Crooked Kind of Perfect, Linda Urban, about two years ago at the amazing writing conference Linda Zuckerman organizes at Reed College. We passionately talked historical novels and she merely mentioned her forth-coming title, which I bought as soon as it came out. True confession: the title didn't just speak to me so, as much as I admire Linda, I put off reading the book. Until last week.
It. Was. Amazing.
While there's no way I could've written a book about a girl who wants to play the piano because I don't know middle C from Middle March, I am insanely jealous of how wonderfully this story is told. I'm a huge fan of "white space" in stories and Linda leaves lots of white space -- we don't get every single detail of Zoe's life, but what we get is exactly right. All Zoe wants is to play the piano, an elegant, dignified Carnegie Hall instrument. What her father buys for her is an organ, an embarrassingly nerdy instrument better suited to bowling alleys than concert halls. But Zoe accepts the hand she's dealt and ends up finding out that life, like music, is best played from the heart.
So, save your waistline this weekend and instead of a second piece of pumpkin pie, read one of these delicious books for dessert -- better yet, read both!
Posted by kirby at 12:00 PM | Comments (0)
November 12, 2007
Catching Up
My friend, Jaime Temairik, emailed to ask if my ears are burning. Apparently, a heated discussion about gender discrimination on Roger Sutton's site led to mention of my Hot Women in Children's Literature awards.
As the twelve of you reading this blog will have noticed, I have been quite delinquent in posting my Hot Women. But the comments at Roger's blog spurred me back into action. As a reminder, my definition of "hot" is highly subjective but it's my award so I get to make the rules! This is a celebration of women who are hot because they have contributed mightily to the world of children's literature. And, because so many women writers fit that criteria, I can be handing out this award until I'm 99. Assuming I get better about posting entries to my blog than I have been this past year.
So, tah-dah, here is the latest Hot Woman in Children's Literature:
Barbara O'Connor. I have been a fan of hers since I read Moonpie and Ivy, but she absolutely stole my heart with How to Steal A Dog. And, I got a sneak peek at her forthcoming book, Greetings from Nowhere, which you will all love, too. Barbara writes with heart, humor, honesty and hope for the middle grade reader. I hate that she writes perfect first sentences (but, maybe if I was really nice to her, she'd teach me how she does it) but I forgive her because she struggles with first drafts, just like I do (you can read about that on her blog). She's also a fellow bird watcher, though instead of chickadees at her feeders, she apparently gets wild turkeys. I've never had the pleasure of meeting Barbara in person, but I feel as if I know her from her books. She has a generous heart and gets a great big kick out of life, but you can tell she also knows about those times when it can't get much darker. Barbara O'Connor tells a darned good story and, if you haven't read her books yet, get busy.
Posted by kirby at 09:22 AM | Comments (0)
Hummer Lessons
I have been adopted by an Anna's hummingbird. Anna's stay for the winter around here and once you begin feeding them, you've launched into a winter long commitment. That means keeping the feeder clean and filled. For our frosty nights, I bring the feeder in after his final dusk supper and rehang it early in the morning for his dawn feeding.
I'm leaving town tomorrow so, instead of packing or giving my talks the final once over, I scrubbed out the feeder. While I had it down, "my" hummer came to eat. He couldn't believe his little eyes: no feeder. He flew to the exact spot where his favorite fake blossom generally hangs. It wasn't there. In disbelief, he helicoptered up and around.
I scrubbed faster, believe you me! After I rehung the feeder, I thought about how much Mr. Hummer and I have in common. Every time he comes to the feeder, he comes in faith it will be there. And, when it's not, he persists in looking for it, even when it means checking things out from a different perspective.
I am like that every day I sit down to my writing. I show up, wholly trusting that the words will come when I sidle up to my computer. And, when they don't, I keep at it -- sometimes simply hovering over the page until one by one, letters and then words emerge. When the story is as elusive to me as the feeder was this morning to my tiny friend, I try looking at it from another perspective. I don't move as gracefully as my hummer, but I go for a walk, do a little research, ask myself "what if?" -- whatever it takes to come back to my writing renewed and refreshed.
I just love having such a petite but powerful teacher. And right outside my own kitchen window.
Posted by kirby at 09:06 AM | Comments (0)
November 06, 2007
If a Librarian Asks You to Do Something. . .
I have been living out of my suitcase the last few months so posting blog entries has not been at the top of my list. I'm not sure where all my suitcase went, but I have been in Bowling Green, Kentucky; Eureka, California and New York since mid-October.
On Tuesday, I pack up my bag once again and head east. This time to Kansas City, Missouri where I'll visit the great readers at Liberty Oaks and Franklin Elementary schools. Mrs. Miller, media specialist (aka: librarian) extraordinaire at Liberty Oaks and I met last winter at the Central Missouri State College Children's Literature Festival and we began scheming then how to get me back to Missouri. And now I'll be there before you know it.
So when Mrs. Miller emailed me today and asked that I give a shout out to her students -- especially the 3rd, 4th and 5th graders I'll see next week -- how could I say no? I just love to make librarians happy! She says the students have been reading about me and Hattie on my website but I bet they don't know this fact yet: my grandpa, Jewell Brown, was born in Missouri. In a town called Aurora. When I get to Liberty Oaks, I'm going to see if anyone asks me to pronounce "Missouri" the way my grandpa used to.
After being with those great Kansas City kids, Neil and I will drive down to the Missouri Reading Association conference where I'll get to catch up with authors Roland and Marie Smith and Mary Casanova. We'll do a whirlwind visit there -- with more wonderful teachers and librarians! -- then head off to Birmingham, Alabama for a quick visit with the students at Pizitz Middle School.
And just in case you think all I do is watch Nick at Night in the evenings when I'm on the road, I will also be squeezing in some research for the book I'm working on now. A writer's work is never done!
And that's just the way I like it.
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