For Parents

In the Name of Research

By on January 30, 2013   /   For Parents  

For school, my fourth-grader is preparing to be Marco Polo. Or to be more exact, an imaginary female accompanying the fourteenth-century merchant traveler from Venice. I don’t know if Marco Polo had female companions on the Silk Road, but since my nine-year-old is a girl, this is the best way she can pretend to be a part of that time and place.

Venetian merchant traveler, Marco Polo. Source: Wikipedia

This isn’t her idea, by the way. It’s her teacher’s. It’s part of their “Explorer” unit, where they get to research a famous explorer from the past, and present their findings to the class, while dressed in period costume. The challenge isn’t finding enough information from books or online. The challenge isn’t writing it all down. The challenge, and this is where the dear parent being me is involved, is finding the dang period costume.

Where exactly am I supposed to find a Venetian, medieval gown for a nine-year-old girl?

Source: Morgue Files

My daughter and I have been discussing ways to render this outfit, using items from our 21th century, Indian-American household. These include sari material, scarves, throws, Indian bedspreads, and a belt I used when I was nine-years-old myself. You could call it improvising. But would you call it research?

Research is an interesting concept, especially in the life of an author. These days, you have the most amount of information you’ve ever had right at your fingertips. A simple Google search can yield paintings of women in the time of Marco Polo, online catalogs where you can purchase period costumes for adults, children, or pets, and Wikipedia pages describing the items Polo discovered on his journey to the Far East. You don’t have to go far to go back far in time.

When I was first writing my children’s novel, VANISHED, I did similar research online, learning as much as I could from Google, about an ancient, South-Indian instrument known as the veena. This was the instrument that would belong to my book’s main character, the one that would go missing, and that she would go to great lengths to recover. At the time, the only person I knew who owned this instrument lived in another state. There were no nearby teachers or veena players.So I did what any other able-bodied author did – I imagined everything. I used my years of being a violinist to imagine how the strings felt when you played on a veena instead, the calluses that formed on your fingers from practicing, the fears of sounding “twangy” in front of others, and what a seemingly unsympathetic teacher might sound like when she’s badgering you to practice. During the summer, I interviewed a real veena teacher in person, and took photographs. And that’s how I wrote my book.

coffin

The box I carried my veena in from India to New York.

Today I actually have a veena of my own. With great care and a certain amount of luck, I was able to bring one back from a trip to India last year. Not only that, I actually found a teacher near me, one I didn’t meet until very recently. And I have to say, imagination aside, there is nothing like playing on the real thing. Finally I know firsthand what being a veena player is all about. Looking back at the book I published, I strangely got the details right – the strings really do feel the way I’d written about them! Still, nothing beats the feel and sound of a real instrument – for me the author, and for others who have read my book and get to see and hear the instrument for themselves.

Creative research is definitely a way to bring something otherwise inaccessible to life. Perhaps the materials my daughter will use for her Explorer project will be derived from a silk sari given by her Indian grandmother, or from a Rajasthani bedspread brought back from a trip to India. And maybe the cloak will come from Walmart. She, like her classmates, will have to imagine much.

medieval

Source: Flikr

But the real physical and tactile experience of assembling the various materials together,  of wearing them and walking around in them, might evoke a sense of what it was like to be a lady in Marco Polo’s time, hundreds of years ago.

We cannot underestimate the value of a real experience, even a simplified or modified one. Sometimes these real moments have the power to take us farther than a Google search, and we become the musicians and explorers we first could only imagine being inside our heads. 

In the meanwhile, if someone has a spare Venetian, medieval gown that fits a nine-year old, please let this parent (and author) know.

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Sheela Chari is the author of VANISHED, which was recently featured as an Al’s Book Club Pick on the Today Show. She lives in New York.

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Trends in Nonfiction

By on January 11, 2013   /   For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, News, Nonfiction  

lake

Back in November, I was lucky enough to attend the Falling Leaves Master Retreat for nonfiction writers. It was FABULOUS!   Located at a YMCA camp nestled in the mountains of the Adirondacks and overlooking beautiful Silver Lake Bay, it was picture perfect for a weekend of learning about writing. The leaves on the trees were decked out in bright oranges and reds and there was just a nip of chilly weather in the air to brighten your cheeks. This Florida girl was in heaven!

Aside from the wonderfully peaceful environment, the weekend just hummed with energy. The mix of new and established writers and as well 5 valued editors from major publishing houses had my creative senses in a whirl.

All of the editor talks were extremely interesting and informative. Listening to them, I managed to take away a few notes on upcoming trends in nonfiction. Naturally, a fair amount of talk centered around the Common Core and how all newly published nonfiction books need provide teachers with the necessary tools for teaching. The editors made a big deal about this:

According to the guidelines for the Common Core:

50% of classroom reading in elementary and middle schools will use nonfiction books

70% of classroom reading in high school will use nonfiction books

 

In response for the increased demand, publishers will be providing many different types of nonfiction books. One editor introduced a new term for a type of nonfiction. She called it “Browsable nonfiction”.

So, what is Browsable Nonfiction?

 

These books are examples of browsable nonfiction:
                              

 

But so are these:
                           

So, I guess you could say that browsable books are books that have short bites of information. They can be lists, like the books in the first section above. Or they can have chapters filled with interesting snippets of history or art. They can also deal with many different topics all in one book.

The advantage of browsable books?

Perfect for the reluctant reader or maybe just one that needs a book to keep their attention, they are chock full of fun and exciting fun facts!  These books usually contain many vivid and visually entertaining photos – the better to catch a reader’s eye and interest. These diverse and unique books are filled with  fascinating information presented in easy to read snippets and chapters. In this world where readers are deluged with information and images 24 hours a day, these books not only capture and hold a reader’s attention, but also make for great resources for tiny bits of trivia to share with your friends.

As far as the Common Core goes, they can be great starter books for a research project. Or for even finding a topic. Have to do write a biography but not sure what interests you? Then pick up the How They Croaked Book, and page through the chapters. Surely reading about the dramatic endings of some of these people will liven up the most boring of biography topics.

Browsable books often contain interactive features like For Further Reading and Original text from other sources, hands-on reference material, and easy connections a reader can make. Hopefully, a small nugget of information will turn into a large thirst for knowledge.

 

Narrative Nonfiction books are also making a surge according to the publishers. Narrative nonfiction, like the word narrative implies, has a storyline to it.

For example:

 

       School Library Journal awards Larry Dane Brimner’s Birmingham Sunday with a starred review.

“The author successfully blends the facts of the event with the intense emotions of the period in order to bring it to life. …The book is beautifully designed, with good-quality, black-and-white photos, informative captions, and pertinent pull quotes. A worthy addition to any collection.”

 

The book contains informational sidebars to augment the highly engaging text. These provides opportunities for classroom discussions using Common Core relative questions and topics.

 

But narrative nonfiction is not only for history and biographies, it can also be used very successfully in science books as well.

This introduction to black holes takes readers from simple to complex by dropping definitions and information slowly and clearly into the lively narrative. Dramatic and amazing illustrations help to impart the sense of the vast distances in space, of how atomic nuclei meld in the intense interaction  called fusion, and how the areas of a black hole–the event boundary, the extreme gravity zone, and the singularity–are defined. … ” –School Library Journal, starred review

The author provides additional information on her website and an extensive glossary to make this book very user-friendly.

 

What did I come away with from my fantastic weekend in the Adirondacks?  Upcoming nonfiction books are interesting, exciting and ready to grab the imagination of any child – from 1  to 101!  Check them out!!

 

So tell me, what nonfiction books are you excited about this year? Put them in the comments below so we can all know. I am always looking for great books to add to my “to-read” list.

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Jennifer Swanson is a self-professed science geek and author of 9 nonfiction books for kids. When not writing she can be found searching for cool science facts to share with her students. You can find more about Jennifer at her website http://jenniferswansonbooks.com/

 

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Realistic Girls and Fantastic Boys? Middle Grade Fantasy, Realistic Fiction, and the Great Gender Divide

By on January 4, 2013   /   Book Lists, For Parents, For Teachers  


One of the very first books my now eight year old daughter loved was called Ruby Bridges Goes to School. Even before she could read well, she would return again and again to this slim volume, turning the pages reverently, frowning at the hateful expressions of pro-segregation racists, smiling as she contemplated the bravery of this ‘real little girl.’

At the time, I thought that perhaps it was the similarity of their ages. Ruby was an entering first grader, as was my daughter. She was a girl of color, also like my child. But Ruby lived in such a different time, and struggled against such overt, violent racism. What did my daughter find so compelling about this book, that she preferred it to most others – including bookshelves full of fairy tales and princess stories?

Now, a few years and any number of books later, my big reader eight year old still gravitates to fiction and nonfiction exploring the lives of ‘real little girls.’ Unlike her older brother, who launched quickly from early chapter books into fantasy series like Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Artemis Fowl, Septimus Heap, and the like, my daughter craves stories about realistic girl protagonists. I was at first a bit flabbergasted at her lack of attraction for fantasy – a genre her mother and brother both adore. In fact, my current middle grade novel is a fantasy adventure based on Indian folk-tales, and starring, you guessed it, a middle grade girl protagonist. So why doesn’t my daughter enjoy the genre I so love?

As a parent, pediatrician, and feminist activist, I’ve always struggled against the notion that there even is such a thing as a ‘girl book’ or a ‘boy book.’ In fact, my beliefs had been seemingly verified out by my son, who as readily consumes male protagonist fantasy as he does more ‘realistic’ stories with girl main characters such as the Ramona books or Little House on the Prairie series.

Yet, there is clearly a message being sent. And it’s through the eyes of my daughter that I am finally able to see it. With the notable exception of Harry Potter’s Hermione (whom my daughter loves), there are few central female characters in middle grade fantasy novels. If literature is a mirror – an opportunity to show children a reflection of their own lives and their own experiences (or approximations of their own lives and own experiences), then what is happening for my daughter is obvious. While she was able to see herself even in the struggles of a girl who lived in such a different time, like Ruby Bridges, she is unable to see herself in most of the the fantasy novels that populate the bookshelves in her house.

Even the names of each of her brother’s favorite series send out the message loud and clear – fantasy is a boy’s genre. Or at least a genre dominated by boy protagonists. And it’s certainly not because women aren’t writing fantasy. As this blog entitled Finding Female in Middle Grade Fantasy notes:


“Even fantasy books written by women have mostly male protagonists: Rowan of Rin by Emily Rhodda, Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke, The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black, Septimus Heap by Angie Sage, and The Unnamables by Ellen Booream. And among those books with females heroines, most are paired alongside boy heroes, such as A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snickett, Fablehaven by Brandon Mull, Rick Riordan’s The Kane Chronicles, and of course, Rowling’s Harry Potter.”

Fantasy as a genre has perhaps been considered a vehicle to ‘get boys to read.’ Yet, without getting embroiled into a debate about whether the ‘reluctant boy reader’ notion is a myth, we as writers, publishers, parents and teachers have got to ask ourselves: what are the consequences of boxing female protagonists out of fantasy?

The problem can be examined from multiple angles. While both male and female authors are writing fantasy about primarily male protagonists, female protagonists dominate realistic fiction. Just consider, while both my son and daughter began their reading careers with The Magic Treehouse series (historical time travel fantasies with a boy and girl protagonist), my son soon graduated to The Time Warp Trio, The Bailey School Kids, and then rapidly to the fantasy series named above. My daughter, on the other hand, seemed to skip like a pebble against a lake from one to the other series of realistic novels with girl protagonists.

In approximate order, these books included: Ivy and Bean, Judy Moody, Amber Brown, Clementine... see a pattern? Each of these (wonderfully written) series were named for their girl protagonists. Even her most recent literary love affair – with Rebecca, Kit, Kanani, Lanie, McKenna – and all the other heroines of the American Girl series — follows this pattern.

Which has gotten me wondering (and worrying!): is the gendering of realistic vs. fantasy middle grade fiction simply playing into archaic gender roles? Ie. that girls should care about things like home life and friendships, while boys should be training to use magic, fight dragons, be secret agents, or discover treasure? Is our literature itself encouraging domesticity and relationships in female readers and imagination, bravery, and problem solving in boy readers?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m certainly not trying to suggest that friendship and home life aren’t important — for both boys and girls. Or that realistic fiction can’t model problem solving or other important skills. Or even that there aren’t some fantastic realistic fiction about boy protagonists (just think of Andrew Clemets’ great school stories). But rather, what worries me is that the predominance of fantasy books with boy protagonists and realistic books with girl protagonists is a troubling gender divide.

So in writing this blog, I’m making myself a pledge. To try to at least introduce my realistic fiction-loving daughter to some girl protagonist middle grade fantasy, a partial list below. (Some more great suggestions here and here). I’m thinking some of these fantasy heroines just may match up to the bravery of Ruby Bridges, the zaniness of Clementine or the pluck of American girl Kit Kittredge. The goal isn’t to steer my daughter away from realistic stories, but rather, open up for her the possibility of reading in multiple genres. Some of the books I’ve been thinking about include:


The Worst Witch Series by Jill Murphy


The Tiffany Aching Series by Terry Pratchett


The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede


The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairy Land in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente


The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester

In the comments below, please suggest your favorite girl protagonist middle grade fantasy to add to the list!

Sayantani DasGupta is a lover of fantasy, but also of traditionally ‘domestic’ stories. Her ideal fantasy-realistic fiction might be a Jane Austen inspired remake of Lord of the Rings. Hey, you never know. It could happen.

 

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