books

Are you ready to hone your skills in Ready Chapter 1??

By on January 27, 2022   /   Articles, books, Editor / Agent Spotlight, For Writers  

Hello Mixed-up Files! Today, I’m sharing with you an incredible opportunity for your writing journey that is taking the craft world by storm (not a stormy night) called Ready Chapter 1.

Ready Chapter 1 begins its inaugural year-long workshop dedicated to propelling writers into publishing in February.

The faculty is an All-star group of writers, agents and editors, including middle grade gurus Jonathan Maberry, Greg Neri, and Henry Neff.

Writer/illustrator Fred Koehler, who facilitates the first class on “Story Ideas the Sell”, is the mastermind behind this new and innovative project.

Here are some thoughts from Fred on the website, www.readychapter1.com, as they prepare to launch:

Writers are the nicest people you will ever meet. There is nothing quite as refreshing as finding yourself surrounded by fellow creatives who are passionate about the same things that ignite your spirit. Any place you find community within the writing world will become a refuge for you, especially as you deepen your roots. Because in those communities of like minded creatives, you discover that you are not alone. Others share your brand of weirdness. And every time you return to your normal life after hanging out with fellow writers will leave you feeling wistful. Like making friends at camp and then having to say goodbye till next summer. 

There are two writers inside each of us, and success requires both of them. The first writer, and the one that comes most naturally, is the pure creative. It’s the one that revels in the descent of the muses. The one that finds joy in the perfect turn of phrase or the plot twist that not even they saw coming. The second writer is the public persona of an author. It dresses up. Pushes past insecurities. Delivers the keynote. Invites others into the circle. Without the first writer, the writing itself will be transparent and shallow. Without the second, your stories may never see the light of day.

You can’t make Luck, but Luck can make you. I have had several serendipitous moments in my writing career to which I can attribute no amount of effort or talent on my own part. There was the TV station manager I met in line at the coffee shop. A month later I was on the CBS morning show. And then there’s the editor who thinks I bear an uncanny resemblance to their firstborn son. That editor always responds to my submissions. The more time you spend putting yourself out into the world, the more chances you will have to cross paths with Luck. And if you have a great manuscript ready when Luck comes knocking–that’s when the real magic happens.

Getting discovered is a dream come true for more than you. Yes, I realize that sounds a little bit like Dr. Seuss but we’re going to run with it. Everyone gets excited about the buzz of a shiny new talent. Publishers love to debut their latest rockstar, fingers crossed for chart-topping sales. Editors and agents build reputations on bringing brilliant books to life from previously unknown voices. And let’s not forget about all of your writing friends who get to dress up for the launch party. When and if it happens, embrace it. You only debut once so enjoy the ride!

Publishing takes its own sweet time. The publishing industry is the grocery store equivalent of that person who gets in the ten items or less lane with 25 items, asks for three price checks, tries to use expired coupons, and then insists on paying with a personal check for the part that the gift card doesn’t cover. Put otherwise, publishing is slow. If you write a story about the latest greatest pop culture moment of today, it will be forgotten by the time your book comes out. So write to trends instead of fads. Better yet, write from your source and ignore everything that is currently popular.

The book is never done until the publisher sends it to print. There are so many times I have thought that a story was (mostly) perfect just the way I wrote it and nobody else better say otherwise thank you very much. The crit group loved it. The agent said it was ready for submission. Editors who got a chapter asked to read the full. The story never would have gotten that far unless it was good. But good isn’t good enough for a publishing deal, much less a publishing success. Be prepared to trust your editor when they say that it needs a lot of work. Perhaps even a substantial revision. Fight for what matters in your story. Rewrite the rest.

If you’re not careful, you can forget why you’re here. If it’s money and fame you’re after, you will never be happy no matter how much money or fame comes your way. But if you create for the simple delight of exploration, letting your curiosity roam free until it hooks on an idea you can elevate to art–you have a lifetime of joy ahead. Everything else is gravy.

In addition to Koehler, Maberry, Neff and Neri, the award-winning faculty contains authors Janice Hard, Lisa Cline Ransome, agents Michaela Whatnall and Joyce Sweeney, and editor Lorin Oberweger and Harold Underdown.

Sweeney, also an author of 14 YA novels, represents a plethora of middle grade authors and will deliver the August workshop on Stakes and Tension for Ready Chapter 1.

Here are some of her thoughts on the website:

For RC1 Academy, you will be teaching Stakes and Tension in August. Can you give us one example of who has done this brilliantly in a book?The last thing I read like that was a graphic novel. THIS WAS OUR PACT by Ryan Andrews. It was non-stop surprises, yet every plot turn was satisfying. In recent picture books, I felt it in DRAWN TOGETHER by Minh Le and Dan Santat. In middle grade, Christina Diaz Gonzalez would get the prize from me.

Describe the perfect client. No wait. Describe an imperfect client that you are willing to invest in. Perfect client participates in the process, wants to be an equal partner with me, trusts my business judgment but also holds to their own creative vision, is willing to pivot, revise or do whatever it takes to get to the goal. Is fun to talk to. The imperfect client has all the same traits, but perhaps projects that are harder to sell.

If your goal for 2022 was to finish drafting or revising a novel with a community like Ready Chapter 1, how would you prepare? I would pick a project that I know has a good hook and could sell, regardless of how much work I feel it needs. RC1 is the place to do that work. And I would write down every question I could think of to ask this amazing assembledge of teachers.

 

Hope this information on Ready Chapter 1 was helpful. To register, visit the website  www.readychapter1.com/ The first class starts Feb. 1 and there are still some spots available.

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Steve Jenkins’ Books: a Middle-Grader’s Treasure

By on January 24, 2022   /   Animals, Book Lists, books, For Kids, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, Homeschool Resource, Nonfiction, Nonfiction Titles, Zoology  

Author/Illustrator Steve Jenkins’ recent and sudden death surprised and saddened fans of his informative, engaging books about animals and the natural world

Now is a good time to celebrate and enjoy the many books we have by him (they never go out of print) and to share them with young readers. I’ll speak of Steve here in the present tense, because he is still very much alive in his books, and there are more to come!

Steve Jenkins’ career and  books combine in marvelous ways his life-long love and understanding of science, of art, and of children, how they think and wonder. He’s never lost his playfulness or his own childhood curiosity about the natural world. His book ideas often begin with an irresistible question that kids (including his own) have asked.  Or one that he has asked himself. How do different animals see? What do animals do on their first day? What animals are the stinkiest? What are tails actually for?

A great place to start reading or re-reading Jenkins is with The Animal Book: A Collection of the Fastest, Fiercest,Toughest,Cleverest, Shyest–and Most Surprising–Animals on Earth. Imagine a 208-page picture book! The Animal Book is a kind of Steve Jenkins compendium and masterwork. It combines hundreds of his stunning cut-and-torn paper collage images of animals–living, endangered, and extinct. His illustrations are so lively you expect to feel their texture when you touch the flat page. Facts in his clear language, both basic and believe-it-or-not, accompany these stunning animal portraits.

Jenkins expected The Animal Book to be one a reader could browse in, starting anywhere. But he has also organized it in a progression of themes and subtopics–from a definition of animal to family relationships, senses and defenses, to an outline of animal evolution in “Story of Life.” Jenkins always strives to lead his readers to an understanding of how the world works and how these facts fit into a larger picture. The time-lines and other infographics in the book are beautifully clear.  His seamless book design makes the topics and their subtopics easy to follow.

A real treasure comes as an extra at the end of the book.  In a section simply called “Making Books,” he shows readers how he gets his ideas and  how he does his research.

Photo by Kevin Moloney, NYT

Then he takes us into his studio, with his collection of textured papers filling color-coded drawers. We learn how he selects just the right paper to cut or tear for a jaguar’s fur or a toad’s belly, a terror-bird’s beak or a rhino’s hide.  He also includes a graphic timeline of bookmaking from idea to finished publication. This book belongs on every public, school, and home library bookshelf.

So what are the new titles  from Steve and his wife and collaborator Robin Page that we can look forward to in 2022? One of them obviously began with a question. The Animal Toolkit: How Animals Use Tools explores some surprising ways we’re discovering that animals solve problems and interact with the world.  Disasters by the Numbers came out this month, and there will be two more By the Numbers titles this year. The series has included Earth by the Numbers, Dinosaurs by the Numbers, Insects by the Numbers, and Solar System by the Numbers. These books are chock-full of accessible infographics and are a middle-grade trivia buff’s gold mine. The 2022 additions will be One Day by the Numbers and Animal Facts by the Numbers.

Steve Jenkins has always had great, serious fun deepening his knowledge of animals and the natural world. His readers will, too. When you buy a Jenkins book for a child–or for yourself–get the hardback version if you can. His books are keepers.

 

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MUF Reads Banned Books

By on December 17, 2021   /   Articles, books  

“There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches.”
~ Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

If you’re someone who reads our blog, chances are you are aware of the barrage of book bans, book challenges, and, yes, even threats of book burnings in the US these past several months.

The list of books being challenged is long, and the challenges have little to do with the actual educational value of the books in question. The challenges are all about preventing children from having access to and the freedom to choose books that center a range of perspectives and, more often than not, the perspectives of characters who have been underrepresented in libraries and classrooms for far too long. These challenges focus on books kids desperately need to better understand themselves, their peers, and the world they live in. (See Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop’s Windows and Mirrors and Sliding Glass Doors for more information about this idea).

Because that’s what books do. They let us see ourselves. They let us see that we’re not alone in our struggles, our confusion, and even our joys. And, they let us see outside of ourselves into a wider world. They let us explore different perspectives, try on different points of view, and develop empathy.

I remember finding such a book in my local library when I was 10. Even though the book was about a 15 year-old girl, the heart of the book –  the character’s fears, worries, grief, and guilt – mirrored by own, and reading it made me feel less alone and less broken in the year after my father’s death. The book was Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume – a book that has been banned for sexual content and language in school districts across the country. I’m forever grateful that no one deemed that book “too adult” or “inappropriate” for ten-year-old me. They couldn’t possibly have known how much I needed to travel with Davey that year and to read the words “We’re going to be all right,” at the book’s end.

As I look through the recent list of banned and challenged books, I don’t just see books, I see the faces of the students I have handed these books to, students I have had long and engaged conversations with about characters and settings and plot and life. I see students who read more, felt more, and thought more simply because they were given the choice to read a book that spoke to something they have experienced, or recognized, or wondered about.

I asked the other members of the blog to share some of the banned and challenged books they love. The list is varied – and not nearly long enough, but here are some of MUF’s favorite banned middle grade titles:

See You at Harry’s by Jo Knowles

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Are You There God It’s Me Margaret by Judy Blume

Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry by Mildred D Taylor

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

New Kid by Jerry Craft

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis

Melissa (Previously titled George) by Alex Gino

Front Desk by Kelly Yang

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Drama by Raina Telgemeier

Captain Underpants and the Sensational Saga of Sir Stinks-A-Lot by Dav Pilkney

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds

Even the inspiration of this blog – From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler by EL Konigsburg – has been banned.

This list is merely a tiny glimpse of the books being pulled off of school and library shelves.  There are far too many more.  The American Library Association has lists of Frequently Challenged Books on their website. It’s worth checking out.

If, like me, you are looking for ways to take action, check out the resources at:

The National Coalition Against Censorship

Texas Library Association

#FReadom Fighters

American Library Association

National Council of Teachers of English

Lots of people smarter than I am have written their thoughts on the subject as well. Check out Kate Messner’s post for an Open Letter that educators and librarians can share.

And, read this statement signed by authors, educators, librarians, booksellers,  publishers, concerned citizens and organizations standing up for students and their First Amendment rights.

 

Please, comment below with your favorite banned/challenged book as well as any resources you’d like to share.

And remember, books are powerful. No one would want to ban them if they weren’t.

 

 

 

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