Thought for the Day:
“First I got really grumpy, and then got very determined to write
things that were so good that not even the stupidest most irritating
gatekeeper alive could reject them.”
~ Neil Gaiman on rejection ~
Gifts for My Writer Friends:
The Editor’s Blog has a great post HERE on compound words. This is not to be missed.
Augusta Scattergood has a terrific post on setting HERE. Make sure you check out all the wonderful links on this one. It is chock full of great links.
The Write Practice has one of the best post HERE I’ve seen on Show, Don’t Tell. It’s very clear.
I promised a hardback copy of Blue Birds by Carolyn Starr Rose last time I was here. Our winner this time is Janet Smart. Congratulations, Janet! I will get your book out this week. If you don't know Janet, she is a children's writer and blogs at Creative Writing in the Blackberry Patch, (Don't you love that title?) which you can find HERE. For the rest of you, I have another give away for this post, so please keep reading.
The book I'd like to tell you about is Ruby on the Outside by Nora Raleigh Baskin. I love this book and think it is really an important one. I hope all of you will have a chance to read it. Here is the review I wrote for the San Francisco Book Review.
When you are eleven years old and ready to start middle school, everything, absolutely everything is a big deal. But if that is your life and your mother is in prison and you don’t have a best friend, it is much worse. This is the life Ruby Danes has — her mother in prison and Ruby has a chance at a new friend, Margalit, who could become that best friend. But when Margalit tells Ruby her brother is dead, his name triggers something in Ruby. She does some research and finds something that makes it seem everything will fall apart.
“I can’t remember anything specific from before my mom went to prison. We don’t talk about my real dad, but I know my mom was really young when she had me.”
Nora Raleigh Baskin has written a really important book that speaks for a segment of our society that is badly underrepresented, but please don’t let that scare you away. This book is well-written with a compelling plot, great characters, and a message that will resonate with young people and more. While this book is marketed to upper middle-graders, it deserves a much broader audience. This story speaks to problems many young people face and may help readers be more understanding and
Nora Raleigh Baskin |
Don't forget to check out Shannon Messenger's wonderful blog HERE for many more Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday reviews and giveaways.