Warriors in the Crossfire, a Review and Giveaway.

Thought for the day: 

 “There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.”
~ W. Somerset Maugham ~

For all of my readers:

Every Sunday, another writer, Shannon Messenger, gathers together a list of blogs that review middle-grade books, many of which have giveaways. If you aren't familiar with her blog, check it out. It's always worth your while. 

http://ramblingsofawannabescribe.blogspot.com/

For my fabulous, albeit late again, giveaway, the winner is Julie DeGuia! Congratulations to you, Julia. I will be sending you a copy of Black & White. It is simply a fantastic book, and I know you’ll enjoy it. I have another giveaway for today, so stay tuned.

I just returned this evening from Editor’s Day run by the Orange County/Long Beach/Riverside/San Bernardino region of SCBWI. Francesca Rusackas is the RA there and did a FABULOUS job with the workshop. Wowee, wowee! It was so good and so helpful to me, I can’t say enough about it. Loved it, loved it, loved it. But I did drive to Seal Beach and back (about 430 miles) by myself and am feeling pretty wrung out, but I am again overdue for my post, so I will dive in and get to it.

Back in April, I reviewed the fabulous book no name baby by Nancy Bo Flood. She had contacted me and asked if I’d do a review on my blog, and I was happy to oblige. If you missed reading about that book, you can click HERE and see that review. When she sent me a copy of the book, she also sent a copy of another novel she had written, Warriors in theCrossfire. I told her at the time I didn’t know when I could get to it, and she said she hoped I would enjoy it when I did. Well, I finally got around to reading it last month and would like to talk about it here.

Nancy is an incredible writer. Her prose is so lyrical, it is easy to simply get lost in the beauty of the writing. Her research is impeccable and, consequently, she transports the reader to another time and place as if by magic. And, if you ever have a chance to meet her, do. She is a kind and generous person who is happy to share her knowledge and expertise in writing.

Nancy Bo Flood

Warriors in theCrossfire takes place during World War II on the island of Saipan, an island that had been occupied by the Japanese for over twenty years. The native people of Saipan have lived under Japanese control and know who is in power, but they have peacefully co-existed through these years. The main character is Joseph, son of a chief and someone who has been accepted into the Japanese school. He wishes he could fight against the Japanese as his forefathers had and defies them sometimes, but it is really an impossible dream for him in this time and place. As the war threatens to come to the island, the Japanese force many of the island men into labor camps. Joseph’s father shows him some caves where provisions are hidden and instructs Joseph to take the family there if and when it becomes necessary. That necessity is sooner and more demanding than he can imagine. This young boy is forced to become a man as the responsibility for his family and others falls to him as the war reaches the shores of his homeland.

I love this book. First, it taught me about a piece of history about which I knew nothing. That is always a treat. But beyond that, it is an extremely powerful coming-of-age story with well-drawn, fully-rounded characters who are completely believable as they find themselves in nearly overwhelmingly difficult circumstances. And I can’t say this enough – the writing is drop-dead gorgeous, spare, and poetic. It is hard for me to believe this was Nancy’s debut novel. This is a book well worth your time to read.

I have a lovely autographed hard-back copy of Warriors in the Crossfire to give away. If you would like this wonderful book, leave a comment. If you post a link on Facebook or your own blog or some such sharing, let me know and I’ll put your name in a second time. Good luck!

On the book giveaway, this is for U.S. only. Sorry, but it would be too expensive for me to send books out of the country. But please leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you. Remember, if you have trouble leaving a comment, click on the title of the post and it will give you just this post with a comments section on the bottom. Also, if you haven’t signed up by email, please do. Just look in the upper right-hand corner of this page, pop your email address in, and you will receive an email each time I put up a new post. Your information will not be shared with anyone.

Black and White Review and Giveaway

Thought for the day:  You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children. ~Madeleine L’Engle~

Joyce Moyer Hostetter

A gift for my writer friends. I have a few links I think are really worth checking out. The first is for Joyce Moyer Hostetter’s blog. Joyce has three spectacular books published and now she has all three book trailers up on her blog. Take a look at what she has put together. If you aren’t familiar with her wonderful books, you can take a look at the trailers and become fascinated. If you are interested in how to make a great book trailer, these are terrific examples.

http://joycemoyerhostetter.blogspot.com/p/book-trailers.html

Who doesn’t need a few rules for writing? The New York Times ran an article recently with the humble title of “How to Write,” by Colson Whitehead. The subtitle says “The art of writing can be reduced to a few simple rules. I share them with you now.” Like I said, humble. But there is some good stuff in here. Take a look.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/29/books/review/colson-whiteheads-rules-for-writing.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&em&exprod=myyahoo

For my fabulous, albeit late again, giveaway, the winner is J. M. Naszady! Congratulations to you, J. M. I will be sending you a copy of Liar & Spy. I think you will love it. I know I did. I have another giveaway for today, so stay tuned.

I have been busy, busy, busy with some writing projects and with my teaching responsibilities. Today my daughter mentioned she was going to put up a blog post while she had her iPhone in  her hand, then she said she was done!  I asked her if she already had it written, and she told me that sometimes she just posts a beautiful photo. I might just do that now and again when I’m really busy. But for this week, I’m going to post a book review that I wrote for the Sacramento Book Review a while back and offer a copy of the wonderful book I reviewed. It’s a great book and I know you will be interested. So here we go.

Black and White: The Confrontation between Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth and Eugene “Bull” Connor

Posted in the Sacramento Book Review January 04, 2012

5 Star Review

By Larry Dane Brimner
Boyds Mills Press, $16.95, 80 pages
ISBN 9781590787663
The civil rights movement had a long, torturous path, but with all its twists and turns it traveled often, and importantly, through Birmingham, Alabama. While the name Martin Luther King, Jr. immediately comes to mind when thinking of the movement, others who are often forgotten greatly influenced the successful conclusion of the movement. Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth is one of those. It was he who stood strong in a leadership role facing off against Eugene “Bull” Connor, stringent segregationist and city commissioner in charge of police and firemen in Birmingham during that time. The struggle was long, difficult, and often brutal.

“Bombings were not unusual in Birmingham. Since the 1940s, dynamite had been set off at more than forty black homes and churches, earning the city its nickname: ‘Bombingham.’”

Larry Dane Brimner, author of Birmingham Sunday, tells the story of the fight for freedom and rights in Birmingham with a fascinating, well-researched text. It is presented powerfully in a large format with plenty of supporting archival photographs and newspaper articles. The design of black-and-white photographs and text on black, red, and white pages a perfect configuration for this important story of the battle for freedom and rights and the people who sacrificed for it, emblematic of a time of shame in our country followed by triumph by those in the civil rights movement.

I can’t recommend this book enough. As kids study our county’s history, this period is one of the most relevant and fascinating. The books is beautifully written and designed and will keep everyone, kids and adults alike, turning the pages.

I’ll try to get back to more regular posting and announce the winner soon. If you would like this great book, leave a comment. If you post a link on Facebook or your own blog or some such sharing, let me know and I’ll put your name in a second time. Good luck!

On the book giveaway, this is for U.S. only. Sorry, but it would be too expensive for me to send books out of the country. But please leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you. Remember, if you have trouble leaving a comment, click on the title of the post and it will give you just this post with a comments section on the bottom. Also, if you haven’t signed up by email, please do. Just look in the upper right-hand corner of this page, pop your email address in, and you will receive an email each time I put up a new post. Your information will not be shared with anyone.

Writer's Retreat, Book Review, Giveaway, and More

Thought for the day:  The road to hell is paved with works-in-progress." ~Philip Roth~

A gift for my writer friends. I have a few links I think are really worth checking out. I’ve been so busy I haven’t been blogging very regularly – summer hours, you know – so I have more than my usual two to offer.

First, there is a famous saying in writing about how you have to learn to kill your darlings. I’ve been working on revisions, and it is very, very tough to kill my darlings. Here is a link with a pretty good article on that process.

http://www.writers-village.org/writing-award-blog/how-and-when-to-kill-your-darlings

Writer’s Digest has some good articles. I’m always interested in grammar (What can I say? I’m an old English teacher!) and this one had some things in it I thought were pretty interesting.

http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/the-13-trickiest-grammar-hang-ups?et_mid=565474&rid=3028165

I found a new site/blog/kind of thing that has some amazing stuff on it. After you read The Ultimate Guide to Writing Better Than You Already Do, click where it says Timothy McSweeney at the top, and it will take you to the main page with links to plenty of other interesting articles.

http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the-ultimate-guide-to-writing-better-than-you-normally-do

Last, but far from least and absolutely the most fun, is Shannon Messenger’s blog post about a fabulous time waster. This could explain one of the reasons I haven’t blogged in a while! It is WAY too much fun.

http://ramblingsofawannabescribe.blogspot.com/2012/08/an-excellent-way-to-waste-time-youre.html

For my fabulous, albeit late again, giveaway from last post, the winner is Debi Summers! Congratulations to you, Debi. I will be sending you a copy of Just Write, Here’s How! It’s a useful book and I think you and some others in your family will love it. I have another giveaway for today, so stay tuned.

Suzanne Bloom (left) and Nicole Groeneweg

Now, one of the reasons I’ve been tardy on blogging is that I’ve been out of town. First, I went to Virginia, near Washington D.C., to be hosted by the lovely and generous Nicole Groeneweg, soon-to-be-published picture book author, who showed me the best time in her very historical part of the country. Since she and I both love American History, she took me to the homes of three founding fathers – George Mason, George Washington, and James Madison. They were all great, but the highlight was the re-enactor at the home of James Madison. He was fantastic! After three great days of touring and with a short stop in Gettysburg to brunch with my great friend Sara Rohr, Nicole and I drove to northeastern Pennsylvania. What a fantastic trip. Thanks, Nicole!! 

We went to a Highlights Foundation week-long retreat in Boyds Mills, PA with über-editor Carolyn Yoder. I worked hard on a non-fiction manuscript that Carolyn says is now ready to send out. WooHoo!! (Okay. One more polish first.) We had visits from several of the editors at Highlights Magazine, High Five Magazine, and Boyds Mills Press. We also had visits from Suzanne Bloom and Gail Jarrow, both terrific authors. Suzanne read us her latest Bear and Goose story, Oh! What a Surprise!, (one of the sweetest and funniest picture books I've ever read) then gave autographed copies to each of us. Gail also autographed copies of our choice of two of her books: I got a copy of Lincoln's FlyingSpies: Thaddeus Lowe and the Civil War Balloon Corps and some received The Amazing Harry Kellar: Great American Magician, a book I already own. Both are simply wonderful books and, although kids will love them, adults will as well. I highly recommend them both.

I have lots of new ideas for writing projects from the travels, the editor and author visits, as well as from the other wonderful attendees during our many unbelievable meals, critique sessions, and casual meetings. We have such a great group that comes together there in August. This is our third year and it is amazing. As long as the Highlights Foundation continues to offer this retreat, I will be going. I really recommend if there is any way you can get to one of the Highlights Foundation workshops or retreats, you should try to do it. It’s a magical place.

Another reason I’ve been so tardy with my writing is a new teaching assignment I’ve taken on. I will be working one-on-one with two students who, due to illness, can’t attend school. One is a 7^th grader, the other an 11^th grader. The time it takes to prepare to teach each of them the full curriculum is daunting, but I just love the opportunity to work with these brave kids. It looks like it will be a year-long assignment, so I might just blog a little less often, but it’s for a good cause. I will try to be more regular with my blog posts though.

Rebecca Stead

I do want to share a review of a middle-grade novel I read and reviewed recently for the Sacramento Book Review. It’s called Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead. This is simply one of the best middle-grade novels I’ve read in awhile. It’s a story about a boy who is going through what a lot of young people today are facing – moving out of their life-long home due to the economic downturn and a parent losing a job. Georges, named for Seurat and suffering from having what most middle-schoolers would call a lame name, has to deal with many changes in his young life. When he and his dad go to the laundry room in the basement of the apartment building they’ve moved to, they see a sign on a storage room for a spy club. Georges’s dad puts a note on the door that asks what time the meeting is and later they find an answer. Georges decides to go to that meeting and this begins a journey of mystery, learning, tolerance, and friendship that is clever, smart, and authentic to the life of a middle grade boy. I described it in my review as being nearly a thriller, and it is. I loved this book. Rebecca Stead won the Newbery medal for her book WhenYou Reach Me, and I can’t wait to read that one. In the mean time, one of you can have my very own ARC of Liar & Spy if you are the lucky winner. Leave a comment below, and I will put your name in a hat. If you spread the word about this post by putting a link to it in your blog or on your Facebook page or some such social media, let me know, and I’ll put your name in a second time.

On the book giveaway, this is for U.S. only. Sorry, but it would be too expensive for me to send books out of the country. But please leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you. Remember, if you have trouble leaving a comment, click on the title of the post and it will give you just this post with a comments section on the bottom. Also, if you haven’t signed up by email, please do. Just look in the upper right-hand corner of this page, pop your email address in, and you will receive an email each time I put up a new post. Your information will not be shared with anyone.

Whole Lot of Tellin' Goin' On and a Giveaway

Thought for the day:  "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." ~ Thomas Edison ~

A gift for my writer friends. There has been a LOT of talk on the net the last couple of weeks (while I have been taking some time off) about a blogger who was sued for posting a photo she thought was copyright free. If you haven’t read it, and if you ever post photos other than your own anywhere on the net, you might want to read the first of the links below.  The second link will tell you about some places to get photos you can freely use.

http://www.roniloren.com/blog/2012/7/20/bloggers-beware-you-can-get-sued-for-using-pics-on-your-blog.html

http://meghanward.com/blog/2012/06/21/where-to-get-photos-for-your-blog/

For my fabulous, albeit late, giveaway, the winner is Morgan Mussell!! Congratulations to you, Morgan. I will be sending you a copy of Guy Langman, Crime Scene Procrastinator. It’s a funny book and I think you’ll love it. I have another giveaway for today, so stay tuned.

I want to write today about writing rules. There are a lot of them, but perhaps the biggest one pushed by just about everyone I can think of is “Show – Don’t Tell.” I remember when I was teaching, one of my colleagues stated that her students just couldn’t stand a story that had any telling in it, that they would refuse to read such books. I asked what novels she was teaching, and they were mostly new. She pretty much ignored the classics. No Lord of the Flies for her kids. No To Kill a Mockingbird or Fahrenheit 451. I read some of the books she was teaching and felt they were pretty lightweight, short on symbolism, strong themes, and richness of writing, and was saddened that her kids missed out on such great books as I mentioned above. But, heck, those old books sure did have an awful lot of telling in them. Lots of exposition and lots and lots of narration. Shameful!

I recently had a chance to workshop the first chapter of my middle-grade novel on a blog. It was an interesting experience. I got lots of nice comments, followed by admonitions about too much telling and not enough showing. I think the chapter got better in some ways, but, honestly, there wasn’t a whole lot of tellin’ goin’ on to start with. Sometimes I think it’s a knee jerk reaction in the business of critique.

Back in April, I wrote a post about narration and about how a couple of books I’d read by Michael Morpugo were almost entirely narration and – hold onto your hats, now – I loved them. It didn’t bother me at all. I’ve been reading a lot lately. (You may have noticed I haven’t been writing much in the way of blog posts!) I’m finding that many really wonderful books have an awful lot of tellin’ goin’ on.

I ran across an article by Lee Child that Writer’s Digest posted and found it really refreshing. Now this is a guy who know a thing or two about getting pages turning! The title of the article is Lee Child Debunks the Biggest Writing Myths. You can find it by clicking HERE. You will have to click away an ad for Writer’s Digest, but it’s worth it. He reminds us that nobody ever asks anyone to SHOW them a story. They ask to have someone TELL them a story, and that’s just fine. It’s worth your time to read what Child has to say.

I’m reading a book right now that is almost all telling and am enjoying every page. Oh, there’s enough showing to keep the story moving at a rapid pace, but there’s a whole lot of telling and, frankly, that keeps the pace rapid too. It’s a YA about a teenager, Jazz, whose father was the most notorious serial killer of all time, and Jazz has to figure out who he is and whether or not he is destined to become like his father. And, just to make things interesting, there’s a new serial killer in town. Great premise, eh? It’s by Barry Lyga and the title is I Hunt Killers. As soon as I post this, I’ll be getting back to it. If you like Murder and Mayhem, as do I, you will love this book.

I think the whole Show – Don’t Tell thing has gotten a little out of hand. People of all ages love to have stories told to them. So, I’m just suggesting people shouldn’t get their panties in too much of a bunch about some well-written exposition or narration. Just relax and tell your story!

On to my giveaway for this post. I reviewed a book a while ago for the Sacramento Book Review called Just Write, Here’s How! by Walter Dean Myers. Myers has written a TON of very successful YA and Tween books. I’ve read and enjoyed many. So if someone has some good ideas about writing, it might well be him. If you’d like to read my review, click HERE. This is for writers of all ages, so even if you aren’t a writer, if there is a young person in your life who might like to write, you can pass this along. If you leave a comment, I’ll put your name in the hat. If you post a link to my blog on your blog or Facebook or some other such thing, let me know and I’ll put your name in the hat again. And even though I’m on summer hours and not posting too often, I promise I won’t wait too long again on a giveaway.

On the book giveaway, this is for U.S. only. Sorry, but it would be too expensive for me to send books out of the country. But please leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you. Remember, if you have trouble leaving a comment, click on the title of the post and it will give you just this post with a comments section on the bottom. Also, if you haven’t signed up by email, please do. Just look in the upper right-hand corner of this page, pop your email address in, and you will receive an email each time I put up a new post. Your information will not be shared with anyone.

Two Reviews and a Giveaway: Ted & Me and Guy Langman, Crime Scene Procrastinator

Thought for the day:  “Don't romanticize your "vocation". You can either write good sentences or you can't. There is no "writer's lifestyle". All that matters is what you leave on the page. And work on a computer that is disconnected from the internet.”  ~Zadie Smith

 A gift for my writer friends. Creating characters seemed to be on more than one mind than just mine when I wrote my last post. Others were writing about character creation.  The following two links are very good and continue the discussion. Enjoy!

http://childrenspublishing.blogspot.com/2012/06/crafting-multi-layered-characters.html

http://thebookshelfmuse.blogspot.com/2011/05/introducingthe-character-traits.html

I am reviewing two books this week, one middle-grade and one young adult. I really liked them both so would like to get the word out about them. I’ll be giving one away, so stay tuned for that.

The first book I want to talk about is Ted & Me by Dan Gutman. This is a middle grade novel that is eleventh book in a series called the Baseball Adventures. I can’t believe I didn’t discover this series sooner. I LOVE this book! If the others are even close to this good, I will be reading them all.

Joe Stoshack, Stosh to his friends, is a thirteen-year-old, baseball playing All-American kid. But there is another piece to him. He can time-travel and his vehicle is baseball cards. If he holds a Honus Wagner card, for instance, from the year 1910, he will travel to wherever Honus Wagner is at that time. Pretty cool, huh? Only a few people – his mother, father, uncle, and coach – know about his ability, and yet, one day an agent from the FBI shows up on their doorstep and knows about Stosh’s time traveling. We never find out how the FBI knows, but that is just about the only glitch in this book. The agency wants Stosh to go back in time to warn FDR about the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The agent claims it will save millions of lives. He leaves a signed Ted Williams card for Stosh and asks him to think it over. Stosh’s mother says it’s his decision. Interestingly enough, Stosh’s coach is against it. He feels if the bombing of Pearl Harbor never happens, the U.S. won’t get into the war, Hitler will win, millions more will be killed, etc., etc. But Stosh’s uncle tells him a story of a missed opportunity, and Stosh decides he should go for it.

Dan Gutman

Stosh holds onto the Ted Williams card and finds himself in an airplane that is taking fire. He finds out he is an a plane being piloted by Ted Williams during the Korean War. They crash-land and, before things can go up in flames, Stosh grabs a modern baseball card from his pocket (he always carries some just in case) and travels back to the present. It turns out the FBI agent didn’t bother to check the year on the Ted Williams card and had given Stosh a 1953 card. He brings a 1941 card, and Stosh starts his journey anew. Can he complete this important mission? Is it the right thing to do? You’ll have to read it to find out. I’m not telling. But I will leave you with this. Ted & Me is so well researched and well written, you will enjoy every word. Even if you are a big baseball fan, as I am, you will learn a lot about the game from this book. Oh, and I bet you will learn something you never would have guessed about someone seen as a great American hero – Charles Lindberg – that might just change the way you think of him.

However, I’m not giving this book away. My grandson, whose given name is Gehrig and who is a terrific baseball player, will be getting my copy. I think he will love it.

The YA book I’m reviewing is Guy Langman, Crime Scene Procrastinator. The book opens at the funeral of Guy’s father. Guy and his father were very, very close and this is a terribly sad time for Guy. So how is it, you might ask, that one would be laughing out loud before the short chapter is over? I don’t know, but the author, Josh Berk, is flat funny. You know, one of those people who know how to put the fun back in funeral.

Guy, who happens to be Jewish, is talked into joining the after school forensics club by his best friend, Anoop, who is of East Indian descent (and breaks any stereotypes people might have about that) so Guy can meet the girl of his dreams. I love quirky side-kick characters, and Anoop is the best I’ve read in a long time. (The best side-kick character is from another hysterically funny YA – the character of Victoria in Robin Benway’s laugh-out-loud Audrey, Wait! If you haven’t read that, do!) Anyway, back to Guy Langman. Guy is left with very little from his father – some advice and three gold coins. Guy tries to work through his grief by writing a book about his father and his witty advice. He and Anoop also keep busy with the forensics club and girls. When the three gold coins are stolen from Guy’s house, the club decides to solve the crime. The club also gets involved in a forensics competition and finds a dead body, another crime they think they can solve. Now things really get interesting.

Josh Berk

This book is convoluted and complex and, did I mention, FUNNY? I not only highly recommend it, but I am going to offer my gently-read copy to one of my lucky readers. Just leave a comment at the end of this post. If you tweet the link to this post or post it on Facebook or put the link in your blog, let me know, and I will give you an extra entry.

On the book giveaway, this is for U.S. only. Sorry, but it would be too expensive for me to send books out of the country. But please leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you. Remember, if you have trouble leaving a comment, click on the title of the post and it will give you just this post with a comments section on the bottom. Also, if you haven’t signed up by email, please do. Just look in the upper right-hand corner of this page, pop your email address in, and you will receive an email each time I put up a new post. Your information will not be shared with anyone.