Category Archives: My Reads

In praise of hedgehogs and indie bookstores

My Reads, , ,

I am lucky enough to live in Portland, Oregon, home of Powell’s City of Books and many other independent bookstores including one of my favorites–A Children’s Place.

Independent bookstores are more than a place to buy books.  They are places of knowledge.

For years, I had been looking for a beloved book from my childhood.  I couldn’t remember the title so when I went into A Children’s Place and asked Kira P. for “this wonderful book about a hedgehog who has plants grow on him” I was not that hopeful.

But I browsed and a few minutes later Kira asked if the book I was looking for was Miss Jaster’s Garden by N.M. Bodecker.  Yes!  Oh, yes!  That’s the book I wanted with little Hedgie, the flowerhog, and piano-playing Miss Jaster.

Neither Google nor Amazon could bring Hedgie back to me.  Hedgehog is NOT in the title making key word searching very difficult.  I needed Kira and her expertise.  My independent bookseller is smarter than the internet.  So there!

The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean

My Reads

I love this book!

Mostly that is all I want to say this morning, but since words are my playthings and I’m a navel-gazer to the core, I’ll add this:

Lately I’ve been obsessing on what book to write next.  Ideas are many.  Time is fleeting.  I want to write the right one–a book that fits with who I am as a writer and one that leads me forward into the career I want.

I’ve been yearning for focus.  Couldn’t I be like Ellen Hopkins–a master of a particular kind of story.

Then I think of Geraldine McCaughrean.  I’m currently reading her book Stop the Train.  It is equally brilliant as The White Darkness but a totally different kind of book.  She’s a gifted word smith and story-teller in both works, but stylistically and topically, each is utterly unique.

I wish I’d written The White Darkness.  I wish I were that good.  But at least I can aspire to McCaughrean’s skill at realistic world-building and her flexibility with the form.

Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran and illustrated by Barbara Cooney

My Reads,

Marian called it Roxaboxen.  (She always knew the name of everything.) There across the road, it looked like any rocky hill — nothing but sand and rocks, some old wooden boxes, cactus and greasewood and thorny ocotillo — but it was a special place.

If you don’t know this book, you should.  It’s one of those perfect picture books that I never tire of reading.  Each time, I fall in love all over again.  My emotions rise and sometimes tears too because the words and pictures evoke my own childhood wandering in imaginary territory.

My cousins and I built Fort Lava amid the sagebrush and junipers of Central Oregon.  We dodged the horses in the field to get there.  We stole vitamin C from the huge canister in the pantry in the ranch house for snacks.  My middle cousin crunched on Meow Mix and told the rest of us it wasn’t bad at all.

Roxaboxen is a peon to our past worlds, and I want to go back again and again.  What a contrast to books that satisfy once but don’t beg me to return — like I Want My Hat Back, which is both deft and funny but once the surprise is sprung there’s no need to read again — or the books that get annoying on repetition–like Skippy Jon Jones, who will drive me insane one day.

Unlike those books, once is never enough for Roxaboxen.

I choke up every time I read MIRETTE ON THE HIGH WIRE

My Reads, , ,

It’s Caldecott season.  Chris Raschka won the medal for A BALL FOR DAISY.  I loved his acceptance speech in the most recent Horn Book.  Actually, the awards issue of that mag is my favorite one because you get an inside peek into the minds of incredibly creative people AND the super talented (also creative) people that helped them make the book happen.  It’s a great reminder of how diverse the creative process is and how many hands/minds/hearts it takes to make a great book.

All this Caldecott talk made me think of one of my favorites: MIRETTE ON THE HIGH WIRE by Emily Arnold McCully.  It’s one of those books that I never get tired of reading.  And every time I read it, such emotion rises in me that I stumble over the words.  The beauty and depth of the feeling behind those words catch in my throat.  I want to “be” in those stunning paintings with my feet on the wire, walking through space, reaching out a hand to pull another through.

Read it.

You’ll be glad you did.

Matt de la Pena,the NYT, darkness in YA, Clive Cussler, and why I read

Antics, My Reads

Forgive my refusal to engage in complete sentences today.  Scattershot list of things inspiring today’s post:

1.  Kerfuffle on Twitter and Blogosphere about darkness in YA (I’m not even going to link to it) and a call for ratings on books (again… google yourself if you want such silliness).

2.  Being too tired to read much after writing so hard.

3.  Fifty Shades of Grey and a recent Clive Cussler novel dominate the NYT bestseller lists this week.

4.  Great essay in the New York Times by YA author Matt de la Pena (follow the links!) about reading solely for escape.  And while I insist you read the whole essay, this quote knocked me on my ass:

If there’s such a thing as emotional gravity, it’s the invisible force that continually pulls humans back down to their natural resting state of melancholy. Life is sad, man.

5.  A friend’s recent comment that she reads for “hope.”

6. Kristen Stewart’s recent rant about Twilight, criticism, and fame in Vanity Fair.

If you are wondering where I am going with all of this… so am I.  If I were Chuck Wendig, I’d thrown in a lot of expletives here.  But I’m not so I’ll go for a few semi-coherent thoughts.

The YA that I read (and write) is both weighty and hopeful.  I don’t read much wish-fulfillment YA (like Twilight) because it makes me feel yucky the way glossy fashion mags make me feel yucky.  It makes me feel that I am insufficient and my life is not worth much.  I don’t read much literary adult fiction because there’s so much soul-breaking and so little hope.  I don’t read mass market adult fiction because it’s dumb.

I don’t throw stones at reading for escape.  I do that too, but I insist that the world I escape to be fully-realized, compelling, and touch me in some meaningful way.  I don’t mind if it is brutal or “dark” (gasp), but I like it best when there’s hope.  I want to emerge thinking that I am sufficient to the challenges of life.

So there you go… ramble on!

 

 

Calling all lovers of “Choose Your Own Adventure” books!

My Reads

I adored Choose Your Own Adventure books when I was a kid, so I jumped at the chance for my son and I to test drive THE WORST-CASE SCENARIO: AMAZON (An Ultimate Adventure Novel) by Hena Khan and David Borgenicht, illustrated by Yancey Labat.

Here’s my test driver:

Here’s the book blurb from Chronicle:

A new thrill ride begins in the Amazon rainforest with the latest novel in the Worst-Case Scenario Ultimate Adventure series! Join an expedition of students exploring the Amazon jungle and face real dangers and decisions. Your choices will determine your fate. Will you survive your encounters with piranhas, tarantulas, mosquitoes, monkeys, and jaguars? Or will you be forced to return home early? Only you can decide how to survive. There are twenty-two possible endings to this adventure, but only ONE leads to ultimate success! Featuring dynamic comic book–style illustrations, and based on real, true-life facts about the Amazon, this story will be a surefire hit with anyone craving a fun, highly visual reading experience.

Our chat:

Me:  So what do you think of the cover?
Boy:  Oooh!  Interesting.

Me:  How did you feel about the intro with the team bios.
Boy:  Important but kinda boring.  Glad you read it to me.  I could relate to the characters though.

Me:  How did you feel about the 2nd person?
Boy:  I didn’t like it.  Kind of annoying but I guess I got used to it.

Me:  Did you like it?
Boy:  Yeah!  I’d totally read more of them.

Me:  Why did you like?
Boy:  Cool that there was lots of action.  Especially that you could die.  Most books don’t put in the dying part.  Or anacondas.

Me:  How did you feel about the choices you had to make?
Boy:  It was kinda obvious which ones would kill you.

In summary, we both got into this book.  We loved the design and ample graphics, especially when the choice points were related to the graphics (like where on a map we should go).  It was fun to read together, and once the Boy got hooked, he was really into it and didn’t want to stop reading.  As a writer myself, I wonder if Choose Your Own Adventure style books could work in third person because I’m with the Boy–2nd person is weird.

Favorite spread:

 

 

Another version of a story I can’t live without – SHACKLETON’S STOWAWAY by Victoria McKernan

My Reads,

At this post, those of you who know me well will shake your heads gently and send a tolerant look my way.

I don’t mind.  The true thing is that I am deeply, terribly, irrevocably in love with Sir Ernest Shackleton.

I read everything I can get my hands on about Sir Ernest.  I have an entire bookshelf devoted to polar exploration with a heavy emphasis on Shackleton.  When the American Museum of Natural History hosted a traveling exhibit on the Endurance expedition, I broke the rules.  Yes, me, a by-the-book gal if there ever was one, I reached across those imposing velvet ropes to sneak a touch of the James Caird.  How could I pass by the very boat in which Shackleton crossed 800 miles of open ocean to get help for his stranded men without a caress?

And yes, it’s true… my son’s first name is Shackleton.

Perce Blackborrow

I read this book when it came out in 2005 from Knopf but just finished re-reading it aloud to the kids.  It thrilled me as much as ever.  As told (mostly) through the eyes of Perce Blackborrow, an eighteen year old who stowed away on the Endurance (seriously), we see Shackleton at his finest.  Yes, he was strong and smart and brave, but he also had a genius for reading people, for intuiting their needs, and for finding ways to bring out the best in each man.

I could go on and on about the story of the Endurance and Shackleton himself, but I’ll restrain my crazy self and leave you with two things.  First, a quote from this compelling book:

Every day for months, they had walked with death.  They had slept beside death, swallowed it whole, laughed at it, cowered from it, taunted it, sometimes longed for it.  But death had proved to be no real match for twenty-eight ordinary men.

Second, Shackleton’s family motto:

By endurance, we conquer.

Words to live by, friends.  Words to live by.

 

Great interview with Michaela MacColl, author of PROMISE THE NIGHT @michaelamaccoll

My Reads, ,

I am thrilled to welcome Michaela MacColl to my blog!  Her book PROMISE THE NIGHT tells the story of young Beryl Markham, who grew up to be a record-breaking aviatrix, an adventurer, a nonconformist, and a writer.  

Read an excerpt here.

Below you’ll find the conversation we shared about her lovely book.

***

My other blog, VivaScriva.com, focuses on critique and the writing process so let’s start there.  Do you have a critique group?  What role did critique play in PROMISE THE NIGHT?

I have a lovely critique group. We’ve met weekly for six or seven years now. Most of us are published, but we didn’t start out that way. I have to admit that my group saved the world from a very bad biography of Beryl Markham.

When I first decided to write about her, I found that the only kids’ biographies were very dated. Aha! I thought. (And I can’t believe I even said this) How hard can it be to write a biography? Apparently it is really hard. I couldn’t get away from the fictionalized story I wanted to tell. Finally my group metaphorically shook me and said “Just write a novel!” They were right and so supportive.

When I’m writing nonfiction, I find that the book falls into place when I discover the right format for the story.  In PROMISE THE NIGHT, you alternate eleven-year-old Beryl’s narrative with grown-up Beryl’s flight across the Atlantic.  How did you decide on this structure?

One of my greatest challenges was how to write a story about Beryl the child, when Beryl the adult is the one who did something famous (she was the first to cross the Atlantic East to West solo).  At first I wrote the flight as an epilogue, but it felt too tacked on. I had to find a way to show how Beryl’s adventures as a child enabled her to break flying records as an adult. It was complicated because I wanted to relate each adult vignette to a childhood chapter – but after many outlines and a ridiculous number of post-its, I came up with a structure that worked.

I loved Beryl Markham’s own book WEST WITH THE NIGHT.  How did her writing influence yours?

On the one hand, it’s a gift to have her own words in front of me. I learned so much about her personality from the way she described her childhood. On the other hand, it’s pretty daunting since the memoir is so good.  Ultimately, I tried to channel her spare prose into mine. I ruthlessly trimmed (and then my editor got started) until I told the story in as few words as possible. Beryl wouldn’t have wasted words, neither should I!

Of course this was such a departure from my first book, Prisoners in the Palace about Princess Victoria. There the language is ornate, layered and thick.

You had to deal with some tough (and very adult) topics—male circumcision, the Captain’s relationship with Emma, his concerns over Beryl’s interactions with Kibii and Mehru.  Some might have said it couldn’t be done in a middle grade novel, yet you pulled it off.  Can you tell us how you found your way in this area?

I’m pretty squeamish, so I didn’t want to make people squirm. I’m also the parent of two teenage daughters and it’s important to me that kids can read my books without feeling too uncomfortable. Ultimately the answer to dealing with these issues was to plant my narration firmly in Beryl’s point of view. She’s not shocked so why should the reader be?

Beryl Markham chafed against the rigid social and gender roles of her time.  How do you think she would have responded to the opportunity and freedoms girls have today?

I’ve wondered about that. Thoroughbred racing and flying were inherently exciting and a natural destination for a risk-seeker no matter how inappropriate they were for a girl to do. But I think if she were alive today, she would be taking even greater risks. Ultimately though, Beryl didn’t think of herself as a girl breaking gender barriers, she was just doing what she wanted to do.  The first page in Promise the Night is a quotation from Beryl where she says she wants to fly the Atlantic not as a society girl but as pilot. No gender specified.

I’ve always been fascinated by the heros of the Golden Age of Exploration like Beryl Markham, Ernest Shackleton and Edmund Hillary.  What do you think drove them to take such risks in their quests to be first?

They say that thoroughbred stallions are bred to win.  They run fast to achieve dominance over their peers (so to speak). I think the explorers and the pioneers are all trying to win the acclaim of the other explorers and pioneers. But there is also a financial consideration. The person who breaks the record is the one who gets the sponsorship deals, the speaking engagements, even the movie gig.

Are there any new frontiers for girls today?

The first thing that comes to mind is President of the United States… And if that’s the last frontier, then girls are doing well!

True confessions—my daughter is named Beryl and my son is Shackleton.  Do you think I’m crazy?

Yes!  (I had to talk my husband out of naming our first daughter Cassandra. Can you imagine a more ill-omened name?)

What is the most interesting thing that you learned about Beryl Markham but couldn’t include in the book—and why couldn’t you?

Beryl’s childhood is full of instances when she challenges the societal norms and does purely as she likes.  When she continued to do this as an adult, the stakes get higher. The most fascinating thing I found out about Beryl involved her love life. She married Lord Markham in her late 20’s, but at the same time, she also had a very public affair with the Duke of Gloucester (the brother of the Prince of Wales) when he visited Africa on safari. Her husband got fed up and threatened to name the Duke in the divorce. Needless to say Buckingham Palace had a strong opinion about this; Markham was told in no uncertain terms to involve the Duke.  He replied that he wasn’t going to support her. So until the day she died, Beryl received a pension from Buckingham Palace.  It’s a great story, right? So inappropriate for middle grade!

PROMISE THE NIGHT focuses on a narrow window of Beryl Markham’s extraordinary life.  Were you ready to let go?

I wouldn’t mind going back and writing about her life as a racehorse trainer. I grew up on the Black Stallion novels and I would love to write about racing. Otherwise, on to the next novel!

 

 

Lions and leopards and airplanes, oh my! Must read: PROMISE THE NIGHT

My Reads,

In a few days, I get the distinct pleasure of interviewing Michaela MacColl, author of PROMISE THE NIGHT (Chronicle Books).  This middle-grade, historical fiction tells the story of Beryl Markham–adventurer, pilot, race-horse trainer and non-conformist. She’s a dazzlingly unique character made all the more fascinating by the fact that she was a real person!

Here’s a bit of the beginning:

Later, when it was all over, she wondered what would have happened if she had remembered to tie down the burlap door. If she had not been so careless, would the danger have passed her by?

Her only warning was a patch of lighter night by the door. The leopard must have slunk in, crawling soundlessly on his stomach the way cats do. Ears flat to his head. Spotted fur standing up on his back. Eyes fixed on his prey. Waiting. Waiting. . .

Buller’s anguished yelp filled the hut. When she heard the deep yowl, she knew it was a cat, probably a leopard. Beryl huddled beneath the safety of the mosquito netting, afraid the cat would finish off Buller and then go after her.

“Buller! Be careful, boy!” Beryl screamed at the top of her voice. She waved the knife in the dark. She couldn’t see what was happening, but she could hear Buller’s low growl. She imagined that the leopard was poised to spring onto her bed.

“Daddy!” she cried. She ripped off the blanket and snapped it toward the battling animals. Even if she had the courage, Beryl knew she shouldn’t join the fight on the floor; she was just as likely to hurt Buller as help him.

Beryl could make out the leopard’s shadow, spotted even in the dimness. It sprang onto Buller’s back and sank its sharp teeth in the loose skin at the back of his neck.

“DADDY!”

Beryl heard what sounded like Buller’s back cracking as he tried to shake off the cat. Before she could scream again, the leopard had dragged her best friend in the world out of her hut. Buller’s cries ended as suddenly as they began.

You can read the entire first chapter here.  And don’t forget to check back on the 20th for the interview!