What could be better than turning Valentine's Day, a day that many dread every year to a Book Giving Day!

Three simple ways to celebrate International Book Giving Day!

1. Give a Book to a Friend or Relative.

Celebrate International Book Giving Day by giving a child a new, used or borrowed book.

2. Leave a Book in a Waiting Room or Lobby.
Choose a waiting room where kids are stuck waiting and there are few to no good books available. Purchase a good book, and deposit your book covertly or overtly in your waiting room of choice. The goal here is to spread the love of reading to kids, so choose a fun book, nothing controversial.

3. Donate a Book.

Wrap up a box of children’s books that your kids have outgrown and get them in the hands of children who could really use a book or two. Donate your books to your local second hand store, library, children’s hospital, or shelter. Alternatively, donate your books to an organization working internationally to get books in the hands of kids, such as Books for Africa.

Find out other great ways celebrate here.

How will you celebrate International Book Giving Day?

AND THE WINNERS ARE:

Grand Prize: Choice of any two books I have reviewed so far this year, 3/4 pound bag of Solace Coffee,  Madison Morgan: When Dogs Blog in paperback and Project Madison swag.

The Secret DMS Files of Fairday Morrow

First Prize: Two Debbie Macomber books, 3/4 pound bag of Solace Coffee, Madison Morgan: When Dogs Blog in paperback, Project Madison swag.

Amie Borst

Second Prize: No Passengers Beyond This Point by Gennifer Choldenko, 3/4 pound bag of Solace Coffee, Madison Morgan: When Dogs Blog in paperback, Project Madison swag.

Anita Laydon

The Third Through Fifth Prize:

 One 3/4 pound bag of Solace Coffee, Madison Morgan: When Dogs Blog in paperback, Project Madison swag.

Grace Benzal

Natalie Aguirre

An Education in Books Blog

The Sixth Through Tenth Prize:

Madison Morgan: When Dogs Blog in E-book, Project Madison swag.

Deb Marshall

Gabrielle Pendragast

Marcia Hoehne

Barbara Watson

Michael GG

                  

                    

                    

Other Commenters:

                    

Project Madison swag.

Holly's Studio Blog

The Accidental Novelist

Sandra Tyler

Congratulations to all the winners and thank

you for taking time to stop by the blog. 

Be sure to email your address to me so I can

send you your prizes.

torres dot pam3 at gmail dot com

Birthday Giveaway On Aug. 31st!

Don't forget that every comment you make on the blog during the month of August enters you in the drawing!

August Giveaway Prizes: Since the drawing occurs on my birthday I am giving lots of gifts and having lots of winners...

Grand Prize: Choice of any two books I have reviewed so far this year, 3/4 pound bag of Solace Coffee,  Madison Morgan: When Dogs Blog in paperback and Project Madison swag.

First Prize: Two Debbie Macomber books, 3/4 pound bag of Solace Coffee, Madison Morgan: When Dogs Blog in paperback, Project Madison swag.

Second Prize: No Passengers Beyond This Point by Gennifer Choldenko, 3/4 pound bag of Solace Coffee, Madison Morgan: When Dogs Blog in paperback, Project Madison swag.

There will be many more winners, more books, more coffee and more Project Madison Swag so stay tuned. [If you tweet this and paste the tweet url in your comment you will get two entries!]

Children Are Heroes: An Interview With Anne Warren Smith

Anne has just started to learn to play harp. 

Author Anne Warren Smith has dropped by the blog for a visit. I'm so excited to share some interesting tidbits about the author of a delightful three, soon to be four, book series about Katie. Bittersweet Summer is third in the series and will be released on March 1st. See my review here.Katie is one of the most quirkiest characters I've met in lower middle grade reading. Find out how Smith created this fabulous character!
1) Why do you write for children? 

 

       Children are heroes.  They are able to rise above the terrible things that happen to them.  I love writing about Katie and Claire for that reason.  Both girls are living with what seem like “broken families” but they forge on.  They have spirit and resourcefulness.  

2) Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you became a writer.

     As a child I read voraciously and wrote fantasy stories about being transported to a happier world. I even had a little typewriter – one that you had to turn a wheel to select each letter before printing it. Slow business!

      After college, I worked as a pre-school teacher, a job I loved because I felt more comfortable with children than with adults.  My first novel, “Blue Denim Blues,” is somewhat autobiographical in that Janet, a seventh grader gets a job in a preschool and is able to overcome her shyness there.  

3) What was the inspiration for Katie's adventures?

Releases on March 1st
ORDER HERE

I write for kids and also for adults – essays about my family and what it was like growing up with a mother who seemed distant. The same theme appears in the Katie Jordan series – her mother prefers her career to mothering. Claire’s mother is dead, but at one point in “Tails of Spring Break,” Katie realizes that Claire’s mother is gone because of a terrible accident while, on the other hand, her own mother has chosen to leave home. Which hurts more? 

4) Tell us about your process.

       My usual process is to write the entire book over and over in fewer than ten pages, trying to get the architecture of the plot right. Once I’m certain that I have a beginning, middle, and an ending, I begin to daydream and expand the story into chapters. Often, I have a major scene in my mind and am writing toward that scene. 

       In “Bittersweet Summer,” the scene that entranced me was Mom’s concert. I loved the noise and the crowd and the excitement. At the same time, my heart ached for the whole family. Katie’s dad still misses his wife and knows no matter how he tries, he cannot take her place for the children. Tyler simply wants his mom back to cook for him and hold him. Katie sees how the crowd loves her mother, but also hates the idea of sharing her with all those strangers. She sees her mother’s joy in performing, which is quite amazing, I think, for a fourth grader. When she realizes she can’t compete with that, she also sees that she needs to move on, understanding that she and Dad and Tyler are a family no matter what. 
The voice is incredible. How did you accomplish this? When I am writing I transport myself back to the person I was. By tapping into the people we were, and still are, we can remember how things looked, but also how they sounded. 

5) What does a typical writing day look like? I'm a morning person so my most productive time is between 8:30am and noon. I like to first read through the pages I wrote the day before to get back into the story. There may be some revising but not a lot. What I do before 8:30am is just as important to my routine. Swimming or walking usually lay a good foundation for me to start my day.

6) Where is your favorite place to write? Now I have my own office, which I really love. I do best sitting at my desk in front of my computer. I prefer silence when I write.

7) What did or do you find most challenging in creating the story and getting it published? What do you wish you would have known?

My first editor was wonderful Jean Karl of Atheneum. Her letters were full of suggestions for improving my writing and I remember that every time a letter came from her I would walk to the park, crying, thinking I could never do all that she wanted.  She sent one positive comment that I’ve never forgotten: that I was good at catching the voices of children. I still savor that.  

       My editor, Wendy McClure at Albert Whitman is a great supporter of mine.  When I offered her “Tails of Spring Break,” she thought a while. Then she said, yes, I’d like to spend more time with Katie and her family.  It wasn’t the story or the writing she liked: It was the characters. I was thrilled. 

Did you know, when you wrote Turkey Monster Thanksgiving that this would be a series? Oh, no not at all. After some time passed I realized that Katie and Claire had more to say. Especially Katie and her relationship with her mother, I felt that there needed to be some kind of resolution and that is how Tails of Spring Break came about.

8) What is the best writing advice you have ever received?

     The best writing advice I ever received was to show instead of tell. In an early story, I said that my character was frightened. My mentor suggested that the cat lying on my character’s lap might leap off with a yowl. In this way, the reader gets to participate in the story. We give info about the cat; the reader fills in the blank that the character must be frightened.

9) Are you working on a new project? Can you tell us about it?

      I’m putting the final edits on the fourth book in the series, tentatively titled “Wonder Dog of Summer.” Of course, Katie’s dog is a major player, but also Claire has to deal with the idea of getting a new mother who will bring her son to the family. We all know how Claire feels about boys and brothers and one boy in particular.

10) What advice would you give others that write for children?

Another thing I love to do is teach writers to write better. So many people don’t understand that writing is a craft. There are tricks to the trade. I urge writers to join SCBWI. They need critique groups. They can learn much from classes.


Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing with us, Anne. If you are looking for more Anne check out the links below:
Website
See my review of Bittersweet Summer here.


Just a reminder, I will be taking a hiatus from the blog from 2/16- 3/26. Come back on March 26th for another MMGM review featuring Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu and on March 28th for an incredible interview with Carol Fisher Saller author of Eddie's War. Until then you can catch up on any reviews you've missed now that you can find them all in one place. 

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: Wolves Of The Beyond by Kathryn Lasky

About Book I: A wolf mother has given birth, but the warm bundle snuffling next to her brings only anguish. The pup, otherwise healthy, has a twisted leg, and the mother knows what the harsh code of the pack demands. Her pup will be taken from her and abandoned on a desolate hill. The pack cannot have weakness - the wolf mother knows that her pup is condemned to die.

But alone in the wilderness, the pup, Seeker, does not perish. This his story - a story of survival, of courage, and of love triumphant. This is Seeker's story, the wolf pup who rose up to change forever the Wolves of the Beyond. --Goodreads

First Line: Before she even felt even the first twinge in her belly, the she-wolf set out to find a remote birthing den.

What Others Are Saying: "Though this story begins slowly, the tension steadily builds and readers will find themselves captivated midway through as they question how one wolf can survive without the pack to protect it. Even those who typically shy away from animal stories will be drawn in to the adventure, and many will forget that the story is about a wolf as Faolon's journey captivates. Book One of the "Wolves of Beyond" series." Jeanna Sciarrotta Children's Literature

About Book II: The wolf pup Faolan was born with a twisted paw, a slight defect that caused his wolf clan to abandon him in the forest to die. But Faolan, with the help of the grizzly bear who raised him as her own, survived.

Now he's made it back to his clan and as a gnaw wolf, the lowest ranking pack member. And the hardships are just beginning. Another gnaw wolf, Heep, is jealous of Faolan and sets him up for failure. As if these humiliations are not enough, Faolon is framed for the murder of a wolf pup. Faolan must catch the culprit in time and prove he has what it takes to be a full member of the pack. --Goodreads

First Line: There was a time in early autumn when the moon cut the night like the thin curve of a caribou antler.

What Others Are Saying: "As in Lone Wolf (2010), Lasky favors spirituality, rituals, and observances over action, although the gaddergnaw, as well as a murder accusation, keeps the plot trucking. The returning theme of child abandonment will hit kids where they live. Grades 5-8." --Daniel Kraus for Booklist

What I Thought: This was part of my study of series and I'm so glad I chose it. In 

the first book of the series Lasky spends a good portion of the book creating the world that her characters will inhabit. I especially enjoyed the spiritual aspects of the society, rituals, beliefs. It is immediately apparent that Lasky has researched wolf behavior. I think compared to the second book the first lacks in tension because of all the set up that needs to happen before the world of Faolon will be understood. In the second, I loved the hierarchy of the pack and the details that Lasky interjects smoothly without getting out of character. Lasky is a master of description and I was totally transported into the world of Faolan. 

Cover Art: You may have recognized the covers from the Ga'Hoole series. As with those the eyes say so much about the characters. I think that Cowdry does a great job of capturing Faolan.

Illustrator Richard Cowdry: "Fundamentally, illustration is artwork used to clarify or illuminate an idea or concept. Creating a successful illustration is a process of collaboration between illustrator and designer, a process of directing and taking direction, of concepting and exchanging ideas, and completion of final artwork."




Author: Kathryn Lasky

Website
Scholastic
Interview on Kidsreads.com

Who: Kathryn Lasky was born in Indiana and likes to say she was, "born on the prairie instead of the suburb." It sounds more interesting to her. She was labeled "a reluctant reader" which she claims wasn't very accurate. She was bored with all the See Dick Run books and preferred the books her mother read to her like Peter Pan. So she began making up stories, though she didn't share them or write them down.She now lives in Cambridge with her husband photographer and film maker, Christopher Knight. They have two children. -- More here.


When: Lasky's mother was very supportive and was the first person to recognize that Kathryn should be a writer.  “I still don’t really know when I began thinking of myself as a real writer. It might have been relatively recently – like when I first got paid for a manuscript. But that might have been only when I first dared to call myself a writer to the world at large. I think that perhaps I always felt that this was my profession, announced or unannounced, paid or unpaid. I have always been a writer.” -More here.

What: Lasky's interests as a writer range far and wide. To do research for her nonfiction books, she's been everywhere from a sheep-shearing farm, to a dollmaker's workshop, to a small sailboat crossing the Atlantic, to an archaeological dig in South Dakota. She likes writing fiction too, because she can focus on the characters. "I want young readers to come away with a sense of joy about life," she says. "I want to draw them into a world where they're really going to connect with these characters." --Houghton Mifflin

How:  "People are often surprised when they find out how much research I do for fantasy books such as The Wolves of the Beyond. They think it's fantasy, so anything goes. But I have to convince the reader that these are real wolves if I am going to dare him or her to plunge in and join their adventure. I have to know and really understand the natural history of a wolf before I can depart into the fantastical.
With The Wolves of the Beyond, I began with all kinds of books. I consulted titles ranging from beautiful photographic essays for the coffee table to highly technical works written by behavioral scientists specializing in wolf biology, behavior, ecology and evolutionary history. And then I found a fantastic video game, the first ever video game I've played in my life. It's an ingenious role-playing game." -Kidreads Interview 

Writing Advice: "The most important thing is if a story is real. Even in my nonfiction books, telling a story is more important than reciting the facts. I am sure a lot of folks must think I'm rather scattered doing all these different books. But to me, the whole point of being an artist is to get up every morning and reinvent the world." --Houghton Mifflin

Book III

Book IV

 Book V will be out in 2012.

Be sure to stop by the other Marvelous Middle Grade Monday Bloggers in my sidebar...

Middle School Book Review: Savvy by Ingrid Law

TweetAbout The Book: Savvy is a fast paced ride through a modern tall tale where one family passes special powers , a Savvy, down to their progeny. There is no preparing for your inevitable inheritance on your thirteenth birthday and no way to know what your power will be. For Mibbs she finds her Savvy hard to understand which leads her along with some of her siblings on a wild adventure across country.-See full Synopsis here.

One Great Line: "The itch and scritch of birthday buzz was about all I was feeling on the Thursday before the Friday before the Saturday I turned thirteen."

What Others Are Saying:

"Law's storytelling is rollicking, her language imaginative, and her entire cast of whacky, yet believable characters delightful...wholly engaging and lots of fun." --Booklist

"Law displays both a fertile imagination...dab hand for likable, characters...[a] marvel laden debut" -Kirkus

What I Thought: I was repeatedly wowed by her use of words, strange combinations and long sentences that carried a rhythm that periods would have denied. I truly admire Law's story telling ability that reminds me of sitting down listening to my mother read the tales of Brear Rabbit and Paul Bunyan. It is rare to find a book that tickles your tongue as much as your imagination. It was a wild woolly ride.

First Line: "When my brother Fish turned thirteen, we moved to the deepest part of inland because of the hurricane and, of course, the fact that he'd caused it".

Awards: Newberry Honor Book 2010

My rating: ***** Five stars!!

About the Author:

Website: Ingrid Law Author

Blog: Straight from The Jar

Publisher: Penguin Group

Agent: Daniel Lazar with Writers House LLC

When did you know you wanted to be an author?

"... there have always been stories in my head, and once I found that I could get those stories onto paper, and that my words could be beautiful and fiery and constructive, I knew that I was on the right track and doing something that I love." 

What inspired Savvy?

 "I started with the very first sentence, not even knowing what I was going to write about, simply determined to write the most fun, most off-the-wall sentence I could without thinking too hard about it, and then see where things went from there."

"When I began writing SAVVY, I wanted to create an empowering story about extraordinary kids using my own brand of tall tale, Americana magic…and I didn’t want to use the word magic.

“I use a lot of small towns, and fall back on the tradition of tall tales, stories that are larger than life, with a conquering-the-wilderness idea. It’s an emotional element of becoming a teenager, needing to tame the external and internal.” -Kidsreads, see rest of interview here.

 

Any challenges?

"Law says she found her writerly voice when, after a decade of ill-fated manuscripts, she decided to ignore her doubts and go where her characters took her: “I decided I would pull out all the stops, not judge what I wrote, and push my voice to the limit." BookPage -See rest of interview here.

Newest Book: Scumble

First Line:  "Mom and Dad had known about the wedding at my uncle Autry's ranch for months. But with the date set a mere ten days after my thirteenth birthday, my family's RSVP had remained solidly unconfirmed until the last possible wait-and-see moment." 

 Observations: I'm always interested in how an author ties in the next book in a series. What I like about Scumble is you don't have to of read Savvy to enjoy Scumble. It can stand alone. New and complicated characters to get to know. 

One Great Line: "My vocal cords stretched and snapped over the words like rubber bands pulled too tight."

 

Three reasons writers should hate her. *wink, wink*

1. It took her 4 months to write Savvy, by 10 months the fully edited version was complete.

2. She started with one sentence and just let the writing carry her away.

3. Walden Media has already obtained the option for a movie and the screenplay is already in the works. 

I have to say I am really excited to see what Law does next. According to her, the next book is in a completely different direction. If you've read either of these, what did you think?

Cooking the Perfect Synopsis

So, I've been working on my synopsis for my middle grade novel, which means I've scoured sources for suggestions, formats and instruction on getting it right. 

Why? Three reasons: 

1- It's a vital marketing tool, next to the Query.

2- If it isn't right you may have a flaw in your story. 

3- At some point someone is going to request one.

I've coalesced what I've researched into a basic recipe. 

*****************************************************************

Rockin' Synopsis
Preheat: Present Tense
Serves: Agents, Publishers anyone looking 

1 cup Voice               [Gives a taste of your unique voice.] 

1/3 cup   Who       [Main characters: What do they want?]

1/3 cup   Why       [Why should we care?]

1/3 cup   How       [How is he/she going to get it?]

1/2 cup   What      [What goes wrong, who/what gets in the way?]

1/2  cup  Risk            [What is he/she risk? No risk, no story.]

1/2 cup  Reward    [Do he/she get what they want or version of it?]

Mix well trimming extra words, unnecessary phrases until you have a succinct mix. Set aside for several days. With fresh eyes, revise again perfecting every sentence until you have the exact flavor you want. Then share it with several  CP's or Beta's to see if they see what you see, feel what you want them to feel. If not, revise again. Repeat this until the synopsis has risen to the desired level. 
***************************************************************************

I found several excellent suggestions for how to obtain the perfect ingredients and boiling them down to the exact proportions. Here are a few links you may find helpful!

How to Write A Synopsis
How to Write A Book Synopsis: Tips, Techniques
Writing A Synopsis
Synopsis
Writing a Synopsis That Rocks

I know there are tons more out there! Do you have a post on your blog? Share a link in your comments! 

*Check in next Monday for Middle School Review of Savvy and Scumble by Ingrid Law

XVI by Julia Karr

About The Book: Nina is going to turn sixteen very soon but right now her life is spinning out of control. The story is set in futuristic Chicago where consumer culture has finally divided the city into tiers based on affluence. Nina discovers that not only her father may be alive but there is a world that exists outside the tiers. A world where scramblers, GPS trackers, government cover-ups, secret organizations and turning sixteen for girls means succumbing to sexual objectification. Sequel? Yes, I can't wait...
Order XVI here.
One Great Line: The threat of being chosen retreated to the edge of my thoughts, hovering there, waiting to return faster than a wing beat. (XVI, 271) Poetry!!!

What Others Are Saying:   "Karr’s novel is perfect for girls who have begun to ask questions about themselves and about how they are supposed to act under the barrage of sexual influences. Our heroine Nina lives within every girl who is willing to fight to define herself all on her own." ( Bookpage)    

       "In her unsettling debut, Karr depicts a sex-obsessed future where women are the perpetual victims of predatory marketing, and other societal ills seen in our present...taken to terrifying ends. ...there’s no doubt this well-written, accessible sci-fi thriller will provoke discussion." ( Booklist)

Logline:  In the year 2150, being a girl isn’t necessarily a good thing, especially when your sixteenth (read sex-teenth) birthday is fast approaching. That in itself would be enough to make anyone more than a little nuts, what with the tattoo and all – but Nina Oberon’s life has taken a definite turn for the worse.


First Five Pages: Karr quickly introduces the main character and what her public and private stakes will be. Her premise of consumer culture run a muck is, while not original, takes a fascinating tangent using sex as the focus, appealing to 14-16 year olds questioning their own sexuality. When Nina asks, "What would it be like to be able to go someplace where you were untraceable?" Karr intuitively addresses the age old question of coming of age and being free of parental constraints. By the fifth page Nina is carefully situated in the time and place of Karr's dystopian world.

Other Observations: Some have questioned plausibility by pointing to Karr's "dysfunctional gender politics". They seem unable to reconcile the fact that there are teenagers that subvert the system. Really? Name one group or country for that matter, that doesn't have minority populations that live outside bounds of accepted norms. That is why we cheer for Nina, she is fighting to live her own life free from the constraints of a controlling government. Can you say, pilgrims? I'm just saying. I love Karr's exploration of consumer culture!

 Writer Info

Website: juliakarr.com

Blog: juliakarr.livejournal.com 

Twitter: @juliaakarr

Facebook: facebook.com/juliakarr 

Email: juliakarr@me.com

Check her at @ The League of Extraordinary Writers

Rating:  ♥♥♥♥♥

Rating Key:
♥         Couldn't finish the book, wouldn't even give it to my worst enemy.
♥♥       Read most of it but had to skim through slow parts.
♥♥♥     Solid book with a few holes in the plot or inconsistencies, pacing issues.
♥♥♥♥   Great premise, plot and pace. Writing is engaging with a strong voice.
♥♥♥♥♥ Totally awesome ride, tell everyone to read it, give me some more.

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