Reading Like a Writer

One of the joys of summer is that I can finally start reading in that stack of "to-be-read" books that keeps getting taller and taller. My thesis-in-progress is about a young girl who is dealing with grief and lots of change in her life.

Two of the books I read this week are about characters that also are dealing with grief and lots of personal change in their lives. I didn't realize this when I picked these books out of the pile.

Bird Lake Moon by Kevin Henkes
Mitch's parents are getting a divorce and he is mad at the world. He and his Mom go to live with his grandparents on Bird Lake. He spends most of his time being angry and wanting his life to be normal again. Then Spencer and his family arrive at Bird Lake. Spencer's family is returning to Bird Lake after many years because this is where Spencer's older brother drowned. It has taken a long time for his parents to feel like they can try to return. Both of these boys are dealing with their own issues, but they become friends.

As I writer, I loved to see how Henkes developed the psyche of these two boys and showed so many details. His use of setting and emotions really helped me to see how a writer can portray grief and emotions through the physical place and objects around them.

Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine
This book is by a Virginia author. I had heard so many good things about it. I knew it was about a girl with Asperger's syndrome, but I didn't realize that it also was about this girl dealing with the loss of her brother who was killed in a school shooting. Like Erskine, I was touched by the Virginia Tech shootings. It was 30 minutes from where I live and I was terrified that something so horrible could happen so close to home. Erskine shows how Caitlin, the main character, deals with the loss of her brother and helps her dad also deal with his grief. Erskine portrays the grief honestly and uniquely as seen through the eyes of a child with Asperger's. There are no quick answers, but Caitlin and her dad began to heal.

As a writer, I was deeply touched by the emotions of this book. I loved how Erskine developed the relationship between Caitlin and her brother. We get to know Devon, the brother, after his death, through Caitlin's memories. Erskin weaves this in piece by piece in little details each time. Once again, like Henkes novel, we see how physical objects also hold great emotional weight.

Both of these novels I intended to read for pure pleasure. I had no idea they would help me see how different writers can approach the same subject. And they gave me momentum for pushing on with my own novel with a character in grief.

Spreading the Awesome: 10 Stars for The Strange Case of Origami Yoda

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda

by Tom Angleberger

Amulet Books, 2010

I've been blogging about this great new book by local author Tom Angleberger.

I went to one of his book signings and blogged about it here.

He recently was on WDBJ7 for an interview. I linked to that here.

There was a great article about this book in The Roanoke Times.

But, I hadn't blogged about the book itself. Until today. My writing group friend, Angie Smibert, told me about blogging about a book that you think is awesome. It's called "Spread the Awesome" and we are supposed to blog about a book that deserves 10 stars. It's promoted by Elana Johnson. The big day is May 3, so I held out on my lovefest of this book until today.


Gist of the book: Dwight is a nerd and everyone knows it, but Dwight has this Yoda--an origami Yoda. Yoda gives advice and talks in that strange sentence structure that Yoda speaks in. The book is told from different character's points of view each giving their story about their encounter with origami Yoda and whether he really has powers. It's like a case file collection of Yoda and his advice and whether it worked or not. The whole book is filled with hilarious stories of what Yoda has done for each character and the healthy doubt that comes from believing a talking folded piece of paper.

Top Five Reasons I Love this Book:

1. It is hilarious. What is funnier than a nerdy kid carrying around an origami Yoda and giving advice to his friends? It's LOL funny.

2. Boys will love this book. I'm a teacher and I bought a "school copy" of this book from Scholastic Book Clubs. I do book talks about different books. I showed the video of Angleberger talking about this book, and showed them them the Roanoke Times article about it. The book literally flew out of my hands. I am taking my signed copy to school tomorrow (which I normally don't do) because so many kids want to read it. I also will be placing another Scholastic order for some more copies. And by the way, girls will love this book too.

3. The design of this book is kid-enticing. The cover jumps right out at you. The pages inside look crinkly--like some kid wrote his story, then crumpled it up and threw it in the trash can because he was so embarrassed. There are cool drawings and doodles throughout the book that make it fun and kid-like.

4. Angleberger is a master of characters. He makes these characters real and really nails the voice for each one. It would be difficult to write a distinctive voice for each kid that tells his story about Yoda, but he does it and does it well.

5. He's a local author. He writes for our local paper. I love seeing local authors become really successful. Need I say more??

Origami Yoda on the Local News

Yesterday, I spent 13 hours with my fourth graders going on a field trip to Charlottesville. Most of the time on the bus was spent making trash-runs up and down the aisles, but I did sneak in a few chapters of The Strange Case of the Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger, local author.

Several of my boy students saw the book I was carrying and started asking lots of questions. They were intrigued. I told them about Mr. Angleberger and how they should go see him at Barnes and Noble this weekend. He'll be at Barnes and Noble, Tanglewood, Roanoke on April 24, 2:00pm.

The Strange Case of the Origami Yoda is also featured in a recent Scholastic Book Club order, so I ordered a copy for my classroom library. After I finished reading it, I quickly wished I'd ordered multiple copies because just like Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, I won't be able to keep this book on my shelves.

This morning, I was getting ready for school and Tom and his book were being featured on WDBJ7. You can read the newsstory and the watch the video clip here.

Origami Yoda on a Saturday

I'm always excited when a local author does well. Tom Angleberger and wife, Cece Bell, are two of my favorites.

Tom Angleberger's new book is out, and he was doing a local signing at the very awesome independent bookstore, Ram's Head Bookshop. Even though his new book is too old for my five year old daughter, I took her anyway and I bought the book for myself. Tom kindly showed her how to make an origami Yoda. Here are the pictures.

Makenna makes an origami Yoda. Mommy thinks she needs a new camera. These pictures look a little fuzzy.

This week, I get to go to a Debbie Diller conference in Richmond--alone. I will be taking The Strange Case of Origami Yoda with me to read in the hotel.

I did a review of Tom's (aka Sam Riddleburger) first book The Qwikpick Adventure Society. You can read the review here.

Authors, Authors, Everywhere

Are you an author looking to get school visits? Are you an educator looking for an author to do school visits? Check out Kim Norman's new site that lists authors by state. Our local reading council is always looking for authors to come for our events. This is like one stop-shopping. If you are an author and would like to be listed, check out the site and find out what you need to do to be listed.

Authors By State

Get this book--Quick

The Quikpick Adventure Society
By Sam Riddleburger
Dial, 2007

This book is about poop. Well, actually about kids who go to see a poop fountain, but still, if you tell any boy that it’s a book about poop, he’ll read it.

Lyle, Marilla, and Dave are friends and they hang out together, usually at the Quikpick. The Quikpick is a local gas station-slash-convenience store where Lyle’s parents both work. They get tired of just hanging out in the break room at the Quikpick, so they really want to find something interesting to do. Lyle’s parents have to work all day Christmas Day, so they plan to do this really-interesting-adventure on Christmas Day.

They read in the paper that the local wasterwater treatment plant is getting ready to get a new upgrade. They will be closing down their “sludge fountain” and opening new equipment. The timeline for this upgrade? Jan. 2. So they have time for their Christmas Day adventure.

They venture out on Christmas Day to the fountain of poop, as they call it. Yes, there are poop-related disasters. There is messiness. There are several “ooh, gross” moments. I’m telling you…give this to a boy you know!!!

Lyle is the narrator and he types his account of their adventure on his used typewriter his parents bought him for Christmas, but there are handwritten parts to the story too, and Lyle adds handwritten notes to his typed pages. It gives the story such a realistic journal feel.


Why do I love this book?
1) Most kids go on mini-adventures with small groups of friends. At least I did. Even if we never wandered far from home, we were able to create drama out of a mundane event. I even dated a guy once in college who showed me home movies of “adventures” he and his buddies had going from home to the local “Orange Market” (Quikpick-ish).
2) Most kids love to get grossed-out with bathroom humor. This book is not raunchy. The whole thing is not poop jokes. It’s poop--well done. (BTW, I can’t believe I just wrote that).
3) It’s set in Crickenburg, a fictional town based on a real place—Christiansburg, VA. I live only 20 minutes from there, so this book is close to home. And it’s written by a local author (and blogger) Sam Riddleburger (who is married to another local author, Sock Monkey writer and illustrator, Cece Bell). In fact, I got this book at a local Barnes and Noble event with Sam and Cece.
4) The kids write poetry—they even write haiku about their poop experience! Awesome!

Do you know a reluctant boy reader? Then go, buy this book!