Guest post – Page 43 – Unleashing Readers

Author Guest Post: “This is Useful for Teachers” by Mark Geatches, Author of Tamar and PJ: One Giant Adventure

December 11, 2016 by Kellee

“This is Useful for Teachers”

So, Kellee and Ricki made me an offer I can’t refuse; a guest post slot on their website to help promote my book. The only requirement is that my story and presentation be useful to teachers. It’s a wonderful offer that fills me with grating nerves, stress, and apparent writer’s cramp. Yes cramp. My head hurts from the effort.

What about my book could possibly be useful to teachers? Sure, it’s probably the best work of fiction since Orwell’s 1984, but it’s a middle grade fantasy about a boy who repeatedly finds himself in near-death experiences at the hands of a genetically enhanced killer, and who finally falls into a coma while a lonely giant races to save him. Not much use in the classroom I’m afraid. But then I read their requirement a little closer and detected a flaw in their thoughtfully, but not entirely fool-proof, request. They never stated it should be helpful to teachers, in the classroom.

Now you and I know that’s what they meant. But that’s not what they wrote. Without that qualification, the entire world has opened up to me, and since I’m a fiction writer I feel at home with the entire world. In fact, I’m entirely at home in any world, even worlds that don’t exist outside of my dimente― I mean my fertile imagination. So without further ado, I present to you an earthly list of possible uses teachers can get out of my book, outside of the classroom.

First and most obvious, the hardcover version can be used as a paperweight. It can prop a door open, even in inclement weather. It can be used to flatten out older paperback books that just might have a use in the classroom. When tied properly about with a string, it can place-hold a kite for hours at a time. (The neighbors will be awed at your endurance.) Have a Formica countertop? Place hot pots and pans atop Tamar & PJ, and rest assured the worst that can happen is a small kitchen fire, easily put out with, perhaps, a second copy of my book. Finally, since the book is liable to sit idly on a shelf for years at a time, you can bore out a cavity in the inner pages and store valuables like jewelry, false teeth, and even marbles confiscated in the classroom. Do kids still play with marbles? I suppose no one really knows. Well, you’ll think of something to shove in there.

Of course there’s a paperback version of my book as well. However, lacking the weight of the hardcover, I’m quite at a loss to come up with any significant uses. Do they still have corporal punishment in school? If they do we may have stumbled upon the perfect, in the classroom, use for my book. I’ve just been told that CP went out of style quite some time ago and that I should expect a visit from the authorities. No problem. I have time for anothe― I mean my very first courteous chat with whoever they send for these types of misunderstandings. I am a writer after all.

Wait? I just thought of a few helpful contrivances for my paperback. Say you have a draft under your front door. Let’s face it, winter’s upon us folks. Five or six copies of my book should plug that gap nicely and friends will see how cultured you are.

“Are those paperback books you’re using as a draft-dodging-device? My, how cultured you are.”

See how that works? Contact me for a discounted price on multiple copies designated for insulation purposes.

Have cats? How often have they scratched the sofa and you’ve had nothing to throw at them. A three or four foot stack of my paperback books will not only be an attractive addition to any living room, they can be aimed extremely well and cause minimal collateral damage, all the while teaching your cats proper conduct through positive reinforcement. I personally guarantee, each book will stand up to dozens of slings before becoming unsightly, at which point they make great stocking stuffers or fire kindling. Unfortunately I can’t offer a discount for this particular use. The benefits to the purchaser vastly outweigh any reduction in cost I could offer. Visit my website to read the thousands of happy pet owner testimonials. Finally but not last. (What?) The paperback version of Tamar & PJ is a known construction tool standby. Installing drywall? Throw a few copies on the floor to prop up the panel just the right amount. Have an old ladder that leaves gouges on every surface it touches. An opened book, judiciously duct-taped to each top guide bracket provides years of worry-free laddering. (Can you believe that’s a real word? Who am I to argue with spell check.)

I hope you teachers have found this post informative and that you will each commit to purchasing tens, if not hundreds of copies of the best middle grade novel to come out in the last several minutes. I’m available to speak to your class on any topic I’m able to successfully convert into something I’m comfortable speaking about. Beer comes to mind, but we can discuss that at a later date.

Oh yeah, regarding Tamar and PJ: One Giant Adventure. There is at least one valuable lesson it teaches. Sometimes you can rely on friends, even new friends. And sometimes those friends will come through for you in the end.

Thanks again, Kellee and Ricki!

-Mark F. Geatches
markgeatches.com

About the Author: Mark has a Master’s Degree in trumpet performance from Florida State University and loves music of all kinds. After performing for several years, including a three year stint in Germany, he entered the business world. He built two small businesses before beginning a new chapter in his life; Mark now builds fiction. As he nudges his creativity and ambition in a new direction, music remains his constant companion. Mark finds music and writing the perfect mental connection, the nexus of focus and inspiration. Visit his website at markgeatches.com for links to his online published short stories.

Tamar and PJ: One Giant Adventure
Author: Mark F. Geatches
Published October 30th, 2016 by World Castle Publishing

Summary: What do you get when you cross Shrek with Star Trek? Tamar & PJ: One Giant Adventure! This fantasy adventure story leaves barely enough time to catch your breath as a giant named Tamar races to save fourteen year old PJ from a malicious Prince of a forest dwelling race of genetically enhanced humans.

Though initially successful, Tamar’s heroic actions have unforeseen consequences that lead the pair, boy and giant, on an epic and tumultuous adventure. When Tamar’s mortal enemy attacks, a fight for survival ensues. Just when you think PJ has survived his second ordeal unscathed, he falls into a life-threatening and baffling state of delirium. Once again Tamar must try to save his young friend, only this time not in the secluded forests of Western North Carolina, but he must kidnap him from a busy Northeastern hospital, subjecting himself to imprisonment or worse.

Discovering that PJ has been poisoned by the Vorteh Prince, Tamar hurries to create an antidote before time runs out. The epic final scene is a confrontation between centuries old enemies as Tamar offers to sacrifice himself to the Vorteh Emperor in one last attempt to save PJ and his family.

This wholesome MG Fantasy novel will be enjoyed by readers young, old, and everywhere in between.

Thank you, Mark, for this most useful post! 🙂

and

Author Guest Post: “Lights, Camera, Action! (How Movies Can Engage Students in English Class)” by Sarah S. Reida, Author of Monsterville: A Lissa Black Production

December 4, 2016 by Kellee

Lights, Camera, Action! (How Movies Can Engage the Students in English Class)

I’ve been lucky enough to spend the last week in my hometown of Millstadt, Illinois, where I’ve presented to four local schools about my journey to MONSTERVILLE’S creation. Most recently, I spoke at an assembly at Millstadt Consolidated School, my alma matter (for K-9), and I was touched and humbled that both teachers I credited in my Acknowledgements came for the presentation.

While home, my parents and I watched a DVD (converted from VHS) of my brother and I opening Christmas presents. He was five, and I was nine. During that video, I screamed (with joy) while opening a huge box of books. Meanwhile, my brother Bryan never looked up from his assembly of a toy gun. He couldn’t have cared less that there were no books in his pile of presents.

Watching that video highlighted for me something we as educators, writers, book enthusiasts, etc., cannot ignore – not everyone is a reader. My brother is a very smart person – he is now a computer programmer and can do all sorts of “tekkie” things I have no grasp of – but Bryan would never scream with joy over meeting Stephen King. (That is beyond my comprehension).

I watched that video prior to my assembly at MCS. When it was done, I was scratching my head – what would I do to make the Bryans of the audience care about a presentation celebrating books?

My solution was to make the assembly not just about books, but creative expression. I’ve always been visual – I’m very much interested in film-making, so when I write, I think of how the scene would unfold in live action. And I would say I love movies almost as much as I love books. So I focused my presentation on the creative process generally – how books and movies are structured similarly (as evidenced by Blake Snyder’s wonderful SAVE THE CAT – this is a book that discusses the “beats” a screenplay must follow for solid structure, and almost all of his advice translates to writing), and where ideas come from (like how Ransom Riggs’ Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children came to be because his editor suggested that he take the strange photos he’d collected and use them to “cast” for the story that was waiting there). All the kids – not just the readers – seemed completely engaged by this approach. By discussing movies and books as creative outlets, I had them hooked.

To that end, here are some exercises meant to interest the “non-readers.” These are gleaned from MONSTERVILLE, as my main character, Lissa Black, is fascinated by the world of film and sees her world through the lens of a camera. To her, each component of every day is a movie scene and a chance to be creative, even though she’s not really a reader. She’s more visual.

First, as an exercise, have kids read a book that has been made into a movie. It can be anything. Don’t make them answer any specific questions about the book. Instead, have them do a report about why they preferred one over the other, with examples (maybe the book was better in the sense that the movie didn’t do justice to one particular character, and maybe the movie was better because it cut a plot line that bogged down the main story). This exercise will give kids a sense of how a work is structured to be engaging and have emotional impact, and they’ll learn about what works to that end and what doesn’t.

Second, have kids take an ordinary conversation they’ve participated in or witnessed and turn it into a dialogue or a scene. (I do this in MONSTERVILLE- Lissa’s friend’s brother Scott is obsessed with Call of Duty, and that’s how Lissa gets the idea for the play she writes. It’s an exaggerated, funny version of how she perceives Scott). This will show kids how they can make ordinary scenes funny or interesting, which helps in writing stories (and makes the process more fun).

Third, have kids watch a movie and write down how it follows the beats to Blake Snyder’s SAVE THE CAT. (I can’t stress enough what a wonderful – and fun – writing tool that is for young writers). Here is a table I’ve compiled, which lists the sixteen beats and has a space where the student can fill in where it happens in a movie. This is fun because kids will realize that no matter the type of movie (action, comedy, drama), it follows the same structure. Books have a similar structure, too – I now use SAVE THE CAT for all my projects!

Fourth, for a writing project, require the outline to have more pictures than words. This will force kids to really visualize how their story will play out, as well as prevent them from getting bogged down in too much detail. Want an example? Here’s what I used to write MONSTERVILLE! (This is the board game the kids use to navigate the world of Down Below once Lissa’s sister is taken).

Not every kid wants to spend their weekend reading books. Sometimes, there needs to be a hook, or maybe something visual to engage them. Movies – and the process of film-making – can be that tool. If you think outside the box, students will, too!

Monsterville: A Lissa Black Production
Author: Sarah S. Reida
Published September 20th, 2016 by Sky Pony Press

Summary: Beware what lurks beneath your bed. . . . It could lead to a monstrous adventure.

Thirteen-year-old Lissa Black is miserable when her parents force her to move from New York City (the perfect home for an aspiring writer/director/actress) to Freeburg, Pennsylvania, nowhere capital of the world. There’s nothing to do there, except play her little sister Haylie’s favorite new game, Monsterville, and hang out with her new neighbor Adam.

But when a walk in the woods lands her face-to-face with a swamp monster hungry for brains and then a Sasquatch that moos, even Lissa can’t call her new home totally boring. With Adam’s help, she catches the culprit behind the drama: a shape-shifting goblin who’s fled from the monster world of Down Below.

And what do you do with a creature that can be literally anything? Make monster movies, of course! Lissa is convinced that Blue will be the secret to her big break.

But when Haylie goes missing on Halloween, Lissa, Adam, and the monster must venture Down Below to stage a rescue—and face the real Monsterville, which is anything but a game.

Monsterville is a fusion of The Boxtrolls, Jumanji, and Candyland, weaving together friendship, family, and monsters into a funny fantasy-horror brimming with heart from a great new middle grade voice.

Visit Sarah S. Reida’s website (which includes movie trivia, tips and resources for teachers, and film-making information) at: http://www.lissablackproductions.com. Her debut middle grade book, MONSTERVILLE: A LISSA BLACK PRODUCTION, can be found on both Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com.

Thank you Sarah for this activity to bring film into the classroom!

and

Author Guest Post!: “How Kids Can Stop Thinking and Make Better Life Choices” by Roger Ziegler, Author of Hannah Grace and the Dragon Codex

November 20, 2016 by Kellee

“How Kids Can Stop Thinking and Make Better Life Choices”

Dreaming and imagination are fundamental to solving practical problems, in school, at home or in the office. Both big problems and everyday ones.

One of the challenges the lead character in my book Hannah Grace and The Dragon Codex faces, is how does she know she’s making the right decision?

She wants to do good, be good, but how do you know? For Hannah it comes down to trusting her imagination and heart. When she does this, things usually go well, when she doesn’t, they go kerflewy.

So what is Hannah learning? In everyday life when we don’t know the answer we usually say, “let me think about it,” or we encourage kids to “think hard” to find a solution. But this kind of problem solving is like using a hamster on a running wheel to power a jet plane.

As the great scientist and mystic Albert Einstein said, “we cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used to create them.”

We need more fire power to make better decisions and life choices. Where do we get it? From our heart and our gut. Our feeling and sensing centers.

One of the greatest pleasures of my life as a child, and now, is playing with my imagination, feeling out a situation. When I do, it makes my writing much better and my daily life easier.

When we connect the triangle of heart, gut and mind to make decisions, we engage our “Power Trio” and make better life choices.

These skills are not only for adults; they are essential for children. And great news, kids are usually naturals at this. We only need to encourage them to go in the direction they’re already heading.

Getting kids out of our adult habit just “thinking about it,” is one of the best things we can teach them.

Encouraging children to make decisions using their heart, mind and gut “Power Trio,” may help when they’re 20 or 30 or 40 years old and in a crisis. They’ll have developed skills and won’t need to reach for a self-help book that tells them to engage their heart and gut more.

Stop thinking. You’ll be better off. As the great sage Yoda said, “Do or do not. There is no ‘try’.”

So then, what do you do instead?

How To Make Better Decisions By Not Thinking About It

ASK, “HOW DOES IT FEEL?” INSTEAD OF “WHAT DO YOU THINK?”

Kids are experts in expressing their feelings and playing with their imaginations. Imagination, in my experience, comes mostly from a feeling, not from our heads.

Instead of only “thinking hard” about a solution to a math or science or English problem, make it a game. Ask the child to look at the big picture. Have them compare the problem or the situation to something in their own life. An event, their family, things they have or want. Let them use their big picture skills to solve the problem.

BE HERE NOW

It’s a cliché, but it’s a cliché for a reason. Become aware of what is actually happening right now. Not what you think is happening, or what you wish was happening, but what is actually taking place.

Take a moment to stop your thoughts and notice, just notice, what you see and hear and experience that. This alone can bring about an awareness of options that weren’t there before.

Kids are generally much better at this than adults. Usually, all you need to say to a child is, “stop thinking for a moment,” and they usually get it.

Older kids already conditioned to “think about it,” make take more training.

TAKE A DEEP BREATH

Another cliché and yet, still one of the best ways to stop yourself and kids from over-thinking and making bad choices.

A simple deep breath in and longer breath out, can do wonders to stop the chattering mind and cool the situation. Give peace a chance, bro!

VISUALIZE

Cliché number 3? See and imagine your success as having already taken place before you begin. See yourself making the basket before you take the shot. What does it look like and feel like?

Imagine organizing the numbers correctly before you solve the math problem. And then practice this. These things, like anything worth having, take time.

Just because you imagine yourself sinking the basket doesn’t mean it will happen the first time or every time. But I’m betting it will happen much more often than if you don’t imagine that it already happened.

Which leads us to the next better decision skill for children.

DON’T QUIT

We all face obstacles when doing something new or even when we’ve done it 10,000 times. Allow yourself to make mistakes and keep going.

Discouraging children when they are beginning something new, is the biggest killer of success and imagination in my opinion.

KEEP IT A GAME

This is fun. If we turn the above steps into dry, boring, abstract lessons, we’ve missed the point. The goal here is to let our heart feelings and gut senses play free. Your true feelings will always result in more fun and enjoyment, and better results for you and the people around you.

In my book Hannah learns this, after many, many struggles to fight it.

I’ll end with our friend Einstein; “When I examine myself and my methods of thought I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge.”

Just something to think about.

Hannah Grace and the Dragon Codex
Author: Roger P. Ziegler
Illustrator: Nicole Ales
Published May 12th, 2016

About the Book: When an ancient book of wisdom is stolen, 11-year-old Hannah Grace and her karate besties must discover their true powers and rescue the book before Big Evil takes over the Universe.

Magic, positivity, adventure (and a sumo wrestling guinea pig), await readers in the first book of this coming of age fantasy series. It’s perfect for all kids who love to get lost in worlds of wonder and imagination.

Every day after school, Hannah Grace does her homework and practices karate with her father John. But one morning when Hannah wakes from a strange dream where she sees an ancient and mysterious book, she’s more than a little shocked when her dad reveals an amazing secret; it’s The Dragon Codex, the most powerful book ever created and he needs Hannah to find it before Big Evil gets it and takes over the Universe!

Suddenly, Hannah, who can barely remember her homework, is thrown into a much larger world of magic and danger–and a whole lot of people are counting on her.

Hannah’s got it covered though. Actually, she has no idea what to do, but she’s not giving up just yet.

Filled with mysteries, demons and a sumo wrestling guinea pig, Hannah Grace and The Dragon Codex is a fun, thrill-ride adventure about discovering the power inside you.

About the Author: Roger long ago rejected the sensible (and sane), advice of his parents to be a lawyer or doctor and became a writer instead. He’s been a journalist, taxi driver, actor, theater producer, collection agent and so much more!

He’s received writing awards from the New York State Press Association and the Physicians for Social Responsibility. Roger coauthored the Amazon “beast” selling humorous self-help book Pee On It and Walk Away: How to Deal with Difficult People. Life Lessons from Superdog Abby, www.peeandwalk.com.

Roger is a third-degree black belt in Seido karate and has a wonderful, magical nine-year-old daughter. Roger likes fudge.

This is his debut novel.

Thank you to Roger for this post we can use to remind our students to think, breathe, and assess.

and

Author Guest Post!: “How can Fiction Help us Cope with our World?” by Katelyn Detweiler, Author of Transcendent

December 3, 2016November 13, 2016 by Kellee

“How can fiction help us cope with our world?”

It hurts to read the news these days.

It hurts my brain, it hurts my heart. I can only read so much before I have to tune out, move on with my day. It’s not that I don’t want to know and understand what’s going on in our country and in our world—I do, of course I do. Awareness is the first step at enabling any kind of change. But still, I have a mental and emotional limit. There is only so much suffering my brain can absorb.

The speed of the news is part of it—every day a revolving flow of red letter, all cap headlines. We expect that in 2016; the Internet and social media have buoyed our expectations for fresh, compelling content. We mindlessly pick up our phones all day, refreshing our feeds: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, repeat. Our phones are with us as soon as we wake up in the morning, right before we close our eyes at night. Even without directly checking news sites, the news reaches us, always. Our friends are talking about the latest shooting, the latest bombing, gun laws and foreign policies. Everyone has an opinion—and that’s great. It’s how it should be. Conversations are necessary, and the best way for each and every one of us to keep on learning, to keep on pushing and evolving our perspectives.

But what is our emotional limit? Week after week, day after day, it’s something new, something equally or more shocking than we’ve seen before, more graphic and uncensored. More real.

I worry that I’m becoming numb.

The names and faces fade so quickly. Too quickly. When the violence in Orlando happened, I felt sick, heartbroken that my own book, TRANSCENDENT, targets that same city. In my book, Disney World is the target—fiction that blurs scarily close to reality.

But already, just a few months later, Orlando and Pulse feel so long ago. We’ve had so much tragedy to face since then. We read the names, we stare at the faces. We try to imagine their families. We wonder about the life they’ll now never get to live. And then the next day, or the next week, there are new faces. The old faces, unintentionally, unconsciously, are hazier. Less vivid.

No place is immune. Orlando could be any city, every city. This is our reality now. We need some outlet for our fear—we need to find a way to still have hope.

So what can we do when we see too much, feel too much? How can teens in particular cope, begin to process and understand what is happening in their world—their present and their future?

For me at least, I turn to books. Fiction, stories, people and places who are only real in my imagination. Because sometimes it takes stepping out of reality, the day to day, to understand what is actually happening around me, and my place in it.

Books… they slow us down. They show us new perspectives, challenge our beliefs. In reading we can intimately identify with characters, individuals—like people we know, and more importantly, like people we don’t yet know. People we’ve never met in our small towns, or even in our big cities. But even in the differences, we (at least in a good book) can see things in them that speak to our own lives, our own fears and dreams.

Through books we question, we learn, we grow.

And, hopefully, we leave each story with a new understanding of our real world—a new appreciation of all the beautiful people in it—and a renewed sense of hope. Because more hate will not solve our problems. More hate will never solve anything. There is common ground that connects all of us, the deepest core of what makes us human. Books can help us—enable us to appreciate our similarities, and to celebrate what makes us all unique.

We can all be pieces of the solution. We can take the negative and react in positive ways—turn the bad news to good. We don’t have to give up, give in. It’s a message that’s important for our young people especially: Reach out to others. Help your community. Talk to someone new. Start small.

Because small things become big things, and big things can change our world.

Transcendent
Author: Katelyn Detweiler
Published October 4th, 2016 by Viking Books for Young Readers

About the Book: A beautiful work of magical realism, a story about a girl in the real world who is called upon to be a hero.

When terrorists bomb Disney World, seventeen-year-old Iris Spero is as horrified as anyone else. Then a stranger shows up on her stoop in Brooklyn, revealing a secret about the mysterious circumstances surrounding Iris’s birth, and throwing her entire identity into question. Everything she thought she knew about her parents, and about herself, is a lie.

Suddenly, the press is confronting Iris with the wild notion that she might be “special.” More than just special: she could be the miracle the world now so desperately needs. Families all across the grieving nation are pinning their hopes on Iris like she is some kind of saint or savior. She’s no longer sure whom she can trust—except for Zane, a homeless boy who long ago abandoned any kind of hope. She knows she can’t possibly be the glorified person everyone wants her to be… but she also can’t go back to being safe and anonymous. When nobody knows her but they all want a piece of her, who is Iris Spero now? And how can she—one teenage girl—possibly heal a broken world?

About the Author: Katelyn Detweiler was born and raised in a small town in eastern Pennsylvania, living in a centuries-old farmhouse surrounded by fields and woods. She spent the vast majority of childhood with her nose in a book or creating make-believe worlds with friends, daydreaming about how she could turn those interests into an actual paying career. After graduating from Penn State University with a B.A. in English Literature, emphasis in Creative Writing and Women’s Studies, she packed her bags and made the move to New York City, determined to break into the world of publishing. She worked for two years in the marketing department of Macmillan Children’s Group before moving in 2010 to the agency side of the business at Jill Grinberg Literary, where she is currently a literary agent representing books for all ages and across all genres.

Katelyn lives, works, and writes in Brooklyn, playing with words all day, every day, her dream come true. When she’s not reading or writing, Katelyn enjoys yoga, fancy cocktails, and road trips. She frequently treks back to her hometown in Pennsylvania, a lovely green escape from life in the city, and her favorite place to write.

Q&A WITH KATELYN DETWEILER

How did you come to write TRANSCENDENT?

My earliest, vague conception of the book was that it would start with an unprecedented tragedy, a state of international heartbreak and desperation so raw that the world would be at a total loss for what next—looking to anything, anyone, to bring stability or clarity or hope. I knew, too, that whatever the tragedy would be, it had to center on children. We can all recall how we felt when we heard about Sandy Hook. A mass shooting is horrifying no matter who the victims are—but targeting children? I couldn’t stop watching the news updates, staring at the faces of the students who’d been killed, thinking about the futures they would never have, the families left behind. It was this memory that guided me here—the question of what could be so completely awful that people might actually stand still. Might remember, might keep remembering. For TRANSCENDENT, I chose a bombing. Disney World. I knew that my mind would have to go to dark places, that things had to get worse before they could get better. But it felt necessary to me, starting these conversations—and it feels more necessary, more relevant today than ever.

Did you write it with the 15th anniversary of 9/11 in mind?

It was completely unintentional, though the timing seems hugely important to me now. I was in high school when the towers were hit. It felt like such a terrible, extraordinary, surreal event at the time. It was the beginning—to my mind, at least—of a new era of terrorism, of that terrible state of wondering what awful tragedy would hit next. Teens today don’t know another reality outside of our current world; they’ve grown up in a place where acts of terrorism and mass shootings have become the norm. I was especially horrified when the Pulse shooting happened, to think that I’d targeted Orlando, too, in this book. But really, by the time it publishes, who knows how many other cities could be on the list of victims? No place is immune. Orlando could be any city, every city. This is our reality now. We need some outlet for our fear—we need to find a way to still have hope.

One of the big themes in the book is hope and forgiveness overcoming hate and despair. Can you talk more about that and why it’s so relevant for young people today?

It’s hard sometimes to not react to hate with more hate. To blindly lash out, hurt whoever hurt you, ensure justice is served. We see this in our personal lives. And we see it so often on an international scale—the fear that terrorism causes, the desperation. The feeling of weakness that can morph into something quite ugly, spawn intolerance for people who look a certain way, talk a certain way, pray a certain way. People desperately seek a target, someone to point a finger at—even if that blame is unjust, irrational. But we cannot sink to that level. More hate will not solve the problem. More hate won’t make terrorism go away. Young people are still just formulating their opinions about the world, about others—struggling with who they are, who they want to be. They are still figuring out the role they’ll play in the world, their responsibilities—“Can I make a difference?” How they learn to find answers to these questions helps to shape and strengthen their identity, their (our) future.

Is it important for people to believe in miracles and to have faith in difficult times?

I believe that in difficult times more than ever, people look for something bigger—they want to believe that the world is not as black and white as it seems, that there is hope to be found beyond our everyday existence. Faith isn’t necessarily about believing in God, or any god, some supreme being up in the clouds. It can be, sure, for some. But it can also be about trusting in yourself, in your family and/or your friends, in the love you choose to surround yourself with, the connections you make with the world around you. There’s a quote that opens IMMACULATE, attributed to Albert Einstein: “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is.” I love this idea—this thought that we’re just too jaded to realize how many tiny miracles are around us every day, even in the ugliest, darkest times. Life is a miracle. We’re miracles. We’re more than just our cells and our DNA.

This story, like your previous book IMMACULATE, is centered on a virgin birth. Why did you choose to explore that topic? Is TRANSCENDENT a religious book?

I’ve been fascinated by the idea of a pregnant virgin in contemporary times for years now, ever since I was a teenager and asked my own mom: would you believe me if I said I was a pregnant virgin? She said yes. She would believe me. It stuck with me, the idea that faith—whether it be in a supreme being, or in a person you love and trust dearly—can be so all encompassing. That we can still believe in something that defies all science and reason. I would say that, at this point in life, I am spiritual more so than religious, and I think the book reflects this perspective. Spirituality—to me—is believing in more than the orderly scientific rules of our world, even if we can’t explain it, even if there’s no doctrine to help us better understand. My goal for both books was to explore and question with respect for all sides; I wanted there to be something for everyone, to find the commonalities that unite people of different faiths (or no faiths) rather than the differences.

Why was it important for this story to take place in Brooklyn?

I knew from the outset that I wanted the backdrop of Brooklyn—that a more sheltered, traditional small town wouldn’t do. Iris didn’t just grow up reading about the wider world in books or hearing about it on TV. She’s experienced it firsthand. She’s been exposed to all different kinds of people, seen lives and cultures that are so different than hers. This felt necessary to me in building a protagonist who was comfortable enough—empathetic enough, compassionate enough, bold enough—to step up to the plate, to be a voice of change. I grew up in a small town (surrounded by fields and woods rather than people and skyscrapers) and moved to NYC eight years ago, Brooklyn specifically for the last few. Living here has heightened my awareness of the world. A lot of things were so much more theoretical to me before—poverty and homelessness, for example. Different religions, different races, different cultures. I wanted a true microcosm for this story, a more accurate, complex representation of our world.

What role do race and privilege play in the book?

Privilege is key in all threads of the novel. To start: Disney is attacked because of the vast privilege it represents. This is not a park, a destination, for everyone. This is for a select, elite group. A fairytale that is unobtainable to so many—a tangible way of separating out the haves and the have-nots.

Iris herself is an upper middle class white teenager in Brooklyn. Though she’s open minded and aware of the disparity around her—volunteering at a soup kitchen, engaging with the homeless—she’s still very much in her own bubble. Iris’s Brooklyn is the version we see across the media: farmers markets and organic everything, beautiful old brownstones, hip, industrial-looking bars and restaurants, pretty white people with beards and buns and bicycles. Iris has accepted this privilege as normal, more or less, until for the first time the guarantees of her life come into question. Iris ends up at a homeless shelter; she’s confronted by a side of Brooklyn that she’d only glimpsed at surface-level before. Iris must question basic assumptions about herself—and others—as she struggles with how to reorient her life.

Do you think there’s value in exploring these ideas fictionally, vs. conversations that start from live news, internet articles, social media, etc. around current events?

Our perception of current events today is so heavily influenced by the speed of news, the internet and social media generally, the constant demand for fresh, compelling content; we’re blasted with horrific tragedies every week—becoming increasingly graphic and uncensored, as evidenced by the streaming video we saw of Philando Castile, dying after being shot by a cop. Week after week, day after day, it’s something new, something equally or more shocking than we’ve seen before. We’re becoming so numb—the names and faces fade so quickly. Already, Orlando and Pulse feel so long ago. We’ve had so much tragedy to face since then. Our brains can only absorb so much pain and suffering. I think it sometimes takes stepping *out* of our reality—our day to day—into literature (or movies, TV, etc.) to fully process our thoughts, to make sense of how we feel, what role we could possibly have in change. Books slow us down, show us new perspectives, challenge our beliefs. In reading we can intimately identify with characters, individuals—see something in them that speaks to our own lives, our own fears and dreams. And, hopefully, we leave books with a new understanding of our real world—and a new resilience.

Thank you Katelyn for this hope-filled and truthful post!

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Blog Tour with Author Guest Post and Giveaway!: Ornaments of Love by Sharlin Craig

November 6, 2016 by Kellee

I’m sure I’m not alone when I say Christmas is my favorite time of the year. And when it comes to kids, the majority of them probably agree. Sure, the kids are excited because Santa comes and brings them presents, but also because there’s a festive feel in the air. People tend to be happier and smile more during the holiday season. Fun activities abound during the season between Thanksgiving and Christmas such as parties, baking cookies, decorating the tree, reading favorite Christmas books, singing Christmas carols and so much more.

I was inspired by my own happy family experiences growing up and also by my husband and now 9-year-old daughter to write my debut children’s book titled, “Ornaments of Love”. It’s a story about a mom and dad who get too busy over the Christmas season to find the time to decorate the tree with their 10 year-old-daughter, Ayana. As the story evolves, the family is pulled together by an unexpected, serendipitous event.

As a teacher, why not integrate some of the fun and excitement of the holidays into the classroom setting? Below are some ways of utilizing the “Ornaments of Love” story with this purpose in mind:

English Language Arts: Poetry related to family theme or holiday-(Can be about Christmas or a different holiday if the child doesn’t celebrate Christmas i.e. Hanukah/Ramadan/Chinese New Year, etc)

Cinquain

Christmas (2 syllables)
Family time (4 syllables)
Presents, Decorations (6 syllables)
Laughter, Smiles, Cookies, Music (8 syllables)
Happy (2 syllables)

Haiku

I love Christmas time (5 syllables)
Believe, Joy, Hope, Love, Faith, Peace (7 syllables)
Celebration time (5 syllables)

I am Poem

I am (two special characteristics) (happy and excited)
I wonder (something you are actually curious about) (when we’ll decorate the tree?)
I hear (an imaginary sound) (Rosie bark)
I see (an imaginary sight) (a bare Christmas tree)
I want (an actual desire) (to decorate the tree with my family)
I am (the first line of the poem restated) (happy and excited)
I pretend (something you actually pretend to do) (that they’re decorating the tree right now)
I feel (a feeling about something imaginary) (lonely)
I touch (an imaginary touch) (an ornament)
I worry (something that really bothers you) (that it will be this way each year from now on)
I cry (something that makes you very sad) (because I want to do this with them)
I am (the first line of the poem repeated) (happy and excited)
I understand (something you know is true) (that they’re busy)
I say (something you believe in) (that I want to spend time with them)
I dream (something you actually dream about) (of many happy Christmases)
I try (something you really make an effort about) (to decorate this tree by myself)
I hope (something you actually hope for) (that they’ll come help me soon)
I am (the first line of the poem repeated) (happy and excited)

Acrostic-(A poem, word puzzle, or other composition in which certain letters in each line form a word or words.)

O ld
R egal
N ew
A nimals
M e as a baby
E nchanting
N ativity
T welve days of Christmas

Character analysis-Open Mind Portrait

Students considers the thoughts that each character in the story is having.

Student creates a portrait surrounded by characters’ thoughts in thought bubbles.

Writing Prompts– Here are some creative writing prompts and journal ideas teachers can use during the month of December:

-A wonderful Christmas or Holiday memory
-If I owned a toy store
-What does ‘Peace on Earth’ mean to you?
-A letter to Santa about a friend who has been very good this year
-Why we should have the Christmas spirit all year long
-What I want to do over the winter holiday
-My vacation at the North Pole
-If I could give a gift to the world, what would it be?

Ornament Hunt Game-For homeschoolers or teachers who have Christmas trees set up in the classroom, teachers can have students write a description down for each ornament that will be going on the tree. While the children aren’t in the room, the teacher can hang the ornaments on the tree and when the students return, they can play a game finding each ornament and checking them off their lists.

Social Studies: Celebrating Christmas around the world: “Ornaments of Love” can be used as one example of how Christmas is celebrated in the United States. This provides a gateway for learning about how other cultures around the world celebrate Christmas. This can also open a discussion about cultures that don’t celebrate Christmas and what holidays they do celebrate.

Science: Investigating Christmas trees

-Have students look at a real, mini Christmas tree and describe the color and branches. Discuss how the tree’s leaves stay green in the winter because Evergreens are adapted to survive the cold weather, how most Evergreen trees do not have regular leaves, how they are needles or really hard leaves, with a thick-skin, and how they have an ‘antifreeze’ chemical in the leaf to keep it from freezing.

-Explain how they produce chlorophyll year round, which helps with photosynthesis and therefore keeps the Evergreens green all year long.

– Have the children smell the tree, feel it and describe the texture. Show them the roots and talk about how the roots absorb the water. Have them measure the tree: the height, width, length of the branches and width of the leaves. Older children can produce a graph of the data. Look at the leaves through a magnifying glass and discuss what they find.

Visual Arts:

-Students can design and create ornaments out of various materials available in the classroom.

-Students can create an original cover for “Ornaments of Love” with the cover including the title of the book and the author.

-Coloring Pages: The teacher can copy coloring pages from the “Ornaments of Love Coloring Book” and have the students color them. Colored pencils or crayons can be used and students can practice the art of shading darks and lights within the pictures.

Performing Arts:

-Students may break into groups of 3-4 (Ayana, Mom, Dad and Rosie) and select a portion of the book to reenact.

-Students may select class members to represent characters in the story and interview them.

Ornaments of Love Description: A touching Christmas story with glowing illustrations, Ornaments of Love is a story to cherish for years to come. A beautiful tale of Ayana, an endearing ten-year-old who excitedly anticipates that special time of year when the entire family joins together to decorate and admire the Christmas tree.

But sadly this year is different. Ayana realizes that her mom and dad are far too busy with everything else to enjoy the tree with Ayana. Then, something unexpected happens and the family is brought together with tenderness and joy.

Filled to the brim and overflowing with charming moments, gentle humor, and timeless illustrations, this beautiful story is a wonderful reminder of what’s important not only during the Christmas season, but every day of our lives. Ornaments of Love is destined to become one of your favorite holiday stories. One that will remain in your heart forever.

Ornaments of Love Coloring Book Description: This beautifully designed coloring book is a companion or stand-alone book to the original Ornaments of Love picture book. It contains not only the complete story of Ornaments of Love, but also provides 21 full-size coloring pages for artists of all ages. The Ornaments of Love coloring book was created to bring families together at Christmas time. It provides families a perfect way to reduce holiday stress by spending quiet time coloring pages that showcase angels, bells, stars and much more.

Coloring pages range from easy to difficult, perfect for all family members!

Additional complimentary coloring pages are available to print online with the purchase of the coloring book.

Make this a special gift for your loved ones by also purchasing the original Ornaments of Love picture book with full color illustrations.

Three coloring pages are available on Sharlin’s website for preview: http://www.sharlincraig.com/

About the Author: Sharlin Craig, a Detroit native who now resides in southern California with her husband and daughter, is dedicated to writing inspirational children’s books that touch the spirit of her readers. A graduate of Oakland University, she’s taught music to children for several years while also writing music and lyrics. She’s combined her love for children and writing into authoring her debut children’s Christmas picture book, Ornaments of Love.

Sharlin believes that with the right surroundings and daily encouragement, children are boundless. She’s passionate about helping children feel understood and empowered through her books and hopes that her stories make them smile.

Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don’t miss out on other blog tour stops!

Thursday, Oct. 27th: This Mom’s Delight (Review)
Tuesday, Nov. 1st: K&A’s Childrens’ Book Reviews (Review & Giveaway)
Thursday, Nov. 3rd: Amanda’s Books and More (Review & Giveaway)
Friday, Nov. 4th: Mamitales (Review & Giveaway)
Saturday, Nov. 5th: Christy’s Cozy Corners (Review, Guest Post-‘My Favorite Ornament Memories’ & Giveaway)
Sunday, November 6th^:: Unleashing Readers (Guest Post-‘Integrating Ornaments of Love into the Classroom Setting’ & Giveaway)
Monday, November 7^th: The Write Chris (Author Interview & Giveaway)
Wednesday, November 9^th: This Mom’s Delight (Guest Post-‘Affirm Your Child’s Worth by Spending Time with Them’ & Giveaway)
Friday, November 11^th: All Done Monkey (Post-‘10 Ways to Make the Holidays Special’, Review & Giveaway)
Monday, November 14^th: Connie M. Huddleston (Monday Morning Indie: Review & Interview)

Thank you so much Sharlin for the guest post that will definitely be useful to many teachers coming this winter!

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Author Guest Post!: “How History Revealed the Environmental Story Behind D is for Dudley” by Ron Chandler, Author of D is for Dudley & Other Nature Tales

October 30, 2016 by Kellee

“How History Revealed the Environmental Story Behind D is for Dudley”

As a nature writer I have always been interested in the outdoors and in how people use the resources found there. So it was no different when I became fascinated by sea turtles. Originally, I thought it would be a good story to discuss how different locations handle their nature areas (i.e., states like Massachusetts and Florida have robust programs to protect sea turtles and the beaches that have become their habitat). Then I realized it would be a better story to tell how the use of a land area has changed over time. The land area in question in the story, D is for Dudley, is Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Currently, it is an area the has a lot of small towns and farms that use modern agriculture techniques. But I wondered, How has this area changed in the last 150 years? So in the story the main characters, Valerie and Doug, obtain their great grandfather’s diary, which reveals what Tilghman Cove was like a long time ago. This post will disclose the techniques that I used to unlock that secret.

At one time every area of the country was pristine with untouched landscapes and wild animals roaming everywhere. So I decided to first do research at the local libraries in Easton and Salisbury, Maryland. There I found books retained in special collections that documented the exploits of early explorers. Captain John Smith, the English explorer, was the first European to sail in the Chesapeake Bay. I read his narratives of the areas he explored to get a baseline assessment. Then I looked at how the agriculture industry has changed on the Eastern Shore. Now the main crops are corn and soybeans, but 150 years ago the main crops were wheat and tobacco. In my story I decided to have an entry in the great grandfather’s diary about how he rolled tobacco bales from his farm to the tributary of the Chesapeake Bay to be picked up by a larger ship. This research technique also disclosed several facts I could not use (i.e. wheat milled on the Eastern Shore was transported to Valley Forge to help feed George Washington’s troops during the Revolutionary War.).

My second research technique was to look at how current events repeat themselves and thus, effect the environment. For instance, floods are generally regarded as bad. But flood waters carry silt that replenish areas used to farm crops. In my research of current events, I discovered that about once every five years, a stray manatee from Florida will swim up the East Coast and then the Chesapeake Bay. When the weather turns cold, the manatee will swim back south. So I figured that if a stray manatee can do that now when there is a lot of coastal pollution, then what was it like 150 years ago. So I put a scene in the story about manatees.

Third, no story is realistic without accurate descriptions. To obtain this I visited several untouched nature areas. In Maryland, I spent time at visiting the Pocomoke River, which is a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. This area is largely protected and has wetlands and forests along the river which are virtually similar to the landscape that Captain John Smith explored. I also visited Blue Spring Park in Florida to get a close-up look at manatees.

Finally, I took a look at how people talked about their environment 150 years ago. For example, the term “wetland” is a modern term. Back then people would talk about marshes and swamps. I also looked at their use of dialect. This research can be done by reading old letters from early settlers or by listening to the old letters read in documentaries (i.e., programs about the Civil War and other historical events). Then as a final step, I completed a lexicon of the language and terms used back then.

So these four steps (book research, current event research, field trips, and looking at the use of language) can unlock the historical story behind any developed area.

D is for Dudley & Other Nature Tales
Author: Ron Chandler
Published November 2nd, 2015

About the Book: This middle grade reader will raise environmental awareness. The title story is about a brother and sister relying on their wits to try to save the largest terrapin in Tilghman Cove from being hunted by fishermen. The book contains ten other short stories about boys trying to find courage or understand the outdoors and girls struggling to realize their dreams.

About the Author: Ron Chandler is a freelance writer from Baltimore, Maryland. His short stories and poems have been published in over 30 literary magazines including The Binnacle – University of Maine at Machias, Blueline – SUNY Potsdam, Capper’s, Pink Chameleon, Storyteller, and Toasted Cheese.

Thank you to Ron for this key to research!

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Author Guest Post!: “Everybody has a Story” by Beth Vrabel, Author of A Blind Guide to Normal

October 23, 2016 by Kellee

“Everybody has a Story”

Everybody has a story.

As a writer and a reader, I know this to be true.

Write what you know.

This is another tenet that has stuck with me through my career with writing, especially as I moved from being a lifestyle columnist to a fiction writer. After all, is it any surprise that this girl (picture) wrote a book about a picked-on dorky fourth-grader? PACK OF DORKS, my debut novel, released in 2014.

Lucy’s story reflects many of my experiences as a 10 year old wondering if I’d ever make it to the “cool table” at the cafeteria. Only whereas fourth-grade me wallowed in dorkdom, Lucy stands up to her frenemies and bullies. Even better? She finds others to stand with her. With her “pack,” Lucy realizes she’s exactly where she wants to be. I gave Lucy the ending I wish I had been brave enough to give myself.

I’m proud of PACK OF DORKS, but shortly after it was published, I have to admit I also was embarrassed by the personal connection.

I was determined that my next book would be different. It’d be completely imaginative and new and unrelated to my own life. And do you know what happened?

Everyone died.

By page seventeen, all of my characters gave up the ghost. Again and again and again. My husband suggested I start writing short stories instead.

I stopped being embarrassed. I started being scared.

Scared that the only stories inside me were ones connected to my own life. Scared that I wasn’t original or fresh or, frankly, all that creative. And, like many of us do when we’re scared, I ran away from what frightened me—those personal connections. I still hadn’t learned my lesson that a bully must be faced head on, even when that bully is comprised of your own thoughts.

Luckily, something saved me.

As I recently shared in Albinism InSight magazine, shortly after we knew PACK OF DORKS would be published, my daughter asked me for help finding a book.

She wanted to read a book that dealt with a shared experience.

My daughter has albinism, like Alice. My girl’s albinism is mild—you probably wouldn’t recognize it in her when you met her. Her hair is strawberry blonde and her skin pale. Her eyes, like the eyes of everyone with albinism work differently and she is mildly visually impaired.

But we couldn’t seem to find a book, or even a movie, where a character had albinism yet wasn’t creepy, mystical or evil. Nowhere could we find a book about a regular girl who learns, grows, has friends and happens to have albinism.

Go ahead, give it a shot. Type in albinism—or worse, albino—into a popular bookseller’s website. I did and found the following:

A dystopian young adult series in which people with albinism take over the world, destroying the lives of the “pigmented.”
A crime mystery in which the sinister villain and art thief is called The Albino.
A book about a young “albino detective” who is able to psychically solve cases.
A story about an “albino witch” who uses her powers to force apart two lovers.

It made me angry. It broke my heart.

My husband and I work hard to show our daughter that though she was born with this challenge, it does not define her. She has more in common with everyone else than this one thing that might set her apart. We tell her again and again that everybody faces challenges.

And today my girl is 13, an avid reader, a brilliant student and, making me the most proud, one of the kindest people I know. We know albinism is beautiful.

That’s why is so frustrating to see it portrayed in such ugly ways.

And so I stopped running from my own connections; instead, I leaned into them.

I wrote the story I wanted my girl to have. A story about a 12-year-old girl named Alice. She’s smart and kind, capable and caring, brave though often overwhelmed. And she happens to have albinism.

Alice scouts out stories in her new town and proves to the townspeople, her family, and, most importantly, herself that blindness is just part of who she is, not all she can be.

It’s gotten great reviews. In fact, The International Literacy Association named it the winner of its intermediate fiction prize, which is a tremendous honor.

But the reviewer whose opinion means most to me has the bedroom next to mine.

And my daughter loves the book. She read it chapter by chapter as I wrote it. Her enthusiasm propelled me to dig deeper and shine a light on other issues too often buried in children’s literature.

Let me be very clear that my daughter and Alice are different. My daughter has her own story, just like each of us, one that’s hers to share whenever and however she’d like.

Everyone has a story.

My stories reflect me.

And here’s the irony—writing stories that mirror my heart has allowed me to write characters I never would’ve dreamed possible.

Characters like Richie Ryder Raymond. You’re introduced to this wise-cracking, witty and clever boy in STINKVILLE. Richie gets his own book in A BLIND GUIDE TO NORMAL, releasing Oct. 11 through Sky Pony Press.

Due to a childhood cancer, Richie has an artificial eye and low vision in his remaining eye. I don’t have a lot in common with a 14-year-old boy, let alone a cancer survivor.

But I do know how scary it is start something new. I know what’s like to want something you can’t ever have. I know what it’s like to be awkward and cover it with humor.

Once again, I relied on those shared experiences—and a lot of research—to live through my characters. I realize now doing this makes my stories original, keeps them fresh and requires creativity.

About the Author: Beth Vrabel is the award-winning author of A Blind Guide to Stinkville (winner of the 2016 ILA Award for Intermediate Fiction), A Blind Guide to Normal, and the Pack of Dorks series. She can’t clap to the beat or be trusted around Nutella, but indulges in both often, much to the dismay of her family. Please visit her online at www.bethvrabel.com, on Twitter @beth_vrabel, or on Instagram @authorbethvrabel.

Thank you, Beth, for this outpouring and important post!

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