Guest post – Page 46 – Unleashing Readers

Author Interview with Diane Gonzales Bertrand by Wendy Martin, Illustrator of The Story Circle

June 26, 2016 by Kellee

Author Interview with Diane Gonzales Bertrand by Wendy Martin, Illustrator of The Story Circle

As an illustrator, I rarely if ever get to meet or interact with the authors of the books I illustrate. Sometimes, as is the case with this book, the publisher will introduce the writer and the artist after the book is finished. When I first was invited to illustrate “The Story Circle” I googled Diane. Unlike many of the other authors I know, she doesn’t have a large web presence, so she remained a bit of a mystery to me. After the book was published I was filled with curiosity about Diane’s experience as an educator and her school visits with our book. Below are her answers to my questions.

Wendy: How long have you been a teacher?

Diane: I have been an educator since 1980. I taught middle school, high school, and began teaching college in 1992. I have also taught writing workshops in libraries, schools, and community centers since my first book was published. Currently I am Writer-in-Residence for the English-Communications Studies Dept. at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas. I teach composition and creative writing to the next generation of readers and writers.

Wendy: How do you incorporate the books you write into the classroom?

Diane: Because my children’s books are written in two languages, teachers use the books in dual language classrooms and traditional classrooms to build vocabulary for emerging readers and to discuss literary elements for older children. For example The Empanadas that Abuela Made and The Party for Papa Luis are told in a sequence of repeating words. Not only do children learn vocabulary, they gain confidence in reading. My storybooks like Adelita and the Veggie Cousins or A Bean and Cheese Taco Birthday share positive messages about making friends and learning from someone who has a different opinion. They are useful in class discussions about ways to relate to others, but they also encourage children to write about their own experiences making new friends or celebrating their birthdays. When I come into a classroom, I rarely read my books; instead I show children ways to understand the writing process and explain how a book is created through my own revision process and through a collaborative effort with a talented illustrator. I encourage the children to become authors of their own stories. I also show them sketches and finished illustrations to encourage the young artists in the audience.

Wendy: How can teachers use the theme and idea behind The Story Circle in the class lesson plans?

Diane: When I have visited schools, children always ask me, “Where do you find ideas for stories?” I wanted to create a storybook for children to be given a sentence to start their story, then let their imagination take over. Some children have vivid imaginations and know how to grab an idea and start writing. Many more need a little help to start writing.

Teachers might introduce the book with “What If” scenarios. What if you knew how to fly? What if the science class had a field trip to the ocean? What if there was too much rain? Questions with no specific answers help children see possibilities. Writing isn’t a math equation with only one right answer, but a string of words that can change meaning and direction that is fun to explore. I love it best when writing goes in a direction I never expected. I want children to know this feeling as a positive thing, and not to worry about mistakes or writing something different than everyone else.

Wendy: You’ve mentioned that you utilize “story starters” during reading events. What are these and how do you use them?

Diane: ‘The Story Circle’ begins with damages after a terrible storm. The children return to school to discover flooding ruined their classroom, including the books on the bookshelves. The teacher uses the routine of their daily story circle to comfort the children, and after she tells them a story, each child decides to tell a story as well. I purposely present only the first sentence in each child’s story with the intention of providing “story starters” for children in the classroom to finish. I always encourage writing when I meet children; this book is a tangible way to keep children writing stories from their imaginations. Wendy Martin’s illustrations also provide wonderful details to complete the story and give an extra “starter” to the children with little confidence in their own ideas. Because technology distracts children from creating from their minds, I hope my words and Wendy’s pictures will brighten up a classroom with imaginative play.

Wendy: Would you care to share some of the reactions you’ve gotten during your recent book readings of The Story Circle?

Diane: I read The Story Circle in Houston, Texas, while the city was recovering from terrible flooding; so the children and their teachers could relate to the story well. As we reached each “story starter” sentence, I paused and asked children for ideas about what happened next. The children spoke about turning invisible if eating “magic candies” or that neighbors might peek through windows when Mrs. Martinez used goats instead of a lawnmower. One boy said an armadillo can roll into a ball, so it would win a race against the roadrunner, and another girl said a shark might come up to a glass-bottom boat, but the children begin yelling and scare it away. After my reading, when I was signing books for the school library, the teacher asked each child to come up to the front of the room and finish their favorite sentence/story from the book. I was reminded public speaking should also be encouraged in children, so this book supports that skill too.

Wendy: Before you saw my art for your story, did you have something in mind? How did my art differ from your imagination? Do you incorporate the book’s illustrations in your lesson plans?

Diane: After publishing a dozen books, I trust an illustrator as a talented artist who deserves respect for his or her own vision. When I saw sketches for The Story Circle, I was happy they were filled with details children might use to build a story of their own. Children who are talented in drawing (and I was not one of those children) can learn from studying the pictures to improve their own work. When I saw the first color illustrations, I felt pleased and couldn’t wait to share the book with readers. I didn’t have any preconceived images, but always hope for a good outcome. In the case of this book, it outshined my expectations.

About Wendy Martin: A transplanted New Yorker now living in Missouri, Wendy Martin has been working as an illustrator for 25+ years. Her love affair with art and illustration began at an early age. She never wanted to do anything else. So, she followed my heart and earned a degree in Fashion Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology, then continued my art education at the School of Visual Arts, earning a B.F.A. in Graphic Design. These disciplines can still be seen in her work as a children’s book illustrator and fantasy artist in the strong lines, textures and detailed patterns.

See additional art and find out more about her at wendymartinillustration.com

About Diane Gonzales Bertrand: Diane Gonzales Bertrand’s novels include ALICIA’S TREASURE (1995), TRINO’S CHOICE (1999), and TRINO’S TIME (2001) Her bilingual picture books include SIP, SLURP, SOUP, SOUP/CALDO, CALDO, CALDO (1997), FAMILY, FAMILIA (1999), THE LAST DOLL (2001), and UNCLE CHENTE’S PICNIC (2001). Her books are published by Arte Publico.

About The Story Circle: In this charming bilingual picture book, a group of young children revel in the joys of imagination to tell and illustrate stories.

Thank you to Wendy and Diane for your insightful interview about The Story Circle!

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Don’t miss out on other stops on The Story Circle blog tour:

Author Guest Post!: “A Magical Location” by Byrdie Walker Bain, Author of The Secret of Sinbad’s Cave

June 19, 2016June 19, 2016 by Ricki

“A Magical Location”

Any English teacher will tell you the importance of a story’s setting. Although I’d read books that took place in wonderful places, I never understood how a magical location could inspire a tale until I moved to a high country station in the North Island of New Zealand.

In my back yard is the Southern Hemisphere’s largest cavern, dramatic limestone cliffs and mist that floats up the valley and snags on the trees. There are far more sheep than people. There are no lights on our horizon at night and no traffic noise. The land soars in huge hills and then plummets down to seven streams that crisscross the valley in front of our house. After rain we are surrounded by the sound of water trickling down to meet the river.

30 million years ago the whole area was under the ocean. Limestone outcrops jutting from the land reveal ancient scallop shells and oyster fossils. Huge caves have been carved out over time, and there are deep sinkholes. On frosty mornings the air is warmer underground, and mist rises from the caves. It looks like these are the lairs of sleeping dragons.

Living in such a dynamic landscape is a gift to the imagination. Inhabited by people for only a hundred years, I often wonder if the trees and rocks are looking at us sideways, wondering what we’re doing in their territory. It is wild country, where new holes in the earth can open up overnight, requiring sheep rescues when the poor animals discover them before the farmer.

New Zealand’s official history states that people arrived about 1350AD in waka, canoes, from the Pacific Islands. But there are many stories that don’t fit with the official version. Some of them are fantastical. Some of them might be true. One of the most intriguing involves Arabian sailors travelling beyond their established trading routes in the ninth century down into the cold Southern Ocean.

The story of Sinbad the Sailor features a tale about valleys ringed by mountains, patrolled by giant birds. New Zealand was home to the largest bird ever to have lived, the Haast Eagle. It could lift small animals and children up and carry them away. Another Sinbad story tells of him sailing through a jewel-laden cave. Down the hill from our farm is the world famous Waitomo Glowworm Caves, where visitors float under thousands of sparkling glowworms.

My imagination set to work with these rich ingredients. Just one question was needed to gel everything together – what if Sinbad had left behind treasure? From there, the next steps were obvious – what if it had been hidden? Who would find it?

I dove straight into the rabbit hole and came up with a story that could be described as Famous Five meets Treasure Island, a mystical adventure set in an incredible landscape. I am grateful to the hills and the high winds, the isolation and the rugged charm of this farm, for it was the start of my story.

About the Book:

Nat Sheppard is devastated when her father announces on the first day of the school holidays that the family farm is going on the market. Nat’s little sister Kathleen climbs onto the roof to see the view one last time and falls into the attic. Nat and her brother Jack race up the stairs to find her but she has disappeared…

Book Excerpt:

“Jack poked his head in the door. ‘Is she okay?’

‘I think she’s trapped in some kind of secret room.’

‘What?’

‘You heard me. Can you pace out the length of the house from the kitchen to the back porch, and then compare it to up here?’

‘All right.’ Jack disappeared, and soon Nat heard even steps and counting. Then he reappeared. ‘Twenty. And upstairs it’s – hold on.’

‘Hurry up!’ yelled Kathleen.

‘Just a second,’ called Nat.

Jack reversed to the edge of the landing and then paced again, scrambling up into the attic and continuing to the wall where Nat waited. ‘Eighteen.’

‘You’re sure?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Then we have to find a way in.’

‘Dad’s going to love that.’

Nat examined the walls again. There was no sign of an entrance. Jack banged on the plaster in a couple of places.

‘This stuff is really solid,’ he said. ‘Maybe I should get a hammer.’

‘Find something up here,’ said Nat. ‘Kathleen – can you see any way to get out? Is there a door?’

‘No!’ called Kathleen. They could hear the tremor in her voice.

Nat looked at Jack. ‘We have to figure this out. She’s starting to get scared.’

‘I’ve found some tools,’ said Jack. He brandished a hammer and a splitter axe.

‘You tap the wall over here, top to bottom, left to right,’ said Nat. She grabbed the hammer. ‘I’ll do this part. There has to be a way in somehow. What’s the axe for?’

He shrugged. ‘To hit Kathleen over the head when she gets out.’

Nat glared at him. ‘Can’t you be nice?’

‘She’s learnt what to expect from me. It’d be rude to change now.’

Methodically, Nat tapped the plaster, but the returning sound was dense, not hollow. She worked her way down to ground level – nothing. Jack finished his section with the same result. They moved along.

‘I could barge it,’ said Jack. With the most energy Nat had ever seen him use, he threw his shoulder against the wall. He bounced back so hard he flew against a hat rack and landed in a tangle on the dusty floor. ‘Or not,’ he muttered.

‘What was that?’ yelled Kathleen.

‘Nothing,’ said Nat. ‘Hold on.’

She tapped the wall while she flicked through different solutions in her head. If Jack couldn’t force it, they were in trouble. Tap-tap-tap. The hammer flaked off pieces of plaster. Tap-tap-tap. She bent down and tested the last stretch, just above the floor. Tap-tap-donk. The hammer fell through something new – a thin board. Nat wiggled the hammer back and forth and it fell out easily.

‘Jack – I’ve found it.’

With the splitter and the hammer they cleared out all the board until the space was big enough for one person to wiggle through on their belly. Nat slithered in. It was a close fit.

Inside, Kathleen was covered in dust, sitting in a nest of rafters and torn hessian.

‘I’m okay,’ she said, wriggling her legs.

Nat inspected the hole in the roof. Thankfully, it wasn’t very big, and the rotten material had broken Kathleen’s fall.

Jack wormed his beanpole frame into the room. ‘What is this place?’ he said.

Every wall in the secret room had been reinforced with planks of solid wood.

‘This is rimu,’ said Nat. ‘No wonder you bounced off.’

Jack rubbed his shoulder. ‘Whoever built this didn’t want anyone to find it.’

‘They obviously had something valuable to protect,’ said Nat.

‘Then what are we missing?’ asked Jack. ‘If they went to this much trouble to keep people out… Hold on.’ He helped Kathleen up and pushed the debris against the far wall. They scanned the floor. Nothing.

‘What about up?’ said Kathleen.

‘Up?’ repeated Nat. Her gaze flashed over the walls.

‘Holy,’ whispered Jack.

At the peak of the roof, just in front of the gaping hole, sat a single shelf. On it rested a small wooden box. Jack lowered it to the floor. It was covered with cobwebs, and fastened with a padlock.

‘The key could be anywhere,’ said Nat.

Jack grinned. ‘Don’t worry about that.’ He lifted the hammer and bought it down on the padlock. It smashed instantly. Jack offered the box to Nat. ‘Would you care to do the honours?’

Nat opened the lid. Inside was a yellowed envelope with a name on it:

‘Natalia.’”

Author Contact:

Contact Brydie: brydiewalkerbain at gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/brydiewalkerbain

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8314662.Brydie_Walker_Bain

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24379115-the-secret-of-sinbad-s-cave

Thank you to Byrdie for sharing this magical setting with us!

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Author Guest Post!: “How to Love the Language Your Students Use” By Matthew Jobin, Author of The Nethergrim series

June 12, 2016 by Kellee

“How to Love the Language Your Students Use”
By Matthew Jobin, Author of The Nethergrim series

In sooth, I know not why I am so sad:
It wearies me; you say it wearies you;
Antonio, The Merchant of Venice (slightly abridged), Act 1, Scene 1.

It is a truism, or at least a trope, of adult life that we grownups inevitably begin to hear slang uttered by children and teens that we fail to understand. It’s never fun to hear words bandied back and forth between your juniors and be unable to follow it. Worse still, an adult might justifiably fear breaking into the conversation of younger people with the equivalent of ‘Hey, cool cats, I sure am hip to your rad lingo!’. No one has to deal with this divide more than teachers, who are not only grownups in constant contact with children, but also the gatekeepers to those students’ future. One of the things I learned in graduate school studying anthropology is that language serves many functions, only one of which is the simple conveyance of information. Another major function is inclusion within or exclusion from a group. Using slang correctly is a way of waving a door pass to get into a club. If you use the words the same way the cool kids do, then the cool kids either have to admit you know what they are talking about or change the slang to make sure you no longer do. The latter is, of course, the most likely occurrence of a fortysomething bursting into a gang of teenagers uttering “O hai random swag is amazeballs, bae!” or something to that effect. Knowing that there are words set up to exclude you from youth culture can sting (though to be honest, I’m fine with no longer being fifteen), but more importantly, a teacher might worry that he will have trouble getting ideas across in full to his students.

One way to talk across that barrier without breaking it down is to show students how language changes over time, and thus how what now sounds archaic was once the latest slang. Consider the currently hated word ‘literally’. It drives many people nuts to hear the word used to emphasize truth in a statement. It drives me especially nuts to hear it emerging from my own mouth from time to time, knowing all the while that I was getting by just fine without saying it nearly so much five years ago. It is easy to simply dismiss this as a symptom of the lazy thinking that goes on these days, or lax standards in the home, or not enough ten-year-olds reading Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason, or some such. Don’t go that way; the kids are all right, just like you were. I am not saying that it is nice to hear ‘literally’ overused, but consider, though, what this use of ‘literally’ actually means. It is a way of saying “I assert the truth of this statement”. Can you think of other ways to say this? Have a look up at the Shakespeare quote from the top. Yup, that’s right. “In sooth” and “forsooth” do more or less the same job as “literally”. We might not talk exactly the same way they did in 1602, but we have mostly the same things to talk about. Connecting students to the fact that slang is ever-changing but at the same time never really new might give them a fresh perspective on the classics.

“I literally do not know why I am so sad:
It wearies me; you say it wearies you;”
Antonio, The Merchant of Venice (slightly abridged), Act 1, Scene 1.

Let’s go one step further. Some of you might have taken on the task of teaching Beowulf, a text in English so old that it is no longer intelligible to the untrained reader. The very first line, however, begins with “Hwaet!”, the call from the poet for the listeners to shut up, put down their mead cups and bend an ear. The word is an opener, a way to convey the idea that the speaker needs to to start listening so that he can tell you what he needs you to hear. That sounds an awful lot to me like “Listen up!” or even “O hai!”.

Is not “boon companion” another way of saying “bruh”? Is not “Zounds!” a form of “Wow. Just wow.”? Meanings shift and change context, but the basics of human life do not. The struggle for personal identity that characterizes late childhood and adolescence is much older than Shakespeare and the Beowulf poet. It is something fundamentally human, something our language hints at over and over in ever-changing guises through the years.

Personally, I would love to hear young folks bandying around ‘forsooth’ and ‘yea verily!’ for a while, just for a change-up. If any teacher out there can make a game out of that, she might find that she has squared the proverbial circle and made learning fun. Good writing deals in universals, and the interested reader will find more similarities than differences between his world and the world of the book he reads. This is because we are humans making human stories for humans. The jargon of Shakespeare might seem at first as impenetrable and intimidating as a gang of cool kids uttering the very latest gatekeeper slang around a teacher (or a nerd), but once the bridge has been crossed and the student understands that with slang, ’twas ever thus, he might begin to see the outlines of the very familiar ideas underneath the archaic forms of speech. After all, many of Dickens’ works are exposés of social injustice and inequality. Romeo and Juliet, rather famously, is partly about a gang war. If you read The Canterbury Tales and do not feel like taking a gap year and going backpacking through Europe, then I think you must be reading it upside-down. Slang, usage and jargon is surface; the depths are the common experiences of human life.

We few, we cray, cray few, we band of bruhs;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my bruh; be he just some random n00b,
This day he shall be totally amazeballs.
Once more unto the breach, bruh. Yolo.
Henry V, King Henry V (slightly abridged and a bit mashed up), Act 4, Scene 3-ish.

So, hope that was not too random, but anyway, meh whatever. Hungry. Time for noms.

Matthew Jobin’s latest book, “The Skeleth”, second in the Nethergrim series, will be published May 2016.

Author Bio: A native of Canada, Matthew Jobin holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from Stanford University. He lectures in anthropology at Santa Clara University. The idea for The Nethergrim came to Matthew as a young boy exploring the forest surrounding his home. Intent on telling the story of this fantasy world, he’s been developing it and its inhabitants ever since. Matthew lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, Tina.

For more information visit his website at: http://www.matthewjobin.com and follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

By Matthew Jobin
Series: The Nethergrim (Book 1)
Published by Puffin Books
Paperback: 368 pages
Age Range: 10 and up
February 5, 2015; $8.99 US/$9.99 CAN; 9780142422687

Description
The Next Great Fantasy Epic is here! For fans of Ranger’s Apprentice and the Chronicles of Narnia.

Everyone in Moorvale believes the legend: The brave knight Tristan and the famed wizard Vithric, in an epic battle decades ago, had defeated the evil Nethergrim and his minions. To this day, songs are sung and festivals held in the heroes’ honor. Yet now something dark has crept over the village. First animals disappear, their only remains a pile of bones licked clean. Then something worse: children disappear. The whispers begin quietly yet soon turn into a shout: The Nethergrim has returned!

Edmund’s brother is one of the missing, and Edmund knows he must do something to save his life. But what? Though a student of magic, he struggles to cast even the simplest spell. Still, he and his friends swallow their fear and set out to battle an ancient evil whose powers none of them can imagine. They will need to come together–and work apart–in ways that will test every ounce of resolve.

In a story reminiscent of the Ranger’s Apprentice epic and the Chronicles of Narnia, Matthew Jobin weaves reality, magic, and adventure into the next great fantasy phenomenon.

The Skeleth
By Matthew Jobin
Series: The Nethergrim (Book 2)
Published by Philomel Books
Hardcover: 400 pages
Age Range: 10 and up
May 10, 2016; $17.99 US/$23.99 CAN; 9780399159992

Description
Discover for yourself why reviewers are comparing The Nethergrim to Lord of the Rings, Narnia, and Ranger’s Apprentice! The next great epic fantasy is here . . .

For the lords of the north, land is power. The Nethergrim, now awoken and free to wreak its evil upon the world, offers the promise of victory to those ruthless enough to accept its foul bargain. One ambitious lord, eager for the chance to conquer and rule, succumbs to temptation and helps to free the Skeleth — eerie, otherworldly beings said to be unstoppable in battle. The Skeleth merge with the bodies of their victims, ruling their minds and turning them into remorseless killers. Worse yet, to kill the man inside the Skeleth only frees it to seize a new host, starting a cycle of violence that has no end.

Such chilling tales are not enough to stop young Edmund, innkeeper’s son and would-be wizard, from seeking for a way to turn back the oncoming tide of destruction. Along with his best friends — Katherine the trainer of war-horses and Tom the runaway slave — Edmund searches for a magical weakness in the Skeleth, something that might allow him to break their never-ending curse. The three friends join with the legendary hero Tristan in a battle of courage, wisdom, wits, and sacrifice to stop the Skeleth from ravaging their homeland and all they hold dear.

This adventurous tale that marries earthly greed to otherworldly evil is perfect for fans who enjoy the epic worlds of John Flanagan’s Ranger’s Apprentice, Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time, J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, and George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones. Discover for yourself why so many are making the comparisons!

Thank you Matthew for this thought-provoking post!

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Author Guest Post!: “Finding the Joy in Writing” by Laurisa White Reyes, Author of The Kids’ Guide to Writing Fiction

June 5, 2016 by Ricki

“Finding the Joy in Writing”

Any parent knows that if you want a kid to really hate something, just tell him he has to do it, or else. That was my son’s reaction when I told him he had to write a five paragraph essay. My instructions were met with so much whining and moaning you would have thought I’d asked him to scrub the bathroom with a toothbrush. His reaction, however, was not an unusual one. Many parents can attest to their children’s seemingly built-in aversion to writing. While some kids seem naturally drawn to writing, others would rather carry a load of rocks up a mountain than write a compound sentence. This is why I wrote The Kids’ Guide to Writing Fiction, because within every child is a story waiting to be told, whether they realize it or not.

Make Writing Fun

Remember the classic children’s film Mary Poppins? Jane and Michael Banks live in turn of the century London. These conniving pranksters manage to chase away every nanny their father hired for them. Their parents are at their wits’ end. Then Mary Poppins arrives. One of the first tasks she requests of the children is to pick up their room. Jane and Michael balk and whine. To them it is a tedious, pointless chore. What does Mary Poppins do to change their attitudes? She throws in a spoonful of sugar and makes the whole thing a game. In no time at all the room is clean and the children are tucked neatly in their beds.

Now, obviously, real life doesn’t work quite like that. We have no magical carpetbag from which to pull out hat racks and measuring sticks. But as parents and/or educators, we do have the same power as Mary Poppins to create an atmosphere of cooperation and optimism in our homes and classrooms. Whether or not our children will hate what we ask them to do, or do it willingly and cheerfully, depends largely on us.

I started teaching creative writing classes to children and teens about the same time my son was learning to write those essays. I looked for ways to encourage my students to write, and met with great success. Once I applied what I was using in my classes to my son, his attitude toward writing changed. And although it is still not his favorite activity, he has become a capable and skilled writer.

Writing is a Means of Self-Expression

Writing well demands that the writer enjoy writing. When writing is nothing more than an assignment with no purpose except to earn a grade on a report card, chances are that the student will come to dread writing. He will view it as chore, just like washing the dishes or making his bed.

Is this the attitude we want our children to have about writing? Do we want them to write five-paragraph essays just for a grade? Is that really the purpose of a writing education? Of course not. The ultimate goal is for our children to feel confident in their writing skills, to use writing as a means of self-expression. But to achieve that goal requires that we, as adults, help our kids find the joy in writing.

In my writing classes, I taught students how to write. I did not, however, grade anything, nor did I spend much time critiquing their work. In fact, my students didn’t even realize they were learning to write well, because they were so excited about what they were doing. Over the years, I’ve heard from many of my students’ parents about how their children were transformed from reluctant writers to kids who wouldn’t put their pencils down. The key to this transformation was that I made writing fun.

To me, there is nothing more enjoyable than sitting alone at my computer in the middle of the night to write. I would rather do that than just about anything else. The question is, how do we transfer this love of writing to our kids?

The first step in helping kids write well is to take writing out of the picture. Writing is a means to an end, a tool for getting what is inside someone’s head onto paper. What’s really important is the message or information writing conveys.

Think of words as clay. Clay by itself is nothing but a gray lump on a potter’s wheel. But in the hands of the potter, the clay begins to take shape. If the potter doesn’t like the form, he can squash it and start all over again. He can do this over and over until he gets it just right. Once it is finished and the piece is fired and glazed, we see not the lump of clay, but a beautiful piece of art or a functional object, such as a vase.

Writers use words to create something beautiful and useful. They are not as concerned with the words as they are with the finished product. When children focus on that finished product, be it a poem or essay or story, words become tools, the medium by which they can bring their dreams to life.

The Storyteller Within

One the most effective ways to help kids fall in love with writing is by helping them discover the storyteller within. We are all storytellers. A storyteller is someone who relates events in a logical order to someone else. Think about the last time you told a friend about a movie you a saw, or an event you attended, or even just something that happened that was interesting. How did you share that information? Most likely, you told it in the form of a story.

The reason so many children and teens are averse to writing, particularly in school, is because they have not yet tapped in to their own natural storytelling abilities. That is my objective with The Kids’ Guide to Writing Fiction. In this book, I teach kids about the six fundamental building blocks needed to create stories: characterization, setting, plot, perspective, imagery, and dialogue. I take them step-by-step through the process of crafting a story and help them excavate their own imaginations for ideas. Then I help them put those ideas into words and onto paper.

Once a child has written a story of his own, he feels a great sense of satisfaction. He discovers that writing is fun. This discovery is what can tear down the walls of resistance and self-doubt, and can build confidence in his ability to learn other forms of writing, such as those dreaded 5 paragraph essays.

The ultimate goal of a writing education is to teach kids to write well, but if they hate writing, that goal is nearly impossible to achieve. However, once a child discovers the joy of tapping into his own creativity, then, like Mary Poppins’ carpet bag, writing becomes limitless…and magical.

The Kids’ Guide to Writing Fiction

About the Book: We are all storytellers. Whether weaving mythologies in ancient times or describing the plot of a favorite movie today, humans have, since the beginning of time, loved to tell stories. In The Kids’ Guide to Writing Fiction, students explore the building blocks needed to construct a story: characterization, setting, plot, perspective, plot, imagery, and dialog. Then, using these building blocks, they create their own stories.

Accessible to both the struggling student and the budding novelist—as well as to teachers, parents, and even adult aspiring writers, author Laurisa White Reyes presents key elements of story writing and clarifies them with examples and worksheets. Concepts are explained in simple, clear language while gently introducing vocabulary words.The Kids’ Guide to Writing Fiction offers welcome guidance to storytellers of all ages.

Links:

Author Website: http://www.LaurisaWhiteReyes.com

Author Blog: http://laurisareyes.blogspot.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/laurisa-white-reyes/148553665188339

Twitter: @lwreyes

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/lwreyes

About the Author: Laurisa White Reyes is the author of four novels for young readers, including the 2015 Spark Award winner, The Storytellers. She is also the author of The Kids’ Guide to Writing Fiction & Teaching Kids to Write Well: Six Secrets Every Grown-up Should Know. In addition to writing, she also manages to squeeze time into her busy life to teach college English; run her own editorial/publishing business, Skyrocket Press; and be mom to her five children. You can learn more about her at: www.LaurisaWhiteReyes.com.

Thank you to Laurisa for this very helpful post!

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Aspiring Author Guest Post!: “Four Books that Challenge Gender Roles” by Ainsley Izzie

May 29, 2016 by Kellee

“Four Books that Challenge Gender Roles”

Most adults were probably raised on the idea that boys did one thing while girls did another, that boys love blue while girls love pink. It’s neither correct nor incorrect to believe in traditional gender roles, but people are more wary these days of such stereotypes and inequalities between the sexes. It’s wrong to discourage a girl from studying engineering as it is a male dominated industry, as it is wrong to deem a boy homosexual just because he has an interest in clothes, and this has inspired numerous parents around the world to support the movement of gender neutral parenting, or GNP as it’s more commonly known. Although the uninformed may see androgyny to be the result of this parenting style, Everyday Feminism explains, “The whole point of GNP is that it doesn’t force any preconceived gender norms onto a child in the hopes that they can find their own comfort spot on the continuum we call gender.”

Parents aren’t the only ones working to eliminate society’s prejudices on gender. From clothes and toys to literature, businesses and individuals are redefining gender roles in various ways. Several companies are doing quite well in the arena, including the unisex clothing brand Tootsa that focuses on colors and patterns that any child would love without the gender biases. Clothes are a great way to express one’s thoughts on the subject and show their support for fluidity, but for anyone that is unaware of the gender continuum could use a lesson or two from a few writers that have changed our outlooks on what it’s like to be masculine or feminine.

Writing about a gender neutral character is a difficult skill to master, but a handful of authors have managed to do it so eloquently that it's time that we help young students break any gender stereotypes they may have.

All I Want Is To Be Me by Phyllis Rothblatt

Gender neutrality is all about individuality, which is exactly what All I Want Is To Be Me promotes through this story of children expressing their personalities with the clothing they prefer and activities they like.

Not All Princesses Dress In Pink by Jane Yolen and Heidi E.Y. Stemple

The typical princess is expected to be dainty and damsel-like, but not these royal family members. Jane Yolen shows us that princesses come in all shapes and sizes, and that loving sports and adventure don’t make them any less of a princess, no matter what anyone says.

Jacob’s New Dress by Sarah and Ian Hoffman

In the story of Jacob’s New Dress, a young boy is made fun of when he shows up at school wearing his new favorite outfit. But role models such as his teacher and his mother show him that there are lots of ways to be a boy, and that it’s just a matter of accepting and loving himself.

Ballerino Nate by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Ballerino Nate is about a boy that discovers his love for ballet, but finds it difficult to pursue his dream to be a dancer when his brother says that only girls can be ballerinas. That’s when his mother takes him to a real ballet and meet a real male dancer, in hopes that he will persist no matter what obstacles may come his way.

About the Author: Ainsley Izzie is an aspiring writer. She has been working on sharpening my skills for about 4 years now and has had some of her work published online. Her published works can be viewed on Techie Doodlers and her personal blog.

Thank you Ainsley for this post about such an important topic!

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Author Guest Post!: “Taking the Fear out of Shakespeare” by Stephanie Kate Strohm, Author of The Taming of the Drew

May 22, 2016 by Ricki

“Taking the Fear out of Shakespeare”

When I started writing The Taming of the Drew, I had a very specific audience in mind. If I’m being perfectly honest with myself, I was writing it for me at sixteen.

The Taming of the Drew is a reverse-gendered retelling of The Taming of the Shrew set at an outdoor summer Shakespeare theatre in Vermont, where the backstage hijinks begin to mirror the plot playing out onstage. All of the characters have recently graduated from high school and are one hundred percent bonkers obsessed with theatre, just like I was. I was a passionate reader as a teen, but I never read any books about teens who were really into acting, and believe me, I would have loved one. So I set out to write The Taming of the Drew for past me, and, hopefully, any high school drama dorks who are currently caking on the foundation before the curtain goes up on their production of Much Ado About Nothing.

I’m not just a writer; I also work at a high school on the west side of Chicago. When my students asked me what my book was about, I found out that none of them had heard of The Taming of the Shrew – most of them, in fact, only had a vague idea of who Shakespeare was, and the ones who did know Shakespeare were most decidedly not fans of his. But the more I talked about my book, the more I realized I’d actually been writing for a different audience.

I was a Shakespeare nut from an early age – a freakishly early age – but I was first exposed to Shakespeare not from reading his plays, but from Charles and Mary Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare. I loved the stories I read about exiled sorcerers and tragic kings. They were like fairy tales, and I devoured them. Thanks to those books, I loved Shakespeare before I’d heard a single line of his or watched any of his plays. By the time 10 Things I Hate About You came out in 1999, I was twelve and already a pretty advanced Shakespeare snob, but I loved that movie. Still do. I remember feeling a sense of supreme vindication when it came out. “See?!” I practically shouted at my friends. “Shakespeare is cool! I told you so!”

If students are first introduced to Shakespeare as seniors in a high school English class, it can be kind of a shock. The language is weird. It seems like too much effort to try and understand what anyone is saying. Frankly, the whole thing is intimidating. Shakespeare is so scary there’s even a whole series of books called No Fear Shakespeare! But I was never afraid of Shakespeare because I didn’t know I was supposed to be.

Several summers ago I taught the five to eight year old age group at the summer camp at MaineStage Shakespeare, an outdoor summer Shakespeare theatre in Kennebunk, Maine. Many people are surprised that five year olds attended a Shakespeare camp, but they made magnificent fairies in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. We wrote silly plays and learned fairy dances, but they also declaimed lines from Richard III in their vocal classes and offered lots of opinions on the nuances of Titania and Oberon’s relationship. They didn’t know Shakespeare was supposed to be hard. They knew he wrote funny stories about guys with donkey heads.

I wish we could some how introduce all five year olds to Shakespeare before they know he’s “supposed” to be scary. I realize, of course, that’s insanely unrealistic – but rest assured, if I ever become the benevolent dictator of this country, that will certainly be part of the program – but I also know there are ways to show that Shakespeare isn’t scary. That’s why I’m such a huge fan of retellings. Retellings are a great way to introduce reluctant readers who might otherwise balk at Shakespeare to the world of his plays. I know there isn’t a guarantee that everyone who reads Saving Juliet by Suzanne Selfors or The Fool’s Girl by Celia Rees or Ophelia by Lisa M. Klein will immediately search out the original source material, but I think it’s definitely a step in the right direction. The more the stigma of “scary” gets taken out of the conversation, the better students will fare when they’re inevitably staring down a Macbeth monologue in English class.

I had thought I was writing The Taming of the Drew for students like I had been, who have the entirety of Juliet memorized “just in case.” And if those students find the book, I really hope they like it. But I realized later on that this book is just as much, if not more so, for readers who have only the vaguest idea of who Shakespeare is, or who actively dislike him and his frequent usage of the word “forsooth.” I hope this book becomes somebody’s 10 Things I Hate About You: a pop culture gateway drug into classical theater.

“This sounds funny, Ms. Strohm,” one of my students said after I explained the plot of The Taming of the Shrew. “I can’t believe he ripped up her clothes like that. He’s crazy.”

“You think that’s crazy?” I asked. “Let me tell you about a guy named Titus Andronicus.”

And so I did.

The Taming of the Drew

About the Book: Cass McKay has been called stubborn, temperamental, difficult, and that word that rhymes with “witch” more times than she cares to count. But that’s all about to pay off. She has finally landed the role she was born to play—Kate, in The Taming of the Shrew—in the summer apprentice program of a renowned Shakespeare theater company in the forests of Vermont.

But Cass can barely lace up her corset before her troubles begin. Her leading man, Drew, is a complete troll, and he’s going to ruin Cass’s summer. Even worse, Cass’s bunkmate Amy has somehow fallen head over heels for Drew. Cass can’t let Amy throw herself at a total jerk, so she comes up with a genius plan to give Drew the personality makeover he so desperately needs: they’ll tame Drew just as Petruchio tames Kate! But as Shakespeare’s classic plays out offstage, Cass finds it harder and harder to resist falling for Drew herself.

The best kind of entertainment, The Taming of the Drew is smart, funny, fresh, and original. You’re going to love this badass heroine and her friends. You might even end up liking Drew, too.

Author Stephanie Strohm photographed for her “Pilgrams don’t wear Pink” book. Copyright Melissa Lynn 2011

About the Author: Stephanie Kate Strohm is the author of Pilgrims Don’t Wear Pink and Confederates Don’t Wear Couture. She graduated with a dual degree in theater and history and has acted her way around the United States, performing in more than twenty-five states. She currently lives in Chicago with her fiancé and a dog named Lorelei Lee.

Thank you to Stephanie for this honest post.

Thank you to Cheryl at Skyhorse Publishing for connecting us with Stephanie!

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Author Guest Post!: “Science Fiction and Science Fact: World-building in The Riven Chronicles” by Amalie Howard

May 15, 2016 by Kellee

“Science Fiction and Science Fact: World-building in The Riven Chronicles”

According to the laws of physics, time travel and inter-dimensional travel are both possible. Having been a science fiction fan for most of my life (Star Wars, Dune, Aliens, and The Fifth Element all grace my top 10 movie list), when I wrote The Riven Chronicles, I knew the world-building and the concept of jumping between universes, had to be complex but relatable, especially for a young adult market. As a fiction writer, any world has to have rules, and those rules have to be consistent or the world falls apart. So step one was definitely research.

I really disliked physics in high school. Disliked is probably an underestimation—I loathed it. During class, I took excessively long bathroom breaks. At home, I agonized over pages of homework I could barely understand. And yet, when I was researching worm holes and parallel universes for The Almost Girl, the first book in my series, I found myself completely fascinated by the laws of physics—a nightmare realm that had instigated far more than its fair share of cold sweats during my teen years. I became sucked into a deliciously dark underworld of sub-quantum mechanics, astrophysics, advanced robotics, nanotechnology, and claytronics.

Building off of Albert Einstein’s space and time theories, physicists throughout history have been hell-bent on reverse engineering the universe and explaining it at its most basic level—discovering the so-called Theory of Everything. Who knew that Hugh Everett’s “Many-Worlds Theory” was an interpretation of quantum mechanics where every possible outcome could happen causing multiple universes (though we wouldn’t be aware of them)? Or that Michio Kaku would come up with String Field Theory demonstrating that gravity could interact between two parallel universes? Or that Stephen Hawking would contend that wormholes exist in a phenomenon called quantum foam? Mind blown. Literally.

Using quantum theory and the microscopic gaps in the universe to allow two distinct points in time and space to connect, I could jump off of Kaku’s string theory, and bolster it with Kip Thorne’s theories of anti-gravitational quantum vacuums to engineer my wormholes, and then tie it into zero-point energy as my “launch” spots to jump between universes (for which I invented the term eversion). Ultimately, I had to take whatever theory I decided to use and make it work for my intended reader. I was looking for complex simplicity—something rooted in the laws of physics, but also accessible to my readers of any strata … meaning making it credible for savvy, erudite sci-fi readers and making it relatable for high-concept teen ones. It was a delicate balance.

Here’s an excerpt from The Almost Girl where I explain this element in my mythology.

A picture forms on the flat-screens in the center of the room. It looks like an hourglass broken up into small squares. “That is a two-dimensional drawing of a traversable wormhole. It’s basically a bridge in space with two different end points. Think of the universe as made up of an infinite number of universes. Some of these universes are coupled by a gravitational field, which means that we can communicate between them.” […] “How it works is a whole other story. We’re talking string theory and sub-quantum mechanics, basically the relationship between space-time, gravity, energy, and matter.”

~ The Almost Girl

As I indicated earlier, I also came up with the concept of “eversion” or “to evert,” which in my mythology means to jump between universes. It’s based on the words trans-inversion (reversal of position) and trans-eversion (turning inside out). I knew I wanted something unique that would work within my framework and wouldn’t be something too generic. I wanted the word to convey an inimitable sense of what it intended—not just something as ordinary as jumping. The word itself had to be a process, one of flipping inside out, and one that conjured thoughts of its own journey.

All in all, writing The Riven Chronicles was an incredible learning experience, especially as it related to science fact and science fiction. I learned that the world of physics is a fascinating one, and that there is so much more to who we are and the universe in which we exist. I learned that something you experience in middle school or high-school could evolve into something extraordinary when approached in a different way—even something as painful as physics (gasp). I learned that science fiction is an awesome space to be in as a writer—it’s a world of infinite possibility with so many opportunities to create. I’m pretty sure that we aren’t the only intelligent life out there, whether that’s in alternate or parallel universes, or in other galaxies. And until that’s proven, for now, I’ll continue to exist in the universes of my own making.

About the Author: Amalie Howard is the award-winning Indie Next author of Alpha Goddess, the Aquarathi series, and the Cruentus Curse series. Her debut novel, Bloodspell, was an Amazon bestseller and a Seventeen Summer Read. Visit her website at www.amaliehoward.com and follow her on Twitter at @AmalieHoward.

FallenPrince_cover

About The Almost Girl: Seventeen-year-old Riven comes from a world parallel to Earth, a world that has been ravaged by a devastating android war. As a Legion General, she is the right hand of Prince Cale, the young Prince of Neospes. In her world, she’s had everything: rank, responsibility, and respect. But when Prince Cale sends her away to rescue his long-lost brother, Caden, who has been spirited to modern day Earth, Riven finds herself in uncharted territory.

Armed with the mindset of a soldier and racing against time to bring Caden home, Riven must learn how to blend in as a girl in a realm that is the opposite of all she’s ever known. Will she be able to find the strength to defy her very nature? Or will she become the monstrous soldier she was designed to be?

About The Fallen Prince: When a new enemy threatens her home, Riven’s only hope may be the man who made her a monster.

Riven has fought for a hard-won peace in her world, and has come to shaky terms with who and what she is—a human with cyborg DNA. Now that the rightful ruler of Neospes has been reinstated, Riven is on the hunt for her father in the Otherworld to bring him to justice for his crimes against her people.

But when she receives an unwelcome visit from two former allies, she knows that trouble is brewing once again in Neospes. The army has been decimated and there are precious few left to fight this mysterious new threat.

To muster a first line of defense, her people need help from the one person Riven loathes most: her father. But what he wants in return is her complete surrender. And now Riven must choose: save Neospes or save herself.

This exciting sequel to The Almost Girl combines science, action, and romance in a compelling, hard-to-put-down package.

Thank you to Amalie for the guest post!

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