Congratulations to Katie Monnin on the release of Teaching Reading Comprehension with Graphic Texts: An Illustrated Adventure, illustrated by Rachel Bowman (Maupin House, 2013)! From the promotional copy:
Today’s reading standards require K-12 teachers to teach multi-modal texts that combine print and images.
Teaching Reading Comprehension with Graphic Texts: An Illustrated Adventure shows teachers how to read, understand, and teach the unique vocabulary and anatomy of the graphic text format alongside traditional, print-based literature and content-area selections.
Make the most of the graphic text-driven format in your reading program with this engaging and innovative professional resource from Dr. Katie Monnin.
Break It Up! How to Reduce Reader Fatigue from QueryTracker. Peek: “We have become a nation of short attention spans. If you hand us a tome filled with paragraphs that go on for pages, we will snore. Our eyes will glaze over. Worst of all, we skim.”
Organic Writers and Plotters by Gail Gauthier from Original Content. Peek: “We are said to write by the seat of our pants. Thus you sometimes hear us referred to by the mildly vulgar term ‘pantsers.’ We are said not to plot.”
Diversity 101: Blurring the Lines Between the Familiar and Foreign by Uma Krishnaswami from CBC Diversity. Peek: “Personally, I’m tired of hearing South Asian characters who sound like Gunga Din. When you’re writing contemporary fiction, let your characters sound as if they live in the same century as we do. You’re after cadence, not caricature.”
Human Trafficking, Immigration and Sexual Violence: an Interview with Cory McCarthy by J.L. Powers from The Pirate Tree: Social Justice and Children’s Literature. Peek: “I’m frightened by the idea that many teens aren’t aware that this is a reality in suburban and rural America…that this is much closer than outer space…and much more real than ‘Law and Order: SVU’.”
The Evolution of a Picture Book Cover (and Other Goodness from Cece Bell) by Jules from Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast. Peek: “Cece is visiting today to share rejected cover images, as well as title page illustrations; some early sketches and layouts and such; and some final art from the book, too.”
The Ever-Elusive Secret of Writing by Sarah Beth Durst from Adventures in YA & Children’s Publishing. Peek: “Finishing that novel taught me that I could do it. And once both my conscious and subconscious mind knew that, everything changed in a profound way that I hadn’t anticipated.”
The Talent and Skills Thesaurus by Becca Puglisi from The Bookshelf Muse. Peek: “Characters are unique and memorable not only because of their individual mixtures of positive attributes and flaws, but also because of their personal likes and dislikes, their hobbies, and their talents and skills.”
Governor General’s Literary Awards Finalists from the Canada Council for the Arts. Peek: “The GGs are awarded in both official languages, in seven categories: fiction, poetry, drama, nonfiction, children’s literature (text and illustration) and translation…”
Coming Out 2.0 from Malinda Lo. Peek: “A few recent books question the concept of sexual orientation labels entirely.”
The Beat Goes On – Or, How To Be A Meter Reader: Identifying Rhythm Troublespots In Your Rhyming Picture Book Story by Debbie Diesen from Julie Hedlund. Peek: “…a word of caution: Some rhythms allow for – to my mind, even demand — a bit of wiggle room in terms of unaccented syllables.” Via Emma Dryden.
Parting Ways with Your Agent by Elisabeth Weed from Writer Unboxed. Peek: “Perhaps your career is taking a different turn or moving into a genre that your agent doesn’t handle or have as much expertise in. It’s perfectly acceptable to call your agent and have an honest discussion about that.”
Cynsational Giveaways
The winner of Tantalize: Kieren’s Story & Eternal: Zachary’s Story, both by Cynthia Leitich Smith & Ming Doyle was Todd in Florida. The winners of Texting the Underworld by Ellen Booraem were Paige and Katy. Note: new Cynsations giveaways will go live within the week.
12 YA Fiction Giveaways & New Releases from Adventures in YA Publishing. See also The Giant YA Pride 2013 Giveaway from Malinda Lo.
This Week at Cynsations
- Kelly Bennett on That Last Revision: Ruthless Bites
- Annemarie O’Brien on Researching Russia, VCFA & Lara’s Gift
- Book Trailer: Bully by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
- Charlotte Gunnufson on Halloween Hustle, Her Path to Publication & Promotion
- Mitali Perkins on Diversity, Power & Good Humor
More Personally
I’m honored to announce that I’ll be offering the keynote address at the Kidlitosphere Conference Nov. 9 in Austin, Texas. Check out this short Author Spotlight: Cynthia Leitich Smith from eBooksDaily.
Join Greg Leitich Smith and Susanna Greenberg for Book Buzz at noon central next Thursday, Oct. 10 on Blog Talk Radio. Peek: “Meet children’s book author Greg Leitich Smith and learn about his books, Tofu and T. Rex and Ninjas, Piranhas and Galileo, now published in new editions by IntoPrint Publishing.” Note: more on the re-releases and IntoPrint coming soon!
Congratulations to Frances Lee Hall on the sale of her middle grade novel, “Fried Wonton,” to Regina Griffin at Egmont!
Personal Links
- Using Your Best Hours Wisely
- Cycling for Libraries
- Ask a Librarian: Find the Right Book for Your Child
- It’s Always Men’s Night at the Caldecott
- Interview: Nikki Loftin
- Why Publishers Should Kill Comments to Save Conversations
- How to Turn Professional Book People Off Reading Your Book
- 16 Cliches to Avoid in Writing SF/F
Cynsational Events
Delve into the world of graphic novels on Oct. 5 with a Graphic Novel Workshop, featuring author/illustrator Dave Roman, author Cynthia Leitich Smith and First Second Books Senior Editor Calista Brill; sponsored by Austin SCBWI.
Cynthia and Greg Leitich Smith will speak Oct. 17 at Lampasas ISD in Lampasas, Texas.
Cynthia Leitich Smith will offer several presentations the week of Oct. 20 in conjunction with Jingle Dancer (Morrow, 2000) being the featured title for children as part of the 2013 One Book, One San Diego campaign, sponsored by KBPS, more details forthcoming.
Cynthia Leitich Smith joins featured authors at the Texas Book Festival Oct. 26 and Oct. 27 at the State Capitol Building in Austin. She will speak at the “Girl Power(s)” session with Kami Garcia and Jessica Khoury from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Oct. 26 in Capitol Extension Room E2.014, with a book signing immediately following.
Join Cynthia Leitich Smith at the Illumine Award Nov. 8 at the downtown Hilton in Austin, Texas.
Join Cynthia Leitich Smith at the Kidlitosphere Conference Nov. 9 in Austin, Texas.
Cynthia Leitich Smith (Feral Nights) and P.J. Hoover (Solstice) will sign their new releases from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 9 at the Barnes & Noble in Round Rock, Texas.
Cynthia and Greg Leitich Smith will speak at the Florida Association for Media in Education Conference Nov. 20 to Nov. 22 in Orlando.
The Craft & Business of Writing: Everything You wanted to Know About Writing, a fundraiser featuring C.C. Hunter, Miranda James and Lori Wilde for the Montgomery County Book Festival, on Nov. 16 at Lone Star College Montgomery Campus in Houston. Fee: $100. Registration deadline: Nov. 10. See more information. Register here.