Congratulations to Holiday House (1935-1970) on its 70th anniversary!
I’m on the lookout for two books on the 2005 list: Pizza for the Queen by Nancy Castaldo, illustrated by Melisande Potter; and Love, Football and Other Contact Sports by Alden R. Carter.
Holiday House is small, family owned,
It seems we’re in the midst of another round of national media articles saying there’s–gasp!–sex and what not (quick: somebody call Judy Blume!) in young adult literature.
The headlines tend to read like warnings, and in one of the latest, a parent suggests the need for “ratings” on books. Overgeneralizations abound, the tone is anywhere from smug to alarmed,
Greg and I enjoyed drinks tonight at Guero’s on South Congress with author/illustrator Janie Bynum, currently of Wimberly, just back from NYC.
Cynsational News & Links
“Query Letters: A Personal Journey” by Vijaya Bodach, in the Query Letters section of Writer’s Support from the Institute of Children’s Literature.
I’m in the midst of final revisions for my upcoming YA novel with Candlewick and my upcoming picture book with Dutton. Yes, when it rains, it pours–but joyfully so!
It’s heartening and a bit nerve-wracking to think this is my last chance to make these manuscripts better before they go to copyediting.
Some people hate to revise,
Greg and I had a lovely time today speaking to Judy Leavell’s class at Texas State University. We very much enjoy visiting university classroom groups–be they comprised of prospective teachers or librarians–and have spoken at schools across the state and elsewhere.
Dr. Leavell did a particularly good job of planning. The students had been read Rain Is Not My Indian Name (HarperCollins,
Continue Reading Cyn and Greg at TSU (formerly Southwest Texas State) »
A major focus of this blog and my site is spreading the word that good books matter. I also do a good bit of that in my public speaking. For example, I’m giving a talk with Greg at Texas State University in San Marcos this week, and we’ll be giving away signed books by Texas children’s authors and illustrators along with a bibliography of those folks’
Hyperion Books for Children is pleased to celebrate the publication of Esmé Raji Codell’s Diary Of A Fairy Godmother (June 2005), by encouraging burgeoning writers (ages 9-14) to create and utilize an online diary.
This interactive, “relationship-building” marketing campaign directly encourages reading and journaling, gives kids immediate rewards in the form of sweepstakes entries for their participation,
Continue Reading Diary Of A Fairy Godmother Online Diary Activity »
Jenlibrarian posts on why authors need to tell librarians about their books and cites author Rukshana Khan as a good role model.
I often go to lunch with first-time authors who express concern about promoting themselves.
(Actually, to date, women express concern about this; men don’t).
What I tell them is that it isn’t about you,
I Am The Wallpaper by Mark Peter Hughes (Delacorte Press, 2005). Floey’s nothing but “the wallpaper” compared to her sister Lilian who “always had to be the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral.” But all that’s over now, at least if Floey herself has anything to say about it. New Floey, future Floey is on the rise,
Shelf Life by Robert Corbet (Walker, 2004). A quasi short story collection with a wrap-around romance wherein each “aisle” offers insight into an employee’s “shelf life.” Best when it gives a peek into the scenes behind the shelves; worth reading for Rahel’s story alone. Ages 12-up.
Unrelated Thoughts
Lots of talk in the author community about how school visits are drying up.