Sweeping out The Old Year(s)

 

    What else does one do on a cold-for-Florida Sunday afternoon but clear out files, right? 

    Most of our neighbors with kids have boxes and boxes piled in their recycling bins. I have pages and pages.

 

 

    I sent a lot of the more interesting ephemera from my books to the University of Southern Mississippi's deGrummond Children's Literature Collection. But I kept a few "gems." 

Like a whole file of rejection letters for GLORY BE. The original title was Junk Poker. No wonder it was rejected. 

Actually, it was rejected also because 

1. The time wasn't right. 

2. Historical fiction wasn't selling. 

3. Nobody wanted to read about the 60s. 

4. That editor who requested your manuscript has left the publisher. etc etc etc. 

 

    I also found many, many chapters with comments from various writer friends/ critique partners/ cold readers. It was like a walk down memory lane as well as a reminder that this journey didn't happen overnight. Or even over-a-year. 

But I loved that story a lot so I refused to give up. That, I suspect, was the trick. That's how you have to feel about what you've written. You have to feel in your heart that it's a book kids need to read. A book teachers will want to share. A book families can read together. And a book that, with a new title like GLORY BE, will end up in school libraries and classrooms. You'll get letters from kids telling you they love it, telling you what you messed up, telling you you need to write more stories about Glory, her sister, her sister's boyfriend, and Emma. Even if you can't do that, the letters make you feel like a million dollars.

 

    So for all you writers out there. Turn the calendar page to a new and glorious year and write like kids are waiting.  You never know what 2021 will bring. 

 

 

 

On one of my favorite, ever, Author Visit days, a boy gave me his very realistic drawing of the fabulous cover art. He told me he'd originally left out the "L" in Glory. But not to worry, he said, and he laughed, "It's fixed now."  It makes me smile every time I remember that day. Titles are pretty important. Not sure Gory Be would have caught an agent's eye any better than Junk Poker.

 

 

 

 

What Great Kids!

It was like Old Home Week, with new people.

THANK YOU, PETAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, FOR INVITING ME.

A few of the fabulous moments 

from my short two days in Mississippi.

 Packed and ready!

 My new buddy, Heather Wood, super librarian, 
stacking books for me to sign!

 Front and center- lots of smiles!

Photo over the booth where we ate lunch. 

Also, the terrific music teacher at Petal Elementary played all Elvis tunes as the kids came into the auditorium. 

One 3rd grader on the front row knew all the words to Hound Dog!

Petal is just outside Hattiesburg, MS, the place my mother grew up and a town where I spent lots of summers. My grandmother took us to the zoo on the bus!  

This is the church where my parents were married and a few beautiful flowers just now blooming all over Hattiesburg.

It wouldn't be a trip to Mississippi without food! 

My brother, sister and I did some seriously good eating. But I practiced enormous restraint and didn't buy those fig preserves. 
I feared the TSA agents would grab them at the New Orleans airport.

 

Happy Birthday, GLORY BE!

Was it really January 1, 2012? Wow.

I remember the first time I saw my first book in a hardcover, book-jacketed, fabulously cover-arted edition. It was real! It was a book!

As a librarian, it was a thrill.
As a writer who'd worked ten years, off and on, through a number (ahem!) of rejections, it was sheer joy.

Still is.

Thank you to everybody who brought this book into the world. Thank you to the teachers and librarians who've put it on their states' children choice award lists. 
Thank you for the great reviews, over all these years. 

 The sheet cake my daughter ordered to celebrate GLORY BE's beginning!

I'm proud of GLORY BE which chosen by Mississippi to represent our state at the National Book Festival, awarded the 2013 Crystal Kite Award, and given lots of other really amazing accolades.

Resources and links may be found on my blog, HERE.

Oh, and PS- There's a certain online site that has the HARDCOVER on sale for $8.
(I didn't think you could even buy a hardcover edition most places.)

 Fun Author Visit memory. My first visit "home" to a Mississippi school.

I'm a big fan of Skype visits, too! 

 Cookies! I need one of these! Right now!

(from a very special NYC Book Club night. )

Kids write the MOST WONDERFUL things

Remember that (very) old TV show: Kids Say the Darnedest Things?

I have an update. Yes, they say funny things. They ask crazy questions. They often have no filters.
But they also write really great, really delightful things, and answering their letters makes me smile. A lot.

Yesterday, I opened four envelopes filled with letters from third grade classes about my novel, GLORY BE. There were so, so many thoughtful questions.

The first letter began this way: "At school, my fellow classmates and I have indulged ourselves in the literary feast that is Glory Be." 
Be still my heart. I love this kid already.

AND- it actually went UP-hill from there.


One student explained why he needed to know the answers to his questions about the Beatles v. Elvis. "I wanna know what best fits your personality."
He also added that I needed to write him back because he'd spent a lot of time on his letter and his "pencil got worn out."

Another starts off with a bang. The first sentence announces, "I like to eat hot dogs."
(and now I'm laughing and hungry.)

Another shared that her favorite part was how the girls lied a lot to Emma and to the dad. 
Whoops.
Another remarked that GLORY BE made her and her classmates laugh, and that was her favorite thing, the laughing together. 
Teachers, I've read a lot of books to kids over the years and I love remembering the books that made us laugh.

And in case my head is swelling from all the lovely things they say? Andre adds this, "When I first was reading, I thought it was boring but then it started to be exciting."

A writer's worst nightmare. Starting out boring. I'll work on that, Andre.
Oh, he ended his note with, "Mrs. Scattergood, you are probably the best author I know so far. I want answers."
A veiled threat? He's jumping ship if I don't answer? 
See, these kids absolutely crack me up.

Teachers don't always have time to comment, and I totally understand this. I was a school media specialist for a very long time. 
I understand how busy everybody is, especially at the end of the year.
I'm just flattered when they take the time and effort to share my book with a class. They don't need to write.
But Mrs. Arnold said such lovely things, I'm going to quote her. 

"Your book gave us so many chances for deep discussions not only about this period in our country's history, but also about the way people should be treated in the present."

And Mr. Blank from the Bethlehem Lutheran School thanked me for bringing to life this period of the South during segregation. 

It's hard writing books, but this is very writer's dream.

As the school year winds down, I'd like to thank all of you who've shared so many books with your kids this year.  Picture books, non-fiction, poetry-- It really does make a difference. You make a difference.

Now, here are some of these bright young students. 
Seeing them holding my books, I'm over the moon! 

(Kids at the Vernon Hill School in Worcester, MA. Love those smiles!)

Kids are the best!

I just finished a Skype visit with The Learning Center for the Deaf. I've Skyped with this school before and it's always such fun.

(This was one of my free Skypes, 15 minutes or so of Q&A with students who've read my book. Easy Peasy, I do it whenever I can.)

But y'all, I wanted to talk all day to these two.

Their teacher had gently cautioned me that they might need a little extra time. There would be an interpreter signing my answers. The boys were nervous about meeting an author in "real life."
Because really we're pretty scary!

Their questions about GLORY BE were thought-provoking; I'm still pondering my answers.

They wanted to see my office. (I showed them the palm trees out my window. I know, mean. They were cold up there. I'm pretty warm down here.) 

They wanted to know why there's no "Glory Be 2." (I get that a lot.)

They made a movie signing GLORY- a first! Their teacher explained that they used the sign for "laughing" because they think a lot of what she does is fun!

They sent me a thank-you letter. Which cracks me up. I hope my sister sees it.

This is truly why authors spend all those hours figuring out their stories. Mining our characters for depth and emotion, ARCS and DIALOG and INNER WISDOM. 
And then you send that book into the universe and you get this back. Kind of makes it all worthwhile, no?

Thank you, readers!

So many fun/funny/smart things in this new year of 2019!

This week I visited a local Book Group that had just finished GLORY BE. We had a "continental breakfast" and Q&A. A donut and a book, as one boy noted, "doesn't get much better than that."

The questions were a blast. 
One of my favorites? "Do you have any family members who've read this book?"
Oh boy, do I!
Here we are, disguised as copies of GLORY BE. Fun times!

I love sharing books with kids, so when they asked me who'd inspired me and also if I could recommend another book for them to discuss, I mentioned Barbara O'Connor and WISH. The librarian hustled himself off to the library and came back with this. WISH is on the current Sunshine Readers. Win win!

And then there was the mail.
A librarian in Texas had emailed to ask my mailing address. She had a student who'd read my novel, the first book she'd completed on her own. 
Writers, this is why we spend (so so many!) years trying to publish a book. Or writing a book. Or trying to publish multiple books. It's all about the readers.

On the second page of the letter, the P.S., Isabella tells me she wants to grow up and be just like me. 
I hope that means she's going to find another book to read all by herself. 
Of course, I answered her. And of course, I mentioned a few more books she might also love.

While tidying up my files, I found a group of letters from a school in Washington state.
I'd filed them away for when I worry that nobody's paying attention. And let me tell you, that happens to all writers!
Finding them today was a gift.

"When we stopped at a chapter, I wanted to keep reading!"

"Did you have a bossy sister? Did you have a friend like Frankie? Did you live a life like Glory?"

And what librarian-turned-author wouldn't cherish a picture of the library in GLORY BE? She even remembered the "Back Room."

Did I say it doesn't get much better than this lovely way to start the New Year? 
Here's hoping you've all had a little joy in your mailboxes, too.

Mr. Schu's Summer Road Trip

Hey, John? Remember when you had time to leisurely enjoy your summers? Read a ton of books? Travel around sharing them?

(Okay, you still do that last part!)

But a big thrill of my writing life was when you traveled to Mississippi on a summer roadtrip with GLORY BE on board.

Here's what popped up in my social media memory today.

                

CLICK HERE for lots more photos of Mr. Schu tripping all over Mississippi, including stops at the University of Southern Mississippi and the Welty Library. Cool beans!

(There's a Cactus Museum in Mississippi?)

Happy summer to my teacher and librarian friends!

This is the time of year when I get a lot of kids' letters. I know the end of the year is hectic, so I'm amazed at the teachers who have time to help students with this project, bundle a stack of letters up and get them to the post office.

A few of them are priceless.  
Like these from a school in Minnesota:
(Sorry about the boring parts, reader. But glad you appreciated my use of HOGWASH.)
 

(True confessions: I used to like being sneaky, too!)

Also this: 
"I like the book because Glory is like my friend. She is a good friend. Like me."
 Be still my heart...

Another take on the book: "I liked it because it has exciting dialogue. Glory and Jesslyn were always fighting and talking."

(Note to self- write lots of exciting dialog.)

Some send photos. How can an author resist an entire third grade reading her book, holding it high!

I'm still waiting for one class's letters, but they emailed and wanted to know about my dogs. So I sent photos of our most recent sweet pup-- ole Barley, and my two grand-dogs, Ellie and Rocky the Rock Star.

Thank you, teachers and librarians everywhere, for reading to your students, for sharing your love of books, for instilling a lifetime of curiosity and reading for pleasure. I hope you all have time to read exactly what you love- all summer long!


 

 Ellis is the newest addition to our family. 

Sweet Barley. We miss him a lot!

Rocky giving me the evil eye for not reading faster. My To Be Read stack is very high.

Thank you, Third Graders

My novel GLORY BE is used in a third-grade historical fiction curriculum (HERE'S the link) and this time of year I get A LOT of letters from those readers. 
I try to answer them all. 
Sadly, sometimes they reach me too late to answer.

Their questions are often thoughtful, sometimes wacky, occasionally critical, frequently helpful. 
Just this week, a third grade girl (Hi, Lydia!) advised me to continue to "put the little seeds you put in the beginning that make that problem big later in the book." 
I predict Lydia will be a smart editor or a writer herself someday. Or both.

Here's what one enterprising teacher came up with. And I love it.

Thank you, Ms. Neurer's Fabulous Third Graders, way up there in Minnesota! 

Have a Super Summer!

I am in awe of two teachers who pulled off one of my best ever Skype Q&A sessions on their LAST DAY OF SCHOOL.
(Okay, officially it was Facetime, not Skype, but it worked equally well, if not better than Skype...)

Their students were literally out the door! I mean, who would even attempt this? Two super teachers from Syracuse, that's who.

These same teachers from Jamesville-DeWitt Middle School were the first Skype visit I ever had, way back in spring, 2012. They've shared GLORY BE with their sixth graders and we've Skyped ever since. What a treat.

Today the questions were serious, funny, thoughtful, and challenging. I'm still thinking about the boy who asked if I could change places with one of my characters, what would I do differently. 
Or whether I saw the "times" as the antagonist/ villain. 
And how about that age-old question, asked by every writer: How do you know when your book is finished?  

(See below for more of the questions, just emailed to me.)

I suspect these kids are great readers and I hope they (and their fabulous teachers) and ALL you amazing teachers and librarians out there have a summer filled with books, friends, and maybe even time to write.

(When they asked what I would recommend for their summer reading, I just happened to have these books on the table right next to my computer!)

SUPER QUESTIONS:

After reading Glory Be, I felt that Emma kind of replaced the mom role to Glory.  Did you mean to do that?

What gave you the idea to make JT so mean? 

What made you decide to bring fact and history into your book instead of having it all fiction?

Have you written any other books?

How did Frankie's back story come to life or Who inspired Frankie's back story?

How do you know when your story is the way you want it? 

In the process of making your book how did you give (develop) Glory's personality?

Why did you choose July 4th as Glory's birthday?

How do you organize yourself for your book?

Were you a big fan, like Glory, of the Beatles, Elvis and Nancy Drew?

More Letters

As the school year draws to a close, my mailbox fills with wonderful messages, mostly from students who've read GLORY BE as part of their curriculum. Some illustrate their letters, some hope I'll write back, some are obviously part of an assignment.

But mostly what they're saying truly comes from their hearts and funny minds.

Two from today's batch:

"My favorite part of the story was when Glory hid in the back of the car and went with Robbie and Jesslyn. She was sneaky. Like I usually am."

"I think overall that was one of the best books I've read in a while and trust me I have read alot of books."

Way to make my day, kids!


When they illustrate scenes that make me think I have possibly written my descriptions well enough to show what's really happening, this reminds me always to add the details.

Five senses, fellow writers! And don't forget the sunshine!


 

Speaking of scenes:  http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/10-ways-to-launch-strong-scenes 
Good info for writers, including a new (to me- don't you love learning new editing words?) term: 
Soft Hiatus... Though I find fewer books use any kind of asterisk in the finished book, right?

"Visually, in a manuscript a new scene is usually signified by the start of a chapter, by a break of four lines (called a soft hiatus) between the last paragraph of one scene and the first paragraph of the next one, or sometimes by a symbol such as an asterisk, to let the reader know that time has passed."

Studying a Book

I'll admit to worrying when young readers are asked to over-analyze literature. 
When I was a school librarian, I loved book discussions and exuberant exchanges of ideas between students. But as far as delving too deeply into theme or word meanings, I admit to being a little on poet Billy Collins's side here.

CLICK HERE if you're not sure what he has to say about that.

But then something happened. Several schools in Washington state adopted the "Read Side by Side" curriculum, which includes my middle-grade novel, GLORY BE. Other places and classes used my books for read-alouds, book groups, and all sorts of discussions.

And I started getting letters from readers. Many asked thoughtful questions. Some were downright funny, in a very good way.

These two are about food.
If they only knew how many references I edited out over the years. 
The writer of the second letter would have really been hungry!

But there are a lot of serious questions, which make me realize my book is helping these young readers navigate new territory. 
This makes me very proud.

Some send illustrations.

And then you get a photo from a class that's read your book. 
Santa could not have brought a better gift.

And another from the letter-writers. (I sent them bookmarks along with my answer.)

 

In case anybody's still reading (and I know it's a long post), I'm going to quote an email from one teacher who'd used Read Side-by-Side, and my book:


The books that we read throughout the year as part of this curriculum all revolve around the issue of power.  We started the year reading Poppy by Avi, then read The War with Grandpa written by David Kimmel Smith, Martin Luther King, Jr. by Rob Lloyd Jones, your book Glory Be and finally Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli.  All of the books are slightly above grade level which is why they are read alouds, but the kids all have their own copies.  During reading time, we stop and take notes about characters and character traits based on evidence from the text and inferences from the text, we make predictions based on evidence, talk about the problems the characters encounter in the book, the setting, and relate the story to outside readings. 

The jump from “learning to read” to “reading to learn” between 2^nd and 3^rd grades is a big one.  I’ve loved how through this curriculum and fabulous books like yours, my students have learned to love reading and the beautiful subtleties of weaving a wonderful story like Glory Be.  When we read the part about Laura’s sock being found at the public pool, some of the students naturally thought she trashed the locker room.  We went back to our character lists and character traits lists and asked ourselves, “Does what we know about Laura so far support that thought that she trashed the locker room?  If not, how would someone have gotten her sock?”  When we looked back to the kickball scene and reread the part about J.T. nodding to Frankie, it was electric in the classroom!  We all had goosebumps realizing the beauty of that subtle hint and the depth of your writing.

This is why we keep writing, isn't it. 
For that moment one student or a whole classroom might get goosebumps. 
I know the feeling. It's very hard to write those moments. 

I would love to hear your thoughts on writing goosebump moments. 
Or reading them with your students.

Thank you, Skype!

One of the fun things I've done this year is to Skype with more classrooms than ever. Perhaps it all started with World Read Aloud Day. Scholastic also supported some of my Skype sessions. But somehow, this school year, I connected with more smart kids and their teachers and librarians than ever before.

Check out the trailers these fifth graders at Pioneer Middle School in Yorkshire, NY, made. It's an amazing class project, and I thank Mrs. Rice and her smart kids for all their hard work. They'd read GLORY BE as a class, and you can tell they spent a lot of time, energy, and love on this.

I'm so proud of them!
One of my favorite comments? "Charming like Jesslyn's charm bracelet."
And such strong verbs- I suspect there are more than a few budding writers in Mrs. Rice's class. Not to mention film makers!

Finding images that fit perfectly with their words = what a super learning experience.

Here's the link, again,  to watch their trailers:  http://www.pioneerschools.org/Page/7545

Here we are, Skyping!

Thank you, Mrs. Rice, her fifth graders, and Maria Muhlbauer their super librarian who set it all up.

And thank you for the lovely note that arrived in my mail today!