It's Monday and I'm Reading

the BEST BOOK!

(Full disclosure: I've met the author at two terrific Maryland SCBWI conferences over the years, where I connected with two great agents and was signed by Linda Pratt so naturally I've always had a soft spot in my heart for those events' organizers, and Naomi was there. And speaking of events, if you're in NYC or MA or MD, CLICK HERE TO SEE where you can actually meet Naomi Milliner and ask her about this fun, important, beautifully-written story.)


But #IMWAYR is all about reading and sharing. 
And people, you do not want to miss this one:

There are so many reasons to buy this book. I bought it because I have a reader in the family who's into magic. He's a little young for middle-grade novels, but give him another year and I predict this will be a favorite. 

So there's magic and Jake's a magician, obviously (great cover image!). And he's funny. Perfect, right?
BUT this book is so much more. 
The brothers' connection is perfectly written. Big brother Ethan is a narrator to love. He's funny. He's mad. He's caring. He's a normal kid. 

There are three boys in the family. One is Jake, the baby brother with special needs. Jake is special in many ways, and this is another reason to own this book. 

Parents are important to the story, but they don't rule the world. I can vouch for the difficulty of having adults in the room, so to speak. It's a tricky balance. Of course, kids have parents and teachers (Jake has a really good one, striking the right balance between listening with a chocolate bar and letting a kid find his own way). But I think kids love reading the parts of a story where kids interact with their friends (and enemies!), where school scenes ring true, where birthday parties don't always turn out exactly as planned. Yep, that's Jake and his brothers and their friends. Ethan's difficult decisions feel authentic. Oh how well the author understands her characters!

There is a whole lot of truth inside these pages. You know those reviews that say "I laughed, I cried"? Well, I truly did while reading SUPER JAKE & THE KING OF CHAOS.
Well done, Naomi Milliner.



I'm sharing another book today: LEAVING GEE'S BEND

Okay, today I re-read parts of it. I've read it more than once. 
I was inspired to dip into this story by Kirby Larson's FRIEND FRIDAY blogpost with Irene. 
Irene shares some very powerful, very personal remarks about writing outside your own culture. She has a new picture book about an African American boy, MEET MISS FANCY. Check out Kirby's blog to find out more about this book. 


I've been traveling and reading a whole bunch of grown-up books on my Kindle, via my wonderful public library, but I finished one middle-grade novel and reread parts of another, and I call that a top ten day!

Happy summer to my librarian and teacher friends. Here's to joyful, lazy, feet-up, sweet tea reading days!

Mississippi Book Festival, 2018

In Pictures!

I'm proud to have been a part of the 2018 Mississippi Book Festival. This was my third festival, and they just keep getting better. This year, with Ellen Ruffin's magic touch, there was a kick-off event at the fabulous Pass Christian Books. Our panel of kids' writers signed books and spoke a little about our books and then had the most fabulous dinner with Margaret McMullan and her family.

The Bookstore!

 

(Dinner was shrimp and grits. And a yummy dessert called Bayou Bites.)

I had breakfast early Friday morning at the bookstore and it may have been the best breakfast I've ever eaten. The tea! The view! Surrounded by books, I was fortified for the day ahead.
(side note, I spent a lot of time as a little girl on Mississippi's Gulf Coast, including a week in Pass Christian at Camp Kittiwake. The little town is so beautiful now.) 







First stop, with my new buddy, Rose Brock, who edited a book I can't wait to read. She and I headed to the schools in Bay St. Louis.

 (A link to interviews with two of the authors who were on Hope's panel in Jackson.

I spoke to two groups (over 200 kids!) at the Bay Waveland Middle School. (Can you guess this item from my Junk Poker shoebox?)

 



Thank you, Emily, for playing Super Hero Librarian. Really had a fun time.

 (Loved the t-shirts worn by many! The tech and lighting guys saved the day!)

And the winners were...

Next, Stone County, Mississippi. Thanks to Kathryn Lewis and the McMullan Family Foundation, and of course, Ellen Ruffin for making this day happen. The pictures from Perkinston Elementary School speak for themselves. I had a ball talking to these fourth graders.

(I love to recommend books. This time I recommended a few and told a funny story about my friend, Barbara O'Connor, advising me not only on writing but dancing. Here we are demoing a shuffle-ball-change.)

Signing books and reading books!
 

 Now, on to Jackson, to the Book Festival!

 (A different Middle Grade group was moderated by Clara Martin. 

Photographed by Ellen Ruffin.)

:)

I got to moderate this panel of Mississippi-connected Middle Grade Authors. Jo Hackl, Deborah Wiles, Jimmy Cajoleas. 

and Linda Williams Jackson.

Somehow Linda got left off the above photos, 

so here's a wonderful picture of her with James Meredith!

Loved the Picture Book Panel, and especially hearing Irene Latham and Charles Waters speak about CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR. The Book Festival folks gave a lot of copies of this one to Jackson school kids. So many great things about this Festival.

(I've blogged about their book, and you can read it here.)

(Sarah Frances Hardy, Margaret McMullan, and a wiped-out me at the end of a really fabulous day...)

 The book Swag

The Booksellers! Lemuria Books, the best.

Another thing I love about this festival. Being with friends and family. This year I didn't take a single photo of my family. But they were there!
I did take a picture of the supper my best friend forever, Ivy Alley,  provided one night. I told her all we needed was "cheese and crackers." 
(Friday night she'd served me and our friend, the fabulous writer Minrose Gwin, fried chicken-- including a small side of chicken livers as per my request, zucchini fritters, and I forget what else yummy was on the plate. Because, no photo.)

I did take a picture of my "cheese and crackers."  Ivy is a fabulous hostess. There was caramel cake, a gift from my brother and sister. Thanks, Jack and Jane!

On Sunday, I visited the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. 
This quote seemed appropriate for the weekend.   

Recap by the numbers:  300 kids, 2 schools, 1 bookstore, more-than-I-care-to-count fabulous meals:
A small sample:
Shrimp and Grits
Bayou Bites and brownies
Fried chicken
Caramel Cake
Vegetable plate (field peas and turnip greens!)
Biscuits for breakfast, twice, with bacon
Bread pudding AND pecan pie
Dinner at Saltine with family
"Cheese and crackers" supper

Thoughts for the Day

Life has been busy and crazy, and my poor blog has been overlooked. I've been writing, but it's hard to be inspired with all that's swirling around us.

Then this morning on a walk I saw this bumper sticker.

Today, while re-reading an email, I noticed this on Irene Latham's signature. 

(If you want to be treated to gems like this on a regular basis, read her blog. So good.)

"NOT knowing when the dawn will come

     I open every door."  - Emily Dickinson

  


And while I was writing this post, a friend shared this photograph from their Irma evacuation.

That should do very nicely for inspiration, don't you agree?

Happy almost birthday, Richard Peck

Yes, I missed the exact day. But it's April so I'm going with that.

I love this blog's "literary birthdays" feature.

http://writers-write-creative-blog.posthaven.com/literary-birthday-5-april-richard-peck

Click on it quick. Some great quotes from Mr. Peck.

My favorites are the last two:

1. Nobody but a reader becomes a writer.
2. The only way you can write is by the light of the bridges burning behind you.

For more great Richard Peck quotes, check out Irene Latham's post, written after he spoke at the KAIGLER BOOK FESTIVAL in Hattiesburg, MS at the University of Southern Mississippi a few years ago.

Quotes like these:

"Childhood is a jungle, not a garden."

"Kids are not looking for authors in books; they are looking for themselves."

Top Ten

(Actually Fourteen) Things I just this minute learned about blogging.
From my writer friend Irene Latham.

Her anniversary blogpost is a MUST READ.   (click there!)

You know when somebody announces "I couldn't have said it better myself" and then goes on to attempt to to it anyhow? I'm not doing that.

I truly can't think of another thing I could add to her list of
14 Things I've Learned in 10 Years of Blogging. (Go ahead, click her link!)

Except Happy Blog-i-versary, Irene.

Since Irene knows pictures are worth a thousand words...

And please,

No Resolutions

I'm not good at New Year's Resolutions. But I do like goals, or at least thinking about goals. Especially the first week in January.

Because I have such eloquent writer friends (one of whom I actually know as an in-person, flesh and blood friend), I'm going to let them say what I've been thinking. I could not have written it better myself.

From fellow 2012 Debut Writer, Caroline Starr Rose (whom I truly hope to meet this year), good thoughts on Jumpstarting Your Writing in the New Year, with a reading list of craft books. Here's the link:
http://carolinebyline.blogspot.com/2013/01/jumpstart-your-writing-in-new-year-part.html

While you're there, check out her previous entry, about Goodreads and the public life of writers/ readers.

Irene Latham's first book, Leaving Gee's Bend is still one of my favorite historical fiction novels. (Her new book is on my list to read!) She, like Caroline, is a poet, so it doesn't surprise me that she chooses one word to guide her new year.

Read her blogpost about ONE LITTLE WORD  here: 
http://irenelatham.blogspot.com/2013/01/one-little-word-for-2013.html

Now, what could MY word be? Thinking! Hmm. Thinking? That's not my it, but it well could be.
I'm leaning toward PONDER because I've always liked that word...

And my Tampa writer buddy, Rob Sanders goes with Three Words: http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2013/01/three-words.html

Are we all thinking of new beginnings? Tossing out old calendars, expired coupons and cans, shoes that don't fit? Cleaning out the Junk Drawer and the window sills, donating to our libraries and our friends the books we know we'll sadly never read.

For me, 2012 will be hard to beat.
But here's to 2013!


Each year I toss out my previous year's Quaker Motto Calendar and hang the new one over my desk. But before I do that, I reread the quotations and often use the backs of the pages for notes. Here's an old one that seems particularly appropriate for the New Year, for writing, or just for moving ahead in a busy world.

If you're still with me here, this could be your lucky day. I found an extra 2013 Quaker Motto Calendar hiding in my stash. Leave me a comment and I'll draw a name tomorrow evening (January 3, because everybody needs an inspiring little calendar ASAP) and send it right off.

Smack Dab in the Middle

Love this blog! So honored to be interviewed here:

SMACK DAB IN THE MIDDLE   (☜☜☜click there!)
'
And by Irene Latham, no less, whose book about the quilters at Gee's Bend I absolutely adored.

Quote of the Day

"We write by the light of every book we've ever read."
Great quote by a favorite kids' writer, Richard Peck.

Read more from him over at Irene Latham's blog.

Related posts: Gee's Bend by Irene Latham

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