The Page 69 Test

I've often (always) appreciated this tricky way to decide whether I'd like to invest a whole lot of time reading a book, haven't you?

Go see if you'd like to read p. 69 in THE WAY TO STAY IN DESTINY. 
And hear what I think about whether it's a good indication of the entire book.

I'd actually written about this test before I knew Marshall had an entire website devoted to books and their page 69s. 

(CLICK HERE to see some of my own tests.)

Wow. Laura Lippman's new book is right near mine on Marshal Zeringue's site!

Check it out and have fun reading.

The Desperate Adventures of Zeno and Alya

 Hot off the presses, THE DESPERATE ADVENTURES OF ZENO AND ALYA, 
just out this month.
Such a good book! 
An adventure, a talking animal story, a family who loves being a family, a parrot separated from his owner, a girl who's close to giving up, a brother who loves her, a worried mom, and a lot of appealing animal characters to lighten things up.




Two of my favorite quotes-
From Alya, upon reading The Secret Garden:

She opened the book, grateful to enter its world again. She knew she was too old to believe in magic. She wished she still could.

And Zeno, the grey parrot who speaks 127 words:

"Home! Home! Home!" he said it several more times. He was always proud to have learned a new word, particularly one as important as this.

Kirby Larson loves the book, too. Here's what she blurbed for the book:

“From the moment Zeno, the African grey parrot, strutted onto the scene, I was captivated. His sense of self— ‘Zeno wants’—is battered by uncertain freedom, inferior birds, and a devastating lack of banana-nut muffins, yet he perseveres. He believes he has this freedom thing down pat. It is not until he encounters Alya, a young girl limply falling deeper and deeper into a confinement triggered by her illness, that Zeno’s vocabulary of 127 words is increased by one of the most important of all: home. This story of Zeno, Bunny, and Alya flew straight into my heart. I will be thinking about these unlikely friends for a long, long time.”

    ––Kirby Larson Newbery Honor Winner, author of  Hattie Big Sky and Hattie Ever After

Yes, very unlikely friends. But I couldn't have said it any better. Perseverance! That's truly a lesson to take away from this little story.

 

 CLICK HERE for an excellent review from the Page 69 Blog. 

Page 69- an interesting concept:

"Open the book to page ninety-nine and read, and the quality of the whole will be revealed to you." --Ford Madox Ford

But Page 69 it doesn't do this novel justice. 

Although I've known plenty of kids who ask their librarians for a "sad book," I'm not crazy about reading books featuring sick children. I'm sure there are plenty of great ones, but if you tell me that's the main focus of a novel, I may steer clear.

But I LOVED this new middle-grade novel. 
There's so much more than a sick child to this story.


HERE'S the author's website.
With a link to purchase the book. 

(Thank you to Feiwel and Friends, publisher, for the ARC of Jane Kelley's book.)

SPELLING WOES

Today I typed the word NICKLE into my manuscript.
What? say you. Nickle isn't a word.
Sadly, I know this.

It's NICKEL.
 

I learned this in 4th or 5th grade at the Hill Demonstration School where I spent my earliest elementary years. Considering myself a stand-out speller, I won the class spelling bee and moved on to the school bee. Where the word NICKEL tripped me up. I remember it like it was yesterday and it was a zillion yesterdays ago.

(And yes, as my friend Sylvia pointed out on Facebook, a nickel isn't all that important these days. That's what I love about writing historical fiction. Nickels still count. And Tangee lipstick. And bobby-sox. And 45 records. See I could go on and on. But this blog is about SPELLING. Kind of.)

Spelling.
Maybe that's why one of my absolute-favorite-of-all-times books is

FAME AND GLORY IN FREEDOM, GEORGIA, 
by Barbara O'Connor.

CLICK HERE for a very early review I wrote, before I really realized what a storyteller Barbara O'Connor is. It may have been the first book I read of hers. I love the southerness of the story and the characters. I love the twist near the end. I love how everything doesn't always end with Happily Ever After in Barbara's books.

And I love the Spelling Bee parts. How hard poor Bird works to get to Disney!
To make a friend our of Harlem.
Sigh. I think I need to read that book again right now.

If you've missed it, here are links to buy your own copy:

http://www.indiebound.org/search/apachesolr_search?family_id_filter=0818904

http://www.amazon.com/Glory-Freedom-Georgia-Barbara-OConnor/dp/0374400180


I thought I'd never forget how to spell Nickel.
I won't ever forget the day I misspelled it.


You might also be interested in these posts.
The Page 69 Test.
Writing Tip Tuesdays

Quitting Before Finishing

When I was a kid, we had rules in our family like you don't quit piano lessons, don't turn on the TV till you've finished the homework, and don't toss anything out that might still have a few good uses left. In other words, Finish What You Start.

When I was 20-something I had a rule that, once started, I always finished a book. No matter how boring or poorly written. Now I have a different rule about books. Although by and large, I don't really get into a book with the intention of giving up, I'm perfectly happy to close it if the beginning chapters don't interest me. Occasionally I read for a while, find my interest waning and give the book the Page 69 Test. If it fails that, and no one is requiring me to finish, the book is history.

I also feel that way about writing and bad wine. No reason to devote too much time to either if they just aren't working.

Here's an essay with writer Varian Johnson, about his writing process. I totally understand how this feels:
I’ve found that if I still love a story after three chapters, I’ll stick with it. If not, it goes to the big recycle bin in the sky.

Amen to that.

My friend Sue Laneve once cautioned me to explore many options before starting a new writing project, trying them all out before delving into one. Once chosen, it's going to require a lot of energy. Why write past 3 chapters if it's just not working? Is this quitting too soon? Maybe 3 chapters is enough to at least put it in the drawer for a while.