Kate Messner's Blog, page 38

New Book Project (and this one is for TEACHERS!)

Confession: I am addicted to revision.  



The addition of shiny new scenes.
The rearranging of chapters.
The satisfying chopping of dead-weight paragraphs.
The lingering over words.
The liberal sticking of Post-It Notes.

What's not to love? Revision has always been my favorite part of the writing process, and if you read this blog, you know that I talk about revision all the time.

Even so, I was taken a little off guard when I got an email a few months ago from the very friendly acquisitions ed...

Silver Lake Bog

When it finally stopped raining on Saturday, my daughter and I decided a hike was in order.  We decided on Silver Lake Bog because we haven't been there in a while and because Jo Knowles blogged about her bog walk earlier this week and reminded us how lovely this unique environment can be.  We brought our binoculars, since we have decided that we want to start keeping a bird list, and set out down the boardwalk.





This little guy was crossing the boardwalk ahead of us. 



I'm pretty sure it must b...

Summer Reading, Summer Writing (and some book news!)

With just four days of regular classes left in my school year, there is the usual flurry of June activity. My students are finishing pieces of persuasive writing about issues that matter to them, and on Monday, we'll be hunting down addresses and emails for the Senators, company presidents, newspapers, mayors, city coucilors, principals, and others, and sending them off.  "Really?" my kids asked when I first explained that I was only a secondary audience for this piece of writing. Some wonder...

Hedgehog sitting

We have a house guest this week.





This is marjorielight  's African hedgehog, Hermione.  Our Dumbo rats, Chester and Guy, are being kind enough to share their basement rec room with her this week so daughter can babysit while Marjorie is away.  Don't worry...they have separate cages, though we did take them out to let them sniff one another tonight.  I imagine it went something like this:

Hermione:  Rats? I'm sleeping in a room with rats?

Guy: Bonjour! (Guy is French Canadian...We bought him from ...

SETH BAUMGARTNER'S LOVE MANIFESTO by Eric Luper

I'm about half an hour early in celebrating the release day for this book, but just couldn't wait for it to be officially June 8th. 



Why the excitement?

For starters, SETH BAUMGARTNER'S LOVE MANIFESTO by Eric Luper is one of the funniest books I've ever read -- snorting, laugh-out-loud, funny. But what makes it even more terrific is that the humor is mixed with drama, hope, and the kind of heartbreak that only comes with being a teenager in love.

Poor Seth is having a rough day when the book o...

Costa Rica, Core Standards, and Magic Paintings: Five Things on a Friday

1. It looks like we may (fingers crossed) be going to Costa Rica for a week this summer. 



I have wanted to visit a true tropical rain forest for as long as I've known they existed, so I'm downright giddy about this.  In addition to spending some time in the Sarapiqui River area, we're thinking about a couple days near the Arenal Volcano.  If you've been to either of those areas, I'd love to hear a little about where you stayed & what you thought.

2. I hit the 30,000 word mark on my new MG nov...

Thank you, New Hampshire Librarians!

Yesterday, I signed a big stack of book plates and mailed them off to New Hampshire for an exciting reason.



THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z. has been named to the Great Stone Face Award list for 2010-2011!


That's New Hampshire's children's choice award for kids in grades 4-6.  It's named after a rock formation that actually collapsed back in 2003.  Here's a before-and-after image.


http://www.lessignets.com/signetsdian...

See the face u...

29 Hours in New York

I think I may have been the only bookish person in the world heading to New York City on Friday of the holiday weekend, after BEA was over, but it was a great, quick trip all the same. A few quick Tuesday-morning highlights before I head off to school...

1. I got to meet with my agent, the wonderful and funny Jennifer Laughran, who did not want her picture taken. Instead, I will show you what I had for dessert at our little rendezvous.



2. My husband somehow managed to get tickets to Glee Live a...

Blogger Block Party & ARC Contest Winner

Thanks to all who visited a bunch of new bloggers to welcome them to the neighborhood at my little online block party last week!  As promised, I put everyone's name in a drawing for an ARC of SUGAR AND ICE, but things...er...didn't go quite as planned.

You see, when I asked my daughter what might be a fun way to do the drawing, she suggested that we let one of her pet Dumbo rats choose the winner.  So we put all the names on a blanket on the floor. 



Then we got Guy (rhymes with "tree" - he is a...

Thank you: An Open Letter to the Association of Booksellers for Children

Dear Indie Booksellers,

I have been thinking all day about what I could write that might possibly express how truly grateful I feel about THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z. winning the E.B. White Read Aloud Award at BEA last night.

First, I thought I'd say thanks for all that you do -- for authors and teachers and librarians, for families like mine and kids like my students -- every day.  You cheer for our books, help our kids grow into young adults, help our young adults find their places ...