Kate Messner's Blog, page 9

Summer Update

I have to admit that when summer rolls around, all the rules go out the window at our place.  Everyone stays up too late and eats too  many s’mores.  Other than posts for Teachers Write, the virtual summer writing camp I started for teachers & librarians, I haven’t been blogging as regularly as I usually do, but I’ve been busy doing other stuff.

I launched a book.

CAPTURE THE FLAG came out July 1st, and is a Junior Library Guild Selection and won a Parents’ Choice Award.  People have been saying nice things about it, and some teachers have blogged about their plans to share it aloud with students, which makes me smile and smile.

I found out one of my other books is a finalist for an award.

OVER AND UNDER THE SNOW is up for the Cardozo Award for Children’s Literature. There are other beautiful books up for the award, too, and I’d love it if you’d click here and vote for your favorite – it doesn’t have to be mine – to support their program.

I wrote a book.

It is about a third grader named Marty, which means that I can finally answer all the people who have been asking, “Is there going to be another Marty McGuire book?” Yes. Yes indeed.  I’ll share more about Book 3 when I have all the details about launch dates and final titles and whatnot.  But for now…yay!

I caught this fish.

I caught some other ones, too, but they were mostly tiny and so no one went running for the camera when they showed up.

I revised a book.

HIDE AND SEEK is the sequel to CAPTURE THE FLAG and has gone off to copy edits. It comes out in April ’13.

I’m revising another book now.

WAKE UP MISSING is my middle grade thriller set in the Everglades, and it comes out in Fall 2013.  Which is really soon. So I’d better get back to it.  If you need me, I’ll be revising, or hanging out here.

Hope you’re having a great summer, too!

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Authors Who Skype with Classes & Book Clubs (for free!)

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Welcome to the Authors Who Skype with Classes & Book Clubs List!  I’m Kate Messner, the children’s author and educator who maintains this site.  I started it because I’ve found that virtual author visits are a great way to connect authors and readers, and I realize that many schools facing budget troubles don’t have the option of paid author visits. With that in mind, this is a list of authors who offer free 20-minute Q and A sessions with classes and book clubs that have finished reading one of their books. As an author, I offer free Skype chats for the following titles:


(Please check book release dates! Upcoming titles are also listed; Skype visits available upon book’s release!)

If you’re interested in booking a “virtual visit” with me, please visit my website or drop me an email (kmessner at katemessner dot com). 

How does a Skype virtual visit work?  Click here to read a blog entry about my students’ virtual visit with the fantastic Laurie Halse Anderson. It includes an overview of how a Skype chat with an author might work, as well as tips for teachers, librarians, & book club organizers to help your virtual visit run smoothly.  You can click here to read my first School Library Journal technology feature on Skype author visits, called “Met Any Good Authors Lately? Classroom Visits Can  Happen Via Skype” and this follow-up SLJ feature, “An Author in Every Classroom: Kids Connecting with Authors via Skype. It’s the next best thing to being there.”  There’s also an ever-growing list of authors who offer both free and paid Skype visits at the Skype An Author Network.

Important note for teachers & librarians: Please check with the author via email to be sure he or she still offers free Skype chats before you purchase books or make plans. (Some authors who start out offering free visits begin to charge later on, and I don’t always get those updates right away.)  And authors…if you’re on this list but no longer offer free Skype visits, please let me know.

Authors Who Skype With Classes & Book Clubs (for free!)

The following authors offer free 20-minute Skype chats with book clubs and classes that have read one of their books! (Many also offer more in-depth virtual visits for a fee.) To arrange a virtual visit, check out the authors’ websites for book choices and contact information.  Then ask for their books at your favorite bookstore or visit IndieBound to find a store near you!

For Middle Grade Book Clubs (Ages 8-12)

Sarah AlbeeR.J. AndersonDale BasyeJulie BerryHelene BoudreauLarry Dane BrimnerChristine Brodien-JonesSusan Taylor BrownLeslie BulionStephanie BurgisJennifer CervantesKatie DavisKenneth C. DavisJulia DeVillersErin DionneBonnie DoerrGail DonovanKathleen DubleKathleen DueySarah Beth DurstDeva FaganGreg FishboneDee GarretsonDonna GephartBridget HeosTess HilmoMark JeffreyDerek Taylor KentRose KentJane KurtzR.L. LaFeversIrene LathamLindsey LeavittDanette HaworthSara Lewis HolmesJo KnowlesJessica LeaderDebbie LevyCynthea LiuEric LuperTorrey MaldonadoLeslie MargolisNan MarinoKate MessnerRita MurphyRichard NewsomeWendy OrrMitali PerkinsSarah PrineasOlugbemisola Rhuday-PerkovichYolanda RidgeKaren Romano YoungKurtis ScalettaLaura SchaeferLisa SchroederAdam SelzerLaurel SnyderMargo SorensonTricia SpringtubbAnna StaniszewskiMelissa ThomsonJennifer TraftonAnne UrsuGreg van EekhoutCynthia WillisTracie Vaughn Zimmer

For Teen Book Clubs
(Also check out the list of adult authors below; many also work with teens.)

R.J. AndersonAnn AngelHeidi AyarbeKim BaccelliaPam BachorzCyn BalogTracey BaptisteLauren BjorkmanAmy Brecount WhiteSarah Rees BrennanLarry Dane BrimnerJennifer BrownJessica BurkhartKay CassidyAngela CerritoCrissa-Jean ChappellEllen Dee DavidsonKenneth C. DavisJaclyn DolamoreKathleen DubleKathleen DueySarah Beth DurstDebby Dahl EdwardsonBeth FehlbaumMegan FrazerMargie GelbwasserDavid Macinnis GillCarla GunnTeri HallBrendan HalpinS.A. HarazinSue HarrisonCheryl Renee HerbsmanJim C. HinesJennifer HubbardJennifer JabaleyDenise JadenChristine JohnsonTara KellyJames KennedyJo KnowlesDaniel KrausNina LaCourMarie LambaKristen LandonAnita LibertySarah Darer LittmanCynthea LiuElisa LudwigEric LuperSarah MacleanTorrey MaldonadoLeslie MargolisPeter MarinoNeesha MemingerMarissa MeyerLynn Miller-LachmanSaundra MitchellMike MullinGreg NeriPatricia NewmanCaragh O’BrienMicol OstowJackson PearceMitali PerkinsAmy PlumBeth RevisOlugbemisola Rhuday-PerkovichLena RoyCarrie RyanSydney SalterLisa SchroederInara ScottAdam SelzerKristina SpringerLaurie StolarzTiffany TrentMelissa WalkerMary Rose Wood

For Adult Book Clubs
(Also check out the authors listed above; middle grade & teen novels can be great book club selections!)

Christa AllanCharlene Ann BaumbichSandra GullandCarla GunnSue HarrisonSarah MacleanMaryann McFaddenKitty MorseOlugbemisola Rhuday-PerkovichKelly SimmonsGarth SteinGwendolyn Zepeda

Picture Book Clubs for Younger Readers  (4-8)

Marsha Diane ArnoldMike ArtellLouise BordenLarry Dane BrimnerSusan Taylor BrownLeslie BulionKatie DavisElizabeth DulembaKathy DuvalMarty Rhodes FigleyLaurie JacobsJane KohuthJane KurtzKara LareauDeb LundWendy MartinKate MessnerWendy OrrMichael ShouldersMargo SorensonJennifer WardNatasha Wing

If you’re an author of a traditionally published book who would like to be added, please email me (kmessner at katemessner dot com).  If you’re a publicist and would like to send a list of all your authors who Skype with book clubs, that’s fabulous, too.  Again…this is a list of authors who offer FREE 20-minute Skype chats with classrooms & book clubs that have read one of their books.

If you’re a bookseller or book club member, teacher, or librarian, thanks for stopping by – and feel free to comment with any questions!

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Teachers Write! 7/11 – Q and A Wednesday (and revision chat!)

Before we start Q and A today, let’s talk a little about revision. Some people hate revising. Lots of students really hate it.  But I LOVE revision. I love it so much, in fact, that I wrote a book about revision, about how to revise and how to teach students to revise using authors’ strategies.  At one point, I spent weeks revising my revision book, which felt like a very meta thing to do. But I digress.

Anyway…I believe that all great writing is re-writing, so toward the end of Teachers Write in August, we’re going to host a blog and Twitter chat all about revision. I’ll invite lots of authors to come talk about how they revise and to blog about their processes and we’ll link to all of those, too.  If you’d like, you can also treat it as a book club and read REAL REVISION (that book I wrote about revision) ahead of time so that you can ask questions and we can all talk about it.

Stenhouse, which published REAL REVISION, is offering a discount for those who would like to participate in our virtual book club this summer. If you go to the Stenhouse website and place any order that includes REAL REVISION, you’ll get 20% off the whole order, plus free shipping if you enter the discount code KATE.  (How cool is it that I have a discount code? I told my family that this really calls for more respect and chocolate, but they are unimpressed.) More info on the revision chat will be forthcoming in a few weeks, but for now, go ahead and order your book (or request it from your library!) if you’d like to be part of the book club conversation. And if you have other favorite Stenhouse books that you’d like to recommend to one another, please share titles in the comments, because you can totally take advantage of that REAL REVISION discount to get other professional books, too.

On to the questions now! Wednesday is Q and A Day at Teachers Write Virtual Summer Writing Camp, so if you have questions about writing, it’s time to fire away.

Today’s official author volunteers are Jo Knowles, Donna Gephart, Megan Miranda, Erica S. Perl, David Lubar, and Raymond Bean.  They’ve promised to be around to respond to your questions today, so please visit their websites & check out their books!

Teachers & librarians – Feel free to ask your questions in the comments.  Published author guests have volunteered to drop in and respond when they can, and I’ll be checking in from my retreat, too.

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Thank you, Bookstore Plus…

…and thanks to all the readers who came by my CAPTURE THE FLAG book signing or ordered personalized books from afar.  You made it such a magical afternoon!

Here I am with Sarah, co-owner of The Bookstore Plus and one of the nicest, smartest book people you’ll ever meet. She and the rest of the staff had me set up at a table on Main Street, the perfect place to meet lots of readers.  Many, many thanks to everyone who stopped by or sent good wishes from afar. You truly made it a Star-Spangled celebration!

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Cue the Fireworks!

CAPTURE THE FLAG, my new mystery for middle grade readers is out today!

There’s already been some exciting news about this book – it’s a Junior Library Guild Selection for the Mystery/Adventure category and won a Spring 2012 Parents Choice “Fun Stuff” Award…

“Characters are big and bold, from Senator Snickerbottom and his slippery crew to the mysterious tattooed man to Vincent Goosen, aka the Serpentine Prince, the Jaguar Society’s longtime nemesis. The unique environment provides a perfect setting for mayhem. There are baggage belts to ride, carts to steal and shampoo to dump on floors to trip the villains up. It’s a good mystery with lots of action and a nice friendship theme. The race to the end is exciting and leaves plenty of room for a sequel. A fun summer read – especially in an election year.”   ~Parents Choice Awards (Full review here)

“Just in time for the Fourth of July, a sparkling start for a promising new series.”  ~Kirkus (full review here)

Here’s more about the book:

Anna, José, and Henry are complete strangers with more in common than they realize. Snowed in together at a chaotic Washington DC airport, they encounter a mysterious tattooed man, a flamboyant politician, and a rambunctious poodle named for an ancient king. Even stranger…news stations everywhere have announced that the famous flag that inspired “The Star-Spangled Banner” has been stolen! Anna, certain that the culprits must be snowed in, too, recruits Henry and José to help catch the thieves and bring them to justice.

But unexpected enemies lurk around every corner, and when accusations start flying, the kids soon realize there’s more than a national treasure at stake.

Want to start reading now? The first two chapters are here.

You can click here to add CAPTURE THE FLAG to your list on GoodReads, or here to find it at your local indie bookseller, or here to “like” it on Facebook.

And as of today, you can find CAPTURE THE FLAG at your favorite local bookstore or order a personalized, signed copy through one of my favorite indies, The Bookstore Plus in Lake Placid (Their number is 518-523-2950 – you’d need to call Monday morning, 7/2 before my signing that afternoon!)

Teacher & librarian friends may also want to check out my Pinterest board with CAPTURE THE FLAG resources for the classroom and library.  And for my fellow research geeks…if you want to read more about the real Star-Spangled Banner (which has not, to date, been stolen in real life) check out these great resources from the Smithsonian.

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Virtual Book Signing!

I’ve done hundred of virtual author visits, and I’m running a virtual writing camp for teachers this summer, so why not a virtual book signing for my new mystery for kids, CAPTURE THE FLAG?

Monday, July 2nd is one day after CAPTURE THE FLAG’s birthday, one day before my birthday and two days before America’s (cue the fireworks!) so it seemed like the perfect day to celebrate with a book launch event at one of my favorite independent bookstores, The Bookstore Plus in Lake Placid, NY.  Of course, if you live nearby, I’d love to see you there in person (it’s from 4-6pm), but the fantastic folks at The Bookstore Plus have arranged for far-away friends to order personalized, signed books, too. Here’s how…

If you’d like to order personalized, signed copies of any of my books for kids, call The Bookstore Plus at 518-523-2950.

Let them know which books you’d like to order, how many copies you want, and how you’d like them signed.  They have a form to write everything down. If you’re part of the Teachers Write community, please let them know that, too (I have a special inscription for you!) They’ll take your order, I’ll sign your books on July 2nd, and they’ll ship them out that week.  Shipping is free on orders over $50 and reasonable on smaller orders, too.

Here are the books they’ll have available. You can click on titles for more information.

CAPTURE THE FLAG – Mystery/Adventure – best for ages 8-12  (Hardcover – $16.99 – Scholastic)

EYE OF THE STORM – Science Thriller – best for ages 10-14 (Hardcover – $6.99 – Walker/Bloomsbury)

SUGAR AND ICE – Figure skating novel – best for ages 8-12 (Paperback – $7.99/Hardcover – $16.99 – Walker/Bloomsbury)

THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z. – School novel – best for ages 8-12 (Paperback – $6.99/Hardcover – $16.99 – Walker/Bloomsbury)

MARTY MCGUIRE  and MARTY MCGUIRE DIGS WORMS – Funny chapter books – best for ages 6-10 (Paperback – $5.99/Hardcover – $15.99 – Scholastic)

OVER AND UNDER THE SNOW – Nature picture book – best for all ages to share aloud – (Hardcover – $16.99 – Chronicle Books)

SEA MONSTER’S FIRST DAY – 1st day of school picture book – best for ages 3-7 – (Hardcover – $16.99- Chronicle Books)

So…if you’d like to order signed books for yourself, or your classroom or library, or for a summer birthday present or hostess gift, or back-to-school surprise — or just because summer is for reading — call The Bookstore Plus at 518-523-2950. And if you do live nearby or you’re up for a drive in the mountains, I’d love to see you in Lake Placid on July 2nd!

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Thank you, Adirondack Center for Writing!

The magical and wonder-filled Adirondack Mountains are the setting for OVER AND UNDER THE SNOW, the picture book that I wrote and Christopher Silas Neal illustrated. So it was beyond exciting when our book won the Adirondack Literary Award for Children’s Literature in Blue Mountain Lake this weekend. And what a setting for the event!

View from the Blue Mountain Center

It was so much fun to hear about all the other award-winning titles, too. Best Fiction went to author Steven Millhauser for We Others:  New and Selected Stories, Best Memoir to Earth, Air, Fire, & Water by Jean Rikhoff.  An Elegant Wilderness: Great Camps and Grand Lodges of the Adirondacks by Gladys Montgomery won for Best Nonfiction. Best edited collection went to Heaven Up-h’isted-ness! The History of the Adirondack Forty-Sixers and the High Peaks of the Adirondacks edited by Suzanne Lance. The Best Book of Poetry went to Paul Pines for Reflections in a Smoking Mirror.  And the People’s Choice Award went to Questions  for the Sphinx  by Stuart Bartow.

One of my favorite parts of the day was listening to author, storyteller, and poet Joseph Bruchac read aloud from some of the nominated fiction and poetry. You know how some people are just amazing at reading aloud? He’s like that. I wish you could hear…

Toward the end of the event, I discovered that my husband and kids had…well…disappeared. I went looking for them down by the lake (always a good place to start with my family).  I found them in the boathouse playing ping pong and joined in for a game or two before it was time to go home.

Thanks, Adirondack Center for Writing and Blue Mountain Center, for a wonderful celebration of words and a magical clouds-in-the-water afternoon.

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Teachers Write! 6/12 Tuesday Quick-Write

On Tuesdays & Thursdays during Teachers Write! Virtual Summer Writing Camp, I’ll be sharing quick-write prompts, designed to get you free-writing for a few minutes in response to a question or idea. These can be used as a simple free-write, brainstorming, warm-up activity OR as a way to deepen your thinking about a work-in-progress.   Got your keyboard or pencil ready?

Today’s writing prompt is courtesy of guest author Jeannine Atkins, whose most recent book is Borrowed Names: Poems about Laura Ingalls Wilder, Madam C. J. Walker, Marie Curie and Their Daughters (Holt).  She teaches Children’s Literature at UMass-Amherst and a graduate course in writing for children at Simmons College. You can learn more on her website at http://www.Jeannineatkins.com

Advice from a writing teacher my freshman year in college has stuck with me all these years. She took a look at my labored prose and suggested I take a break to write some letters home describing life around me. My family was glad for some details, and I got the point that writing can be best when begun with a very particular audience in mind, rather than the vague judge I’d been used to writing papers for, backing up opinions and providing citations.

I suggest taking the main character of the piece you’re working on, or want to start, and write about her or him as if to your mom or a trusted friend. Or begin a poem or story as a letter to your main character, or if you’re already on your way, take a break to ask your character the sort of sincere, casual questions we often reserve for friends. These questions might include: Do you have a favorite place to be alone?  A favorite toy, piece of clothing, pet, tree, tool, or book?  Did someone encourage you to do what you love?  How? Did anyone try to stop you?  What did they do or say? What parts of your work are hard or boring?  What mistakes did you make?  What did you learn from them? Who or what do you love?

What starts as a letter may turn into more of a conversation, and if your character seems chatty, please, just let her speak, even when it seems off topic.

You might move into writing dialog between two characters. Or you can write a poem based on questions and responses, and edit out the questions if you want. Love That Dog by Sharon Creech is an excellent example of a narrative composed of a boy’s letters to his teacher, which makes it clear we don’t need her replies to get a sense of her character.

Thanks, Jeannine!

Lots of options for today’s quick-write. Ready? Get writing! And if you’d like, stop back later on to share a paragraph or two in comments.

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Teachers Write! 6/8 Friday Writing Happy Hour

Congratulations! You’ve survived your first week of virtual summer writing camp. That wasn’t so scary, was it?

Friday Writing Happy Hour is a chance to relax and share conversation about our progress, goals, accomplishments, and whatever else is on your mind. Let me know how you think it’s going so far.  And if you’d like feedback on a snippet of writing you did this week, head on over to Gae Polisner’s blog for Friday Feedback, where you can share a few paragraphs of your work and offer feedback to others, too.

Thanks to my editor Mary Kate Castellani at Walker/Bloomsbury, we’re also going to give out some presents today.  When I told Mary Kate about writing camp and about all of you, she offered to donate five hardcover copies of my science thriller EYE OF THE STORM as a giveaway for our first Friday celebration.

So…if you wrote this week, just leave any sort of comment at all on this post, and you’ll be entered to win EYE OF THE STORM.  It’s recommended for kids in grades 4-8, and you can read more about it here.

You have until 11pm EST on Saturday to enter. I’ll do a random drawing & announce FIVE winners Monday morning.

Enjoy your weekend, remember to check in at Jen’s Teach Mentor Texts blog on Sunday, and we’ll see you back here first thing Monday morning!

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Book Expo America: A New York Whirlwind

I spent the first part of this week in New York City for Book Expo America, a frighteningly enormous publishing trade show at the Javits Center. This was my first BEA, thanks to Chronicle Books, which sent me to attend the ABA Celebration of Bookselling where OVER AND UNDER THE SNOW received an E.B. White Read Aloud Honor. But I’m getting ahead of myself…

I actually arrived in New York on Monday, in time to have lunch with my Walker/Bloomsbury editor, Mary Kate, before heading to the Scholastic offices for a big party for bloggers. The “Scholastic Live” event featured a bunch of authors, including me, performing readers theater from one another’s new books.  It was so much fun to be part of a dramatic reading from CAPTURE THE FLAG — and I’ll tell you that Raina Telgemeier, Jeff Hirsch, and Donna Cooner have some serious acting skills!  Here’s a photo of the four of us, acting out a scene from Raina’s upcoming graphic novel, DRAMA.

Before the blogger party, all the authors signed books here:

Turns out this is THE room where acquisitions meetings happen at Scholastic. When David Levithan told us that, a sort of awed hush fell over that big conference table. Then we all admitted we’d imagined the chairs would be a lot cushier.

After a late dinner with my agent and some of her smart, hilarious clients…and a few hours of sleep…and an early breakfast with my Scholastic editor, it was time for a video shoot at the Scholastic offices.

The video we taped is especially for teachers & librarians, and I’ll be sure to let you know when it’s up on the Scholastic website!

Then it was off to BEA for the awards luncheon, where I got to meet OVER AND UNDER THE SNOW illustrator Christopher Silas Neal for the first time ever.  Here he is saying thanks to indie booksellers for the E.B. White Read Aloud Honor.

You can read more about the luncheon and see the full list of winners here.

Before it was time for me to fly home, I took a walk through the BEA exhibits hall, which was big and busy and kind of scary in its intensity. But it was fun to play “spot the celebrity.”  Know who this is?

I’ll give you a hint: Excuse me, sir. I think there’s been a mistake. I know we’re in detention but I don’t think I belong here.

Yep – it’s Molly Ringwald of Breakfast Club fame. She wrote a book and was signing copies of it for this crazy mob of people.

That’s the crowd at the BEA autographing stalls…which scared me into leaving a little early for the airport.

Many thanks to the ABA and all of the independent booksellers who not only serve as their communities’ literary hearts but also share my books with readers.  Thanks for the E.B. White Honor, for sure. But mostly, thanks for just doing what you do. I hope you get to keep doing it for a long, long time.

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