Irene Latham's Blog, page 151

TWITTER LIST OF PEOPLE WHO WRITE POETRY FOR CHILDREN

I am away from my desk (having fun at #siba12), but I wanted to share with you the list I've populated over the past couple of weeks as I have savored The Poetry Friday Anthology compiled by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong.

Here's some Twitter handles for contributors to that anthology, and others. If you are not on the list and would like to be, please leave your Twitter handle in comments!

And don't forget to visit lovely Katya at Write. Sketch. Repeat. for Poetry Friday roundup!

@ReneeMLaTulippe
@edecaria
@JoyAcey
@jeannineatkins
@susanwrites
@LeslieBulion
@CalmensonKidBks
@RebeccaKai
@FrancosMom
@FatherGooze
@MaryLeeHahn
@DavidLHarrison1
@Georgiaheard1
@jacquelinejules
@debbielevybooks
@KidsPoetLaureat
@irene_latham
@ggmccall
@heidimordhorst
@poetry4kids
@lesleanewman
@LindaSuePark
@gregpincus
@MichaelRosenYes
@MichaelSalinger
@susan_marie
@amylvpoemfarm
@waterscharles
@stevenwithrow
@AllanWolf100

#SIBA12

Heading to the airport today for sunny Naples, Florida, where the SIBA Trade Show will get in full swing beginning Thursday evening.

My part won't happen until Friday, when I share a panel called "Twins, Takers & Middle Grade Stars."

Moderator:  Kelly Justice, Fountain Bookstore
Adam Troy-Castro, Gustav Gloom and the People Taker
Ellis Weiner, The Templeton Twins have an Idea (Chronicle Books)
Irene Latham, Don’t Feed the Boy (Roaring Brook Press)
Shannon Messenger, Keeper of the Lost Cities (Simon & Schuster)




And what will I be doing until Friday?
Well. I have a school visit! Yep, I am thrilled to be visiting Golden Gate High School! I made a special connection with this school and awesome media specialist Veronica Perinon last year during a Skype visit. And now we get to meet in person! 
Yay for meeting indie booksellers and students and book-lovers of all ages! EXCITED!

HOW TO PLEASE AN AUTHOR ACCORDING TO MARK TWAIN

"There are three infallible ways of pleasing an author...

1, to tell him you have read one of his books;

2, to tell him you have read all of his books;

3, to ask him to let you read the manuscript of his forthcoming book.

No. 1 admits you to his respect; No. 2 admits you to his admiration; No. 3 carries you clear into his heart."

- Mark Twain

Truly, it is gift when someone is willing to wade through early drafts of a novel... Thank you to all my wonderful beta readers! Where would I be without you?!

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT

You know how you imagine things one way, and they turn out to be something completely different?

Yeah. Well, it happens to writers all the time, especially as they move from pre-published to published. Which is why this month over at Smack Dab in the Middle our theme is "Misconceptions."

Today it's my turn! You can read my post here.

Now I'm off to put away my white shoes.

Wishing everyone a relaxing (labor-less) Labor Day!

A NERDY POEM FOR POETRY FRIDAY

Why a nerdy poem?

[image error] Because today my "Pay it Forward" guest post is up at the Nerdy Book Club! And just between you-n-me: I sorta think Colby Sharp is awesome. I want him to be MY teacher and my kids' teacher. So much goodness!

As for my post: it's regarding some expectations about books and reading and readers that I carried into parenthood -- and what I've done since those expectations didn't quite pan out. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Also, I've got a guest post over at Smack Dab in the Middle to wrap our monthly theme of "walking away" from one's work -- it features a quote by E.L. Konigsburg, who is quite the wise author, I tell you.

AND I'm thrilled that Sylvia Vardell has Roundup over at Poetry for Children, because holy goodness, how much do I love the Poetry Friday Anthology?? I'm thrilled to be included among so many wonderful poetic voices, and I seriously can't think of a volume more useful to teachers. More on this very soon.

Now, without further ado, a nerdy poem for all my nerdy friends:


Overheard
Some mightthink it absurd,
but haven’t youheard?
Nerd is forthe self-assured,
the no-longerunheard,
the one-third who say books
are preferred.That’s why nerd
 is my favoritefour-letter word.
-Irene Latham

DON'T BE A DISHWASHER?

My son just got a job at a new Italian restaurant on Highway 280 in Birmingham called Tellini's. (Y'all: food is SO GOOD!)

He's the youngest of the crew, and he's starting at the bottom: dishwasher.

So far he's learned that pizza dough is tough to scrub out of a pan; gloves, even if they're bright blue, are a good thing; and some people have no idea how to stack dishes. (He didn't know this either, until the job.)

Meanwhile, his parents are bursting with pride. What a learning experience for our young man! But, oh, is he eager to move up in the ranks, beyond mere dishwasher.

And it reminded me of Career Day in 8th grade. There was a poster contest, so I, being rather artsy, created a poster called "Don't be a Ditch Digger." I cut from construction paper a bunch of tiny shovels to form the letters in the title, and I wrote a lovely piece about how one should strive for something better than ditch digger, one should dream BIG, move forward!

I was certain my poster would win the contest.

Not only did it NOT win, it didn't even get an honorable mention.

I puzzled over this. I was used to winning. And hadn't the judges noticed all those tiny shovels? I couldn't figure it out.

Now, years and experience and life later, I think I know why my poster didn't place. And I'm a little embarrassed about it, to tell the truth. I was all high-n-mighty, looking down on the ditch digger. When, hello, we sorta need ditch diggers. It's an important job. And no less worthy than any other work.


Which is why this passage jumped out at me when I was reading WALKING ON WATER by Madeleine L'Engle:


"Servant is another unpopular word, a word we have derided by denigrating servants and service. To serve should be a privilege, and it is to our shame that we tend to think of it as a burden, something to do if you’re not fit for anything better or higher."
And that makes me think of Downton Abbey. Is it just me, or is the downstairs even more interesting than the upstairs?

Giveaway of the Last ARC: DON'T FEED THE BOY by Irene Latham

That's right: it's your last chance to be one of the first people to get to meet Whit and the Bird Girl and the mad assortment of exotic (and other) animals that reside inside the pages of DON'T FEED THE BOY!

Giveaway is open to all countries and goes through September 3 (Labor Day!). Book will be released into the wild October 16.

Good luck!
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Goodreads Book Giveaway Don't Feed the Boy by Irene Latham Giveaway ends September 03, 2012.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter to win

MOVIE MONDAY: RUBY SPARKS

Have you ever wished you could just order up the perfect person?

That's what Calvin does in the movie Ruby Sparks. He's a novelist who was a young sensation a number of years past, and since then he's been blocked. And lonely.

What's a struggling writer to do?

Calvin pecks away at his typewriter, creates a wonderful character named Ruby Sparks from Dayton, Ohio (because it sounds romantic) and voila, the next morning, there she is, offering to take the dog out for his walk.

As you can imagine, Calvin is kind of freaked out. Also, as you can imagine, Calvin's brother can't believe this is happening. Here's a girl who will do anything Calvin wants! Calvin, with a stroke of his typewriter, can make Ruby do and be whatever suits his fancy. Big brother admonishes Calvin, on behalf of men everywhere, to not let this wonderful opportunity go to waste.

Well. Turns out having complete control of someone ain't all peaches-n-cream. It doesn't work, it doesn't make Calvin happy. Because the person who needs to change is not Calvin's girlfriend, whomever she might be, but Calvin himself.

We were delighted and amused, and it stoked our imaginations. What a great premise! And holy adorableness,

THREE (MAKE THAT FOUR!) SISTER POEMS

Ever since my father and I visited Louisa May Alcott's house, I've been on a sister-poem kick.

That could be because I have a wonderful sister. I can't remember a day when she wasn't wonderful. Which is why I brought home to her a print of one of Louisa's poems she wrote for her own sister, titled "To Anna."












Then I came home to a box of poetry books that included elephant poems by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer, in her book COUSINS OF CLOUDS (illustrated by Megan Halsey an Sean Addy). One of my favorite poems in the book is about sisters:

Memory

She detours through brush
to caress the sun-bleached bones
of her lost sister.


-Tracie Vaughn Zimmer



And THEN I was re-reading Laura Shovan's lovely collection MOUNTAIN, LOG, SALT, and STONE, which also includes a sister-poem (though not just a sister-poem), that Laura told me was one of the first poems she ever had published.

Dear Sister, Unborn

by Laura Shovan

At eight months, your elbows
were protrusions, your heartbeat
a murmur. I was two.
Resting my head on our mother's belly
I could not picture the shape of you.
I cannot picture my own child.
He is all backbone, his heart
a tiny red balloon.
I fear it might burst.

Knowing you, Sister, I see blood.
I look for signs of it on my under things,
for pink swirls in the toilet.
It is easier to imagine great clots
running down my thighs
than the sound of a baby
crying for me in the night,
than the sucking of a small mouth
at my breasts (which already hurt me).

Sister, that elbow in my face said,
"I am feverish to be free,"
not of her body, but of us all,
weary of life before you were born.
Our parents mourned.
Mother moved thickly
about the quiet house.
Even I, two years old,
felt the imprint of your loss.

Sister suicide, my child is invisible.
How could I hold him if he tried to escape?
I slice my palm in the kitchen
and know that he could rush out,
laughing, on the waves of my pulse.
Sister I cannot force him to stay.
I can do nothing. Not even
make my heart stop beating,
like you.

____________
Wow, huh? Thank you, Laura, for allowing me to share! And y'all: READ HER BOOK.

And finally, I'd like to share a sister-poem that I wrote a few years ago after I'd taken at Birmingham Botanical Gardens a Private Eye class, which teaches analogy by implementing a technique of inquiry that requires a jeweler's loupe.

I was so touched and honored when amazing librarian-friend Carol York (who, I don't care what she says, is also a poet among many other wonderful things) used it to make a letterpress broadside. (Shhh... my sister doesn't know yet... I'm sending her one in a frame!) Thank you, Carol, again and again!


To a Black-Eyed Susan

Sister, I'll bustle you
from the bumblebee masses,
admire your one unblinking eye
with its billion shuttered windows.

-Irene Latham

Readers, do you have a favorite sister-poem? Tell me, tell me!

For more poetic goodness, visit Doraine (only one of the dearest people you will ever meet) at Dori Reads for Roundup!

KIRKUS REVIEW OF DON'T FEED THE BOY

Big thanks to Kirkus for its review of DON'T FEED THE BOY!

When my editor first sent over the news, she prefaced it with "It's a GOOD one!" Which allowed me to actually breathe, since Kirkus is known to be hard to please.

Here's what appears currently online and will appear in the Sept. 1 print issue (I especially love the great little blurb-y gift there at the end.) :


DON'T FEED THE BOY
Author: Latham, Irene
Illustrator: Graegin, Stephanie

Review Issue Date: September 1, 2012
Online Publish Date: August 15, 2012
Publisher:Roaring Brook
Pages: 288
Price ( Hardcover ): $15.99
Publication Date: October 16, 2012
ISBN ( Hardcover ): 978-1-59643-755-5
Category: Fiction
Raised in the Alabama zoo run by his busy parents, 11-year-old Whit dreams of escape, but his new friend Stella is someone whose need for escape is real.
Avoiding an angry, abusive father, Stella spends her days at the zoo, where she first becomes the subject for Whit’s home-schooling field study and then his first real friend. Before he learns her name, Whit calls her Bird Girl because she constantly draws the birds—ironic because these birds can't fly free; their wings are clipped. In the course of their friendship, Whit experiments with freedom himself. Leaving the zoo boundaries, he visits Stella’s smoke-smelling apartment home, seeing the situation for himself and even taking surprising action. Whit’s zoo is realistic, a place where animals are born and die. He shows off its secret places, and readers get a glimpse behind the scenes. He comes to see it as a place families and friends visit as much to enjoy each other as to see the attractions, learning to appreciate it more. Latham weaves in a strong argument for the conservation mission of zoos and a clear warning about the dangers of handguns. A satisfying ending sees Whit poised to enter the wider world of public middle school.
Feed this to animal fans. (Fiction. 9-12)
Cool, huh?
In other news, I'm a guest over at the ever-amazing and inspiring Robyn Hood Black's blog, talking about my upcoming workshop on voice at SCBWI Writing and Illustrating for Kids (WIK) conference in October. WIK is organized by the Southern Breeze region of SCBWI, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. This year’s WIK conference will be Oct. 20 in Birmingham, AL. It’s a great place to learn more about the children’s publishing industry, meet agents and editors, and connect with a supportive network of writers and illustrators.
Learn more about WIK at www.southern-breeze.net.Read my interview at Read. Write Howl!
And here's the rest of the blog line-up:
Aug. 16 Sarah Campbell at Alison Hertz’s blog, On My Mind Aug. 17 F.T. Bradley at Laura Golden’s blog Aug. 20 Chuck Galey at Elizabeth Dulemba’s blog Aug. 21 Jo Kittinger at Bonnie Herold’s blog, Tenacious Teller of TalesAug. 22 Irene Latham at Robyn Hood Black’s blog, Read, Write, HowlAug. 23 Vicky Alvear Shecter at S.R. Johannes’ blogAug. 24 Doraine Bennett at Cathy Hall’s blog Aug. 27 Virginia Butler at P.J. Shaw’s blogAug. 28 Jodi Wheeler-Toppen at Diane Sherrouse’s blog, The Reading RoadAug. 29 Ellen Ruffin at Sarah Frances Hardy’s blog, Picture This
THANK YOU, Dori Kleber, for getting us all organized! You're a treasure!!