Kirby Larson's Blog, page 70
June 29, 2011
ALA
Though I never got a beignet at Cafe du Monde (the line went around the block!), my ALA experience in New Orleans was too much fun. What's the best part?
Catching up with librarian friends?
My buddy from Bowling Green, Alecia Marcum
Meeting old and making new writer friends?
Not even the heat and humidity phase Clare Vanderpool
One of the Texas Sweethearts, Jessica Anderson
Kimberly Marcus' picture book is hysterical -- can't wait to read her novel, Exposed
Adrienne Yorinks and Jeanette Larson share my love for hummingbirds
Celebrating Jenni Holm (for the third time!) as she won the Newbery Honor for A Turtle in Paradise (she rocked the joint in her Lily Pulitzer, by the way)?
Guess which dummy did not get a photo of Jenni looking glam?
Sampling some of the Big Easy's best eating (thanks to my driver for the recommendation of the Ernest Cafe and to Dianne de Las Casas for suggesting Ramblas where my agent and I enjoyed the most amazing scallops served in a cigar box)?
Or being on a panel with super-star Children's Lit prof, Sandy Imdieke and two Silver Sisters, Jenni Holm and Ingrid Law. If they ever tire of writing for children, those two could make a killing as stand-up comedians.
Are you allowed to have that much fun doing a panel for ALA?
Though there is something overwhelming about the exhibit floor, there is something exhilarating too. All. Those. Books. And all those people who love books. Some love them too much. I saw more than one librarian doggedly dragging heavy bags of books off the exhibit floor and onto the shuttle buses. Some enterprising teens could make a killing hiring out as book caddies during the conference!
If you couldn't make it, there'll be lots of other folks blogging, tweeting and facebooking about the conference. My favorite post is here.
Speaking of Twitter: I gave tweeting a go during ALA. And now I'm giving it a pass. I just can't keep up. I do think it's fun but, while my editor looks mild-mannered, she will absolutely channel her inner Viola Swamp if I do not make my August book deadline. So I apologize to my followers.
You should've known better than to follow a birdbrain like me!
Catching up with librarian friends?
My buddy from Bowling Green, Alecia MarcumMeeting old and making new writer friends?
Not even the heat and humidity phase Clare Vanderpool
One of the Texas Sweethearts, Jessica Anderson
Kimberly Marcus' picture book is hysterical -- can't wait to read her novel, Exposed
Adrienne Yorinks and Jeanette Larson share my love for hummingbirdsCelebrating Jenni Holm (for the third time!) as she won the Newbery Honor for A Turtle in Paradise (she rocked the joint in her Lily Pulitzer, by the way)?
Guess which dummy did not get a photo of Jenni looking glam?Sampling some of the Big Easy's best eating (thanks to my driver for the recommendation of the Ernest Cafe and to Dianne de Las Casas for suggesting Ramblas where my agent and I enjoyed the most amazing scallops served in a cigar box)?
Or being on a panel with super-star Children's Lit prof, Sandy Imdieke and two Silver Sisters, Jenni Holm and Ingrid Law. If they ever tire of writing for children, those two could make a killing as stand-up comedians.
Are you allowed to have that much fun doing a panel for ALA?Though there is something overwhelming about the exhibit floor, there is something exhilarating too. All. Those. Books. And all those people who love books. Some love them too much. I saw more than one librarian doggedly dragging heavy bags of books off the exhibit floor and onto the shuttle buses. Some enterprising teens could make a killing hiring out as book caddies during the conference!
If you couldn't make it, there'll be lots of other folks blogging, tweeting and facebooking about the conference. My favorite post is here.
Speaking of Twitter: I gave tweeting a go during ALA. And now I'm giving it a pass. I just can't keep up. I do think it's fun but, while my editor looks mild-mannered, she will absolutely channel her inner Viola Swamp if I do not make my August book deadline. So I apologize to my followers.
You should've known better than to follow a birdbrain like me!
June 28, 2011
Gary Schmidt
One thing you might not know about me is that I write fan letters. This terrific interview is with one of the recipients of one of my letters. Enjoy!
June 25, 2011
ALA
I'm at ALA in then lovely but warm New Orleans. A full day which began with breakfast with Jenni Holm and her mom, Penny. A signing at the Scholastic book clubs booth kicked off the business portion of my day. I caught up with Two Bobbies illustrator Jean Cassels and then had a scrumptious dinner with my agent. I was a little busy this afternoon, as captured by Kelly Butcher.
(I'm blogging from my iPad so if the link above doesn't work, just google or something!)
(I'm blogging from my iPad so if the link above doesn't work, just google or something!)
June 24, 2011
Urgle-Burgle
I. Am. Not. A. Morning. Person.
Which is why having to be ready to be taken to the airport at 4 a.m. seems perfectly inhuman.
Worthy cause: ALA.
Whining hitherto ceased and desisted.
Which is why having to be ready to be taken to the airport at 4 a.m. seems perfectly inhuman.
Worthy cause: ALA.
Whining hitherto ceased and desisted.
June 23, 2011
GiveBig on June 23 (today!)
I love this concept! With a simple click, my donation to the King County Library System Foundation or Reach Out and Read Washington grows like one of those sponge creatures I used to get as a kid. The amount a donation grows by depends on how many people water the sponge! That is, if $100,00 is raised and KCLS and Reach Out and Read each raise 10% of that amount, they get an extra 10%. So $10,000 grows into $20,000.
And it's as easy as clicking a button. The catch is that you have to click today. What are you sitting there, waiting for? Go. Click. And Click. GiveBig.
June 22, 2011
Freedom of Speech
I've been asked to participate in a PSA at ALA on the subject of freedom of speech. I was asked to read from a banned/challenged children's book and share why it was challenged or share what the passage I read meant to me.
BTW, I dislike this cover which presumes Gilly is 8, rather than 12ish
I initially thought to read from The Great Gilly Hopkins, the book that opened my eyes to what a kids' book could be. I loved Gilly -- so flawed and seemingly unredeemable and yet despite her cussing and stealing and overt racism, she was embraced with jiggly arms by Trotter and helped to find her way to a brighter life.
Then I thought about reading from Catherine Called Birdy or The Midwife's Apprentice, both written by my hero, Karen Cushman and both challenged. The gall of Karen to use the word "piss" or to write about childbirth. Well, she's from San Francisco -- you know how liberal they are there. So what if she created two powerful female characters who make their own distinct marks on their confining and oppressive worlds.
I also pondered reading from Neal Schusterman's Unwind, the book I actually threw across the room, so horrified and scared was I during a certain scene. That's what good books can do to you: they can make you feel. Make you think.
But the answer to what to read for the PSA came to me like a thunderbolt. Was there any other option? Of course, I would read from Susan Patron's The Higher Power of Lucky. Though she was *unfortunate* enough to win the Gold in 2007, Susan is considered a Silver Sister by Cindy Lord, Jenni Holm and yours truly (honor recipients that same year). The fuss over her first book in the Lucky trilogy still makes me wonder. One word. One word. How is it that one word could cause such a fuss, such a commotion?
Don't even get me started on this! Those same concerned adults who wouldn't purchase Higher Power of Lucky for their libraries are sporting buttons that say "Team Gale" or "Team Peeta." Can we say "violence against children?" And where is the commotion from these same caring adults about the word "retarded"? Or "gay?" I think these particular words have caused far more damage to our young readers than the anatomically correct term for a particular body part on a male (dog, in the case of Patron's book).
I am a mom. And I helped raise two pretty darned amazing kids. Who are readers. And I am going to be honest here: I balked when my son checked out Milton Meltzer's biography of Benjamin Franklin, replete with descriptions of Ben's affairs. My son, however, was ten. I think, as a mom, I had a right to say, "Honey, this book isn't for you. Right now." And I wanted to KILL the teacher who assigned Stone Fox to my tender-hearted 9-year-old daughter. I wanted more than anything to spare my kids the unpleasant, the painful.
The thing is: I should have thought back to my own childhood. When I wanted to check out Gulliver's Travels in third grade, and the librarian nixed it, my dad said, "Let her check it out." That was the greatest gift he could ever have given me. Oh, that story went WAY over my head. But I knew in that moment that my dad trusted me. Trusted me to absorb what I could. And I was buoyed up by the fact that he wasn't about to let an assortment of words stand in my way.
Here's the deal: no one knows what anyone else can handle. I couldn't handle Gulliver's Travels. My daughter couldn't handle Stone Fox. My son was nearly undone by Taran Wanderer. Had each of us been shielded from these books, would we have been the people we are now? No. Good books are not lollipops, sweet and quickly savored. They are struggled over, wrangled with, carried in the heart. Reading "the" book is not unlike Jacob's wrestling match with the angel. Afterwards, we will be changed. Marked. We may even limp. So be it.
One word, one phrase, one uncomfortable moment does not make a book. My darling friend, Nancy Pearl, says there are fifty books everyone needs to read. But it is not the same fifty books for everyone.
I say amen to that.
And I also say every reader has to have, at some level, a large dose of "scrotum."
Our fifty books deserve it.
BTW, I dislike this cover which presumes Gilly is 8, rather than 12ishI initially thought to read from The Great Gilly Hopkins, the book that opened my eyes to what a kids' book could be. I loved Gilly -- so flawed and seemingly unredeemable and yet despite her cussing and stealing and overt racism, she was embraced with jiggly arms by Trotter and helped to find her way to a brighter life.
Then I thought about reading from Catherine Called Birdy or The Midwife's Apprentice, both written by my hero, Karen Cushman and both challenged. The gall of Karen to use the word "piss" or to write about childbirth. Well, she's from San Francisco -- you know how liberal they are there. So what if she created two powerful female characters who make their own distinct marks on their confining and oppressive worlds.
I also pondered reading from Neal Schusterman's Unwind, the book I actually threw across the room, so horrified and scared was I during a certain scene. That's what good books can do to you: they can make you feel. Make you think.
But the answer to what to read for the PSA came to me like a thunderbolt. Was there any other option? Of course, I would read from Susan Patron's The Higher Power of Lucky. Though she was *unfortunate* enough to win the Gold in 2007, Susan is considered a Silver Sister by Cindy Lord, Jenni Holm and yours truly (honor recipients that same year). The fuss over her first book in the Lucky trilogy still makes me wonder. One word. One word. How is it that one word could cause such a fuss, such a commotion?
Don't even get me started on this! Those same concerned adults who wouldn't purchase Higher Power of Lucky for their libraries are sporting buttons that say "Team Gale" or "Team Peeta." Can we say "violence against children?" And where is the commotion from these same caring adults about the word "retarded"? Or "gay?" I think these particular words have caused far more damage to our young readers than the anatomically correct term for a particular body part on a male (dog, in the case of Patron's book).
I am a mom. And I helped raise two pretty darned amazing kids. Who are readers. And I am going to be honest here: I balked when my son checked out Milton Meltzer's biography of Benjamin Franklin, replete with descriptions of Ben's affairs. My son, however, was ten. I think, as a mom, I had a right to say, "Honey, this book isn't for you. Right now." And I wanted to KILL the teacher who assigned Stone Fox to my tender-hearted 9-year-old daughter. I wanted more than anything to spare my kids the unpleasant, the painful.
The thing is: I should have thought back to my own childhood. When I wanted to check out Gulliver's Travels in third grade, and the librarian nixed it, my dad said, "Let her check it out." That was the greatest gift he could ever have given me. Oh, that story went WAY over my head. But I knew in that moment that my dad trusted me. Trusted me to absorb what I could. And I was buoyed up by the fact that he wasn't about to let an assortment of words stand in my way.
Here's the deal: no one knows what anyone else can handle. I couldn't handle Gulliver's Travels. My daughter couldn't handle Stone Fox. My son was nearly undone by Taran Wanderer. Had each of us been shielded from these books, would we have been the people we are now? No. Good books are not lollipops, sweet and quickly savored. They are struggled over, wrangled with, carried in the heart. Reading "the" book is not unlike Jacob's wrestling match with the angel. Afterwards, we will be changed. Marked. We may even limp. So be it.
One word, one phrase, one uncomfortable moment does not make a book. My darling friend, Nancy Pearl, says there are fifty books everyone needs to read. But it is not the same fifty books for everyone.
I say amen to that.
And I also say every reader has to have, at some level, a large dose of "scrotum."
Our fifty books deserve it.
June 21, 2011
Wanted: Lots of Friends
If you are attending ALA and happen to be walking by the Scholastic Book Fairs Booth (#1439) on Saturday between 9:30 and 10:30 am OR walking by the Random House Children's Books Booth (#1215) between 1 and 2 pm on Sunday. . .
my partner in literary crime, Winston the Wonder DogPlease stop by and say hello. I will be there, feeling lonely without Winston. There might be chocolate and there will certainly be witty conversation.
Not from me, of course.
my partner in literary crime, Winston the Wonder DogPlease stop by and say hello. I will be there, feeling lonely without Winston. There might be chocolate and there will certainly be witty conversation. Not from me, of course.
June 20, 2011
A Writer's Creed?
"The idea of strictly minding my own business is moldy rubbish. Who could be so selfish?"
― Myrtie Lillian Barker
― Myrtie Lillian Barker
June 19, 2011
New Neighbors
A week or so ago, Neil and I were sitting on the deck at Shangri-Lar when we were visited by two stunning goldfinches. They seemed a little miffed that we had no hors d'oeuvres to serve them. So I went out the next day and rectified that.
They seem pretty happy about the whole thing!
They seem pretty happy about the whole thing!
June 18, 2011
A Big Thank You!
I was pleased as punch to find a nice review of The Friendship Doll (and interview with yours truly) in Seattle's Child magazine.
But it took buddy Gail DiRe to point out the ad that the amazing folks at Rosalie Whyel's Doll Museum took out in the same issue to help me celebrate the new book.
There are so many good folks in this world. And I am blessed to know lots of them. Thank you, Rosalie and Abby and gang!
But it took buddy Gail DiRe to point out the ad that the amazing folks at Rosalie Whyel's Doll Museum took out in the same issue to help me celebrate the new book.
There are so many good folks in this world. And I am blessed to know lots of them. Thank you, Rosalie and Abby and gang!
