Cynthia Lord's Blog, page 103

Vinalhaven Island, Maine

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Vinalhaven is a beautiful,

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beautiful

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place.

On Monday and Tuesday I did my last visit on my Touch Blue tour with Jan Coates of Island Readers and Writers.  I had been out to the island of Vinalhaven last spring to present Rules to the kids, and it was so nice to see them all again!

The 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th graders did so many great projects. I was very impressed! 

[image error] One of the classes performed a delightful skit for me.  It was a interview show.  The girl in blue was the reporter and she interviewed my characters. She is interviewing Tess (in yellow).

[image error]  There were blue mosaics made of the kids' lucky things.  On this poster, there's a shooting star, a guitar pick, a clover, a lucky number, and many more!

[image error] There were ceramics and stories. Some of the fifth graders even read their stories to me.

[image error]  And how fun is this?!  It's a Monopoly game with places from the island in Touch Blue and Vinalhaven around the board! 

[image error]     [image error]I loved it!

[image error] The backs of some of the "Chance" cards.  Catch a blue lobster! Get $50.  Win the talent show. Get $10. Your boat sinks! Pay $300.

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It was a wonderful trip with such nice people. I also did an evening library presentation for the community. I was charmed by how many people came out on a chilly night to hear me--including the entire knitting club!  They usually meet on Monday night and decided to do their knitting this week while listening to me!

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The community also presented research on their own island schools (there were 11 schools on Vinalhaven at one time!). 

I have had such great trips with Jan and Island Readers and Writers. It was bittersweet to get on the return ferry back to Rockland this afternoon.  But I will remember these visits forever. 

One of kids gave me a card as I was finishing up that said, "Please come back to us again."

You bet :-) 

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November Events

 

Hanging with the big birds!

Monday, November 1--Tuesday, November 2, School visit, Vinalhaven Island School, Vinalhaven, Maine.  (Today!)

Thursday, November 4, School visit, Franklin Community Middle School, Franklin, Indiana.

Tuesday, November 9--Wednesday, November 10, School visits, Nantucket Island Schools, Nantucket, Massachusetts.

Monday, November 15, School visit, Burns Middle School, Owensboro, Kentucky.

Friday, November 19, School visit, Friends Academy, North Dartmouth, Massachusetts.

Tuesday, November 30, School visit, Stratham Memorial School, Stratham, New Hampshire.

Happy Halloween!

Back Bay, Porltand, Maine. Photo by my husand, John

Happy Halloween!

North Haven Island, Maine

 
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On Thursday morning, Jan Coates of Island Readers and Writers and I took the early ferry out to the island of North Haven for the next stop on my TOUCH BLUE tour. I had been to North Haven Community School last spring to present RULES to the kids, so it felt like coming back to see friends. 

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North Haven has about 60 students in Grades K-12, and I spent the afternoon with the 5th through 8th graders. The kids had all read TOUCH BLUE and done fun activities and projects around the book.  

It's been very inspiring to see all the creative energy that the teachers and kids have put into this program at every stop I've made on this tour. 

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Curriculum Director Lisa Shields and Jan

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Is it a dinosaur?  An alien?  No, it's a whale skeleton!

I gave my talk on TOUCH BLUE to the kids. Then we all sat in a circle, and they took turns telling me about a connection they had made with the book or a favorite part of the book.

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They made lots of connections between the island in TOUCH BLUE and their own island life.  One girl told about waiting for a friend to come on the ferry and how she ran down to meet every boat because she wasn't sure which boat her friend would be on. Another told how fast news spreads on an island. Others told about the connections they'd made with the friendship and family elements of the book.

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They had also done a fun project called "Jackdaw Boxes." Jacdaws are birds that collect things in their nests, so each group of students had collected objects for their box that related to TOUCH BLUE. The boxes were passed around and the students took out the objects and told how they related to the story. Each box included some things that surprised me. 

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A yellow envelope, ear phones for Aaron's love of music, some lucky rocks, a pencil for the school, a ferry ticket, a mussel shell, and a vial of ocean water

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A couple of lobster boats, a ferry ticket, a bee (!), a piece of blue seaglass (the bottom of a bottle, just like Tess finds), a piano, a lobster, a Post-It note like Eben uses, and a lucky penny from the year that student was born.
 

It was like seeing the book come to life, one little bit at a time.  And even beyond the book--one student had a little memory box full of things from places where she'd lived, because she had moved, just like Aaron.

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In the evening, I participated in a community program, focused on the elements in the book. We had a fun and lively discussion about island life and how to make newcomers feel included.  Afterward, I had supper with some of the teachers and community members.  "Oh," I heard someone say, "Is that Dick's chowder?"  

Did you ever notice how when people use someone's name with a food, it's always extra good? I was given the utterly wonderful job of stirring the huge stockpot of fish chowder so it wouldn't boil--I probably stirred way more than it needed, but it was heavenly to stand next to it.   

Everything was delicious, but that chowder was among the best I've ever had. And to eat it surrounded by such nice people on a beautiful island. . .I felt very lucky, indeed.


Rockland Breakwater Light

Thank you to Island Readers and Writers, the staff and students at North Haven Community School, and the people of North Haven for making my visit so memorable and special.     

Islesboro, Maine

Yesterday, I spent a delightful day on Islesboro with the students and staff at the Islesboro Central School. This was my second attempt to visit the island. I had to reschedule almost two weeks ago, due to a Nor'easter.  

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Lincolnville Ferry Terminal.  Isn't the ocean beautiful? :-)

As I sat in the ferry terminal, surrounded on all sides with a thick, pea-soup fog, I couldn't help but think about the superstition in Touch Blue. A redhead on a boat is unlucky.

I have a lot of red in my hair.  

So when Jan Coates of Island Readers and Writers stepped into the terminal, I made sure to counteract that bad luck by speaking to her before she spoke to me. . . .just in case!

It amazes me how small Maine is in some ways. On my trip to Frenchboro, we were on the ferry with the daughter of one my town's librarians, and on this trip, I sat with the husband of the assistant principal at a school I visited in Augusta a couple years ago. 

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Islesboro

The principal of Islesboro Central School picked us up on the island side, along with Madison, one of the students from the mainland who had missed the first boat.  Islesboro is a Magnet School, and they accept tuition students from the mainland. So about 25 kids from the surrounding towns make the trip out and back to the island for school every day. 

And what a school it is! 

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This island school was once a summer home (mansion) donated to the town many years ago. They just completed a large renovation, and the school is beautiful, both inside and out. 

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A corner of the library

The house came complete with a ghost. I asked the kids to tell me about her. She locks classroom doors. She has loud shoes that walk the hallway. She may have died from a fall down the stairs. She may have been pushed off a balcony.

But my favorite demise story was from one eighth grade boy who said, "I heard she ate bad cheese." 

:-) 

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Ms. Coombs's classroom.  She smiled when I apologized for the cranky old Mrs. Coombs in Touch Blue!

I presented Touch Blue to the 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. They had lots of good ideas and questions.  They also told me about their own writing. There is some wonderful writing happening at this school, and what a nice group of kids! 

Even if the weather wasn't sparkling--the time I spent there was.

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The island library has a little borrowing branch at the ferry terminal so you can sign out a book to read on the boat

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Back to the ferry

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And home. Thank you, Islesboro Central School for a great visit! 

I have two more island visits with Island Readers and Writers. This morning, I'm pointing the car north again to another ferry terminal. This one is in Rockland, Maine. I'm heading out to the beautiful island of North Haven. 

Machias, Maine

Yesterday, I had a wonderful school visit with Jan Coates of Island Readers and Writers in Machias, Maine.  Machias isn't an island, but IRW is extending its reach into rural Maine communities, beyond the actual islands. 

When Jan suggested she'd like to make the Rose Gaffney School in Machias one of the schools we visited together for Touch Blue, I jumped at the chance. I hadn't been in that part of Maine in a long time, and I was excited to go back.

Down East, Maine is blueberry country. I was so glad we came in the fall when the barrens turn this amazing red. 



I spoke to the seventh graders who had all read Touch Blue and done wonderful projects around the book. 

 

They learned about the islands that I'm visiting where the students are also reading Touch Blue.

 

And they came up with a great list of questions for the kids who live there. Here are just a few:

Is there a fire department on your island?
How do you shop?
What are jobs like?
Do you have Internet? Cell phones and reception? Cable TV?
Do any Native Americans live on your island? 
Do you have dentists?
Is the weather different on the island than it is on the mainland?
Are there any farm animals on your island?
Do you have gardens?

When I've done all my visits, our last project is a blog that will include every school that participated. So Jan and I suggested the students of Machias could ask those questions on that blog, and the island students could answer them for their own islands.  Maybe the island kids will have questions for the students from Machias, too?  It would be a nice chance to get to know each other, and I think all the kids will discover they have a lot in common. 

  I did my presentation in the library. Then we all went up to the classroom, and the kids presented to me. 

I was very impressed with the activities Mrs. Carter and her students had done.
 

Isn't this gorgeous?!!!   

Fishing is a common occupation in Machias, just like on the islands, so I had a few seventh-grade lobster fishermen in the group. I was moved by how much the kids related to Aaron.  I heard some touching connections they had made (moving, being adopted, coming into a community where everyone knows each other).  

The students had also discussed my choice of first person and present tense to tell the story. Mrs. Carter had the kids rewrite sections of Touch Blue using third person and past tense to see how it changed the feel of the story. What a great idea! 

She also had a chart that the kids filled out.  They had to answer yes or no to a variety of statements, first before reading Touch Blue and then again after reading, to see if any of their answers had changed.

Here are a few of those statements:

Moving away is hard.
Superstitions are harmful to believe in.
Sometimes kids need to be protected from their parents. 
It is never okay to punch someone in the face.
You make your own luck. 

It was a very special visit. Thank you to everyone at Rose Gaffney School for a wonderful day.

More "Chop!"

If getting to Frenchboro was an adventure, getting home was even more so!

 
Paul's boat, Sparrow

Paul Joy lives on Swans Island where he is a lobsterman every morning.

He picks up the mail on Frenchboro "'bout noontime."  

He drives the school bus on Swans every weekday afternoon.

And he is the pastor of the Swans Island church every Sunday. 

   Did I mention he has 10 children and a bunch of grandchildren?  .

He is also a delight.  He greeted us warmly as he tied up his boat. Then he teased us with, "This here's a working boat, ladies. This ain't no pleasure cruise!"

  Often, there's nowhere to sit on a lobsterboat so I found a place to stand at the dash, next to some of Paul's lobstering gear. To save trouble, lobstermen often leave their boots and hauling pants like this, so they can pull them off and on in one motion.  Imagine a big smell of bait right now, too!

"Did ya pack your Dramamine?" he asked.



You might not be able to hear him here, but he asks Jan Coates of Island Readers and Writers if she told me that he's a pastor. Then he joked that when the waves are rough like this . . . 

"I like to ask people, 'How are you doing with your Maker?  Is everything all right with you and the Lord?'" 

This is all I had to hold onto.

 A strip of wood nailed to the dash to keep things from rolling off!

But once we were through the stretch of open ocean, Swans Island came into view. It's another beautiful place. I was glad to get off the boat to see it!  :-)



Paul tied up and introduced us to the other lobstermen on the dock. "These here are learned people," he teased. "This one's a book writer!"

I turned twelve shades of purple.

"Well, ain't that something!" one said. 

Another asked me if I were Cynthia Rylant. What a lovely surprise to hear a familiar children's book author's name come up. He told me he reads with his seven year old, and she's a favorite author right now. 



Paul told us he would drive us across the island to the ferry terminal, but we had an hour to wait and would we like a coffee?  "I'll take you to the island Wal-Mart. It's not a Super Wal-Mart, though. Not yet, anyway!"

He pulled in here:



It had the finest "Wal-Mart" coffee ever.

  I couldn't have asked for a better trip. Even the wild waves made it memorable and special. 

Today I head back up to Mt. Desert Island for another school visit with Island Readers and Writers on Monday. This time we're going way Down East to Machias.  Machias isn't an island, but Jan is spreading her organization's reach to include rural areas in Maine, whether they are islands or not.   

Frenchboro Island School

Having been an island teacher myself, it was very special to be in a small island school again. 

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Frenchboro Island School has 12 students in grades K-8.  All five 5th to 8th graders had read Touch Blue.  They all happened to be boys. They all have their lobster fishing licenses and traps (and several of them have their own lobsterboats).  So it was a very knowledgeable group! 

The kids told me I had done a good job on the lobstering details in the book--which was a big compliment--because they definitely would know!   

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I told the kids that the inspiration for Touch Blue had come from three Maine islands. 

"The first island is called Chebeague. It's in Casco Bay, and I was a teacher on that island years ago."  I showed them a few photos of that island and the school, including this one of me with my kids and the other teacher, Mrs. Dyer.

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And I showed them a photo from a long time ago when Chebeague had so many kids, they needed two island schools.

[image error]   "I looked at this old photo and wondered, 'What happened here?'" 

"The second island is actually a set of islands that make up the town of Harpswell, Maine." Harpswell has two elementary schools, and last year, they were forced to decide if they would keep both schools or close one and have all the kids attend the other. I used to pass this sign. 

[image error]  I asked the kids on Frenchboro what they thought the author of this sign was saying. And did they think it was true? 

Bethsaida is modeled on several islands in Casco Bay, including Chebeague and the islands of Harspwell.

"And finally, the third island is a beautiful, beautiful place."  I hit my slide remote and a photograph of Frenchboro came up on the screen.  Then I showed them the photo that had captivated me. I had kept this photo of the foster children on my desk throughout the revisions of Touch Blue.

[image error]   "Even though Touch Blue isn't their story, I wanted to do their situation justice," I said.

We also talked about superstitions, Monopoly, fishing practices, why the kids had picked their own particular buoy colors, Touch Bue's cover, how a story works, and lots more! Then for the longer Q&A, they had arranged with several other island schools to participate together. So I had Monhegan Island on Skype. Cliff Island, Isle au Haut, and Matinicus Island were on another video system. And the Frenchboro kids were sitting at their tables--all participating together.  It was an amazing cooperative and technological effort! 

I also presented Hot Rod Hamster for the younger kids (though even the eighth graders told me which car they'd pick--they were all such good sports!). 

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And then came the part that choked me up.  The kids and teachers had done an amazing video for me.  The first part of the video was an interview with a man who was part of the original foster child program. 

Many of children who came through foster care had lived hard lives. It was touching to hear what they couldn't believe about Frenchboro (like being allowed to play).  Many of them had never been part of a community before. And yet, they graduated from Frenchboro and went on to the local high school on Mount Desert Island (where the kids from the outer islands go) and most still live in the surrounding communities and come out to visit.

"They all keep in touch." 

It amazed me how plainly that was said. Simply, as if it were a given. Of course, you would keep in touch.  

But it's not simple at all. And I realized something the islanders gave the kids beyond a good place to live when they needed one--they gave them roots, a place to come back to, even as an adults, as "home." 

To those of us who can take for granted our sense of belonging and family and roots, I don't think we can fully appreciate what a huge deal that is.  

[image error]  The second part of the video was the kids answering questions and showing personal connections about Touch Blue. Here are a few: 

"Are you more like Aaron or Tess?" Everyone picked Tess, except one boy who said when he first moved to Frenchboro, he wasn't sure he'd like it, just like Aaron.

"How is Bethsaida the same as Frenchboro?" There were lots of thoughts about fishing and local businesses, but one boy made me laugh.  "On both Bethsaida and Frenchboro, gossip spreads like THAT!" He snapped his fingers.

"How is Bethsaida different from Frenchboro?" Some of the answers were that Tess can see the ferry leaving the mainland.  There is a grocery store on Bethsaida.  There are more tourists on Bethsaida.  

And the funniest answer was: "On Bethsaida, the lobstermen try to trick each other with cement-block traps. We don't do that on Frenchboro."  Then the boy gave the sweetest, wryest grin. "At least, not that I know of!"   

I was sorry to leave, but on an island, you live by the ferry schedule. Doug, one the teachers clicked on the VHF radio and heard that the mailboat (which we were riding on to Swan's Island to catch a return ferry) was only 10 minutes out of the harbor.  So I hugged the teachers, said a fond goodbye to the kids, and we were off to the wharf.

Apparently on Frenchboro, "mailboat" is a synonym for "off-duty lobsterboat."  Here comes Paul, who spent the morning hauling lobsters and now is ready to haul the mail--and us!

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Arriving at Frenchboro

 
I had a magical day with the kids on Frenchboro.  I took quite a few photos, so I'll break this post up into a few. 



As the boat pulled into the harbor, I couldn't believe I was actually there.  I had a moment of quiet, wondering what those long-ago foster children must've thought when they first saw this island. 

Were they excited?
Or terrified?
Or like Aaron, seeing it as just a bed, just another stopping place for awhile.



I thought it was beautiful.



Later, I found out an aspect of the true story that I had never heard before.  One of the men who was there at the time told about a big group of siblings who came. The siblings had been separated through foster care, but were all chosen for Frenchboro.

Though the siblings couldn't all live with the same island family, they were able to see each other every day, play together, go to school together, etc.  It moved me to think the State of Maine had made the choice to place that entire sibling group (I think he said 8 kids?) together on the island to keep that sibling relationship going. 


It was clear that lobster fishing is the major occupation out here.  This boat is named "Moxie." :-)

We headed up the road to the school. I'd seen photos of the school, but I still had a heart-filling moment to see it in person. It's still busy with students, a dynamic place.



Jan told me there's a tradition at the school that the kids greet visitors by lining up from oldest (two eighth graders) to youngest (one kindergartner), shaking our hands and introducing themselves as we walk down the line. 

I shifted my laptop case to my left hand to be ready to shake hands and followed Jan up the stairs and through the door, right into one of the coolest school visits I've ever done. 

A Bit of "Chop"

 
 
Frenchboro Island, Maine

Today I spent a magical day with the kids who live on one of the islands that inspired Touch Blue. Jan Coates of Island Readers and Writers and I drove to the Bass Harbor ferry terminal to catch the first ferry out to Frenchboro early this morning.

 

"There's a bit of chop," the ferry terminal worker said.

It was very windy and I could see whitecaps on the waves. Still, a ferry is a big, solid boat, so I wasn't worried about it being too choppy. 

"There's the boat," Jan said..

 

All I could see was a tour boat. 

"Come on," Jan said.

And then I realized this was the "ferry" we'd been waiting for.

 

I've never been seasick before, but I've also never been on a fierce sea in a realtively small boat.  I decided to sit near the buckets. . . just in case!
 
 

The sides and back of the boat were zipped up, and off we went!

 

If this is "a bit" of chop, I'd hate to see a lot of chop!  Believe it or not, I was trying very hard to hold the camera still.



It was very exciting and wild!  But we saw a big flock of cormorants heading south and seals stretched out in the sun on the rocks. And once we got past the open ocean and into Frenchboro harbor, it was so much calmer and so very beautiful. 


Aptly named!!!


I'll tell you about my trip to the school tomorrow.  :-)