Cynthia Lord's Blog, page 55

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

 


The building on which I based The Parish Hall in Touch Blue

Five Things on a Friday

Nubble Light, Cape Neddick, Maine

1.  Yesterday I did my last full-day school visit for 2011-12.  It was my fifth year in a row at York Middle School (Rules is a core 5th Grade book at York).  It was a pea-soup-fog day!  But after school, I drove out to Nubble Light. I hadn't been there in years and the fog was salty and wet and beautiful.

   2.  It may have been a pea-soup day, but for lunch we had homemade chowder!  Yum!  



3.  At York Beach, the sea roses were starting to bloom.  My yard has big bushes of these rosa rugosas, but mine are barely budded.  These pinks were stunning, cutting through the fog.

4.  My next novel is scheduled to come back to me for revisions in a week or so.  It'll be nice to have a week off now to do family things and clear my head and my desk for the book.  But I'm looking forward to returning to that world and those characters. 

  5.  Thank you to the librarians of Mississippi for putting Hot Rod Hamster on next year's Magnolia Award List!
  

Finishing up 2011-2012

Today is my last full-day school visit of 2011-2012. It's a school that I've been to four times already, so it feels like I'm off to see friends. :-)

  My assistant is excited to get our summer writing time started!  Soon, Milo!

Wordless Wednesday

Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, Maine. Photo by my husband, John

Limington, Maine

Yesterday, I drove to the beautiful town of Limington, Maine. Western Maine is full of farms, rivers and lakes, woods, and small towns. It was a gorgeous drive.

  

I visited with the students at the HB Emery School in Limington.  I shared Hot Rod Hamster with the PreK-2nd Graders and Touch Blue with the 3rd-5th Graders.  The kids were enthusiastic and asked great questions. It was a pleasure to spend the day with them.  As I was packing up to go, the second graders gave me a stack of artwork and thank you notes.

  I love how happy Hamster and Dog are in this one.  Good friends come in all sizes and species!

  Here I am with Sakara.  Don't we look pretty together?

  I told the kids about our upcoming Hamster book and it was fun to see their illustrations for it!

   Yay for Hamster!

   Thank YOU to librarian Regan Vitti and everyone at HB Emery School for a fun day!  Or as Hamster would say, "Weeeee!"

Penfield, NY

   On Friday, I spent the day with the wonderful staff and students at Bay Trail Middle School in Penfield, New York.  The sixth grade reads Rules, and this was my fourth year coming to the school. It's one of my favorite places to visit.  :-)

I had a beautiful view at my hotel, and I watched the sun set the night before my visit. 

At school, the kids were fabulous and asked great questions. Several told me they were writing their own stories and books and shared those with me.  

   At lunchtime, the media team hosted a fun lunch for a group of kids and teachers, including this cookie cake! I had a piece with my lunch, but when they offered me another piece to take on the plane with me for the trip home, I did not say no!

  Here I am with the media team at Bay Trail (Sandy, Mary, me, Ben).

Thank you to everyone at Bay Trail for another amazing visit!

Mayor Buddy's Book Club

    On Wednesday, I took a marathon daytrip to Orlando to participate in Mayor Buddy's Book Club's celebration for Rules at the Orlando Public Library!  It was SUCH a great day! 



I loved meeting the people who make this happen:  the organizers of the club, the volunteers, and the KIDS!  Entire book groups came--and even a Sibshops group came (for children who have brothers and sisters with disabilities). One sweet little girl who has a sister with autism didn't even say hello to me--she just rushed over and threw her arms around me. That's one of the many moments I will remember.  :-)  

There were fun activities based around Rules. In this activity, the kids picked a word that Catherine makes for Jason from a bowl. They had to draw a word card for that word but they couldn't lift their marker off the paper! 

  

  

I signed lots of books and met such nice people. Thank you to everyone at Mayor Buddy's Book Club and the Orlando Public Library for a great day!

Thank you, Wyoming, Massachusetts, and Tennessee!

I found out this week that my books were nominated for three more state lists. Hot Rod Hamster made next year's Buckaroo Award List in Wyoming.

And Touch Blue made the Massachusetts Children's Book Award list and the Volunteer State Book Award list in Tennessee!

Thank you, Wyoming and Massachusetts!

I found out this week that my books were nominated for two more state lists. Hot Rod Hamster made next year's Buckaroo Award List in Wyoming.

And Touch Blue made the Massachusetts Children's Book Award list.

Off to Orlando!

I'm off on a day trip to Orlando, Florida to meet the great kids and inspiring adults involved in Mayor Buddy's Book Club!