Sarah Albee's Blog, page 14

Fashion Evolution

Mrs. Harvey W. Wiley, widow of the author of the Pure Food Act, displaying the shocking bathing costume of 1895 while Marjorie Gunnels wears the sensible one of 1936.
(Library of Congress)

I’m reading a book by the always-fascinating Steven Johnson, called How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World. His premise is that certain key innovations, such as the discovery of glass and refrigeration, set in motion a whole array of changes in society, and that they eventually triggered changes that you might never have predicted. The history of ideas observes a co-evolutionary process, he says, much the way that living things have co-evolved. He calls it the “hummingbird effect:” the evolution of pollen led to the symbiotic alteration of the hummingbird’s wing, which enabled it to hover alongside a flower. The co-evolution of ideas, he suggests, can work the same way.

Being me, I turned straight to the chapter about sanitation (entitled “Clean”). He posits a fascinating theory: the adoption of widespread chlorination of drinking water led to a rapid co-evolution in women’s bathing suit fashions. The story in a nutshell—in the early twentieth century, a New Jersey doctor named John Leal took a huge risk. He unilaterally made the decision to add calcium hypochlorite, aka chlorine, to the public drinking water supply in New Jersey, in an effort to kill disease-causing bacteria. His theory was that although chlorine is a deadly poison in large doses, it could be extremely beneficial in smaller ones, but no one had ever tried to chlorinate drinking water before. His bold experiment worked, and epidemics of typhoid and dysentery, terrible killers especially of young children, dropped precipitously.

But another change co-evolved: After World War I, ten thousand chlorinated public baths and pools opened up across America, which, Johnson asserts, resulted in rapid evolution of women’s bathing costumes. They went from wearing long, heavy, woolen dresses with shoes and stockings in the late 19th century, to—gasp–exposing their arms and legs, and lowering their necklines by the 1920s.

It’s a fascinating theory, and I think it’s valid. But I also think that railroads made a huge contribution to this co-evolutionary fashion. Rail travel made it possible for many more people to make a day trip to the seaside, which had once been the province of the super-wealthy.

(All images from Library of Congress.)

1897

1904

1904

1906

1921

The post Fashion Evolution appeared first on Sarah Albee.

Big, Huge, Signed Book Giveaway!

To share teacher-love on this Valentine’s Day, I am participating in a signed book giveaway with a whole bunch of my middle-grade author friends who have recent, brand-new, or about-to-be-published books. (There’s also a separate but equally awesome YA author giveaway.) Check out these sixteen–count ‘em, sixteen!–books:

Jacqueline Woodson

Caroline Starr Rose

Jess Keating

Stacy DeKeyser

Jennifer Richard Jacobson

Laurie Ann Thompson

Leslie Bulion

Nikki Loftin

Anna Staniszewski

Augusta Scattergood

Loree Griffin Burns

Lynda Mullaly Hunt

Jennifer Nielsen

 

Barbara O’Connor

 

MY book!

Why, yes, you’re seeing correctly: Sharon’s signed book is a bonus!

Pretty cool line-up, eh? If you’re a teacher, librarian, or reading specialist (basically any type of educator), and you want to be entered to win signed copies of all these books, all you have to do is one of two things:

EITHER

1. click here to leave a comment on Lynda Mullaly Hunt’s blog,

OR

2. Tweet about the giveaway and use the hashtag #MGAuthorsLoveTeachers

Your name will be entered into the virtual hat, and we’ll draw the winner at 11:59 PM on Wednesday, February 18th. If you win, you’ll receive signed copies of all these books–not all at once, because some of them don’t publish until March or April, but won’t it be fun to get multiple packages in your mailbox?

There’s also a group of YA author friends doing a similar YA giveaway. Click here to visit Sarah Darer Littman’s website to enter that contest!

Good luck!

 

The post Big, Huge, Signed Book Giveaway! appeared first on Sarah Albee.

Book Trailer Debut

Today on Mr. Schu’s blog (that would be Mr. John Schumacher), I unveil the trailer for my new book, Why’d They Wear That? Please click here to hop on over there to see it.

The post Book Trailer Debut appeared first on Sarah Albee.

Today is My Book’s Birthday!

I hope you’ll click here to see my post today at the Nerdy Book Club site.

And tomorrow, I’ll be joining Mr. Schu at his blog where I reveal the new trailer!

The post Today is My Book’s Birthday! appeared first on Sarah Albee.

Naperville Reads!

This morning I am flying out of Chicago after an amazing week of school visits with Naperville Reads, sponsored by Anderson’s Bookshop. I came to celebrate the publication of my new book, Why’d They Wear That?. Along with seven other nonfiction authors, I visited six schools and participated in an evening panel. It was a jam-packed few days, but incredibly fun.

My “team” included the authors Lynda Blackmon Lowery, Susan Buckley, and Elspeth Leacock, who collaborated on writing the book Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the Selma Voting Rights March.

Susan, Lynda, and Elspeth, my new BFFs

Lynda is an amazing speaker, and Susan and Elspeth are fantastic writers and historians. Lynda had the kids utterly, totally rapt as she described how she was the youngest member of the Selma Voting Rights march. She’s a natural storyteller. If you haven’t read this book, run, don’t walk, to your local indie bookstore and pick up a copy.

Also with us were William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer (The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind), Paige Rawl (Positive); and Sally Walker (Ghost Walls: The Story of a 17th Century Colonial Homestead). Here’s me with my fellow panelists.I met so many great kids and librarians. Here are some pictorial highlights.

The artists who made this poster

Me and Lynda at Anderson’s Bookshop

Huge thanks to Becky Anderson, owner of Anderson’s Bookshop, all the amazing people at Anderson’s who helped with the logistics, Tracey and Karen from Media Masters for all the arranging, Bill Young from Midwest Media for getting us to all those schools on time, and to my publishers at National Geographic, for sending me.

I think I’ve used about seventeen superlatives in this post, but I’m too tired to correct it. And it WAS amazing and incredible.

The post Naperville Reads! appeared first on Sarah Albee.

Hello from Chicago!

I’m in Chicago for the American Library Association’s midwinter conference, and today was a day of high drama for many reasons. First, we’re in the middle of a blizzard. People in Chicago don’t impress easily when it comes to heavy snowfall, but even the natives are taking it seriously. But the weather does not seem to have dampened the enthusiasm of all these amazing librarians and educators.

This morning National Geographic had a breakfast to celebrate the publication of my new book, Why’d They Wear That? It was an amazing group of librarians and educators from all over the country, and we had a fantastic time talking nonfiction. After the breakfast, I had a book signing at the booth. Here’s me just before the signing began, with editors Jennifer Emmett and Shelby Alinsky.

And thanks to Alyson Beecher for snapping this picture of the signing poster.

And here’s Shelby, ready for the beach.

Tomorrow morning I have a date with 600 middle schoolers in Naperville, Illinois, but it’s quite the blizzard, and schools may be closed. Check back here for updates!

The post Hello from Chicago! appeared first on Sarah Albee.

Thanks for the Skype, Hickory Elementary School!

Yesterday I had a fun Skype visit with a room full of writers–kids in grades 1 through 4 at Hickory Elementary School in Williamsport, Maryland. It was an after-school, extended learning program that focuses on writing, and they asked me some fantastic questions about writing.

We talked about research, and revision, and the importance of reading in order to become a better writer. And my dog, Rosie, put in a quick cameo to wave a paw at the kids.

Thanks to Ms. Katie Lingg for arranging, and for the great questions, all!

The post Thanks for the Skype, Hickory Elementary School! appeared first on Sarah Albee.

Portrait of a Portraitist

Charles Willson Peale (1741 – 1827) was an American painter who might best be known for paintings like this one, of George Washington:And these, of Lewis and Clark: But what I love about him are his many paintings of children, including his own. Here’s a really poignant one of his first wife, Rachel Brewer, weeping over their small daughter Margaret, who died of smallpox.After bearing ten children, Rachel died, and Peale married Elizabeth dePeyster. She bore him seven more. Here are the names of his seventeen children. It’s heartbreaking how many of the children died so young, and some names appear twice (Margaret and Titian). Eleven of the children reached maturity. The final child, Elizabeth, is named after her mother, who died soon after giving birth. Once you hit child #5 (Raphaelle), all the kids are named after notable painters, including the girls, and naturalists and statesmen.

Margaret Jane, b. 1763 d. 1763
James Willson, b. 1765 d 1767
Eleanor, b. 1770 d 1770
Margaret Van Bordley, b. 1772 d 1772
Raphaelle, b. 1774 d. 1825
Angelica Kauffmann, b.1775 d 1853
Rembrandt, b. 1778 d. 1860
Titian Ramsay, b. 1780 d. 1798
Rubens, b. 1784 d. 1865
Sophonisba Augusciola, b. 1786 d. 1859
Rosalba Carriera, b. 1788 d. 1790
Vandyke, b. 1792 d. 1792
Charles Linnaeus, b. 1794 d. 1832
Benjamin Franklin, b. 1795 d. 1870
Sybilla Miriam, b. 1797 d. 1856
Titian Ramsay, b. 1799 d. 1885
Elizabeth DePeyster, b. 1802 d.?

Here’s a picture of many of the Peale children:Peale married again in 1805.

 

http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/pd...
All images from Wikimedia

The post Portrait of a Portraitist appeared first on Sarah Albee.

Nonfiction at The Writer’s Loft

Join me, Loree Griffin Burns, Leslie Bulion, Susan Goodman, and April Jones Prince for a panel discussion on writing nonfiction for children and teens this coming Saturday, January 24. The event will be held at The Writers’ Loft, in Sherborn, Massachusetts. Here’s the flyer. Hope to see you there!

The post Nonfiction at The Writer’s Loft appeared first on Sarah Albee.

Amazing Maine

Last Thursday, I visited the beautiful, newly-built Woolwich Central School in Maine, to speak with three different assemblies of kids in grades K through 8. My visit was impeccably organized by rock-star librarian Abigail Luchies. The kids were well-prepared, full of great questions, and fantastic listeners.On Friday, I visited the Georgetown Central School and spoke with kids in Kindergarten through sixth grade. Yet another rock-star librarian, Megan Fuller, arranged the day, and it was equally awesome. Georgetown Central is a much smaller school (on an island in a beautiful area of Maine), and I got to meet and talk with most of the kids in the school. I even had a chance to stop into the preK room to read a couple of stories to the class and get a big group hug.

Here I am talking about, um, Victorian underwear to the older kids. Friday night kicked off the nErdCampNNE event at Falmouth Elementary School, where there was a huge crowd of book lovers who’d braved the cold to come to the author signing.

It was my first time signing my new book (which officially pubs on February 10th).

I was so busy signing books I barely had time to snap pictures of some of my author-friends.

Here’s a blurry picture of Melissa Stewart, and here are Erin Dionne and Ammi-Joan Paquette. Luckily someone had the bright idea to take a group picture at the end of the evening, so you can see the whole gang. The 22 of us (not in order) were:

Charlotte Agell, Josh Alves, Megan Frazer Blakemore, Mary Cerullo, Russ Cox, Erine Dionne, Kate Egan, Kevin Hawkes, Lynda Mulally Hunt, Jennifer Jacobson, Sashi Kaufman, Cynthia Lord, Amy MacDonald, Hazel Mitchell, Maria Padian, Ammi-Joan Paquette, Lynn Plourde, Melissa Stewart, Matt Tavares, Lea Wait, and Tamra Wight.

On Saturday, I had the chance to spend the day with a group of teachers and librarians from all over New England, attending nErdCampNNE (northern New England). The way it works is, everyone assembles and decides on-the-spot what topics they want to discuss, People volunteer to “facilitate” discussions, and we then break into one-hour sessions. I was a “co-facilitator” for three of the discussions. Here’s the first one, “Author Panel,” with me, Melissa Stewart, Megan Frazer Blakemore, Ammi-Joan Paquette, Lynda Mullaly Hunt, and Julie Falatko. We talked about writing with the group.Then Melissa and I facilitated two different discussions, one on nonfiction writing and research, and after that, about tone and structure in nonfiction writing.

I pulled this off of Twitter–I have no idea what point I’m trying to emphasize, but Melissa is being her usual patient self.

Thanks to all the fantastic committee members who organized the weekend (Susan Dee, Cathy Potter, Gigi McAllister, Jenn Felt, Chris Pirkl, Mary Lou Shuster, Jenny Stahl, and Natalee Stotz). I love this picture of them, which I shamelessly pulled from Cindy Lord’s Facebook timeline. Missing was Chris Pirkl—sadly, he had the flu.Can’t wait to come back next year!

The post Amazing Maine appeared first on Sarah Albee.