Cynthia Leitich Smith's Blog, page 134

Guest Post & Giveaway: Michele Weber Hurwitz on Musings about Comparisons

By Michele Weber Hurwitz
for Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations

I have a quote taped on the wall above my computer so it's the first thing I see every morning when I sit down to write.

"Comparison is the thief of joy."

That little gem comes from some guy named Theodore Roosevelt.

What a simple, true, and startling piece of advice. The idea that comparison is a thief, and it can steal your joy, take away your happiness.

My mother had a more delicate, loving way of putting it: "Appreciate what you ha...

Guest Post: Cheryl Rainfield on Writing Bravely

By Cheryl Rainfield
for Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations

I’ve always had a strong need to break the silence about abuse and oppression, and to speak my truth.

Even my abusers, who repeatedly threatened to kill me if I talked, couldn’t shut down that part of my spirit.

I just found another way to do it while they abused me—not through verbal speech, through “talking,” but through art and writing. There lay healing, release, and freedom. There lay reaching out to other people, trying to find saf...

Event Report: Texas Library Association Annual Conference

By Cynthia Leitich Smith
for Cynsations

Wow! What fun I had at the Texas Library Association annual conference in San Antonio. Thank you, Texas librarians, publishers, authors, illustrators, exhibitors and teens for a wonderful event!

With fellow Candlewick YA author E.E. Charlton Trujillo Author Nikki Loftin Author-illustrator Don Tate Author Donna Bowman Bratton & SCBWI Austin RA Samantha Clark Author Joy Preble YA Literature Goddess Teri Lesesne & author Laurie Halse Anderson With Penguin...

Cynsational News

Compiled by Cynthia Leitich Smith
for Cynsations

Cover Reveal: Shattered by Mari Mancusi (Scorched #2)(Sourcebooks, 2014). From the promotional copy:

A fiery, action-packed installment in Mari Mancusi's heart-pounding Scorched trilogy

Trinity, Connor, and Caleb are trying to stay under the radar, holed up in an abandoned West Texas farmhouse. Their only problem is Emmy: a baby dragon that's growing like crazy. When Emmy is caught on tape and the video goes viral, they find themselves on the run...

Event Report: Liz Garton Scanlon's Launch for The Good-Pie Party

By Cynthia Leitich Smith
for Cynsations

Liz Garton Scanlon launched The Good-Pie Party, illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton (Arthur A. Levine, 2014) last weekend at BookPeople in Austin.

Liz did a PowerPoint presentation about her own experiences moving from home to home around the globe and then read the book, showing the illustrations on screen.

Liz greets guests in a dessert-themed dress with lemonade, pies and veggie snacks. Pies donated by Royer's Pie Haven -- new in Austin (2900 B. Guadalu...

New Voice: Skila Brown on Caminar

Teacher's GuideBy Cynthia Leitich Smith
for Cynsations

Skila Brown is the first-time author of Caminar (Candlewick, 2014). From the promotional copy:

Set in 1981 Guatemala, a lyrical debut novel tells the powerful tale of a boy who must decide what it means to be a man during a time of war.

Carlos knows that when the soldiers arrive with warnings about the Communist rebels, it is time to be a man and defend the village, keep everyone safe. But Mama tells him not yet — he’s still her quiet moonfa...

Guest Post: Joseph Bruchac on "You Don't Look Indian."

By Joseph Bruchac
for Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations

You don’t look like an Indian.

Ever heard anyone say that? It’s a safe bet that you have if you’re a contemporary Native American. Or, as my friends in Canada put it, a member of a First Nation.

And those were the exact words that I heard this past Saturday. Standing in front of a group of fifty sixth and seventh graders at Henry Hudson Middle School (And no, I shall not go into a rant about its namesake right now) in the Bronx.

I’d just fin...

Cynsational News

Compiled by Cynthia Leitich Smith
for Cynsations

Embrace the Struggles of Writing by Elisa Ludwig from Adventures in YA Writing. Peek: "No one is ever going to come to me and say, 'Awesome. You did it. You can go home now.' Which means that as long as I stay with this, I’m going to have to wrestle with doubts."

Writing Humor by Yahong Chi from Project Mayhem. Peek: "Because the characters' experience is, to a certain extent, removed from the reader's experience, you'll often find that readers a...

Guest Post: Lisa Doan on Writing Humor: When Worlds Collide…

Lisa scuba diving.By Lisa Doan
for Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations

The phrase ‘When Worlds Collide’ sounds dramatically epic – something that should come with its own background music. Maybe a YA dystopian. Or a tragically doomed romance. Or a tragically doomed romance in a YA dystopian.

But for my purposes, When Worlds Collide is the underpinning of character-driven humor.

Each sentence uttered by every person on this planet is a tiny Morse code flag signaling a complicated internal world tha...

Book Trailers: Water Can Be by Laura Purdie Salas, illustrated by Violeta Dabija

Compiled by Cynthia Leitich Smith
for Cynsations

Congratulations to Laura Purdie Salas on the release of Water Can Be, illustrated by Violeta Dabija (Millbrook, 2014). From the promotional copy:

Water can be a...

• Thirst quencher
• Kid drencher
• Cloud fluffer
• Fire snuffer

Find out about the many roles water plays in this poetic exploration of water throughout the year.

Water Can Be has received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews. See CSS Reading Guide and Teacher's Guide. S...