Beth Kephart's Blog, page 286

Sold by hand, sold by heart: the independent booksellers

We speak of independent booksellers as selling by hand, and that they do, and for that, we (readers and writers) are grateful.  But it is also enormously true that independent booksellers sell by heart.  We see that each time in the Indiebound lists are unveiled—booksellers putting themselves on the line for books and, consequently, for those who write them.



Today I send this flower—a burst of light, an otherworldly shimmer—to Mandy King of The Boulder Book Store in Boulder, CO, who put her ...

In Which Pretty Freaky Argues Toward Beauty

It was here, at Pretty Freaky, a provocative site developed by the writer, teacher, and artist (among other things) Elizabeth Collins that I discovered words that stopped me in my virtual tracks.  Collins was writing about Dangerous Neighbors, among other summer reads.  More to the point, however, she was writing about what gets published today: 

The author is a past finalist for the National Book Award but I actually felt irritated, reading the galley of this novel (sent to me for...

The blogging wither

"Blogging has withered as a pastime, with the number of 18- to 24-year-olds who identify themselves as active bloggers dropping by half between 2006 and 2009," report Tony Dokoupil and Angela Wu in a Newsweek story (August 16, 2010) titled, "Take This Blog and Shove it!  When Utopian Ideals Crash into Human Nature—Sloth Triumphs."  Facebook, YouTube, and Flickr are alive and well, the authors tell us, because they "offer clear benefits to users, including the ability to easily stay in touch w...

Dangerous Neighbors: The Starred Publishers Weekly Review

Because I am too happy to patiently sit and transcribe the entire, beautiful starred Publishers Weekly review for Dangerous Neighbors, I am going to share with you Greg Ferguson's favorite line, for he (Greg, of that fabulous Egmont USA team) is the one who let me know that this gift exists, and who, indeed, has let me know about each review in its turn.  Thank you, Greg.

"Conjuring sharp, meticulously detailed images of fair exhibitions (The wonders of the world slide past.  Parisian...

Dressing up for Dangerous Neighbors

The other day, I posted about my unglamorous self—my puffy hair and anti va-voom status.  I do not wish any of you to conclude, however, that I am not blessed with a cadre of utterly beautiful friends, who can rock a room or a Zumba class with effortless glam.  One of those friends is the dear Jan Shaeffer, whom I met on a river boat following a reading from my book Flow, and who has knocked me out every single meeting since with an invincible and still un-selfconscious style.



It was Jan who...

Dangerous Neighbors: Work commences on a teacher's guide, and gratitude for a beautiful review

In October of 2008, the Please Touch Museum, the first museum in the U.S. designed specifically for children aged seven and under, opened the doors to its new home in Philadelphia's Memorial Hall—an act of revitalization genius.  For it was there, in this gorgeous Beaux-Arts building, that the nearly 10 million visitors who came to Philadelphia's Centennial Exhibition in 1876 took in the sculpture, paintings, and engravings of artists from 19 different countries.  In total, the 250 buildings ...

What are authors supposed to look like?

I have hair that, on any given day, might be confused with a dandelion puff gone wild.  I have an unsunned face, morning raccoon eyes.  I'm never glamorous.  I don't know how to try.  I'm at my absolute least glamorous at the club where I dance Zumba, and mostly I don't worry about this.  We are there to sweat.  (right?)  We are there for power.  (girl power!)



Today, however, I took an advanced reader's copy of Dangerous Neighbors to my friend, Joy, who is and has been a million wonderful th...

Illyria/Elizabeth Hand: Reflections

Elizabeth Hand was always a cut-above writer. One need only take a tour of her web site, where she posts journal entries from her 16th year, for proof.  What can you say about yourself when you are sixteen etc. years old and the world is either terribly hard or wonderfully simple on account of the world 'love'? she wrote then.  It was less like building a house than colonizing an island, this freakish, lovely, marvelous atoll that rose from the gray wasteland of St. Brendan's High School...

From me today only this:

shadows against near night.

Pamela Paul on the adult embrace of young adult literature

Several years ago, when I was just beginning to understand the transcendent possibilities of young adult literature, I wrote an essay for the Chicago Tribune, which the Tribune then titled "Welcoming posture of youngsters lures more writers." (February 5, 2006)  Why, I asked, were Adam Gopnik, Isabel Allende, Michael Chabon, Louise Erdrich, Sue Halpern, Marilyn Nelson, and so many others writing for younger readers?  I posited this possible explanation:

While some might...