Sydney Salter's Blog, page 23

Banned Book Week + Giveaway

I'd enjoyed the challenge of reading The Grapes of Wrath in 8th grade Honors English, and I did finish the book (my mom owned a copy). But most of my class didn't get that chance. A parent demand that the book be withdrawn due to strong language.

Had she heard the language her own son used? Before we started reading Steinbeck?

And guess what? Junior high kids still relish tossing around strong language. And books are still withdrawn from classrooms and libraries because parents object to content. Content that kids deal with on a daily basis. You could pick any junior high student at random and ask--who's struggling with an eating disorder? Who's cutting? Who takes drugs? Who's most likely to get pregnant? Who's already been pregnant?

Books aren't the problem.

Stories about tough subjects show kids that they aren't alone in their experiences. Stories show a way out, a solution, new possibilities, and sometimes they simply provide an escape. As Chris Crutcher says, "Censorship works against kids who don't have much anyway."

Let's try banning poverty, abuse, and racism instead!



To win a signed copy of Chris Crutcher's banned book Deadline , please leave a comment. Drawing will be held on Wednesday, October 6, 2010.

Clowning Around

Yesterday I checked my favorite fifth grader out of school for an "appointment". . .



with The Elephant Parade. I realize that 5th grade is important & I really do value education (as well as my own writing time), but sometimes you just have to. . .


clown around. Starting with my daughter's fifth birthday, we've gone to watch the elephants ramble in downtown Salt Lake City the day before the circus starts. Tomorrow she'll be eleven. We've delighted in watching elephants eat watermelons, clowns t...

Contest Winner!

Congratulations!!!!


BlackRoze37 won a copy of ReVamped! 

This Week In Revision: Tapping Into Emotion

Last week I snuck off to a matinee with my husband, enjoyed a laughter-filled dinner with favorite writing pals, and two fun people joined our writing group. Our family went to ice cream day at the State Fair, I got the laundry done (even folded!), and for some miraculous reason my house stayed clean. And I still had long, uninterrupted writing time.

I'm happy.

So how was I going to deepen all the rejection, pain, and sorrow my character experiences in Chapter Sixteen? I sat in my sunny living ...

Relationship Advice from Lucienne Diver

Today I'm excited to welcome Lucienne Diver, author of Vamped and the newly released ReVamped. Leave a comment to win a copy! Now here's Lucienne's relationship advice:


1. What is the dumbest or smartest thing you've done after a breakup?

Not many people know this, but I was engaged once before my husband (way back in college). In fact, my husband says that it was years before he knew that the guy had a name other than Slimeball, so you can guess just how well the break-up went. The smartest...

A Weekend With The Pros

I spent last weekend visiting one of my favorite cities, Boise, Idaho, for our regional SCBWI conference.


Our speakers included Scholastic Books editor, Cheryl Klein, Jill Corcoran from The Herman Agency, as well as authors Chris Crutcher, Kelly Milner Halls, Amy Cook, Sarah Tregay, Laura Bingham, and me.

Cheryl Klein talked about seventeen revision techniques. One that I'm going to use: List the first ten significant things each character says or does in your novel. This gives you a quick snap...

Breaking Up With Denise Jaden

Today I'm excited to welcome Denise Jaden, author of the debut novel Losing Faith. Here's her breakup story:
Break-ups are never fun, but I do have one story that still makes me laugh. (And I'll be SO embarrassed if my ex ever reads this, so the names have been changed for MY protection!)
When I was sixteen, I dated a guy named...Steve, for a short time. We met at a campground where a whole group of us teenagers met up regularly. We'd been dating for a couple of weeks, and I was excited for...

This Week In Revision: Characters With Baggage

Quick--what first comes to mind when you see:

Popular? Pretty? Mean? Dumb? 


Moody? Morose? Serious? Misunderstood? Deep? Poetic?

Popular? Hot body? Lucky with girls? Dumb? Jerk?
Smart? Unpopular? Ugly? Scrawny? Absolutely unlucky with girls?

Some characters come with a lot of baggage! 

I'm writing a story about a high school girl, so naturally some of these character types people my story. And some of them, unfortunately, read as stereotypes: flat, predictable, boring. This week, I've worked on...

Reading Local Challenge

These days there's lots of talk about buying local, eating local, well, I thought, eyeing my to-read stack, I'm going to spend September reading local.

I'm going to catch up on books by Utah authors: Kristen Chandler, Carol Lynch Williams, AE Cannon, Kristen Landon, Bree Despain, and James Dashner.
Watch for updates on my progress--and some great giveaways of signed books by Utah authors. I challenge you to read a "local" book and support an author who lives in your part of the world.
Join...

Contest Winner!

Congratulations!!!

Kayla wins a signed copy of Ella Enchanted. YAY!!!