Laura Shovan's Blog, page 21

It’s Time to Have a Serious Talk about Compliance

This is going to be a difficult post, friends. It’s time to have a serious talk about girls and compliance.

Let’s be clear right up front. On one level, this is about a dear friend’s book and how a review of that book got it wrong.

Conflict of interest, I know. But I’m determined to speak up because:

the review isn’t simply wrong about this particular book – it espouses a wrong-headed view of how girls in kidlit “should” behave;
the review misses a subtle, but significant message in the story’s resolution – that people have the right to appear on the outside the way they feel on the inside.

The book in question in Veronica Bartles’ THE PRINCESS AND THE FROGS, which I blogged about earlier this week [that post is here].

Veronica is in one of my critique groups, so I had the chance to see this book develop from initial draft to its final form as a picture book.

I am going to focus on this book and one review in particular. I’d like to look at how language used in the review shows that there are still harmful cultural expectations about the way girls are portrayed in children’s books. I am not, in this post, going to take on the fact that pushing girls to be compliant has huge implications about female sexuality, women in the workplace and in government, and gender equality. Ready?

Several weeks ago, THE PRINCESS AND THE FROGS was reviewed by a major publishing industry magazine.

Let’s take my first point: The review isn’t simply wrong about this particular book – it espouses a wrong-headed view of how girls in kidlit “should” behave.

After describing the plot and praising the author’s Frog Prince retelling as a “fun idea,” the anonymous reviewer goes on to say, “the heroine’s imperiousness comes off as spoiled and snooty, as opposed to empowered.”

I sat with these words for a few hours. “Imperious” and “spoiled” jumped out at me. When I was growing up, “spoiled” was one of my family’s code words for “you are not being compliant.” My parents used both this word and “selfish.” It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized, I’m not an abnormally selfish person. This was coding for “you’re not doing what we want you to do, the way we want you to do it.”

Authors, we’ve got a lot of reprogramming to do around the issue of girls and compliance. Books like THE PRINCESS AND THE FROGS are a great step forward.

In this story, Cassandra is young princess who says what she wants [a frog], stays clear about it [the book’s refrain, “princes aren’t pets”], deals with a resulting problem [every frog she kisses turns into a prince], and solves it herself, achieving her goal.

This was my reaction, which I shared on Facebook.

I’m sitting with a review of a friend’s PB. The main character is a girl who is clear and steadfast about what she wants (in the book). She is called a spoiled brat (in the review). Any women out there ever get told you should be flexible or adaptable instead of sticking to what you want? Mmm hmm. Me too.

Women responded with the many ways they were chided for not being compliant. These included:

I’ve been told “stop being so petty,” re: insisting on fair treatment.
I’ve been told, “Your standards are too high.”
“DON’T COME ON SO STRONG.” “UGH WOMEN NEVER SAY WHAT THEY MEAN.”
“You attract more flies with honey than vinegar.” Thanks Mom… not really looking for flies…
“Brat” and “whiny” are code words for female. Sadly. I once saw a review of “Speak”–a novel about a teenage girl who goes mute after being raped–that called the protagonist whiny. Think about that–she was raped and she’s MUTE, but she’s still called whiny.
“You have too many ideas about the world… You’ll never get a husband if you always talk about them” (my ideas, thoughts, vision, opinions).

To the last comment, I responded, “The character in this book is also more focused on her own ideas (in this case, it’s a kid, so having fun) than on being partnered with a male.”

[BTW: Thanks to the male kidlit authors who posted support on that Facebook thread.]

In THE PRINCESS AND THE FROGS, frog after frog turns into a prince. Each one proposes a quick wedding, but Princess Cassandra isn’t ready to give into those societal expectations. Without throwing a tantrum or threatening anyone, she sticks to what she wants: a pet to play with and be her friend.

Yet the reviewer goes on to say that the story, “may leave readers wondering why a prince can’t be the best friend she wants to badly.”

This leads me to my second point: The review misses a subtle, but significant message in the story’s resolution – that people have the right to appear on the outside the way they feel on the inside.

SPOILER AHEAD – please skip if you don’t want to know how THE PRINCESS AND THE FROGS ends.

Cassandra comes upon “a bedraggled little prince sniffling in the garden.” The little prince tells Cassandra he doesn’t want to be a prince. He liked being a frog. When Cassandra kisses the top of his head, he turns back into a frog and the two live happily ever after.

For me, this is one of the most powerful moments in the book. We have a character who feels one way on the inside (frog) and is miserable in his body (boy). Cassandra accepts him as who he says he is. Only then can their true friendship begin.

It is irresponsible for reviewers to perpetuate outdated cultural norms, including the implicit expectation that girls and women, boys and frogs, are only valuable when they are compliant. By implying that the main character should settle for a prince instead of the frog she wants, the reviewer missed how powerful the book’s resolution is. The final frog prince doesn’t want to change his identity in order to be part of Cassandra’s life. He wants to choose who he is and (like the princess) have a say about what makes him happy.

I’d like to thank Veronica Bartles for giving a shout out to all those kids who feel like frogs, and LIKE feeling like frogs. Cassandra may be a princess, but she prefers the company of people who are authentically themselves, instead of complying (there’s that word again) with society’s expectations.

Let’s celebrate non-compliant girls (boys, princes, and frogs) from children’s literature. Let us know your favorite characters in the comments.

 

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Laura’s Bookshelf: THE PRINCESS AND THE FROGS

Available at Indiebound.

I’m celebrating the launch of a friend’s book this week: THE PRINCESS AND THE FROGS by Veronica Bartles. It’s a Frog Prince retelling about being clear about what you want and who you want to be.

Because Veronica is in one of my critique groups, I was lucky enough to watch this adorable picture book develop from initial idea, through several drafts, and eventually sell to Harper Collins.

From the outset, our group loved spunky Princess Cassandra, who longs for a pet frog to keep her company. Lucky for her, there are plenty of frogs in the kingdom. Unlucky for her, the frogs have a habit of turning into princes when she shows them affection. Soon, the castle is swarming with princes (hilarious!) determined to “be married at once” to the young princess. No, thanks!

Sara Palacios’ character design is just right for Cassandra, who happily sticks to what she wants. This princess rocks glasses, a tiara, and an adorable pair of high-tops.

Will Princess Cassandra get her frog? You’ll love the delightful resolution to the story. I appreciated the subtle message that we are who we know ourselves to be inside, no matter what we look like on the surface.

THE PRINCESS AND THE FROGS debuts tomorrow, November 15. Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

A hilarious fractured fairy tale inspired by The Frog Prince, about a princess who only wants a pet frog—but keeps getting pesky princes instead. From debut picture book author Veronica Bartles and illustrator Sara Palacios.

THE PRINCESS AND THE FROGS is appropriate for all ages and would make a great family read aloud.

Who will like it?

• Kids who like funny twists on fairy tales.

• Readers who like friendship stories.

• Fans of characters who “know their own mind” – Junie B. Jones, Ramona, etc. This princess finds her own solution instead of giving in and being compliant.

What will readers learn about?

• There are always new ways to tell an old story.

• The value of gentle determination.

• The importance of being true to yourself.

Another lucky thing – there is a great Stevie Smith poem about this fairy tale. It’s focus: How does the frog prince like being a frog?

THE FROG PRINCE

By Stevie Smith

I am a frog

I live under a spell

I live at the bottom

Of a green well

And here I must wait

Until a maiden places me

On her royal pillow

And kisses me

In her father’s palace

The story is familiar

Everybody knows it well

But do other enchanted people feel as nervous

As I do? The stories do not tell,

As if they will be happier

When the changes come

As already they are fairly happy

In a frog’s doom?

I have been a frog now

For a hundred years

And in all this time

I have not shed many tears,

I am happy, I like the life,

Can swim for many a mile

(When I have hopped to the river)

And am for ever agile.

Read the rest and listen to Stevie Smith reading this poem at The Poetry Archive.

Check out Veronica’s website for upcoming signings and events.

I’m going to spend another day on this book tomorrow, when I’ll address the importance of non-compliant female characters in kidlit.

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NCTE

Heading to NCTE this weekend? So am I.

My first job after graduate school was teaching high school English. I was a member of the New Jersey Council of Teachers of English, but I never got to a national conference. Educator friends have told me how good it feels to be surrounded by people who love all things reading, writing, and learning.

This year’s conference theme is both timely and necessary, “Faces of Advocacy.” As educators, we must advocate for ourselves and our students in so many ways. Classrooms need to be a safe space for all of us, no matter our ethnicity, race, religious beliefs, or background.

Below is my annotated conference schedule. Stop by and say hello!

NCTE 2016

Saturday, November 19

9:30-10:45 am

Writing for a Better World: Poetry as an Agent of Change

Georgia World Congress Convention Center B210

Program Description: When headlines shout tragic news, we often feel powerless. Yet poetry can help. In this session, a panel of teachers and poets share ways to respond to world events and work to make positive change through poetry, beginning at the most personal level and later echoing out into the world.

Margaret Simon is the program chair. Katherine Bomer is a respondent. Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, Irene Latham, Margarita Engle, and Tara Smith are the other authors on this panel.

Notes: Many of our students are struggling with how to respond to the recent presidential election. This is going to be a powerful discussion about how we can use poetry as an agent of change and a source of comfort. I’m looking forward to the conversation, and to meeting several longtime Poetry Friday blogging friends.

4:00-7:30 pm

SCBWI Member Book Signing and Reception

Georgia World Congress Convention Center A411

Sponsored by the SCBWI Southern Breeze. The signing runs from 4-5:30 with a reception following. At the reception, 14 authors — including me — will have a chance to pitch their books to attendees. Should be fun!

Sunday, November 20

9:00-9:45 am

Laura Shovan Autograph Session, THE LAST FIFTH GRADE OF EMERSON ELEMENTARY

Georgia World Congress Convention Center, Random House Booth #412

12:00 PM – 1:15 PM

Writing Strategies for Teaching Empathy Through POV

Georgia World Congress Convention Center A310

Program Description: Seeing the world from another’s point of view is a key element of empathy—a necessary component of advocacy. In this interactive session, three authors and writing teachers will engage participants in a series of fun, hands-on, easily replicable POV writing activities designed to create an appreciation for others and their communities.

Victoria J. Coe and Cheryl Lawton Malone are the other authors leading this workshop.

Find it at Indiebound.

Find it at Indiebound.

Notes: I’m looking forward to co-leading this workshop with Vicki, author of the middle grade novel FENWAY AND HATTIE, and Cheryl, whose debut picture book is DARIO AND THE WHALE. We’ve been hard at work on this session. Each of us is presenting one writing exercise for teaching students point of view.

I’m rounding out the conference by meeting up with a 100 Thousand Poets for Change friend, poet and educator Waqas Khwaja, who is a professor at Agnes Scott College. You can read an interview with Waqas here. I also encourage you to read his poem, “I Bide My Time.”

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, everyone!

 

 

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Poetry Friday: Lucille Clifton

This week, I turned to Lucille Clifton’s words for comfort. Her poem “my dream about time” captures the frustration, fear, and anger so many women are feeling right now.

my dream about time

By Lucille Clifton

a woman unlike myself is running
down the long hall of a lifeless house
with too many windows which open on
a world she has no language for,
running and running until she reaches
at last the one and only door
which she pulls open to find each wall
is faced with clocks and as she watches
all of the clocks strike
                                             NO

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Listen to Clifton reading this poem at The Poetry Foundation.

There’s a poetry feast at Jama’s house today. You’ll find all of the Poetry Friday links at Jama Rattigan’s Alphabet Soup.

The contest to win my home-made Poetry Prompt Jar will run through the NCTE Conference. I’ll draw a winner on Monday, 11/21. Find out more and enter here.
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Are you going to NCTE? It will be my first time attending. I’ll post my schedule soon!

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Poetry Prompt Jar Giveaway

Hello from Klamath Falls, Oregon! In real life, I’m on the West Coast to do some school and library visits with my good friend Janet Sumner Johnson, author of THE LAST GREAT ADVENTURE OF THE PB&J SOCIETY.

But online, I’m guest-blogging this week at poet and children’s author Jacqueline Jules’s blog, Pencil Tips: Writing Workshop Strategies.

Empty protein powder jar.

When Jackie asked me to put together a workshop or activity, I decided to get crafty. I dusted off my long-neglected glue gun, grabbed some wrapping paper scraps, and got busy… making a poetry prompt jar that Ms. Hill’s class would be proud of.

There is one and only one of these beauties. I am giving this prompt jar, full of poetry prompts from my book, away to one class! Leave a comment on this post to be entered in the giveaway.

 

Glue gun!

You can read full instructions for creating a Poetry Prompt Jar (just like the one in THE LAST FIFTH GRADE OF EMERSON ELEMENTARY) at Jackie’s blog. Meanwhile, enjoy the photo gallery of my prompt jar in progress.

There’s a photo of the finished product at the Pencil Tips blog.

Good luck with the giveaway!

My kids don’t need those “Magnetic Poetry for Kids” tiles anymore. Time for a poem!

Almost finished.

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Introducing: Calcifer the Library Dragon

Our good friend Michelle Heidenrich Barnes is hosting Poetry Friday this week. You’ll find all of the links at her blog, Today’s Little Ditty.

We are having a big celebration at the Shovan house this weekend, Poetry Friday friends. After a year of planning, hard-work, painting, and poetry-writing, our Little Free Library is finally open for visitors!

I don’t know why dragons have proliferated in our front yard. We have a dragon whirligig. His name is Clyde and he’s riding a bicycle. We have a napping dragon. That’s Kip — he’s asleep in an orange hammock. And there’s a blue dragon on a flag who needs a name.

So it only made sense to go with a dragon theme for our Little Free Library. (If you’d like to learn more about Little Free Libraries, stop by the website. )

Our library dragon is named for a fire demon from the book Howl’s Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones. Both the book and the Miyazaki movie are family favorites. Here’s the movie trailer, which makes me want to watch the movie right now. I love, love, love this film. So much so that my teen and I watched it in Japanese, just to see if the experience was different.

The library was a group project. Mr. S did all of the carpentry. The resident teen, Miss Jay, designed and painted the panels. And I wrote the poem and organized the books.

Poem? Of course! A library dragon must have a poem — and a cup of hot cocoa to enjoy with his books.

A Message from Calcifer

By Laura Shovan (with help from the dragon)

I am a library dragon.

Don’t be afraid of my looks.

My tail’s long and stunning,

My eyes green and cunning,

But I am a lover of books.

I am a library dragon.

My treasure, I’m happy to share.

My hoard has no gold,

But if you are bold,

You may borrow a book from my lair.

***

Our library will stock children’s and young adult books, picture books through YA. We have a lot of children and dog walkers in our neighborhood — Brampton Hills in Ellicott City, MD, so we’re hoping people will make use of it.

Calcifer’s Little Free Library has its own Facebook page. (Check it out or join here.) And we plan to add an Instagram account soon. If you live in Central Maryland, come see us this Sunday. We’re having a grand opening read-along and picnic from 11-1, right in the front yard.

Here is a gallery of library photos, so you can see the full design. One of the coolest features, which you can’t see here, is that the library is painted GOLD on the inside. Why? Because books are a treasure.

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Laura’s Bookshelf: Howard Wallace, P.I.

Stop by the Poem Farm for all of this week’s Poetry Friday links. Be sure to wave to my friend Amy Ludwig VanDerwater — she’s hosting the poetry party.

Happy Poetry Friday!

This Friday, I am visiting Durham, NC as a Very Special Person. It is Muffin Morning at my niece’s school. She has never had a Special Person attend Muffin Morning. Of course, I said, “I am there!” Do you think they have fancy badges? Muffins are already pretty fancy.

I am also visiting Michelle Heidenrich Barnes’ blog, Today’s Little Ditty. Please stop by TLD to check out — and maybe try — my poetry workshop on fractured fairy tales.

Speaking of fractured genres, it’s been a long time since I’ve read a send-up of detective noir books. You know the kind: slick private eye who’s down on his luck meets questionable dame. She begs for his help and before you know it, he’s up to his fedora in the toughest case of his life.

Then guess who sauntered into my life and onto my bookshelf? A pint-sized gumshoe with no friends, a beloved but decrepit pair of wheels, and a bad case of middle school blackmail. Meet HOWARD WALLACE, P.I, by Casey Lyall.

He may be friendless, trenchcoat-less (an old brown bathrobe has to do), and devoted to a “lady” known only as Blue (that would be his decrepit bike), but Howard knows who he is: the best (and only) detective his middle school’s got. Howard is reluctant to take on a junior partner, but mouthy Ivy Mason won’t take no for an answer. And it turns out, Howard needs Ivy’s help — and her friendship — to crack his latest case.

Available at Indiebound.

HOWARD WALLACE, P.I. debuted this week, on September 6. Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

“What’s with the get-up? Is that the company uniform or something?”

“This? All P.I.s wear a trench coat.”

“Dude, that’s a brown bathrobe.”

I shrugged and straightened out my sleeves. “First rule of private investigation, Ivy: work with what you’ve got.”

Twelve-year-old Howard Wallace lives by his list of rules of private investigation. He knows more than anyone how to work with what he’s got: a bathrobe for a trench coat, a makeshift office behind the school equipment shed, and not much else—least of all, friends. So when a hot case of blackmail lands on his desk, he’s ready to take it on himself . . . until the new kid, Ivy Mason, convinces him to take her on as a junior partner. As they banter through stakeouts and narrow down their list of suspects, Howard starts to wonder if having Ivy as a sidekick—and a friend—is such a bad thing after all.

Who will like it?

HOWARD WALLACE, P.I. is appropriate for fourth grade and through middle school. (I’d even consider it a guilty, cozy pleasure for younger high schoolers.)

Kids who like snappy, funny dialogue and quirky characters.
Readers who like friendship stories.
Fans of kid detectives: Encyclopedia Brown, Nancy Drew, Sammy Keyes.

What will readers learn about?

Even great detectives (and self-sufficient kids) need help sometimes.
There are people who don’t want to fit in. Being an oddball can be a good thing.
The importance of being true to yourself.

The poem I’m pairing with HOWARD WALLACE, P.I. is about a boy and his wheels. It reminded me of Howard and Blue at the start of the novel, before Ivy becomes a junior detective and Howard’s sidekick. Funny as this book is — and it is laugh-on-every-page funny — Howard is a lonely kid. That’s a big part of what I love about him.

The Rider

By Naomi Shihab Nye

A boy told me

if he roller-skated fast enough

his loneliness couldn’t catch up to him,

the best reason I ever heard

for trying to be a champion.

What I wonder tonight

pedaling hard down King William Street

is if it translates to bicycles.

Read the rest of the poem at Poetry 180.

Full disclosure, everyone: Howard’s inventor is my dear friend Casey Lyall. Casey and I met through PitchWars in 2013, then met in person at the 2014 SCBWI annual in New York. When we shared birthday cupcakes in New York’s Grand Central Station, I knew our friendship was meant to be.

Casey is kind, smart, and hilarious. And all of those qualities are what makes HOWARD WALLACE, P.I.  a great book. He may be an odd duck — riding a broken down bike in his brown bathrobe, trading rapid-fire Hammett-esque insults with Ivy — but Howard Wallace has a good heart. He is the perfect middle grade anti-hero, someone to laugh at and love, to shake your head at and cheer for.

P.S. If you’re looking for an adult book that pokes fun at the hard-boiled detective character, check out DIRK GENTLY’S HOLISTIC DETECTIVE AGENCY. It’s written by Douglas Adams (THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY), a master of quirky satire!

What else is on Laura’s Bookshelf?

Middle Grade Books
THE LAST BOY AT ST. EDITH’S, by Lee Gjertsen Malone (6/16/16)
TREASURE AT LURE LAKE, by Shari Schwarz (3/31/16)
THE LAST GREAT ADVENTURE OF THE PB&J SOCIETY, by Janet Sumner Johnson (3/25/16)
COUNTING THYME, by Melanie Conklin (12/31/15)
FENWAY AND HATTIE, by Victoria J. Coe (12/24/15)
THE REMARKABLE JOURNEY OF CHARLIE PRICE, by Jen Maschari (12/3/15)
PAPER WISHES, by Lois Sepahban (11/19/15)
MY SEVENTH GRADE LIFE IN TIGHTS, by Brooks Benjamin (7/22/15)

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YA Novels
THE MYSTERY OF HOLLOW PLACES, by Rebecca Podos (8/25/16)
UNDERWATER, by Marisa Reichardt (8/18/16)

SWORD AND VERSE, by Kathy MacMillan (5/22/16)
GENESIS GIRL, by Jennifer Bardsley (4/13/16)

THE GIRL FROM EVERYWHERE, by Heidi Heilig (3/10/16)
THE DISTANCE FROM A TO Z, by Natalie Blitt (1/19/16)

THE GIRL WHO FELL, by S. M. Parker (11/5/15)
SYMPTOMS OF BEING HUMAN, by Jeff Garvin (10/29/15)
SHALLOW GRAVES, by Kali Wallace (10/1/15)




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Laura’s Bookshelf: The Mystery of Hollow Places

I know my friend Heidi Mordhorst is getting ready for a juicy-good school year. Heidi is hosting Poetry Friday this week at My Juicy Little Universe.

It’s the last Poetry Friday before school begins.

Let’s have a serious talk, friends. Last year, I was sitting in my teen’s school auditorium for an awards ceremony. The event celebrated students who were academic achievers, as well as stand-outs in art, volunteerism, and other areas. My kid wasn’t being recognized. She was alone, unseen in the production booth, running sound for the event (a skill she picked up from volunteering for a local theater troupe).

Earlier in the school year, my husband and I realized that our child suffers from depression, which runs on both sides of our family. As soon as that lightbulb went off, we were able to work on treatment. That has made a huge difference in all of our lives. (Here is a listing of online resources for teen depression.)

So, I sat in that auditorium to support my amazing daughter and began to think: There are hidden kinds of achievements. Where are the awards for the kids who struggle to make it to school every day? Who deal with learning differences or mental illness? Why don’t we recognize and honor kids who work hard and achieve their best despite coping with depression or chronic illness?

Last week, I mentioned that I often avoid reading books that I know will be emotionally difficult for me. Most of the time, when I finally dive in, I’m glad that I read the book.

But sometimes there’s a book that I mistakenly think will be a straightforward sci fi novel, a thriller, or a fantasy, and the author slips challenging themes in there! To be honest, I love when that happens.

Find it at Amazon.

Rebecca Podos’ THE MYSTERY OF HOLLOW PLACES is one of those books.

Teenager Imogene has never known her mother. She lives with her father, a scientist who now writes medical thrillers, and his new wife. When her father goes missing, Imogene is sure that her mother will have a clue leading to his whereabouts. After reluctantly accepting help from her best friend, Imogene plays detective: First she must find the mother who left her as a baby. Then, she has to find her father.

Sounds like a straightforward teen mystery, right? What underpins this story, adding layers to Imogene’s character and her worldview, is that her father’s mental illness has relapsed. Imogene’s hard edges, her mixed feelings about her closest friends and the emotional walls she puts up, all reflect the fact that she has grown up with a parent who (most of the time) copes with that illness.

It is a gorgeous book. Imogene’s complicated relationship with her best friend Jessa is one of the most honest portrayals of female friendship that I’ve read in YA. This was a book that I could not put down.

THE MYSTERY OF HOLLOW PLACES published in January, 2016. Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

All Imogene Scott knows of her mother is the bedtime story her father told her as a child. It’s the story of how her parents met: he, a forensic pathologist, she, a mysterious woman who came to identify a body. A woman who left Imogene and her father when Imogene was a baby, a woman who was always possessed by a powerful loneliness, a woman who many referred to as “troubled waters.”

Now Imogene is seventeen, and her father, a famous author of medical mysteries, has struck out in the middle of the night and hasn’t come back. Neither Imogene’s stepmother nor the police know where he could’ve gone, but Imogene is convinced he’s looking for her mother. And she decides it’s up to her to put to use the skills she’s gleaned from a lifetime of reading her father’s books to track down a woman she’s only known in stories in order to find him and, perhaps, the answer to the question she’s carried with her for her entire life.

Recommended for mature eighth grade and up.

Who will like it?

Fans of contemporary mystery.
Teens who like books about everyday people dealing with extraordinary, real-life circumstances.
Kids who like reading about complicated families.

What will readers learn about?

What it’s like to have a parent who deals with mental illness.
How opening up to friends and family can help those relationships grow and deepen.

I’m pairing a favorite poem with THE MYSTERY OF HOLLOW PLACES. William Butler Yeatts “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” has a mournful, dreamlike quality to it that reminds me of Imogene’s father.

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

William Butler Yeats

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,

And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;

Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,

And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,

Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;

There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,

And evening full of the linnet’s wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day

I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;

While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,

I hear it in the deep heart’s core.

What else is on Laura’s Bookshelf?

Middle Grade Books
THE LAST BOY AT ST. EDITH’S, by Lee Gjertsen Malone (6/16/16)

TREASURE AT LURE LAKE, by Shari Schwarz (3/31/16)
THE LAST GREAT ADVENTURE OF THE PB&J SOCIETY, by Janet Sumner Johnson (3/25/16)

COUNTING THYME, by Melanie Conklin (12/31/15)
FENWAY AND HATTIE, by Victoria J. Coe (12/24/15)
THE REMARKABLE JOURNEY OF CHARLIE PRICE, by Jen Maschari (12/3/15)
PAPER WISHES, by Lois Sepahban (11/19/15)

MY SEVENTH GRADE LIFE IN TIGHTS, by Brooks Benjamin (7/22/15)


YA Novels
UNDERWATER, by Marisa Reichardt (8/18/16)

SWORD AND VERSE, by Kathy MacMillan (5/22/16)
GENESIS GIRL, by Jennifer Bardsley (4/13/16)

THE GIRL FROM EVERYWHERE, by Heidi Heilig (3/10/16)
THE DISTANCE FROM A TO Z, by Natalie Blitt (1/19/16)

THE GIRL WHO FELL, by S. M. Parker (11/5/15)
SYMPTOMS OF BEING HUMAN, by Jeff Garvin (10/29/15)
SHALLOW GRAVES, by Kali Wallace (10/1/15)




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Laura’s Bookshelf: Underwater

Doraine Bennett at Dori Reads is our Poetry Friday host today. Stop by her blog for all of this week’s poetry links.

Happy Poetry Friday, writerly friends! It’s been a few weeks since my last blog post. Let’s catch up on news.

First, I finished drafting my next middle grade novel (my excuse for not blogging). More info on that to come.

Second, I have a few articles to share. Check out educator David Ruby’s post about how Sharon Creech’s verse novel LOVE THAT DOG changed him from a poetry hater to a poetry lover, and transformed his teaching. The post is here. And there’s this essay, about the importance of creative writing in the classroom.

Third, it’s a big week in the Shovan family. Pass the tissues… our eldest is leaving for his second year of college. A few days after the great departure, my husband and I celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary.

Last bit of news: Extra copies of THE LAST FIFTH GRADE OF EMERSON ELEMENTARY audiobook are in my hot little hands. I’m giving away two of the cast recording (9 amazing actors — thanks, Recorded Books!) on Goodreads. This is where you can enter.

Find it at Indiebound.

I’ve been reading a lot this summer, but we haven’t visited my bookshelf since June. Let’s check out a book and see if we can figure out a poem to pair with it.

I admit to being a scaredy cat when it comes to books with tough themes. It took me forever to open up the pages of THE HUNGER GAMES (loved it). I was reluctant to read Madeleine Kuderick’s YA verse novel KISS OF BROKEN GLASS because deals with teenage self-harm (loved this book too). So I had to work up my courage to read debut YA author Marisa Reichardt’s novel UNDERWATER.

It’s about Morgan, a former competitive swimmer who has become agoraphobic, never leaving her family’s apartment. What changed for this high schooler? She is a school shooting survivor.

Do not fear, fellow softies. UNDERWATER focuses on how Morgan goes from being disabled by her anxiety and PTSD, through her first baby steps into recovery, to a place where she begins to integrate her old self and the person she has become. And Morgan is funny. Her voice is self-deprecating and awkward, full of pain and guilt, but also capable of love for her younger sibling and her mother. She forms a new friendship with the boy who moves in next door, who has secrets of his own. What makes this book such a powerful read is the way Morgan’s voice changes gradually from hopeless to hopeful.

I have been wanting to post about this book for a long time, in part because I have the *perfect* thing to pair with it. Not a poem this time, but song lyrics. (High-five to my musical theater lovers.) You’ll find a clip at the at the end of this post.

UNDERWATER published in January, 2016. Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

“Forgiving you will allow me to forgive myself.”

Morgan didn’t mean to do anything wrong that day. Actually, she meant to do something right. But her kind act inadvertently played a role in a deadly tragedy. In order to move on, Morgan must learn to forgive—first someone who did something that might be unforgivable, and then herself.

But Morgan can’t move on. She can’t even move beyond the front door of the apartment she shares with her mother and little brother. Morgan feels like she’s underwater, unable to surface. Unable to see her friends. Unable to go to school.

When it seems Morgan can’t hold her breath any longer, a new boy moves in next door. Evan reminds her of the salty ocean air and the rush she used to get from swimming. He might be just what she needs to help her reconnect with the world outside.

Recommended for seventh grade and up.

Who will like it?

Anyone who likes realistic YA novels with a compelling first-person voice.
Teens who are interested in how people cope with trauma.
Kids who are dealing with anxiety.

What will readers learn about?

What it’s like to experience agoraphobia and how it might be treated.
How a traumatic event might affect a teenager.
Anxiety may fade, but it doesn’t always go away. People can learn coping mechanisms, but may experience flare-ups over time.

The song I’m pairing with UNDERWATER is “What Would I Do If I Could Feel?” from The Wiz. Ne-yo’s amazing performance of this song on “The Wiz Live!,” is so expressive. As the Tin Man, he tells us how he longs to experience human emotions, something that Marisa’s character Morgan feels is beyond her reach in UNDERWATER. (I need to continue researching, but I believe Charles Smalls wrote the lyrics.)

 

If you’d like to read the lyrics, you’ll find them here. I ended up buying The Wiz Live cast recording — highly recommended.

What else is on Laura’s Bookshelf?

THE LAST BOY AT ST. EDITH’S, by Lee Gjertsen Malone (6/16/16)

SWORD AND VERSE, by Kathy MacMillan (5/22/16)

GENESIS GIRL, by Jennifer Bardsley (4/13/16)

TREASURE AT LURE LAKE, by Shari Schwarz (3/31/16)

THE LAST GREAT ADVENTURE OF THE PB&J SOCIETY, by Janet Sumner Johnson (3/25/16)

THE GIRL FROM EVERYWHERE, by Heidi Heilig (3/10/16)

THE DISTANCE FROM A TO Z, by Natalie Blitt (1/19/16)

COUNTING THYME, by Melanie Conklin (12/31/15)

FENWAY AND HATTIE, by Victoria J. Coe (12/24/15)

THE REMARKABLE JOURNEY OF CHARLIE PRICE, by Jen Maschari (12/3/15)

PAPER WISHES, by Lois Sepahban (11/19/15)

THE GIRL WHO FELL, by S. M. Parker (11/5/15)

SYMPTOMS OF BEING HUMAN, by Jeff Garvin (10/29/15)

SHALLOW GRAVES, by Kali Wallace (10/1/15)

MY SEVENTH GRADE LIFE IN TIGHTS, by Brooks Benjamin (7/22/15)

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Poetry Friday: Baking for Shabbat

This week’s Poetry Friday host is Books 4 Learning. Please stop by for the poetry link-up.

Greetings, Poetry Friday friends.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been trying something old/something new on Fridays. No — no one’s getting married. I’ve caught a very special baking bug.

A few weeks ago, I was visiting my lovely sister-in-law Lisa in Orlando. She asked if I wanted to come with her for a women’s night out … baking challah.

Challah is the bread Jewish families bake and eat for Friday night Sabbath. Because I grew up in an interfaith home, sometimes we made a Shabbat dinner with prayers over challah, wine, and candles, and sometimes we didn’t. But, since I love Lisa and love to bake, I said, “Sure!” Little did I know that my plane would be delayed several hours and I’d be scrambling to get to the Challah Club on time.

We made the dough at the Challah Club, pinched off a small piece to say a prayer over and discard, then took the braided bread home for baking.

The short version: I had a great time with Lisa and the other members of the Orlando Challah Club. Although I’ve continued to bake on special occasions over the years, it’s usually cake (for birthdays) or muffins (for house guests), but I’d fallen away from the practice of making bread from scratch. And this challah was delicious.

For the last several weeks, I’ve been making my own challah. I’m reminded how much I’ve  missed kneading dough, watching it rise. If you care for and feed yeast it will, in turn, care for and feed you and your family.

I’ve asked my dear friend, poet Dennis Kirschbaum, to share his challah poem with us today. Dennis has been baking challah for many years. I love the braiding together of joy and tradition in this poem. Shabbat shalom!

Challah

by Dennis M. Kirschbaum

After thousands, the seven

ingredients– water, salt,

yeast, oil, honey, eggs, flour–

still promise to keep and remember

the Sabbath, a sixtieth of eternity.

Six strands, six days

become one. Rest

before the blast,

the bloom and swell,

sharp inhale before death.

Welcome cry for the angels–

tune of the second soul.

Bright loaves, clouds of rain and earth,

braided sunlight of golden breath.

And Shabbat too, a kind of death,

a dissolution of those selves

I have tried to be and failed.

The baking air is full of song.

Dennis Kirschbaum is the author of the chapbook CLATTERING EAST from Finishing Line Press. He has a website of the same name.

The finished product!

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