Annie Cardi's Blog, page 55

Friday Fifteen

It’s a snowbound Friday Fifteen here in New England. Perfect time to curl up with some snow-themed fifteen-word book reviews:

1. Baby-sitters’ Winter Vacation (Baby-Sitters Club Super Special #3) by Ann M. Martin

The BSC goes on a school ski trip. Somehow baby-sitting follows them.

2. Ten on the Sled by Kim Norman

All the animals go sledding, wear cute winter gear. Good for read-aloud and counting.

3. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken

Orphans, an evil governess, wolves, a goose boy–no wonder it was a favorite.

4. Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

A shared notebook creates wild winter fun in New York. Charming and clever contemporary YA.

5. Kiss My Bundt: Recipes from the Award-Winning Bakery by Chrysta Wilson

The only appropriate response to a snowstorm? Stay in, read, and bake.

Links Galore

Lots of great links to get you through Friday:

The Outsiders was one of my very favorites in 8th grade. How could it get better? Add a hip soundtrack, that’s how.


It’s easy to take libraries for granted, but we need to remember that their resources weren’t always available to the public.
“These manuscripts, they are not just for us in Timbuktu…They belong to all of humanity. It is our duty to save them.” Compelling article about protecting precious historical manuscripts from extremist invasion.
Writers on seeing their books in print for the first time. Warm squishy feelings.
Fictional ladies and their noms.
Getting rid of book clutter aka me insisting I’m going to reread everything.
Kenneth Branagh, watch out–the Pigeon is tackling Hamlet.
Virginia Woolf knew her way around a doodle.
Maureen Johnson imagines classic literature remarketed as chick lit.
Love Jo Knowles’s storyboards!

The Voice Necessitates the Story

In this post, Beth Revis, author of Across the Universe, looks at Mark Zusaks’s The Book Thief and what makes it a compelling novel and how we can apply these tools to our own writing. Revis says:

“In your own writing, write the story from the point of view of a character who can tell that specific story. Your story cannot be so vague that just anyone could narrate it – your narrator must be the one person who can tell the story in this way.”

I love this suggestion. It’s not enough to come up with a cool plot or character. Your narrator has to be the only person in the world who can tell this story. They need to tell this story. This is the story that ultimately changes and defines their life. Granted, things can get a little more complicated if you have multiple perspectives, but I think the sense immediacy is still relevant.

Make sure to check out the whole post, which includes more of Revis’s suggestions for what makes a compelling YA novel.

How to Take a Great Author Photo–With or Without Cats

Since I’m married to a playwright, I know a bunch of actors and have gotten to see lots of lovely headshots in my time. But most actors are used to being in front of a camera. Authors aren’t quite as prepared for their author photos. Why can’t we

Fortunately, Scribner has some suggestions for making your author photo work:

Get your laser beam eyes ready, everyone. And don’t forget that crucial index finger!

(image: Scribner Books)

The Work of Writing, the Joy of Writing

As everyone in the reading world probably knows at this point, Philip Roth is retiring from writing. When he made this announcement, I wondered if it was like the Rolling Stones saying, “No, guys, seriously, last tour.” It’s hard for artists to pull away from their craft, even if they’re getting tired. But it sounds like Roth is done with the work of writing. He recently told a young writer: “But I would quit while you’re ahead. Really, it’s an awful field. Just torture. Awful. You write and write, and you have to throw almost all of it away because it’s not any good. I would say just stop now. You don’t want to do this to yourself. That’s my advice to you.”

My reaction:

Fortunately, Elizabeth Gilbert also takes major issue with this advice and can craft a way better argument than my gif. (Scratch that, gifs are the best argument.) She argues that while writing is difficult and it requires real work, it’s also one of the best freaking jobs you can have:

“Compared to almost every other occupation on earth, it’s f*cking great. I say this as somebody who spent years earning exactly zero dollars for my writing (while waiting tables, like Mr. Tepper) and who now makes many dollars at it. But zero dollars or many dollars, I can honestly say it’s the best life there is, because you get to live within the realm of your own mind, and that is a profoundly rare human privilege.”

As someone who does not make many dollars at writing, I can still say that even when it’s hard, it’s great work. It’s fulfilling even when it just amounts to a Word document on my computer that will never be seen by human eyes. Maybe some people don’t realize what kind of effort and time are involved in writing and probably shouldn’t get into the business. But if you love the act of creation and letting your mind make connections and maybe seeing readers make those connections, then write.

Make sure to read the whole article, because I think we need more writers who give validation to all that a writing career can be.

(H/T Jennifer Malone)

The Book Thief–Coming to a Theater Near You (I Hope!)

There’s a Book Thief movie in the works? And it’s going to star Geoffrey Rush as Hans Hubermann? So. Freaking. Excited.

Emily Watson (no, not Emma Watson, I had to read that twice) is slated to play Rosa Hubermann and Sophie Nelisse is Liesel. I haven’t seen either of them in films before, but I’m very hopeful for this cast.

The Book Thief is one of the perfect recommendations for someone who looks down on YA as a genre. I hope a movie version captures the complexity of the novel and introduces it to a wider audience. Also, really curious to see how they handle Death’s voice throughout.

(via School Library Journal)

Links Galore

Some links to help start the week off right:

In honor of Black History Month, the Brown Bookshelf is featuring a different artist/author of color every day in February.
School Library Journal released their 2013 Battle of the Books bracket!
Maya Angelou on Shakespeare, reminding us about how literature touches us across race, age, and era.
Speaking of Shakespeare, did you know he invented the word bedazzled?
Cool breakdown of American dialects.
Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird is a great source of writerly inspiration. Here’s a breakdown of some tips from that book.
Another reason to love Dr. Seuss–he was a hat aficionado.
The only good thing about voicemails–the fiction they can inspire.
Attention, teachers and librarians! You could win a mini-grant from the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation.

One Good Trope Deserves Another

There are some things that pop up again and again in various genres and categories of literature, and YA is no different. But that doesn’t mean all tropes are bad. Sometimes they’re comforting or fun in their familiarity. Sometimes they provide the basis for deeper explorations of character or plot.

In this post, the writers at YA Highway share some of their favorite tropes. They’ve all got great choices, and their post inspired me to share a few of mine.

1. Boarding schools–I was never tempted to live at one myself (I like my privacy too much), but I loved the idea of them. Everyone wears uniforms, walks through autumn landscapes, and is a member of a secret society, right?

2. Unusual names–From Anastasia Krupnik to Weetzie Bat to Zooey Glass, I love a character with a distinctive name. I’m practically as bad as a celebrity naming their baby.

3. Victorians–Put ‘em in a bustle and I’m there.

4. Fairy tale adaptations–Whether it’s a creative take on Cinderella or a look at a lesser known tale, these books catch my eye.

5. Sisters–I don’t have any sisters, so I’ve always been intrigued by books that feature a close set of sisters.

What are your favorite tropes from YA? Share ‘em in the comments.

(image: Edwin Steele)

Friday Fifteen

Happy Friday, everybody–and happy February! February is my birthday month, so I’m gearing up for a month of (hopefully) fun. Including lots of good fifteen-word reviews.

1. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

Everyone in fifth grade cried. Except me. I have a heart of ice.

2. All Around Atlantis by Deborah Eisenberg

Lovely collection of stories. Literary fiction in just the way I like–quiet and grounded.

3. Theater Shoes by Noel Streatfeild

Fourth in the series, but I read it first. Great fun for kids into theater.

4. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz

“Are you brave enough for Scary Stories?” NO. No. Definitely no. *cowers*

5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

I gleefully wrote an essay about why the last section of the book is awful.

The Writing Cave

New favorite writing space:

Or course, I might be too distracted by the awesomeness of the space to get any work done. (Up the ladder! Down the ladder! More books!)

Click through for even more awesome architectural bookshelves.

(image: Freshome)(via Architizer Blog)