Annie Cardi's Blog, page 78

Links Galore

A few more links for today:

YA characters aren’t the only ones who like to use lists. Check out these examples of great lists in literature.
Awesome interview with author-illustrator Peter Brown.
Not sure why you’d need to buy sets of color-coordinated books when you can organize books you already own by color.
Glad Young Writers Workshop is flourishing even with the new setting. (Also, assistant director Jeff Martin was my fiction counselor back in ’01. Way to lead, Jeff!)

The Wait Is Over: NPR’s Top 100 Novels for Teens

The results are in! NPR collected suggestions, tallied votes, and have compiled the top 100 best ever YA novels. Okay, so I’d still argue that books like Harry Potterand Anne of Green Gables aren’t exactly YA, but it’s a giant reading list of awesome. It’s hard to argue against that. Still, a couple of quick thoughts:

Not at all surprised to see Harry Potter topping the list. I think this series will be beloved for a long time, and it connects with readers of all ages.
I think Speak should be higher than #26. It’s stunning and a necessary read.
Really surprised to see My Sister’s Keeper above #50. I don’t think of that as YA at all.
Really surprised not to see more M.T. Anderson on the list. Dude is a genius.

Scanning through, there are still a bunch I haven’t read. Might have to take this on as a long-term reading project.

Share your thoughts on NPR’s list in the comments!

Summer and the Spoken Word

While I’m still riding the wave of a great summer weekend, here’s an awesome performance by poet Sarah Kay:

Lovely writing with great bits of humor throughout. Kay’s piece also reminds me of how important rhythm is in writing, even if you’re not performing spoken word poetry.

(via swissmiss)

Blueberries and Morning Coffee

More to come, but here’s a little glimpse from my weekend at the NESCBWI Blueberry Fields Writers Retreat:

Everyone should leave a retreat with writerly camaraderie and a bucket of fresh, organic blueberries. What an amazing weekend!

Friday Fifteen

Welcome to the Friday Fifteen, in which I review five books in fifteen words or less. It’s all the review you want without any of that excess helpful information. Onto the books!

1. Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri

Lahiri’s writing is gorgeous as always, but this collection didn’t strike me like Maladies.

2. The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th Edition by Staff of the University of Chicago Press

Where does that comma go? The Chicago Manual knows! My grammar book of choice.

3. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Man-eating horse races plus amazing characters and writing. What more could you want?! Read immediately.

4. East of Eden by John Steinbeck

Such a page-turner. Great writing, and Cathy rivals Lady Macbeth as craziest lady villain ever.

5. Unlikely Friendships: 47 Remarkable Stories from the Animal Kingdom by Jennifer S. Holland

Guys. Inter-species animal friendships. My heart can’t take this much cute.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

The Real Secret Garden

A fascinating look at Frances Hodgson Burnett and her journey to write and publish The Secret Garden. Even though I loved The Secret Garden and A Little Princess when I was young, I knew nothing about the woman behind these classic children’s books. Although The Secret Garden wasn’t her first book, it was deeply connection to her own losses and experiences:

“Burnett loved the combination of the gothic and the natural worlds, and the ability of children to understand and appreciate them in everyday life. In this new story, she was able, whether she recognized it or not, to recover from her two enormous losses. Unlike her son Lionel, Colin Craven is restored to health at the end of the novel. And unlike Maytham Hall, the gardens at Misselthwaite Manor continually bloomed.”

This makes me want to reread The Secret Garden. It’s been a while, and what better time to do it than for the book’s 100th anniversary?

(H/T The Paris Review)(image: Wikipedia)

Links Galore

A few more links to get you through the day:

Never having to study, seeing alternate worlds, and other things YA novels give you unrealistic expectations about.
Writers hating on writers. Really sad about Elizabeth Bishop vs. J.D. Salinger, to be honest.
Forget Teen Moms. Focus on the good teens are doing.
It’s almost time for SCBWI’s summer conference in LA! If you’re going, make sure to check out these helpful tips.

Medals Aren’t Just For Olympians

Two things I love: children’s literature and trivia quizzes. And where better for the two to meet than in the Horn Book’s medalist matching game round up? Thanks, Horn Book!

Click through to test your knowledge of Newbery/Caldecott authors and their favorite Newbery/Caldecott books. And don’t worry about clicking on the wrong answer. Instead of shaming you, the Horn Book sends you to even more awesome book trivia. Best quiz ever!

I ended up guessing about 2/3 of the answers correctly, which I’m pretty happy with. Now to go back and make sure I know all the other trivia, too. Have fun!

Start August Right with the Write Fifteen Minutes a Day Challenge

Yet another reason YA author Laurie Halse Anderson is amazing? The Write Fifteen Minutes A Day Challenge. The rules? Write for fifteen minutes a day, everyday during August. That’s it. No need to submit anything or log anything. Just hit fifteen minutes a day.

I like the idea of this way more than NaNoWriMo, in which you try to write a thousands of words. Fifteen minutes a day is way more manageable. And they don’t even have to be words that are all going to the same thing. Want to write a short story one day? Go for it. Work on your novel the next? Rock on. Want to spend fifteen hours writing? Well, maybe allow yourself a few bathroom breaks, but you can do that, too. It’s just about getting yourself started.

Also, love this response as to why Anderson is leading the challenge:

Because the arts flourish in community. When kindred spirits gather they raise each other up. The differences between someone who has been published and someone who hasn’t are not nearly as dramatic as you might think. I still struggle to make time everyday to write. I still choke at the thought of the blank page.  I never write as well or as thoughtfully, or as fast as I want to. But I love writing. I’d be scribbling stories if I had never been published. It is the writing – surrendering to the magic – that is the best part of my day. It balances me, and makes me feel alive. I want to share that with you.

This really captures what it’s like to be a writer. It’s hard, and it doesn’t get easier. But not writing is way worse than writing, and once you commit to a little amount of time, you get to be part of another world.

I’m definitely going to take part in the WFMAD Challenge. Are you?

In 75 Years, That Rejection Will Be Invalid

Don’t worry about those rejection letters. One day, when you’re considered one of the greatest American writers ever, The New Yorker will backtrack and publish that short story they passed on before you got famous.

At least, that’s what happened with F. Scott Fitzgerald. Recently his grandchildren found the rejected story in his papers. Fitzgerald scholar and editor James West passed it along to The New Yorker staff, who are going to run the story this week. The first time around, they weren’t so kind:

“The magazine wrote in an internal message that it was “altogether out of the question. It seems to us so curious and so unlike the kind of thing we associate with him and really too fantastic.”"

Okay, so Fitzgerald’s not around to enjoy this belated triumph, but the rest of us can wave our rejection letters in solidarity.

(image: GoodReads)