Caroline Akervik's Blog, page 13

On Writing

That's the title of my favorite book on the writing craft by Stephen King. This summer, I had the opportunity to reflect on the writing process and the writing life. I had the marvelous opportunity to coteach a summer writing class for fourth and fifth graders with W.H. Beck, the marvelously gifted author of Malcolm at Midnight. To be honest, while embarking on creating and teaching this class, I was struggling with my writing. I was finding more excuses not to sit down and write on any given day. Granted my husband and children may prefer if I do things like laundry and match socks, really these things do take away from writing time. This is not to say that my house was actually looks neat and tidy, not by any stretch of the imagination, but I simply had lost some inspiration to write.

Our spin on a teaching writing blended ideas and inspiration from Aimme Buckner's Notebook Know-How with examples of great read alouds texts as well as our own experiences and reflections. In accord with Buckner's ideas for Writer's Notebooks, our students wrote Daily Pages and made lists to inspire future writing. Through our interactions with each other and with the students, discussions developed around topics like developing an exciting opening line for a book and how well written book can be easily summed up.

Teaching and thinking about writing reminded me of the fun of it all. For the frst time, I am trying my hand at some children's nonfiction, about a rescue dog. I once read that when asked how he did his best writing, Ernest Hemingway responded something to the effect that it was easy (excuse the paraphrase). He simply cut himself open and bled all over the page. I feel I do my best writing when I write from heart or from the gut, when I am truly honest and real in what and how I write.

There were little details about writing which I had forgotten or set aside over the year, like the importance of writing regularly and of not leaving a work in progress for too long, though I do believe sometimes a work does need to be set aside so that you can look at it with fresh eyes. Most of all, my discussions with Ms. Beck and with our students refreshed and inspired me. I have concluded that though writing is a solitary endeavor, you cannot do it completely alone. In the way that all other professionals talk and collaborate around their crafts, so, too, should writers. I, for one, need a writing support system. I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful community of writers and readers around me, for which I thank all of you. I hope you know who you are and that you are so greatly appreciated.

The Three Little Squirrels and the Big Bad Fox

http://www.educreations.com/lesson/view/the-three-little-squirrels-and-the-big-bad-fox/8458753/?ref=app

Here is a super cute fractured fairy tale by Mrs. R's first graders. Sorry I chopped off some of the pics a little. Thanks Mrs. R. and first graders for sharing your work. It made me smile.

Super picture by a fan of Viking and Happy Memorial Day

A student stopped by my library to share this drawing of Viking with me. Made me feel all "s'more-like" inside, which is appropriate as we head into the Memorial Day weekend. As an author, once we set our stories free, they gain a life and a power all their own in how they connect with readers. Recently, the poet Marilyn Nelson spoke with students at our school. One of our fourth graders asked how she chooses which literary devices to use. Marilyn responded that she doesn't think about them, that they sort of "happen." She was talking about the writing process but what struck me is that readers often see so much more or even see different things in what we write than we ever intended or anticipated. There isn't a right or wrong in how we react to literature. Reading and connecting to text is a deeply personal experience. Through the act of reading, we come to "own" the characters. I am so moved that Viking now belongs to some very special young readers.

Fire & Ice, the YA imprint of Melange Books, will be ...

Fire & Ice, the YA imprint of Melange Books, will be publishing White Pine: My Year as a Lumberjack and a River Rat in January of 2014.

White Pine is an historical fiction set at the end of the nineteenth century. Sevy Anderson's father breaks his leg in a sawmill accident, and so the fourteen-year-old has to take his place with the lumberjacks and river rats who harvested the forests of Wisconsin and Minnesota. The men of the Northwoods live hard and on the edge, and Sevy must prove his worth in the company of legends. The novel is also about first love and dreams that endure, and it is in the tradition of Harry Mazer's novels for boys.

This novel is near and dear to my heart and written in honor of Wisconsin, a state to which I moved as an adult and which has become my home. As a family, we were geocaching on a summer's day many years ago when we came upon a building along the river that had once housed a lumber company's offices. It is one of the few remaining edifices in our town that date back to the lumberjack era. It inspired a family conversation about the history of our region, about the rivers, sawmills, and lumberjacks and about how traces of what has gone before can still be seen by looking closely.

I am so excited to see this book in print!
http://www.fireandiceya.com/authors/index.html

I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen

I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen is my current favorite Golden Archer nominee and, possibly, one of my favorite children's picture books of all times. Klassen's assumes his readers possess a certain level of sophistication that allows them to appreciate dark humor. C.S. Lewis said "No book is worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally (and often far more) worth reading at the age of fifty." This is so true of this picture book. Like Mo Willems, Klassen understands that the adults who read the stories to the children truly appreciate humor as well, and so he doesn't dumb down his book or tame it to make it palatable for children. There are many examples in children's literature of books in which their very darkness is part of their appeal. This is one of those books. I read it to all of my kindergarten and first grade classes with the other Golden Archer nominees. While reading the book, some of the children loved it. Others were horrified (spoiler) that the rabbit was eaten. But those boys and girls who have a little bit of  Sendak's "Wild Things" in them loved it. Just this morning, I counted up the votes. I Want My Hat Back won. This book is pure genius and a delight. Just be prepared with an alternate explanation for the rabbit's fate if you have any tender hearted children in your audience.

I have been doing a lot of writing lately. I have a compl...

I have been doing a lot of writing lately. I have a completed middle grade historical fiction about a boy in the lumberjack era in the Northwoods of Wisconsin and a Young Adult dystopia that still needs some polishing. So, of late, I haven't been out looking for reviews. I was pleasantly surprised to get a letter in the mail from the Midwest Book Review. They have featured A Horse Named Viking in the January 2013 issue of their Children's Bookwatch. Thank you MBR for your interest in small press publications and thanks for the lovely review which appears on their Pet\Wildlife Shelf.

Midwest Book Review - January 2013 Children's BookWatch

Great new review for A Horse Named Viking: http://www.lea...

Great new review for A Horse Named Viking: http://www.learn-about-horses.com/horse-books.html! Look below Black Beauty.
Thanks to learn-about-horses.com!

Recently, a second grade teacher used A Horse Named Viki...

Recently, a second grade teacher used A Horse Named Viking to teach about reading strategies. She sent me the following comments from her students.
 
Quotes by kids:
" I was amazed at how well you PULLED ME in to the book"
"Your story touched my heart"
"I CONNECTED with your story because I am a horse back rider"
"Your book made me sob and cry at the end.  Maybe you and I could talk horses someday since we have that CONNECTION"
"I cried when Viking was put down because it reminded me of when my aunts dog was put down". 
"I wish Viking would have won the World Cup.  I'm QUESTIONING why he couldn't go out on a good note". 
"Your book made us cry and cry.  Mrs. P had Avery read the last Chapter because she and Olivia couldn't stop crying"
"I still QUESTION if Carpia's husband also had a bad blood line". 
"If Humfriend could not handle Viking, then I am INFERRING that Anne is really the BEST rider". 
 To Mrs. P, thank you for sharing these wonderful comments with me and thank you for sharing Viking with your students!

Another letter from a young reader of A Horse Named Viking

Letters from 2nd Grade Readers of Viking