Monica Edinger's Blog, page 38
January 31, 2015
Take a Class in Fiction Writing with Rebecca Stead
Advanced Fiction with Rebecca Stead at the 92nd Street Y begins February 17th.
A workshop for writers of fiction for children and young adults.The writing process is not just putting down one page after another���it’s a lot of writing and then rewriting, restructuring the story, changing the way things come together.
In this class, we discuss published work and student writing, giving particular attention to voice, character, dialogue, interior monologue and world-building.
January 26, 2015
Guest Post from THE STORY OF OWEN author, E. K. Johnson
As part of a blog tour celebrating this year’s Morris finalists, here is a guest post from E.K. Johnson whose The Story of Owen is not only a Morris finalist, but an SLJ Battle of the Kids’ Books contender and the recipient of many other accolades. ��And without further ado, here’s E.K. Johnson:
Why does THE STORY OF OWEN appeal to younger readers?
I took a quick poll on Twitter to answer this question, and it was decided that the reason my book is appealing to younger readers is:
There���s one...
Thoughts on Newbery: What I’d Like to See Honored a Week from Today
Next Monday morning the��ALA Youth Media Awards��will be announced. Many��wonderful books came into the world this year, some receiving��a great deal of attention while��others��were appreciated more quietly. And as is true��for all the hardworking committee members,��those��charged with selecting the Newbery will have��spent an enormous amount of time considering the eligible titles��before making their careful decision. (See this post��for more about the criteria and their process.)
Because...
January 23, 2015
This Year’s 90-Second Newbery Film Festival
The reimagining 1953 Honor Book Charlotte’s Web as a horror movie. A must-see. These teenagers from the Schaumburg Public Library are on to something: after all, the book’s first...
January 20, 2015
Thoughts on Newbery: El Deafo
I don’t usually do��single titles for this series, but am making an��exception for Cece Bell’s El Deafo, a graphic novel that is getting some serious Newbery buzz. About this moving and very funny memoir of Bell’s early years,��I��wrote��elsewhere, “While Bell doesn’t shy away from issues dealing with her hearing loss, doing so with wit and a refreshing lack of self-pity, it is the search for a good friend that will resonate most with young readers.” While��I’ve definitely been part of the bu...
SLJ’s Battle of the Kids’ Books 2015 Contenders
Last week we��announced the contenders for��the 2015 BOB (AKA SLJ’s Battle of the Kids’ Books). You can seem them all here��but I do encourage you to go to the actual post to see what others have to say about them and add in your own thoughts.
For those unfamiliar with the BoB, it was that gave me the idea of doing similar bracket-style event with kid books. Happily, the folks at School Library Journal liked the idea and so here we are, beginning our 7th year. Of course...
January 19, 2015
In Honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Reposting this from last year:
Born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1922, my father��Lewis J. Edinger, who passed away in 2008,��fled with his mother to America at the age of fourteen; his father chose to stay, hoping to ride things out, but was deported and killed. Years later, as a newly minted PhD, my father took whatever jobs he could find; one of those was in Montgomery, Alabama at the time of the bus boycott where, among other things, he met Martin Luther King, Jr. ��Here��are some excerpts fro...
January 12, 2015
Philip Pullman���s “The Collectors” now available at Audible US.
I was a bit peeved a few weeks ago to learn that there was a new short story by Philip Pullman set in the world of The Golden Compass out from Audible in the UK. ��Happily, it is available starting today in the US as well. ��You can get a taste of it here.
January 10, 2015
Time Magazine’s So-Called 100 Best Young Adult Books of All Time
Dear Time Magazine,
Among your��100 Best Young Adult Books of All Time��are a significant number (I found 31) that were��written for��certifiable children,��prepubescents, say seven, eight, nine, and ten year-olds. That is, they are NOT YOUNG ADULT BOOKS.��For example, are you aware that��Beverly Cleary’s��Beezus and Ramona��(to point to the most mind-boggling mis-categorized book on your list) was written for children and is read by and to children typically aged seven and younger. Charlotte’...
January 6, 2015
Five Children on the Western Front wins Costa Award
How awesome that days after I read and posted my admiration for Kate Saunders’ Five Children on the Western Front it won the UK Costa Award. More about the award, the author, and the book here. Also,I’ve just finished the author’s Beswitched and was totally charmed by it. Now off to read more of her books.
