Artists at Eldredge
Last week I was visiting schools in East Greenwich, RI. At Eldredge Elementary some very talented artists had created posters for me based on the first three books of the Secrets of the Seven series. Marvelous! I love seeing books inspire creativity.
The Eureka Key
The Eagle’s Quill. Note very faithful representation of the three main characters–Marty with her glasses, Sam in a cool tye-dyed sweatshirt, and Theo (very tall!)
The Ring of Honor. In this poster, Alexander Hamilton has joined our three heroes in a search through Manhattan for his grave. Cool and slightly creepy!
Read More
How to Do a School Visit Right
The author’s parking spot!
Last week I went to Biddeford Intermediate School to talk with the third, fourth, and fifth graders about poetry. If you want to try being a rock star for a day, you should be the visiting author at Biddeford Intermediate.
They reserve a parking space out front “for the author.” All the kids line up to clap as you walk into the building. (For real!) They brought me snacks (yes, I am a sucker for chocolate) and an actual gift bag with goodies and a new blank book and a gorgeous pair of earrings. !!!
Wow! And I needed a new journal. How did they know?
This sounds like a school just needs to offer me earrings and chocolate to melt my heart. (This is partly true. Earrings are optional.) But it’s not the whole story.
The kids just vibrated with excitement when they came into my workshops. They called my name in the hall and waved and a few of them jumped up and down. When I made eye contact their faces glowed. They were excited about words, about books, about poetry. Their teachers treat a visiting author like a celebrity and that fills the kids up with passion for writing and art and creativity.
The kids wrote incredible poetry.
Some of the poetry the kids created, based on the images from Imagine a Night. This was before I even arrived!
That’s why the gifts and the parking space and the chocolate are important–not because I need these things to enjoy a school visit (although, again, chocolate does not hurt) but because they are visible symbols of the commitment of the teachers at BIS to helping their kids care about literature. They are the real rock stars.
Visiting Fredonia, NY
I really enjoyed visiting Fredonia, New York, this week–both the elementary school and the University of New York! It’s fun to talk to third graders and college kids in the same day. Loved a question from my college audience, from a thoughtful young man who wanted to know how I approach gender dynamics in my work without scaring off or overwhelming young readers. “Scaring them off?” I asked. “They’re living this stuff!”
Listen in on a preschool classroom. Boys are yucky, girls can’t play here, boys can’t play with dolls, girls don’t like football. Kids are investigating gender dynamics every day of their lives. Trust me, a little thing like considering how a female ninja fits into the society of feudal Japan is no big deal.
Read MoreThe Ring of Honor
Happy book birthday to Sam, Martina, Theo, and Alexander Hamilton! The third book in the Secrets of the Seven series is out today.
Sam, Martina, and Theo race through New York City, hot on the trail of a ring cast from the bullet that killed Alexander Hamilton. Old enemies and surprising new allies appear, as well as puzzles and traps and brainteasers and plenty of facts about American history. (How many presidents’ last words do you know?)
Are you as good at puzzles as Sam and Marty? Find out here!
Read MoreWhat I’ve Been Reading
Shadow Warrior by Tanya Lloyd Kyi
An imaginative, informative biography–of sorts–of the semi-legendary Chiyome Mochizuki, who owned and ran a school to train girls as ninjas in feudal Japan. Tanya Lloyd Kyi fills in much of the background of Chiyome’s life with invented scenes and characters, showing us just how a girl from Koga wound up running a powerful network of spies and assassins as the civil wars of Japan raged around her.
Chiyome is, of course, a central and formidable character in Deadly Flowers and Deadly Wish. I’m so happy to see her get a book of her own! My Chiyome is more nefarious than Tanya Lloyd Kyi’s. But you know right away that either one is not to be trifled with.
Anyone who enjoyed Deadly Flowers and Deadly Wish and who wants to know more about the historical background behind both books would do well to check out Shadow Warrior.
Read MoreWhat I’ve Been Reading
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray. One of the sharpest books I’ve ever read…a feminist outcry, a simultaneous parody of Lord of the Flies and James Bond movies, a biting critique of commercialism, all punctuated by hysterical fake commercials for beauty products (“Because there’s nothing wrong with you that can’t be fixed!”).
Anyway, you really have to like a book that starts off with a planeload of teenage beauty queen contestants crash landing on a remote desert island and ends up with a profound message about growing up female in a country that’s happy to judge you on how well you can walk in high heels while wearing a swimsuit and smiling.
Read MoreGreat First Lines
“There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb and he almost deserved it.”
–C.S. Lewis, The Dawn Treader
Read MoreSarah L. Thomson
A children’s book author publishing award-winning nonfiction, poetry, picture books and novels including…
“Thomson focuses on newfound connection, magic, and suspense to conjure a fast-paced, heartwarming mystery. Thomson’s world is populated by resourceful protagonists, fanciful creatures, and quirky supporting characters.”
—Publishers Weekly