Just in case you think children's writers make the big bucks...

From time-to-time I peek in on Jane Yolen's journal, Telling the True, to see what she's up to. It's always an interesting read. She puts far more personal info. on-line than I'd ever be brave enough to do, but what I find most interesting is how damn hard this woman works. She is probably the most successful children's writer in North America; she's inevitably juggling several projects at a time, as well as speaking engagements, etc., (and she still gets turned down all the time BTW; that didn't surprise me, but it may surprise others), yet she still is watching her pennies. So...just in case you think writing a few children's books is going to make you rich, take a peruse through her journal for a reality check at just how hard one has to work. She recently posted a few tips on writing:

1. Eschew the exclamation point! If your prose is not exciting all on its own, a screamer (as it has been called in some circles, though not mine) is hardly going to help.

3. Don't let your characters float on the page. Unless, of course, they are birds, fairies, superheroes, or jet pilots. By that I mean anchor them with some action. Don't let them just talk and talk and talk. In theater, actors always have some bit of "business" that keeps their characters rooted in the real world. Even the birds, fairies, superheroes, or jet pilots.

8. Make your reader fall through the words into the story. As a wordophile, I love words like “furbelow” and “Taradiddles.” My favorite is the Scottish “Traghairm” which means to prophecy while wrapped in a bullock’s skin behind a waterfall.” But using a word that is unparsable at best and a bloody big STOP sign at worst is simply bad writing.

14. What about an editor? What do we want? What do we need? They are not necessarily the same thing. Well, this is what I want: truth, attention to detail AND the big picture, getting back to me on time, hard questions, and a love letter each bloody time we correspond. I want the editor to love the manuscript as it is, even though we both know it needs to be better. I want the editor to make the revision journey with me, sometimes leading me, sometimes a hand on my butt pushing me up the steep hill. I want the editor to be my voice in the publishing company, my cheerleading section, my advocate, and my sherpa. She (or he) does NOT have to be my best friend. In fact, sometimes having an editor as a best friend gets in the way of a good publishing relationship.

18. Dealing with the dreaded BLOCK. Here’s what I do if a project or piece of writing is being balky, threatening to stop up, or otherwise shut itself down. I stand up, walk about, eat a chocolate chip cookie (check this waistline if you want to know how I have been faring!). I have a cup of tea; watch a rerun of TOP CHEF or AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL; check email; read blogs like Fuse # 8 or BlueJo or Making Light; peruse magazines like Newsweek or Style 1900 or Smithsonian. (You now know more about me than is good for you!) What one is trying to do is to sucker in the hind brain, the lizard brain, getting it to work while it thinks no one is paying attention. If none of these distractions help, I turn to a different writing project. Since there are always plenty of them around, I never have to worry. Notice, I never settle into reading someone else’s finely-wrought novel during work on my own. If I do, it will be many hours or days before I resurface, my own projects forgot, and the beat of the novelist’s language in my head instead of my own novel’s voice. by Jane Yolen

Good advice all. Ms Yolen's site is a wealth of information and I recommend checking it out. Her book, Take Joy: A Writer's Guide to Loving the Craft is also a gem. (Here's a review.) Her classic picture book, Owl Moon, remains a favourite in our family and it's one book we'll never give away. It's a book very dear to her heart and family, too. One other thing I admire about Yolen is that she writes in almost all genres, from adult fiction to non-fiction to poetry. I find this encouraging and heartening, not being one who wants to be pegged...

All Hail the Query Shark!

Thanks for Fuse #8 for alerting me to this blog, Query Shark, on which "The Shark" evaluates query letters. As far as public service and what-to-read-before-you-submit, she's (I'm assuming said shark is a she, of course) is right up there with my other fav, Editorial Anonymous. If you think you're ready to submit, spend some time with these editors first.

The Museum Book

I like to think that I'm a pretty with-it gal, but I never made the connection that the origin of the word museum is the word muse. Duh. There, I've admitted it for all to see. This is just one of the little gems I learned in The Museum Book by Jan Mark, illustrated by Richard Holland. (Subtitle: A Guide to Strange and Wonderful Collections.) If you've ever been in my house, you'll know that I'm a bit of a pack-rat myself and rather fond of strange and wonderful collections. My own "collections" (a word which might be a tad rich for my ephemera) have no particular purpose other than being things that please me for one reason or another (and, of course, don't cost too much), so this book--explaining the origin and purpose of museums--is right up my alley.

Before you move on, thinking this is all rather dull, take a moment to see how Mark writes this gem. This is from Chapter 4: "By Aldrovandi's time, every collector wanted the most curious cabinet of curiosities, the most wonderful chamber of wonders, the biggest collection. A century later, things were really getting out of hand. The collections grew too large for boxes, too large for rooms. It was all very well for kings and rich men, as they had plenty of space, but not all collectors were kings and rich men.

Perhaps one day the collector's wife looked at her house, overflowing with fossils and dried toads and corals and plants and books and dragons' teeth, the stuffed crocodile and the nasty shriveled thing under the stairs that gave her the creeps, and said, "Either all that goes or I do!" The collector would think about this for a while and then find someone to take the collection off his hands."

I love how she speaks directly to the reader, as if they are truly in the know, on her side. It's a kind of nudge-nudge, wink-wink style that is very appealing and fun (to me at least!). I've never heard of Jan Mark before, but she was prolific in her day. (She died in 2006.) Here's a site maintained by her Flemish fans. I'll have to check out Thunder and Lightnings and Handles, which both won the Carnegie Medal.

The art by Richard Holland is a wonderful mixed-media collage style--perfectly eclectic for a book about museums, the most eclectic of things. Here's a peek at the first spread.

Here's what a reviewer at The Observer had to say:

There could not be a more marvellous memorial of Jan Mark, who died last year, than The Museum Book, illustrated with bright elegance by Richard Holland. This is an argument she must have wanted to make. There is nothing dustily didactic about it. It is a passionate, unpatronising, offbeat paean to museums and multiplicity.

Musing on Writing About Science for Kids

An interesting post from Steve Jenkins over at INK (Interesting Non-fiction for Kids) on the challenges of writing about science for children. Here's the crux of what he has to say:

I’m more interested in the problems that arise from the nature of contemporary scientific inquiry itself. These aren’t social or philosophical issues. Rather, they bring us up against the limits of human intellect and imagination. Much current science deals with the very large or the very small. The units of measurement used in astronomy and sub-atomic physics are so remote from our direct experience that they are nothing more than abstractions. The same is true of time. The impossibly short life spans of man-made elements or the billion-year intervals that describe the development of life are, once again, too extreme for most of us (perhaps any of us) to really grasp. I’m convinced that an inability to appreciate the time scale of the earth is at the root of many people’s refusal to accept evolution as an explanation of life’s diversity. It just doesn’t feel like it makes sense.

Beware the Moral

A tip from my favourite snarky, sarcastic New York children's book editor, Editorial Anonymous, just in case you're thinking along the lines of, "I have this great idea for a book that teaches kids [insert lesson here]." It won't fly and here's why.

Hockey Books in Canada

It seems that the Stanley Cup with be awarded to a team south of the border this year. I'm not the biggest hockey fan, but I do feel nostalgic about the game, which I consider to be quintisentially Canadian. Somehow teams with names like the "Mighty Ducks" just doesn't cut it for me. It will always be a game of the Maple Leafs, Canucks, Canadiens, and such pour moi. Given that it's playoff season, here are a couple of great books about our favourite game.

The Hockey Sweater (originally published in French as Le chandail de hockey) by Roch Carrier. This classic begins: "The winters of my childhood were long, long seasons. We lived in three places -- the school, the church and the skating-rink--but our real life was on the skating rink." Young Roch adores Maurice Richard and, when his own hockey sweater is ripped, his mother writes to "Mr. Eaton" and orders a Canadien's sweater. But, horror of horrors, when the sweater arrives it is a Toronto Maple Leafs sweater. A classic for sure.

You can listen to Roch reading the story from this clip from the CBC Archives. You can also watch the animated short The Sweater from the National Film Board here. The Hockey Sweater is illustrated by Sheldon Cohen. Here's his blog.

And then there's The Moccasin Goalie, which is also told in the first person. ("A long time ago when I was a boy, my family lived on the prairies in a small town called Willow. The winters there were very cold, with the wind blowing the deep snow into huge drifts. My friends and I didn't mind. This was our favourite time of year. Cold temperatures meant ice, and ice meant hockey!") In this tale, four friends--Anita, Marcel, Petou and Danny (the narrator) live for hockey. Danny is always the goalie. Since he has a crippled leg and foot he can't wear skates so plays in his moccasins, thus "the moccasin goalie." There's much excitement in town when a "real" hockey team is formed, with uniforms and all. But...Anita, Petou and Danny are not picked for the new team. ("Girls don't play hockey, Petou is too small and Danny can't skate.") I'll leave the rest for you to discover. This classic is written and illustrated by William Roy Brownridge. Here's a review.

Two of My Favourite Things

Now this is very cool. And it's not really that much of a stretch -- scientists, after all, are some of the most creative thinkers going. And if they can explain their work creatively and without the bafflegab and jargon, well, we're all the better for it.

While we're on the topic of science and literacy, the Canadian Science Writers' Association has announced the winners of their annual Science in Society book awards.


Winner in the 2007 children's book category: Baby Sea Turtle by Aubrey Lang and Wayne Lynch (Fitzhenry and Whiteside)








Winner in the 2007 youth book category: Polaris by Julie Czerneda (Fitzhenry and Whiteside)

More BC Book Prizes finalists

A follow-up to yesterday's post, here are the finalists for The Christie Harris Illustrated Literature Award. (Blurbs from the BC Book Prizes site.)


The Day It All Blew Away, by Lisa Cinar

Huge-headed Mr. Tadaa and the little person are mighty lonely. Surrounded by characters who are always tipping their hats and shunning those who don’t return the favour, poor Mr. Tadaa has a head too big for his hat. Even worse, the little person’s hat is so big it wears him. One blustery day, Mr. Tadaa’s hat and the little person are blown away by the wind ... and right into each other! A surprise twist at the end shows that even in a world of hat-tippers, nonconformists can find happiness and friendship. Vancouver-based writer and illustrator Lisa Cinar graduated from Emily Carr Institute with a BFA in Fine Arts. This is her first book. Here's a review.


Elf the Eagle, written by Ron Smith, illustrated by Ruth Campbell

Elf is a baby eagle who worries about many things, including the distance from his nest, high up in a tree, to the ground, way, way down below. He also worries about his sister, Edwina, who is older and more adventurous than he is. Eventually, when his baby down grows into strong, black feathers, his parents stop bringing him food and tempt him with tasty morsels that they keep just out of reach. Elf gets very hungry and one day he accidentally tumbles out of his nest; before he knows it, he is flying. Founder and publisher of Oolichan Books, Ron Smith is the author of three collections of poetry and a book of short stories. He lives in Lantzville on Vancouver Island. This is his first book for children. An Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design graduate, Ruth Campbell is a painter who was born and raised in Montreal. She now lives in Vancouver.


Jeffrey and Sloth, written by Kari-Lynn Winters, illustrated by Ben Hodson

Jeffrey can’t think of a thing to write, so he doodles instead, only to have his doodle begin to order him about. Jeffrey struggles with the situation until he discovers that the most strong-willed doodle is powerless against a well-told tale. Jeffrey and Sloth is bound to have children rushing for their coloured pencils and their pens to see who and what they can create. Kari-Lynn Winters is an author and playwright. A graduate of Canada’s National Theatre School, she also performs with a children’s theatre group, The Tickle Trunk Players. She is currently completing her Ph.D. in the Language and Literacy Department at UBC. Ben Hodson is an award-winning artist based in Ottawa. Here's a review.


Pink, written by Nan Gregory, illustrated by Luc Melanson

Vivi is dizzy with wanting pink. Perfect pink. The kind the rich girls have, beyond the budget of her beloved truck-driver dad. One day in the window of a fancy toy store she sees something that embodies everything she longs for—a bride doll in a dress of perfect glistening pink. She saves and saves to buy the doll, walking the next-door dog and running errands. But when she takes her parents to show them the precious doll, she experiences a crushing disappointment. Pink is a touching story about longing for something beyond reach and finding something better close to home. Nan Gregory is a Vancouver-based award-winning author and professional storyteller. She won the CLA Book of the Year Award for Wild Girl and Gran and the Sheila A. Egoff Prize and the Mr. Christie’s Award for How Smudge Came. Luc Melanson is a commercial artist who has illustrated many picture books. He lives in Montreal. Here's a review.


A Sea-Wishing Day, written by Robert Heidbreder, illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton

On a hot summer day, a wish transforms an urban backyard into a place of breezy high-seas adventure. As our bold Captain and Skipper ride the salty waves, they encounter a beastly sea monster, buried treasure, a scurvy pirate crew, lovely mermaids and more. The creative pair who brought you the acclaimed I Wished for a Unicorn offer up another celebration of the boundless distances a childhood wish can travel. A retired elementary school teacher, Robert Heidbreder has been enchanting children with his joyful poems and rhymes for more than two decades. His 2005 book, Drumheller Dinosaur Dance, won the BC Chocolate Lily Young Readers’ Choice Award. Kady MacDonald Denton is an author and illustrator of books for children and lives in Peterborough, Ontario. Here's a review.

Celebrating BC Books and Magazines

I'm a bit late with this, but we're smack in the middle of BC Book and Magazine Week. If you go to their website you'll find a listing of events. Perhaps you'll find one near you? Or, why not check out a BC magazine you haven't cracked open before -- there sure are enough of them. According to BCAMP (the BC Association of Magazine Publishers) there are over 75 to choose from, including (ahem) KNOW and YES Mag of course, but also such diversity as Room of One's Own, The Block, Small Farm Canada, and Lusitania. Browse the full list at the BCAMP site.

Now, though, I'd like to mention the finalists for the BC Book Prizes in the two children's lit. categories:

Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize
(All blurbs from the BC Book Prize site.)

The Alchemist's Dream, by John Wilson

In the fall of 1669, the vessel Nonsuch returns to London with a load of furs from Hudson Bay. It brings something else, too—the lost journal from Henry Hudson’s tragic search for a passage to Cathay in 1611. In the hands of a greedy sailor, the journal is merely an object to sell. But for Robert Bylot—a once-great maritime explorer—the book is a painful reminder of a past he’d rather forget. As Bylot relives his memories of a plague-ridden city, of the mysterious alchemist John Dee and of mutiny in the frozen wastes of Hudson Bay, an age-old mystery is both revealed and solved. The Alchemist’s Dream was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award. John Wilson is a prolific writer specializing in historical fiction for young adults, and this is the fourth time he has been shortlisted for the Sheila A. Egoff Prize. He lives in Lantzville on Vancouver Island.

Baboon: A Novel, by David Jones

Fourteen-year-old Gerry Copeland has mixed feelings about flying back to his parents’ research camp in the African savannah. While his biologist mom and dad study baboon behaviour, he’ll be thinking about the video arcade and restaurants back in the city. When their small plane goes down, Gerry wakes up thinking a baboon has broken his fall but is shocked to realize the furry arm is his own. Gerry’s only chance is to stay with the baboon troop but will his parents ever recognize him? Baboon has been shortlisted for several prizes, including Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children and has been listed in the Children’s Fiction Top 10 List by the Ontario Library Association and the New York Public Library’s Books for the Teen Age. David Jones lives in Vancouver.

The Corps of the Bare-Boned Plane, by Polly Horvath

Like her National Book Award-winning The Canning Season, The Corps of the Bare-Boned Plane is filled with plot twists and extraordinarily strange characters. It is also a moving meditation on loss and finding family in the most unlikely places. Following the death of their parents, two cousins are sent to live with their distant, scholarly uncle and his eccentric house staff. Told in four characters’ voices, the novel is a layered account of one bad year from multiple points of view linking humour and pain. Polly Horvath has written many award-winning books for children and young adults, including The Trolls and Everything on a Waffle, which won the Sheila Egoff Prize in 2002. She lives in Victoria.

For Now, by Gayle Friesen

In Friesen’s previous book, Losing Forever, Jes learned to accept the inevitability of change. But change is moving at a heartbreaking pace and her world shifts by the day. There’s lots of uncertainty in Jes’s life, but the biggest uncertainty of all is love. Everyone has a different opinion on it. Dell says love should be so intense that it makes you puke—this from a girl who’s swept off her feet as easily as a dust bunny. Jes’s teacher says that love is about reuniting what was once divided—this from a guy who’s going through a divorce. If anything’s for sure, it’s that love is never predictable, but, as Jes begins to see, no one ever gives up on it. Born and raised in Chilliwack, Gayle Friesen studied English literature at UBC before becoming a writer. Her first novel, Janey’s Girl, won the Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book Award. She lives in Delta.

Porcupine, by Meg Tilly

When her father is killed in Afghanistan, twelve-year-old tomboy Jack Cooper (or Jacqueline, as her mother insists on calling her) watches helplessly as her mother crumbles. Before long, Jack moves with her younger siblings from her Newfoundland home to a rundown farm on the Prairies with a great-grandmother they didn’t know existed. In the process, she learns that families come in many different forms and that love, trust and faith can build a home anywhere. A moving and inspiring tale, Meg Tilly’s Porcupine is a novel about adaptation and new understandings. Formerly a film actress, Meg Tilly is the author of two adult novels, Singing Songs and Gemma, and is currently at work on her second novel for young adults. She lives in Vancouver.

Congratulations, all.

This is getting long, so I'll post the finalists for the Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize in another post.

Earth Day, a good time to redeem myself after yesterday's on-line hissy fit. Thank goodness there are far more fabulous books out there than aforementioned self-published dreck (I know, I know, there is some very well done self-published non-dreck) and Peter Sis's books are great examples of innovative non-fiction for kids.

In honour of the fact many of Charles Darwin's works are now on-line, I thought I'd take another peek at Sis's The Tree of Life (which has a subtitle reminiscent of the fabulously long titles of Darwin's time: A Book Depicting the life of Charles Darwin: Naturalist, Geologist & Thinker.) (Thanks to BookNinja, by the way, for alerting me to the Darwin archive and this article re. the release.) Using wonderfully detailed illustrations -- a Sis version of Where's Waldo and I Spy books, but much more beautifully rendered of course -- he introduces young readers to Darwin's life, his work, and some of his discoveries and ideas.

Here's Sis's Author's Note from the beginning of the book:

Charles Darwin regretted that he hadn't learned to draw. Instead, he kept detailed descriptions of everything he saw. It is these dense and vivid written passages in his diaries, letters and journals that have inspired me to use my own drawings, based on contemporary sources, to tell this story of his life. The text in my visualization of Darwin's diary entries has been freely condensed from his various writings about the voyage of the Beagle. Other sources for quotations and information include Darwin's autobiography, his letters, and the first edition of On the Origin of Species.


Sis takes us through Darwin's life story with the use of sketches, captioned illustrations, lists, diary entries, etc. We see Darwin as a child right through to his death. One of the most interesting spreads explained Darwin's serendipitous assignment as naturalist on the Beagle. We learn of his father's displeasure and how (with help from his maternal uncle Josiah Wedgewood), his father finally relented. On this spread Sis has used list to explain Father's Objections (e.g., That it would be a useless undertaking.) and then Practical Arrangements (e.g., case of strong good pistols; book on taxidermy; bible). Then we launch into his journey for several spreads followed by his life back in England, trying to piece it all together. (After the voyage, Sis clevery describes Darwin's activities into three parts: Public, Private, and Secret ("his developing a theory about the evolution and adaptation of species.)

Although I found the detailed drawings and explanations of his journey captivating -- and I'm sure younger readers will as well -- I'm not convinced that children will make the necessary leaps as to how he used these observations in his development of the ideas of natural selection. As I've written before, I think explaining natural selection and evolution is tricky and, in that vein, it can be such a challenge to distill it down. (Will young readers understand words such as adaptation and selection for instance?) So, while learning about Darwin's observations and discoveries on the Voyage of the Beagle are interesting in their own right, I'm not sure kids will make the connections between some of the things he'd seen on the voyage and his eventual development of the theory of evolution by natural selection. Of course Darwin took years to do this and he also incorporated other observations into this mix and I'm glad Sis included his (many) years after the Voyage as well. (As a side note, I was happy to see that Sis mention how Darwin spent eight years studying barnacles after his return. I always thought that was kind of quirky!)

Having said all this, I found this partial review by Roger Sutton at The Horn Book in the article The Ones That Got Away: Great Books That Didn't Get Their Due by Rick Margolis, in which Sutton makes a good point:

"Published to great reviews but no awards, Peter Sís’s The Tree of Life (Farrar/Frances Foster Bks., 2003) confounded those who wanted a straightforward explanation of evolution. Instead, the book is a remarkable joining of two imaginations, Sís’s and Darwin’s, hard at work to show us that scientific investigation is anything but straightforward. It instead requires the intense scrutiny of apparently disparate phenomena—just like this book.—Roger Sutton, The Horn Book"


(Yes, I agree, but I think this further points to how this book is definitely not a picture book for really young readers -- I think it's best suited for kids in the upper grades of elementary school and even beyond.) Quibbles aside, I think the book is a wonderful introduction to the life of one of our world's most important scientists and thinkers. His ideas (and of course those of Alfred Russel Wallace, who eventually came up with the same ideas, but was never as widely recognized) were indeed revolutionary and as the years go on are strengthened. The Teacher's Guide for this title is an added bonus, and will help strengthen many of the ideas introduced in the book. (Another reason why we need engaged and interested teachers and librarians in schools -- this book can bring you to a whole other level with wonderful instruction and discussion.)

I'm Almost, But Not Quite, Speechless

Uncharacteristically, I'm not quite sure what to say. Others have said it well, especially Colorado Writer who made this comment on Editorial Anonymous's post on this book: Barf-o-rama.

Others weigh in (yuck, yuck)
Patricia Storms over at BookLust, Nicholas Lezard at The Guardian and
Feministing. You can view a few pages over at Newsweek (make sure you check out the size of the doctor's shoulders). Ack, ack, double ack.

I probably shouldn't waste any cyberspace (or brain cells for that matter) ruminating on this, but frankly it ticks me off. Oh, and did I mention when this gem will be released? Mother's Day. Lovely.

I promise to be more productive and positive soon.

I'm Cravin' These Crayolas

Okay, I try to stay on task here, blogging about kids' books and other writerly things, but these crayon sculptures by Diem Chau were just so cool. And didn't we all started our careers as writers and illustrators with crayons? Make sure you check out Chau's site -- lots of goodies to ogle over. (Thanks to design*sponge for the link.)

Turning Up the Volumes

If you're in BC (and even if you're not; you can listen on-line) you might want to turn the dial CBC on Saturday mornings to check out Sheryl MacKay's North By Northwest. Alan Twigg, writer and publisher of BC's treasure, BC Bookworld, and supporter of all things literary in BC has a spot on the show every other week called Turning Up the Volumes. In each spot he profiles a BC writer and/or book that you may, or may have not, heard of. The shows thus far have been far-reaching and varied, from Wylie Blanchet, author of the classic The Curve of Time, to Eric Collier, author of Three Against the Wilderness, to Betty Pratt-Johnson, whose books on diving in BC are long-standing classics. All of the past shows are available on-line here. Twigg also spearheads the Author Bank, which includes entries on all authors from BC (an impressively long list).

Writing West Coast History

Ever been rescued by the Coast Guard on the west coast? If so, get your fingers tapping and write a short (very short) story for the story contest being held in honour of the Bamfield Life Boat Station's centenary celebration. (You can also use the experiences of others if you haven't been so "lucky" as to have been rescued by these fine folks.) I have been rescued by the Canadian Coast Guard, but it was on the east coast. Too bad -- it's a pretty good story. Another time...

Creatures Big and Small, Old and New

I am such a fan of Karen Patkau's work and I've had two of her books on my desk for awhile now, just waiting for a moment to blog. Karen is an illustrator and author from Toronto and she's published several books, including the natural history gems I have here: Creatures Great and Small and Creatures Yesterday and Today.

It's often the simplest of concepts that work so well. In Creatures Great and Small, Patkau explores animals of the world, but focusses on the large and small (although not always the largest and smallest) in each category. So, for the spread on amphibians she illustrates the Chinese Giant Salamander and the Poison Dart Frog. Four lines of text, written in the first person, give information on the animal pictured. For Chinese Giant Salamander, for instance, she writes:

I live in the mountains, among the rocks
of muddy riverbanks. Nocturnal, I am
awake at night. That is when I crawl along
the cold riverbed, searching for a meal.

Each text block reads almost like poetry to my ear. No doubt children will enjoy searching for the smallest creatures. On the spread on insects, for instance, the Feather-winged Beetle is about the half the size of a grain of rice. On the mollusk spread, a small garden snail "streaks" across the bottom of the page.

This book can be used in so many ways. Of course, children will love the bright illustrations and searching for the creatures, but parents and teachers can also use the book as a jumping off point for discussing animal classification (mammals, fish, birds, amphibians, arachnids, insects, etc.) and also units of measure. Two spreads at the end of the book help explain comparative sizes using kid-friendly terms (big, really big, small, really small), yet also have more complex ideas such as using grid squares to measure off size, and visual comparisons (e.g., actual size, 2 x actual size, etc.). This information may go over the heads of some children, but that's okay. At some point it will be useful even when they think they are too old for a picture book. (You never are, IMHO.) And I was so happy to see metric measures listed first, followed by imperial. Metric is, after all, the measure of science (not to mention Canada and most of the world; the US being the most notable hold-out).

Here's a review of Creatures Great and Small and the publisher's catalog copy.

Creatures Yesterday and Today uses the same format but introduces us to creatures now extinct, and their distant relatives alive today. This is a fabulous concept and one that I don't think is tackled often, at least not in a picture book format. The first spread (labelled Creatures Yesterday), for instance, shows the dinosaur diplodocus. The text reads:

I was a giant planting-eating dinosaur,
with a big heart and a tiny brain. My neck
was so long, I could nibble fern leaves in
the forest while standing in an open field.

The next spread (Today) shows us a skylark with the text:

As I fly, you can hear my warbling song.
Like a theropod of long ago, I have a
wishbone, scaly feet, and hard-shelled
eggs. Am I a living dinosaur?

Theropod might send the teachers (but probably not the kids, who would know) searching for a dictionary, but Patkau has thought ahead and included a glossary for words that may need explanation. (And I'm wondering if planting-eating is an error -- plant-eating would certainly have scanned better.) Shelves are groaning with books on dinosaurs, but this book fills a gaping hole in paleobiology. Patkau goes beyond "dinosaurs as prehistoric animal" and introduces young readers to a broad range of prehistoric creatures: Hylonomus, Brontoscorpio, Smilodon, the crustacean Canadaspis and more, most of which they've probably never heard of. This is such a strength of the book. There is so much more to the prehistory of animals than dinosaurs and Patkau has sent young readers down the road to exploring the fascinating world of paleobiology.

Patkau's art at first glance seems simple, but it is so subtly rendered, with wonderful textures and patterns in each figure. The illustration of the Phorusrhacos, for instance, looks as if it has been carefully cut out of 10 or so different textured papers, yet it is computer generated. Patkau's style is definitely unique, engaging and recognizable. These books are as useful in art class and they are in science or language arts.

Both books include maps as endpapers, showing the relative locations of each animal illustrated. In Creatures Yesterday and Today, two spreads show a geological timeline and gives the approximate time when each of the prehistoric creatures lived.

Here's a review and the catalog copy for Creatures Yesterday and Today.

On the Road with Scaredy Squirrel, Stanley, and friends...

I'll be in great company at the Vancouver Island Children's Book Festival on May 31st in Nanaimo. Lookee here at the great slate of events and presenters. It will be lovely to meet and spend some time with a few fellow Kids Can authors and illustrators -- Melanie Watt, Bill Slavin, Wallace Edwards, and Linda Bailey. (My bookshelves will be lighter that weekend as I lug a box of books by these creators across the island so I can get them signed. Actually, I own books by all of the presenters, so it will be nice to meet the creators behind these wonderful books.) Others on the slate are Sarah Ellis, Andrea Spalding, Arthur Slade, and Simon Rose. A pretty stellar line-up if I do say so myself. Before Saturday's festival I'll be doing school visits in the mid-island (Ladysmith to Qualicum) area. Hope to see you there, too!

Meet a Children's Book Editor

The very prolific blogger (I'm in awe) Cynthia Leitich Smith over at Cynsations recently posted an interview with Sheila Barry, Editor-in-Chief at Kids Can Press. Check it out here.

No Hippos with Pink Parasols Here

The Bologna Children's Book Fair is just winding up. Lookee here at the finalists for the Children's Illustration awards. Now I'm no expert, but the style seems so, well, European. Somehow darker, edgier. No hippos with pink parasols, or kids in all their safety gear (sunhats, bike helmets, elbow/knee protectors, SPF 50...) here. Sure there are some edgy exception in North American -- Stephane Jorisch's Jabberwocky comes to mind or Joe Morse's intercity interpretation of Casey at Bat (in fact all of the artistic interpretations of the poems in Kid Can's Visions in Poetry are innovative and edgy). I mean, look at this image from Poe's The Raven, illustrated by Ryan Price.

One of the most interesting books I have from when my kids were young is The Best Children's Books in the World: A Treasury of Illustrated Stories. Lofty title aside, it is a great book because it has 16 stories with their original text/script and a translation running along the bottom. So interesting for all of us to see the different artistic styles, not to mention the interpretation of what makes a "best" story. (It was an education for the kids to see all of the different scripts/languages too -- Hebrew, Chinese, Arabic, etc.)

Thanks to artist Christine Tripp for the link to the Bologna finalists.

The Solitary Vice

More food for thought on the hand-wringing over how little (actual or perceived) people are reading these days. Here's an interview with Mikita Brottman, the author of The Solitary Vice: Against Reading. Here's the gist:

"... Brottman, who has a PhD in English Language and Literature from Oxford University, is unconcerned. Despite her own book's title, she doesn't believe people should stop reading. In fact, she says we're reading more than ever — websites, email, text messages, blogs — and that this type of reading is more valuable than an unhappy slog through The Iliad."

Thanks to Bookslut for the link.

Okanagan Tour

Here are the dates for my upcoming tour in the Okanagan:

April 28, Penticton Public Library 10-11 am
April 29, Vernon Public Library 10:30-11:30 am
April 29, Lumby Public Library 1-2 pm
April 30, Salmon Arm Public Library 10-11 am
April 30, Armstrong Public Library 1-2 pm
May 1, Kelowna Public Library, 10-11 am

Hope to see you there!

Love Me, Love My Books -- The Kids' Lit Version

In the past few days this article has been circulating on the literary blogosphere. A pretty funny piece on how books (or the lack of them or poor choice in them) can be "literary relationship breakers." Too funny (read with a grain, or tablespoon, of salt of course). Now the kid's lit blog, Big A, Little a has run with the idea with a kid's lit version. Check the post and the comments here. And Betsy over at Fuse #8 brought up an old post in response to this, the wonderfully coined: Triumvirate of Mediocrity (the term created by Jane Yolen apparently). I will resist going on about I'll Love You Forever again, but, suffice to say, I agree on that account at least. (Although I think I'll have to check out The Giving Tree again.)

A slight aside:
With all this snickering in the comments though, I have to say that I dislike using the term hate in relation to books (and most things for that matter) -- all I can think about are those authors -- sure some are really successful -- but they put a huge amount of effort into their creation, like it or not. You can dislike a book for a variety of reasons, but writing something that doesn't resonate with you personally doesn't make it a hate crime. Enough said. I'm jumping down off my high-horse.

New Kid's Lit Prize

I was delighted to learn of a new book prize -- the Bolen Prize for Children's Literature -- for children's authors residing in Victoria (there are a fair number of them). I duly sent the press release to my Victoria writerly friends (and colleagues as we have a fair number of books by The Editors of YES Mag) and then I was alerted to this bit of fine print:

5. The work being submitted must:
a. Be a children’s picture book, children’s fiction or young adult fiction

What? (Insert expletive of your choice here.) Now I adore Bolen's Books. I grew up with them -- literally; I grew a few blocks away and spent much of my youth at the Hillside Mall -- and I still adore them and visit them whenever I'm in the city. But why oh why couldn't you insert just one more word in those submission guidelines?: non-fiction.

One day I will do a rant on how I'm sure that children's non-fiction writers are the bottom of the pile -- if we're even remembered at all -- when it comes to the hierarchy of writers and writing. But not today. I will behave and thank Bolen's for this $5000 annual boost to the bank account of some well-deserving Victoria (fiction) writer.

Happy Poetry Month

Forget April Fool's Day, today is the first day of National Poetry Month. So git yerself to your local bookstore, library, or bookshelf in a home near you and crack open the spine on a book of poetry. If you have any young poets kicking around you might check out the activities sponsored by the League of Canadian Poets for Young Poets' Week, April 7 to 13th. The theme for this year's celebration is Poetry Without Borders, where the Leage asks poets to ponder:

How can poetry celebrate the diversity of cultural traditions in Canada?
What are the possibilities for multilingual poetry events?
How can poetry combine with other forms of creative expression?
What does poetry without borders mean to you?

In our family we have, on and off over the last couple of years, read a poem before dinner. Usually they are funny kids' poems, but that's just fine with us. So that's one way to celebrate the month. Do you have other ideas? Send 'em on over.

Happy Birthday, Anne with an E

In case you haven't heard (highly unlikely) Anne of Green Gables is 100 this year. I think I shall blow the dust off the copy we have kicking around here somewhere and give it another go. I honestly can't recall how old I was when I first read it -- 12 perhaps? -- but my 15-year-old is still reading books about the red-headed gal. Check out Margaret Atwood's article on the Anne phenomenon from The Guardian -- a true piece of Atwoodiana, complete with her characteristic humour and a few well placed jabs at the industry that is Anne.

INK, Camouflage, and other newsy bits of questionable worth

The sun is shining, the sky is blue -- could it be that spring has finally arrived here in Tough City? At least there's no snow, which would be unusual here anyway, but things were verging on bizarre because it snowed almost every day for about a week. Memories of Kaua'i are fading (as is my measly tan) as my To Do list grows. We probably should finally unpack sometime this weekend! Anyhow, I feel energized and vow to catch up on some posts and other things I've been meaning to do...

Last night the hubbie and I actually had a date -- amazing. There was no protest from our youngest sprog, so we could depart guilt-free for a few hours. Took in a concert by Ian Tamblyn at the cozy venue, Trilogy Garden Cafe in the lovely Tofino Botanical Gardens. A smallish turnout, but it was a wonderful evening of music with friends. I have this sort of "six degrees of separation" with Ian Tamblyn as my friend Bill, whom I met at Lakehead U. in Thunder Bay way, way back when (could it really be 26 years ago?), roomed with Ian's brother. And, of course, we started listening to Ian's music back then, too. I'm a fan of his pieces, as in the albums Over My Head or Antarctica, where he's combined nature/animal sounds with his music. It was a treat to hear Ian in concert and to finally have a chance to say hello. He's got an impressively lengthy discography. We picked up two new ones; the latest - Superior: Spirit and Light and an older one from 1992, Through the Years.

Since I'm primarily a non-fiction writer, it was a treat to hear of a new blog dedicated solely to children's non-fiction. INK - Interesting Non-fiction for Kids, is hosted by a variety of authors who take turns posting. Here's a great link on poetry in non-fiction by David M. Schwartz.

I was first introduced to David's work when we were doing the measurement issue of KNOW. David has written some wonderful books on measurement and math, such as G is for Googol or Millions to Measure. So I was delighted to come across his Where in the Wild? (written with Yael Schy, with photos by Dwight Kuhn) when I was on the Cybil's jury for non-fiction picture books.

He talks about Where in the Wild? in his INK post. Judging the Cybils was so difficult because, really, any of the books could have won. They were all fabulous and each had different strengths and styles and, of course, appealed to the jurists in different ways. Anyhow, Where in the Wild was a worthy finalist. The subtitle of this book is Camouflaged Creature Concealed...and Revealed. Even the creator line gives clues to the book's contents: "Ear-tickling poems" and "Eye-tricking Photos." Each spread has a poem (check out David's blog entry to see some of the pages) with an accompanying photo. In each photo an animal is hiding, well hidden by its camouflaged fur, feathers, scales, or skin. This was one of my favourite poems:

Speckled

speckled treasures lie
bare upon the pebbled bank
fragile life within

The photo is, indeed, of a pebbled bank and it hides the speckled eggs of a killdeer. When you lift the flap the eggs are revealed and there is a page of non-fiction information about killdeers. Such a nice combo. of photographs, poetry, non-fiction, with an added "Where's Waldo" quality. Other animals included in the title are the coyote, tree frog, deer, weasel, moth, crab spider, flounder, green snake and red-spotted newt. Other than a few small quibbles of complex ideas being glossed over (e.g., the evolution of peppered moths from light to dark) and some unexplained words (e.g., exoskeleton) it's a wonderful book sure to please. When I went to the Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) conference in Boston last month, Schwartz and Schy were awarded the 2008 AAAS/Subarus Excellence in Science Books awards. It was also noted as a 20087 Outstanding Science Trade Book by the National Science Teachers' Association.

You can listen to a review of the book on Just One More Book. They also have some great links, and can direct you to a teacher's guide and other goodies.

Celebrating Literary Canada

Okay, so I've been on holidays. That's my excuse. I log onto Fuse #8 to see what she has to say today and her post is entitled "Canada Day Posting." Now, once my initial "humrumphings" were quelled (ahem, Canada Day is July 1st folks) I got it. Oh, it's Canada Day in the lit (at least kid's lit?) blogosphere. Kewl. So here is Fuse #8's post and she linked me to another great one at Chasing Ray. Mind you, Pierre Berton wouldn't have been at the top of my list, but, so be it. Make sure you get to the end of Chasing Ray's post as she links you in to a lot of other blogs.

Humble Hears, Yes, You!

(With apologies to Dr. Seuss for the less-than-stellar title of this post.) Soon, soon, I promise, I'll get back the in saddle with some reviews and other meaty bits. (That pesky holiday on Kaua'i broke my stride this last time. Sigh. It's presently snowing as payback.) For now, though, here's a great article from the archives of the Children's Book Insider. The Mindset of a Successful Author by Laura Backes is spot on. You'll need to scroll down to the bottom of this site to see the article, but here's the gist of it:

So how do you earn the trust of editors and readers to the point where you'll be free to experiment with a book's form? It all boils down to another common denominator of successful writers: humility.

Humble writers hear editors say, "It's extremely difficult to create a protagonist from an inanimate object that children will care about," and don't think, "Well, she's not talking to me. My story about Erin the Eraser is different." Instead, these writers scrutinize their work in the light of advice they get from experts, and try to judge their writing as objectively as possible. They're constantly putting their work to the test, asking if their characters are interesting and believable enough, if their plot is truly original, if their voice has yet to emerge. If you only follow one piece of advice toward your dream of some day creating a book that sports a gold medal on the cover, it's this:

Be humble. Every time you hear a writing "do" or "don't" from an editor, published author or respected teacher, assume they're talking about you.

This doesn't mean you shouldn't have confidence in your work. But it does mean that your work has to pass a strict test before it's ready to send to an editor. And the only way you'll get objective parameters for that test is to listen to what other qualified people say about writing a children's book. Use those lessons to judge your work, bring it up to par with what's being published, and then exceed it. Don't assume your work is already good enough—prove it.

This is the sort of advice I tell new writers -- listen to what publishers, editors and other writers are telling you. Most are, very likely, trying to be as nice as possible without breaking your heart. Maybe, sometimes, we need to be harsher. There are times we need to be told that something is crap. We all write crap and, yes, some crap even gets published. The writers who "make it" as a writer keep persevering, writing, re-writing, reading, reading, reading some more, and doing their own homework. There are dozens, nay gazillions, of ways to learn about the craft: books, magazine articles, websites galore, conferences, etc. If you want to be a writer, you need to put in the grunt work. There is no silver bullet, it's just hard work. Take yourself (and, I might add, the others around you who've been at this for awhile) seriously. As I've said before, a peruse through Editorial Anonymous's site is an education in itself. (Plus it's often good for a laugh.)

Books: New and Forthcoming

I'm very slow in posting about a few new books—one of which I can hold in my hot little hands and one which I'll be able to hold in a few months. Lost and Found is the latest offering from my detective doggy duo, Lu and Clancy. This is an early reader in Kids Can Press's Kids Can Read series. Silly fun.


At the other end of the spectrum, I have an essay in the anthology, Writing the West Coast: In Love with Place, which is being published by Ronsdale later this spring. It's edited by my buddy, Chris Lowther, who has been working very hard, on this, her love letter to Clayoquot Sound and all this wild and west coast. Here's a link to the Ronsdale site with more info. Cover image by my other buddy, Joanna Streetly.

Finally, congratulations to all BC writers who were short-listed for this year's BC Book Prizes.

Public Service Announcement

I've a stack of books (as per usual) I want to blog about, but, for now, I will break the trend of writing about reading, writing, and children's books and mention Gluten-Free Girl by Shauna James Ahern (aka, the Gluten-Free Girl, who is not only a fine writer, but takes the most lovely photos of food!) Like Shauna, my husband has celiac disease, which is a condition in which your body is intolerant to the gluten in wheat, barley, rye (and some would say oats; his diet is still oat-free at the moment). Intolerant makes it sound a bit wishy-washy, but it is a very serious disease and very underdiagnosed. Since it manifests in so many different ways, the symptoms are often lumped in with something else or brushed away and dismissed. I've heard of people who were essentially starving (grown women about 90 pounds), who suffered from chronic headaches, who had severe and constant canker sores, who had miscarriage after miscarriage, who had constant stomach, bowel digestive woes, etc. The picture of a person with celiac disease can vary wildly. So, my public service announcement is...if you, or someone you know, has been sick for awhile and no one can seem to figure out why, do a bit of reading on celiac disease. It might not be this disease of course, but it just might, too. (Shauna's blog and book are great places to start.)

Bookshelf Envy

Ooh, ooh, can you imagine the procrastination you'd get up to on this staircase? One day I hope for built-in bookshelves under our little staircase (and, for that matter, I need a few more wall's worth in my office), but this is one idea to file should I ever build a house. Thanks to the link from The Dewey Divas and the Dudes, who, in turn, linked this from apartmenttherapy. Too cool or what?

Ribbet, ribbet - Happy Leap Day

It isn't everyday one gets to blog on the 29th of February and on scanning my blog yesterday I see that I made a measly two posts this month (and that after beginning the year with such gusto). But, my friends, February was a busy, busy month. I, like the leaping amphibians that are being celebrated worldwide today, was leaping here and there, too.

As mentioned, I did make it to Make Way for Ducklings Land (aka Boston) and here's the proof. Yes, okay, okay, so it's a touristy photo -- everyone must sit on poor momma duck -- but I was not going to let this moment pass after walking almost every inch of Boston Common searching for this sculpture. (Tip to Boston tourism types: Put "Make Way for Ducklings" sculpture on your sign post markers!) (Oh, and a big smooch to my brother-in-law who said that I looked like Diana Krall in this photo! I left the slinky gown and 4-inch stilettos back at the hotel, but, after all, it was hovering around zero, which was hard on this west coast girl.) I was in this fabulous city to attend the AAAS annual meeting, which was a whirlwind of symposia, press breakfasts, impromptu meetings with scientists, other media types, and a few old friends. Lots of very interesting, and very sobering, talks, particularly those on the health (or lack thereof) of our oceans. I am humbled and inspired.

One of the things I loved about Boston, aside from its wonderful walkability, the great coffee and treats at Caffe Vittoria in the North End, and the pulsing brain power in this town with 50 (!) colleges and universities, was its public art. Check out this mosaic set into the sidewalk at the site of the city's first school public school, founded in 1635. (Sorry, I tried to rotate this image, but it wouldn't save this way.)

After Boston I was off to Maple Ridge for a week of school visits. A big shout out and thank you to the schools I visited -- Yennandon, Whonnock, Eric Langton, Riverside, Hammond, Laityview, and Alexander Robinson -- and to the fabulous whirlwind of a district librarian, Suzanne Hall. It was a great, but very busy, week. I met hundreds of children enthusiastic about science and writing and reading, with lots of great questions and, of course, wonderful stories of their own. (I forsee great things from you, Mr. Creator of super hero, Toast Man!) It was also a blast hanging out with The Science Lady, too. (Thanks, especially, for the low-down on Lost.)

A Parisian Hat-Trick

The last thing I have time for at the moment is this post, but I'm one who likes to tie up loose ends before I go on a trip, so thus a triple-header. The Cybils winner is chosen (sorry, I'm not divulging; in time, in time) and soon I will be making dispatches from "Make Way for Ducklings Land." For now, though, three picture books with one tie that binds: Paris.

First up, Degas and the Little Dancer by Laurence Anholt. This book was brought to my attention by one 10-year-old lucky duck who just came back from Paris (and Italy and Austria). Through the eyes of a guard at an art gallery, we learn the story behind The Little Dancer, Le Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans. This is a great introduction, not only to the sculpture, but also to Degas. The book includes some of the other images of this impressionist and provides a brief bio. of Edgar Degas at the end. Through the story of Degas and the model, Marie, we learn a bit about Degas's life, why he came to paint the dancers at the Paris Opera House, and some of the fictionalized life of the model. I was lucky enough to see this sculpture at the Musee de'Orsay a few years ago. (I guess it was one of the 20 copies made as the original apparently resides in the Louvre -- although the gallery shown in this book sure looks like that in Musee de'Orsay).

This book is one a series by Anholt, where he tells the story behind certain paintings. Other titles include: Camille and the Sunflowers (van Gogh), Picasso and the Girl with the Pony Tail, and Leonardo and the Flying Boy. I'll be checking those out too.

Next up, Hugo & Miles in I've Painted Everything! (An Adventure in Paris) by Scott Magoon. Poor Hugo, an elephant from Cornville, has run out of things to paint. His friend Miles has a solution -- they need to shake things up a bit with a road, er, plane, trip. So, off they go to Paris. "They spend days exploring the whole city." We see them outside Notre Dame, Sacre Couer, the Arc de Tiomphe, and, of course, inside the many galleries. Here, Hugo finds inspiration. He will make large paintings ("Hugo-mongous"), he will paint in a solid colour ("Hue-Go"), he will paint "an impression of how he feels" ("Van Hugo"), etc. Hugo just needs to look at the world in a different way and his trip to Paris helps him do just that. A fun tale and a nice introduction to different artistic styles and takes on life. (Hmmm, I'm feeling a little narrow in my perspective on the world too. Me thinks I need to take a plane ride...!) Here's a review from Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.

And, finally, The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein. Phew, what a fabulous book with absolutely stunning art. No wonder this won the Caldecott medal in 2004. Here we have the story of Philippe Petit, a New York street performer who decided one day to walk a tightrope between the Twin Towers. (Can you just imagine that breakfast conversation? "Morning honey, what are you doing today?" "Oh, you know, I thought I'd haul 440 pounds of cable up the Twin Towers, use a bow and arrow to string it between the two and walk across it." "That's nice dear.") Petit had performed a similar feat once before -- in Paris between the towers of Notre Dame Cathedral (thus, my Paris connecton), but the Twin Towers was another thing altogether. Of course the feat/stunt was illegal and he knew he would never get permission to do it. So, with friends, subterfuge, and more nerve than I can even begin to imagine, he manages to get the wire up and to walk across it. The true story is fabulous enough, but Gerstein manages to pare it down perfectly for a picture book. His art is constantly shifting perspective from a close-up showing the thickness of the wire between Petit's fingers, to the mind-wobbling view of the streets of New York with his foot on the wire in the foreground. I could go on; this is a wonder. Here's a review from Wendy Lukeheart, published in the School Library Journal, that says it better than I ever could.

As this story opens, French funambulist Philippe Petit is dancing across a tightrope tied between two trees to the delight of the passersby in Lower Manhattan.
Gerstein places him in the middle of a balancing act, framed by the two unfinished World Trade Center towers when the idea hits:
"He looked not at the towers, but at the space between them and thought, what a wonderful place to stretch a rope".

On August 7, 1974, Petit and three friends, posing as construction workers began their evening ascent from the elevators to the remaining stairs with a 440 pound cable and equipment, prepared to carry out their clever but dangerous scheme to secure the wire.
The pacing of the narrative is as masterful as the placement and quality of the oil and ink paintings. The interplay of a single sentence or view with a sequence of thoughts on panels builds to a riveting climax.
A small, framed close-up of Petit's foot on the wire yields to two three-page fold-outs of the walk. One captures his progress from above, the other from the perspective of a pedestrian.
The vertiginous views paint the New York skyline in twinkling starlight and at breathtaking sunrise.

Gerstein captures his subject's incredible determination, profound skill, and sheer joy.
The final scene depicts transparent, cloud-filled skyscrapers, a man in their midst. With its graceful majesty and mythic overtones, this unique and uplifting book is at once a portrait of a larger-than-life individual and a memorial to the towers and the lives associated with them.

- Wendy Lukehart, Washington D.C Public Library

Manitoba's Jazz Singing, Book Writing, Jewel

I've known of Martha Brooks for years -- she's a well established writer of YA fiction in Canada, and a very accomplished jazz singer to boot, yet it's taken me until the past few months to finally get down to reading some of her work. I was first introduced to her writing with the short story, The Kindness of Strangers, which eventually became the novel Being With Henry. (The short story was part of the collection, Traveling On Into the Light.) It was a fabulous story -- most memorable to me was the well-wrought characters with such vivid descriptions of the main protagonists, a runaway boy who is befriended by an elderly man. You just know that every word has been well thought out and serves the story well.

So, with such a wonderful introduction to her writing, I followed it up with True Confessions of a Heartless Girl and, the more recent, Mistik Lake. In both, Brooks captures the life, challenges and occasional angst of teenaged girls. Since Mistik Lake is the most recent (and my favourite of the two), I'll briefly focus on that, but be sure to check out this fabulous writer's books soon, especially if you know some teenaged girls ready for intelligent, and captivating, stories.

In Mistik Lake, Odella, her two younger sisters, and her father have recently been abandoned by their mother/wife who has left for Iceland. Although a seemingly heartless act, we learn that Sally's life is complex and tortured by her past. As Odella struggles in her adolescence and also tries to fill the void her mother has left in the family, Brooks slowly reveals the complexities of Sally's history. Odella's story is threaded with that of her great-aunt, Gloria, a closeted (until recently) lesbian. Brooks uses diary entries, occasional flashbacks, and a shared narration (alternating between Odella and Gloria) to develop this charming, captivating, heartbreaking, and heartwarming story. This book has been well received and, no doubt, a bit of Googling will reveal many reviews. Here's one from Canadian Materials, which gives a great overview, and another from Canadian Literature.

Here's an interview with Ms. Brooks from Quill and Quire. It's somewhat dated, but interesting nonetheless. And here's a shorter, but more recent interview from School Library Journal. I have one minor quibble about Mistik Lake and that is the cover image. I'm afraid I don't find it at all compelling and, for the life of me, I can't figure out the image behind the "slotted blinds" (?). I think it might be of a car? If you know, please enlighten me!