It's Poetry Month! Take a closer look at four MG Novels in Verse from #the21ders! #IMWAYR

Happy Poetry Month!

I'd like to do something a little different for National Poetry Month. I'm taking a closer look at the four MG debut authors in #the21ders who have written novels in verse (and yes, I'm one of them!). See if you can guess what the four of us have in common besides being debut authors and writing MG novels in verse. If you can't figure it out, I'll let you know at the end!*

And because it's Poetry Month, I'm taking a closer look at the poetry itself. Yes, these are novels, but they're also written in free verse (although mine also has a villanelle and a few rhyming couplets and tercets, plus two haiku). 

How do you tell a story in verse? 

Each poem should stand alone and at the same time move the story forward. It's a challenge, yes, but one that verse novelists love. In a verse novel, every word counts. What's left out is just as important as what is included. White space plays a huge role in a verse novel. 

ALONE by Megan E. Freeman (January 2021, Simon and Schuster, for ages 10 and up)

I wrote briefly about this book back in November, in a post about the first 2021 debut novels I'd read. But that short paragraph didn't do it justice! This is a compelling read, and free verse is perfect for conveying the protagonist's desperate situation and emotions. 

Maddie wakes up alone, after her region has been mysteriously evacuated overnight. Something terrible has happened, with transports carrying everyone to some undisclosed location. Maddie's parents are divorced and each remarried.  So Maddie's mother thinks she's with her father. Maddie's father thinks she's with her mother. There are hints of a possible coup, an event so unprecedented that cell phones are left behind. The internet disappears. Television goes silent. 

Alarmed, Maddie tries everything she can think of to contact her family, and finally begins to accept that she is truly alone, and must learn to survive until her family returns. Luckily, she has the company of a neighbor's dog, also left behind, and she manages to find food and water and books to read. Years go by. The author was inspired to write this after reading ISLAND OF THE BLUE DOLPHINS with her daughter.

Not only is the story compelling, but the verse is too. It's efficient and intense and emotional. Perfect for conveying Maddie's state of mind in her unusual situation. 

Some of my favorite lines:  

From p. 148:  "Empty houses aren't home."

From p. 202: "I would give anything 

                       to have a real, live grown-up

                        take over all the worry and fear and work

                        that I've been doing for the past year

                        and just let me fall apart."

From p. 263:  "Except for hawks circling the sky

                        I am the only movement

                        on the entire landscape."

Visit Megan's website

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STARFISH by Lisa Fipps (March, 2021, Nancy Paulsen Books, for ages 10 to 13)

This book deserves all the starred reviews it has received. A gorgeous and important novel in verse that tackles a subject we all need to think about: fat-shaming. Ellie is teased and bullied because of her size, and even her mother never stops badgering her to lose weight. Fortunately, Ellie has allies: her new neighbor Catalina (whose entire Latinx family welcomes Ellie without judgment), Ellie's father, who only wants his daughter to be happy, and a wise therapist.

I love that this book shows the positive side of therapy. So important for kids to know this!

How Ellie learns to believe in herself and her right to take up space makes for an inspiring and poignant read. 

The free verse gets right to the core of Ellie. It's raw and heartbreaking, but it also sparkles with humor and lots and lots of heart.

Some of my favorite lines: 
 

From p. 31, opening lines of the poem, Lifesaving Librarians:

                     "The library is my safe harbor since

                      I dare not go into the cafeteria alone,

                      a whale surrounded by starving sharks."

And the closing lines of that same poem: 

                    "It's unknown how many students' lives

                     librarians have saved

                      by welcoming loners at lunch."

Visit Lisa's website

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UNSETTLED by Reem Faruqi (May 11, 2021, Harper, for ages 8 to 12)

Nurah and her family move from Karachi, Pakistan to Peachtree City, Georgia, for her father's new job. Nurah wants desperately to blend in, but her accent, and her way of dressing, make her stand out. She has no friends, and eats lunch alone under the stairwell, until she meets Stahr at swimming tryouts. Stahr also covers up her arms and legs, but for a different reason. Stahr has a tragic secret of her own. 

Nurah and her older brother Owais both join the swim team. In the water, Nurah feels like she belongs, even if she's not as good at swimming as Owais is. He's the star athlete in the family. But after a terrorist attack, bullies go after Owais. Can this gentle, peace-loving family survive in America? 

Verse is the perfect way to tell this heartwrenching and heartwarming story. Faruqi's verse is spare and luminous. I would love more than anything to quote from this beautiful novel, but I read an ARC, so I'm not supposed to quote from it. 

Take my word for it. 

Exquisite metaphors fill these pages. And the way the book is divided into parts, from Part One, Uprooting, to Part Two, Replanting, and on through to Budding, Sprouting, etc. gives you a hint of the beauty that blooms within these pages!

Visit Reem's website

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EVERYWHERE BLUE by Joanne Rossmassler Fritz (June 1, 2021, Holiday House, ages 8 to 12)

When twelve-year-old Maddie's older brother vanishes from his college campus, her carefully ordered world falls apart. Nothing will fill the void of her beloved oldest sibling. Meanwhile Maddie's older sister reacts by staying out late, and her parents are always distracted by the search for Strum. Drowning in grief and confusion, the family's musical household falls silent.

Scared and on her own, Maddie picks up the pieces of her family's fractured lives. Maybe her parents aren't who she thought they were. Maybe her nervous thoughts and compulsive counting mean she needs help. And maybe finding Strum won't solve everything—but she knows he's out there, and she has to try.

Since this is my own book, and also because it won't be out until June, I won't quote from it, but I will give you a few teasers. 

All of  my verses have titles and some of my favorites are: 

I Am a Walking Fraction

 

Butterfly Dreams

The Trouble with Onions

Inside the Stomach of the Wolf. 

Hope that intrigues you enough to want to read my book! 

Here's my website. Sign up for my occasional newsletter (in fact, it's so occasional, it hasn't even started yet!).

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*Have you figured it out yet? What else we all have in common?

Look at our last names.  Freeman, Fipps, Faruqi, Fritz

I find it fascinating that the four of us, who have each written a debut novel in verse that releases in 2021, and who never heard of each other before 2020, just happen to all have last names that begin with the letter F. 

Is this the Twilight Zone? 

Or as Lisa said on Twitter in January, is the universe filing itself like a library?

What do YOU think?

#IMWAYR is a weekly blog hop hosted by Kellee at Unleashing Readers and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts. Visit their blogs to see all the participants. You can also follow the hashtag on Twitter!

JOSEPHINE AGAINST THE SEA by Shakirah Bourne (a member of #the21ders!) for #IMWAYR

 

Josephine Against the Sea by Shakirah Bourne (July 6, 2021, Scholastic, for ages 8 to 12)

A lively, funny, and delightful read, compelling from the first page to the last. The voice is so fantastic and believable you'll feel you're listening to ten-year-old Josephine talk to you about her widowed Daddy (the fisherman), and the new woman he's brought home. Josephine doesn't trust Mariss at all and suspects she's not even human! Especially when Josephine sees the jeweled comb Daddy found in his fishing net. Daddy suddenly has better luck fishing, and money starts pouring in to pay all the bills. Then Mariss moves in with them, and the framed portrait of Josephine's dead mama disappears from the dresser...

Chock-full of the kinds of details that make a book authentic and bring the Barbados setting to life.  Bursting with the flavor of modern life in Barbados: cricket matches (Josephine longs to play on the school team, if she can convince the coach to let a girl on), spicy food, and reggae music. But there are also wishes on silk cotton trees, and ancient tales of powerful spirits. 

A kind librarian lends Josephine her only copy of The Treasure Chest of African and Caribbean Folkore. There Josephine finds the perfect description of Mariss: a Mami Wata, or Sea Mumma, a creature from the sea who insinuates themselves into someone's life and takes over, bringing riches, but also bringing destruction. Josephine realizes she must do something to stop Mariss and save her Daddy.

The writing is brilliant. You won't be able to stop turning the pages. Thank you to the author and the publisher for an ARC of this gem of a book.


Find out more about Shakirah Bourne on her website.

#IMWAYR is a weekly blog hop hosted by Kellee at Unleashing Readers and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts. Visit their blogs to see all the participants. You can also follow the hashtag on Twitter!

THE LAST SHADOW WARRIOR for #IMWAYR (It's Monday! What are you reading?)

First a quick health update (feel free to skip to the post below the photo if you prefer): Good news! The retina specialist says I don't need surgery on my blurry right eye. He also showed me what the swelling looks like in a picture of my retina (it looks like a wave!), and claimed it's a direct result of the laser treatment I had way back at the end of October, to correct my rising Glaucoma pressure.

This is just as I suspected, although my regular eye doc, who gave me the laser treatment, claimed that had nothing to do with the swelling! 

More good news: those steroid drops I've been using three times a day since mid-December are really helping! (So my eye doc got that part right!) There's still a fist-size portion of blurriness in my vision but I can manage to read despite this (although my eyes tire easily, so I can't read for long, which drove me nuts when I received the ARC below in the mail). I have to keep using the drops for three more weeks and then taper off for a month.

Now, as we wait for the announcements of the ALA Youth Media Awards, it's onto today's post! Another exciting debut novel from #the21ders!

The Last Shadow Warrior by Sam Subity (Scholastic, April 6, 2021, for ages 8 to 12)

What a thrilling page-turner! You'll be staying up late to finish this one. This book has it all -- three friends banding together to face the enemy, Viking folklore and history, one exciting adventure after another, and lots and lots of humor and heart. The chapter endings will blow you away!

Abby is still grieving for her dead mother, a descendant of Viking warriors, who died fighting a Grendel. In the gripping first chapter, a shadowy creature attacks Abby in the home she shares with her father in North Carolina. Was it a Grendel? She and Dad pack quickly and head for Minnesota, for a school, Vale Hall, where Dad can teach and Abby can be safe. But Dad is badly hurt in a car accident, caused by a demonic motorcycle rider,  just as they arrive at Vale Hall. With Dad unconscious in the hospital, Abby must navigate her new school, find a cure for her father, and at the same time convince the school's headmaster and the Viking Council that Grendels really do exist!

Luckily, she makes friends immediately with Gwynn, a secret Valkyrie, and Grimsby, an endearing (and funny!) boy who's assigned to be Abby's guide to Vale Hall. Together, they fight a sea monster in the school pool, a Dark Valkyrie who plays Bingo for their souls, and much much more. I learned a lot too. Knattleikr is an ancient Viking ball game, similar to lacrosse. Svefnthorn (or Sleep Thorn) can be found in centuries of Norse literature.

The strong friendship between Abby, Gwynn, and Grimsby, the fast-pace, the thrilling adventures, and above all, the unexpected flashes of humor (Hmm, Vale Hall = Valhalla?) make this a winner in my book. Kids will love this and it makes a great read-aloud. Thanks to the publisher for letting me read an ARC. 

You can pre-order this exciting book from Bookshop, right here!

#IMWAYR is a weekly blog hop hosted by Kellee at Unleashing Readers and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts. Visit their blogs to see all the participants.

THE NIGHTMARE THIEF by Nicole Lesperance for #IMWAYR

Hi, everyone! First, please forgive me for joining #IMWAYR -- and then disappearing for three weeks. I've been dealing with headaches and blurry vision, so reading has become difficult. The good news: I had a CT scan of the head and neck, and a follow-up video visit with my neurosurgeon. She says my brain is in great shape! (Yes, contrary to popular opinion, I do have a brain...) No new aneurysms, and the coils, clip, and shunt are all working properly. 

As for the blurry vision, I have an ophthalmologist appointment at the end of this week. Keep your fingers crossed that it's not serious. I feel as if my prescription changed suddenly. 

In the middle of all this, I finally received page proofs from my editor and had only ten days to read through them. So I had to discipline myself to stay off social media, stay off the computer for other reasons, and read 25 pages a day of my proofs for those ten days. I've never been so happy to have written a novel in verse. So few words on the page!

From now on, I will try to continue to participate in #IMWAYR, but probably only every other week. And it may take me a few days to read your posts, so please be patient with me. 

Onward!

The Nightmare Thief by Nicole Lesperance (coming January 12, 2021, Sourcebooks, ages 8 and up)

What a fascinating novel! It's both deliciously creepy (oh, that villain! Oh, those nightmares!) and heartwarmingly touching at the same time. This book will rank right up there with Coraline by Neil Gaiman, A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd, and Savvy by Ingrid Law. And the writing is so imaginative and so visual I could totally see this book as a movie.

Set in the fictional New England town of Rockpool Bay, this delightfully whimsical tale of magic and dancing and dreams will pull you in from the first page. Maren Partridge is learning from her grandmother how to create dreams, which her family sells in their shop, Typewriters and Dreams. There are lots of other magical products in Rockpool Bay: singing bubbles, edible fireworks, roses that grow back as soon as they're picked. But Maren's family's dream shop is the only one in town.

Then a mysterious woman enters the shop and wants to buy a dozen nightmares. Maren's grandmother will only sell three nightmares at once. 

The other hard and fast rule: dreams cannot be given to someone without their consent. 

Maren's older sister, Hallie, is in a coma after a car accident, and Maren decides to break the rules and give her sister a nice dream, hoping it will awaken her from her coma. But the mysterious new customer happens to witness Maren's transgression and bribes her into stealing nightmares for her from the shop.

As the mysterious woman's true purpose becomes clear, the story becomes so compelling, you won't want to stop reading. Because of my vision issues, I could only read a little at a time, and it was driving me nuts! And the best news of all: there's a sequel!

This book will arrive in one month. You can pre-order it from Bookshop.

Here's Nicole's website

More Wonderful Debut MG Novels from #the21ders! for #IMWAYR

 Hi Everyone!

It's been a couple of bizarre weeks here in the US, with the votes finally counted, and the outgoing president refusing to concede to the newly-elected (and rightfully-elected) one! 

I handle the anxiety by reading, as usual. I decided to join #IMWAYR, hosted, as far as I can tell by Book Date! And I just found out there's one for Kidlit at Unleashing Readers! Yes, I know it's Sunday, but hey, most people won't read this post until tomorrow, right?

Here's my second installment of reviews of upcoming debut novels by my fellow MG 21ders. These are books I've been privileged to read already (usually via e-arcs from the publisher and Edelweiss+ or Netgalley).  In case you missed it, my last review post is here.

You're in for more treats, as all of these MG novels are most impressive! And... all of these wonderful books are available for pre-order! I've included links to the publishers (just click on each title), and also links to Bookshop this time (if available). When you order from Bookshop it helps Indie bookstores everywhere. Thank you!

The Gilded Girl by Alyssa Colman (April 6, 2021, Farrar Straus and Giroux/Macmillan)

What a delightful tale! This is a fantasy reimagining of A Little Princess, but even if you're not familiar with that classic, you'll still enjoy this gorgeously-written, fast-paced story set in 1890s New York City, instead of England. The main characters are Emma, a rich girl, and Izzy, a servant at the academy where Emma's wealthy father enrolls her to learn how to kindle her magic. In the impressive world Colman has created, children must learn to kindle their magic at the age of 12, before it snuffs out at age 13. But only the rich can afford to pay for this education.

Compelling and fast-paced, this is a joy to read. The author has created a fully-realized magical world, with clever details, the perfect villain, loyal friends, and social commentaries that are timely today. Plus, BEST. OPENING. LINE. EVER!

Order from Bookshop

Rea and the Blood of the Nectar: The Chronicles of Astranthia # 1,  by Payal Doshi (May 2021, Mango and Marigold Press)

A compelling MG fantasy adventure, with gorgeous, evocative language and highly-imaginative elements. Rea and her twin brother Rohan are about to turn 12 in Darjeeling, India. They live with their mother (Amma) and grandmother (Bajai) and life is sometimes difficult. Amma and Bajai seem to pay more attention to Rohan, and Rea is jealous. On the night of their 12th birthday, their mother and grandmother warn them to stay in the house, but Rohan slips out to meet his friends, and Rea follows him, along with her friend Leela. Then Rohan goes missing and Rea and Leela search for him. With advice from a fortune teller, they enter another world, Astranthia, a place of magic, flowers, and fairy folk. Queen Razya is deliciously evil, the perfect villain, right up there with Maleficent. If you enjoy portal fantasies, you will love this imaginative tale.

Many Points of Me by Caroline Gertler (January 12, 2021, Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins)

A beautifully-written and moving story about a young girl's grief for her father, a famous artist, who died a year ago. He was known mostly for his asterisms, paintings of made-up constellations, one which represented himself and one his wife. He had planned to paint one of Georgia, but then he died. 

When Georgia's mother starts putting together a retrospective exhibit on Georgia's dad for the Metropolitan Museum in NYC, she brings home stacks of papers. Georgia finds a previously-unknown sketch of herself at age 10, and discovers something amazing on the back. Around this same time, she gets into a fight with her best friend, Theo. He urges her to enter an art contest for students, the one he's entering. But Georgia is no longer sure if she wants to be an artist like her dad. She's no longer sure of anything.

This touching story of Georgia's twelfth year, and the compelling MG voice, will draw you in from the first page. The art mystery itself will intrigue you. Art, Science and Astronomy all come together in this brilliant contemporary novel.  

Order from Bookshop

Thanks, a Lot, Universe by Chad Lucas (May 11, 2021, Amulet Books/Abrams)

I love this novel! 

Told in alternating first person points of view, this delightful story of Brian and Ezra, two boys turning thirteen and learning to navigate the often-confusing world of adolescence, will pull you in from the first page. When you reach the inciting incident (quite early on), you'll be hooked until you finish reading! No spoilers here, though.

Many one-sentence paragraphs help make the pace lightning-fast. I read this in two days, which is some kind of miraculous record for me. Especially since I was reading the e-ARC on my laptop. (No, I don't own a Kindle!)

The most diverse cast I've seen in many years of reading MG, and it's all handled in a smart, sophisticated way. Brian's social anxiety (which he calls his Super Awkward Weirdness Syndrome) comes across perfectly, and the way Ezra learns to accept his own nature is endearing. The humor, especially in the dialogue, is wonderful! Chad Lucas is a writer to watch out for. I can't wait to read whatever he writes next!

Order from Bookshop

Up next for me, two more debut 2021 MG novels, An Occasionally Happy Family by Cliff Burke, and The Nightmare Thief by Nicole Lesperance. 

What have you read lately?

A First Look at Some 2021 MG Debut Novels

Hi, everyone!

In an effort to avoid reading the news, listening to the news, and getting stressed out over the election here in the U.S. as well as the surging Covid cases (all over the world AND here), I've decided to resurrect my sadly-neglected little blog about books!

And the best use for this blog right now is to support and promote the first group of my fellow MG 21ders! (My own debut MG novel, EVERYWHERE BLUE, arrives June 1, 2021 from Holiday House. No cover yet. Sigh. It'll be revealed in January. For now, here's the Goodreads link.)

As a 21der, I have the honor and privilege of reading as many ARCs of the 21ders' books as I can. I won't be able to read all of them in a year or two -- there are 50 of us MG debut authors alone, and twice as many YA debut authors!

Please support these wonderful authors and consider pre-ordering their books from Bookshop, Indiebound, or your local Indie bookstore, or if you insist, from B&N or Amazon. You can even order direct from the publisher! I'm including the publisher links here.

CLUES TO THE UNIVERSE by Christina Li, HarperCollins, January 12, 2021

Told in alternating points of view, this lovely story of two very different 12-year-olds who become friends will resonate with you. Ro, grieving for her dead father, loves science and wants to build a rocket. Benji loves comic books and wants to find his father, who left his family a long time ago.

A quietly beautiful story about connections. The characters feel so real to me!  Ro and Benji will linger in my mind for quite a while. I love their growing friendship and the way they help each other through some tough times.  (I  actually posted about this book in September)

ALONE by Megan E. Freeman,  Aladdin/Simon and Schuster, January 12, 2021

A compelling novel in verse about 12-year-old Maddie, who is left behind when her town is mysteriously evacuated overnight. How she learns to survive makes for a fascinating read. In fact, I read this in one day. The verse format is perfect for this intensely emotional story, with absorbing details about Maddie's life on her own, accompanied only by a neighbor's dog.

TAKE BACK THE BLOCK by Chrystal D. Giles, Random House Children's Books, January 26, 2021

Fast-paced and exciting story about one boy's growing awareness of social justice. I'm so impressed by the voice in this novel! Twelve-year-old Wes feels like a real boy to me, with real worries about his friends and his neighborhood. His growth, from someone in the beginning who cares most about his shoes and clothes and video games, to a socially-aware and strong leader among his neighbors and classmates, is phenomenal! The writing style is highly accessible, and middle-grade readers will learn about gentrification and social injustice without even realizing they're learning. A powerful, timely read.

A PLACE TO HANG THE MOON by Kate Albus, Margaret Ferguson Books/Holiday House, Feb 2, 2021

Orphaned siblings join other evacuees from London during World War II, and seek a home in the country. They deal with bullies in their first billet, and overcrowded conditions in their second. But they manage to handle it all because they find solace in the local library.

I fell in love with this novel from the very first page. What a delightful story! William, Edmund, and Anna will steal your heart, and you'll find yourself racing to finish to learn if they find a forever home (and if it's the one you hope!). But at the same time, you'll want to slow down and savor this book, because it's such a wonderful read and filled with so many gorgeous, and very quotable, lines. (But since I read an e-arc, I'm not supposed to quote from it!)

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Next time: I'll be discussing THE GILDED GIRL by Alyssa Colman, REA AND THE BLOOD OF THE NECTAR by Payal Doshi, MANY POINTS OF ME by Caroline Gertler, and THANKS A LOT, UNIVERSE by Chad Lucas. 

It's lovely to have so much to read when I'm trying to escape from the world right now! How are you handling these unprecedented times? Stay safe, everyone!

Pandemic Diary Entry #16

From Todd A. Collins on Facebook. This photo says it all!

Week of Sunday, June 7 through Sunday June 14 (Day 88 through Day 95):

It's been another week of protests for justice, not only in the US but all around the world.

And on top of that, the pandemic is still with us, people! States that reopened in May are experiencing surges in COVID-19 cases. It's not over, and we all need to continue to be vigilant. I'm constantly shaking my head at people going to the beach, or to restaurants, or even, for heaven's sake, a graduation party. Gatherings have been proven to spread the virus.

An article from the Washington Post claims "The Coronavirus isn't ending -- it's surging"!


Is this the second wave already? Not at all! We're still stuck in the first one, according to this article from NPR. 

From Karen Schilpp on Facebook

COVID 19 World Stats as of June 14 (from WHO):

Confirmed cases: 7,805,148

Confirmed deaths: 431,192

US COVID-19 Stats as of June 14 (from the CDC):

Confirmed cases: 2,063,812

Confirmed deaths: 115,271

Are you still staying home as much as possible? This week, I've been reading a lot, writing a little, taking daily walks, and cleaning out closets one shelf at a time. I find it easier to handle the chore that way!

What have I been reading? This week, I finished We Dream of Space by Erin Entrada Kelly, from Greenwillow, May 5, 2020, for ages 8 to 12.

This lovely MG novel takes place in January 1986. Yes, that's when the Space Shuttle Challenger launched -- and immediately exploded (I remember that day. I worked in a school library).  The Nelson Thomas twins, Bird and Fitch, and their older brother, Cash, are all learning about the upcoming launch in science class, while their parents continue to argue and fight. Bird dreams of one day being the first female Shuttle Commander. Gorgeously written, as are all Erin Entrada Kelly's novels, this book about family ties will linger with you for a long time. These siblings are people I'll remember.

After that, I started reading Ghost by Jason Reynolds. He's so good at voice! And just as talented with MG stories as YA stories (like Long Way Down, that I read last week).  Ghost, aka Castle Cranshaw, is a boy who only wants to play basketball. But being short, he never gets to play. Ghost can run fast (the reason for this is heartbreaking), and he gets a chance to join an elite track team, organized by an ex-Olympic runner.

Of course, in my ongoing effort to educate myself about systemic racism, I also read a lot of social media. I started following Dwayne Reed on Twitter. (@TeachMrReed)  Mr. Reed is an educator, public speaker, author, and rapper.

Dwayne Reed (@TeachMrReed on Twitter)

https://twitter.com/TeachMrReed/photo

Dwayne 

Dwayne Reed

@TeachMrReed

After all of the statements, tweets, and graphics, we still have to be Black. We don’t get to log out of this, or block our way through that. We still have to keep pushing. Will you? #BlackLivesMatter

12:47 PM · Jun 11, 2020 from Chicago, IL·

Dwayne Reed

@TeachMrReed

White supremacy won’t die until White people see it as a White issue they need to solve rather than a Black issue they need to empathize with.

11:05 AM · Jun 4, 2020 from Chicago, IL·

How have you been educating yourself? And what else keeps you busy this week?