Archives for November 2014

Rochester Children’s Book Festival Interviews! Podcast 10

November 26, 2014 by Daniel Johnston 1 Comment

I had a fantastic time this Saturday morning visiting the Rochester Children’s Book Festival. At the event were dozens of great authors, tons of great events (including one funny one where kids were reading to dogs!), and plenty of great workshops and read-alongs. Although I haven’t been to many other book festivals, others have told me that this is one of the best run book festivals in the country, and I can easily see why.

In this podcast I interview six authors who were very kind and agreed to let me interview them for you guys. Below I have info on all the authors in order of their interviews and their information (and what time in the podcast their interviews start). I hope you find these as inspiring and interesting as I did.

I also got this illustration of myself as a “super writer” by Suzanne Bloom, who did a “super reader” illustration for Erik last year. It only took her about thirty seconds to do, which was pretty cool to see.

*Some descriptions taken from Rochester Children’s Book Festival website.

Paul Acampora

Paul Acampora writes novels and short stories for young readers. Kids, parents and critics praise his work for its laugh-out-loud humor, rollicking dialogue, and heartfelt characters. His books include Defining Dulcie, Rachel Spinelli Punched Me in the Face, and his newest novel,I Kill the Mockingbird, which is a comedy/caper about three friends who sabotage their summer reading list. Paul is a popular leader of writing workshops for schools, libraries, and conferences.

paulacampora.com

Interview starts at 3:33

Susan Williams Beckhorn

Susan Williams Beckhorn is the award-winning author of six children’s books, two of which she illustrated. She grew up in a family where kids, animals, and the outdoors were cherished. Cozy hours listening to her parents read aloud led to a life-long passion for books. She read walking to school, under the covers, everywhere! She says, “I just figured I would write my own stories one day. There is nothing else I would rather do. No one should ever think writing for children is easy or trivial. Our children deserve the very best.” Susan lives and writes in Rexville, NY.

susanwilliamsbeckhorn.com

Interview starts at 10:07

Erin Dionne

Erin Dionne’s books are Models Don’t Eat Chocolate Cookies, The Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet, and Notes from an Accidental Band Geek. Her novel Moxie and the Art of Rule Breaking: A 14 Day Mystery, is based on the real-life Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art heist. The series continues with Ollie and the Science of Treasure Hunting (July 2014). A graduate of Boston College (English & Communications, 1997) and Emerson College (MFA, 1999); she teaches writing at Montserrat College of Art and lives outside of Boston with her husband, two children, and a very indignant dog.

Moxie and the Art of Rule Breaking: A 14 Day Mystery on Amazon

Interview starts at 16:34

Lisa Scott

Lisa Ann Scott is a former TV news anchor, who now enjoys making up stories instead of sticking to the facts. She lives in upstate New York with her husband and children where she works as a voice actor when not writing. She just published her first book and has one in the works!

lisaannscott.com

Interview starts at 19:46

Linda Sue Park

Linda Sue Park is the acclaimed author of more than 20 books for young readers, including the 2002 Newbery Medal winner A Single Shard, and two books in The 39 Clues series. Her most recent book is Xander’s Panda Party, a kids picture book.

lindasuepark.com

Interview starts at 27:o0

Matt Phelan

Matt Phelan is the illustrator of many books for young readers, including Xander’s Panda Party by Linda Sue Park, Flora’s Very Windy Day by Jeanne Birdsall, and The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron, winner of the 2007 Newbery Medal. He is the author/illustrator of the award-winning graphic novels The Storm in the Barn, Around the World, and Bluffton. His latest books include his first picture book as both author and illustrator, Druthers (September 2014), and Miss Emily by Burleigh Mutén (March 2014). Matt lives in Ardmore, Pennsylvania.

mattphelan.com

Interview starts at 31:49

May B. by Caroline Starr Rose Review

November 23, 2014 by Daniel Johnston 1 Comment

May B. is the first book by Caroline Starr Rose, an author who has been attempting to get published for years. It is written in a unique verse told in the first person by May B., a girl living in Nebraska during the 1888 blizzard in which thousands died, though the time is never actually specified in the book.

Summary

May B. has dyslexia, and she wants to learn to read but she simply can’t. She is smart at other things, but words keep tricking her, and eventually her parents take her out of school and send her off to work as a maid for Mr. and Mrs. Obligner, who were just recently married. Mrs. Obligner doesn’t like the dirty countryside so much, and tensions between the two are high. May B. tries to help, but there’s nothing she can do. She keeps trying to learn to read, but Mrs. Obligner always makes her stop if she catches her.

Unfortunately, Mrs. Obligner eventually decides to go back to her family, and Mr. Obligner abandons the house, leaving May B. in it. She has a chance to escape and to go back to her family (it’s fifteen miles back home), but is too afraid, especially after she hurts her ankle and learns that there is a wolf sneaking about. So she lives there alone, without much food, and waits for her Pa to come and pick her up for Christmas. There is a huge snowstorm, and May can barely even get out of the house even if she wanted to. How will she make it home alive in the middle of a massive storm?

Book trailer for May B.

Review

This book does a good job of blending together historical, emotional, and adventure parts of the story. No date or much description of setting is given, yet we can pretty much tell. May’s dyslexia is mentioned, but there is not any dwelling on it nor any resolution; nor is it ever identified as dyslexia in the book. And all of this is mixed in with May being away from her family and having to survive on her own for months.

My general rule with kids books is that if a kid would never have thought to write it, then it’s not a good book. May’s dyslexia is certainly not something most kids would write about, but Miss Rose was a teacher in the past and dedicated the book to students who she felt that she could’ve done better with, so it is quite understandable that she would write about a girl with learning problems. Nevertheless, I think it detracts from the story as a read for kids.

The verse style is also very interesting. It gives the novel an austere feel, leaves a lot to the imagination, and confines the book clearly to May’s experience. Although I think it is something adults will appreciate more than kids, it does also leave the room open to more action and worries because we only see May’s view of the world.

I really like the idea of finding the place where the earth meets the sky, something referred to time after time throughout the book as something May and her brother are trying to find. They’ve even made a bet about who will find it first. Clearly May B. knows children well to write about a concept like that, and what is even more cool is what it represents: A world of beauty and peace, the way the world should be. What is most endearing is that even though May and her brother haven’t found it yet, they have absolutely no doubt that they will.

In the end, this book is well-written, with an excellent look inside the character’s mind and interesting action and ideas. On the other hand, it is hard for me to recommend this book because it does have some things that will make it less appealing to kids. The dyslexia part is probably the biggest thing; if that was replaced with something more exciting to kids this book would be a real winner. It is really a book that adults will appreciate more than children will, as a lot of the beauty of the simple verse style will not be understood by kids; they’ll just know something impressive is going on.

Nevertheless, the story definitely keeps itself moving, and anyone will be excited to see how it turns out. So I recommend it for middle grade girls who are already serious readers. There is no doubt that Miss Rose is a very good writer and I’m excited to see what her next works are like. Blue Birds is coming out at the beginning of next year, and expect a review in January.

Beware the Fish! (MacDonald Hall Series) by Gordon Korman Review

November 23, 2014 by Daniel Johnston Leave a Comment

Beware the Fish! by Gordon Korman is without a doubt the funniest book I have ever read in my life. This book is incredibly good, especially considering it was published when Korman was just 17 years old.

It is the third book in the MacDonald Hall series, but they need not be read in order to understand them fully. The story takes place at the Canadian Boarding School, MacDonald Hall, and centers on Bruno and Boots, two roommates who are always stirring up excitement.

Summary

At the beginning of this book, weird things are happening at MacDonald Hall; they’re having to eat cheaper food, and Bruno and Boots have to move into a new room (with eccentric genius Elmer Drisdale) because one of the school dormitories’ is closing. The school is running out of money, and fast.

Bruno is of course not going to let the school go down without a fight. He starts trying to come up with crazy ways to save the school. They fAdd Newigure that if they can do something spectacular, then the school will get publicity and be resurrected.

Conspiring with the girls across the street at Miss Scrimmage’s Finishing School for Young Ladies (especially the crazy Cathy and roommate Diane), Bruno sets a number of absurd plans in motion. The school tries to collect 40,000 pop cans to build the biggest popcan pyramid in the world. They also try to cash in on many of Elmer’s inventions, including a remote controlled aircraft and a cure for the common cold.

Unfortunately, they are also being tailed my Miss Scrimmage, the headmistress of the girls’ school. She has a shotgun, and Bruno and Boots are constantly running from her when she discovers them “terrorizing” her girls. Although Mr. Sturgeon, the boys strict headmaster who has earned the nickname The Fish for his fishy glare, knows about what Bruno and Boots are doing, he is so mad at Miss Scrimmage for her antics that he falls for their lies to turn against her.

During this time, Bruno is broadcasting on a TV that Elmer has invented, using a fish in the background for his picture and saying inane things such as, “The Fish could descend at any time! Beware the fish!” Even though Bruno believes that what he is saying is only being broadcasted on his little screen, in fact it is disturbing television and appearing on screens all across the county! The police decide to investigate, and send out Agent Featherstone, who believes that The Fish is a dangerous terrorist, and goes to great lengths to stop his Fish Patrol missions.

At the end, everything eventually converges into a literal explosion. Will Bruno and Boots save the school? And if so, how?

Review

This book is so funny, I find myself in laughing fits every time I read it. Agent Featherstone’s investigation and the ultimate police presence at MacDonald Hall is just hilarious. All the characters in this book are vibrant and fresh, and I always feel really happy after reading this book.

I’d say it’s best for kids (especially boys) from the age range 7-13. The only thing you have to be careful about is to get a good edition. I have an original 1980’s copy, and you can find many of them for cheap on Amazon, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find one that is still in good shape now that the book is out of print.

Gordon Korman is one of my favorite authors, and this is definitely my favorite book of his. Trying reading this book without collapsing into laughter. I dare you.

Go Jump in the Pool! by Gordon Korman (MacDonald Hall)

November 23, 2014 by Daniel Johnston Leave a Comment

Go Jump in the Pool! is the second book in the MacDonald Hall series, started by Gordon Korman when he was just twelve years old. This book was published when Korman was just 16 years old, and is one of the funniest he has ever written!

Summary

At the beginning of the book, the MacDonald Hall swim team gets destroyed by their rivals from York Academy because MacDonald Hall doesn’t have a pool. Although Bruno and Boots (the main characters) are able to get back at the “turkeys,” trouble is starting mount. Although MacDonald Hall is the number one academic school, some parents are thinking of switching their kids over to York Academy; including Boots!

Of course Bruno isn’t going to have any of that. He immediately sets about trying to get a pool for their school. The only problem: It costs $25,000.

That doesn’t deter Bruno, though. He’s not about to let his best friends become turkeys. He sets out to raise the money, enlisting the help of their friends Cathy and Diane from Miss Scrimmage’s Finishing School for Young Ladies, which is across the road. Bruno comes out with ideas such as having a bake sale, a talent show, and trying to set a world record. However, $25,000 is hard to come by.

Review

This book is hilarious all the way throughout. Bruno and Cathy are awesome characters, and there is no telling what they are going to do next. Go Jump in the Pool! shows boys and girls of incredible determination and spirit trying to save themselves and their friends.

This book, like many of Korman’s (especially his early ones), is not exactly realistic; it is instead quite rollicking and crazy, but this is exactly the point. There is not one event in the book that you could call impossible; all of them could happen, it’s just that the likelihood is about a million to one. There aren’t a lot of books like that which tell stories that are quite unlikely and yet you believe they could be real.

Although $25,000 is a lot today, it’s interesting to think what it would have been in 1979 when this book was written. $25,000 back then would be worth $82,000 today, a pretty incredible sum.

Reading the first book is a good starter to this one, but the truth is that not reading it won’t hurt your enjoyment of this story at all. Nevertheless, once you read of these books you’ll definitely want to read all of them! They’re that good.

Interview with Iron Guy Carl of Boys Rule Boys Read!

November 12, 2014 by Daniel Johnston 1 Comment

Hi guys, today I’ve got an interview with Iron Guy Carl, a librarian who blogs over at Boys Rule Boys Read! I’ve been trying to do an interview with him since the beginning of the year, but since technology didn’t permit, we eventually decided to do a text interview. Here it is!

1.How did you become a librarian?

I wanted to work for the library and volunteered a lot, doing things like storytelling. The library people knew I was looking for a job, so they let me know when one came open. Remember that when you all get old enough to look for jobs.

2.What kinds of things do you do in your day-to-day work?

You mean when I’m not bench-pressing 200-lb. books to maintain my MANLY physique? Actually, I do a bit of everything. I work at a small library, so everyone has to be able to do all the things librarians do—check in books, check out books, look for books, put books on shelves, etc. I also sit at the front desk and answer questions. I’m also one of the children’s librarians, so I do a lot of storytimes—and clean up the children’s room after programs! I also do some specialized things. For instance, I coordinate the volunteers for the library.

3.What is your favorite part of your job?

Writing for the blog and doing storytime. Both are a lot of fun.

4.How did you get the nickname Iron Guy Carl?

I wanted to call myself “Iron Man” but some comic book company beat me to it.

5.Your blog is called Boys Rule! Boys Read! Do you also help at the library with girls? 🙂

Of course! That’s what MANLY MEN do—help those who need help. Really, I’m always happy to help anyone find what he or she needs. It’s rewarding to see anyone, boy or girl, find the right book or resource.

6.What kinds of books do boys enjoy the most that you’ve seen?

Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, My Weird School, The 39 Clues, the Hunters, Seekers and Warriors series by Erin Hunter, James Patterson’s Maximum Ride and Daniel X books, and Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl books.

Boys also like books by Dan Gutman, Gordon Korman and Dav Pilkey. Also nonfiction about military things, sports and animals.

7.What books did you like most when you were a boy?

Wow. It’s been a long time since I was actually a boy. (some say I’m still a 10-year-old at heart) To give you an idea how long, Kennedy was president when I was a boy. (go look that up and see how long ago that was!) I read a lot of nonfiction at first, like a lot of guys back then, especially books on battles throughout history. Then, one day, the librarian at my school told me to, “Get out of the numbers” (meaning the Dewey Deciaml numbers for nonfiction) and read some fiction. She handed me a copy of The Three Seater Spaceship, one of the Spaceship Under the Apple Tree trilogy by Louis Slobokin. I was hooked and read a lot of sci-fi after that. When I got to be a teen, I read The Lord of the Rings and was knocked out I’m still under its spell. Nowadays I read a bit of everything as you see from the blog. I bet you couldn’t find any of the Spaceship Under the Apple Tree books anymore except on Amazon. But I’d like to check if they’re available on my Nook.

Note: Here is The Space Ship Under the Apple Tree on Amazon 🙂

8.You’ve been running your blog for a number of years. What made you decide to start it and what has made you keep it up?

Back in 2006, the Web 2.0 came out and our library system taught us how to use it. One of the new things in Web 2.0 was blogging. I’d always wanted to find a tool to help boys find good reads and blogging was perfect because it’s interactive. That’s how I came up with the idea of writing reviews and getting boys to write in as well. I’ve kept it going because it’s been so much fun and I’ve found so many great books. And I really like it when boys tell other boys about terrific books.

9.Who do you think is the main target audience for your blog; kids, parents, or both?

Both. I started this blog to reach boys but a lot of grownups picked up on it over the years. So, even though I’m writing primarily for boys, I know a lot of grownups read the blog and I keep that in mind because they’re the ones who buy the books for their boys or for their schools or their libraries.

10.You’ve featured a number of reviews from kids on your blog. What has your experience been with these kid reviewers?

It’s been great! We had several guys like cyber kid 303 and Michael who wrote in regularly. You can find some of their reviews if you look in the 2006—2009 section of the Blog Archive. They wrote some great reviews and we had a lot of fun. I think they’ve aged out now but I hope to get more guys write in. (hint, hint!)

11.What changing trends are you seeing with libraries as things are becoming more digital and what do you think is the most important thing for them to remain the special places that they always have been?

You’ve asked what we used to call the $64,000 question. A lot of people are trying to figure that out now so that libraries don’t go the way of the dinosaurs. And I think it’s already happening. Libraries are becoming community centers. I don’t mean the type of community center where you go and shoot basketball; I’m thinking of a safe place in which people can access computers, especially people who can’t afford computers, or where they can study alone or in groups, get information or help finding information they couldn’t find anywhere else, gather together and work on community issues and, of course, find books movies, music, etc. Will all books, movies, and music become digital some day? Possibly. People will still need libraries, though, in some form and I really believe that libraries will adapt to whatever changes take place.

Thanks so much!

Thank YOU, Daniel!

Thanks again to Iron Guy Carl for providing us with this insightful and interesting interview. Make sure to check out his website Boys Rule Boys Read!