10 Things to Remember about Death in YA Fiction by Steve Watkins

Steve Watkins is a professor of English at the University of Mary Washington. His novel Down Sand Mountain was awarded the 2008 Golden Kite Award for Young Adult Fiction by The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Recently, Steve presented writing tips to a captive audience at the Mid-Atlantic SCBWI Fall Conference.

10 Things to Remember about Death in YA Fiction:

1. There’s no life without death.

2. Kill early, not often.

3. The only good surprise is an inevitable surprise. Foreshadow your late deaths.

4. If you have to kill late, don’t do it in the last chapter.

5. Killing off bad guys isn’t killing—it’s poetic justice.

6. Most deaths are better heard than seen.

7. If you kill a dog, replace it with a puppy.

8. The dead have warts too, you know.

9. Cute grief is no grief at all.

10. The dead are never really dead.

To learn more about Steve please visit http://watkins.elsweb.org/, and look for his new book from Candlewick Press out this spring, Goat Girl.

In Honor of Women's History Month

Sandra Day O'Connor was the first woman appointed to sit on the Supreme Court of the United States. Although she spent her early childhood in Southeastern Arizona, O'Connor was born in El Paso, Texas. Her parents sent her to her grandmother, Mamie Scott Wilkey, when it was time for her to go to school. Wilkey greatly influenced her as she developed through her school age years.

Having graduated, with honors, from Stanford University with a degree in economics; O'Connor stayed at Stanford for her law degree. She served as editor for the Stanford Law Review and met her husband, John O'Connor while at Stanford.

Because of the thinking of the times, it was hard for women to find work in the law field. Eventually the couple moved to north Phoenix and had three sons. Three years after the birth of their third son, O'Connor began to work in the Arizona attorney general's office. By 1969, she had been appointed to the state Senate and later was re-elected and served as the first woman to serve as a state Senate's majority leader (1973). Governor Bruce Babbitt appointed Sandra Day O'Connor to the Court of Appeals in 1979. Prior to this she had been elected a trial judge in 1974 (Maricopa County) and served in that position for 5 years.

It was in 1981 that President Reagan appointed Sandra Day O'Connor to fill the seat on the Supreme Court that had been vacated by Associate Justice Potter Stewart upon his retirement. As a relative unknown, she kept her thoughts about how she would vote on several issues of interest at the time to herself, especially with regard to Row Vs Wade. Despite the reservations of the conservatives, she was confirmed by the Judiciary Committee and the U. S. Senate.

Justice O'Connor's term in the Supreme Court included a wide range of cases; but the ones involving gender discrimination and, (in 1989, in Webster vs Reproductive Health Services) an abortion rights' issue garnered the most attention to her judgeship. Her deciding vote upheld states' rights to make specific abortion decisions.

She had a reputation for lacking a sense of humor, but was regarded as a most powerful voice on compromise. Her influence was recognized nationally as she proceeded in her tough, conservative efforts to a achieve majority votes on cases. Her tough conservatism was somewhat mitigated in cases concerning women and children.

Sandra Day O'Connor announced in July of 2005 that she would retire from the Supreme Court as soon as a replacement was appointed. "Justice Samuel Alito succeeded her on January 31, 2006. In 2006 Arizona State University in Tempe honored Justice O'Connor by renaming their law school the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law. John O'Connor, her husband, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease in 1990, and resides in an assisted living facility in Phoenix."

Quotes from: http://phoenix.about.com/cs/famous/a/oconnor.htm

Other fine sources of information on Sandra Day O'Connor: http://www.oyez.org/justices/sandra_day_oconnor/

http://www.supremecourthistory.org/myweb/justice/o'connor.htm

For reviews on books by and about Sandra Day O'Connor: http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/mai_oconnor_sandra_day.html

Sheilah Egan

CLCD

Was It Really UNITE OR DIE in 1787? by Jacqueline Jules

“If we can’t agree on anything, how can we stay one country?”

“But we could have even bigger problems, if we break apart.”

--from Unite or Die: How Thirteen States Became a Nation

In 1787, during a blistering hot Philadelphia summer, fifty-five delegates met behind locked doors at Independence Hall to confront a startling problem: America did not have a functioning national government. The thirteen states behaved like squabbling siblings. They fought over river rights and land boundaries. They didn’t honor each other’s money. When Massachusetts was faced with a rebellion, her sister states said, “Sorry! You’re on your own!”

 
Under the Articles of Confederation, most people considered themselves citizens of a particular state, not the United States of America. No one was in charge. The fledgling nation was like a blind octopus with thirteen arms.

A new government was essential for the United States to have a future. However, during the Constitutional Convention, the states were at a bitter impasse over the issue of representation in Congress. Benjamin Franklin called for prayer, and George Washington looked haggard, as if he were reliving the terrible days at Valley Forge. Delegates feared that if the Constitutional Convention collapsed, the country would, too. The United States came dangerously close to becoming an historical footnote rather than the powerful country it is today.

Such a dramatic time in our country’s history is perfect material for Reader’s Theater. In 2005, when I was working as a library media specialist, I wrote a four minute play for my students to present in celebration of Constitution Day. It focused on the problems between the states and the Connecticut Compromise, which convinced the delegates they could agree on a national government after all. My students had such a great time rehearsing and performing this skit, I decided to expand the material into a book.

The result was Unite or Die: How Thirteen States Became a Nation, featuring exuberant young actors from the imaginary school of Forest Lake Elementary, dramatizing the conflicts and compromises of the 1787 Constitutional Convention. Illustrated by Nickelodeon Magazine comic strip artist, Jef Czekaj, the book presents students on stage, dressed as the thirteen original states, delivering their lines in speech bubbles.

A Reader’s Theater is available for students and teachers at the Charlesbridge website at http://www.charlesbridge.com/client/client_pdfs/downloadables/UniteorDie_ReadersTheater.pdf

And for a taste of the show, please visit youtube.com at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5oQ6NTjF_M&fmt=18

In addition to Unite or Die: How Thirteen States Became a Nation, Jacqueline Jules is the author of fifteen children’s books including No English, Duck for Turkey Day, The Princess and the Ziz, Sarah Laughs, and the forthcoming Zapato Power: Freddie Ramos Takes Off. For more information, please visit http://www.jacquelinejules.com/

What Makes a Good Book (Part 3) by Marilyn Courtot

The following is the third part in a six part series written by CLCD President Marilyn Courtot. Aimed at reviewers and writers, we will be running a new part every month.

Types of Books

Concept

Most children are curious about their world. To help satisfy that curiosity parents, teachers and caregivers should provide books that teach and explain concepts and provide factual information. Concept books teach counting, the alphabet, colors, opposites, and the like.

Counting is a concept usually introduced to children very early in their lives. Most parents play games counting fingers and toes. Kids pick up the sounds and pattern and frequently memorize the sequence of numbers, although the actual concept of what the numbers represent comes later. The intended audience for a counting book is children ages three and up. Since these are young children, a really successful counting book should be small enough for kids to handle, and also sturdy and of good quality paper.

Good counting books clearly display the numeral and the appropriate number of objects in a clear and uncluttered illustration. The numeral should be placed in reasonable proximity to the objects, so that the association can be made between it and the number of objects. Therefore, a double page spread may not be as effective as single pages. You may want to stick to a single page format until the child is about six years old. Counting books are also most effective when they use familiar objects, particularly with very young children.

A rhymed text—or at least one that has either rhythm, onomatopoeia, or repetition—will entertain and help kids remember. The text should use language appropriate to the age group. A few good examples are: One Boy by Laura Vaccaro Seeger; 1, 2, Buckle My Shoe by Anna Grossnickle Hines, and Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox.

Marilyn Courtot
Publisher and Editor
CLCD

A Brief Guide to Population Control by Steve Watkins

Steve Watkins is a professor of English at the University of Mary Washington. His novel Down Sand Mountain was awarded the 2008 Golden Kite Award for Young Adult Fiction by The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Recently, Steve presented writing tips to a captive audience at the Mid-Atlantic SCBWI Fall Conference.

A Brief Guide to Population Control:

1. Give your characters resonant names. In Down Sand Mountain I have a naïve, twelve-year-old protagonist named Dewey, a little sister named Tink, a drunk doctor named Rexroat, a clueless police officer named O.O. Odom, a best friend named Boopie, a Vietnam vet named Wratchford. All names have resonance, of course, but some have greater resonant than others.

2. And sometimes you just want a good old-fashioned Everyman or Everywoman character. His name is Charlie. Her name is Annie.

3. Don’t isolate your protagonist. We need to see them engaged with other characters. That’s principally how you’ll move your plot forward, develop your central characters, and explore your themes. If you find your protagonist all alone, sitting and thinking, ruminating, remembering, then you’ve probably found a scene you should rewrite. With other characters in it, too.

4. Don’t introduce too many characters at once. You’re probably already lost trying to remember all the characters I just introduced in that name explosion above in #1. Remember the Rule of Three: That’s the number for the most individual characters you generally want to introduce in any given scene.

5. Don’t give your characters names that are too similar. Cathy and Angie and Allie are all the same girl. Billy and John and Dan are the same boy.

6. Describe your crowds first—think about that establishing shot in films—THEN zoom in on someone in the crowd. Let us get to know that character before you introduce any others. Remember the Rule of Three (see #4 above).

7. The idea of characters being either Flat or Round can be helpful. Some are barely present; others are central to your story. But ALL your characters should matter. When your Flat characters are real—even those making the tiniest cameos—they help breathe life into your Round characters, and add greater spice to your story. To put it another way, if your protagonist interacts with undeveloped characters or stereotypes, you lose tension and authenticity because we already know what our reaction to those characters should be (boos and hisses for the bad guys, tears for the innocent), and we likely know the outcome of the interaction before we even read it.

8. Love your villains. Create characters that your readers want to spend time with—even if it’s to hate them, despise them, condemn them, and see them get their just desserts. The Joker is much more interesting than Batman in “The Dark Knight.” Satan gets all the best lines in “Paradise Lost.”

9. In part this is also because heroes are boring if they’re too good. Reluctant heroes, with flaws, foibles, feet of clay—that’s who we want to spend our time with. Think Jo in “Little Women.” Angelic Beth: not so much.

10. On a related note: consistency is definitely important to your characters, and in your narrator and his or her voice. But too much consistency kills tension and leads to boredom and is bad for sales. What you want is complexity. Remember the bouncer in the club scene in the Judd Apatow film “Knocked Up”? Let your characters surprise you sometimes. Let them surprise other characters. Let them surprise your readers.

11. You have an enormous arsenal of weapons at your disposal—I suppose we should go with the gentler term, narrative techniques—for developing your characters. Here they are, though obviously some only apply to your protagonist, as we don’t generally have access to the thoughts, memories, etc. of most of your other characters:

a. What the character looks like.
b. What the character says.
c. What the character does.
d. What the character thinks and feels.
e. What the character remembers.
f. What the character has done in the past.
g. What the character imagines, wants, needs.
h. What the character acts in relationships with others.
i. What the character DOESN’T say or do or think.
j. What others think or say about another character.

12. But keep in mind that ALL of this is or should be filtered through the observing consciousness—that is, the observations, thoughts, memories, experiences of your protagonist—so frequently can end up telling us as much about the protagonist as it does about the other characters being described. And, fortunately, sometimes your protagonist gets to be wrong.

To learn more about Steve please visit http://watkins.elsweb.org/, and look for his new book from Candlewick Press out this spring, Goat Girl.

Janet Morgan Stoeke On Reading Reviews For Inspiration

Janet Morgan Stoeke is the award-winning author of the delightfully entertaining Minerva Louise books, Waiting for May, The Bus Stop and It's Library Day. Recently, she confessed that she likes to read book reviews (of books by other authors). She graciously shares some thoughts about reading well written reviews:

I don’t review books, but I love to read reviews for the pure inspiration they provide. If I am feeling unsure about what I want to do next, I’ll go to my stack of Horn Books and immerse myself in the language of book-praise. It is thrilling to read reviews that pin down just what it means to succeed with a picture book. And I scurry off to try, try again to make something that meets those high standards.

I love the way that reviewers write about books, their careful words about crafting a text and their artful descriptions of what a child will see in it, that’s what gets my juices flowing. It’s like reading college class descriptions; I always want to take those classes. (Well, not calculus, but anything artsy.) And this way, it’s free.

Doesn’t everybody do this? It is the reason I subscribe to The Horn Book. I pour over the reviews for little bits of insight that speak to me about bookmaking. Often this sparks a small flame of excitement that leads to something new in the way of creativity. I use it also as a way to keep abreast of what is being published, and the manner in which newer things are being received. Taking risks can be scary, but reading about 14 others who have taken risks and were found to be brilliant . . . well, it makes one a bit more willing to be daring.

To learn more about Janet and her publications please visit http://www.minervalouise.com/.

If you would like to read reviews of Janet’s books; see the awards, honors, prizes and reading list entries for these and other titles, as well as reading measurement program data, lesson plans or teaching guides, please sign up for a free trial of the Children's Literature Comprehensive Database at http://www.childrenslit.com/.

Are You Ready for the Winter Olympics?

The Olympic Games are an international athletic competition that take place every two years, alternating between the Summer and Winter Olympics. This year the 21st Winter Olympic Games will be held in Vancouver, Canada from February 12th to the 28th.

The first Winter Olympics were held in France in 1924. The Olympic Charter defines winter sports as "sports which are practiced on snow or ice." The events have changed a lot since 1924 and now include sports such as Skeleton, Snowboarding, Luge, and Freestyle Skiing. Popular events such as Cross-Country Skiing, Figure Skating, Ice Hockey, and Ski Jumping have been around since the first Games.

Fewer countries participate in the Winter Games than in the Summer Olympics but the Vancouver 2010 Games will have around 100 nations participating in 15 different winter sports. The Olympic flame was lit on October 22, 2009 in Olympia, Greece and will travel approximately 45,000 kilometers over 106 days before making it to the Opening Ceremony on February 12th.

For a list of suggested book titles visit: http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/th_olympics.html

For more information on the Winter Olympics visit:
http://www.vancouver2010.com/
http://www.history.com/encyclopedia.do?articleId=218153
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Games

Emily Griffin
CLCD

What Makes a Good Book (Part 2) by Marilyn Courtot

The following is the second part in a six part series written by CLCD President Marilyn Courtot. Aimed at reviewers and writers, we will be running a new part every month.

Type-Style and Placement

In my last entry, I discussed basic construction and illustrations. This entry’s focus is type style and the placement of type on the page.

Look at the book’s typeface. Is it readable? Usually a type style or font described as “simple sans serif” is recommended. That is a type style that does not have small lines to finish off the main stroke of a letter-to illustrate M (serif) versus M (sans serif). For youngsters leaning to read and write, the sans serif characters are easy to recognize and print. For all readers the important issue is whether the typeface is easy to read.

Next, is the type big enough or of a sufficient point size for young readers? The point size is the height of the font or typeface from the bottom of the descenders such as “q” to the top of ascenders such as “h”. Also, there should be sufficient leading (the vertical space occupied which determines the amount of white space between lines). Look at the track or amount of space between the characters. For most readers, characters that touch each other are more difficult to identify and recognize.

Finally, is the type clearly set off from the illustrations? Is there good balance? White space can help to focus on detail, and its importance should not be overlooked. Is there sufficient contrast between the text and the illustrations? For example, if the text is printed within an illustration, does it clearly stand out either against a lighter part of the background or is it placed in a white box within the illustration? If the latter approach is used, does it have a negative impact on the visual presentation of the art?

Use your own eyes and trust your judgment.

Marilyn Courtot
Publisher and Editor
CLCD

That's No Childish Database by University of Maryland "Extern"

Have you ever wondered how those databases at our UMD library’s Research Port work? Among databases, Children's Literature Comprehensive Database (CLCD) is a role model.

CLCD is a rapidly-growing, indispensable resource for many librarians, editors, publishers, media specialists, professors, and students. Its database includes over two million MARC records. Records for books include the standard reference data as well as numerous reading levels (e.g. lexiles), awards that books have won, and reading lists. What's more, many entries feature book reviews that, for example, let teachers see what others think about a book before having students read it. To top it off, CLCD provides a free newsletter with notable developments in children’s literature, and a booking service to connect famous children’s literature figures with schools and other organizations. They do it all very well; with good reason, this October the School Library Journal wrote "CLCD deserves a solid A."

As a business major, I was especially interested in the inner workings of such a venture. Particularly, how could one approach the apparently astronomical task of setting up, maintaining, and expanding such a database? What sort of unexpected logistics issues would they need to surmount? How do they promote their product?

In my externship at CLCD, CLCD masterminds privileged me with such inside information, letting me learn from a number of their key figures. What I learned was eye-opening. I will mention a few salient points of my experiences.

The database is in a small-business format. Such a database need not be run by a multitude—thankfully. The lean nature of their business makes it far more flexible than a large corporation. If a change needs to be made in the website, it can be done without any bureaucratic hassle. Marilyn Courtot, the president of CLCD, showed me her approach to leading this kind of business. Their bookkeeper gave me flashbacks to my accounting courses as she guided me through their process of managing their incoming and outgoing funds.

Online marketing for CLCD has been rapidly expanding in the last few months. They recently began a Twitter page as well as a blog. Both are followed by librarians, teachers, and others who want to keep tabs on the children’s literature world. These, added to the wealth of free, regularly updated information in their website and newsletters periodically sent to customers and other interested parties, comprise a wholesome recipe for communications success.

While it is a small business in one sense, it is a large business in another. Particularly, the information processing spans numerous states. Some information is prepared in Maryland, and after being sent around to certain specialists in Michigan, Virginia, and New Jersey, the information is added to the database. The national network of professionals managing the data entry was fascinating to encounter.

Lastly, I was also able to contribute my own personal services and recommendations for promotion, their website, and marketing of certain services. For the purposes of this entry, however, they must be kept confidential. I am glad to be able to leave a mark on CLCD during the short time of my service there, and I look forward to being able to serve it in the future.

Indeed, the Children’s Literature Comprehensive Database is no childish database. Overall, I am very grateful to Mrs. Courtot and the University of Maryland for the opportunity to participate in this externship and learn how such a superb service is provided and promoted. The contacts made and lessons learned I hope to take far into the future.

~Marc McCarthy
http://www.languages.umd.edu/lh/blog.html

Picture Book Adapted into a Musical by Uma Krishnaswami

Making Books Sing began in New York City in 1996 as the family theatre and education program of the Tony Award-winning Vineyard Theatre. Growing from the vision of Barbara Zinn Krieger, founder of the Vineyard, it is now an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing theatre with high standards of artistry and content to families and children. The group adapts and produces stage versions of picture books. Among books chosen for past productions are The Butterfly by Patricia Polacco, The Orphan Singer by Emily Arnold McCully, A Shelter in Our Car by Monica Gunning, and The Upside Down Boy by Juan Felipe Herrera. Touring shows are now made possible through collaborations with the Kennedy Center and Stanford Lively Arts.

The reason I know any of this, living in northwest New Mexico as I do, far from the city lights, is that my picture book, Chachaji's Cup, has been adapted into a musical by Making Books Sing. It's scheduled to open in New York January 25, 2010, and will tour to the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens. It will open in Stanford, CA in February. Adaptation and lyrics are by Gwynne Watkins; music is by Denver Casado. The director/choreographer is Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj.

How did all this come about? Everyone wants to know. That part is not all that exciting, having to do mostly with rights and permissions and signatures on contracts. What's exciting is that about 12,000 children in New York City will see the show and be introduced as a result, to my book. Exciting too that Raja Burrows, who plays the male lead, is from Albuquerque, and I got to meet his parents earlier this year. And most exciting to think that after my January residency at Vermont College of Fine Arts, I'll be heading to New York. I'll sign books at the Barnes & Noble-Tribeca on January 22, and attend the opening matinee performance on the 25th.

Raising my cup of chai to Barbara Zinn Krieger and Making Books Sing for the fine work they do. Information on tickets and more at http://makingbookssing.org/