My Year in Books

New Year's Eve

I have been participating in Julie Hedlund's 12 Days of Christmas which changed my mindset of New Year's Resolutions.  We have studied and learned from last year's personal successes, discouragements, and self-reflections and are now making a concrete path for 2017.  I like how this has been contemplated rather than just grabbing resolutions from thin air, as I have always done.  I chose the above graphic from Google's public domain because I felt like it depicts the journey.

Next year, I plan to work towards these goals for my writing life.

1. Make a weekly focus list to make my writing plans more intentional.
2. Get my projects organized so that I can grab one to work on.
3. Participate in Tara Lazar's StoryStrom to get my creative juices flowing.
4. Sign-up and participate in Julie Hedlund's 2x12.
5. Work through The Artist's Way, a "creativity" book.
6. Find a critique group.
7. Go to a SCBWI local meeting - yikes!

Successes

Day 3

Children's author Julie Hedlund, challenged participants of her 12 Days of Christmas for Writers series to post SUCCESSES (rather than resolutions) on our blogs this year. She believes the way New Year's resolutions are traditionally made come from a place of negativity - what DIDN'T get done or achieved in the previous year.  Instead, she suggests we set goals for the New Year that BUILD on our achievements from the previous one. I decided to participate in this Anti-Resolution Revolution! Here is my list for 2016.

I participated in a class that Julie was a part of (you will see below) and decided to join her for her 12 Days of Christmas.  I am enjoying it so far.  I'm not a big Facebooker, so maybe I'll go back and add day 2 here.

As I reflect on my year, I realize it has been a huge transition year for me.  I am a teacher/librarian and always will be.  But, this year my husband and I decided I would travel more with him which I couldn't do because of my schedule, of course.  I have dabbled in writing for years now.  I've even been published in some education magazines in the past.  During the summer of this year, I made the transition to working as a writer.  What will come of it?  I don't know, but I am loving it!  

So, focusing on my writing life, here is my list of successes since summer:

1. Started living my new dream...prioritized my writing.
2. Participated in Teachers Write ...with Kate Messner - thanks!
3. Participated in Slice of Life...need to do that more consistently.
4. Lots of reading...that is not a problem.
5. Submitted a poem to Chicken Soup...still waiting.
6. Participated in Picture Book Summit...it was aMaZiNg!!!
7. Have a submission ready for Highlights Hello Magazine...working on the cover letter, trying to find editor's name.
8. Started Chapter Book Blueprint...am super excited about what I've got going so far.
9. Signed up for StoryStorm for January...first timer, but love Tara Lazar's books.
10. Have a picture book biography started...research done (for now) and on to writing.
11. Joining in on the 12 Days of Christmas with Julie Hedlund...getting me hyped for 2017!

If I think of more, I'll add them here because I'm not going to change all my numbering :) !

12. Have a list started of picture book ideas...very rough ideas.
13. Have my "dream" journal by my bed...come on imagination, do your thing.
14. Have been listening to Institute for Writer's podcasts...and downloading cool tips.

The Wolf Keepers

The Wolf Keepers

by Elise Broach

published by: Henry Holt & Co.

date: October 2016

Goodreads Summary: 

Twelve-year-old Lizzie Durango and her dad have always had a zoo to call their home. Lizzie spends her days watching the animals and taking note of their various behaviors. Though the zoo makes for a unique home, it's a hard place for Lizzie to make lasting friends. But all this changes one afternoon when she finds Tyler Briggs, a runaway who has secretly made the zoo his makeshift home. The two become friends and, just as quickly, stumble into a covert investigation involving the zoo wolves who are suddenly dying. Little do they know, this mystery will draw them into a high-stakes historical adventure involving the legend of John Muir as they try to navigate safely while lost in Yosemite National Park.

My Review:
I enjoyed this book very much.  So many topics that could be discussed with the use of this book.  It would make a great book club book!  First of all, what a great example of authentic writing in a journal which is a big part of the story.  Wow, living at the zoo, that will draw student readers in right away!  I love the insight we gain from the zoo setting. Students will also enjoy the wolves which are an animal frequently asked for at the library.  I like the historical aspect of John Muir and Yosemite National Park.  There are family dynamics and friendships that could be discussed.  Is it ever ok to keep a secret?  It seems that there are several secrets here that would lead to thoughtful discussions.  The con to this book is that my adult brain had to work hard to suspend belief over and over.  From the point that they took the 4 mile hike to Tenaya Creek and on, I couldn't find anything believable.  Having said that, I did have watery eyes in the end, and I would highly recommend this book to students.

I want to thank NetGalley, Henry Holt & Co., and Elise Broach for an electronic version of this book for preview.

A Poem for Peter

A Poem for Peter

by Andrea Davis Pinkney

Published by:Viking Books for Young Readers

Published Date: November 2016

Goodread Summary:
The story of The Snowy Day begins more than one hundred years ago, when Ezra Jack Keats was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. The family were struggling Polish immigrants, and despite Keats’s obvious talent, his father worried that Ezra’s dream of being an artist was an unrealistic one. But Ezra was determined. By high school he was winning prizes and scholarships. Later, jobs followed with the WPA and Marvel comics. But it was many years before Keats’s greatest dream was realized and he had the opportunity to write and illustrate his own book.

For more than two decades, Ezra had kept pinned to his wall a series of photographs of an adorable African American child. In Keats’s hands, the boy morphed into Peter, a boy in a red snowsuit, out enjoying the pristine snow; the book became The Snowy Day, winner of the Caldecott Medal, the first mainstream book to feature an African American child. It was also the first of many books featuring Peter and the children of his — and Keats’s — neighborhood.

Andrea David Pinkney’s lyrical narrative tells the inspiring story of a boy who pursued a dream, and who, in turn, inspired generations of other dreamers.

My Review:
I've been waiting for this one!  It did not disappoint  and it is one of my favorites of the year!  
I love picture book author biographies of childhood book-friends! Thank you to Ezra Jack Keats for his persistence in the arts, to Andrea Pinkney for creating a wonderful collage of Keats and Peter, and to Peter for being such a good childhood book-friend.

Ghosts

Ghosts

by Raina Telgemeier

published by: Scholastic

publish date: September 2016

Goodreads Summary:

Catrina and her family are moving to the coast of Northern California because her little sister, Maya, is sick. Cat isn't happy about leaving her friends for Bahía de la Luna, but Maya has cystic fibrosis and will benefit from the cool, salty air that blows in from the sea. As the girls explore their new home, a neighbor lets them in on a secret: There are ghosts in Bahía de la Luna. Maya is determined to meet one, but Cat wants nothing to do with them. As the time of year when ghosts reunite with their loved ones approaches, Cat must figure out how to put aside her fears for her sister's sake - and her own.

My Thoughts:

Another great book by Raina Telemeter that students will love! It has some deep issues going on, and they're handled so well. (moving, cystic fibrosis, death, missing loved ones, making friends, Day of the Dead)  I especially enjoyed reading the back matter where Telgemeier tells us how this idea has been living in her head for quite some time.  She explained how breathing was such a central theme to this book; ghosts can't breath, Maya has difficulty breathing, and Cat needs to stop and take deep breaths to calm her anxiousness.  

Owl Diaries

Owl Diaries - Eva's Treetop Festival

by Rebecca Elliott

Series published by: Scholastic

What a sweet series, especially for early chapter book readers.  I picked one up to read because of the popularity of them among students.  I was pleasantly surprised.  Rebecca Elliott's illustrations are adorable and pull the reader along. Elliott's use of Eva and her diary is a great way to create voice for our young readers to make connections.  I really like the little bits of owl facts sprinkled through the books. I think kids will enjoy the puns scattered throughout.  It is hard to find books for good readers to read at a young age.  These fit the bill nicely.  I can see them being picked up and read over and over again. 

Picture Book Hooks

This week, I watched the free hour of the mini Picture Book Summit.  The hour was amazing and super informative.  I am definitely going to participate in the full day also!   The action step from Emma's tip was to read some newly published picture books and write a one sentence hook for each.  This sentence should be juicy and include the main character, the general plot, and the theme while dazzling the reader to entice them to read/ask for the manuscript.  I love a little challenge and am posting my hook sentences here.

The Story Book Knight

by: Helen Docherty

Publisher: Sourcebook, Inc.

Expected publish date: October 2016

Leo's parents send their gentle little knight out into the world to tame a dragon with a new shield and sword, but Leo insists on taking his... books? 

Me Want Pet!

by: Tammi Sauer

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Published date: March 6, 2012

Cave Boy tries to find a pet that doesn't cause too many problems; a woolly mammoth, a saber-toothed tiger, a dodo bird - oh my!

Light Up the Night

by: Jean Reidy

Publisher: Disney - Hyperion Books

Published Date: October 11, 2011

A rhyming cumulative bedtime story about a boy who goes out into the universe and makes his way back to his warm cozy bed.  (Of course, I now read this book's inside flap which is two sentences, but so much better!)

"When it's time to sleep, it's nice to know there's a place that's safe.  In a cozy house, in a comfy bed, under a blanket that's white and red, under stars so bright they light up the night, in your own little piece of the universe." ~inside flap

Snappsy the Alligator: did not ask to be in this book!

by: Julie Falatko

Publisher: Viking, Penguin Young Readers Group

Published date: February 2, 2016

What will Snappsy the Alligator do when he realizes someone is narrating his ordinary day while trying to make it extraordinary?

This was an enlightening activity.  Of course, I would spend much more time on my dazzling sentence if it were for my own book that I was submitting. 

Hope you enjoyed my little

today.

Thanks to Two Writing Teachers for hosting.