Dear Kim, We made it! Today is officially the last day of our #AtoZChallenge. I can't think of a better friend to end the challenge with than Zachariah Ohora. Z is for Zachariah Ohora We had the pleasure of working with Zachariah on characters this afternoon. He walked us through the creative process that he uses in his wildly popular books. (I don't know about your house, but Momo rules in our house.) It was amazing to learn about his artistic choices and see the way that he infuses quirks and cool into his characters. Hey, it's MOMO! Zachariah, and the talented members of the Eastern PA SCBWI, were kind enough to give our #AuthorApril and #AtoZChallenge the ultimate end... "Z" END Congratulations, Kim! We made it to Z. Much Love, Alison
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Dear Alison, The other day I wrote about Walter Dean Myers and my reading relationship with my son.Today, I want to talk about my reading relationship with my middle daughter. My eleven year old is a voracious reader. During our most recent visit to BAM (Books A Million), she planned to purchase I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzi with her own hard-earned money. My mother, who had read the adult version with her book group, worried about the graphic imagery projected in I Am Malala and the impact it would have on my daughter. After my bubble-wrapping dilemma with my son and Monster, I decided to let my daughter proceed with her purchase--I say that as if I had a choice. My children are stubborn with strong minds of their own--I'm proud of that. She bought I Am Malala , Young Readers Edition. She read it in two days. She wept. She laughed. She wept some more. When she finished, she rushed home and told me all about the book, then shoved it in my hand and sai...
Dear Kim, Thank you for your post yesterday. Monster is a powerful book. You wrote, " Monster will haunt you and cause you to examine your perception of your actions towards those charged with a crime regardless of the verdict." Today's #AuthorApril writers also created a novel that examines a broken system and a man's search for himself. X: A Novel makes her readers question the choices that Malcolm X made in his teen years as much as we question the system that was supposed to protect him, yet failed him in such monumental ways. X is for X: A Novel authors, Ilyasah Shabazz and Kekla Magoon Ilyasah Shabazz, Malcolm X's daughter and author, and celebrated young adult author, Kekla Magoon weave fact and fiction into this emotional story of what young Malcolm's early life might have been, from Michigan to Massachusetts to New York and back again. A few months after the book's release and a few months before the Coretta Scott King author hono...
Dear Alison, Thank you for your post about Vera B. Williams . Her last art show in Narrowsburg, NY left a lasting impression on me. One I know I've shared with you. Vera's scribbles and doodles and daydreams remind me of my middle daughter. My eleven year old's notebooks, folders, and walls (yes, walls too) are as much as part of her identity as a creative as her hands and feet. At her root, she imagines and reimagines worlds, and we, as parents, let her. But your post spoke to me in another way. I love how you read to your son each night, and it reminds me of my own son, now thirteen and the evolution of our reading relationship. Sure, my son still sits and listens to the picture books I read to my daughters but I no longer read his books aloud to him. We react to them instead. Sort of a mother/son book club. When he was in fifth grade, he brought home Kick by Walter Dean Myers from the school library. ...
Dear Kim, We read A Chair for My Mother last night at bedtime. It is a favorite in our house. The story reminds me of my own mother and those long hours she worked at the restaurant. My son snuggles up with his mother like the little girl does on the last page. I always savor that last image: mother and child. It hit me last night though, reading the story is a bit sad now too. Reading the loving tale of mother and child (and grandmother) is now a reminder of who we lost this past October. V is for Vera B. Williams A Chair for My Mother was Vera's fourth author/illustrated book. It won a Caldecott honor in 1983. As is the case with so many of her stories A Chair for My Mother was based on Vera's own childhood. I remember Vera speaking of her mother's wish for a new chair, how she went and bought the chair. Unlike the family in the story, her mother made weekly payments to keep the chair. She shared the hardship those payments put on her family. Vera rewrote ...
Dear Alison, It's the home stretch of our #AtoZChallenge, and Thursday starts the New Adult Scavenger Hunt. (I forgot to mention I signed up for the event back in March--was it wrong to reveal this information to you through social media? At least, you can't scowl at me via twitter. Wait, can you scowl via twitter? I'm not worried though because you love me;) You'll post about the letter X and I'll post about the New Adult Scavenger Hunt. A double posting kind of day--our faithful readers won't mind. (Can you believe we have faithful readers?!?!) I'll be revealing A.G. Howard's cover for her book, The Architect of Song, and the trailer. (It's an exclusive!!! Can you believe we've got an exclusive reveal?!?!) I'll also reveal my lucky number and the link to S.D. Wesley. She's the next leg of the hunt. We're all on TEAM RED . Go RED . Participants in the New Adult Scavenger Hunt...hint, hint faithful readers, that can be you, will...