Thought for the Day:
“Don’t ask me who’s influenced me. A lion is made up of the lambs he’s digested, and I’ve been reading all my life.”
~ Giorgos Seferis, writer, diplomat, Nobel laureate ~
Gifts for My Writer Friends:
I can never get enough about query letters. If I see an article or post on queries, I stop and read it. HERE is a great post by Karen Ferreira on KidLit Creator’s Chronicle about how to write a query letter (and why this skill matters even if you self-publish). Yeah, that last part really caught my attention.
HERE is a wonderful article from Writer’s Digest by Mike Maden about The Challenges of Balancing Character With Plot. It is really good.
Janice Hardy has a really good Narrative Nugget HERE called Moving Forward with Purpose that will help you with your pacing. Her nuggets are always worth your time.
The best week of the year is finally here — Opening Day of baseball will occur on Wednesday with the New York Yankees visiting my beloved San Francisco Giants. I’m feeling good about my team this year. They have made some good moves off-season. Do I wish we had more depth in pitching? Yeah. If you aren’t the Dodgers, you always want more good arms, but everything else is looking good. We have some great veteran presence with guys like Willy Adames (my absolute favorite player in the world), Matt Chapman, and Rafael Devers. Heck, even our fairly young catcher, Patrick Bailey, in his third year, has to be considered a veteran presence at this point. He’s very good. Anyway, I’m pretty excited. And I will be leaving in less than two weeks to continue on my quest to see a game in every major-league park. Only eight more to go.
Last week, I offered a gently-read paperback of ORPHANLAND by Lauren Bomberger Fischer to one of you. The winner this week is Kasey of The Story Sanctuary. Congratulations, Kasey! I will get your book out to you soon. If you aren’t familiar with her blog, you should really check it out HERE. She writes tons of great reviews.
I recently won a copy of THE RISE OF THE SPIDER by Michael P. Spradlin on Natalie Aguirre’s wonderful blog, Literary Rambles. She has so many generous giveaways as well as amazing agent and author interviews. Make sure you check it out HERE. When the package came, the publisher had sent me the three-book series! What a nice surprise that was. I’ve only read the first book, but I’m sure the series will be great. The first book certainly is.
Rolf, 12, lives with his father and older brother, Romer, in a small town near Nuremberg, Germany. It is 1929, and things have been difficult in Germany since the end of the Great War. The economy has been bad, and many people are impoverished. Rolf’s father owns a toy factory in Nuremberg, and he is having a hard time of things. Romer has always been a good student and athlete, but now he doesn’t seem interested in school or football. He seems angry all the time, and he is hanging out with some tough guys who are members of the Hitler Youth — Nazis in training. Rolf and his best friend, Ansel are often given baked goods by Mrs. Hufnagel, the town baker, while on their way to school. She is a very kind woman. But one day, her cart and part of her shop are set on fire. When Rolf gets home, Romer has been there and dumped his clothes into the laundry, and they smell of kerosene. Another day, Ansel and Rolf witness another shopkeeper being beaten by the guys from the Hitler Youth. Romer tells Rolf he is going to leave after a rally in Nuremberg. Things seem to be falling apart.
Michael P. Spradlin has written a terrific novel that will keep young readers turning pages while they learn about the insidious ways an authoritarian can take over a country, the ways he can turn neighbor against neighbor and even family members against each other. The characters are all well-rounded, the dialogue is appropriate for the ages of the characters, and the setting is wonderfully described. He is a very good writer and researcher. This is an important book, especially in these times. I have a young friend who is fascinated with WWII books, and I will be passing these books along to him.
Please don’t forget to check for other Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday posts at Greg Pattridge’s blog HERE.
Rosi Hollinbeck 