Exciting News and Contest Winners!

Every once in a while I need to deviate from my usual blog format to talk about me! (C'mon, it is my blog.) So instead of a book review I'm going to spend today's post announcing some

EXCITING NEWS!!!

This Friday I will be revealing the long awaited (at least for me,) cover for BREAKING BEAUTIFUL.

In Friday's post, I'll give you the inside or "outside story" on how my cover came to be and let you know a little about the photographer who worked so hard to please me, my editor, and the art department at Walker/Bloomsbury. AND I may even have a GIVEAWAY!

Book blogger Kari at A GOOD ADDICTION will be helping me with my reveal. The cover will be posted here and on her blog at 8:00 am CST. In the meantime, check out her blog for some fabulous book reviews and contests.

Next, a bit of housekeeping. A while back (I won't say how long ago,) I held a blurb contest. I would FINALLY like to congratulate the winners.

Sarvenez (She wins Kirby Larsen's THE FRIENDSHIP DOLL)

Her Blurb:

Matilda's parents -- like the adults in most of Roald Dahl's books -- are nasty, villainous and altogether dastardly. Which, of course, makes them a joy to read.

Taffy (She wins a signed copy of Angela Morrison's CAYMAN SUMMER)

Her Blurb:

The governess falls for her eccentric and rich employer, who has a dark secret which threatens not only their love but their lives as well

.
And Katrina (She wins a signed copy of Janette Rallison's MY UNFAIR GODMOTHER)

Her Blurb:

Anne Riley's THE CLEARING left me daydreaming about powerful Druids from throughout the loops of time, and had me weeping over the personal tragedies of family death and schoolroom bullying. From life-and-death to daily trials, Riley's new world feels real and sometimes all too close to home. You'll cheer at the end and clamor for a sequel.


Thank you ladies! I will be contacting you so I know where to send your prize.

Everyone else come back and visit me on Friday!

Firefighters Doing Great Things

I'm standing in the school parking lot and I hear sirens, I see flashing lights, and then a fire truck pulls in. My heart beats faster and I get a lump in my throat. I don't know about you, but one of my nightmares is some kind of disaster at my kids' school, so every time I see an emergency vehicle heading towards the school, I panic a little bit.

But in this case, my heart was beating faster out of pride, not out of fear. Thanks to the South Bay Fire Department, my son, and several other kids from South Bay Elementary got to ride to school in a fire truck as a reward for READING.

The program is called Blazing a Trail for Reading. For two weeks the students kept track of their reading minutes. The results were tallied, and winners from every grade got the chance to ride to school on a firetruck. Because my son was the second highest reader in the 4th grade (YAHOOO) he was one of the kids who had a red flashing lights, sirens wailing, trip to school. He also got a certificate of commendation from the firefighters and a signed poster from the band Glorianna.

Let me take a side trip to tell you a little about my fourth grader. He's the nicest kid you could meet; sweet, funny, and smart, but because he struggles with fine motor skills his handwriting is very bad and he's had a few tough school years. Then, thanks to authors like Rick Riordan and Brandon Mull, he discovered reading.

(MOMMY BRAGGING MOMENT) During this year he has read more than any other kid in his class. His teacher actually had to add more paper to the reading chart on the wall of his classroom. The line that measures his reading minutes now stretches onto the window. Possibly as a result of his mass amounts of reading, his confidence has grown by bounds, his spelling has improved, and even his writing is much better. (OKAY, MOMENT OVER).

I love that the South Bay firefighters and Gloriana are celebrating reading. I love that the students, parents, and teachers all stopped and cheered each kid as they came off the firetruck. I love that my son was able to be a part of this.

I got a lump in my throat and my heart beat faster every time I heard those sirens coming into the school parking lot. I was proud of every one of the kids who earned the trip, and I'm so proud to belong to a community where heroes like our firefighters take the time to support literacy and make a big deal out of reading.

Thank you South Bay firefighters!

TDGT--A Video to Unite a School (and a Shamless Plug)

How do you bring together 2000 students from various cliques, teams, and clubs?

Lakewood high school in Denver, Colorado did it by pumping Katy Perry's Firework through the school intercom system so they could lip-dub, (or lip-sync), the words into a music video to unite the school.

Having done a lot of video work in my life (I have a degree in Broadcast Communications), I can really appreciate how much work and cooperation it took to put this video together. I love how it came out and I love the way it shows an entire high school united. Awesome job Lakewood High!



Thanks to Mark Megibow from the group FACE for sharing this video with me. (Yes, he is my agent's husband.)

Now for the shameless plug:

Aspire Middle school is doing another fabulous play, YOU'RE A GOOD MAN CHARLIE BROWN.

I got to go last night (June 9th) for opening night and it was fabulous! Aspire has such a talented group of students.

They will be performing again tonight at Timberline high school at 7:30 pm and twice on Saturday, (2:00 matinee) and 7:30 evening performance. They do a wonderful jog of bringing to life the beloved PEANUTS characters, the kids are great, and the "woodstocks" and Snoopy are hilarious. It's a great family event.

I would love to hear what you think of this video and/or the play. And as always if you know of any kids doing great things, please send them my way.

Book Review Wednesday--A First Grade Perspective

Today was our school barbecue, so I got to have lunch with my son's 1st grade class.

The first thing I learned while I was there was, the best part of eating school lunch with 1st graders is that when you're having ice cream, you get to eat dessert first so it doesn't melt! What a GREAT idea! When I was in grade school, we had to eat all the icky stuff like mushy peas and carrots and slimy green beans before we could eat desert.

The second thing I learned surprised, impressed, and amazed me almost as much--these kids are really reading!!! While we were eating, I asked them what there favorite books were. I expected to hear a lot of picture books, but what I heard were chapter books. (For first graders!) And when I asked them who was reading them the chapter books, they said, "No one. We read them ourselves."

Yay for great beginning reader books!

Here are some of their favorites:

RAMONA BOOKS by Beverly Cleary. Obviously these have been revitalized with the new movie, BEEZUS and RAMONA. I was excited to hear that a lot of the little girls were reading Ramona books, because they were my absolute favorite books back in the day when veggies came before dessert. I'm thrilled that the legacy of the little girl who gets herself into trouble just by being herself lives on.


MAGIC TREEEHOUSE Books--Full of adventure, fantasy and fact, Mary Pope Osborn's Magic Tree house books are a great combination for kids. My older kids loved them, but I hadn't considered getting them out for my first grader yet, and we have a bunch. (Can anyone say summer reading?) When I looked into the series I realized that it's continued on from a few years ago, when my almost-fifth-grader read them. The latest books in the series look like they venture more into fantasy, but the book my first grade friends said they liked the most was DOLPHINS AT DAYBREAK.

JUNIE B. JONES--(You knew it was coming,) It may be grammar poor, but JUNIE B. is humor rich, crazy and highly relate-able for young kids. JUNIE B. is in many ways a more modern Ramona. My daughter loved these when she was in first, second grade and third grade and the girls in my son's class said they loved them too. These are also fun books are to read out loud with your kids.

Besides the early reader chapter books, my first grade book critics mentioned a few of their favorite picture books including; the SCAREDY THE SQUIRREL series, (which I love too because the aside comments are hilarious,) SKIPPY JON JONES books, and BEDTIME IN THE SWAMP (which happens to be a book I picked up at the LDStorymakers conference.

My lunch with first graders class taught me two valuable life lessons:

1) Eat dessert first!
2) You're never too young to love reading!

What are your favorite early reader/chapter books?

Write Here, Write Now

Last week, one of my ANWA friends asked the question, "Where do you write?" for a blog post she was doing. (See Black hole. Abductor. And other names I've called my desk). The other people who responded talked about the different desks they've had, or a special room, or a special corner of the house, my answer was this:

"...Because I have four busy kids, I write everywhere I can, like in my car while I wait for piano lessons, soccer practice, or play practice to get over, or at the dentists office. I wrote a good portion of BREAKING BEAUTIFUL on the way up to the ski hill. I once spent a whole day doing revisions in my car while my son was at an indoor skate park. I even did copy edits between games at a volleyball tournament. Lately, to combat writer's butt I've been writing on a treadmill at my gym."

When I'm into a project I can (and do) write anywhere. I don't have a purse. I have a laptop bag. It goes with me almost whenever I leave the house, because I never know when a practice might go long, and I'll have a few minutes to let my imagination run away. (This might explain why my previous laptop is in the shape it's in--broken hinge, cover coming off).

I can write in the car as long as the road isn't too curvy, I can write when I'm with my kids at the pool or the park, I can even write (though not always successfully), in those few moments while supper simmers away on the stove.

(***An actual dinner burned while I was writing.***)

I'm ashamed to say I even took my laptop with me to a band concert a few days ago, thinking I would sneak out into the hall when my son was done playing and write. (In the end I decided to leave my laptop alone, enjoy the music, and visit with some friends I don't see very often.)

The good thing about my ability to work anywhere is that I can get through a project and still get my children, (most of the time), to their various appointments and activities. The bad thing is that I often have to reorient myself to the real world, "Mom, we just passed the piano lesson house again!"

My point is, you can write anywhere. If you don't have the luxury of a laptop, you can still take a notebook with you, or you can scribble something in crayon on the back of that coloring book at the bottom of your diaper bag, or you can just observe life around you and make notes in your head. Maybe the lady in front of you in line would be the perfect protagonist for your novel. Maybe the kid bagging groceries has a dark secret.

When my kids were little I didn't have time, (or didn't take time), to write down my stories, so I wrote them in my head. I honestly think that was helpful to me when I finally took the time to put something down on paper.

I feel like I'm proof that if you want to be a writer, you just have to do it. If I had waited for the perfect office, or the perfect desk, or the perfect time to start writing, it would have never come.

My advice...

Write here. Write now.

What crazy places have you written in? How do you carve out time for your writing?

Teens Doing Great Things-- Karlee's Prom

Once or maybe a couple of times during their high school career, teenage guys trade their jeans and t-shirts for tuxes and bow ties, and teenage girls get to play dress-up princess for one more night before they enter the realm of adulthood. Prom night--immortalized in in books, TV and movies as the penultimate right of teenage passage, few things are as American as a high school prom.

For a girl battling cancer, prom night seemed like an impossible dream. Then her friends stepped in to make sure she had one night to forget about being sick, one night to feel beautiful, and the memory of one prom to carry with her.

Here's what two teenage boys did to make sure their friend, Karlee had a night to remember, as told by Alana Lerwill, (the photographer who went with them to take pictures), on her blog blog post from June 9, 2009.

A few weeks ago, I had an incredible experience. I got to take pictures for a special Junior Prom. A fantastic young man named Quade asked a sweet girl named Karlee to their Junior Prom. It was to be her first date. She is 16 and is fighting off her 2nd battle with two types of cancer. She has had several tumors removed. As it got closer to prom, she found out she was going to have to be in the hospital undergoing another round of Chemo during the prom. Quade decided he and his friend Chase would go visit Karlee that night in the hospital.

As plans progressed, they decided to take prom to Karlee. They both rented Tuxedos, bought flowers and got their moms to help out with dinner. Karlee's mom got her a wig and a beautiful prom dress. The hospital chipped in and helped out with a nice classroom that they decorated and put a backdrop and the kitchen help even dressed up to serve them dinner.

The doctor gave her a pass so she could leave her hospital room and they were allowed to go across the street to the city park. I came along to take pictures and we were able to do a nice photo shoot both in the hospital and then a bunch of fun pictures at the park. This was an amazing bunch of youth. The boys were so polite and gracious, giving her many compliments and taking such good care of her. They really tried hard to make it a memorable night. Karlee has an amazing strong spirit she is doing all she can to beat this thing. You can really sense what an amazing person she is.

To read the rest of the story and to see more pictures of Karlee's prom go to Photography by Alana.

Thank you to Quade and Chase for doing such a great thing for their friend and than you to Alana Lerwill for her beautiful pictures and for allowing me to share this story.

Guest Review: GIRL OVERBOARD by Justina Chen Headley

It's been a busy week (what week isn't) so I turned today's book review over to my daughter.

She had reviewed GIRL OVERBOARD for her literature class, so I asked her if I could use that review here. (Isn't it nice when your kids can do your work for you?) I bought this book for her after a ski accident left her on crutches for four weeks. Ironically, the book is about a girl who snaps her ACL in a snowboarding accident,and my daughter had it with her at the appointment when we got the MRI results and found out she had the same injury.

I appreciate books that my kids can use to relate to experiences that they're going through, especially when its something that I haven't ever been through. I like to read books with my kids, so I started reading GIRL OVERBOARD, but between trips to the ski hill it somehow got lost.

Before it was lost, I was really enjoying the story and I loved Justina Chen Headley's NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL, (see my blog post, More Than Skin Deep...,) I hope to find and finish the book for myself, until then, you'll have to take my daughter's word for it that this is a great book.

DAUGHTER REVIEW

The book Girl Overboard by Justina Chen Headley is an empowering novel about a girl named Syrah who snaps her ACL when she gets caught in an avalanche while snowboarding. Everyone thinks that Syrah has everything, after all, her dad is Ethan Cheng, the richest man in the world. But really her life sucks. Her (half ) siblings hate her. The only two people in the world that actually understand her the most are being pushed away from her; Age her best friend since kindergarten who originally got her started in snowboarding, and Bao-mu her nanny. Age’s girlfriend Natalie is jealous of their friendship so she doesn’t allow them to hang out with each other very much. And Bao-mu is moving in with her daughter who just had a baby. On top of all that her new friend Lillian has a little sister who has leukemia and needs a bone marrow match if she’s ever going to beat it.

Any one that is “coming to terms” with anything in their life right now will enjoy this book. I can relate to Syrah, because while skiing this winter, I snapped my ACL. Snapping my ACL was and still is really hard on me. I couldn’t walk, open doors, or even carry my own backpack, but worst of all I couldn’t ski or play any sports for that matter. For a lot of people not being able to play sports for a year doesn’t seem like a big deal, but for me it is.

I was able to make a lot of text to self connections, such as how annoying it is that it’s a wound that no one can see. If you’re just walking down the hallway and someone bumps into you, or you step on that leg wrong you shriek in pain and everyone stares at you like you’re some kind of weakling who can’t take a little bump.

GIRL OVERBOARD is a very empowering story about how to come to terms with anything. It’s really cool to see how Syrah’s respect for herself her parents and her siblings grow throughout the story.