Jeannine Atkins

http://beth-kephart.blogspot.com/2009/11/waltz.html

Yesterday I had a fun visit with the sixth and seventh graders at Crittenden Middle School in Armonk, New York. A few days before I arrived, "Miss K," a special needs teacher at the school sent me an email explaining that her students had done a fun simulation centered around RULES and asking if I could come by during the day and see it? I said I would love to do that, and the school created time in my schedule.

The students were very excited to show me what they'd been doing. There was a wheelchair set up at the end of the table. One person would pretend to be Jason and another would be Catherine.

"Today, Mrs. Lord gets to be Jason first," Miss K said, and she handed me a word grid that had empty boxes along the bottom. I had just a minute or so to fill in those boxes with any additional words I thought I might need to have a conversation with "Catherine."

I sat in the wheelchair and used only my cards to talk to one of the boys who played Catherine in our conversation. It was fun and very hard. When he asked me questions, I'd look at the few words I had and know I couldn't say what I wanted. Every answer I gave was a pale compromise for what I truly wanted to say. It was a powerful simulation for the kids and equally powerful for me.

Thank you to the staff and students at Crittenden Middle School stretching RULES outward to make the world a little more understanding of people with disabilities.

Over shared sandwiches and bottled water, Casey and I started planning our rescue of the black cat.

If you are in Sylva, NC on Saturday, November 14th (today as a matter of fact) :) come by the Great Smoky Mountain Book Festival. It's all day long from 9-3 at the United Methodist Church Hall. Sheila Kay Adams is going to be singing and telling stories! Ron Rash will be there and a slew of authors. Book sales are helping to build the new library in Sylva.

http://www.gsmbookfair.org/

* * *

Some places just ease your head and your heart. For me, it's the mountains. I drove into Western North Carolina today in the late afternoon sun, and fall was still flaming with color. I came through Atlanta, a different way for me - up through North Georgia through Dillard and Dillsboro.

I was trying to make good time and mostly was...I had stopped at the Homewood Library in my Alabama neighborhood to get books on CD. I couldn't decide what I wanted. I had listened to Libba Bray's GOING BOVINE for most of October on road-trips, which I loved, so I picked out a bunch more today. I started TREE OF SMOKE by Denis Johnson, but then I switched to SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, and I just couldn't quit. I listened to Jane Austen all the way into the mountains...and suddenly I was here. The mountains rose up, and I felt such joy. I was home. Lee Smith said her father once told her “I need a mountain to rest my eyes against.” That's exactly what it feels like...

Now I'm under an old quilt in a house in Sylva where tonight I talked to an 87-year-old woman, Ruth, who worked as a secretary in Bryson City in the 1940s and handled all the evictions at the courthouse when the Fontana Dam was built...When it was built, so many folks had to be leave their land. The government paid them ten dollars an acre and relocated them. She said, "Old folks are still grieving to this day about losing their homes." Once a year, the dislocated people get to return by boat to decorate the graves of their loved ones buried in Fontana.

* * *

Here are some pictures of previous trips to the mountains. Tomorrow, after the Great Smoky Mountain Book Festival, I am meeting Ernestine Upchurch and Shirley Fairchild at "Granny's Chicken Palace' in Dellwood next to Maggie Valley. I am missing my family deeply these days, which is why I've stayed on the road so much this fall, but coming to the mountains is like coming home.


One of my most favorite people in the world - Ernestine Edwards Upchurch of Maggie Valley, NC. Ernestine once told me, "I bloomed where I was planted."

* * *


I started writing JESSIE'S MOUNTAIN in this cabin on Johnson Gap in Maggie Valley, and Norah was so tiny. Popcorn built this cabin for Ernestine, and she let me use it to work on JESSIE'S MOUNTAIN in the summer of 2006.

* * *


This is Norah, Mary Jane Queen, and Mary Jane's daughter, Dot Connor. Norah made them line up under the big rock where Dot used to play as a little girl with her seven siblings. Mary Jane taught Norah about flowers called "touch me nots" and "pretty by nights" that day...Mary Jane passed away in 2007, and I still think of her so often...She sang us so many songs that day, including a wonderful song called, "Single Girl Again"...here are just some of the lyrics.


Mary Jane and her sister wrote and sang the song inspired by an old Carter tune, "Single Girl, Married Girl." Here are her songs!

http://homepage.mac.com/henryqueen1/SongsILike.htm

* * *


Popcorn built Norah a fire one night in Maggie Valley. He also told her, "There's no finer pet than a groundhog." That went into JESSIE'S MOUNTAIN. Popcorn Sutton passed away in the spring of this year.

* * *


In the mountains..."a place to rest your eyes against."

* * *


This car made it into JESSIE'S MOUNTAIN too and the sign...

I hate it when you've written 28k and realize that yeah, you really do need a different setting/time period than the one you're doing. Ah, well. My characters have enjoyed their 26k vacation in the modern world. Or is it the 2k vacation in the past that they needed? In any case, I have yet to figure it out and write any words today, despite the fact that I've been awake for a hundred years already (sort of an inverted Sleeping Beauty. I'm the Waking Hag?). Four of my five kids woke up at 5:45 this morning for various reasons. The only one who didn't was awake until ten or so last night reading. So I'm feeling a little wasted. I really, really, really want to write or at least daydream about the book--since if I give up the idea of finishing NaNo, I maybe could make it into a real book--but alas, all three boys are still awake. There was a school carnival (middle school fundraiser) and everyone's on sugar high now. And PMB has discovered that if he says words (mouth, ball, book) that everyone will applaud him. So it's going to be a while.

Well, part of writing is daydreaming, so maybe I can at least do that. I hope everyone has a nice weekend!

I have two picture book manuscripts in my filing cabinet that are stalled.

Why are they stalled?

Because the words only come out in rhyme.

Embarrasingly bad rhyme.

Last night, I decided to play with a new PB idea that I'm wicked excited about. I haven't been this excited by an idea in forever! Once again, though, the first two lines came out rhyming. I tried changing those sentences, the tense, you name it. Nothing was working.

Finally, after like an hour, I had four non-rhyming sentences.

Until B walked in the room.

"Whatcha doin'?" he asked, reading over my shoulder.

Silly me. I told him. Everything. About how this story wanted to rhyme and I was trying to steer it into non-rhyming.

Do you think he'd sympathize?

Do ya think he'd take pity on his poooooor, old, frustrated, can't-rhyme--her-way-out-of-a-box Mom?

Nope.

He says, "Hey! I got it! Try this! Number Two, needs to go poo!"

"Beeeeeeee," I warned.

"Number Eight, has a lot on his plate!"

"Okay, okay, you've had your fun. You're a better rhymer. Go away."

"Number Four needs to needs to find a door."

"Ack! The rhyming! MAKE IT STOP!" My head is in my hands at his point.

"Number Nine, has no idea how to rhyme."

Now do you see what I'm up against in this house?

Sigh.

Anyone else recognize themselves in this fictional character?:

"... I stood at my bookshelves and waited for the right book to reveal itself." --Pamela Erens, The Understory


In the just for fun department, Diane of the Book Resort did one of those lightning-round-style interviews with me, if you care to check it out.

http://cwim.blogspot.com/2009/11/some-friday-afternoon-led-stats-for.html

Some Friday Afternoon Led (stats) for Your Head...

File this under apropos of nothing/just for fun, but I felt the need to share my IT professional brother's latest word research here on my CWIM blog.

My brother and my classic-rock-digging teenage niece were listening to Led Zeppelin in the car, he tells me, and they had their usual discussion about how a rock song can't be a true rock song without the word babe or baby in it, or a reference to a female. "So," says my bro, "I decided to find a way to count the frequency of each word in all Led Zep songs. I included the titles of the song in my search, and used a lyrics list compiled by an obsessed fan who painstakingly documented what Robert Plant actually sung in their songs."

Here are my brother's Led Zeppelin word counts. Should I set him to work on the Judy Blume catalog? On what three occasions does Plant sing "lollipop"? And why isn't Houses of the Holy on my iPod?

Click here for the online word frequency counter my brother used. Might be fun to apply to your WIP!

821 the
695 i
673 ah
632 you
603 oh
548 a
491 my
441 yeah
399 to
384 ooh
360 and
332 baby
313 me
291 it
234 love
231 of
202 know
193 on
193 la
189 your
181 all
177 in
166 that
161 now
155 i'm
148 it's
144 is
138 no
138 hey
129 gonna
128 so
128 do
123 ahh
119 down
111 ya
109 for
108 don't
107 whoa
104 be
103 when
98 time
94 way
93 just
90 got
89 but
88 go
87 come
82 babe
80 well
73 she
73 from
72 with
72 what
72 we
69 one
69 i've
69 good
68 woman
68 hoo
68 been
65 let
65 keep
65 can
64 if
64 have
62 tell
60 see
58 how
57 ain't
56 they
56 take
56 little
55 will
55 light
54 that's
54 her
54 gotta
53 feel
53 day
53 can't
53 back
52 said
52 bring
52 alright
51 wanna
50 away
49 night
49 home
49 get
48 really
46 mama
46 ha
45 woo
44 uh
44 as
43 was
43 never
43 are
42 she's
42 right
42 like
42 give
41 hear
40 talkin'
40 only
40 long
39 need
38 you're
38 yes
38 make
37 this
36 won't
36 want
36 oooh
35 there
35 goin'
35 every
35 'bout
34 more
33 up
33 true
33 girl
33 did
33 could
32 by
31 out
31 lovin'
31 leave
30 hard
30 aw
29 say
29 people
29 man
29 i'll
29 hoh
29 hah
28 thing
28 ho
27 where
27 pole
26 who
26 please
26 gone
26 find
26 at
25 times
25 sweet
25 lonely
25 didn't
24 still
24 sing
24 run
24 own
24 makes
24 jesus
24 heart
23 sure
23 hold
23 had
23 about
23 'cause
22 would
22 them
22 must
22 many
22 ma
22 eyes
22 door
22 days
21 years
21 some
21 not
21 bit
21 again
20 then
20 should
20 here
20 care
19 walk
19 through
19 ow
19 hand
18 wind
18 why
18 us
18 tom
18 sun
18 stop
18 song
18 shake
18 move
18 mine
18 look
18 darlin'
18 darlene
18 'em
17 same
17 push
17 our
17 ohh
17 mm
17 gallows
17 ever
16 wrong
16 try
16 think
16 there's
16 sometimes
16 rock
16 mind
16 hide
16 fine
16 comin'
16 'round
15 whole
15 took
15 ten
15 stay
15 quarter
15 lord
15 livin'
15 inside
15 he
15 hands
15 feelin'
15 does
15 blow
15 believe
15 another
15 always
15 'till
14 turned
14 those
14 soul
14 singin'
14 since
14 show
14 new
14 n
14 has
14 groove
14 found
14 call
14 ballin'
13 we're
13 tryin'
13 too
13 stand
13 side
13 rain
13 old
13 name
13 mornin'
13 matter
13 m
13 lotta
13 lo
13 life
13 join
13 dream
13 cry
13 callin'
13 blue
13 around
13 'bye
12 you'll
12 world
12 wonder
12 what's
12 walkin'
12 their
12 swingin'
12 shook
12 seems
12 ride
12 quit
12 play
12 made
12 left
12 four
12 fire
12 face
12 easy
12 done
12 don'tcha
12 couldn't
12 bad
11 while
11 very
11 told
11 talk
11 roll
11 ramble
11 put
11 pain
11 much
11 meet
11 mean
11 last
11 huh
11 ground
11 friends
11 drop
11 drive
11 ay
10 within
10 watch
10 used
10 two
10 start
10 somebody
10 smile
10 seem
10 road
10 rider
10 pie
10 oughta
10 open
10 mile
10 low
10 lookin'
10 knew
10 into
10 hours
10 honey
10 his
10 gold
10 feels
10 fall
10 dreams
10 custard
9 you've
9 y'know
9 word
9 upon
9 town
9 touch
9 today
9 they're
9 tellin'
9 takes
9 share
9 saw
9 queen
9 nobody's
9 money
9 moan
9 land
9 lady
9 grow
9 glad
9 everybody
9 earth
9 drag
9 die
9 dark
9 child
9 change
9 brown
9 bite
9 before
9 an
8 which
8 thought
8 tears
8 squeeze
8 slidin'
8 silver
8 sad
8 pretty
8 over
8 other
8 nothin'
8 nah
8 may
8 listen
8 lies
8 head
8 hangman
8 gon'
8 fun
8 fly
8 floor
8 fault
8 far
8 dance
8 cryin'
8 brother
8 break
8 boogie
8 better
8 best
8 ask
7 yay
7 workin'
7 work
7 waitin'
7 wait
7 twenty
7 turn
7 treat
7 throw
7 standin'
7 soon
7 someone
7 shakin'
7 seen
7 sea
7 save
7 sail
7 or
7 nobody
7 mountains
7 minute
7 mad
7 lost
7 lose
7 line
7 levee
7 i'd
7 hurt
7 high
7 hi
7 heaven
7 happy
7 goes
7 friend
7 fight
7 dyin'
7 country
7 coolin'
7 cold
7 clear
7 chewin'
7 breakdown
7 black
7 arms
7 along
7 alone
7 aaah
6 without
6 use
6 three
6 than
6 taste
6 summer
6 strong
6 seven
6 set
6 rolls
6 ring
6 poor
6 piece
6 path
6 outta
6 middle
6 maybe
6 load
6 lifetime
6 li
6 late
6 knows
6 kinda
6 hot
6 holdin'
6 help
6 goodbye
6 fill
6 eye
6 end
6 ee
6 de
6 crawl
6 chocolate
6 children
6 brought
6 bed
6 ball
6 anybody
6 am
6 ago
5 worried
5 who's
5 white
5 went
5 ways
5 wanted
5 until
5 turns
5 train
5 though
5 things
5 these
5 tangerine
5 suarez
5 step
5 steal
5 stairway
5 spin
5 sometime
5 somethin'
5 slip
5 sky
5 sit
5 sister
5 second
5 searchin'
5 runs
5 rollin'
5 red
5 pull
5 place
5 ove
5 nn
5 na
5 monkey
5 medication
5 marching
5 lemon
5 leaves
5 lay
5 kind
5 juice
5 insane
5 heartbreaker
5 gun
5 guess
5 grand
5 glow
5 fool
5 flyin'
5 feet
5 fake
5 everything
5 er
5 desire
5 denyin'
5 d'ya
5 choose
5 carry
5 car
5 c'mon
5 bright
5 bridge
5 bell
5 begin
5 beat
5 angels
4 wrath
4 woogie
4 won'tcha
4 whisper
4 whiskers
4 whatcha
4 were
4 walked
4 uhh
4 tree
4 tonight
4 thousand
4 thoughts
4 tear
4 streets
4 street
4 songs
4 snow
4 smilin'
4 sittin'
4 sinkin'
4 shouldn't
4 send
4 seed
4 satisfied
4 sat
4 rolled
4 rockin'
4 rivers
4 rhythm
4 rest
4 remember
4 read
4 reach
4 ramblin'
4 quite
4 pray
4 planned
4 pay
4 pass
4 ohhh
4 nothing
4 next
4 news
4 myself
4 mountain
4 missin'
4 mighty
4 might
4 men
4 lover
4 longer
4 live
4 lights
4 leg
4 keeps
4 instrumental
4 hopes
4 him
4 hee
4 heard
4 happiness
4 hair
4 full
4 fortune
4 foolin'
4 fell
4 falls
4 eyed
4 evil
4 eleven
4 dry
4 dog
4 deep
4 darkness
4 crazy
4 corner
4 confused
4 communication
4 comes
4 city
4 celebration
4 built
4 breaks
4 bow
4 body
4 birds
4 asked
4 any
4 air
4 above
3 yourself
3 yours
3 young
3 worry
3 worked
3 words
3 wonders
3 winds
3 weep
3 water
3 warmth
3 warmed
3 war
3 wants
3 wan'
3 wall
3 walks
3 wah
3 voice
3 tutti
3 tune
3 trees
3 trade
3 total
3 tomorrow
3 tired
3 tides
3 thinkin'
3 takin'
3 sunshine
3 sunlight
3 sugar
3 store
3 stood
3 steady
3 starts
3 started
3 star
3 spend
3 south
3 son
3 someday
3 slow
3 sixteen
3 silent
3 shine
3 seventh
3 savin'
3 roundabout
3 rise
3 rings
3 ridin'
3 reason
3 real
3 promised
3 pick
3 peace
3 once
3 off
3 ocean
3 nowhere
3 now's
3 nightshirt
3 nervous
3 needs
3 nature
3 mr
3 movin'
3 mouth
3 moon
3 mistreated
3 midnight
3 messed
3 merry
3 mercy
3 luck
3 loving
3 loves
3 lot
3 losin'
3 lollipop
3 lives
3 listened
3 laugh
3 lanes
3 knock
3 kiss
3 kindhearted
3 killin'
3 kid
3 howlin'
3 hove
3 heyy
3 heavens
3 heat
3 he's
3 haw
3 havin'
3 hadn't
3 guard
3 growin'
3 groovin'
3 greatest
3 gown
3 gong
3 going
3 gloom
3 garden
3 game
3 fry
3 fruitti
3 fruit
3 free
3 folk
3 flowers
3 flow
3 flame
3 flag
3 first
3 filled
3 feather
3 fallin'
3 fa
3 eat
3 drunk
3 doom
3 dollar
3 doll
3 doin'
3 dogs
3 disgrace
3 devil
3 depths
3 dear
3 dazed
3 darkest
3 dancin'
3 daddy
3 d
3 count
3 cocaine
3 clock
3 chicago
3 catch
3 california
3 buying
3 burnin'
3 blues
3 bluebird
3 bird
3 bill
3 big
3 below
3 barrelhouse
3 baby's
3 ba
3 await
3 atlas
3 anything
3 although
3 ahhh
3 achin'
3 aah
2 you'd
2 yesterday
2 yeahh
2 y
2 wrote
2 wring
2 wouldn't
2 wonderful
2 wome
2 wish
2 winners
2 wings
2 wine
2 wife
2 whooa
2 whistles
2 whispered
2 wheel
2 whatever
2 western
2 wearin'
2 we've
2 wasted
2 walter's
2 version
2 valley
2 underground
2 under
2 truly
2 truckin'
2 truck
2 trouble
2 tried
2 track
2 together
2 thunder
2 thrill
2 threshing
2 thinking
2 they'll
2 thanks
2 thank
2 tea
2 taught
2 tall
2 talks
2 tales
2 tale
2 swore
2 swing
2 sweep
2 surprise
2 sunrise
2 summer's
2 such
2 style
2 studies
2 stranger
2 straight
2 story
2 storm
2 stops
2 sting
2 startin'
2 stars
2 stage
2 springs
2 spirits
2 special
2 sounds
2 smiles
2 slower
2 slipped
2 slice
2 sleep
2 skinned
2 skin
2 sisters
2 sings
2 single
2 simple
2 sign
2 sick
2 showed
2 shoulder
2 shotgun
2 shot
2 shore
2 shoot
2 shinin'
2 shines
2 she'd
2 sharin'
2 shall
2 sent
2 senses
2 seek
2 seeds
2 seconds
2 seaside
2 searched
2 school
2 sayin'
2 s
2 rule
2 rosie
2 rosedale
2 riverside
2 river's
2 river
2 rides
2 return
2 resist
2 remains
2 release
2 refused
2 reflection
2 realize
2 raised
2 raise
2 rainin'
2 racin'
2 race
2 quotient
2 quiet
2 purple
2 proud
2 prayin'
2 power
2 plum
2 plenty
2 playin'
2 plane
2 pines
2 pickup
2 pearls
2 payin'
2 part
2 park
2 pack
2 owls
2 overran
2 outdoor
2 orleans
2 order
2 oo
2 oar
2 nose
2 north
2 noon
2 nice
2 ni
2 nest
2 moves
2 mother
2 moonlight
2 moanin'
2 moaned
2 misty
2 mistreat
2 miles
2 met
2 mess
2 means
2 master
2 makin'
2 maid
2 magic
2 mae
2 lyin'
2 lower
2 loud
2 looks
2 living
2 lips
2 levee's
2 letter
2 let's
2 lemme
2 led
2 leavin'
2 learnin'
2 law
2 laughin'
2 lands
2 laa
2 l
2 knowing
2 knee
2 kissed
2 king
2 kick
2 keen
2 kashmir
2 joy
2 jive
2 jet
2 je
2 jar
2 ice
2 hurts
2 hurry
2 hunter
2 houses
2 hotel
2 horn
2 holy
2 hollerin'
2 hills
2 hidin'
2 hid
2 hesitatin'
2 helps
2 helpin'
2 held
2 heavy
2 hears
2 heah
2 headed
2 harm
2 hare
2 happen
2 haa
2 guy
2 guitars
2 guessin'
2 growing
2 groanin'
2 great
2 gray
2 grace
2 gods
2 goal
2 gets
2 gave
2 fully
2 front
2 friendship
2 force
2 foot
2 flower
2 flames
2 fish
2 finish
2 finest
2 finally
2 fields
2 few
2 felt
2 fellas
2 fears
2 fast
2 fangled
2 fame
2 fair
2 f
2 excuse
2 everytime
2 everybody's
2 evenings
2 evening
2 evenin'
2 enough
2 emotion
2 emmie
2 eastern
2 ear
2 each
2 dying
2 dreamin'
2 drank
2 downtown
2 doubt
2 doors
2 dong
2 doesn't
2 dizzy
2 distance
2 ding
2 din
2 dim
2 dig
2 destination
2 deliver
2 dawn
2 dancing
2 damned
2 da
2 cut
2 cure
2 crying
2 crumble
2 crucify
2 crowds
2 cries
2 course
2 cost
2 cool
2 convincin'
2 concentration
2 comfort
2 clover
2 clouds
2 cloth
2 climb
2 check
2 changed
2 caught
2 castle
2 cares
2 careful
2 cannot
2 came
2 bron
2 bride
2 breathless
2 boy
2 bottom
2 both
2 born
2 book
2 blows
2 blood
2 block
2 blinded
2 between
2 beneath
2 behind
2 beer
2 bay
2 bargained
2 band
2 bags
2 b
2 aww
2 awful
2 aur
2 aside
2 apples
2 anymore
2 alimony
2 after
2 abuse
2 'pon
2 'nuff
2 'ed
2 'eah
2 'cross
1 zeppelin
1 yr
1 youth
1 york
1 yo
1 yet
1 yer
1 yellow
1 yearnin'
1 yazed
1 wuh
1 writ
1 wrappin'
1 wove
1 worth
1 worn
1 working
1 wooo
1 wondering
1 wondered
1 won
1 woe
1 wished
1 wiser
1 wise
1 winter
1 window
1 wind'll
1 win
1 will's
1 wild
1 wide
1 wicked
1 why'd
1 whose
1 whoops
1 whoaa
1 whisperin'
1 whirl
1 whether
1 where's
1 wheels
1 wha
1 wet
1 west
1 weren't
1 wee
1 weaves
1 wearing
1 weak
1 we'll
1 we'd
1 watchin'
1 watched
1 wastin'
1 washed
1 wanton
1 wandering
1 wander
1 walls
1 wall's
1 wake
1 wag
1 vows
1 voices
1 vixen
1 view
1 valhalla
1 upset
1 unwind
1 unsuspecting
1 unkind
1 unfolds
1 unending
1 understand
1 underneath
1 unchallenged
1 umbrella
1 uck
1 u
1 tyrant's
1 type
1 twistin'
1 twist
1 twirl
1 turnin'
1 tryin'a
1 trust
1 troubles
1 trouble's
1 trip
1 trim
1 tremblin'
1 tremble
1 tread
1 travelling
1 traveler
1 transmission
1 trampled
1 traces
1 trace
1 towards
1 toward
1 touched
1 torch
1 top
1 tooth
1 tools
1 tongues
1 tongue
1 toll
1 toast
1 tires
1 tiny
1 timely
1 tiles
1 tight
1 ticket
1 thrown
1 threatened
1 thread
1 thor
1 thirty
1 thirteen
1 they've
1 there'll
1 tha'
1 th
1 texas
1 terrible
1 tender
1 teeth
1 teenage
1 tearing
1 tasted
1 taller
1 tadpole
1 synchronized
1 swords
1 sword
1 swept
1 sweetest
1 sweat
1 swear
1 sway
1 sustain
1 suspension
1 sung
1 sunday
1 summertime
1 suck
1 subsides
1 stuff
1 stu
1 strut
1 stroll
1 strange
1 straits
1 straighter
1 storied
1 stores
1 stopped
1 stop's
1 stone
1 stomp
1 sticks
1 stepped
1 steel
1 steam
1 station
1 state
1 standing
1 stand'a
1 stall
1 st
1 squander
1 springtime
1 spring
1 spreadin'
1 spoon
1 spoken
1 spite
1 spirit
1 spinnin'
1 spent
1 speech
1 speak
1 sparkle
1 spare
1 space
1 sow
1 soul's
1 sorry
1 sore
1 soothes
1 sooner
1 songbird
1 song's
1 something's
1 something
1 somehow
1 soft
1 snowman
1 smug
1 smoked
1 smoke
1 smiled
1 smell
1 small
1 slips
1 slidin
1 slide
1 slicked
1 sleeping
1 slam
1 skies
1 size
1 sir
1 sippin'
1 sinks
1 singing
1 sin
1 sights
1 sight
1 sighed
1 siftin'
1 sic
1 shufflin'
1 showroom
1 shoutin'
1 shout
1 shmooze
1 shiver
1 ships
1 shining
1 shift
1 shields
1 shep
1 shelf
1 she'll
1 shape
1 shangri
1 shambles
1 shady
1 shadows
1 shadowed
1 shackles
1 sh
1 sews
1 sewn
1 seventeen
1 service
1 servants
1 separate
1 sells
1 seldom
1 seemed
1 seein'
1 seat
1 seasons
1 season
1 screw
1 screen
1 score
1 schoolin'
1 schoolgirl
1 scan
1 says
1 saved
1 saurez
1 satan's
1 satan
1 santa
1 sandy
1 sand
1 sails
1 sailin'
1 saddened
1 sa
1 rustin'
1 rusted
1 running
1 runnin'
1 runes
1 ruled
1 ruins
1 ruined
1 ruin
1 royal
1 roy
1 row
1 rover
1 roused
1 roses
1 roots
1 room
1 rolling
1 robert
1 roar
1 roadside
1 roads
1 risin'
1 ringwraiths
1 ringin'
1 rider's
1 rid
1 rich
1 reward
1 revealed
1 respect
1 require
1 repay
1 rented
1 rememberin'
1 remain
1 relate
1 reindeer
1 refrain
1 recognize
1 received
1 recall
1 rebuild
1 ready
1 readiness
1 reached
1 razor
1 ray
1 ran
1 rainbow's
1 railroad's
1 railroad
1 quiver
1 queue
1 question
1 queens
1 q
1 puttin'
1 pushed
1 pure
1 punch
1 pump
1 provision
1 protect
1 promises
1 promise
1 prince
1 price
1 prey
1 prevails
1 pressure
1 preserved
1 preen
1 precedent
1 powerless
1 pose
1 policeman
1 points
1 pointing
1 pockets
1 pocketful
1 plunder
1 plow
1 plot
1 pleasant
1 plays
1 played
1 plate
1 plan
1 pity
1 pits
1 pitiful
1 piper's
1 piper
1 pink
1 pilot
1 pills
1 pieces
1 picture
1 peter
1 permit
1 perfect
1 peeks
1 paths
1 passin'
1 paradise
1 pane
1 palms
1 pair
1 painted
1 pages
1 packin'
1 packed
1 pace
1 ozone
1 oww
1 overrun
1 overlords
1 overdrive
1 outside
1 ours
1 opportunity's
1 ooooh
1 ong
1 ones
1 one's
1 older
1 oil's
1 ocean's
1 obliged
1 oars
1 o
1 notice
1 note
1 nightmares
1 newspaper
1 nerve
1 neighbors
1 needed
1 near
1 natural
1 names
1 mystifyin'
1 mystery
1 mutual
1 musta
1 music
1 murmur
1 mrs
1 movies
1 movie
1 most
1 mortgage
1 mortals
1 morning
1 mordor
1 moonshine
1 montreux
1 month
1 moments
1 moment
1 model
1 mocks
1 moby
1 misusin'
1 missed
1 miss
1 misgiven
1 mirror
1 minutes
1 mine's
1 million
1 midst
1 metal
1 messin'
1 message
1 merle
1 memory
1 melts
1 melted
1 mellow
1 measuring
1 meanings
1 meals
1 matters
1 matchbox
1 mat'
1 master's
1 margaret
1 mare
1 march
1 mak'er
1 madman
1 m'my
1 lying
1 loved
1 louisiana
1 lotsa
1 lore
1 loom
1 looking
1 looked
1 london
1 locked
1 lock
1 lobby
1 list
1 lion
1 linings
1 lines
1 lined
1 limousine
1 lilting
1 likes
1 likely
1 lightness
1 lift
1 lien
1 lied
1 lie
1 legions
1 legged
1 leaving
1 leather
1 learned
1 learn
1 leaf
1 lead
1 lazin'
1 lawdy
1 laughter
1 lair
1 koo
1 konis
1 knowin'
1 knockin'
1 knocked
1 kitchen
1 kissing
1 kings
1 keys
1 key
1 kept
1 keepers
1 keeper's
1 june
1 jumped
1 jump
1 journey
1 jokin'
1 joke
1 john
1 jimmy
1 jeopardize
1 jam
1 its
1 it'll
1 isn't
1 intruder
1 inspiration's
1 inspiration
1 ins'
1 ind
1 increased
1 incomplete
1 inch
1 implore
1 immigrant
1 ight
1 if'n
1 hypnotized
1 hypnotize
1 hurtin'
1 hunter's
1 hundred
1 hummin'
1 however
1 hots
1 horses'
1 horde
1 hope
1 hop
1 hood
1 hoochie
1 honolulu
1 hon'
1 holler
1 hollar
1 hole
1 hoe
1 hittin'
1 hits
1 hitch
1 hit
1 hiss
1 himself
1 hill
1 highway
1 higher
1 hides
1 here's
1 helping
1 hellhound
1 hell
1 heed
1 hedge
1 heaven's
1 heaved
1 health
1 healin'
1 headin'
1 he'd
1 haul
1 hats
1 hate
1 hat
1 harper
1 happened
1 hangin'
1 hang
1 hammer
1 halls
1 habit
1 haaah
1 guys
1 guy's
1 guitar
1 guilt
1 guide
1 guaranteed
1 grows
1 grown
1 groovy
1 grip
1 grieves
1 greyhound
1 grey
1 grew
1 green
1 greasy
1 grass
1 grandson
1 grain
1 grab
1 gotcha
1 gore
1 goods
1 gollum
1 golden
1 god
1 glowing
1 globe
1 glitters
1 glancing
1 gives
1 gimme
1 giggled
1 giant
1 gettin'
1 gentle
1 general
1 geen
1 gauge
1 gates
1 gasoline
1 gas
1 games
1 gabriel
1 ga
1 futile
1 funny
1 frown
1 fright
1 freeway
1 freedom
1 fray
1 frame
1 forth
1 formless
1 forget
1 forever
1 forests
1 footsteps
1 foot's
1 fools
1 fool's
1 follow
1 folks
1 fold
1 foe
1 fluff
1 flown
1 flight
1 flies
1 flick
1 flee
1 fled
1 flat
1 flash
1 flamin'
1 fix
1 fireman
1 firelight
1 fined
1 findin'
1 fifty
1 field's
1 field
1 feeling
1 feelin
1 feathers
1 feasts
1 feast
1 fear
1 father
1 fate
1 faster
1 family
1 fakin'
1 fails
1 fail
1 fadin'
1 factory
1 faces
1 faceless
1 fabled
1 expect
1 exhibition
1 exceed
1 evident
1 everywhere
1 everything's
1 everyplace
1 evermore
1 eternal
1 endure
1 end's
1 empty
1 embraced
1 else
1 elders
1 eh
1 een
1 edition
1 echo
1 ebb
1 ease
1 earthly
1 ears
1 earned
1 eah
1 eagles
1 eagle
1 e
1 dust
1 dungarees
1 dulled
1 dug
1 drums
1 drops
1 droolin'
1 drives
1 drip
1 drinkin'
1 dresses
1 dress
1 dreamless
1 drawer
1 dragon
1 downing
1 downhill
1 doves
1 doubts
1 don'cha
1 doldrums
1 doggone
1 distant
1 disguise
1 disclosin'
1 discernin'
1 dirty
1 different
1 dick
1 diamond
1 devour
1 devotion
1 devil's
1 despite
1 desert
1 describe
1 den
1 delight
1 deed
1 declare
1 decided
1 death
1 dearly
1 deals
1 dead
1 daw
1 daunting
1 daughter
1 date
1 darker
1 dared
1 dances
1 damn
1 d'yer
1 curving
1 curtain
1 cursed
1 cup
1 crystal
1 crunge
1 crept
1 creepin'
1 created
1 craze
1 cracked
1 crack
1 couple
1 coulda
1 cough
1 cook
1 convince
1 constant
1 conscience
1 confounded
1 conditioned
1 con
1 completely
1 companion
1 communicate
1 common
1 commitment
1 command
1 coming
1 collide
1 coldness
1 coin
1 coda
1 clutchin'
1 clothes
1 closet's
1 closed
1 close
1 cloak
1 climbin'
1 clean
1 clay
1 clarify
1 claim
1 circus
1 church
1 choice
1 chill
1 cherries
1 cheerin'
1 cheeks
1 cheatin'
1 chase
1 charm
1 changes
1 chances
1 chance
1 cent
1 caused
1 case
1 carouselambra
1 carne'
1 carnation
1 caress
1 careless
1 canyons
1 candy
1 candle
1 cameron
1 calms
1 calmed
1 calm
1 calcutta
1 cadillac
1 buy
1 butler
1 bustle
1 bursts
1 burns
1 burned
1 burn
1 bumps
1 build
1 brunt
1 brow
1 brook
1 bringin'
1 brighten
1 brick
1 breath
1 brave
1 brand
1 brakeman
1 bower
1 bourbon
1 bound
1 booze
1 boots
1 bonzo's
1 bone
1 boilin'
1 body's
1 boats
1 boat
1 blushin'
1 blowin'
1 bliss
1 blinds
1 blindin'
1 blind
1 bleeker
1 bleedin'
1 bleed
1 blazin'
1 blame
1 bitten
1 bills
1 biding
1 beware
1 betwee
1 betcha
1 bend
1 behavin'
1 begun
1 begins
1 bee
1 become
1 beads
1 battle
1 bathed
1 bash
1 bars
1 barry
1 barely
1 bare
1 bane
1 bands
1 balance
1 bag
1 backdoor
1 backbone
1 ayy
1 awake
1 avalon
1 autumn
1 automatic
1 attainment
1 aryan
1 armor
1 arm
1 argue
1 april
1 apple
1 anyway
1 anytime
1 anyplace
1 anthony
1 answer
1 annie's
1 angel
1 andy
1 ame
1 altogether
1 alri
1 already
1 aloud
1 almost
1 allow
1 alive
1 albion
1 alarmed
1 ake
1 airplane
1 aged
1 age
1 aftermath
1 advice
1 adrift
1 across
1 achilles'
1 aboard
1 'twas
1 'n
1 'fore

http://kirbyslane.blogspot.com/2009/11/its-illness.html

Maybe I'm in need of an intervention. I dunno. But I do obsess over details. Which led me to bid on this charming book (hoping to get it!)

and this one (which I won)


all because I need an 11 year old girl living in an affluent household in early 1929 to do something naughty. And what better way to figure out what that might be than to read what little girls were supposed to do. . .and have my Bunny do just the opposite!

http://beckylevine.com/2009/11/13/friday-five-less-known-christie-detectives/

http://beckylevine.com/?p=1252

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ZiJh/~3/uAmCRCxdO2U/letterswe-get-letters_13.html

This week many of us have been writing about the questions kids ask. Maybe you are tired of the subject, but frankly, I can’t help myself. To add a little variety, I’ll change up and talk about some of the letters and emails I’ve received from students.

Furthermore I’ll begin by quoting my favorite email from a kid, one which wasn’t even sent to me. I’ve asked Lois Lowry if I could borrow it for this blog entry and she graciously sent me the exact wording. It read:

I am working on a research paper and in my thesis statement I have to identify you. Would you be considered a 19th century author? Please let me know ASAP.

Okay, on to me. I love the thank you notes that teachers assign after I’ve made a school visit. Certainly my mother would have approved. Here’s an excerpt from one letter that came from a school where I talked about Ultimate Field Trip 1: Adventures in the Amazon Rain Forest, illustrated by my frequent collaborator, photographer Michael J. Doolittle.

Dear Susan Goodman, I’m one of the many people who were in your second grade group. Here’s one question I wanted to ask you: Is your photographer Michel Dolittle related to Dr. Dolittle?

Here’s another note that asked a question (name changed, mistakes included).

Dear Susan, Will you please dedicate a story to my bear Oatmeal and me. My name is Mary Jones. I am very happy to meet you. I admiare you a very lot. I have read 4 of your books. I am a big fan on yours. It would be a great honor to have one of your books dedicated to me. Please word it like this. I dedicate this book to Mary Jones and her bear Oatmeal because she admiars me so very much. Sinserly Mary

I couldn’t resist. I had a book going to press and my husband ended up sharing his dedication, although I did invoke poetic license and changed her suggested wording.

Last one for this post, although I keep going. One Sunday evening, I happened to be online and received a desperate email from a young lady with an assignment due the next morning. She asked me if my underlying reason for writing Ultimate Field Trip 4: A Week in the 1800s was…and then gave me two alternatives. I immediately wrote back saying that neither answer was right and then explained the message I was hoping to convey with the book.

Moments later I got another email, this time from her mother. She explained that her daughter was filling out a multiple-choice assignment created by the textbook company that had excerpted my book. And she provided me with all four possible explanations for my motivation. I studied them and decided the answer was E, none of the above. I wrote back and suggested her daughter bring this email chain between her and the author who explained her real intent to class. Who knows, maybe she’d get extra credit for taking some initiative.

HA! A week later I received an email from the mother who thought I might be interested in the upshot. Her daughter didn’t get any credit for the question, the answer was B.

As a lover of irony, I suppose this email exchange should be my favorite. But it’s just so wrong on so many levels. We can talk about: A) the issue of textbooks in general (although I’m grateful that this one used my writing as a good example). We can talk about: B) making children limit or reduce their interpretations of what they read to previously digested categories (which may well be wrong). We can talk about: C) the fact that assignments should help kids learn to think on their own rather than letting others tell them what they think (perhaps wrongly). We can talk about: D) not rewarding initiative and imagination.

Which do you think wins the “most wrong” award—A, B, C, or D? Give me your answer. But don’t forget that there’s always E, none of the above.

A few final thoughts…

I want to say something about the fear of not “getting it right.” It’s a very real fear. It’s the fear we all face every time we start a story and every time we finish one. It doesn’t matter if it’s a story about our own family or a story about medieval England, either. The important thing to remember is that there is no one “right” way. The experience my nephew had growing up as a mixed race Inupiaq boy in Seattle is different than the experience my son had growing up a mixed race Inupiaq boy in the village, which is a different experience than my husband had, growing up as an Inupiaq boy at a parochial boarding school in Indian country in the 60’s. And cultures are fluid, always realigning themselves in relationship to the other cultures they come into contact with.

Here’s a story, to illustrate what I am saying. In my region, people are by and large devoutly Christian. One time a well-educated Inupiaq woman who had been raised in the lower 48 and married to a white man, returned to the village of her mother’s people. She was presenting a workshop in her field of study and I was there to help facilitate. We were given a tour of the village by an Inupiaq man who had many stories to tell. In the course of the conversation, he spoke about the Inupiaq naming tradition and about the belief that part of a person’s spirit is attached to a name, such that when a child is given a specific name, the child assumes the spirit of the person they were named after. The person is said to have been “brought back” through the name. This would appear to imply a belief in reincarnation and the visiting woman, knowing the prevalent Christian beliefs, said, “ah but of course the people no longer believe this.” The tour guide looked at her.

“We still believe this,” he said.

“But don’t these two beliefs conflict with one another?”

“No.”

I knew from my own experience that this was true. My husband’s grandfather was a Presbyterian preacher whose life work was the translation of the Bible. My oldest son is named after him and ever since he was an infant, people have be commenting on his behavior and telling us that certain things are to be expected because he’s Ahmaogak—not because he is named after Ahmaogak, but because he is Ahmaogak. If I were an anthropologist or a psychologist, I might be trying to figure out the mechanics of how these two apparently disparate beliefs can coexist. But I’m not an anthropologist or a psychologist and even if I were, my interpretations would still be colored by my own cultural orientation. As it turns out, I am a writer and all I can do is paint life as I see it, tell the truth as I understand it, filtered through my own filter...and (this is the important point) understanding that that’s is what I am doing. All any of us can ever do is to look at things through our own eyes, afterall. Marion Dane Bauer, in her book, A Writer’s Story From Life to Fiction, says, “If I am going to write someone’s story, I must look out through that person’s eyes, hear with his ears, think with her thoughts, feel with his feelings. And there is only one person whose eyes, ears, thoughts and feelings I have ever experienced in this world. That person is I, myself.”

I’d also like to add a few words about fantasy. We got excited about the idea of Native-based sci-fi and fantasy. Natives in space! How cool is that? A word of caution though—Cyn Smith says it in her interview at the Tu Publishing website: “remember that a lot of what the mainstream categorizes as “myth” is part of traditional belief systems and should be afforded the same respect as other faiths.

There is a tendency to talk about Native legends as though we are talking about Paul Bunyan or something. We aren’t. I am working on an Inupiaq “fantasy.” It’s a story I’ve been working on, in one incarnation or another, for over ten years and I am just now to the point where I am able, casually, to refer to it “fantasy.” But it’s not, you know. It’s based on very real cultural beliefs and to call it fantasy, or even magical realism, grates a bit. I’m gonna go with it, though, because I’m actually doing a riff of my own in this piece which is pretty much fantasy. I want people to remember, though, something writer Jewell Parker Rhode said: “…the magic comes from my African American cultural traditions; it's very much a part of these traditions. My grandmother was magical; her sense of teaching us to look for signs in the world was magical.”

It’s not really fantasy. It’s part of a very real and very complicated belief system, which goes back to the whole fear of not getting it right.

And finally, I would like to say something about cultural immersion. I’ve had two opportunities within my lifetime to be totally immersed in a different culture. The first was when I went to live in Norway and it wasn’t a totally different culture. It was my heritage culture and so I was really open to the idea of being immersed in a new language and a new/old way of looking at things. And because of this experience, I was open to the idea when the opportunity presented itself again and I found myself at home in an Inupiaq community. I continue to be fascinated by the differing worldviews one encounters and I am sometime surprised by the fact that people who have never experienced it assume, for example, that everyone in the world counts kin in the same way. Teachers in our schools want to, and sometimes do, correct our kids when they say of one of their classmates, “He’s my uncle.”

All reading is an immersion experience and writing, done right, gives people an opportunity to be immersed in the worldviews of many cultures, cultures they may not otherwise experience.

And an aside: I totally love the idea that there are, “nine different words in Maya for the color blue in the comprehensive Porrua Spanish-Maya Dictionary but just three Spanish translations, leaving six butterflies that can be seen only by the Maya, proving beyond doubt that when a language dies six butterflies disappear from the consciousness of the earth. (quoted from Earl Shorris, “The Last Word”)

So I offer this complementary quote, from linguist James Crawford: “Each language is a unique tool for analyzing and synthesizing the world, incorporating the knowledge and values of a speech community. …to lose such a tool is to forget a way of constructing reality, to blot out a perspective evolved over many generations”

As writers, heck as human beings, this should concern us greatly. Native languages are dying almost daily. There should be endangered language legislation—legislation that really has some teeth in it.

I have lots more to say…but thanks for joining us. This conversation has opened some doors, I hope. It has, I know, touched on sore spots. I think recognizing where the sore spots are and why they are there is the first step towards healing.


AND LISTEN TO THIS SPEECH. RIGHT NOW. Uma Krishniswami posted it on her blog, from Julia Larios. Thanks.

An excellent place to start exploring the issues we have been discussing is at Debbie Reese's blog.

Typos in this post are all mine...running off to the day job, Debby.

After that PW Top Ten without ANY female authors among those chosen, Guearrilla Girls come out with a list of their own. There are a lot of Debs on this list.

http://guerrillagirlsontour.blogspot.com/2009/11/best-books-of-2009.html

I've posted the entire poem of "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot at least thrice here over the years - most recently as part of my National Poetry Month posts, but today, as I sit here in Brigantine, New Jersey in the midst of a nor'easter of grand scale, watching the mists blow through the scrub on the dunes and seeing the white waves cresting and crashing off in the distance, I was reminded of the poem yet again. I got to thinking about the final stanzas of the poem and the lines that Stephen Colbert quoted to Elizabeth Alexander shortly after President Obama's inauguration: "I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each./ I do not think that they will sing to me."

The final set of stanzas begins with references to Prince Hamlet, and, as many of you already know, I saw a production of Hamlet only last week on Broadway. So many personal associations to this bit of the poem have had me reading and re-reading it this morning, pondering all the while. As for the Hamlet references, Eliot (or rather his poem's speaker, Prufrock) disclaims a starring role. How sad, to cast oneself as a walk-on or minor player when the play is one's own life. It reminds me of a quote from a movie in which Jude Law (who played Hamlet in the production I saw) was a character: The Holiday, of which I am fond. I particularly like the character of Iris, who is played by Kate Winslet, and her interaction with Arthur Abbott, played spectacularly well by Eli Wallach. During a conversation between the two of them, troubled-in-love Iris comes to this realization: "You're supposed to be the leading lady of your own life, for god's sake!" (Or leading man. J. Alfred Prufrock never managed to sort that bit out, poor guy.)

Here, the final section of "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot (who is, my brother informs me based on recent genealogical research (we jointly work on our family tree) our eighth cousin, thrice removed). You can read the poem in its entirety (with much fuller analysis) in my post from April:

No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;
Am an attendant lord, one that will do
To swell a progress, start a scene or two,
Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool,
Deferential, glad to be of use,
Politic, cautious, and meticulous;
Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse;
At times, indeed, almost ridiculous—
Almost, at times, the Fool.

I grow old . . . I grow old . . .
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.

Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?
I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.

I do not think that they will sing to me.

I have seen them riding seaward on the waves
Combing the white hair of the waves blown back
When the wind blows the water white and black.

We have lingered in the chambers of the sea
By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown
Till human voices wake us, and we drown.

And taking the dark side of the path is Nicole, one of Librarian Tiffany A. Emerick's students at Lansdale Catholic High School in Lansdale, PA. Hopefully Ashley and Nicole will both follow their path, back to Carrie Ryan's companion novel, THE DEAD-TOSSED WAVES, coming in 2010!

Are you a library professional? You can enter to win 46 brand new YA & MG novels for YOUR collection! See this entry for details.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/kidlit/cybils/~3/5wnvzoFD4VQ/review-stampede-poems-to-celebrate-the-wild-side-of-school.html

Kelly Fineman, this year's (and last year's!) Poetry category organizer, brings us today's featured review on her blog Writing and Ruminating. Kelly herself is a poet, and you'll frequently see her participating in Poetry Friday as well as writing about children's poetry and other books.

Over the summer, she reviewed a book by one of our 2008 poetry panelists (who's also a frequent participant in Poetry Friday and other kidlitosphere poetry activities), Laura Purdie Salas' Stampede! Poems to Celebrate the Wild Side of School, illustrated by Steven Salerno. Poems about individual children and groups of children at school bring out the "animal" side of going to class and interacting with other kids. Kelly says:

Laura's work is clever, creative and playful. It includes poems about groups of children (e.g., "Swarm", which likens the buzz of conversation to a swarm of bees or "Stampede", which compares the thundering of kids heading for the exit at day's end to a herd of elephants) as well as poems about individuals - usually in uncomfortable situations that most kids can relate to.

Click here for the full review.

Colleen Driscoll from Kingsford Middle/High School Library, in Kingsford MI sends this fresh-faced pic of student Ashley Anderson with Carrie Ryan's THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH. In the next entry, we're going to introduce her to her dewy-dark counterpart, so stay tuned!

Are you a library professional? You can enter to win 46 brand new YA & MG novels for YOUR collection! See this entry for details.

Brita Mann, Media Coordinator for Marvin Ridge Middle School in Waxhaw, NC sent in this entry:

We were extremely lucky to have Carrie Ryan come to pur middle school and talk about her book. In this picture she is showing our students her original manuscripts and describing how the editing process works. She also talked about how she things zombies are the best monsters, how she came up with the idea for her book and some history of zombies. Our kids were enthralled and some were just in awe to be able to meet a real author.

Are you a library professional? You can enter to win 46 brand new YA & MG novels for YOUR collection! See this entry for details.

Rhonda Stapleton, author of STUPID CUPID, took a break from writing to stop by the Parma-South Branch of Cuyahoga County Public Library. Here’s Rhonda hanging out with pages Suzanne Urgo and Katy Krul. Librarian Bonnie Demarchi is also a big fan of Rhonda’s new Teen series.

And we're glad to hear that Rhonda already has fans, because STUPID CUPID (Coming December 22!) has sequels! FLIRTING WITH DISASTER and PUCKER UP are coming in 2010!

Are you a library professional? You can enter to win 46 brand new YA & MG novels for YOUR collection! See this entry for details.