Why I read kids' books

Photo above by Kirstin Tanger. Congratulations to my friends Katy and Steve, who were married in Germany last week!



A few weeks back, I was buying some books at the front counter of a chain bookstore. The conversation went something like this...

CLERK: Oh, my nephew loved this book! Your kids will enjoy it, I'm sure.

ME: Actually, these books are for me.

CLERK: Yes, they'll make great gifts for any children.

ME: No, I meant I bought them for myself. I like reading kids' books.

CLERK: Oh! (obviously shocked, she turns her focus back on processing my order)

I like reading books supposedly written for young people. I don't read them for market research; I read them for my own pleasure. I always have, even when I theoretically "grew out of them."

Overall, I find books written for young people tend to have more hope and have more satisfying endings (for me, anyway). Yes, bad things exist in the world and things really suck sometimes, but I don't read books to be reminded of that, not unless the focus of the book is positive (the character lifting himself or herself out a bad situation, etc.).

I want characters with whom I can connect on some emotional level. I like happy endings but if not happy, then at least satisfying. But most of all, I want a good story. I've come across so many adult books which focus more on clever writing and style than on substance. I think there's less of this in the kids' book industry simply because young people don't put up with it. If a story doesn't grab them, they won't read the book...it doesn't matter how highly regarded the author may be, or if it's been well-reviewed. Kids are a tough audience.

From time to time, I run into adults who sneer at the thought of children's books being worth reading for anyone out of grade school. These people also tend to be the same sort who turn their noses up at anything too mainstream or too accessible. "I can't believe you enjoyed Harry Potter," they'll say, rolling their eyes. "If you want some REAL literature, then try (insert name of well-respected ADULT book here)."

But I digress.



I originally started out writing this Blathering to post a list of books I've read recently. I've been sadly remiss in keeping my Summer reading list up-to-date, so I've added some more of the books I've read in the past month. As you may notice, a large percentage of these are books for young people. :-)

Some recent reads:

	Crispin: The Cross Of Lead by Avi. A good read. Looking forward to the sequel!
	Fair Peril by Nancy Springer. I thought this was a book for kids at first, but it's definitely for adults (or older teens). Enjoyed this.
	The Long Walk: The True Story Of A Trek To Freedom by Slavomir Rawicz. Inspiring story of survival (for adults) about a Polish cavalry officer who was captured by the Red Army in 1939, escaped from a Siberian work camp.
	Replay by Sharon Creech. Unique writing style, touching story.
	Bridge To Terabithia by Katherine Paterson. I make a point of rereading this every few years. One of my favourite books for young people. Ever.
	Incident At Hawk's Hill by Allan Eckert. I reread this recently while unpacking my book boxes. Enjoyed it just as much as I did when I was a kid.
	Pendragon: The Merchant of Death by D.J. MacHale. First of a popular series. D.J. MacHale is the creator of several popular television series. Not really my style, but I can see the appeal.
	Anne of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery. Thanks to Allison for the loan! I had somehow missed reading this when I was a kid.
	Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl. A great book for any adult who loves food writing. I adored Reichl's "Tender to the Bone."
	Replay by Ken Grimwood. Thanks to Allison for the loan. Very much enjoyed this!
	Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief - Book One by Rick Riordan. Really enjoyed this, and I predict this series is going to be Big. I'm looking forward to the next book!
	A Year In Provence by Peter Mayle. Finally read this and quite enjoyed it. Made me want to go back to France and eat more food.
	Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry. I love Lois Lowry's stories, and this was no exception.
	Same Stuff As The Stars by Katherine Paterson. A good read. Not surprising, since I love Katherine Paterson's past work.

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Embracing my nerdgirl soul

I've started off my novel revisions by brainstorming about each of the main characters in my book. I've found WriteRoom very useful for this sort of thing; thanks to Ray for reminding me about this software! I just opened a WriteRoom doc for each character, one at a time, and wrote down everything I know about this character's motivations and background, from their perspective. Yes, I've taken notes about the characters before, but I found that doing this from scratch, free of other distractions, was an enlightening experience.

In the WriteRoom environment, you can control the colour of the text and background, but I like the default...it seemed very Matrix-ish to me, different from my usual word processing environment.

Jeff reminded me that this Friday marks the 40th anniversary of the original Star Trek series, when the first episode aired on September 8, 1966. Since I can't attend the official gala, I'm going to celebrate by watching all the episodes. Ok, maybe not all at once. But Jeff and I bought the DVDs for the entire three seasons and I've only been watching them sporadically.

To satisfy my nerdgirl soul, I've decided to watch them ALL in CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER. And I've decided to post my reports in a blog called He's Dead, Jim. Click on the title of any entry to read the full entry.

I have no idea how often I'll be watching them; I'm going to aim for one a week, but we'll see. I'll be posting updates in Blatherings, and you can always subscribe to the RSS feed if you want to know when the blog is updated.

I tried out a bit of my CSS skills by changing the graphics in the Wordpress theme for this blog, as well as increasing the font size for easier readability. Anyway, I know I'm not the only fan of the original series out there, so feel free to join me in embracing treknerdjoy over the next while.

:-)


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Ego-bruising

Above photo: Jeff brings in two rented canoes one early misty morning at the cottage.

Ouch...got a rejection letter from a publisher today, the first for the novel that I sent out through my agent earlier this month. I was bracing myself, but it was still a bit of an ego-bruise. On the positive front, the editor did read until the very end, liked the premise of the story. She enjoyed some aspects but not others; the latter was enough to make her reject the mss.

Though I'm not happy about being rejected, I am grateful for the detailed comments and suggestions for improvement in the letter; this editor obviously took considerable time with my story. After reading through her letter several times, I carefully filed it away and went back to my other work, fighting the impulse to immediately revise my novel to incorporate her suggestions. Do other fiction writers go through this?

If I start getting similar pattern of comments from other editors, however, I'll likely take a hard look at the story again and do some revising. I am utterly determined to get this story published, dangit, and I'm mentally prepared to weather the necessary ego-bruising (probably a lot of it) along the way and do whatever work is necessary to make it happen.

Meanwhile, onwards and upwards. Got another illustration inquiry today; this potential client found me through my Flickr pics. I'm also nearly finished the webzines article for Writer's Digest after interviewing editors from Nerve, Slate, Wired, Salon, McSweeney's, Dragonfire, Strange Horizons, Grist, and Chow.com. Some of these editors were somewhat difficult to get hold of, but I found that my strategy of polite persistence usually worked. :-)

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Will Write For Chocolate, Andy's award, Nancy Drew nostalgia

My weekly comic strip for freelance writers, Will Write For Chocolate, has been updated. This week's column topic: "Bad Writing At Its Best: The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest."

A belated congrats to our friend, Andy Beaton, for winning the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada's Bertram J. Topham Observer of the Year award. From a recent RASC newsletter:

"Awarded to Andy Beaton for his contribution to the science of variable star observing. During the past year, Andy has led all Toronto Centre members with a total of 378 variable star observations. These totals are all the more impressive in that his primary instrument did not have computer-assisted pointing. In addition to his excellent work in variable star observations, Andy has also made significant contributions to the observing pro- grams of the Centre both by being a regular volunteer at star parties and other public education events and by contributing to the Toronto Centre's first-ever Variable Star Workshop at the Carr Astronomical Observatory in October 2005."



I'm continuing to gradually unpack some long-stored boxes of books, and trying to exert some self-discipline in deciding what to keep and what to give to Goodwill. It's tough; I'm not good at book-purging. But the fact is that my basement office is far too small to house all the books I want to keep, and there is limited room on shelves elsewhere in the house. So far, I've managed to get rid of about 7 boxes of books.

I know I could probably sell some of them or give away specific books online or via Freecycle, but unfortunately I just don't have the time or arm points...I have to do this in bulk or I likely won't get around to it at all.



Here's my criteria: I only keep books that I honestly think I'll want to look at again, or that have sentimental value. Like the Nancy Drew book pictured to the left. I still have a fondness for that "titian-haired" teenage detective which was never quite surpassed by my enjoyment of the Hardy Boy series. I also remember Trixie Belden and vaguely recall a series about some twins. And of course numerous fantasy series like Edward Eager's Half-Magic books and Enid Blyton's "four kids do something magical" series.

How about the rest of you? Were you a fan of Nancy Drew and/or the Hardy Boys? Any other favourite childhood book series you're willing to share?

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Eye check-ups and book buying survey

Click on the above updated My Life In A Nutshell comic to access the archives.



My eye check-up went fine. No more new holes in the back of my retina, yay! My optometrist did say that the tissue within the lasered area has changed but is anchored safely because of the lasering; if I didn't have the surgery when I did, I'd be blind in my left eye now.

And that's my cue for my annual post for those of you who haven't had an eye check-up within the past couple of years. Those of you already familiar with this story or who HAVE had a check-up recently can skip the next few paragraphs. A couple of years ago, on a routine eye check-up (I didn't even need a new prescription), my eye doctor happened to notice two very small holes at the back of my left eye. She said they may have been there for years and may not be a risk, but she had me to go a specialist, just in case.

The specialist did more tests, advised laser surgery to seal up the holes. During surgery, he discovered that the holes were worse than he thought, and that I had a subclinical detached retina. Even though I hadn't noticed any effects yet, I would have gone blind in that eye within 1-2 years had I not been treated in time. You can read more about the process and my experience here.

It still kind of freaks me out that the problem was discovered on a routine check-up...that I hadn't noticed any problems beforehand and hadn't even needed a new prescription. I go for check-ups every 6 months now.





Just finished reading:

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray. I know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but I very nearly didn't even look at this book in the bookstore because of its cover...I had figured it was a pure romance, a genre I don't tend to read. BUT I was intrigued enough by the title to read the blurb on the back, and was surprised to find that it was a supernatural-fantasy. Started reading, and got totally hooked.

Here's a survey: Do you ever buy a fiction book completely on whim? Or do you only buy books based on recommendations? If on whim, what prompts to buy a book? How much does the cover influence you? The title? The blurb on the back? Do you start reading the book in the store? I usually read at least the first few pages, to see if I like the author's writing style and to get a flavour of the book. If you mainly get your fiction books at the library, feel free to answer the survey the same way, in how you choose which books to take out.

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