Photo: Sue Hylen
Kids! Click onto my kid-friendly blog, Yellow Pencils, for fun writing activities to spark your imagination.
Art by Alyssa L., age 11
Random Thoughts On What I'm Reading--May 14, 2012 Winner of this year's Newbery Medal, Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos features a character named...Jack Gantos. It's the early 1960s, and twelve-year-old Jack lives in Norvelt, Pennsylvania, a town founded by the government during the Depression to give laid-off coal miners a dignified life. Norvelt was named for Eleanor Roosevelt. When Jack disobeys his mom, he gets grounded for the summer and thinks he'll die of boredom in his room. Jack gets one break: he helps an elderly neighbor, Miss Volker, write obituaries for the town’s dying old ladies. As a friendship develops between Jack and Miss Volker, several ladies' deaths in a row seem suspicious. And what about the Hells Angels motorcycle gang that is burning down houses? And then there's Mertie-Joe, Jack's crush. Despite (or because of) being grounded, Jack has an exciting summer. Dead End in Norvelt, though written as fiction, helps us see how the real Jack Gantos became a writer. Ages 10-14. |
Welcome!I'm a children's book writer, teacher, reader, walker, and bicycle rider on Bainbridge Island, Washington. Jump in and explore my writing world!
The 10th Anniversary Field's End Conference was fabulous. Thanks to all who attended my breakout session with Margaret Trent, "Writing Groups and the Craft of Critique." The keynote speakers gave us a lot to think about as the publishing landscape changes. The workshop leaders left us with craft techniques we can try at home. I'm proud to be associated with Field's End. About Me I write for children and teens because I still love to take shortcuts through backyards. I’ve written several books for the school market, which are read by kids across the country. I also write short stories and poems. Currently I’m working on a middle-grade novel about a girl who lives on an island a lot like the one where I live. I grew up in the Midwest in a large extended family with over fifty cousins, so reading became a place to explore by myself. It was my first form of travel. Once hooked, I read whenever I could. Later I began to write fiction, and my stories for adults were published in literary magazines. I switched to writing for kids when I realized the audience was more fun. Along the way I sold corn at the Wisconsin State Fair, worked in a drugstore, answered phones at a used car lot, got degrees in linguistics and library science, and worked as a librarian, bookseller, and copyeditor. In the 1980s my husband, Steven, and I heard the call to move west. We convinced our two cats that a trip across the country was a great idea. When the highway ended in Seattle, we drove onto the ferry and landed on Bainbridge Island, one of the most beautiful spots in the U.S. We live a short walk from Hawley Cove, where I like to collect rocks on the beach to take home. Besides writing, I teach writing workshops for children, teens, and adults. My class for adults, "Creativity for Writers," lets me explore music, poetry, collage, and writing prompts with my students. My favorite thing about teaching is learning--I gain something from my students whether they’re 8 or 68. Twice I’ve taught English to kids in Poland, and both times I had an awesome experience. I'm also on the Core Team of Field's End, a writers' community on Bainbridge Island, where I am the Co-Communications Coordinator. Because I love to learn, I decided to get an M.F.A. in writing. I couldn't think of anything more exciting than writing, reading, and immersing myself in children's books for two years. In 2008 I earned my M.F.A. in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts, where I worked with the amazing Sharon Darrow, Marion Dane Bauer, David Gifaldi, and Sarah Ellis. My family originally came from Poland, and I heard Polish spoken when I was growing up. Alas I didn't learn the language then (which would have been so much easier!), but I'm studying it now at the Polish Home in Seattle. I like the way a new language creates different paths in my brain. I love to walk and bicycle. A few years ago, a friend and I did the Coast-to-Coast walk across England. We soon found out neither of us could read a map, but with the help of friends we trekked from the Irish Sea to the North Sea. Lately I'm more likely to walk and bike around Bainbridge Island and Seattle, discovering quirky neighborhoods and stopping often for coffee. When I’m not bicycling, teaching, taking shortcuts through yards, or trying to master Polish verbs, I’m writing and revising, revising, revising--my favorite part of writing. I’m in an email book club with a few of those fifty cousins. And I still read whenever I can. |
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