The post talks a lot about my childhood favorite, and when I went hunting for a cover image to use, I was reminded of how many versions there have been over the years. For me there will always and only be the one.
The post talks a lot about my childhood favorite, and when I went hunting for a cover image to use, I was reminded of how many versions there have been over the years. For me there will always and only be the one.
So I wanted to stay calm and grounded for the April 2 release of GENIE WISHES and the weeks that followed, which I knew would be busy. And that's when the Brood II periodical cicadas stepped in. NPR's Radiolab was inviting listeners to track soil temperatures, with the suggestion that soon after the temperature eight inches down hit 64 degrees, the 17-year sleepers would likely emerge. This was perfect, I thought. What better to keep you grounded than the actual ground? Plus, this doubled as book research; the adult novel manuscript I'm revising is closely connected to the periodical cicadas. So I bought a soil thermometer, drew up a chart, and started measuring.
The temperature has hit and exceeded 64 degrees, and I haven't seen a cicada, or even a cicada's starter hole, yet. Brood II doesn't seem to be coming to Baltimore this year (apparently, I shouldn't even have been expecting them). But that's okay. Even in their absence, the cicadas have kept me grounded.
Here are more photos from the recent buzzing weeks.
At NYC's Books of Wonder for the Middle-Grade Adventures panel on May 25
Before the Books of Wonder panel, with my ABRAMS editor, Maggie Lehrman
With the winners of the Montgomery County Celebrating Diversity Through Writing award contest
A GENIE book report from a Parisian friend's daughter
A GENIE-themed cake made by Sandy Spring Friends School librarian Johanna Cowie
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My friend Jane Delury throws tea parties as exquisitely as she writes fiction (for instance...), and she threw one for GENIE WISHES last Sunday. She opened up her sweet split foyer to a host of girls and their mothers. We drank English breakfast and ate crustless sandwiches and had a little reading and discussion. It was the loveliest morning.
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The Meet Authors with Girl Power event last Friday at the Central Branch of the Howard County, MD, library was great. Organizer extraordinaire Barb Langridge brought together middle-grade authors Erica S. Perl, Elissa Brent Weissman, Shawn K. Stout, and me for a one-hour event with 66 kids, most of them girls aged 8 to 12. They came in glitter hats and football jerseys and sat on sleeping bags and talked with us about books and friendships and life as modern-day girls. I loved meeting them!
L to R: Erica Perl, Elissa Brent Weissman, Shawn Stout, Elisabeth Dahl
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During the party, we ate brownies and macarons and drank lemonade. We read from the book. We talked about friends and school and the difficulties that sometimes arise with both. And then the girls picked up their pens and notebooks and tried writing the blog entries they might write if they were elected to be their own class's blogger. Some even tried something else that Genie does in the book, which is to imagine what her name would look like in pictorial form.
To share the celebration with a wider audience, Jen and I decided to give away two signed copies of the book. For a chance to win, comment here by May 20, 2013.
P.S. A word about Classic Play: It's the best blog I know of for parents of kids who are elementary-school-aged or younger. The posts are smart, real, inspired, and true. And the blog is gorgeous. Jen's an amazing blog-curator.
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For about an hour that night, Baltimore City school students--many of them fourth graders--took turns reading pieces in the Bakst Theatre of Baltimore's Evergreen Museum & Library. You know how certain architectural spaces are so majestic, they elevate everything that happens within their walls? Evergreen is like that, but honestly, the reading that night would have seemed majestic even in a ramshackle shed. The student readers showed real grace as they presented their work. Lisa Lance posted a great writeup of the night here.
As I was leaving, I snapped a shot of the mansion's facade--Evergreen, dressed in blue.
Today is May 1--Genie Haddock Kunkle's birthday. To celebrate, I'm giving away two signed hardcover copies of GENIE WISHES, one for you and one for a friend. Good luck!
I've never done a giveaway before, so I hope I did this right. If you have trouble, let me know!
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Here's me with Tom Angleberger, author of the great ORIGAMI YODA series, in front of the Alamo right before our International Reading Association (IRA) panel about unconventional middle-grade fiction last weekend. During the panel, we talked with Laura Mihalick of ABRAMS about our books and other middle-grade titles (such as Grace Lin's DUMPLING DAYS and Jeff Kinney's DIARY OF A WIMPY KID series) that interweave drawings and other elements to create a multilevel experience for young readers. After the panel, I hung out at the ABRAMS booth with sales director Jason Wells, signed books, and got to talk to lots and lots of wonderful teachers, librarians, and other professionals.
And when I came home, my first piece of fan mail was waiting for me. Look how sweet! Drawings and everything!
I spent last night at a Barnes & Noble educator appreciation night, signing alongside former NFL player and fellow Abrams debut author Trevor Pryce, who's a lovely guy. Here we are with each other's books. His AN ARMY OF FROGS, which comes out in early May, looks like something that boys especially will love.
Sunday I leave for the International Reading Association conference--IRA--in San Antonio. From 9 to 10 a.m. on Monday I'm doing a panel on unconventional middle-grade fiction with Tom Angleberger (ORIGAMI YODA, etc., etc.). After that, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., I'll be signing books at the Abrams booth. I'd love to see you there and draw a catpole for you. What, you don't know what a catpole is? I'll explain later...
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