Kid Problems: When suddenly, everything is so much bigger than you (or: #IWishMyTeacherKnew )

Last Saturday, I went to the Colorado Teen Literature Conference in Denver. It's a one-day event for teachers, librarians and teens, all about books. I love it, even if it starts pretty early. There's breakfast, and this year's keynotes were Wendelin Van Draanen and Andrew Smith. I was inspired, and got to eat a dynamite sandwich for lunch with some cool librarians for company.

I was honored to be invited to talk about how to reach YA and middle-grade reluctant readers. This is a bit of a soapbox topic of mine, so it was a good thing I had a whole hour. I've done this talk at too many library conventions to mention (in AL, MS, GA)--basically, I try to share ideas on how to reach reluctant readers, and ask for teachers and librarians to share theirs. It's fun, inspiring, and I love it when I see heads nodding in agreement as I talk. Makes me feel like we're all in this together.

But I'll admit: this talk has changed over time. I now talk more about how reluctant readers are often kids with undiagnosed reading disabilities (hate that word, but it's the best I've got). I talk about how I have one of those kids in the house, and how easy it is to miss this struggle. How kids become experts at hiding their difficulty reading. And I also talk about how often, much of this reading reluctance is really about the kid's home life. Whether Mom and Dad or guardians read.

And about money. Because after doing so many school visits, and talking to many teachers and librarians and the issues they deal with, so much of it all is an issue of economics. No money=less time=less education=forgotten kid problems. We need to fix economic inequality, that's the bottom line. Teachers and librarians shouldn't be forced to be the Band-Aid to society's ails when kids come to school with gorilla-sized problems in their backpacks.

I could go on about this forever... But I won't.

But I will share this story, since I'm still on my soap box: it's of a third grade teacher who asked her students to share things with her in a note: I wish my teacher knew... These are third-graders being honest, and it'll make you cry, I swear.

After my presentation at the Colorado Teen Lit Conference, a parent stuck around, crying about her struggle to get her son (who has a reading disability) through life. It's a lonely gig, being a parent, kid, teacher, librarian dealing with these enormous problems. Sometimes, it's good to know you're not alone.

Chapeau to the teacher in this online story. Makes me think we should all write a note...

And since this is all a bit sad, I thought I'd surround this post with a bunch of nice drawings I got in the mail after doing a Skype visit not too long ago. Because sometimes, you get a nice note, too. And you make a kid reader friend named Dezarae.

I'm a lucky duck, to be an author of kid books.

Where To Get The Best Holiday Presents

I'm a big fan of Thanksgiving, and I get a little offended when people start talking holiday shopping before the bird has been cooked. But I'm going to break my own rule this year...

See, I sent Linc around the States to check out all these great bookstores so he could report back and give us all the scoop. Because as an author and reader, I'm a big fan of these independent bookstores. If you've ever visited a good one, you know how the staff, the atmosphere, and the personal recommendations make all the difference. I've discovered great new authors by visiting my local indies.

So I hope you'll join me and check out these bookstores for your holiday shopping:

Hooray For Books in Alexandria, VA

Seattle Mystery Bookshop in Seattle, WA

Little Shop of Stories in Decatur, GA

Tattered Cover in Denver, CO

Murder by the Book in Houston, TX

Lemuria Books in Jackson, MS

Park Street Books in Medfield, MA

Most of them stock signed books (best present ever!), and will ship them to you. Or go to your own local bookstore. Saturday is Small Business Saturday...

That's my soapbox moment.

Happy Turkey Day, all.

Summing Up: Edgar Nominees For Best Juvenile

I finished reading all the YA and Juvenile Edgar nominees in time! I'm pretty proud of myself just for that accomplishment, to be honest--that's ten books, enough to make a little TBR pile side table.

But you didn't come here to hear about that; let me give you the skinny on the Edgar nominees for Best Juvenile. To refresh, here's the list:


BEST JUVENILE
Horton Halfpott by Tom Angleberger (Abrams – Amulet Books)
It Happened on a Train by Mac Barnett (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
Vanished by Sheela Chari (Disney Book Group – Disney Hyperion)
Icefall by Matthew J. Kirby (Scholastic Press)
The Wizard of Dark Street by Shawn Thomas Odyssey (Egmont USA)

And at the risk of sounding lame, I should say that all of these books are winners. Think about it: of all the middle-grade mysteries published last year, only five could make this shortlist. That's quite impressive, no?

I'll add to this that it's extra-difficult to write a true mystery for the MG audience--not a fantasy, or a historical, etc. The age of the protagonist (usually 8 to 12 years old) makes it very challenging for a writer--I mean, what ten year-old you know goes around solving mysteries and catching bad guys? Exactly.

Which is why so many MG mysteries aren't mysteries first, and many on this list really weren't. Horton Halfpott and The Wizard of Dark Street are both fantasies first, I think. Icefall is more of a historical, Vanished a stronger coming-of-age story than a mystery. It Happened on a Train is the one solid, tried-and-true mystery here.

But this year, I did feel like the mystery wasn't just tacked on. Every one of these books relied on the mystery to carry the plot forward, which hasn't always been the case in previous nominee reads. So I'm pretty pleased after reading these Best Juvenile mystery nominees.

I do hope to see more realistic/contemporary MG mysteries in the future. We really need more books that are junior versions of the mysteries (and thrillers--I'll lump those in there) that are so popular with adults. Readers love mysteries--so why aren't there more solid mysteries for kids?

Alright-y, I'll kick myself off the soapbox here. Because I should really give you my prediction of the winner...

And I'm really not sure... I think It Happened on a Train is the strongest mystery here, so that's my pick.

But I'll add that all of these are really strong contenders... So don't call your bookie and blame me when it all goes south, okay? I'll post the winners here after the announcement on April 26 (that's tonight!)...

Where Your Readers Are

I went to see The Hunger Games movie when it came out this past Friday--but don't worry, I won't review it. Other people will do that a-plenty. It was good. Let's move on.

What I really wanted to share was not the actual movie watching experience, but my wait in line for tickets. We went early, my tween posse and I, hair in braids and super-excited. I was fully expecting to find a crowd of t(w)eens and parents, since the book is YA and all.

Guess again.

Cool observation #1: The majority of people in the theater were adults, male and female in equal amounts. We outnumbered the under-18 crowd, big time... Now remember, this is a YA.

Cool observation #2: Every single person in line that I talked to had read the book. One man my dad's age confessed he read the first book, then went back the next day to buy the other two.

Cool observation #3: There was a 9 a.m. showing just for the local school kids. Teachers are tying reading into movies--what a smart way to get everyone's nose in a book.

Coolest moment? Having a crowd of thirty-or-so people of all ages talk about a YA book. Not about the movie, but about the book. Your readers are at the movie theater. Pretty cool, huh?