An Awesome Book I Read This Summer

Our topic this round is an awesome book that I read this summer. This wasn't easy, because I was lucky enough to go to ALA and pick up a bunch of ARCs of forthcoming YA novels. Some that I loved: Reality Boy by A.S. King, Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick, This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales, and Tumble & Fall by Alexandra Coutts. But if I had to choose one that totally blew me away? This one.

I know, I know, you're thinking, "That looks rather dull." Here's the thing. I heard a rumor about a few copies of this pre-ARC being available at ALA, and I hunted it down. I asked the lady manning the Dutton booth and she dug one out for me. Then she took the rest, a stack of about ten, and set them out. Now I saw people completely ignore this rather plain-looking stack in favor of colorful, shiny, conventionally bound ARCs.
People? Big mistake. Huge. Because I think Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith will be the most talked about YA novel of 2014. I dragged that six pound stack of paper on the plane with me and devoured it by the time I landed in Boise.
Here's what the summary on Goodreads has to say:

In this truly shocking, grotesquely original coming-of-age, end-of-the-world novel, sixteen-year-old Austin Szerba interweaves the legacy of his family’s history in Poland and immigration to the United States while narrating the story of how he and his best friend brought about the end of humanity and the rise of an army of unstoppable, human-sized (six-foot-tall) praying mantises in small-town Iowa.
To make matters worse, Austin's hormones are totally oblivious; they don't care that the world is in utter chaos: Austin is in love with his girlfriend, Shann, but remains confused about his sexual orientation, stewing in a self-professed constant state of maximum horniness, directed at both Robby and Shann. Ultimately, it's up to Austin to save the world and propagate the species in this sci-fright journey of survival, sex, and the complex realities of the human condition.
And here is what the shiny ARC looks like:

 Awesome, yeah? I loved this book.

From Paris to Oz: An Extraordinary Summer

I have found through experience, that if you follow your muse and work on the things you love, sometimes life lifts you up and carries you off to new lands and chance encounters never even dreamed of. That is what happened to me this summer. It all began when my book, When Stravinsky Met Nijinsky, became the inspiration for an author residency at the American School of Paris last May.  I met my daughter, Ruby, in Paris and her expertise in dance and choreography enriched the residency with movement while I led creative writing and book-making activities. What a team!

Ruby in Paris

I was able to not only visit the Theatre Des Champs Elysees where the legendary riot broke out during the premier of The Rite of Spring, (the subject of When Stravinsky Met Nijinsky), but I was able, through many amazing and magical circumstances to get a seat and actually view the centennial performance of Le sacre du printemps. 

In front of the Theatre Des Champs Elysees.

Two years ago, I began a story set in Venice. When I began the story, I did not dream of visiting Venice. I researched photographs and read books on the city and used my imagination. Then with the McKnight Fellowship, I decided to visit the city of my story...

View from the Accademia bridge

I spent ten days there walking, floating, photographing and soaking in all of the light, water, weather, sounds, smells and tastes that I could.

Watery streets and gondolas

I met two friends from my past there and together we saw two operas at La Fenice, visited many museums and explored the islands in the Lagoon.

I found the most fantastic bookstore in Venice- books everywhere!

Ten days was not enough. I think I need to move to Venice for a year at least! 

Before returning to Minnesota, I stayed in London for a few days. I filled myself with art by visiting two museums a day, attending a performance of The Tempest at the Globe Theatre, and even visited Circus Space, an amazing circus school in the heart of London.

My favorite publisher and bookstore- Persephone Books!

Circus Space

 Upon returning to Minneapolis, I did not even have time to download my travel photos before returning to painting sets at Circus Juventas. I had Witch's castles to paint, and Emerald City towers, trees, gateways, magical caravans, and poppies too. There were volunteers to help me, but basically I painted Oz for two months, taking breaks to watch the rehearsals of these amazing young performers.

painting the Wicked Witch's castle

Rehearsal and view of Oz partially covering the Witch's castle, and gateway.

When the rehearsals turned into performances, there was no hint of a circus school or arena, instead it was the magical land of Oz with tornadoes and poppy fields, emerald cities and gorgeous performances. I ushered nearly every show just so I could see it from every angle. What those kids create with all of their hard work is truly magical.

Poppy Queen with Emerald City in background. (Dan Norman- photographer)

Triangle trapeze with a house- tornado. (Joey McEachron- photographer)

4 man high in Teeterboard- Emerald City (Dan Norman-photographer)

Cooper, my son as the Tin Man, on Cyr Wheel (Joey McEachron, photographer)

And now it is fall-- or nearly there. My son has started his final year of high school and will soon begin classes at Circus Juventas again. My daughter is returning to Europe, via Iceland. My husband continues writing his novels. And I am returning to new stories, but that is another story. 

Another Summer Gone Too Soon

Around these parts, living on Whidbey Island, summer means sailing.  This year we spent plenty of time on the water—playing on beaches and in driftwood forts, catching Dungeness crab, and even discovering a few new anchoring spots (after all these years!)—but we also took some other road trips.  The best of these involved a visit to Glacier National Park where we were blessed with glorious weather, gorgeous scenery, and plenty of wildlife sightings.  Mountain sheep, goats, marmots, a coyote—every turn in the road seemed to bring a new critter to photograph and marvel at. 

The weather was in the 90s on our journey so there were plenty of stops to swim in rivers, lakes, and swimming pools, but the highlight of the trip (if you ask our son) was when we were walking our dog Skipper along Canyon Creek in NE Washington (on our way to Montana).  Ben and I had been talking about the possibility of encountering bears, and he had just finished reading a What To Do If You Encounter a Bear brochure we had picked up at a tourist information kiosk.  As we walked along the trail and Ben started making nonsense noises (“The brochure said to make noise when you’re in the woods, Dad”) we heard a branch snap in the woods and Ben said, “It’s probably a bear!”  “It’s probably not,” I replied.  “I’m going to check it out,” said Ben, stepping a few yards off the trail, into the woods.  A moment later he turned back to me, eyes wide, and said, “I just saw a bear!”  “No, you didn’t,” I said, figuring he was just trying to get a rise out of Daddy.  So I stepped off the trail and looked in the direction he indicated.  I saw something black amongst the tree trunks maybe twenty yards away.  Probably some abandoned piece of mining equipment, I reckoned (such junk/artifacts littered the area).  Then the black “thing” turned its head, and I said, “THAT’S A BEAR!”  We backtracked to our vehicle, hearts racing and smiles plastered on our faces….

Momma had to work, so she was not with us on this particular trip.  Although she was sad to miss all the Glacier sights, she was just fine with missing our bear encounter!

Summer vacation ended last week, but the memories will last a lifetime.  And now it’s time to return to writing….

Summer Vacation

I know it's not my turn to blog, but it's a stormy Saturday afternoon - a rare one in Southern California - and I'm in the mood to write.  Thanks for letting me!  This summer's highlight for me was a trip to Switzerland, Germany and France with my husband.  We reconnected with my cousins, "The Swiss Family Rabils," and saw beautiful castles, cathedrals, cobblestone streets, and flowers in every color and size.  I've included way too many photos from our trip, but it was so hard to choose!  I also attended the L.A. SCBWI conference and had a chance to meet my editor at Chronicle, Melissa Manlove.  She's lovely inside and out.  My agent was there and she hosted a party for her clients.  It was great to sit down for a couple of hours with fellow writers.  The conference was over the top wonderful, as expected!   I got some writing done in the middle of all this and am teaching an on-line writing course.  In a couple of weeks it will be back to Cal State to teach Children's Literature and Expository Writing, as well as some Senior Seminar courses.  

Our hotel in Lucerne.

My cousin's daughter, Maggie.

A Saturday market.

My cousin's son, John, going up.

My cousin's son, Marcus, digging in.

On the Rhine.

The view from Heidelberg Castle.

A fiddler in Strasbourg.

A castle on the Rhine.

What I did this summer...

This has been a busy, but memorable, summer with not enough writing accomplished, but all sorts of writing-related adventure.  Late in the spring I was busy researching steamboats (which play an important role in my current work-in-progress), and my husband and I traveled to Irvington, on the northern neck of Virginia along the Rappahannock River, to visit the Steamboat Era Museum.

We stayed at the lovely Hope and Glory Inn,

where the innkeeper offered to give us a wine tasting at his nearby vineyard known as the Dog & Oyster.  Well, one thing led to another and before we realized what was happening, we found the perfect little "getaway" home in Vineyard Grove.

 The thing that sold us was the kayak dock on Carter's Creek.

 We weren't even looking, but now we are the proud owners of Tent House #6 (the story behind why it's called a tent house will have to wait for another post, but I'll give you the hint that it does involve those steamboats I was researching).

We settled on June 24th and barely had time to spend a few days there before I headed off to Ireland to teach at Spalding University's MFA residency abroad.  The first week was spent in Dublin on the campus of Trinity College, also home to the Book of Kells, and the second week in the village of Oranmore on the outskirts of Galway.  In addition to leading a workshop with six amazing writers

I gave 2 lectures, a reading, heard a lecture on Jonathan Swift given by the president of Ireland, attended a play at The Abby Theater, and took side trips to the Village of Trim (where Braveheart was filmed),

the ruins of the 9th century monastery Clonmacnoise,

and the smallest of the Aran Isles, Inishmore.

 This week I start receiving the first round of packets from my 6 MFA students!

As if this wasn't enough adventure, we also spent a week in a wonderful rambling house known as Blueberry Lodge in Sorrento, Maine with both our children and their families (6 adults and 6 children)--chaotic but wonderful.

Now I am trying to get my life back to a more normal writing routine with time spent in both our homes, Misty Hill Lodge and the river house, as we have decided to call it.  By the way, fellow spuds, it would make a great place for a writing retreat!

Magic Realism or Surrealism?

The highlight of my summer was the Whidbey Island MFA residency where I teach. The January residency is fun, but nothing like the August residency in which we have a Bear Plunge (Yes, in that freezing water!)

and graduation.

This year we tried something different: Afternoon classes in different topics taught by the faculty. I participated in  the magic-realistic panel. How else can I describe it?

Moderator Kathleen Alcalá began the session opening an umbrella that she held with a black-gloved hand. That way, she read a passage from Gabriel García Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude.

Next came Bruce Holland Rogers who spoke about his magic realistic experiences as a young man, and then snoozed on the floor.

I followed his interesting talk with a power point comparing Frida Kahlo's art to Salvador Dalí's. Magic realists or surrealists? Frida said: “They thought I was a surrealist, but I wasn’t. I’ve never painted dreams. I painted my own reality.”  In contrast, Salvador Dalí said: "I am surrealism."

Nothing better than to follow a quote from Dalí with a talk about the poet who loved him so much, Federico García Lorca. Our Whidbey poet, Carolyne Wright is an expert in Lorca. And nothing better than ending the session wih her reciting: 

Verde que te quiero verde.
Verde viento. Verdes ramas.  

 

                             

Bogs, Beans, Books, and Bovines

 Like Christy and Stephanie, I had a full summer packed with lots of book-related events.

 In June, while I was in Bemidji, Minnesota for their annual Book Festival, I visited Joe Rossi who was the photographer for my book Minnesota's Hidden Alphabet. He took me out for a "Bog Walk" on his property where I saw incredible plants, including these gorgeous lady slippers.

 

Super Librarian Kim Faurot and her husband Brad hosted their annual Butterfly Birthday Party, which included besides an incredible display of food, a children's book-themed treasure hunt, butterfly craft projects, and a marionette show.

 I read stories and drew pictures for kids in their PJs on trolleys in Minneapolis and Excelsior.

 Excelsior Bay Books ran a citywide "Find the Mean Green Beans" contest, similar to the "Where's Waldo" events run in other cities, but they used my book "How Martha Saved Her Parents from Green Beans" as their theme.

 

Red Balloon Bookshop hosted the publication party for "Arlo's ARTrageous Adventure!" the first picture book that I both wrote and illustrated. That's me with bookshop owner Holly Weinkauf. I owe Spud Christy Hale many thanks for inspiring me to come up with fun publication party ideas. 

My summer ended with two days spent at the Minnesota State Fair. One day was at Debra Frasier's "Alphabet Forest," a magical place celebrating books and literacy, where I helped kids make Wanted Posters for the food of their choice. The other day was spent with friend and illustrtor Mike Wohnoutka, where our soon-to-be-released picture book MOO! was featured as the Story Walk. Fair goers could read each page of the book posted on large signs, similar to the old Burma Shave road signs. That's Mike and me in the Moo Building (yes, that's the actual name of the building!) with an accommodating cow named "Buckle Up" (and yes, that's her actual name; when you see the book, you'll realize how apt that is!).

Whew! What a grand summer!