Writing Exercise Time

As in, it's about time! 
The words today are: 

Post, tame, stage, wait

            Watching and waiting from the wings. My cue is coming. Everyone on stage is in place. For my acting debut, the word I’m listening intently for is “horrible”. My parents are in the audience, I can see them, but I don’t wave. I don’t think they can see me.

            My best friend Cammie is there. My stomach flutters. I can’t wait to tell her what it’s like. She helped tame my hair straight for this role. It was essential. She even used mayonnaise. Pretty disgusting but so worth it to be out there under the lights. Not yet. Still waiting.

            Our post show party is at the drama teacher’s house. I’ve never been. More butterflies.

            Did I just hear my cue? Nobody is staring at me. I must be okay. The stage director taps my shoulder. I nod with a giant smile and get into position for my entrance. I’m behind the door. I prepare, losing my grin. The actress says “horrible” and I cross my arms over my body and lean against the door.

            I fall backwards onto the stage. Everyone gasps! I’m a hit! I get to stay here for the rest of the play as Dead Body #1. It’s the most stage time out of the whole cast.

            This is so exciting! My family will be so proud. I didn’t even throw up.

Four Book Blurbs - All Genres

I have so many good books to read and a few I've read lately. I wish I read faster to recommend more. But for now, this will do. Also, I'm sharing a book blurb by Lynn Becker with her link provided. PS, I love all these covers.

The first one up is a picture book. It's beautiful and poignant.
WHEN SPRING COMES TO THE DMZ by Uk-Bae Lee

This story has so many levels and layers of relationships. There's the grandfather and his grandson and the many times they visit the DMZ in the different seasons and you feel the longing in the grandfather and what he's showing his grandson. Where he came from, how different it is now, how much he misses his family in North Korea. Freedom has a high cost. The separation between the grandfather and his brother is painful. 
The DMZ, the land between the Korea's, has flourished when left alone. It came back to life and hosts so many birds and creatures. It offers hope, a chance that maybe someday, the North and South can be united again. 
The illustrations are beautiful and the story so well told and deep. You will see something new with each reading.



Here is the blurb by Lynn Becker at https://lynnbeckerbooks.blogspot.com/
For more wonderful books reviews by Lynn, please click on the link above.

In WHEN SPRING COMES TO THE DMZ, Uk-Bae Lee cycles through the seasons of this singular place, contrasting the innocence and beauty of the natural world with the sadness of the “razor wire fence,” and the "warships from South Korea and North Korea [that] face off in the sea near the island.” A boy and his grandpa visit throughout the year, and Grandpa gazes across the land, wishing he could just go home.

From the publisher:

Korea’s demilitarized zone has become an amazing accidental nature preserve that gives hope for a brighter future for a divided land.

This unique picture book invites young readers into the natural beauty of the DMZ, where salmon, spotted seals, and mountain goats freely follow the seasons and raise their families in this 2.5-mile-wide, 150-mile-long corridor where no human may tread. But the vivid seasonal flora and fauna are framed by ever-present rusty razor wire, warning signs, and locked gates―and regularly interrupted by military exercises that continue decades after a 1953 ceasefire in the Korean War established the DMZ.

Creator Uk-Bae Lee’s lively paintings juxtapose these realities, planting in children the dream of a peaceful world without war and barriers, where separated families meet again and live together happily in harmony with their environment. Lee shows the DMZ through the eyes of a grandfather who returns each year to look out over his beloved former lands, waiting for the day when he can return. In a surprise foldout panorama at the end of the book the grandfather, tired of waiting, dreams of taking his grandson by the hand, flinging back the locked gates, and walking again on the land he loves to find his long-lost friends. 

When Spring Comes to the DMZ helps introduce children to the unfinished history of the Korean Peninsula playing out on the nightly news, and may well spark discussions about other walls, from Texas to Gaza.

Next up is GLITCH by Sarah Graley
This is a great graphic novel for gamers and reluctant readers. I know because I gave it to one and he immediately said, I want the sequel. I think there are themes that might be for older readers but it appealed to an 11 year old boy and that is hugely satisfying. This also has 14 year old main characters, which is an area in the market not well represented. I consider it a middle grade book but it has a foot in younger young adult as well.


Here's the info from the publisher:

Izzy has an incredible secret -- she can enter the world of her new video game! She meets Rae, a robot who says Izzy is destined to save Dungeon City from the Big Boss. How is this possible?! And how can she fight for this virtual world when she's got a whole real life to keep up with: her family (though she could do without her mom's annoying cat), and her best friend, Eric.

Things get even weirder when Izzy loses a life while in the game, and she starts to worry about what might happen if she gets a Game Over for good.

Meanwhile, Eric has been super upset with Izzy since she's been keeping secrets and bailing on their plans.

Can Izzy survive Dungeon City and save their friendship?

And now for two young adult books that are so relevant and important.

THE QUIET YOU CARRY by Nikki Barthelmess

This is a remarkable debut and well done in so many ways. You're drawn right in to the characters' lives and you like them even when they're not that nice. They are layered and revealed so well. The tension is held throughout the novel with great pacing. And the setting is real and so easy to see and put yourself in each scene. It deals with painful and hard topics: abuse in many forms, manipulation, and foster care. But it also has love, friendship and growing up.

From the publisher:

Victoria Parker knew her dad's behavior toward her was a little unusual, but she convinced herself everything was fine until she found herself locked out of the house at 3:00 a.m., surrounded by flashing police lights. Now, dumped into a crowded, chaotic foster home, Victoria has to tiptoe around her domineering foster mother, get through senior year at a new school, and somehow salvage her college dreams . . . all while keeping her past hidden. But some secrets won't stay buried especially when unwanted memories make Victoria freeze up at random moments and nightmares disrupt her sleep. Even worse, she can't stop worrying about her stepsister Sarah, left behind with her father. All she wants is to move forward, but how do you focus on the future when the past won't leave you alone?

The last book is A Heart in a Body in the World by Deb Caletti, A Printz Honor Book

A masterclass in weaving an incredible story. Dotted throughout the book is the flashbacks of what transpired, making Annabelle snap, and in this day of all kinds of shootings, it hits a nerve that, unfortunately, so many young people know. It takes the rest of us inside what that PTSD could look like. Being a woman, it was easy for me to identify with so many of her feelings, thoughts and decisions. The ping pong that goes on inside when navigating growing up, until someone changes that course forever.

From the publisher:

When everything has been taken from you, what else is there to do but run?

So that’s what Annabelle does—she runs from Seattle to Washington, DC, through mountain passes and suburban landscapes, from long lonely roads to college towns. She’s not ready to think about the why yet, just the how—muscles burning, heart pumping, feet pounding the earth. But no matter how hard she tries, she can’t outrun the tragedy from the past year, or the person—The Taker—that haunts her.

Followed by Grandpa Ed in his RV and backed by her brother and two friends (her self-appointed publicity team), Annabelle becomes a reluctant activist as people connect her journey to the trauma from her past. Her cross-country run gains media attention and she is cheered on as she crosses state borders, and is even thrown a block party and given gifts. The support would be nice, if Annabelle could escape the guilt and the shame from what happened back home. They say it isn’t her fault, but she can’t feel the truth of that.

Through welcome and unwelcome distractions, she just keeps running, to the destination that awaits her. There, she’ll finally face what lies behind her—the miles and love and loss…and what is to come.

March Limerick Time!

March just seems like the perfect time for a limerick. Probably because of St.Patrick's Day, even though that was a couple of weeks ago. I know. What's fun about these poems is that they can be on any topic. As you'll see below, mine is about a cat with a Hollywood dream. No, I don't know where that came from and why. 😄 Just happens. You can do them on sports, animals, places, vegetables, cookies, fro-yo. Anything. The first, second and fifth lines must have 7-10 syllables and have the same verbal rhyme. The third and fourth have 5-7 syllables and have the same rhythm and rhyme together. No problem! What makes it even more fun, is to write one with another person or group. Hysterical! There's even a poem generator for limericks.
Coming up on the blog are a bunch of book reviews/blurbs as soon as I type them up.
Enjoy and start writing. 😎😻🎬

A Texas cat came to L.A.
And had to decide if she'd stay.
After makeup and hair
She debuted on the air.
A truckload of fish was her pay.

Awesome Book Review: The Poet X

Looking at the title of the post, is it the book review that's awesome or the book? In this case, it's the book. Okay, in all cases, it's always the book!
National Book Award for Young People's Literature and Printz Award Winner

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

From the publisher:

A young girl in Harlem discovers slam poetry as a way to understand her mother’s religion and her own relationship to the world. Debut novel of renowned slam poet Elizabeth Acevedo.

Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking.

But Xiomara has plenty she wants to say, and she pours all her frustration and passion onto the pages of a leather notebook, reciting the words to herself like prayers—especially after she catches feelings for a boy in her bio class named Aman, who her family can never know about. With Mami’s determination to force her daughter to obey the laws of the church, Xiomara understands that her thoughts are best kept to herself.

So when she is invited to join her school’s slam poetry club, she doesn’t know how she could ever attend without her mami finding out, much less speak her words out loud. But still, she can’t stop thinking about performing her poems.

Because in the face of a world that may not want to hear her, Xiomara refuses to be silent.

I. LOVED. THIS. BOOK.

It’s perfect.

Listening to the author read it is pure pleasure. I’m guessing the impact is stronger than reading it – although, it won the Printz – so it won’t matter how you devour the story. It’s so real and raw and nails all the emotions as if she’s mining my life for her book. It’s just that good.

I almost want to call them lyrics, but the poems are strong and beautiful and mesmerizing. Not once was I pulled out of the story, and the whole time I was enthralled.

Just before the climax, I had to stop because I knew what was going to happen and I couldn’t face it. So I asked my friend who had already read it, and she confirmed my fears, and once I accepted and processed the inevitable, I was able to continue on. (I don’t want to say what it is in case you haven’t read it yet. And if you haven’t read it yet, run, don’t walk, and let it fill you up, like a good story does.)

I think Elizabeth Acevedo should take this show on the road. It would be such a privilege to see her perform this like a one-woman play. Listening to it feels like I’m watching a performance; alive and inspiring. 

It would be great to quote some passages, but where to begin, which ones to choose, it's impossible. Enjoy the ride, the language, the characters, the truth.

Writing Exercise

I can't even pretend I have spooky Halloween words! Just regular words, although I should have thought of something more creepy to write. Anyway, my random word generator chose four words for today's prompt. Have fun and don't scare me! ♖😳😃

Words: slim, sprout, far-flung, number

Digging holes in the earth is not what I was created for. Singing and dancing is way better than dirt under my fingernails.

The number of vegetables I’ve planted for Mama is nearing 30. May not sound like a high number, but it is. Trust me, and my broken, dirty nails.

Mama thinks there’s no better job than working mother earth. Which means, slim chance to none I’ll get out of doing this. And it’s not just the soil, it’s the bugs, the watering, the fertilizing (don’t get me started on the smell), pulling weeds, harvesting, turning soil, cleaning, canning, selling. You get the picture.

Daniella, Mama says, you’re a natural green thumb. Can I just say how happy I am my thumb is NOT really green? You want to know my secret to all the growing? Singing. I sing to my plants, sing while I water, then just watch those seeds sprout.

My dream of singing in the town musical has always been a dream. A far-flung dream at that. But if I could just have the chance to try. 

Hmmm. I may just have an idea growing, and I know I won't need a green thumb for that.

Two Middle Grade Book Blurbs

A WITCH ALONE by James Nicol

I’m glad the publisher nagged James Nicol to write A WITCH ALONE, which is the sequel to THE APPRENTICE WITCH. It’s a fun ride in a fun world, if you don’t mind the snotlings. The story continues with Arianwyn in her post as the town witch.

There are so many twists and turns that kept me guessing as to what was going to happen and to whom. I had my suspicions but I never totally knew.

A void was opened in the first book, and it is letting in dark spirits and an evil and uncommon hex that is spreading in the Great Wood.

With a moon hare named Bob as a sidekick and a workspace called the Spellorium, how could you not enjoy it?!

    

MAC B, KID SPY by Mac Barnett

This is a tongue-in-cheek humorous book. A quick read with lots of illustrations.

Mac takes us on an international spy case for the Queen of England. A Crown Jewel is stolen and Mac travels far and wide in his perfectly faded jeans, accompanied by a Corgi, named Freddie, on loan from the Queen.

History is nicely placed in a fun way. Set in the 1980’s, the story shows us the world then and now with an adventurous kid who has his own home and school issues.

Definitely entertaining and accessible.

First Responders Haiku - Thank You

I was planning on doing a writing exercise this month and thinking of all the disasters and accidents and how much we rely on the incredible people who put their lives on the line, work tirelessly and care so much, I thought of a haiku this morning. I'd like to write about twenty to express all I want. But, for now, here is my thank you haiku. I'd love to hear your own if you'd like to join me.


Help in fire or flood
Courage, care for crash victims
In our hearts - thank you