INTERVIEW with GREG PINCUS, author of THE HOMEWORK STRIKE

THE HOMEWORK STRIKE
Gregory Pincus
Scholastic, Inc.
Ages 8 - 12



Gregory K. has too much homework.

Middle school is hard work, and Gregory tries to be a good student. He participates in class, he studies for his tests -- he and his friends even help each other with their assignments. But no matter what he does, there's never enough time to finish all his homework. It just isn't fair.

So Gregory goes on a total, complete homework strike. No worksheets, no essays, no projects. His friends think he's crazy. His parents are worried about his grades. And his principal just wants him to stop making trouble. Can Gregory rally his fellow students, make his voice heard, and still pass seventh grade?

INTERVIEW w/ the AUTHOR:

1. Hi Greg. So, tell us about The Homework Strike. What's it about?

The short version: It's about standing up for what you believe. The longer version: The Homework Strike is about Gregory K., a seventh grader who spends too much time - nearly three hours a day - on homework and not enough on the things he's passionate about. He's also frustrated that no one seems to listen to him or his friends when they talk about the homework problem. Guided and prodded and often seemingly opposed by his history teacher, Gregory embarks on a mission to have his voice be heard: he goes on a homework strike, trying to bring back an old law that made homework illegal. Now, I'm not gonna tell you how the strike goes or if others join him or if it hits the news or how it all turns out, cuz that'd be no fun. But to go back to the short version: it's a story about standing up for what we believe.

2.  What inspired you to write it?

A few things, really. Homework today is a real problem for lots of kids, and to top it off, the research shows that for the most part (and particularly in elementary school)... it doesn't help. So I wanted to explore that. I also have always been fascinated by obscure old laws, and the fact that homework was actually illegal in California for years (it was!) was another inspiration. Plus, I love stories about underdogs, and kids fighting against homework seemed like that type of story to me. One day, I saw a way to combine those threads along with humor... and voila! The Homework Strike!

3.  What is the last really great book you read?

NeuroTribes by Steve Silberman - a great piece of non-fiction. And for fiction... I loved Mike Jung's Unidentified Suburban Object.

4.  If you could spend a day inside any book, which would it be and why?

Oooh. Just one? Today my answer is that I would go back to a childhood favorite and go inside Furman Bisher's Strange But True Baseball Stories. To be able to see all those real-life stories firsthand would be amazing and a realization of a childhood fantasy. Plus I'd eat lots of ballpark food. But I bet if I answered this another day, I'd give you another book!

5. Describe your most embarrassing moment.

The one that pops into mind is saying "hi, cutie!" over the phone to my then girlfriend's boss rather than my girlfriend. Hey - her boss never answered the phone, okay??? There may have been more embarrassing things, but if so, I've blocked them :-)

6. Any more books in the works?

I hope so! I'm working on two middle grade novels as well as a few picture books. As you well know, how and where and if they see the light of day is more of an adventure.

BOOK REVIEW: A LONG WALK TO WATER by Linda Sue Park

A LONG WALK TO WATER
Linda Sue Park
Houghton Mifflin Harcourts
Ages 10 - 14

The New York Times bestseller A Long Walk to Water begins as two stories, told in alternating sections, about two eleven-year-olds in Sudan, a girl in 2008 and a boy in 1985. The girl, Nya, is fetching water from a pond that is two hours’ walk from her home: she makes two trips to the pond every day. The boy, Salva, becomes one of the "lost boys" of Sudan, refugees who cover the African continent on foot as they search for their families and for a safe place to stay. Enduring every hardship from loneliness to attack by armed rebels to contact with killer lions and crocodiles, Salva is a survivor, and his story goes on to intersect with Nya’s in an astonishing and moving way.

MY REVIEW:

Powerful! This very slim tale is deceptively short, but within its covers are two interwoven stories that brought tears to my eyes. The true journey of Salva, a 1985 Sudanese refugee, is masterfully woven into the tale of Nya, a villager in modern-day Sudan who must spend her days walking the long distance to a muddy lake to draw water for her family to drink. This daily trek prevents her from going to school or doing anything most children her age in other parts of the world would do. But the end, how Salva and Nya's stories come together is so inspiring. It is amazing how one person can quite literally change the world for the better.

The author, Newbery award winning Linda Sue Park, gave a Ted-Talk about this book. I encourage you to watch it, and then share both the video and the book with any and every young reader you can. It's a great way to open the world to our children and to teach them that even they can make a difference.

CONTENT RATING:

Profanity:  None
Violence:  Moderate
Sexuality:  None

BOOK REVIEW: CHAINS by Laurie Halse Anderson

CHAINS
Laurie Halse Anderson
Atheneum Books for Younger Readers
Ages 10 - 14


If an entire nation could seek its freedom, why not a girl?
 
As the Revolutionary War begins, thirteen-year-old Isabel wages her own fight...for freedom. Promised freedom upon the death of their owner, she and her sister, Ruth, in a cruel twist of fate become the property of a malicious New York City couple, the Locktons, who have no sympathy for the American Revolution and even less for Ruth and Isabel. When Isabel meets Curzon, a slave with ties to the Patriots, he encourages her to spy on her owners, who know details of British plans for invasion. She is reluctant at first, but when the unthinkable happens to Ruth, Isabel realizes her loyalty is available to the bidder who can provide her with freedom.

From acclaimed author Laurie Halse Anderson comes this compelling, impeccably researched novel that shows the lengths we can go to cast off our chains, both physical and spiritual.

MY REVIEW:

Riveting tale of a strong-willed slave girl with little hope for freedom. But it is freedom she desires and is willing to go take great risks to obtain it. Chains is a must-read, in my opinion, for kids to take an honest look at American history and slavery. It requires readers to look at the American Revolution from a different angle than we are used to, our fight for liberty--why didn't it apply to all Americans?

Knowing at the start that Isabel's story takes place a century before the Civil War, I was drawn into her story, wondering how the story of a slave in 1776 could possibly end happily? But Chains offers no easy, tied-up-with-a-ribbon kind of ending. In fact, the story is riddled with harsh realities of the era and situation in which the protagonist finds herself. The author does not sugar-coat anything. The story is at times heart-wrenching and bleak, and yet Isabel's strength and determination to be free kept me turning page, kept me rooting for her. And the end of Chains is not the end of her story. It continues in Anderson's sequel, Forge.

Brilliant writing. A compelling story that will stick in your brain long after you've finished the last page.

CONTENT RATING:

Profanity: None
Violence: Moderate
Sexuality: None

INTERVIEW WITH GARY PAULSEN, AUTHOR OF HATCHET (& BOOK GIVEAWAY)

Middle Grade Monday is a weekly collection of blog posts assembled by author Shannon Messenger. For a complete list of posts, visit Shannon's blog HERE.

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SIX KIDS AND A STUFFED CAT
Gary Paulsen
Simon & Schuster
Ages 8 - 12

SCROLL DOWN TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY

From three-time Newbery Honor author Gary Paulsen comes a laugh-out-loud novel about six wacky misfits who get stuck together in a school restroom and discover friendship.

It seemed like a normal school day, until a horrible storm forced the very cautious school administration to make everyone hole up in a safe place. Six students find themselves stuck in a tiny, questionably smelly space—a school bathroom—with a stuffed cat for entertainment. Hijinks ensue and the unexpected happens. They enter as strangers…and leave as friends.

Get to know the story even better with a special script that accompanies the novel, so any six kids can get together with their friends and perform the story anywhere they’d like.

INTERVIEW:

Laurisa: Six kids in a bathroom during a storm. Where did that idea come from?

Gary: I was filling up at a gas station, and as I entered to pay, someone yelled, “Don’t step in the blood,” and I thought, “What a great first line for a book; I wonder what happens next.”

Laurisa: Six Kids and a Stuffed Cat includes a script for a play. Have you seen it performed?

Gary: Not yet, but I hope to. For years school classrooms have been sending me videotapes and CDs and flash drives with play adaptations of my books. I’ve seen a few of my books performed live, but not this one yet.

Laurisa: Are the "kids" boys or girls?

Gary: I never used him or her or he or she and I tried to pick names that were gender neutral so that any combinations of students could be any of the roles when they assigned parts to stage the play. It’s funny because most of the reviews so far have said the characters were boys, but I never meant the characters to be specifically male.

Laurisa: Which of the six kids is most like you?

Gary: Probably the quiet one playing air guitar. I’m not an airband kind of guy, but I’ve always been out of the loop a little bit, doing my own thing.

Laurisa: You recently published This Side of Wild. Tell us about it.

Gary: This Side of Wild was a book I’ve wanted to write for a long time. I think I had to write as many books about dogs and the outdoors and adventure as I did before I felt anyone would believe, really believe, that what I was saying about those animals was the truth and not stories I made up.

Laurisa: Give an example of how a true life event inspired one of your books.

Gary: I think it might be easier if I picked something that didn’t come from my life. Everything I write has some basis in an experience I have had.  Even Six Kids and a Stuffed Cat came from a moment in a gas station. Hatchet happened because I had been in forced landings in bush planes, Dogsong was because I had run dogs, Woodsong and This Side of Wild ARE my life. It’s all there; every book I write has pieces of my life in it somewhere.

Laurisa: What is one of the scariest things that has happened to you?

Gary: Falling through ice on a lake in the middle of winter will do until something scarier comes along. I just went, flump, down like a brick to the bottom of the lake. I looked up at the air bubbles floating to the surface and thought, “There it is, my life, there goes my life.” And then Cookie, my lead dog, pulled the team up and away from the hole I’d just plunged through. I happened to grab a piece of rope that was tied to the sled as it rose to the surface and she pulled me out of the water. She saved me, Cookie saved my life. I owe everything that happened to me after that moment to my lead dog Cookie.

Laurisa: Are there any adventures you still hope to have?

Gary: I would still love to sail the Horn and run dogs and write all the books I have in my head.

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Thank you, Mr. Paulsen for being my special guest today! And for all of you readers, how would you like to win both of Gary's new books? Just complete the rafflecopter form below to enter. The winner will be chosen at random and announced May 23rd! You must be 18 years or older to enter. [Contest open internationally, though if the winner is not a U.S. resident, a $20 (US dollars) digital Amazon gift card will be awarded.]  

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MMGM: Win a copy of A BUSS FROM LAFAYETTE by Dorthea Jensen

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* GREENHORN by Anna Olswanger -- Now a Movie!
* Ruta Sepetys' SALT TO THE SEA -- A Must Read 

Middle Grade Monday is a weekly collection of blog posts assembled by author Shannon Messenger. For a complete list of posts, visit Shannon's blog HERE.

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Title: A Buss From Lafayette
Author: Dorothea Jensen
Genre: Middle Grade/Young Adult Historical Fiction
Recommended Ages: 10-17
Number o f Pages: 266
Publisher: BQB Publishing
Publication Date: April 22, 2016
Synopsis: Fourteen-year-old Clara Hargraves lives on a farm in Hopkinton, a small New Hampshire town, during the early 19th cen tury. She has a couple of big problems. First of all, she has a stepmother , Priscilla, who used to be her spinster schoolteacher aunt. Clara resents that her late mother ’ s older sister has not only married her father but is about to have a baby. To make mat ters worse, “ Prissy Priscilla ” keeps trying to make the rambunctious, clever, and witty Clar a act like a proper young lady. Secondly, Clara has red hair, making her a target for teasing by a handsome older boy, Dickon Weeks, and by her pretty seventeen-year-old Dr ead Cousin Hetty. Clara, however, has a secret plan she hopes will change this. Duri ng the last week of June, 1825, Clara ’ s town is abuzz because the famous General Lafayette is about to visit their state during his farewell tour of America. In those eventful seve n days, Clara learns a lot about her family, Hetty, Dickon, herself, and about Lafayette. S he comes to understand the huge and vital role the young French aristocrat played in Am erica ’ s Revolutionary War and to see that her problems might not be quite so terrible aft er all.

Amazon ~ Barnes and Noble ~ Kobo

About the Author: Dorothea Jensen

Dorothea Jensen, born in Boston, Massachusetts, grew up in C hillicothe, Illinois. She majored in English literature at Carleton College. After teaching high-school English and serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Brazil, she earne d a master s degree in education at the University of New Mexico. In 1989, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich published Dorothea s novel for young readers about the American Revolution, The Riddle of Penncroft Farm. In addition to other honors, it was named an Internation al Reading Association Teacher s Choices Selection and is read in classrooms throughout th e U.S. A Buss from Lafayette is set in the small New Hampshire town where Dorothea lives. Two thing s inspired her to write this story. First, was learning that Lafayette pass ed right by her house during his 1824-5 Triumphal Tour. Another was meeting a woman whose a ncestor received a kiss from Lafayette. That buss, passed down through generations, eventually came to Dorothea. This sparked her interest in Lafayette s contrib utions to our struggle for independence. Dorothea also enjoys writing rhyming verse. She has written a series of award-winning illustrated modern Christmas stories in verse fe aturing Santa's Izzy Elves.

For more information about Dorothea and her books, please visit http://www.dorotheajensen.com/.

Blog Tour Giveaway

Prize: One winner will receive a $25 Amazon gift card

 or $25 PayPal cash prize, winner's choice Giveaway ends: May 2, 11:59 pm, 2016 Open to: Internationally How to enter:  Please enter using the Rafflecopter widget below.Terms and Conditions: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WI N. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. A winner will be randomly drawn t hrough the Rafflecopter widget and will be contacted by email within 48 hours after the giveaway ends. The winner will then have 72 hours to respond. If the wi nner does not respond within 72 hours, a new draw will take place for a new winner. Odds of winning will vary depending on the number of eligible entries received. This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Fa cebook. This giveaway is sponsored by the author, Dorothea Jensen and is hosted and ma naged by Stacie from BeachBoundBooks. If you have any additional questions – feel free to send and email to stacie@BeachBoundBooks.com.

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MMGM: GREENHORN by Anna Olswanger, now a movie!

Middle Grade Monday is a weekly collection of blog posts assembled by author Shannon Messenger. For a complete list of posts, visit Shannon's blog HERE.

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GREENHORN
Anna Olswanger
New South, Inc.
Ages 10 - 14

In Anna Olswanger's Greenhorn, a young Holocaust survivor arrives at a New York yeshiva in 1946 where he will study and live. His only possession is a small box that he never lets out of his sight. Daniel, the young survivor, rarely talks, but the narrator, a stutterer who bears the taunts of the other boys, comes to consider Daniel his friend. The mystery of what's in the box propels this short work, but it's in the complex relationships of the school boys that the human story is revealed. In the end, Aaron, the stutterer, finds his voice and a friend in Daniel, and their bond offers hope for a future life of dreams realized, one in which Daniel is able to let go of his box. Greenhorn is a powerful story that gives human dimension to the Holocaust. It poignantly underscores our flawed humanity and speaks to the healing value of friendship. Families will want to read Greenhorn together.

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A couple years back I posted a glowing review of Anna Olswanger's book, GREENHORN, about a young Jewish refugee who attends a New York boy's school in 1946. If you haven't read it, you should. And now it's been made into into a short film, perfect for sharing with students when discussing the Holocaust or Jewish history. This story is a tender remembrance of one of the most horrific episodes in recent world history. It is also a reminder that every human life has value and that we, as a society and as the human race, must never allow such tragedies to occur again. It is vital we keep the memory of the Holocaust alive in the next generation, and Olswanger's film is the perfect vehicle to do just that.

Click HERE to read my original review of the book.

The film premiered at the Landmark NuArt Theatre in L.A. and at The Museum of Tolerance in New York. It was named the 2015 Audience Award Winner for Best Short Film Drama at the Morris and Mollye Fogelman International Jewish Film Festival in Memphis, and subsequently aired on public television in Memphis and Kentucky. Last month it was part of the Festival Internacional De Cine Judio en Mexico and will screen on March 27 at the International Children’s Film Festival at L.A.’s WonderCon.

The film could be a tie-in to Holocaust Remembrance Day in May and International Holocaust Remembrance Day in January. I’d be happy to send you a private online reviewer’s link to the 25-minute film. 

Libraries and schools can purchase the DVD with public performance rights and show the film in classrooms. To obtain a copy, visit this link:
http://www.tmwmedia.com/productlisting/details/greenhorna-story-of-friendship-in-the-aftermath-of-the-holocaust

Or you can purchase it on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Greenhorn-Friendship-Journey-Aftermath-Holocaust/dp/B01C4UBB10/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1457901089&sr=8-2&keywords=greenhorn+film

A teacher's guide is available here:  http://www.tmwmedia.com/newtmw/teachers_guides/L4812DVD.pdf

MMGM: Win a copy of ONCE WAS A TIME by Leila Sales!

* Interview with Nicky Peacock, author of the BATTLE OF THE UNDEAD SERIES
* A fan letter from 7-year-old SARAH
* TWIST MY CHARM: LOVE POTION #1 Toni Gallagher

Middle Grade Monday is a weekly collection of blog posts assembled by author Shannon Messenger. For a complete list of posts, visit Shannon's blog HERE.

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ONCE WAS A TIME
Leila Sales
Chronicle Books
10 and up

Scroll down for an interview with the author and a chance to win a copy of the book!

In the war-ravaged England of 1940, Charlotte Bromley is sure of only one thing: Kitty McLaughlin is her best friend in the whole world. But when Charlotte's scientist father makes an astonishing discovery that the Germans will covet for themselves, Charlotte is faced with an impossible choice between danger and safety. Should she remain with her friend or journey to another time and place? Her split-second decision has huge consequences, and when she finds herself alone in the world, unsure of Kitty's fate, she knows that somehow, some way, she must find her way back to her friend. Written in the spirit of classic time-travel tales, this book is an imaginative and heartfelt tribute to the unbreakable ties of friendship.

“Rewarding and uplifting.” — Kirkus Reviews

 

“Will delight those who revel in the vast mysteries of time and coincidence.” —The Horn Book Magazine

 

“Shines in its portrayal of friendship.” —School Library Journal

 

“The bond between Lottie and Kitty-proves to be both tender and unstoppable.” —Booklist

 

"An imaginative and heartfelt tribute to the unbreakable ties of friendship."— Middle Shelf Magazine

INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR LEILA SALES:

I always wanted to be an author. I wrote my first middle-grade novel and started submitting it to publishers when I was 11. It got rejected everywhere, which was disappointing at the time, but I now realize is DEFINITELY for the best. It was well-written for someone who had never written a book before, but I had a ways to go before I would be writing at a professional level.

When I was 12 I joined the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), as well as an online listserv of other writers of kids’ books, most of whom were adults, all of whom were at various stages in their publication journey. It was great having these other people to turn to who were pursuing the same dream as me—people who didn’t know I was a kid and therefore took me seriously. I attended my first SCBWI conference a month before my middle-school graduation, which I remember because I got one fancy grow-up looking outfit to wear to both events!

Throughout middle school, high school, and college, I went on to write another five unpublished middle-grade and YA novels. I submitted all of them for publication, but never had any success. I was getting better, but still not quite there.

After graduating from high school, I got a job at a children’s book publisher. I didn’t know if I would ever manage to make a living as an author—after all, I’d already spent half my life trying to sell a novel, so who knew how long it could take. But I did know that I loved children’s books and wanted a career that allowed me to work with them in some capacity.

Even though I had a job now—a job that I found enormously fulfilling—I made time for writing. Around the time I was 25, I met a literary agent at a party through mutual publishing industry friends. I told him about the YA novel I was working on at the time, a comedy told in vignettes about two best friends at an exclusive all-girls prep school. (If you read ONCE WAS A TIME, you’ll realize that girls’ friendship is one of the most important themes in my books.) This agent asked if he could take a look, so after I’d revised the manuscript a ton, I sent it to him, and he offered to represent me. A couple months later, I had a two-book deal with Simon & Schuster, and that comedy became my first published novel, entitled MOSTLY GOOD GIRLS.

The experience of selling my first book is one of the most intense things that has ever happened to me. In a way it didn’t change much: I kept working at the publisher (and indeed, I still do). I didn’t suddenly become rich and famous; I didn’t move into a fancy house or start drinking champagne with Beyonce. My day-to-day existence did not change very much at all. But this life-defining dream had come true. The main thing I wanted to achieve with my life, I had now achieved.

Of course, it’s not like I achieved this goal and then was just done forever. A year after MOSTLY GOOD GIRLS came out, Simon & Schuster published my second YA, PAST PERFECT. After that, I moved over to Macmillan to publish THIS SONG WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE. Then I sold another two YA novels to Macmillan, as well as my first-ever middle grade novel, ONCE WAS A TIME, which is just out now with Chronicle.

I should be clear that it’s not like you sell one book, and then you know how to write successful books every time thereafter. For each novel I’ve published, I’ve written the first few chapters of many, many other books that didn’t quite work and eventually fizzled out. And for each publisher who’s wanted to acquire a book that I’d written, there were always, every single time, other publishers who said “this one doesn’t work for us.” Writing is sort of like playing basketball. It’s not as if once you make one basket, then every other shot you take after that is guaranteed to go in. You’re still going to miss a lot of the time. But the more you practice, the more likely you are to score.

ONCE WAS A TIME is really exciting for me, because it’s the book I’ve published that’s most like those stories I was writing in middle school: a bit younger than my YA novels, with some magical elements (specifically time travel!). It’s geared at a different audience than any of my previous books—nine to twelve year olds rather than teens. It’s less intense than the very first time I published a book, but every time is amazing and eye-opening, and every time feels like a gift.

 

** Leila Sales is the author of many critically acclaimed young adult novels, including Tonight the Streets Are Ours and This Song Will Save Your Life. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. Visit her at leilasales.com

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