Feature Book of the Week Hide and Seek by Katy Grant

Tuesday, December 4, 2012


FEATURE BOOK OF THE WEEK

HIDE AND SEEK
by
Katy Grant




Thirteen-year-old Chase, a geocaching enthusiast, must constantly rely on his wits to solve unexpected problems. This outdoor adventure and boy's coming of age story is set in the remote, rugged mountains of northern Arizona.



Author Guest Post 

As a writer, I often feel like a pack rat.  Pack rats will grab anything interesting they find to take back to their nests—shiny pieces of metal, bits of string, a scrap of cloth.  They never know when they might use it later.


That’s how I write.  And writing Hide and Seek was definitely a pack rat kind of experience.  It started with geocaching.  My older brother first introduced my sons and me to this fun outdoor treasure hunt about ten years ago.  My boys were twelve and eight at the time.  He told us we were going---geo whatting?  Geo cashing?  I had no idea what we were about to do.  But he had a handheld GPS, and we set off in the car, looking for hidden treasure.

My kids loved it!  Complete strangers they would never meet had hidden a secret container somewhere outside in a park near my brother’s house.  With the coordinates on his GPS, we could find the general location of their hidden cache.  Oh, and we had to bring some trinkets along for exchange. Once we found the container, we could take away any little treasures we found inside, as long as we left behind some of the trinkets we had brought.  And people all over the world were doing this!  Playing this fun treasure hunting game, either leaving containers, or looking for hidden containers, or both.  All you needed was a GPS and access to the geocaching website.

Every time we went on a geocache, I kept thinking, this would make a great story.  But besides geocaching, what else would the story be about?  I didn’t know yet.

Dexter
Then my husband, our two boys, and I took a trip during their fall break.  Living in Phoenix, we love getting out of the desert and going away to the cool mountains in the northern part of the state.  And we took Dexter, our German Shepherd mix, along. 
 
When we were on our trip, we did a couple of geocaches.  One afternoon, we went out late.  Being city dwellers, we didn’t think to bring flashlights.  It took us much longer to find the cache than we expected, and we were losing daylight fast.  I realized once the sun went down, we would be in complete and total darkness.  We had a tense hike back to our car, but along the way, we saw a herd of elk, so it was worth it that we almost got stranded!

We also saw deer—a buck, a doe, and their little fawn—and at night, inside the cozy cabin we’d rented for the weekend, we could hear coyotes howling in the distance.  Dexter had the time of his life!  He got to run through the open fields without a leash, ride in the car, hike with us in the woods.  The one scare we had was when he stepped on a fishhook one afternoon when we were fishing.  Luckily, he wasn’t really hurt.

When we got home from that trip, I couldn’t stop thinking about writing a book that would feature geocaching.  I started asking myself, what if.  What if the geocacher is a teenage boy who finds a mysterious note? What if he tries to figure out who wrote the note?  What if the person who wrote the note really needs help?  I had to answer all those questions one by one, and gradually, the story started taking shape. 

My favorite part of the book was making my very own dog Dexter a main character.  It’s the only time I’ve ever put someone I know well into one of my books without changing a single thing.  He was right for the part, and he’s taken his fame quite well. 

Once the book was finished, I realized it wasn’t just about geocaching.  It was about families, about growing up, about change.  It was about being tested and not being sure if you’re up to the challenge. 
That often happens with writing.  You start off with one idea, and it grows from there.

I had so much fun writing this book, and I hope you’ll enjoy reading it.  There’s no better place to get lost than in between the pages of a book.  You don’t even need a GPS to find your way back.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR


I was born Katy Arbuckle in the very small town of Lewisburg, Tennessee. I vividly remember sitting in front of the bookshelves in our den and looking at the covers of children's books that belonged to my older brother and sister. I couldn't read yet, but I would stare longingly at the covers and look at the pictures. My heart ached to be able to read the words on those pages.Those books contained amazing stories, if only I could read them.
I was so happy to start first grade because I would finally, finally learn to read! By second grade, library day at school was my favorite day of the week. Every week I would check out a new book to read.
When I was eight, I read Louisa May Alcott's biography and decided that I wanted to be a writer when I grew up. From that moment on, I never gave up my dream of being a writer.
In many ways, I had a deliriously happy childhood. My neighborhood was full of kids my age. We spent the whole summer riding bikes, playing kick ball, hide-n-seek, and freeze tag, with anywhere from ten to fifteen kids joining in. It was a kid world where grown-ups left us alone and let us play by ourselves.
But I also had a tragic childhood. My mother suffered from depression and was often in and out of hospitals. My older sister Nan had rheumatoid arthritis and had been in a wheelchair since she was twelve. Two weeks after my tenth birthday, my mother died suddenly. For my birthday that year, I had received the four Borrowers books by Mary Norton. They immediately became my favorite books during that very sad time of my life.
I now live a happy and tranquil life in Mesa, Arizona with my husband Eric and my two teenage sons, Jackson and Ethan. Over the years, I have taught English classes at Arizona State University, Mesa Community College, and Rio Salado Community College. I started writing my first novel in 1992, and much, much later – in 2006! – I got a contract to publish that novel and two other novels that would be in the same series.
Since I was eight, I have dreamed of being a writer. And now I can finally say that I am living my childhood dream. (biography retrieved from author website)



I want to apologize to Mrs. Grant.  


When I first posted this week's Feature Book, I did not realize that she had sent me her post. Consequently, I did not post it. Thankfully, she graciously resent it along with a picture of Dexter. I hope you will all enjoy reading her post as much as I have.


Thank you so much for your participation, and your generous spirit!

44 Delicious Comments:

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Anonymous said...

sound like a good book. hazelwood west middle school.

Anonymous said...

can't wait 2 read it. :-p hazelwood west middle school.

Anonymous said...

sounds like an exelent book. <3. hazelwood west middle school.

Anonymous said...

I was very into the book while reading... just couldn't get enough

Hazelwood North middle

Anonymous said...

I was very into the book while reading... just couldn't get enough

Hazelwood North middle

Anonymous said...

Loved it :)


Hazelwood North middle

Anonymous said...

Loved it :)


Hazelwood North middle

Anonymous said...

Loved it :)


Hazelwood North middle

Anonymous said...

Loved it :)


Hazelwood North middle

Anonymous said...

now i want to try a caushe
hazelwood west middle

Anonymous said...

loooooove this book.
hazelwood west middle

Anonymous said...

strongly suggest thos one if you havent read it already
hazelwood west middle

Anonymous said...

i kinda suspected somerthing from the beggining, but this is crazy
hazelwood west middle

Anonymous said...

ive read this book tons of times its soo good.
hazelwood west middle

Anonymous said...

i knew some thing wqas up
hazelwood west middle

Anonymous said...

sooo good
hazelwood west middle

Anonymous said...

cant believe it died on him when he really needeed it
hazelwood west middle

Anonymous said...

i cant believe he found them
hazelwood west middle

Anonymous said...

he mustve gotten pretty beat up
hazelwood west middle

Anonymous said...

It was a really great book, and I enjoyed how it dealt with kids having problems that they just can't bring adults into. I know i was sitting there like "Chase, tell your mom. Chase, TELL YOUR MOTHER!" But hey, he was successful in the end!
Hazelwood North Middle

cf said...

this book is wonderfully phenomanel
hazelwood west middle
f

c said...

this is a great book!!!
hazelwood west middle

Anonymous said...

looooooooooooove this book
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Anonymous said...

shea is sooo cool.
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Anonymous said...

this book is grreat
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Anonymous said...

Such a great book! When I first looked at it, I thought it wouldn't be that great of a book.... I. WAS. WRONG!!!! IT'S SO GOOD! You know the saying "Don't judge a book by it's cover" I'll never judge a book before reading it again!

I was drawn into this book! I can relate to it; I've been geocaching before, (not with that fancy GPS though) and it was actually really fun. Well, me and my friends only found about two geocache spots, (most of the other one's were taken, and our GPS's weren't really working) but yeah, I can see how much fun Chase must have! Jack and Sam are adorable :)

I love this book so much!

~Hazelwood West Middle School

Anonymous said...

i love this book soooo much!!!! i cant believe it!!!
hazelwood west middle

Anonymous said...

this book is awesome. I started crying when he found their mom
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Anonymous said...

this book is awwesome!!!
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Anonymous said...

this book is wonderfull!!!!!!!
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Anonymous said...

i <3 this book sooooooo much!!
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Anonymous said...

this book is awesome!!!!
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Anonymous said...

this book is awesome!!!!
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Anonymous said...

this book is one of the best in my opinion
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Anonymous said...

this book is 1 of my favorites
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Anonymous said...

I had no idea it would end like that! it was such a surprise! I loved it. when I first herd about a geocaching book I had to read it!! that was a really good book.

Anonymous said...

This book is fast, once you get into it. I couldn't seem to put it down!!

~Hazelwood West Middle

GirlThatLuvsBOB-FL said...

I absolutely LOVED Hide and Seek! I read it to be on my school's Battle of the Books team (our competition is soon!) as it was on the SSYRA list. It made me just cry. It was SUCH a good book and I want to give kudos to Ms. Grant for her excellent writing!

Anonymous said...

soooo scary when your closer to the end of the book!!!! <3 hazelwood west middle

Anonymous said...

Such a fast read. (not that its short. It's because it's so exciting!!!!!!!)

~West Middle

Anonymous said...

North Middle-
Found it hard to get into, but it was pretty okay

 
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