2011/2012 Feature Book of the Week #8Priscilla the Great by Sybil Nelson

FEATURE BOOK OF THE WEEK

PRISCILLA THE GREAT

BY

SYBIL NELSON

Meet Priscilla Sumner, an ordinary seventh grader with extraordinary gifts. As if middle school isn’t hard enough, not only does Priscilla have to fight pimples and bullies, but genetically enhanced assassins trying to kill her and her family. Armed with wit, strength, and a genius best friend, Priscilla must defeat the Selliwood Institute, an organization dead set on turning children into killing machines.

Add an older brother annoyingly obsessed with Christina Aguilera, mischievous baby twin brothers who could scare the sin off of Satan, and parents more puzzling than a Rubik’s cube in the Bermuda triangle and expect a smoking page-turner! (Publisher's summary from Goodreads)

GUEST POST FROM SYBIL NELSON

            Hi Bookbattlers! Thanks so much for having me this year. I’m so excited for you to get to know Priscilla Sumner, the title character in my Priscilla the Great series. I’ve written a lot of books and she is by far the most fun to write. While I was writing the series, many times during the day I’d have to stop what I was doing in order to jot down something funny I could imagine Priscilla saying.

            So how did I come up with the idea for my feisty little fire-thrower? Well I started thinking about all the problems kids have when puberty comes along. I mean, what does puberty bring besides pimples and confusing hormones? So I thought how cool would it be if puberty brought awesome powers as well. But Priscilla the Great isn’t your ordinary superhero story. Even without her fire-shooting fingers, she is a riveting character. She’s addicted to superhero movies, comic books, and racing bikes down Main Street with her friend Kyle. Plus her school cafeteria has a soft serve ice cream machine which is home to the monthly seventh grade versus eighth grade Ice Cream Challenge (ICC). Imagine being able to stick your head under the nozzle of your favorite ice cream and gorge yourself while humiliating the eighth grade bullies. Awesome!

            While Priscilla is totally competitive in a tomboy kind of way, she is also completely in touch with her feminine side. A major plot point of the book is Priscilla trying to capture the attention of her crush, Spencer Callahan who barely knows she exists.

            On top of all this, Priscilla also has to deal with her quirky family: five-year-old twin brothers who like to throw frozen waffles at her for no reason at all, a sixteen-year-old brother who can’t stop singing Christina Aguilera songs, a father who looks like a professional wrestler but would rather bake cookies and a mother who has never heard of Oprah!

            I wrote Priscilla the Great while I was a high school teacher in South Carolina. I often found my inspiration for characters and situations from my students. In fact, Priscilla is a mix of two my students Ellen and Helen. It’s a complete coincidence that their names happen to rhyme. They weren’t even related. Anyway, I remember Helen would come into class every day with the craziest stories of something that happened to her. Once she shaved her armpits without shaving cream and they burned so badly that she spent the day with her hands tucked in her armpits. I haven’t used that story yet but expect it soon!

            So basically, if you haven’t already been introduced to Priscilla’s great world, be sure to check it out. Soon, she’ll most definitely be the hottest girl you know!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sybil has always had a love of books and writing. During her school years, shed choose a different author each summer and devour their complete works.  Riding public transportation from her low-income housing, she always dedicated Wednesdays to her library pursuits. 

 
Sybil also spent her time jotting down poems and stories in her beloved notebooks. She even won a full scholarship to Washington and Lee University for one of her essays. Though her scholarship was for journalism, she soon lost confidence in her writing and ended up changing her major from English and Journalism to Mathematics and Music Theory.

 
During the years after college, while working as a math teacher at Georgetown Day School, Sybil never lost her love of words. She continued to devour novels in her free time. In all of her reading however, she began to notice that the novels she enjoyed most never contained any black female characters. This observation bothered her.

 

After years noticing the role models (or lack thereof) for black girls in the media, Sybil finally decided to pick up a pen and do something about it. While working as a math teacher at Ashley Hall School in Charleston, South Carolina, finishing her masters thesis at the College of Charelston, she began writing stories poems and novels that featured strong black women. She now attends the Medical University of South Carolina pursuing her Ph.D. in Biostatistics. She continues to write and, to date, has written ten complete novels.

 

Sybil has three books published under pen name Leslie DuBois. Visit www.LeslieDuBois.com to learn more. 

A BIG thanks to Sybil Nelson for taking time out to support all you lovely book battlers. Hope you are enjoying Priscilla the Great as much as it sounds like Ms. Nelson enjoyed writing about her. Make sure you leave a comment to let her know and enter in the Comment Challenge.

Also make sure you stop by next Monday for a very

special and exciting announcement!! 

2011/2012 Feature Book of the Week #4 Dead Boys by Royce Buckingham

FEATURE BOOK OF THE WEEK

DEAD BOYS BY ROYCE BUCKINGHAM

In the desert town of Richland, Washington, there stands a giant sycamore tree. Horribly mutated by nuclear waste, it feeds on the life energy of boys that it snags with its living roots. And when Teddy Matthews moves to town, the tree trains its sights on its next victim.

From the start, Teddy knows something is very wrong with Richland-every kid he meets disappears before his eyes. A trip to the cemetery confirms that these boys are actually dead and trying to lure him to the tree. But that knowledge is no help when Teddy is swept into the tree's world, a dark version of Richland from which there is no escape. (Publisher's summary from Goodreads)

GUEST POST FROM

 Royce “Atomic” Buckingham

Hey reading warriors! I hear you are going to battle, and I am so psyched that my book THE DEAD BOYS is one of the weapons. I write fantasy and monster novels, so a good raging battle is right up my alley.

What’s really cool about my book THE DEAD BOYS is that it’s set in my home town of Richland, WA, where I grew up near the Hanford nuclear plant (you can Wikipedia Hanford for more info). Turns out radioactive waste was dumped in my drinking water until I was about five years old. Once I started writing fantasy books, it seemed the perfect setting for a mutated monster story (I’ll stop there…I don’t want to give any more away). The locations in the book are authentic (check Mapquest to further investigate), as is the history of Hanford. Well…okay, I did take a few liberties in order to monsterfy the town.

I now live in Bellingham, WA, overlooking the islands in Puget Sound. My other novels, DEMONKEEPER and GOBLINS, are also set in places I’ve lived. They are even more monstery than THE DEAD BOYS, if that’s possible. DEMONKEEPER is a bestseller in Germany and was even optioned for a movie, once upon a time. You can write me at royce@demonkeeper.com. 

My advice for aspiring writers is to create your story completely in your head before you start writing. My favorite way is by telling it to others out loud over and over before I whip out the laptop. My advice for aspiring readers is: do it a lot! It’s fun, it’s cool, and it makes you smart.

Have a great battle.

Royce

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 I was born in 1966 in Richland, Washington and grew up in the 70’s near the Hanford nuclear plant. Richland is in the eastern Washingtonian desert on the Columbia river, one of the largest rivers in the world. I used to take a trip each summer with my family to my grandparents’ working ranch in the mountainous Bozeman/Livingston area of Montana. As a young child in Richland, I was a Cub Scout, loved sports, and I was fascinated by fantastic tales such as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Phantom Tollbooth and The Mouse and the Motorcycle.   

As I grew older, I moved on to The Hobbit, Conan the Barbarian and anything Stephen King. I collected comic books too. Movies were a big event in my small, government town. I saw Jaws at the theater the day it opened in 1975. I was nine years old. I stood in the sold-out line again in 1977 for Star Wars when I was eleven, and again for Alien when I was thirteen. We didn’t have VCR’s back then. 

Around twelve, I discovered the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons&Dragons and began to create my own fantasy worlds. I was a Little League baseball player filled with wonder and dreams and a fascination for stories.   
When I graduated from high school, I left home for Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. It’s a small liberal arts school. I played college baseball there for a couple of years, but was primarily there for the academics. I majored in English literature and traded Stephen King and the X-men for Milton and Hemmingway. I also gave up baseball my junior year to go abroad and study English in…England.   

I had begun tinkering with creative writing by this time. However, I felt that I should be responsible and pursue a “real career.”

I applied and was accepted at the University of Oregon School of Law. I didn’t know anything about law, but it seemed a good bet to provide a “real career.”    I discovered an area of law I found interesting—criminal law. In my final year at law school, I studied all things crime and even wrote a fifty-page thesis-style paper on juvenile criminals. I also took an undergraduate creative writing class for fun in my spare time and wrote a dark little literary/horror story. At the suggestion of a professor, I sent my thesis to a law review. At the suggestion of a friend, I sent my story to a literary magazine.  

As law school came to a close, I was contacted by the Willamette Law Review. They wanted to publish my article on juvenile offenders. About the same time, I got a call from Reed Magazine, the Literary Magazine of San Jose State University. They wanted to publish my short story…as written. These were two early writing successes that couldn’t have been more different.   

My legal article went onto my resume, my short story went into my drawer, and I began looking for a job to begin my “real career.” My first interview was at the Whatcom County Prosecutor’s Office (DA’s Office) in Bellingham, Washington, a gorgeous little University town north of Seattle overlooking the San Juan Islands. When I arrived, the receptionist told me that there were over 100 inquiries for the job. The interview consisted, in part, of the entire office of experienced attorneys watching me do a mock opening statement and mock cross-examination of a witness in a real courtroom. It was terrifying, but I prepared hard and apparently did well, because I got the job. I passed the bar exam and began to prosecute criminals as a real attorney.  

As I went after bad guys in real life, I began to write fantasy, sci-fi and horror short stories in my spare time and submit them to publications. In 1993, I collected over one hundred rejection letters. One especially mean-spirited letter said, “your story is moronic, don’t you have anything better to do with your time?” It was discouraging, but I made up a file entitled, “reasons to keep writing,” and kept all of those letters as motivation. Eventually, I had seven short stories published in small magazines that nobody had ever heard of, including me. I discovered later that a 7% publication rate for short stories is actually pretty good. I also did well in some story competitions, which made me think, “hey, I can do this.” I showed my stories to anyone who was willing read them. People often said my stuff was weird, which I took as a compliment.   

I sat down and wrote a novel. It took a year. I didn’t know anything about the publishing industry at the time, and I couldn’t sell it. I was discouraged. It took too long to write a novel just to learn at the end that nobody would buy it. But short stories didn’t get me many fans or much money. I wanted to tell stories to a larger audience. About this time, I discovered the screenplay format.   

It was the mid-90’s, and I had advanced to a position as a juvenile court prosecutor. Rap songs about violent gang members were popular, and I handled many serious juvenile offenders.   

I was writing screenplays at this point. My first was an adaptation of my novel. I loved the screenplay form. It was very direct, like me. I wrote another and entered a contest. To my delight, I was a finalist, and my script was performed as a stage reading in Seattle. I was encouraged to write more scripts.   

Then Demonkeeper happened.

Demonkeeper began as a short story inspired by a street kid I used to prosecute regularly in juvenile court. He was thirteen, had a green Mohawk, and I’d see him downtown begging change. One day he disappeared, and nobody seemed to notice. Even his parents didn’t know where he’d gone, or care. I imagined the chaos of street life as a monster that rose and ate him up while people weren’t paying attention, as it does with so many lost children. I wrote a screenplay from that story. The script evolved into a much more lighthearted and fun tale than that short tale I wrote years earlier, but the message remained—kids need stability, family and a home.

The Demonkeeper screenplay married my love of fantasy with the themes I was seeing in the courtroom during my very somber day-job. It began to win competitions. I wrote other scripts, and they earned me awards as well, but Demonkeeper was always the favorite and garnered the most notice. The awards kept me going like addictive little nibbles at success, and they regularly reminded me that, “hey, I can do this.” By 1999, I was writing more scripts and sending my work to L.A. in the hope that I could sell something. 

  
For the next five years, I wrote hard and tried to sell a script. As a result, I ended up winning the quadruple-crown of northwest screenwriting competitions, including the Washington State short script competition, the Pacific Northwest Writers Association feature length script competition, the Washington State feature length competition (with Demonkeeper), and the Seattle International Film Festival’s Pitch Competition all in the space of two years. Some Hollywood producers got interested in Demonkeeper, and I thought I was about to break through. I even took the time to translate Demonkeeper into a novel.   

But as excited as I got about my amateur success, my big-budget fantasy about street monsters eating lost kids did not get picked up by a studio. In the meantime, I had children of my own. I also got promoted at work. I moved to adult felony prosecutions—robbery, arson, abuse, negligent homicides, burglary, etc.. My wife was working full-time too. I had to write at night after everyone else went to bed. I was typically up until two a.m., and often later, either writing or preparing for jury trials. This…was a problem. My intense day job and my writing were taking time away from my family. I even fell asleep sitting upright at my desk once. As good as the signs were for my writing, the fact was: I wasn’t breaking through, I wasn’t making any money at it, and I’d been doing it over ten years. It was tough to justify the commitment. I had a “real career,” and I questioned why I was still chasing what seemed a silly dream.   

I’d submitted Demonkeeper to the Nicholl Fellowship, a contest put on by the Academy for amateur screenwriters. I’d done so every year for some time. They receive up to 5000 entries annually and are regarded as the best competition for screenwriters—heck, they’re the Academy Awards people! Winners often obtained representation and/or sold scripts. I’d done well in the competition before, but, as with my attempts to sell my work, I’d never won. In 2004, with all of my other obligations weighing on me, I resolved to quit writing seriously after I received the results of that year’s Nicholl Fellowship. 

That same week, Microsoft e-mailed me. They’d heard about Demonkeeper from a friend of mine in Seattle. They wanted to hire a screenwriter to create an original story for an Xbox video game. I was floored. After they read my script, they offered me the job. I sat down with my wife. This was not what I had planned, but it was an opportunity to write a fantasy story for a real audience for real money. My amazing wife took one look at our choice between my dream vs. my secure “real career” and told me…“go for it.” Completely contrary to every conservative lesson I’d ever been taught, I “went for it.” I left my “real career” and wrote Microsoft an incredible story. A few months later, Microsoft cancelled the project, and I came crawling back to the prosecutor’s office to beg for my job back. 

This time I felt I was truly done with writing. I’d been doing it for almost twelve years now. I’d won almost everything I could win, and still I hadn’t sold anything. And I almost lost my hard-earned, secure government job as a prosecutor.

Then I received a letter from the Nicholl Fellowship. Demonkeeper had made it to the top 2% and was being considered for the final round of the competition. I was elated.
Then it lost. I was done, this time for good. I shut off the computer.

Along about here, Michael Kuciak at Atchity Entertainment International (AEI) gave me an innocuous call and asked if he could read the script that had done well in the Nicholl Fellowship. I sent Demonkeeper down to him and, frankly, forgot about it. I’d sent lots of scripts out, and only once had producers gotten legitimately interested. I returned to my stabbings, shootings, and robbings prosecutions. At least, I thought, I’d given my dream of being a writer a shot with the Microsoft gig. On my deathbed, I could say that I tried.   

Then Mike called me. He’d read Demonkeeper. He loved it. His bosses had read it. They loved it. They wanted to represent me. I mentioned that I had written it into a novel and asked if they cared. The response from them was surprise and delight. It turned out that AEI specialized in taking literary properties first to New York, then to Hollywood. Ken Atchity at AEI told me that they’d sell my novel in NY, then sell my script in LA. Yeah, right, I thought, but they did indeed work quickly to get my novel ready for publishers in New York to review.

In late 2005, Penguin Publishers read it Demonkeeper…and they loved it. They bought my novel sometime around Christmas of that year. Wow! We celebrated. I jumped up and down.   

The sale was announced in Publishers Weekly shortly thereafter, in January of ‘06. It turns out that Hollywood studio scouts read Publishers Weekly looking for new material. Fox 2000, a division of 20th Century Fox, called AEI the day the announcement was printed. They wanted to read the novel. Ken was ready. He asked them, “wouldn’t you rather read Royce’s award-winning screenplay?” Fox read the script and made an offer the next day. Double wow! I spent a week pinching myself each morning to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.

THIS WAS IT—AFTER THIRTEEN YEARS OF TRYING TO GET DISCOVERED, I’D SOLD A BOOK AND A MOVIE ALMOST SIMULTANEOUSLY.   

Ken and AEI had delivered exactly as promised. And that hasn’t been the end of it. My second novel, Goblins, sold to Penguin later that same year. I now have three books out in the U.S.: Demonkeeper, Goblins! and The Dead Boys. Demonkeeper I was a best seller in Germany and third book of that series will be released in November 2011. Demonkeeper has also sold to and/or been released in France, Italy, Finland, Spain, Peru, Russia, Romania.

The whole idea of Penguin publishing my novels and 20th Century Fox making a movie out of my crazy monster fantasy was overwhelming at the time, and I still pinch myself some days. But looking back over this letter, I think things were meant to work out this way. The other day I found a scrap of paper in my Cub Scout handbook in my parents’ basement. It was a one-page story written in a childish cursive script with a No. 2 pencil. The story was about a man who found a ray gun and accidentally made himself disappear—a spooky science fiction tale. The story had my name printed neatly at the bottom, and my age. I was eight years old. (retrieved from author's website)

A picture of the boy eating tree from Dead Boys

A big thanks to Royce for participating in this year's book battle. I am sure he would love to hear from all the teams about your experience reading Dead Boys.

 

Feature Book of the Week Miracle's Boys by Jacqueline Woodson

FEATURED BOOK OF THE WEEK

Nothing is like it used to be. If it were, Mama would still be alive. Papa wouldn't have died. Thirteen-year-old Lafayette's older brother, Charlie wouldn't have done time at a correctional facility. And oldest brother Ty'ree would have gone to college instead of having to work full time to support the three of them. If things were the same, Lafayette wouldn't be so full of questions, like why Mama had to die, why Charlie hates him so much now, and how they're all supposed to survive these times together when so much seems to be set against them.

This is the story of three remarkable young men; brothers who have only each other to rely on and who must decide whether they'll work with that or let it tear them apart. (Publisher's summary from Goodreads)

  

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Although she was born in Ohio, Jacqueline Woodson grew up in South Carolina and in Brooklyn, New York, where she still lives. When she was a child, her Brooklyn neighbors were mostly Hispanic and African American. "Everything from the food I grew up eating to the music I learned to dance to had the flavors of both the South and Puerto Rico," she remembers. This background has served her well as a writer because the characters in her fiction are from a variety of ethnic groups and social classes.

Woodson often writes about difficult issues that young people face and characters who feel out of place. "I think, growing up, I felt like I was on the outside a lot; and I think, as a grownup, I've… realized that it's okay to be on the outside," she says. If she has a single message to share with readers, it's that "no matter who you are in the world, it's okay to be who you are."

Jacqueline Woodson's advice to young writers is this: "Write every single day, at least for thirty minutes — just sit down and write in your diary or write a letter to a friend or write a poem or anything, but just try to practice writing every day." She also recommends reading books by writers you admire. (Retrieved from Houghton Mifflin Reading)

Featured book of the WeekTenth Grade Bleeds by Heather Brewer

FEATURED BOOK OF THE WEEK

It’s another sucky year at Bathory High for Vladimir Tod. The evil vampire D’Ablo is hunting for the ritual that could steal Vlad’s powers. His best friend Henry doesn’t want to be his drudge anymore. And as if all that weren’t enough, it’s getting harder for Vlad to resist feeding on the people around him. When months go by with no word from Uncle Otis and D’Ablo shows up demanding Vlad’s father’s journal, Vlad realizes that having a normal high school year is the least of his concerns. Vlad needs to act fast, and even his status as the Pravus won’t save him this time . (Publisher's summary from Goodreads)

A VERY SPECIAL GUEST POST AND ANNOUNCEMENT FROM AUNTIE HEATHER

When you're a successful author, you often travel around the country, visiting really amazing people that you might never see again at incredible events. I've been all over the place, and every time, I wish that I could return and experience it all over again. That wish has been fulfilled twice now, and I couldn't be happier about it!

In 2088, I was asked to attend the Pattonville Book Battle, and I was absolutely floored by how much fun it was! The list of books that everyone had to read in order to participate contained some of my current faves, and it was fun watching students scramble to the front to turn their team's answers in. Afterwards, I was happy to do an autographing session.

I was thrilled in 2009 to be asked back. So much so that I gave away a school visit to the lucky winners - and this year, I'm going to do it all over again! Last year, I had lost my voice just days before the book battle and had to whisper my congratulations, but I'm keeping my mouth closed this year, so I can shout how proud I am of all of you, Minions!

This time I'll have the brilliant James Dashner (author of THE MAZE RUNNER and THE SCORCH TRIALS) by my side at Pattonville Middle School, and I cannot wait to see your anxious faces. It makes me so proud to know that not only are tweens and teens working hard to be part of something special, but that you're all cool enough to stand up and say, "Reading is cool!" Because it so is. And so are all of you.

I'm currently hard at work on my next books - one is a spin-off of THE CHRONICLES OF VLADIMIR TOD called THE SLAYER CHRONICLES and the other is a YA fantasy epic called BLOODBOUND - but I can hardly wait to see you all again. Here's to reading! And best of luck, everyone

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR Heather Brewer was not your typical teen growing up. She wore black, danced under full moons, and devoured every book in sight. She hasn't changed much. Today, Heather can be found writing in her funky, black Happy Bunny jammie pants, dancing under a full moon, devouring every book in sight, and attending renaissance faire in full costume (and in character). When Heather's not writing, dressing up, dancing and reading, she's answering email, which she loves to get over at her website.

I want to thank Heather for taking time out of her busy schedule to write this guest post for the Area Wide Book Battle Teams.

Heather has become a very important part of the competition and we are honored that she also willingly attends the Book Battle every year. So make sure you have your books with you to have Auntie Heather autograph them.

 

Feature Book of the Week Bringing the Boys Home by N. A. Nelson

FEATURED BOOK OF THE WEEK

"I've seen what the world does to the weak. It'll eat you alive."

Tirio was cast out of the Takunami tribe at a very young age because of his disabled foot. But an American woman named Sara adopted him, and his life has only gotten better since. Now, as his thirteenth birthday approaches, things are nearly perfect. So why is he having visions and hearing voices calling him back to the Amazon?

Luka has spent his whole life preparing for his soche seche tente, a sixth-sense test all Takunami boys must endure just before their thirteenth birthday. His family's future depends on whether or not he passes this perilous test. His mother has dedicated herself to making sure that no aspect of his training is overlooked . . . but fate has a way of disturbing even the most carefully laid plans.

Two young boys. An unforgiving jungle. One shared destiny.

GUEST POST FROM N. A. NELSON

Battle of the Books? Cool-io. I love it!

In a traditional sense of Battle of the Bands, let’s assume that Bringing the Boy Home would sound something like this: staccato violin sounds, broken up by huge cymbals clashing, then joined by some deep and dangerous cello sounds, shaken up with maracas “sh-sh-sshushing” in the background, interspersed with some techno piano synthesizer, and  big ol’ booming drums, crescendoing with a horn and ending with birds tweeting. In other words, this: http://www.ninanelsonbooks.com/video.html.

Thank you so much for including BTBH in this battle. Is it to the death or do we all shake hands and say “Good Game” at the end? Probably the latter, eh? Alright. I’m in.

So what can I say about my book. It was my very first—my debut and it poured out of me like water out of an underground spring. I did a lot of research: survival techniques, jungle flora and fauna, endemic Amazonian tribes, but when it came time to actually writing the book, I remember just sitting back and watching a movie play out somewhere in my head and just trying to keep up as I typed the scene down.

It was fun and easy and I was able to finish the novel in nine months. Sure, there were times when I got “stuck”. For example when I got to the point where I had to know how the two boys were related, I remember panicking, “How am I going to do that without it being obvious?” So I went for a walk and 25 yards into my jaunt, the answer came to me. My two dogs were completely confused (not to mention bummed out) when I turned on my heels and headed back home so I could keep writing.

What I’m trying to say is that while writing BTBH, I was on a bit of a “soche seche tente” a lot like Tirio and Luka. And I followed my gut. I didn’t doubt. A scene would come up and I’d type it down. Not once did I think, “this is stupid.” or “Why am I putting this it there?” I just listened and typed.

This “gut feeling” is called intuition and I’ve learned to stand up and PAY ATTENTION when it comes knocking—not just in my writing but in my life. Where does this feeling come from? Well with Tirio, it came from his dad, but for me? I’m not sure. But I do know that it comes from someplace magical and amazing and when you follow it magical and amazing things happen.

So if you feel like you should “Go left” when everyone else goes right, go for it!  If you want to wear purple and pink pants, then wear them...even if everyone else is wearing blue jeans. Like Tirio, if you listen to that sixth sense, that intuition, that gut feeling—you’ll end up exactly where you’re supposed to be in the end.  Happy. Giddy. And feeling like everything is right with the world. 

Look at me. I did. And I’m rockin’ and sockin’ it out in the Battle of the Books. Trust me on this one. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

I was born in London, England to German parents, who were stationed abroad because my father was in the American Air Force. (Wow—that sounds like the beginning of a spy novel, doesn’t it?)  My father, mother, sister and baby-me lived in Martin Manor, an ivy-cloaked, ten bedroom, drafty mansion with only fireplaces to ward off the damp, foggy chill. Although I don’t remember much about that time of my life, I look happy enough in my baby pictures, so let’s move on. 

After leaving England, my life becomes less spy novel, more Little House on the Prairie as my parents bought a thousand acre farm in rural Missouri. We had cows, pigs, sheep (until they got killed by coyotes), chickens, guineas, peacocks, ducks, geese, Shetland ponies (until one reared back and fell on my sister on an electric fence), cats and dogs. I was in heaven: fishing for snapping turtles in the pond with my brother, riding my black and yellow BMX bike, building hay houses in the barn, eating apples off the trees and reading lots and lots of books. And when I got bored, I wrote—mostly poetry—and listened to Elvis Presley records.  

Then came high school—and the realization that living thirty minutes from town wasn’t really conducive to a thriving social life. I graduated from Rolla High School never having been nominated queen, princess or president of anything, but I did gain valuable fast food experience working at Wendy’s. (Everyone should don polyester and answer the call of the drive-thru window at least once in their lifetime.)

When I entered college (University of Missouri-Columbia,) I had no idea what to major in, but remembering how much I loved to write, I decided on English. Two semesters later I changed my mind—too many rules: “write like this,” “don’t write like this.” It didn’t feel right to write that way—not for me, at least.    

And then in the middle of my “What am I going to do with my life?” dilemma, somebody told me “Figure out what you love to do and then find a way to get paid to do it.” So I mulled and pondered and brooded and then—light bulb moment: recreation.  I’d been a lifeguard since I was sixteen, had just gotten certified to teach water aerobics (before you laugh, I dare you to take one of my classes) and loved to travel. So after spending a summer lifeguarding at Disney World (Disney College Program)  Apply if/when you’re eligible.), a year studying at the University of Hawaii-Manoa, (Honors Exchange Program, good grades=cool opportunities), and a six month internship at a hotel in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands (Please be nice to the front desk staff, folks.), I received a BS in travel, tourism and recreation—or as my father calls it: underwater basket weaving.

My first job after college was as an aerobics instructor/personal trainer/sales rep at a health and racquet club in Pensacola, FL. Soon after starting there, I was set up on a blind date (yikes!) with a Marine Corps pilot. We fell in love, got two dogs, moved to New York City and became betrothed. (See the dogs in the background?) 

I immediately enrolled in acting classes (What IS it about NYC that makes everyone think they can act?) and met people so passionate about acting, they shamed me. With my tail between my legs, I bowed out, in awe of the crazed look in other student’s eyes when they talked about movies and how they wished they could have gotten so-n-so’s role. I was jealous. I wanted that crazed look. Acting didn’t give it to me.  What would? I had an idea—writing.  

So I bought a yellow legal pad, sharpened my pencils and signed up for a Gotham Writers workshop. Every week my supportive husband would walk me home from class so we could “discuss” how it went. The poor guy didn’t get a word in edgewise. I ranted, I raved, I raked my hair and gestured madly. I talked too loud, too fast and interrupted myself.  I was right where I wanted to be…with that crazed look in my eye. 

However, it wasn’t until one baby and a move later that I started to write in earnest. With my second pregnancy, I had insomnia. Since sleep was no longer an option, I’d trudge downstairs, prop my laptop on my belly and from about midnight to 4 a.m. I’d write. Nine months later I gave birth to a healthy baby boy. It took me an additional three months to complete the manuscript. Yes, finishing my novel was harder than having a child.   

So there you have it, my life: spy novel turned Little House on the Prairie, turned chick lit, turned travelogue, turned…

I don’t know—as with my books, I’m never quite sure of the ending until I write the last word. (Retrieved from author's website http://www.ninanelsonbooks.com/)

I want to thanks Nina for taking time out of her busy schedule writing and agreeing to do a guest post.

 

Featured book of the WeekWhen the Black Girl Sings by Bil Wright

FEATURE BOOK OF THE WEEK

 

Lahni Schuler is the only black student at her private prep school. She's also the adopted child of two loving, but white, parents who are on the road to divorce. Struggling to comfort her mother and angry with her dad, Lahni feels more and more alone. But when Lahni and her mother attend a local church one Sunday, Lahni hears the amazing gospel choir, and her life takes an unexpected turn.
 

It so happens that one of Lahni's teachers, Mr. Faringhelli, has nominated her for a talent competition, and she is expected to perform a song in front of the whole school. Lahni decides to join the church choir to help her become a better singer. But what starts out as a way to practice singing becomes a place of belonging and a means for Lahni to discover her own identity. 

In this moving book, acclaimed author Bil Wright, tells the story of one girl's search to find a home where she truly belongs. (Publisher's summary from Goodreads)

About the Author

Bil Wright is the author of When the Black Girl Sings, a Junior Library Guild selection, and Sunday You Learn How to Box, which was one of Booklist's best adult books for teens; a New York Public Library Best Book for the Teen Age; a Coretta Scott King Celebrating the Dream Book; and on the ALA's list of Books for Gay Teens. His poetry and short fiction have appeared in several anthologies, including Shade, Black Like Us, The Road Before Us, and Black Silk. An associate professor of English at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, Bil Wright lives in New York City. Visit him at www.bilwright.com. (Bio and photo retrieved from Simon and Schuster)

Featured Book of the Week and An Exciting Announcement

FEATURE BOOK OF THE WEEK

Imagine waking up one day in total darkness, unsure of where you are and unable to remember anything about yourself except your first name. You're in a bizarre place devoid of adults called the Glade. The Glade is an enclosed structure with a jail, a graveyard, a slaughterhouse, living quarters, and gardens. And no way out. Outside the Glade is the Maze, and every day some of the kids -- the Runners -- venture into the labyrinth, trying to map the ever-changing pattern of walls in an attempt to find an exit from this hellish place. So far, no one has figured it out. And not all of the Runners return from their daily exertions, victims of the maniacal Grievers, part animal, part mechanical killing machines.

Thomas is the newest arrival to the Glade in this Truman-meets-Lord of the Flies tale. A motley crew of half a dozen kids is all he has to guide him in this strange world. As soon as he arrives, unusual things begin to happen, and the others grow suspicious of him. Though the Maze seems somehow familiar to Thomas, he's unable to make sense of the place, despite his extraordinary abilities as a Runner. What is this place, and does Thomas hold the key to finding a way out? (Publisher's summary from Goodreads)

 Announcement and Special Guest Post From 

James Dashner

The Area Wide Book Battle Committee with the help of Scholastic Book Fairs is happy to announce that James Dashner will be attending this year's battle.  

Hi guys! I'm honored to be part of the Book Battle this year, and I can't wait to come out there and meet a lot of you. I hope you'll enjoy my book, The Maze Runner. It's a dark story and might give you some nightmares, maybe even cause some permanent psychological damage. I hope you're cool with that! Just get a therapist afterward and watch lots of Spongebob and you should be back on track.

I had a lot of fun writing this book, as well as the two sequels (Book 3 comes out this fall). It was heavily inspired by two books I loved in high school: Ender's Game and Lord of the Flies. It was also influenced by the TV show Lost, which I was watching while working on the manuscripts. There is a lot of mystery, action, intrigue, and suspense, and I hope that you find yourself wanting to tear through its pages.

There are a lot of exciting things coming down the pipeline related to this series, including a movie by 20th Century Fox, so crack it open and have at it! I hope you have as much fun reading my story as I did writing it. See you soon....

James Dashner

About the Author

James Dashner is the author of both children's fantasy series The 13th Reality, and the Jimmy Fincher Saga. His novel The Journal of Curious Letters was chosen for a 2008 Borders Original Voices pick. He has been published by Cedar Fort, Inc and by Shadow Mountain Press, known for their popular children's novels series Leven Thumps and Fablehaven. However, Delacorte—a division of Random House— published his new series, The Maze Runner, the first of which was out Fall 2009, and The Scorch Trails, which was released Oct. 2010. The third book in this dysptopian series The Death Cure (working title) is planned to be release Oct. 2011.

James Dashner was born in Georgia and attended Brigham Young University. Dashner. He currently lives in South Jordan City, Utah and is married with four children.

Featured Book of The Week Faith, Hope and Ivy June by Phyllis Naylor

FEATURED BOOK OF THE WEEK

Ivy June Mosely and Catherine Combs, two girls from different parts of Kentucky, are participating in the first seventh-grade student exchange program between their schools. The girls will stay at each other’s homes, attend school together, and record their experience in their journals. Catherine and her family have a beautiful home with plenty of space. Since Ivy June’s house is crowded, she lives with her grandparents. Her Pappaw works in the coal mines supporting four generations of kinfolk. Ivy June can’t wait until he leaves that mine forever and retires. As the girls get closer, they discover they’re more alike than different, especially when they face the terror of not knowing what’s happening to those they love most. (publisher's summary from Goodreads)

Guest Post from Phyllis Naylor

I'd been thinking a long time about two girls from different cultures, trading places--inspired, I suppose, by Mark Twain's "The Prince and the Pauper," which Dad read to me as a child.  But more than that, I wanted to explore stereotypes as well as our defenses--the things we should examine in our own backgrounds as well as the things we should cherish. 

But somehow the plot just wasn't coming together for me, until Michelle Poploff, of Delacorte, wrote to ask if I would consider doing a book about a coal mining family.  My first thought was to decline, as I had written about a coal miner many years ago in my novel, "Wrestle the Mountain."  But the more I thought about it, the clearer the plot became.  I still had a huge amount of old research in my files, but it was a fairly recent news story on a mine accident that tipped the scales for me and brought it all into focus. 

I dearly love the characters in this book.  I rarely base characters on people I know, but in many ways Papaw in the story is my dad's father, though Ivy June's grandfather is a coal miner and mine was a country preacher.  And my paternal grandmother, Mammaw, became Ivy June's grandmother (though mine was a midwife).  Both families in my book, the rich and the poor, have their failings, but also much to admire, and as I wrote their stories, I came to understand my own background even better.   --Phyllis Naylor

About the Author 

Naylor was born on January 4, 1933 in Anderson, Indiana. Her father was a traveling salesman so they were always on the move. Many of her novels were set where her grandparents lived in Iowa and Maryland. She spent many summers with her grandparents in these places.

Naylor grew up during the Depression. She never really thought that her family was poor because her family owned a number of good books, which her parents read to her and her siblings. When she was in primary school, Naylor began making up her own stories. She also illustrated them. Her reputation as a good writer followed her, and she was often called upon to give poems and stories for special occasions at school.

When Naylor was sixteen, her Sunday school teacher asked her to submit one of her stories to the church magazine she was publishing. Naylor's story was accepted and this encouraged her to write and submit more.  Naylor admits that these stories were, in her own works, "not very original" and "predictable." (Grummond)

At the age of eighteen, Naylor married. After she graduated from junior college, she moved to Chicago with her husband. Here she worked as a clinical secretary while he attended graduate school. She also worked as an elementary school teacher. She was assistant editor for the NZA Journal. Years later Naylor's husband began showing signs of severe mental illness. He was later diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.  When it became apparent that her husband was not going to recover, she filed for divorce and married Rex V. Naylor.

Soon after, she returned to college and majored in clinical psychology at America University. By the time she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree, she decided she would become a full-time writer. Her first book, The Galloping Goat and Other Stories. Since then she has published a book every year. She has won many awards over the years including: Junior Literacy Guild, the Edgar, the Newberry Award for Shiloh (1991).

Naylor and her husband live in Bethesda, Maryland. They have two grown sons. Despite her busy schedule, the author is active in peace and civil right organization. (Grummond) Biography written by Laura Beil and Sarah Lasham Campbell County High School, Gillette, Wyoming)

Feature Book of the Week Scorpia by Anthony Horowitz

FEATURED BOOK OF THE WEEK

When an investigation into a series of mysterious deaths leads agents to an elite prep school for rebellious kids, MI6 assigns Alex Rider, fourteen-year-old reluctant spy, to the case. Before he knows it, Alex is hanging out with the sons of the rich and powerful, and something feels wrong. Very wrong. These former juvenile delinquents have turned well-behaved, studious-and identical-overnight. It's up to Alex to find out who is masterminding this nefarious plot, before they find him. The clock is ticking-is Alex's luck about to run out?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Anthony Horowitz's life might have been copied from the pages of Charles Dickens or the Brothers Grimm. Born in 1956 in Stanmore, Middlesex, to a family of wealth and status, Anthony was raised by nannies, surrounded by servants and chauffeurs. His father, a wealthy businessman, was, says Mr. Horowitz, "a fixer for Harold Wilson." What that means exactly is unclear — "My father was a very secretive man," he says— so an aura of suspicion and mystery surrounds both the word and the man. As unlikely as it might seem, Anthony's father, threatened with bankruptcy, withdrew all of his money from Swiss bank accounts in Zurich and deposited it in another account under a false name and then promptly died. His mother searched unsuccessfully for years in attempt to find the money, but it was never found. That too shaped Anthony's view of things. Today he says, "I think the only thing to do with money is spend it." His mother, whom he adored, eccentrically gave him a human skull for his 13th birthday. His grandmother, another Dickensian character, was mean-spirited and malevolent, a destructive force in his life. She was, he says, "a truly evil person", his first and worst arch villain. "My sister and I danced on her grave when she died," he now recalls.

A miserably unhappy and overweight child, Anthony had nowhere to turn for solace. "Family meals," he recalls, "had calories running into the thousands…. I was an astoundingly large, round child…." At the age of eight he was sent off to boarding school, a standard practice of the times and class in which he was raised. While being away from home came as an enormous relief, the school itself, Orley Farm, was a grand guignol horror with a headmaster who flogged the boys till they bled. "Once the headmaster told me to stand up in assembly and in front of the whole school said, 'This boy is so stupid he will not be coming to Christmas games tomorrow.' I have never totally recovered." To relieve his misery and that of the other boys, he not unsurprisingly made up tales of astounding revenge and retribution.

So how did an unhappy boy, from a privileged background, metamorphose into the creator of Alex Rider, fourteen-year-old spy for Britain's MI6? Although his childhood permanently damaged him, it also gave him a gift — it provided him with rich source material for his writing career. He found solace in boyhood in the escapism of the James Bond films, he says. He claims that his two sons now watch the James Bond films with the same tremendous enjoyment he did at their age. Bond's glamour translates perfectly to the 14-year-old psyche, the author says. "Bond had his cocktails, the car and the clothes. Kids are just as picky. It's got to be the right Nike trainers (sneakers), the right skateboard. And I genuinely think that 14-year-olds are the coolest people on the planet. It's this wonderful, golden age, just on the cusp of manhood when everything seems possible."

Alex Rider is unwillingly recruited at the age of fourteen to spy for the British secret service, MI6. Forced into situations that most average adults would find terrifying and probably fatal, young Alex rarely loses his cool although at times he doubts his own courage. Using his intelligence and creativity, and aided by non-lethal gadgets dreamed up by MI6's delightfully eccentric, overweight and disheveled Smithers, Alex is able to extricate himself from situations when all seems completely lost. What is perhaps more terrifying than the deeply dangerous missions he finds himself engaged in, is the attitude of his handlers at MI6, who view the boy as nothing more than an expendable asset.

The highly successful Alex Rider novels include Stormbreaker, Point Blank, Skeleton Key, Eagle Strike, Scorpia, Ark Angel, Snakehead and most recently Crocodile Tears. And 2010 sees the Alex Rider series celebrate its 10 year anniversary!!!

Anthony Horowitz is perhaps the busiest writer in England. He has been writing since the age of eight, and professionally since the age of twenty. In addition to the highly successful Alex Rider books, he is also the writer and creator of award winning detective series Foyle’s War, and more recently event drama Collision, among his other television works he has written episodes for Poirot, Murder in Mind, Midsomer Murders and Murder Most Horrid. Anthony became patron to East Anglia Children’s Hospices in 2009.(Author biography retrieved from author's website)

Featured Book of the Week The Academy by Ridley Pearson

 Featured Book of the Week

 Steven "Steel" Trapp has been placed in an East Coast boarding school for gifted kids by his FBI agent father. He soon discovers that there's a clubby element of the faculty and upper classmen that is very secretive and protective. To his surprise, his friend Kaleigh arrives to board at the school and it isn't long before the two realize that this is not your normal boarding school. It seems a select few students are recruited, while still minors, to serve as special "translators" for the US Government. People—including diplomats and dignitaries—will say things around kids that they wouldn't otherwise dare speak outside of embassies. The willing student "agent" takes a semester abroad and ends up spying for his country.

   But there are dark elements at play at the school. Foreign agents may have penetrated the school's secrecy and may have sleepers in place: kids spying on future kid spies. There is conspiracy and competition among the elite faculty that threatens security. As Steel and Kaileigh are recruited for their first test run—trying to break a ring of pickpockets in a Boston hotel—things go impossibly wrong. Betrayal and conspiracy cloud what should have been a straightforward assignment. And all too soon, their very lives are in danger. (Publisher's summary from Amazon)

Interview With Ridley Pearson

Mr. Pearson graciously took time out of his busy writing schedule to answers a few questions about Steel Trapp and his writing life.

Jan: Where did the idea to create an adolescent protagonist with a photographic memory come from, and did you know when you first began developing Steel that his mind would be so useful to creating suspenseful plots?
 
Ridley Pearson (RP): I think photographically, so creating this character came naturally. The more I wrote in Steel's world, the more unfolded and I realized how big the canvas was.

Jan: Your first adult novel was released in 1985. What prompted you to begin writing books for adolescents, and how is writing for this audience different than adults?
 
RP: I became a dad.  That's about it.  That led me on unexpected adventures; and since I read each night to my kids and invented stories at bedtime, I started to want to write  something more permanent.

Jan: I read that you often work on four books a year?  Can you explain a little about the process it takes for you to accomplish such a feat?
 
RP: I'm writing three at the moment. I actually enjoy the process. Nothing gets stale -- to say the least.

Jan: Steel Trapp seems like a natural extension of your adult crime novels, all of which have intricate and twisting plots, and like your crime novels, both of the Steel Trapp novels are “aerobic fiction,” a term you used to named “good old page turners”. Can you provide insight into your writing process that helps you create fast paced exciting plots?
 
RP: With Steel, and to a certain degree the Kingdom Keepers, I wanted to write books of a slightly more "adult" level.  Not "See spot run," as so many YA books are.  I wanted to write my crime novels but PG-13 or PG instead of R.

Jan: In addition to creating such great plots in the SteelTrapp novels, you also write very realistic characters and carefully described settings. Is there any one element of fiction that you feel is more important than another or that seems to be more difficult to create?

RP: Character is what carries the reader through a book.  Place can be an important character. Plot is the engine.  If the engine's too loud it can drown out the characters -- it's that balance that either works or not in "fun" fiction.  I'm not writing to deliver a message; I leave that others.  My message is: have fun.

Jan: Steel Trapp is told from third person limited. Why did you choose this perspective instead of writing it from first person?

RP: As much as I like writing in 1st person, I rarely publish in it.  3rd person allows the writer multiple view points -- inside the head of the girl, the boy, the criminal.  It expands and is a more complex world to create.  I like to be challenged.

Jan: You have a home in Idaho and in St. Louis. From what I’ve read you spend the school year here in St Louis do you consider yourself a Missouri resident or an Idaho resident? What advantages does St Louis have over other cities?
 
RP: I am very much a Missouri resident, but my heart is probably more firmly rooted in Idaho where I spent 20+ years of my middle life.  There is nothing like a hike or ski in the Idaho countryside.

Jan: You are a bass guitar player and play in a band called the Rock-Bottom Remainders with other published authors. How did the band begin? How often do the members get together to jam, and when and where is your next gig?

RP: Most of this can be read about on my web site.  The Remainders had a strange beginning indeed!  Our next tour is April:  Washington, DC; Philadelphia; New York City; Boston. Should be a great one.

Jan: What is up next for Steel Trapp?

RP: China?  My family just got back from living in Shanghai for a year.

Jan: You will be releasing a new Kingdom Keeper book in April 2010. Can you tell us about this series and what to expect from Disney in the Shadow.
 
RP: This is SUCH a fun series to write.  Disney gives me full access to their parks, and the Imagineers give me back stage, behind the scenes tours when the park is closed at night, or in the early, early morning.  I translate that research into the lives of five teenagers battling Disney villains.  Shadow enters the world of EPCOT and takes us to places we have not been before.

 About the Author

  

Ridley Pearson is the author of more than twenty novels, including the New York Times bestseller KILLER WEEKEND; the Lou Boldt crime series; and many books for young readers, including the award-winning children's novels PETER AND THE STARCATCHERS, PETER AND THE SHADOW THIEVES, and PETER AND THE SECRET OF RUNDOON, which he cowrote with Dave Barry. Pearson lives with his wife and two daughters, dividing their time between Missouri and Idaho. (bio retrieved from Bookreporter.com)