Lisa's Blog

Last year, Jenn Knoblock, Jim Danielson, and I ended up in some strange sparring in which we tried to use the highest proportion of high-scoring letters in Scrabble... in a poem. Jim took top honors with an average score of 2.8194 points per letter. (My own score was 2.725.) Anyway, gluttons for punishment that we are, we're back. Here's my new horror:
 

The Quartz Zyzzyva (Just Kidding)

Kooky Jack's poxy yak
grew boxy with ivy and fuzz.
Folk took it for grizzly if it was drizzly.
(Quizzically often, it was.)
Vexed, with his ax, Jack gave a whack,
then—zip, zap—gave it a buzz.
 

Scoring (Scrabble points/number of letters):

Kooky 16/5 Jack's 18/5 poxy 16/4 yak 10/3
grew 8/4 boxy 16/4 with 10/4 ivy 9/3 and 4/3 fuzz. 25/4
Folk 11/4 took 8/4 it 2/2 for 6/4 grizzly 29/7 if 5/2 it 2/2 was 6/3 drizzly. 29/7
(Quizzically 43/11 often, 8/5 it 2/2 was.) 6/3
Vexed, 16/5 with 10/4 his 6/3 ax, 9/2 Jack 17/4 gave 8/4 a 1/1 whack, 17/5
then 7/4 —zip, 14/3 zap— 14/3 gave 8/4 it 2/2 a 1/1 buzz. 24/4

Total: 443/143=3.097

I really hope I got the math right. I am far too tired to check it again, but please feel free. I daresay I hope this is the nerdiest thing I do for the rest of the year, because I am drained! I do not want to admit how much time I spent writing this thing. TOO MUCH.

Those of you who read Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree as the story of an abusive, codependent relationship should appreciate today's Brewster Rockit:

(Thanks to my boss for sending this along!)

Wednesday my local SCBWI group had the pleasure of hearing Robert McDonald, children’s book buyer for The Book Stall, talk about his selection practices. This was particularly interesting for me as a librarian. I’ve posted previously about how I choose library materials, and I was curious to compare and contrast methodology.

As I’ve said, my department purchases new trade books based almost exclusively on reviews. Our information is second-hand. We depend on fellow librarians to review books fairly and accurately so we can judge their worth to our patrons. We don’t see the books for ourselves until they arrive at our library.

In contrast, Robert told us publishers send him folded and gathered proofs (F & Gs) of picture books and advance reading copies (ARCs) of middle grade and YA fiction. The former he generally reads in their entirety, but he doesn’t have time to read the ARCs. Instead he depends on catalog copy and the opinions of sales reps, with whom he meets several times a year, depending on the publisher. He told us that even though sales reps’ job is to sell books, they will be honest if they think a particular book is weak; that’s how they build trust with their clients.

Now, occasionally my library’s selection method results in a purchase I regret once the book is hand—if, for instance, I realize it won’t circulate well, or if I’ve ordered an expensive, easily damaged pop-up book by mistake! Since we’re a public library, though, we go with the idea that there’s a place for just about everything on our shelves, as long as space and budget permits. In most cases, someone will want it someday, though it may be months or even years from now.

In contrast, of course, a book seller wants stock that will sell. Robert reminded us adults are the primary buyer of children’s books, though children do start choosing their own books around the time they start to read. He emphasized that he is not always looking for “the best books” for the store; there is plenty of room for popular topics such as vampires and dinosaurs, which are often good choices for reluctant readers.

These are some of the other issues Robert considers when deciding what to buy / what will sell.

• Does the book belong to a marketable category—e.g., board book, easy reader, YA fantasy? Books that are harder to categorize tend to be harder sells, with occasional exceptions such as Shaun Tan’s popular The Arrival (AALB, 2007).

Picture Books

• Picture books are purchased mainly for bedtime reading.
• Is the book a “parent book” (lighter on text, for adults who will be reading a lot) or a “grandma book” (more text-heavy, for adults giving the books as gifts or have more leisure time)?
• Are the illustrations interesting, beautiful, quirky, “non-Walmarty”? Do the illustrations add content rather than simply backing up the text?
• Would the book make a good read-aloud? If it rhymes, are the rhymes well-executed?
• Will it appeal to adults, too (e.g., two levels of humor), so they can stand to read it repeatedly? Is the message understated instead of didactic?
• Can readers immediately enter the world of the story?

Middle Grade and YA Fiction

• Is the story plot-driven, and does it begin quickly?
• Is it following, setting, or subverting a trend? Can it be recommended to fans of X? If it’s following a trend, does it put a new spin on it?
• Is it an “issue novel,” dealing with, for example, anorexia, homelessness, AIDS? If so, do enough people care about the issue? Will it appeal even to readers who can’t personally relate to the issue? Is there a believable story, character, and world beyond the issue?
• If it’s a YA novel, how much adult content—sex, drugs, etc.—does it contain? Parents will ask.
• Has it been dubbed YA only because it has young characters?

Nonfiction

• Almost any topic can be sold if the book is well-executed.
• Does it focus on something new—e.g., a biography of a lesser-known person?
• “Can I sell this to a teacher?”

Robert closed with some tips for authors interested in approaching their independent book stores. He told us not to send promotional post cards; most likely, they will be recycled. Instead, find out the name and email address of the store’s book buyer, and contact them directly. Introduce yourself and inquire whether the buyer has seen your new book. Provide a web link to more information about your book.

I was thinking yesterday of how nothing in life is wasted—none of our wandering, none of our pain. It is, as a wise person (though I can't remember who) once told me, "all grist." Or maybe that's just how writers and other artistic sorts (and bloggers!) console themselves with the hard stuff in life. "At least this experience will be good for a story/song/poem/painting or two..."

At bedtime I happened to read this poem, which seemed perfect for that line of thought:
 

Alchemy

I lift my heart as spring lifts up
     A yellow daisy to the rain;
My heart will be a lovely cup
     Altho' it holds but pain.

For I shall learn from flower and leaf
     That color every drop they hold,
To change the lifeless wine of grief
     To living gold.

—Sara Teasdale, 1915
 

When I skimmed the jacket flap of Tempo Change, by Barbara Hall (Delacorte, 2009), about the teen whose “father is an indie rock icon,” two thoughts occurred to me. The first was Beige, by Cecil Castelluci (Candlewick, 2007). The second was Born to Rock, by Gordon Korman (Hyperion, 2006). Fortunately, I read past the flap and was rewarded with a story all its own—and one that really spoke to me.

This is exactly the sort of novel you would expect from Hall, who created the Emmy-nominated series Joan of Arcadia, about a modern teen who starts receiving messages from God. The dialogue is smart and snappy. The protagonist of Tempo Change is, like Joan, a snarky teen who doesn’t quite meld with her peers. But the core similarity is the shared theme of spiritual exploration—executed without a hint of preaching.

Blanche Kelly is, as I mentioned, the daughter of an indie rock icon. Duncan Kelly, however, left years ago to rekindle his muse in the South Pacific. Blanche’s only contact with him is through email, though at school she faithfully follows his advice: “Don’t be a joiner.” She’s succeeded in staying at the fringes, preferring to observe than to participate. She loves music but is hesitant to pursue it; after all, art hasn’t exactly done wonders for her family.

Then Blanche’s mother brings home a new boyfriend: Ed, not a musician but (yawn) a guitar salesman. At the same time, Blanche finds a stellar singer and drummer among her school mates. While she’s not, like her coworker and maybe-possibly crush Jeff, about to call it “a sign,” it’s enough to make Blanche do a 180. If her new band, the Fringers, makes it all the way to the big Coachella music festival, surely it will be enough to roust Duncan Kelly from his Pacific hideaway at last!

Of course, getting to Coachella isn’t quite that easy. And once the Fringers—and, yes, Duncan Kelly—actually make it there, it doesn’t go anything like Blanche planned.

Hall’s characterization stands out. All characters—both teens and adults—are three-dimensional, none wholly good or bad. Blanche’s mother has struggled with depression, alcoholism, and finances, but she’s a loving, invested parent active in her recovery program. Duncan is by turns the kindly, helpful father and the selfish, obsessed artist. Blanche is realistically naïve and critical of her mother, unable to understand how she could prefer owning a women’s clothing shop “for women who [are] tired of wearing clothes” and dating Guitar Guy Ed to the presumably glamorous life of a rocker’s wife.

What I really love about Tempo Change, though, and what keeps it from being the formulaic pop-culture-centric story you might expect, is Blanche’s relentless (though sometimes reluctant) questioning of the fuzzier aspects of existence. How do we find our path in life? Where does artistic drive come from? Is there such a thing as divine intervention, or is life just a series of very human choices?

Hall provides no concrete answers but plenty of entry points for discussion. Joan’s mother surrenders the things she can’t control to a higher power in her twelve-step program. The Fringers’ singer sees an apparently divine vision while stranded in a snow storm. The prayers Blanche and her band mates idly tossed into the box at the New Age shop seem to be coming true. Even Blanche, ever a skeptic, makes a key decision based only on a dream.

Ultimately, this thoughtful novel of spiritual exploration has more in common with Kimberly Brubaker Bradley’s Leap of Faith (Dial 2007) or Pat Schmatz’s Circle the Truth (Carolrhoda 2007) than with the books conjured by the jacket flap. It will appeal to many readers of contemporary realistic fiction, especially those with a philosophical and/or artistic bent. Highly recommended for grades 6 and up.