The Bookaneer July 2007

THE BOOKANEER

July 1, 2007

On my adventure as the author of The Call to Shakabaz, I continue to meet terrific people who are working to make a difference in the world through the promotion of children’s literature. Let me share a few of the wonderful things I have discovered this month. And please send me your stories, resources, jokes, internet treasures, and more.

NEWS ABOUT THE CALL TO SHAKABAZ

We had a terrific time at the library in Ewing, New Jersey last month. I read aloud from the book, we talked about the “Everyday Practices for Young People Who Want to Help Save the World” (visit the Woza Books website to download the Practices), and then we made fold-out books with the Everyday Practices printed on them. I will be doing a reading and this same book making activity at the Solar Institute’s annual SolFest in Hopland, California on August 19^th at 1:00 PM. If you are in the area, please join us!

I have enjoyed several wonderful reviews of The Call to Shakabaz to appear online this past month. You can read some of them on the Amazon page for the book. My favorite is from nine-year-old Brianne Plach who writes reviews for Reader Views. Brianne writes “I will definitely read this book again! I liked how there weren’t violent scenes in the book like a lot of books out there. This book is terrific reading… It is fun to see that kids our age can do something important too.” Carrie Spellman, at Teens Read Too, wrote “This is a book about finding personal strength, in all different forms, and appreciating the talents of others, and the strength in uniting different people, and so much more! I want to buy a copy for everyone I know…. It’s part fantasy, part history lesson, part real life -- I can’t even describe it!” With reviews like these, I could learn to love literary critics.

Please encourage children to email me with their ideas for the sequel to The Call to Shakabaz. I am especially interested in their thoughts about how the Four can ultimately make Faracadar safe from Sissrath without killing him.

ANNIVERSARY OF THE LITTLE ROCK NINE:

It’s not Black History Month, but Black History happens all year around. In September we will celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the Little Rock Nine. Craig Wiesner at Reach and Teach has placed a lovely page about the Little Rock Nine on the Reach and Teach website, and he has most wonderfully connected the lessons in The Call to Shakabaz with lessons young people learn from this historical event. His account begins as follows:

“On September 4, 1957, Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus ordered National Guard troops to surround Central High School in Little Rock, to keep nine black teenagers from entering. His action was in direct defiance of the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling, which said black students had a right to attend integrated schools. That same afternoon, a federal judge ordered Faubus to let the black students attend the white school. The next day, when 15-year-old Elizabeth Eckford set out for class, she was mobbed, spit upon and cursed by angry Whites. When she finally made her way to the front steps of Central High, National Guard soldiers turned her away.” For more about the Little Rock Nine, teaching materials for peace and social justice, and to access further resources from Reach and Teach click on this link:
http://www.reachandteach.com/content/article.php\?story=20070620132823353

HOW MANY FANTASY CHARACTERS DOES IT TAKE TO CHANGE A LIGHT BULB?

By Luna writers Robin Owens and Laura Anne Gilman:

Epic Fantasy Writer: How many you got?
Traditional Fantasy Writer: One. There can be only one Chosen One.
Quest Fantasy Writer: One, but s/he must form a party of adventurers to retrieve the magic pliers first.
Romantic Fantasy Writer: Two, but they must do it while sharing a passionate kiss.
Erotic Fantasy Writer: Three, but they must do it naked while sharing a passionate kiss.
Dark Fantasy Writer: One, as long as it’s done with a tentacle slithering from the bottomless pit.
Urban fantasy writer: Three. A werewolf, a vampire, and a chick in leather with a gun.
Literary Fantasy Writer: One, but it will take me four pages to describe it.
Slipstream Fantasy Writer: Is the light bulb an allegory for birth or death?
SciFi Writer: Who uses light bulbs? Honestly...

And I can add to their list the following:

Children’s Fantasy Writer: Three, two to slow down the monsters while the other one hacks into the computer to accomplish the task.

Young Adult Fantasy Writer: Three, two to scream in terror while the other one drives a car surprisingly well without a license (until it crashes into something). Has nothing to do with changing the light bulb and everything to do with driving the car.

§ § § §

In the future, I hope The Bookaneer will become an actual newsletter, but for now it’s just a message sent from me to you once a month. If you do not want to remain on my list for The Bookaneer, please send me an email at this address and put in it the exact email address I used to send The Bookaneer to you. I will remove you from the list. I don’t want to be spamming anyone!

The Bookaneer is produced by Amy Wachspress (© 2007). Feel free to reuse any part of this e-zine, but give credit either to Amy or to the original source for all material used. Visit www.wozabooks.com for more information.