soup of the day: the small adventure of popeye and elvis!

September 15, 2009July 25, 2011 ~ jama ~ 16 Comments

Yoohoo!

Calling all readers who love adventure!

We have a very good reason for Yoohooing and Woohooing and twirling ourselves silly with excitement, because it’s official pub day for Barbara O’Connor’s brand new middle grade novel, The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis (FSG, 2009)!!

THE SMALL ADVENTURE OF POPEYE AND ELVIS by Barbara O’Connor
(Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2009), Ages 8-12, 160 pp.

It’s always such a treat whenever Barbara publishes a new book; you know you will fall in love with the characters even before you meet them. I’ve been following the book’s progress on Barbara’s blog, from the time she announced the title, which still makes me smile every time I see it, to the arrival of her author’s copies.

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look who’s here: charlotte, joan, and melissa!

August 5, 2009October 5, 2017 ~ jama ~ 15 Comments

CHARLOTTE IN LONDON by Joan MacPhail Knight,
pictures by Melissa Sweet (Chronicle, 2008). Ages 8+, 64 pp.

It’s August, the perfect time for some armchair traveling! Are you in the mood for a little cherry clafoutis, raspberry fool, and vegetable soup?

Earlier this year, while I was preparing for my interview with Caldecott Silver Medal winner Melissa Sweet, I noticed that she’s the illustrator for Joan MacPhail Knight’s Charlotte series. I had never seen any of these totally captivating, impeccably designed books before, and it was love love love at first sight!

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the secret garden (part two): yorkshire culinary delights

July 29, 2009August 12, 2017 ~ jama ~ 14 Comments

“After a few days spent almost entirely out of doors Mary wakened one morning knowing what it was to be hungry, and when she sat down to her breakfast she did not glance disdainfully at her porridge and push it away, but took up her spoon and began to eat it and went on eating it until her bowl was empty.”

The Secret Garden is first and foremost about the wonder and magic of making things come alive — the blossoming of an abandoned garden and two lonely, neglected children. But food is also magical and plays a crucial role in the story. As the flowers and plants grow, so do Mary’s and Colin’s appetites — and who can blame them, with pails of fresh milk, homemade cottage bread slathered with raspberry jam and marmalade, buttered crumpets, currant buns, hot oatcakes, muffins, dough-cakes, and the all-important bowl of warm porridge, sweetened with treacle or brown sugar.

*Oatmeal Porridge was eaten by both rich and poor in Yorkshire during Victorian times.*

My recent rereading of the novel yielded new insights about the self sufficiency of manor houses like Misselthwaite during Victorian times, and Burnett’s advocacy of homegrown and lovingly shared food as a key component in establishing physical and emotional health. We see Mary change from a sickly, sallow, ill-tempered waif, to a happy, engaged, more caring individual. Colin undergoes a dramatic transformation from a pessimistic, overprotected, bedridden tyrant to a budding evangelical Christian scientist. Purposeful activity centered around nature, lots of fresh air, exercise and companionship certainly contributed to healing, but so did unlimited access to a bounty of locally sourced nourishment.

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soup of the day: where the mountain meets the moon by grace lin!

July 1, 2009November 26, 2017 ~ jama ~ 18 Comments

Gorgeous photo of Grace by Alexandre Ferron.

Hooray hooray hooray!!

Today is official Pub Day for Grace Lin’s brand new middle grade novel, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (Little,Brown, 2009)!

As far as I’m concerned, any time Grace publishes a new book, it is cause for big celebration. I’m a huge fan of both her gorgeous picture books and her heartwarming novels about Pacy Lin, Year of the Dog and Year of the Rat. When I interviewed Grace last year, she had recently returned from visiting China and Taiwan, and she talked about how she hoped to incorporate some of the sights and sounds of her fascinating experiences in a new book.

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soup of the day: the great call of china by cynthea liu

February 19, 2009July 25, 2011 ~ jama ~ 11 Comments

It is written: On Thursday, February 19, 2009, a cleverly composed young adult novel called The Great Call of China will be set free into the world.

It is also written: Author of cleverly composed novel is none other than Live Journal’s very own ~~Snoop~~ Cynthea Liu! There will be countless blog celebrations today all over the internet for this long awaited, momentous event — so what are you waiting for?

Twirl your chopsticks and do your happy panda dance in honor of Cynthea!! Woo Hoo!!

    THE GREAT CALL OF CHINA by Cynthea Liu,
     (Puffin, 2009), Ages 12+, 224 pp.

The Great Call of China was written especially for Puffin/Speak’s Students Across the Seven Seas series (S.A.S.S.). It’s about an adopted 16-year-old Chinese girl, Cece Charles, who travels to China via the S.A.S.S. program. She’s excited about the chance to indulge in her passion, anthropology, explore her roots, and have some fun, but when she finally arrives in Xi’an, she receives quite a culture shock.

To make matters worse, finding out more about her birth parents only increases her apprehension. Will the cute guy she met on the plane, who’s also in the program, be able to help smooth out the bumps in the road? The Great Call promises to be a captivating look at coming to terms with one’s cultural identity, as Cece connects with her past and develops a new appreciation for her adoptive parents.

Cynthea, author of the highly acclaimed, Writing for Children and Teens: A Crash Course (Pivotal Publishing, 2008), and founder of AuthorsNow!, is pulling out all the stops in celebration of her first published young adult novel. She’s written a series of articles, called, BEHIND THE BOOK: Writing for Children’s or Teen Book Series (all installments can be found at the Writing for Children and Teens website), and from now until December 18th, Cynthea is waiving honorariums for school visits (and travel fees!) in the Chicago, Dallas and Tulsa areas. Plus, everyone is invited to the official release party at Cynthea’s website!

Beloved by her fellow writers for her unfailing generosity and kindness, many of them are blogging about Cynthea’s book today, and Tara Lazar is hosting a special release party for writers at her blog, Writing for Children (While Raising Them), which includes great giveaways and an exclusive interview with Cynthea! The only possible downside in all this revelry is that a certain brown rabbit might eat your manuscript (stock up on carrots).

Snoop says: Big deal. Cynthea would be nowhere without me.

So, are you ready to slurp your congratulations to Cynthea? The official alphabet soup kitchen helpers and I had planned to serve a traditional egg drop soup, to help us get into the "travel abroad to China" frame of mind. But, we changed our recipe, under heavy whiskered duress, just to please a certain patron named Snoop, who claims to have played a major role in the completion of Cynthea’s book.

Who are we to question such a hare-brained claim? We hope you find our offering adequate, so much so, that you will be compelled to hop on over to your local indie or fave online bookseller, and snatch up a copy of The Great Call of China, pronto.

Today’s Special: Cream of Carrot (with touches of ginger, essence of cashew,
and whole wheat bunny crackers). Guaranteed to put a hop in your step!