soup of the day

soup of the day: steady hands by tracie vaughn zimmer!

~ jama ~ 17 Comments

       

Hey, Everyone!!

How about a big hand for Schneider Family Book Award winning author and poet, Tracie Vaughn Zimmer, on the official release today of Steady Hands: Poems About Work (Clarion, 2009)!!


STEADY HANDS: POEMS ABOUT WORK by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer
(Clarion, 2009), ages 6-14, 48 pp.

This fascinating collection of short free verse poems, inspired by Walt Whitman’s, I Hear America Singing, illuminates the activities of various people at work — from a teacher, librarian, mail carrier, surgeon, artist, and welder, to a baker, tow-truck driver, and cafeteria cook. Framed by the poems, "Morning," and "Night," these concise snapshots sometimes offer surprising reasons why a job was chosen, like the lawyer who opted for a less stressful career "in the company of dogs," or, for a teacher, a side of her job not always recognized:

But not everyone knows
the teacher’s secret torments:
a lesson that knotted understanding
a bright kid who refuses to be inspired
flames of words thrown in frustration —

Vivid sensual details, like the "flap/roll/flap" of the baker kneading dough, or the "ballet of hands" performed by a clerk as she sorts, scans, and bags groceries, speak to the rhythms of the everyday work world of both adults and young people, and will give readers an uncommon appreciation for different types of careers, and what occupies some of the people who have chosen them. In an interview on her website, Zimmer shares that she wanted to "pay homage to the hard work of people of I know." The welder, for example, is her father; the retail clerk, her sister; and the ballet teacher, her mom.

Sean Addy and Megan Halsey have created a stunning array of mixed media collages to complement the poems, consisting of textured backgrounds, found objects, ephemera, photographs, people cut-outs, and drawings, that can only be described as hip, intriguing, and offbeat. Included are some of Zimmer’s own possessions — lace from her wedding dress, her granny’s buttons, and antique keys from her grandparents’ house.

    

Steady Hands has already received many well-deserved accolades, including a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly, which cites the "inventive, complicated collages, and well-crafted poems." Kirkus liked the "crisp images and dynamic phrases," and Booklist says, "The hands on details blend dreams and realism in the upbeat, contemporary poems that will find a place across the curriculum."

So, are you ready to help me congratulate Tracie?

Just pick up whatever spoon you have at hand and dip deeply into this communal bowl — then work up a long, steady slurp! When your belly’s full, mosey on over to your nearest indie or favorite online bookseller to purchase your very own copy of Steady Hands: Poems About Work. You’ll definitely want one for National Poetry Month in April!


Today’s Special: Career Classic (guaranteed to improve productivity
and brighten the work load).

To read two sample poems from the book, click here and here.

For more about the book, including a great book club discussion guide and interview, visit Tracie’s website. Of course, you can always keep up with Tracie’s latest news via her Live Journal blog.

                         

*Interior spreads posted by permission, text copyright © 2009 Tracie Vaughn Zimmer, illustrations copyright © 2009 Megan Halsey and Sean Addy, published by Clarion Books, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.

soup of the day: eternal by cynthia leitich smith

~ jama ~ 7 Comments

         

Feeling a tad thirsty?

Or are you simply out for blood?

Satisfy both cravings with Cynthia Leitich Smith’s brand new, darkly delicious gothic fantasy, Eternal (Candlewick, 2009), officially out today! Woo Hoo!

*rubs neck*

       
          ETERNAL by Cynthia Leitich Smith (Candlewick, 2009),
          Young Adult Gothic Fantasy, 320 pp.
   
I just read a titillating excerpt from the book and I’m hooked, or shall I say, I’ve been sucked in. The story is told in the alternating viewpoints of Miranda (a shy, but beautiful teenager who loves acting and just wants to be noticed), and Zachary (her guardian angel, who just happens to be in love with her).

While trying to save her life in a cemetery one night, Zachary inadvertently allows a vampire to turn Miranda into one of the undead. It’s not just any vampire, though, it’s the reigning King of the Mantle of Dracul. He takes Miranda for his new princess, and she suddenly has more power and popularity than she ever dreamed possible in her new life as a member of the eternal aristocracy. And because Zachary revealed himself to Miranda while attempting to rescue her, he falls from grace and must walk the earth as a mortal.

As Miranda becomes an unwitting accomplice to the King’s evil schemes, Zachary infiltrates the castle under the guise of her personal assistant in an attempt to save her soul. Set in Texas and Chicago, the fast paced narrative about the forces of good vs. evil is populated not only with vampires and angels, but werebeasts and shapeshifters, and of course, it is liberally spiced with glamor, smoldering passion, and Smith’s diabolical wit. In this dark realm, is redemption even possible, and, if so, at what price?

Eternal is a companion novel to Tantalize (Candlewick, 2007), which takes place in the same world, but with a different set of characters. The third book in the series, Blessed, where the characters from the first two books crossover, is now in the works. Smith counts among her influences, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, and Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities. In Eternal, she also touches on some of Stoker’s core themes, such as corruption, the role of women and the role of Christianity.

Ready to help me congratulate Cyn? Don’t worry if you didn’t have time to sharpen your fangs. Today’s celebration soup, served in its own coffin, is all there for the sucking, wickedly delectable in the absence of a suitable neck. Assume any guise you please, drink your fill, then fly on over to your local indie or fave online bookseller, and score your copy of Eternal.


Today’s Special: Tomato Clot, seasoned with garlic and stake sauce
(especially tasty with a side of necktarines).

Read an excerpt of Eternal here.

At Cynthia’s award winning website, you’ll also find a Reader’s Guide and an excellent interview with more background details about Eternal.

Finally, an excellent trailer created by Shayne Leighton can be viewed here.

                                    

*An alphabat a day keeps the werebeasts away.

**Soup coffin constructed by Count Rattigan, who was driven into a Draculinean frenzy playing with his table saw, saber saw, and compound mitre saw.

soup of the day: models don’t eat chocolate cookies by erin dionne

~ jama ~ 20 Comments

      

Here, cookie, cookie, cookie!

Yes, I’m talking to you.

Pour yourself a nice tall glass of milk and get ready to take a great big bite out of this post.

Today, fellow munchkins, we’re celebrating the deliciously divine and delectable worldwide debut of Models Don’t Eat Chocolate Cookies (Dial, 2009), by Live Journal’s very own Erin Dionne!

    
      MODELS DON’T EAT CHOCOLATE COOKIES by Erin Dionne,
      (Dial BFYR, 2009), ages 9-12, 256 pp.

Man, oh man. Is this the perfect combination or what? A book and chocolate cookies! Even better, a book about chocolate cookies. I mean, what else is there? I should tell you a little more about the book, but I keep wanting to eat that scrumptious cover.

*Breathe. Control. Focus.*

Okay, so Models is Erin’s debut novel for middle grade readers. It’s all about thirteen-year-old Celeste Harris, who loves wearing comfy clothes and eating cookies every afternoon (smart girl). She’s perfectly happy with her lifestyle until her meddling Aunt Doreen secretly enters her into the Miss HuskyPeach Modeling Challenge for plus-size girls.

Arrgh! Feeling guilty, the only way Celeste can think of to get out of the whole thing is to lose weight. A thin girl, after all, wouldn’t qualify as a husky peach. So, she launches Operation Skinny Celeste, and must deal with mean girls, thin women in black dresses, nasty diet drinks, and a fair weather friend. By turns hilarious, sweet, and touching, tween readers will enjoy the lively narrative and readily identify with Celeste’s angst, heartache, and awkwardness as she builds a more positive self image. 

In an interview at Writing for Children and Teens, Erin reveals that the book was inspired by her own experience of wearing a scary peach bridesmaid dress in the seventh grade. Fortunately, she was able to turn this trauma into a short story, that eventually grew into a novel entitled, Beauty Binge (a PEN/New England Children’s Caucus 2006 Susan P. Bloom Discovery Night Honoree), which was then renamed, Models Don’t Eat Chocolate Cookies.

I, for one, want to literally inhale this title, which is being officially released today in both hardcover and paperback editions, sure to satisfy all manner of cravings.

So, are you ready to dive into today’s bottomless bowl of soup? If you’re a model, you needn’t bother. This soup is for readers, writers, and good natured chocoholics who are ready to toast Erin on a tasty job well done. Just because it’s chocolate, you’re allowed to slurp, guzzle, and lick yourself silly — then go out and get this book, or order it through your favorite online bookseller!!


Today’s Special: Cream of Chocolate (certified best inspiration for writers)

For more about Erin, visit her official website and Live Journal blog.

Don’t miss the special Models Don’t Eat Chocolate Cookies webpage, where you can download a playlist, learn how to make a decoupage votive, or indulge in two yummy recipes (Mom’s Mac and Cheese, and Aunt Doreen’s Butterscotch Apple Crumbcake of Temptation). *Swoon*

And, in case you haven’t heard, Erin is running a special book launch contest on her blog. You could win a Models prize pack (including chocolate cookies!), just by leaving a comment at this post by February 11th.
                                    

*An obscene quantity of chocolate cookies was consumed during the making of this post.

nibble nibble

soup of the day: winnie’s war by jenny moss

~ jama ~ 9 Comments

              

Five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . . one  . . . Ignition —

LIFT OFF!!!

Houston, we have a winner!  *deafening cheers*

The sky’s the limit today, because we’re celebrating the official release of the young adult novel, Winnie’s War, by Live Journal’s very own Jenny Moss!!


WINNIE’S WAR by Jenny Moss (Walker, 2009),
Young Adult Historical Fiction, 192 pp.

A first book is a very special cause for celebration. For an author, this particular milestone, of seeing your work in tangible form for the first time, finally launched into the world, is surreal, nerve-wracking, and exhilirating all at the same time. I’m proud of and thrilled for Jenny, and can’t wait to read her book!

Publisher blurb:

Life in Winnie’s sleepy town of Coward Creek, Texas, is just fine for her. Although her troubled mother’s distant behavior has always worried Winnie, she’s plenty busy caring for her younger sisters, going to school, playing chess with Mr. Levy, and avoiding her testy grandmother. Plus, her sweetheart Nolan is always there to make her smile when she’s feeling low. But when the Spanish Influenza claims its first victim, lives are suddenly at stake, and Winnie has never felt so helpless. She must find a way to save the people she loves most, even if doing so means putting her own life at risk.

So far, Winnie’s War has received glowing reviews praising its lyrical prose and strong characterizations. Kirkus said, "the first person narrative beautifully captures Winnie’s voice," and Publisher’s Weekly said, "First-novelist Moss brings poetic language to this story, skillfully mirroring the internal pains and afflictions of influenza in the landscape of Texas." 

Jenny, who lives in Clear Lake, Texas, says she enjoyed researching how the Spanish Flu Epidemic impacted the area, and imagining what life was like back in 1918. I’m especially anxious to get to know Winnie, to see how she handles loss and hardship, and meets the many challenges set before her, especially when she cannot rely on her parents and must sort out who her real allies are.

Now, please join me in slurping your congratulations to Jenny on a striking debut. Today, we’re serving a fortified, anti-influenza soup, scientifically maintained at an optimal temperature. It will keep you especially robust while you read this book. Just open your mouth and say, "Ah, Jenny!"


Today’s Special: Germ-free Gumbo (a couple spoonfuls will prepare you for anything).

For more about Jenny, visit her brand new website and Live Journal blog.

There’s also a good interview with Cynthea Liu at Writing for Children and Teens, and an article from the Bay Area Citizen, which includes interesting personal details — such as Jenny’s background as a NASA flight design engineer and what prompted her to pursue writing.

                           

 

soup of the day: absolutely maybe by lisa yee!

~ jama ~ 12 Comments

          

       
Everyone, it’s time for some whistles, cheers, and big time whoops!!

Today, we are celebrating the official release of Absolutely Maybe (Arthur A. Levine Books, 2009), penned by the one and only Lisa Yee! Woo Hoo!!

     
       ABSOLUTELY MAYBE by Lisa Yee (Arthur A. Levine Books, 2009),
       Young Adult, 288 pp.

That’s right, the former Miss America and author of the wildly popular Millicent Min, Girl Genius; Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time; So Totally Emily Ebers; and Good Luck, Ivy!, has written a funny, touching young adult novel about 16-year-old Maybe (short for Maybelline), who hitches a ride from Florida to California, where she discovers just what she is made of. Phew! This book is coming out just in time; ever since I finished Good Luck, Ivy!, I’ve been suffering from serious Lisa withdrawal, simply wanting more more more from this Sid Fleischman Humor Award winner.

Anyway, Maybe’s life is pretty tough. Her mom, who goes through men like Kleenex, takes her scuzzball boyfriend’s side after he tries to rape Maybe, so she’s left no alternative but to run away from home. She takes to the road with her friends Hollywood and Ted, hoping to find her real father, whom she thinks is a famous movie producer. 

After they get to California, her friends get in the groove right away. Hollywood, who’s been accepted to the USC film school, starts working on a documentary, and Ted finds a job and moves in with the famous Gloria de la Tour. This leaves Maybe to fend for herself. She is traumatized by the idea of babysitting triplets, stops for some tacos (my kind of book!), and ends up working at Taco Truck #4, where she proves to the owner and herself that she’s capable of creating some pretty awesome stuff. 

What else? Finding her real birth father is not as easy as she thought it would be. She does meet her former stepfather and his girlfriend, but is hurt and betrayed when she sees Hollywood’s documentary. Who are her true friends? More importantly, if she’s not the charm school beauty queen her mother wants her to be, just who is she? There are many life lessons to be learned for this determined, spunky, resourceful main character who eventually comes into her own — Kool-Aid dyed hair and all. It promises to be a great read!

Now, in honor of Lisa, put on your sunglasses, grab a taco, and slurp some souperstar soup. Oh, and have your peeple call my peeple.

      
   
Today’s Special: Glitterati Gumbo (guaranteed to induce delicious fantasies
of Brad and Colin, maybe).

Absolutely Maybe may be purchased through IndieBound or your favorite online bookseller. What are you waiting for?

Be sure to check out Absolutely-Maybe.com.

Scholastic did a series of wonderful interviews with Lisa that are not to be missed. It’s totally cool hearing about all her books and her writing journey.

Lisa’s official website is here, and her Live Journal blog is here.