First up, the teacher in Operation Yes, Miss Loupe, is now one of A Year of Reading's 100 Cool Teachers! Read the blog post in which she's nominated, and then go look at the whole list. Here's a preview of what A Year of Reading so generously said:
"This is a fabulous book that sheds light on a culture that has been ignored in children's literature -- the culture of military families, military bases, military schools. This is a must-read. You will laugh, you will cry, and your heart will fill with gratitude and understanding, in a way that it perhaps has not before, for all those who serve for a greater cause."
"This is a fabulous book that sheds light on a culture that has been ignored in children's literature -- the culture of military families, military bases, military schools. This is a must-read. You will laugh, you will cry, and your heart will fill with gratitude and understanding, in a way that it perhaps has not before, for all those who serve for a greater cause."
I'm honored and delighted, because A Year of Reading is the creative outlet for two real-life Cool Teachers (and authors) themselves, Franki and Mary Lee, who not only serve in their classrooms, but in the wider Kidlitosphere too.
Secondly, the audio version of Operation Yes is now available for download at Audible.com, read by the talented Jessica Almasy, who won an Audie last year for her reading of Sara Pennypacker's Clementine. You can read a fascinating interview with Jessica about her work here. A snippet:
Sometimes--I am just articulating this as I write this--- I am thinking (and I use that in the most blood and gutsy sense of the word)—I am thinking about how the character sees from his eye sockets. So as to determine how the voice comes out. Or how tall he is. This reminds me of the Balinese mask work I did with a Dutchman in college.
Practice also helps—doing pieces of text aloud before the session. Somehow I have a major block against doing this that much—there is always something so different that happens when I am in the actual recording session. The book energy takes prominence so it’s different from just trying it out on the subway etc. But yes, I would say, practice.
I think it, for me, is like a interior skull cabinet of file shuffling. The rearrangement of thin and energized sound lenses.
And above all, the power of whatever it is that is bigger than all of us where the stories come in.
Yes! Yes! Yes!
Okay, now to live up to this good news by working hard the rest of the day . . .
Sometimes--I am just articulating this as I write this--- I am thinking (and I use that in the most blood and gutsy sense of the word)—I am thinking about how the character sees from his eye sockets. So as to determine how the voice comes out. Or how tall he is. This reminds me of the Balinese mask work I did with a Dutchman in college.
Practice also helps—doing pieces of text aloud before the session. Somehow I have a major block against doing this that much—there is always something so different that happens when I am in the actual recording session. The book energy takes prominence so it’s different from just trying it out on the subway etc. But yes, I would say, practice.
I think it, for me, is like a interior skull cabinet of file shuffling. The rearrangement of thin and energized sound lenses.
And above all, the power of whatever it is that is bigger than all of us where the stories come in.
Yes! Yes! Yes!
Okay, now to live up to this good news by working hard the rest of the day . . .
Miss Loupe very much deserves that award.
ReplyDeleteSara!! That is so exciting -- congratulations!
ReplyDeleteHave you gotten to listen to the audio recording yet?
:) So COOL! It's always awesome when your characters have a life outside the one you invented!
ReplyDeleteI would LOVE to be a student in Miss Loupe's class! ...but wait! I AM...we ALL are...because you wrote her classroom into a book! Thank you, thank you for sharing her story with the world!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations!
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for the nifty stuff from Almasy. I love that! Audiobooks--Yet another task which as benefit from but have NO EARTHLY IDEA how much time and energy and creativity goes into it.