"Terrific Kids' Novels Adults Will Love, Too" A Virginia Festival of the Book Discussion

"Terrific Kids' Novels Adults Will Love, Too"

 Moderated by Barbara Kanninen

 Panelists: Kathy Erskine, Sue Corbett, Sara Lewis Holmes, Irene Latham, Fran Cannon Slayton

Our moderator was children's author and environmental economist, Barbara Kanninen, who asked perfect questions, the kind that make you think, and inspire you to have a great answer, and that five MG writers will each respond to in different ways.

Me with Barbara

Here's one of Barbara's insightful questions:

Continuing on our theme of adults, I was struck, in reading your books, at the strong roles that parents and/or teachers play in the stories.  Traditionally, we often think of children’s stories as happening without parents around.  A lot of children’s book characters are orphans, for example, or runaways, or they discover that they’re wizards, or the sons of Gods, and they have to go away to a special school or camp.  

But you all chose to include adults and family as prominent and important characters in your stories.  Would you talk about this decision?  Did you know from the beginning that these adults would be important people in your main characters’ lives?  How did you know you were striking the right balance between including adults and keeping your story kid-driven?

Excellent, right?

However, I have to say that the highlight of the panel for me was seeing this non-adult in the audience:

Yes!

Signing after the panel with Kathy Erskine and Sue Corbett

You can find more pictures at Anne Marie Pace's journal.

Still to come: moderating the Land Ho! panel about setting in YA and children's fiction. Wow oh wow, did I learn a lot.

Zoop! Gone.

We all lost an hour this weekend. Zoop! Gone. Don't let the rest of the week slide by, too. I'm inspired by this quote I pulled from An Altar in the World:

"Why, when God's world is so big,
did you fall asleep in a prison
of all places?" ---Rumi

I can't wait to read the whole chapter, because it's entitled "The Practice of Getting Lost." Oh, right. I need lots more practice at that. It's not good enough that I've gotten lost returning to my hotel room from the lobby. Or that, yesterday, my husband and I hiked up to an overlook called Shepherd's Point, and I said, "Wow, what a great place for a sunrise service!" to which he said, "If we weren't facing west."

If you need more ideas to keep you awake and out of prison, I suggest:

The Virginia Festival of the Book is this weekend. Every year, the VFB is terrific, but this year, it has an expanded children's and YA author focus, with FIVE panels focused on the Kidlit world. Come out and savor the day.

Right now, this minute, go read my editor's beautiful essay, "Raised by Reading: A Life in Books from the Children's Literature Festival to Harry Potter." It's intellectually sharp and emotionally honest, just like Cheryl is.

"Free Children's Book Writing Conference"

Author Fran Slayton calls it a "free children's book writing conference." See why.

P.S. I'll be on this panel, Saturday, March 20th:

(10 a.m.) Terrific Kids’ Novels Adults Will Love Too  (Moderated by SCBWI member and author Barbara Kanninen)

If you are writing for middle graders, this is the panel for you! Operation Yes is a finalist for the Cybil Award; When the Whistle Blows and The Last Newspaper Boy in America were in numerous Mock Newbery programs around the country; and Mockingbird and Leaving Gee’s Bend are getting great buzz prior to their upcoming releases. Come listen to these authors read from their works, discuss publication, and talk about all things middle grade writers need to know!

Fran Cannon Slayton (WHEN THE WHISTLE BLOWS)
Kathy Erskine (MOCKINGBIRD)
Sara Lewis Holmes (OPERATION YES)
Sue Corbett (THE LAST NEWSPAPER BOY IN AMERICA)
Irene Latham (LEAVING GEE’S BEND)

and I'll be moderating this one:

(2 p.m.) Land Ho! Creating New Worlds in Any Genre  (Moderated by SCBWI member and author Sara Lewis Holmes)

Whether you’re writing fantasy, historical or contemporary fiction, world-building is part of your craft. Come listen to five authors discuss how to build believable, memorable worlds that readers will love falling into.

Suzanne Morgan Williams (BULL RIDER)
P.J. Hoover (THE EMERALD TABLET)
Keri Mikulski (SCREWBALL)
Stacy Nyikos (DRAGON WISHES)
Barrie Summy (I SO DON’T DO SPOOKY)

In between, I'll be listening to all the other great discussions. Thanks to authors Anne Marie Pace and Fran Cannon Slayton for organizing this booktastic day.