Two Teens on Books - the second interview

While my 13 year-old niece Rachel and her best friend Nicole carved artistic pumpkins one recent afternoon, I took advantage of the opportunity to catch up on what they've been reading lately - in follow up to my interview with them last August. You can read the first interview at: 2TeensOnBooks. Here's what we talked about this time:

I have an announcement to make. I've decided this will be a quarterly interview. Every three months I'll find out what books the two of you are reading, and get your impressions.

Rachel and Nicole: (much eye rolling and grumbling)

Indulge me - and my readers. Your opinions are insightful and compelling. People want to know what you have to say. So, Nicole, what have you read lately?

Nicole: I haven't read anything. School started, which ruins everything. I've read absolutely nothing except for stuff in school.

And - what are you reading in school?

Nicole: In English class, we're reading, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (Sherman Alexie). (Nicole then revealed that her grade 9 English teacher had read some racy passages out loud in class.)

What do you think about this book?

Nicole: It's set on an Indian reservation. It's funny. It's kind of humorous but also serious. It deals with the character of a teenage boy. It's not what you'd typically read in school. Oh - I did read something else - The Pretty Little Liars series (by Sara Shepard).

Did you like it?

Nicole: It was very good - kind of creepy. It's about a dead girl - not dead actually - she disappeared - went missing. She starts to text these girls, and stalk them. It was a chick lit book.

What did you like about it?

Nicole: It was just fun, original. You don't see stories like it often. The characters become very developed. You start thinking you know them. You start to empathize with the girls that she texts. It's not really scary but it's creepy.

Thanks Nicole. Rachel - what have you read recently?

Rachel: I started one book - 13 Little Blue Envelopes (Maureen Johnson). It was a good book but there were some creepy aspects. I stopped reading it when school started - there were a lot of other things to do. You have to get to bed earlier and you don't have time for reading. I'm planning on finishing reading it for an oral book report in school (grade 8 English literature). I stopped reading it because of the creepy aspects - but this time, I'm planning on finishing it with a lot more lights on!

Tell me about the creepy aspects.

Rachel: The book starts when this 17 year-old girl goes to pick up a package at her dead aunt's apartment. The whole book is her dead aunt's notes. She has to open the notes one by one and complete the task before opening the next one. The reason it's creepy is the notes are coming from her dead aunt and you don't know how.

When I got these books, I was also interested in the series Nicole read - so I asked her to read them first - so I could find out what they were like. She's less scared of books like that.

Good system! Did you get any other books since the summer?

Audrey Wait! by Robin Benway - but I haven't read it yet.

Thanks, Rachel. We'll talk again in the winter - that is - if the two of you agree to another interview.

Notes on a Wild Rumpus

After many long months of anticipation leading up to the release of Max's wild rumpus on film, at last, I saw Where the Wild Things Are. Can anything live up to that kind of build-up? I've realized it doesn't matter - the fascinating thing is to be immersed in the director's vision of Max's world. Like any adaptation from a book - particularly one treasured in my memory - it's intriguing to compare this new interpretation with the one I carry around in my head.

Extrapolating from the ten sentences of Maurice Sendak's original, Spike Jonze has provided the motivation on which the story rests. The first few scenes introduce Max and explain his anger and frustration. In the real world, his sister's friends wreck his igloo. His mother, preoccupied with her boyfriend, isn't giving Max enough attention. At home, in everyday reality, Max has no power. So why not escape to an imaginary world where he can have control - even preside over this wild realm as king?

When Max steps off the shore and onto a boat, tossing over the wavy sea, he has entered the realm of fantasy. But even that realm can be scary. The waves are rough and the wild things fight. Spike Jonze departs from Maurice Sendak's original in that Max doesn't escape conflict in the fantasy world. The imaginary world isn't perfect either. As wild thing Carol said,"It was supposed to be the place where only the things you want to happen happened." But apparently, there is conflict and trouble even in the imagination.

The film is visually enchanting, with Jeff Thorp's art direction and costume design by Casey Storm. The nuanced features of the wild things help to convey multi-dimensional characters with emotion and sensitivity. My favorite scene visually - when Max and Carol walk across the desert. I love that landscape, and Carol's bleak remark, "I don't even know what comes after dust."

The ending was the biggest surprise - a profound departure from the book. I expected Max to wake up in the fort on his bedroom floor with his stuffed animals sleeping in a pile, the toy boat in a puddle of water, and his dinner on the bedside table - still hot. After all - wasn't the wild adventure all in his head?

But at the end of the film, Max leaves the wild things and returns across a now calm sea. He parks his boat on the shore and runs through the streets back home, where his mother is waiting, frantic with worry. She knows he has been gone. Jonze is pulling our leg. In his vision - fantasy and reality merge. Did it really happen?

After we saw the film, my son, his friend and I went straight to the children's department at B&N to re-read the Sendak book. Yes, we confirmed, in Sendak's story, the fantasy began in Max's room, when the trees began to grow.

Regardless, as Sendak himself has said, the film is true to the spirit of the book. It captures with eloquence the point of view of Max, a child who feels powerless to control his reality. In the end, Max acknowledges he's not a king - he's just a boy. He resolves the wild conflicts of his imagination and can safely return to the real world.

Fascinating and provocative. I'm still pondering the vision Jonze portrays. And clearly, leaving me suspended in wonder is the whole point.

Rainforest painting

Finally - I've completed my rainforest painting - started months ago as a rough sketch that materialized from my imagination. Now, it is a color sample of a two-page spread for my proposed concept book about colors. Click here to see the finished painting: Rainforest

Where the Wild Things Art

If you think there's a typo - or obsolete usage - in the heading above, there isn't! I'm making a bit of a pun actually, because a group of artists have compiled some whimsical and wonderful artwork inspired by the Maurice Sendak classic, Where the Wild Things Are. You can see the art yourself, at this website WildArt. The work is also a gallery show. All part of the excitement leading up to the release of the movie on October 16th. Many thanks to Rita Crayon Huang, rita'sblog who posted the link on Facebook.

Next up - right here - an interview with a talented teen who is writing his own sci-fi novel, and more interviews with kids on what books they're reading and why. And my new rainforest painting - currently undergoing a few last minute touch-ups - will be posted soon. 

Favorite books... another POV

Just read this intriguing post on what your favorite books say about you - from the blog, Five Minutes for Books, and wanted to share: favbooks

My favorite childhood book? The Wolves of Willoughby Chase - Joan Aiken's  deep, dark satisfying satire with a moody setting and the menacing antagonist, Miss Slighcarp - what a name! I revisited the Chase recently and loved it again as an adult. Second favorite -  A Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine L'Engle). Like author Julie Buxbaum, I too liked the Secret Garden, but far preferred Frances Hodgson Burnett's less well known novel, The Little Princess. I plunged into the misery of Sara Crewe. As most kids do, I wanted to be immersed in a world - however sinister - and feel the satisfaction of emerging to a safe warm place. What are your favorite children's books?

Coming up, more interviews with kids on their favorite books. Also, I just finished my rainforest painting - will be posting it soon. 

And, I'm now on Twitter. Come follow me there OnBeyondWords, if you will.... 

Headline jokes - leftovers from the SCBWI Conference

At the last minute, I registered for just one day of the SCBWI summer conference - Saturday - to see the Portfolio Showcase (inspiring), hear Melinda Long, Eve Bunting, Kadir Nelson and Arthur Levine on creating an extraordinary picture book (illuminating), the agents panel with Brenda Bowen (whose session last year was a highlight for me), Sarah Davies, Stephen Fraser, Don Lazar, Kelly Sonnack and Marietta Zacker (informative) and of course, to network at the Blue Moon Ball. There were many other highlights, like Wendy Loggia's presentation on 7 reasons for rejecting a manuscript (Note to bloggers: consider what you write in your blog. Editors do!)

Then there's the joke challenge - a fun diversion in the few down minutes between running back and forth from the Los Angeles Ballroom to the California Showcase. Last year I won a joke draw, which motivated me further. The challenge this time - to write a headline showing how characters from children's literature are adjusting to the recession. I submitted four jokes this year, and none of them were drawn. I don't want to waste them, so here are my leftovers:

* Rapunzel sells hair - Prince climbs tower with grappling hook

* Pinocchio forced to cut off extra nose for kindling

* Emperor shops for new clothes at Goodwill

* Alice subdivides Wonderland

One more thing - the kid's pov - an interview with children on what books they're reading and why  (see my last post) will now be a regular feature of this blog. Look for upcoming interviews with young readers here soon!

Two Teens on Reading - An Interview

What are teenagers reading and what makes a good book? I talked to my niece and her best friend, two sophisticated 13 year-olds, about what they've read recently. It turns out they have fascinating insights on YA fiction. I started with Nicole:

What were your three favorite books this year? 

Nicole: "Gossip Girl," (by Cecily Von Ziegesar) and... what was that book with the yellow cover I read?

Rachel: She only reads books with yellow covers...

Nicole: Did any Harry Potter books come out this year? (laughter) I know - "The View from Saturday," (E.L. Konigsburg), and "The Mediator Series," by Meg Cabot. It's about a ghost busting person. 

Which of those stands out?

Nicole: I think "Gossip Girl" stands out.

Why?

Nicole: It's really chick litty and light and easy. They just have good characters.

Rachel: They're intriguing plots - scandalous - and the characters are very good, well-written.

Nicole: The characters relate well to teens.

Rachel: Except they're not relatable. We don't live in New York and meander around in parties and (do the things they do).

What kind of books do you like most, Nicole?

Nicole: I like sad books where people die - with yellow covers - I do judge by the cover - because in happy books they always have everything and you're all bummed out 'cause they're happier than you are.

That's very interesting. How do you judge a book by its cover?

Nicole: If a book is one solid cover I don't like that. If they have really annoying shiny covers that change in the light, I don't like that. I don't like hardcover books at all - they're too heavy - they don't bend... and I don't like really cartoony (covers). 

(Then,  Nicole remembered another book she read recently) "Before I Die," (by Jenny Downham) - not a kid's book though, but the character is 16. It's sad, but it's got short chapters. I like short chapters because you feel like you accomplished something.

Tell me more about why Gossip Girl is your favorite recent book, Rachel? 

Rachel: The plot is very intriguing, and the end of each chapter makes you want to read the next chapter. You don't stop reading... I also love the covers of these books, 'cause you can't see the characters' eyes. So you want to read the book and imagine what they look like.

What other books have you read recently? 

Rachel: "Forever Rose," (Hilary McCay), "Once Upon a Marigold," (Jean Ferris), and "Mrs. Piggle Wiggle," (Betty MacDonald).

Tell me about "Mrs. Piggle Wiggle." 

Rachel: It was one of my mom's books (first published in 1947). Mrs. Piggle Wiggle's funny, it's so drole.

Why funny?

Rachel: (quoting a passage from the text) Because, "She said, she fell off the banister and hit her head, and they thought she said, she fell in the toaster and burned up dead."

Nicole: It's not what you see in kid's books anymore. It's an old book. It's morbid.