BookPeople Recommends A Taste For Red

Svetlana Grimm is a favorite at BookPeople !
Thanks Emily for the kind words. Here are a few choice tidbits:

"...wonderful, funny read..."
"...perfect for girls and guys..."
"...not one you want to miss this summer."

Definitely not :^)
Check out the full skinny at BookKids Recommends.

A Taste for Red is Released!!

I went into the wonderful Inkwood Books in Tampa and it's available there. It's at BookPeople in Austin. It appears to be in stock at most Barnes and Noble. It's available online wherever fine books are sold online. It's on my mom's coffee table. It's in the trunk of my car. It's in libraries in Arizona, Vancouver, Boston, Tallahassee, and on and on and on. It's propping up the wobbly work bench in my brother's garage.

If it's not available on the shelf at your favorite bookseller, just ask. They'll be happy to order it. Seriously...they'll be "very happy." By simply requesting A Taste For Red, you'll be spreading thick spoonfuls of joy! You can't put a price on that (although for business purposes, your local book retailer might.)

I have to thank Clarion Books and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for doing a fantastic job getting A Taste For Red out into the world.

But mostly I have to thank my wonderful friends and family who have supported and encouraged me along the winding path to this happy moment. I thank the folks who've bought the book and the one's who will buy the book and those that will tell their friends about the book and that they must buy the book even if their children have to go without a meal to offset the cost of the book. I know...it's cruel, but really, what's one meal? Or two? A Taste For Red is distracting and oh so nutritious--they won't even notice.

Five Questions for Chris Barton

"It all started with a magic act and an accident at the ketchup factory..."

How can a reader walk away from a great teaser like that?

Here's the lowdown from Charlesbridge:
"Joe and Bob Switzer were very different brothers. Bob was a studious planner who wanted to grow up to be a doctor. Joe dreamed of making his fortune in show business and loved magic tricks and problem-solving. When an accident left Bob recovering in a darkened basement, the brothers began experimenting with ultraviolet light and fluorescent paints. Together they invented a whole new kind of color, one that glows with an extra-special intensity Day-Glo."

Now that sounds like a great book for young readers.

And the writer is definitely on a roll. Chris Barton's debut picture book, THE DAY-GLO BROTHERS, has just been released from Charlesbridge, his second book, the awesomely titled SHARK VS. TRAIN, is slated for a 2010 release from Little, Brown, and he is currently hard at work on a YA non-fiction project for Dial. That's almost more than I can cram into one sentence.

Thankfully, Chris slowed down long enough for five questions:

1) What book had the most influence on you as a young reader? Was there a title that inspired you, that lingers as a defining book in your life?

There wasn't a particular book, actually, but there was a magazine: Rolling Stone. By that time, it had moved from breaking the story of Patty Hearst's kidnapping to putting out things like "The Hot Issue," but it still opened up a cultural window in my pre-Web teenage small-town East Texas life. I liked the subjects it covered, and I loved the story of how the magazine had come into being through scrappiness and determination and good timing. As I got older, I became less directly inspired by it -- I no longer wanted to be a rock critic, and I no longer wanted to be the editor of Rolling Stone -- but I think it did give me a sense of what professional satisfaction and fulfillment through the written word should feel like, and when I stumbled into children's writing, I recognized that sensation immediately.

2) Your debut THE DAY-GLO BROTHERS has just been released and you have several other projects in the pipeline. What was the most unexpected discovery that you made on your road to publication, the thing that surprised you the most?

The entire world of writing and publishing books for children was an unexpected discovery. It was like lifting a big flat rock and finding this thriving, fascinating ecosystem that had been nearby all along but hidden from view. I was most surprised by the sense of community, the mere existence of an organization like SCBWI, and the lengths that children's writers and illustrators will go to in order to help and support each other.

3) You seem to do a lot of research for your books, doesn’t that drive you nuts?

I love doing research. What drives me nuts is having to stop researching and go with whatever information I've managed to accumulate. Because if I'd been able to keep going, who knows what cool fact I might have found next?

4) When I lived in New Orleans, I noticed that everyone leaving New Orleans was either going to New York City or Austin. Why Austin?

The second-most-influential publication on the teenage me was The Daily Texan, the student newspaper at the University of Texas. I happened to be in Austin each spring when the graduating seniors would publish their farewell columns, and those made the basement where the Texan staff worked seem like nirvana. So, I came to Austin to attend UT and write for the Texan, and I've been here mostly ever since. I did live in New York for a little while (interning for Rolling Stone), and in Houston and Atlanta, and my wife and I had the good sense to honeymoon in New Orleans in December when the French Quarter was pretty much empty and there was no one to get between us and the food.

5) If a picture book, a middle grade reader, and a YA novel got into a knife fight, which would emerge victorious?

The knife maker -- the weapons manufacturer always comes out ahead.

Very clever answer. I was hoping for a gory and detailed fight scene, but you've thwarted me! (Shakes fist).

Check out Chris's website and blog and join him at Facebook for all the latest news.

THE DAY-GLO BROTHERS: The True Story of Bob and Joe Switzer's Bright Ideas and Brand-New Colors is illustrated by Tony Persiani, written by Chris Barton, and available online or at your local bookseller.

Happens Every Day

I just finished Happens Every Day by Isabel Gillies. It's not a book for young readers and it's not a book to dive into if you're looking for a little light escapist entertainment. It's an uncomfortably frank memoir of divorce and family disintegration told from the POV of a woman struggling to keep her marriage intact. As the title suggests, there's nothing remarkable about the story itself, although the honesty with which it's told is remarkable. And painful. It comes with the subtitle an all-too-true story. And it's a bummer. I've never been divorced or married and that had zero impact on my ability to identify with the writer. It's a book about hard reality, about the gut wrenching fact that sometimes a person has absolutely no control over the biggest things in life. The story made me mad. It frustrated me. I couldn't say I enjoyed (it's not that kinda book) --but I'm glad I read it. And I can recommend it.

I'd be interested what other readers think about this book--especially if you're married.

Happens Every Day: An All-Too-True Story by Isabel Gillies, Simon & Schuster 2009

Summer Reading

School is almost out! It's time to visit your local bookstore and grab a few books for young readers. Last week I passed along selections to my niece and nephew. I hooked them up with Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry, Skellig by David Almond, Monster by Walter Dean Myers, and The Road by Cormac McCarthy. The Road? Yep, it's the odd man out in the group, but I think my nephew will appreciate the story. Plus, it's going to be a movie soon, and one should always read the book before seeing the movie, right? Hopefully they'll read many more than these four works, but I think the collection is a good start.

It's always fun to search for a gift read with a particular person in mind. But it's tricky, too. You have to make the right selection or your influence on the reader's habits will be critically compromised. Take The Pickwick Papers for example. It's one of my all-time favorites, but I doubt 800+ pages of Dickens will hold much curb appeal for cool kids on the go, go, go.

I'm a big fan of broccoli, but when I was a kid, not so much.
So get the young people in your life excited about reading.
Steer them toward great books.
But not broccoli books, they'll eat those when they're ready.

The Hunger Games

Just finished reading The Hunger Games, and I was sad to see it end. It's the kind of futuristic, post-apocalyptic read I love --but doubly love since it's targeted toward a younger audience. I wish this book had been around when I was a teenager. It's a great stepping-stone read on the way to The Stand and The Road, a mish-mash of Lord of the Flies meets Battle Royale with a generous scoop of The Running Man thrown in for hi-tech effect--but still wholly surprising and original.

Suzanne Collins has mastered mad skillz to pull off this book.

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins, Scholastic 2008

Paranoid Park

I've been looking forward to checking out Paranoid Park on DVD, but before I could make that move, I first needed to read the novel.

And now that I have, I really want to see the movie.

The book is gripping--just the kind of nail biter I crave. In Portland, the lives of "streeters" and "preps" converge at a sketchy, downtown skate park. The story opens like a wound, with a crime that compels the reader to the final pages, waiting for the already disintegrating world of one "prep" skater to unravel completely. Will it? Or will life somehow work out less disastrously for our teen skater? Is that even possible? Maybe, no matter what occurs, things cannot possibly work out. It's a lot to think about. And obsess over. Maybe enough to drive one to paranoia. But with good reason.

Once started, I couldn't put it down.
Paranoid Park by Blake Nelson, 2006 Penguin/Viking.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

I just finished Sherman Alexie's novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. It's hilarious, heartbreaking, embarrassing, uncomfortable and...did I mention hilarious? I stumbled across the work just before Christmas at E. Shaver, Bookseller's in Savannah, Ga.. I read the first chapter standing in the book shop and was blown away. I snatched up a copy as a gift for my niece and promised myself that I would check out a copy from the Tallahassee library. I finally did--and was happy to discover that the chapters following the first were equally entertaining. I was also surprised at the level of intimacy in the story. It's an uncomfortably accurate glimpse into the workings of a fourteen year old mind --at least as far as I can remember. Plus it's just plain funny--and sweet. I hope my niece gleaned some useful intel on the adolescent male psyche!

It's published by Little, Brown with terrific illustrations by graphic artist Ellen Forney.

Jessica Burkhart Book Signing

On Saturday I stopped by Books-a-Million to meet 'tween author Jessica Burkhart and pick up her debut novel Take The Reins, which is part of the eight book Canterwood Crest Series from Aladdin. Take The Reins follows Sasha Silver and her horse Charm as they begin life at the elite Canterwood Crest Academy and compete for a spot on the advanced riding team. Unfortunately, not everyone at the academy is thrilled at the prospect of competition from a new and talented rider. Drama ensues.

Lisa has already devoured the book and given it "a big thumbs up!". For more info on the series check out Jessicaburkhart.com. She offers great advice for writers and blogs almost daily at jessicaburkhart.blogspot.com (which makes me look sooooo bad. But I won't mope. I'll let her be an inspiration to become a better blogger myself).

Check her stuff out!

And if you're in the North Florida area, keep an eye open for her next bookstore appearance (an event calender can be found at her blog).

The next book in the Canterwood Crest Series, Chasing Blue, will be available March 24th.

Dr. Franklin's Island

Here's a book I read a while back and haven't gotten out of my head. It's a take on the H. G. Wells classic The Island of Dr. Moreau, except this time the unfortunate guinea pigs are three young people. The wide-eyed youths are part of a conservation group en route to a fabulous jungle adventure in Ecuador, but they suffer more adventure than they bargained for when a terrifying air disaster lands them in the ocean. Most of the party are deep-sixed in the crash while Semi, Miranda, and Arnie survive to find themselves stranded on a mysterious island. As bad luck would have it (for them, but not the reader) a mad scientist has also taken up residence on the island.
Trouble ensues as the tale plows full steam ahead in a surprisingly creepy direction. It's a fun read if you want a break from cotton candy, syrupy smiles, and a world where things work out just fine.

Dr. Franklin's Island by Ann Halam, published by Random House Children's Books, 2002.

Give it a read and tell me what you think.

The Adventures of Sir Lancelot The Great

The Adventures of Sir Lancelot The Great

by Gerald Morris

Published by Houghton Mifflin

with illustrations and cover art copyright 2008 by Aaron Renier

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What a marvelous book this is! I whipped through the ninety pages, sad to see it end. It's sandwiched somewhere between being a chapter book and a middle grade work, but definitely a pleasurable read for any age. The writing is hilarious in a good-natured fashion. I laughed aloud at each of the fearless knight's adventures. When Lancelot finds himself trapped in a tree, he bests Sir Phelot by dropping acorns onto the frustrated knight's armor. And it works! I'd never realized the comedic value of the word plink!

The work is the first in a new series from Morris called The Knights' Tales. My expectations are certainly high for number two!