CHARLES DARWIN AND THE MYSTERY OF MYSTERIES

CHARLES DARWIN AND THE MYSTERY OF MYSTERIES, by Niles Eldredge and Susan Pearson (Roaring Brook 2010)(ages10+). A fascinating and eminently readable account of the life of Charles Darwin and the voyage of HMS Beagle.

Details abound, and the authors do a great job of showing how Darwin's experiences and observations led to the development of his theories on the origin of species.

The volume includes many figures and maps, as well as sidebars elaborating on the context of the narrative and of nineteenth century life. An excellent introduction to Darwin and his times.

SEAGLASS SUMMER

SEAGLASS SUMMER, by Anjali Banerjee (Wendy Lamb Books/Random House 2010)(ages 8-12). More than anything, eleven-year-old Poppy Ray wants to be a veterinarian. So she convinces her parents to let her spend the summer on an island in Washington state with her veterinarian uncle Sanjay, who runs the Furry Friends Animal Clinic.

Once there, she comes to realize that it isn't all just about what she can pull out of her black vet kit. It involves blood, emergencies, and occasionally, pain and sadness. But with the help of a piece of seaglass (for meditating) and a boy named Hawk, she just might muddle through and survive the summer.

SEAGLASS SUMMER is a sweet and affecting story of a girl pursuing her dream and overcoming the occasional bout of squeamishness.

THE BOOK OF TORMOD: A TEMPLAR'S APPRENTICE

THE BOOK OF TORMOD: A TEMPLAR'S APPRENTICE, by Kat Black (Scholastic 2010)(12+). Thirteen-year-old Tormod MacLeod is the seventh of nine children, and the only one gifted with visions. He wants nothing more than to leave his remote village, and gets the chance when a Templar Knight appears and assigns him an errand involving delivery of a scroll and a map.

Now irrevocably caught up in Templar intrigues, Tormod flees with the knight to the Continent on a quest to find the Templar Grand Master and seek the treasure whose location is defined by the map - a treasure that they must, at all costs, keep out of the hands of the king of France.

A gripping historical fantasy, A TEMPLAR'S APPRENTICE offers a compelling protagonist, terrific voice, period detail, and a rousing adventure. First in a series.

AMAZING FACES

AMAZING FACES, anth. by Lee Bennett Hopkins, ill. by Chris Soentpiet (Lee & Low 2010). In this lovely picture book anthology, Hopkins brings together sixteen poets and poems about brief flashes of time and instantaneous emotions resulting therefrom. Soentpiet's elegant illustrations evoke the feelings of the poems via environmental detail and the expressions on the people's faces.

The collection includes poems by Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Kam Mak, Carole Boston Weatherford, Jane Medina, Nikki Grimes, Jude Mandell, Jane Yolen, Tom Robert Shields, Pat Mora, Janet S. Wong, Lee Bennett Hopkins, Prince Redcloud, Mary E. Cronin, Joeseph Bruchac, J. Patrick Lewis, and Langston Hughes.

THE RISE OF RENEGADE X

THE RISE OF RENEGADE X, by Chelsea M. Campbell (Egmont 2010)(12+). Damien Locke, son of the mad scientist "Mistress of Mayhem," has his life planned. Once his powers develop, he'll attend Vilmore Academy and learn how to take his place in the front ranks of those villains opposed to the superheroes of Golden City.

But at his coming-of-age ceremony on his sixteenth birthday, Damien discovers, to his horror, that his father -- whom he never knew -- was not a failed archvillain, but of all things, a superhero.

Then, even worse, his mother makes him go live with his father and his half-siblings. While she's plotting to take over Golden City, Damien is stuck in a family of do-gooders, with a half-sister who hates him...Can he avoid their clutches to rendezvous with his villainous destiny?

Funny and wry, THE RISE OF RENEGADE X is an exciting and engaging novel of secrets, family, sometime heroism, consequences, and free will.

Writers League of Texas Upcoming Events

The Writers League of Texas has a couple of great events coming up of interest to the youth literature community.

The first, the 2010 agents-editors conference, will be held in Austin on June 25-27. On Saturday, at 10:15, I will be moderating a panel titled Kid Lit: One Hot Market, with editor Mary Colgan of Chronicle Books; agent Laurie McLean of Larsen-Pomada Literary Agents; and Alice Tasman of Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency.

At 1:45, Jennifer Ziegler will be moderating a panel called YA, YA, YA Not: How to Tell if your Book is for Adults or Teens or Both, with editor Mary Colgan and author Mari Mancusi.

On Sunday, at 9, Laurie McLean and Alice Tasman will be on a panel titled Trendspotting: The Forecast for YA and Children's Books.

Also on Sunday at 9, I will be on a panel moderated by Clay Smith (Literary Director of the Texas Book Festival), called The Ties that Bind: The Agent/Author Relationship. Also on that panel will be James Fitzerald of the James Fitzgerald Agency, Jill Marr of the Sandra Dijkstra Agency, and author David Marion Wilkinson.

Many other panels (including many of interest to both adult and children's authors) will be ongoing, and the event also presents writers with the chance to "pitch" their work to an agent. Also noteworthy is the Saturday keynote luncheon, which will honor winners of the Writers League Manuscript Contest for 2010.

Check out the conference page here to confirm times.

The second is the 2010 Writing Retreat at Sul Ross University in Alpine. Austin's own Jennifer Ziegler will be discussing "Writing the YA Novel."

SHARK VS. TRAIN

SHARK VS. TRAIN, by Chris Barton, ill. by Tom Lichtenfeld (Little Brown 2010). Two boys and their favorite toys. What could go wrong?

In SHARK VS. TRAIN, Barton and Lichtenfeld bring an epic and hilarious battle that will answer, once and for all, who will reign supreme - fish or machine?

Witty, colorful, and full of laughs, SHARK VS. TRAIN will appeal to readers of all ages.

Florida SCBWI

Last post, I mentioned our slight difficulties in traveling to Orlando for the Florida SCBWI Mid-Year Workshop. No, I was not exaggerating. However, once on the ground, things went much more smoothly. The Florida folks put on a great workshop.

Florida SCBWI member Curtis Sponsler picked us up and kept us entertained while we waited through the storm for our luggage, and then drove us to the Disney Coronado Springs Resort Hotel, where they have, among other things, alligators (in the lagoon, not on the menu)...

We met with the organizers and other speakers over dinner at the Pepper Market. We retired not long after from exhaustion.

Cyn went out early next morning to do her workshop, while I partook of the resort amenities: weight room, running track around the lagoon (where lives aforementioned alligator), and lap pool. Then I went to work...

That evening, we had dinner with the organizers and other speakers (and I'm too lazy to name and link everyone, but here are a few): Alvina Ling, Kathleen Duey, Stephanie Lurie, Brian Farrey, Alexandra Cooper, Adrienne Sylver, Christina Gonzalez, Alex Flynn, Dorian Cirrone, Joyce Sweeney, and more!

We saw a hatchling in the nest of a mourning dove and went to bed.

Sunday, after laundry (we didn't pack for the humidity :-)), we headed over to Epcot! Where we walked around the entire world in one afternoon. Dinner was at the Japanese steakhouse and was both entertaining and probably the best meal we had while at Disney.

Next day, we went over to the "Downtown Disney" area, window-shopped at the world's biggest Disney merchandise store, and had lunch at the T.Rex Cafe (which is by the same people who do Rainforest Cafe, but more prehistoric).

That afternoon, we escaped the heat and went to see Shrek: Forever After. Dinner, at Fulton's Crab House, was also quite good. Then we went back to the hotel and collapsed from exhaustion.

There's something very wrong when vacation is more physically demanding than work. Or maybe not...:-).

Cyn has a more thorough post here.

Ahh, air travel...

Cyn and I just got back from Orlando, Florida, where she spoke on Marketing with Greg Pincus and Ed Masessa at the Florida SCBWI Mid-Year Workshop.

The event itself was terrific, although our flight out to Orlando devolved into a kind of a comedy of errors. Or maybe, terrors.

Here's what happened:

Our flight is through Atlanta (no, I have no idea why, and I booked the flights - you can go direct from Austin to Orlando, but they must have already been full; or didn't work with our schedule. Or something).

So, anyway, we fly into Atlanta and get on our plane (it's a big 767, a lovely wide-bodied jetliner, which it's kind of unusual to be on domestically these days):

It's scheduled take off time, and the pilot gets on the horn and announces that we can't leave yet, because they have no catering. Really, you ask? Catering?

In days of yore, this would mean that the chefs haven't loaded the lobster thermidor and cognac for the first class passengers. Nowadays, of course, it just means that the peanuts and the Cokes aren't there. Did I mention it was Atlanta?

Forty-five minutes later (BTW, the flight itself only takes 65 minutes), the catering gets there and they take ten minutes to load the plane. Most of the passengers and crew would've been fine going an hour and five minutes without a soft drink (oh, that's right, we did. Only on the ground!).

Once catering departs, the pilot thanks us for our patience and they close the doors and we're off!

Sadly, no. Now, it appears that the little red light that indicates the door has closed is not blinking or signifying code blue or whatever it's supposed to do. Another hour goes by when the maintenance and paperwork people come. It's not the door, it's the switch! Hurrah! Finally, we take off!

And, once we achieve cruising altitude, they begin delivering the much-delayed and therefore greatly-anticipated catered libations! Unfortunately, they only get halfway through before we hit a low pressure zone or air pocket or something and the flight gets bumpy and the plane feels likes it's plunged about a thousand feet, out of control (More or less. I'd show you the math, but I think my count of seconds was wrong).

Everyone screams, but not in a good way (Seriously, it was quite terrifying. Except to the children sitting in the seat in front of us who were laughing and peering out the window, apparently trying to see if the engine was still attached to the wing).

So...Once stable flight resumes, the pilot makes the flight attendants sit down...and half the plane doesn't get the beverages we waited two hours for...

But! We make it to Orlando. Safely, despite the thunderstorm. Except, once on the ground, they can't unload our luggage for another hour due to the thunderstorm during which the sky turns black.

Once on terra firma, and free of the clutches of the airline, we had a lovely time.

And our return flight was much less eventful.

NATHAN ABERCROMBIE, ACCIDENTAL ZOMBIE

NATHAN ABERCROMBIE, ACCIDENTAL ZOMBIE, by David Lubar (Starscape/Tor 2009, 2010, etc.). In this ongoing series (currently at three books), fifth grader Nathan Abercrombie is accidentally doused with a chemical bath that leaves him partially zombie-fied...

In Book 1, MY ROTTEN LIFE, we are introduced to Nathan, the second skinniest kid in school, and the tribulations resulting therefrom. When he's doused with the chemical, he must rely on his friends, the brilliant Abigail and the occasionally-pungent Mookie, to attempt to find a cure.

In Book 2, DEAD GUY SPY, Nathan meets up with operatives of the Bureau of Useful Misadventures (BUM), a secretive organization dedicated to promoting freedom throughout the world, who attempt to recruit him due to his unique, undead abilities.

In Book 3, GOOP SOUP, Nathan and his friends must thwart the designs of an evil organization that wants to poison the water supply with fungal waste products.

In NATHAN ABERCROMBIE, Lubar has created a terrific character and series, both funny and gross (sometimes simultaneously), and always smart. Readers will be dying to hold of the next books in the series. Heh.