The Storm In The Barn

I'm very excited to feature Matt Phelan's new graphic novel published by Candlewick, The Storm In The Barn (ISBN: 9780763636180). Matt's book will be available next month. The setting is Kansas, 1937. Eleven-year-old Jack Clark faces his share of ordinary challenges: local bullies, his father’s failed expectations, a little sister with an eye for trouble. But he also has to deal with the effects of the Dust Bowl, including rising tensions in his small town and the spread of a shadowy illness. Certainly a case of "dust dementia" would explain who (or what) Jack has glimpsed in the Talbot’s abandoned barn -- a sinister figure with a face like rain. In a land where it never rains, it’s hard to trust what you see with your own eyes -- and harder still to take heart and be a hero when the time comes. With phenomenal pacing, sensitivity, and a sure command of suspense, Matt Phelan ushers us into a world where desperation is transformed by unexpected courage.

I asked Matt why his book will appeal to boys. Below is his response; I couldn't agree with him more:

"I think that reading graphic novels (or comics or whatever you like calling them) is a different kind of reading and just as valid as reading a prose book. It involves a balance between the words or dialogue and the pictures, which are equally important (in fact, much of The Storm In The Barn is told through pictures alone). Reading graphic novels requires effort. I think boys are very adept at this kind of reading and my hope is that my book will reward their effort with a thrilling, satisfying story."

When I saw Matt's unique style for the first time, I said, "Wow! I see the ghost of Bill Peet here." When I was a boy, Bill Peet was my favorite writer and illustrator. I bought my daughter a copy of Farewell to Shady Glade before she was even born. During summer break when I was a boy one of my favorite things to do was go to the school library and checkout Bill Peet books. When I was about ten, I got to the checkout counter with my mom, and a very well-meaning librarian said, "He's too old for picture books." I'm still slightly wounded by this remark. Luckily, Mom replied, "He can read anything he want's to." Today, I'm thrilled to find Bill Peet's work on the shelves of bookstores across the US.

I had to ask Matt if Peet influenced his work. Below is Matt's reply to my question:

"I would definitely say Bill Peet was an influence. Not only his books (which I read as a kid) but also his storyboarding work with Disney. There's a great book called Paper Dreams which is all about the Disney story artists and Peet is all over it. His storyboard drawings for Dumbo, Dalmatians, and Jungle Book are amazing!"

Thanks again Matt for your very cool book. It's a tall tale, thriller. I'm sure it will resonate with young readers today and inspire them to seek out other books.

View Matt's u-tube trailer by clicking here.

To learn more about Matt's unique work, click here.

The Trouble with Mark Hopper

The Trouble with Mark Hopper is a funny, quick read about two boys who are blessed and cursed with the same name. Mark Geoffrey Hopper is a top student but a less than pleasant person. Mark Geoffrey Hopper is a poor student but a grade-A friend. When both Mark Hoppers enter the sixth grade at the same middle school, it causes nothing but hilarious problems, confusion, and all-around trouble. When will people realize that there are two Mark Hoppers, and that even though they're very similar, they're actually very different?
Boys will enjoy keeping track of which Mark is which and following them both as they realize that perhaps sharing their name presents unique opportunities...especially when it comes to winning the statewide Mastermind trophy.

This hilarious middle grade comedy written by Elissa Weissman will appeal to fans of Andrew Clements and Louis Sachar, and to anyone who understands the importance of having a good name.

Click here to learn more about Elissa Weissman.

I And I

Jesse Watson, one of my favorite illustrators has once again displayed his amazing artistry in a new book about Bob Marley.  I and I, published by Lee and Low is a really cool book; boys and girls will love flipping through its wonderful pages.   Tony Medina, the author is a deep and soulful poet.  His verse appeals to older readers as well.  Below Jesse talks about a recent visit to NYC with G. Neri, the author of one of my favorite books for reluctant, inner-city readers, Chess Rumble.  

FROM JESSE:

The author of Chess Rumble, Greg Neri, and I were recently in NYC talking about the importance and the power of Pawns in the game of Chess and how we can draw the same conclusions about those we consider Pawns in the game of life. We went to schools in some of the poorest neighborhoods in the nation and spoke to kids who had some serious obstacles to overcome, including poverty, violence, drugs, gangs... you name it! Many of these kids saw themselves as pawns; floundering in a sea of chaos, unable to affect any change in the world at all. Yet, from these conditions have come some of our greatest heroes. Bob Marley definitely qualifies. Born and raised in the poorest neighborhoods in the world, he overcame the lack of education and resources to become one of the most famous musicians we have ever known. Here is a man who, thirty years after his death, is still outselling current artists today. Here is a man whose music you will find in literally any country on the planet, from Iran to Singapore, Peru to Finland, rocking out of taxis, blasting through sound systems, and streaming over radio frequencies. This Pawn became a King and so can these kids, regardless of the obstacles they may face.

Click here to visit Jesse's site.

Click here to visit Tony Medina.

Parker Takes a Bullet

Below is information submitted by Lewis Hall about his new book, Parker Takes A Bullet.  This novel has an exciting plot and should appeal to both boys and girls.  Boy's typically prefer books with a male protagonist.  Mr. Hall's female protagonist book has enough edge that it should appeal to many boys.  One of my favorite novels of all time is The Golden Compass.  It too has a female protagonist.

A Mystery/Thriller with Heart

My dad a drug dealer?

At a time when she should have been thinking about what frothy dress to wear to the senior prom, Evelyn Parker, still reeling from her mother's suicide, has to face this troubling question. Worse, the fact that her father's incinerated body is found in her bombed-out home shortly after a huge cash deposit was made in his bank account leaves his colleagues in the Sheriff's Department convinced he was on the take.

But, growing up the daughter of a detective, Evelyn learned a few things about police work. When the investigation into her father's murder grinds to a halt, Evelyn decides to do some sleuthing of her own, determined to exonerate her dad. In the process she plays loose with the law, tails a too-charming suspect, uncovers a worldwide web of international crime, and learns that things are not always how they appear.

But wait a minute! Parker Takes a Bullet is about a girl. Why would a boy be interested in a girl protagonist? Because this girl is hot and exciting. I know, because I was once a boy and I know what a boy likes. I remember Saturday nights in my college days, gathered together with my male buddies in front of a television set and watching Purdey, a female secret agent on The New Avengers. Purdey was not girlie; she was cool. And today I, along with other men, like watching Beatrix Kiddo in the Kill Bill movies. She too is cool and exciting.

Evelyn Parker is eighteen-years-old. Boys like girls a little older than themselves. Yes, boys must have action and adventure, mystery and suspense in their stories, and this book has it all, non-stop; it’s a page-turner. But combine these elements with a story about an attractive, courageous girl and you have a book that will meet every boy's needs. It might not be hip for him to admit that he is reading such a book or that he likes it. But boys are reading Parker Takes a Bullet, and more than once!

Yes, girls can act feminine and silly, which is uncomfortable for most boys, but Evelyn Parker is a girl who has been thrown into an intense situation that forces her to act serious and brave. This is a book for mature teenagers as there are many edgy scenes. And in the midst of these scenes are some hard moral questions that deal with life and death, how to overcome grief, and how to face questions regarding sex and love.

Click here for Parker Takes a Bullet.

Brighton Elementary

Hello Kids,

Thank you for the pleasure of allowing me to read my story at your wonderful school.  You kids are terrific!  I had a great time visiting with all of you.  Please stay in touch with me.  I need your help in finishing my story.  I promise to work hard writing and revising my story this summer.  I also promise to return to Brighton in the fall for more author visits.   Sorry, fifth graders, we'll miss seeing you at Brighton.  However, if you follow this blog, you can write to me here (with your parents and teachers permission) and we can stay in touch.  I'll also post my story, PIPE PEOPLE on my website so that you can read it online and or print it out as PDF pages.  

Please read many, many books, write to me, and have a fun and safe summer!  Thank you again Mr. Raymond and Mr. Davis.  The world needs more men like you.

David Michael Slater's SELFLESS

SELFLESS is a comic-drama about identity and the many factors that shape it: family, friends; race; religion; social class; and the myriad fears and fascinations that afflict us all as we try to discover who we are. Jonathan Schwartz is the main character, and we spend a great deal of time with him and his three best friends (all boys) as they navigate through high school and college in the 1980's. The book depicts adolescent boys in a hysterically graphic but true-to-life way as they focus most of their time and energy on things like filling out charts for rating the girls at school (categories include, "Face, Chest, Butt, Legs, Eyes, Hair, Clothes, Sports Ability, and, lastly, for tie-breaking purposes, Personality"), or ticking items off on “The Purity Test,” a list of 100 questions that determined what was called one’s “Purity Rating” ("the point of a decent score was to confirm an adventurous nature, not to be disgusting.")

But in the midst of the boys' hilarious single-mindedness, we see and begin to worry about the fundamental lack of authenticity in their relationships, obviously with  girls, but also with each other. It takes the intrusions of family crises for all of them—most especially for Jon, whose family is positively overflowing with dysfunction—for them even to begin to rise above these limitations.

Folks who've read the book often remark that, as a long-time 7^th grade teacher (nearly fifteen years), I am clearly in touch with the teenage boy. The truth is I remember my own teen years all too clearly (not that I did any of the things Jon, Jake, Cory and Milo do—I swear! Okay, not that I did most of them. Fine, not that I did some of them.). But, from what I see as a teacher, things are much the same among boys all these years later (I'm 39 now). In the larger picture, they always will be: we will all have to blunder our way down the perilous path that is growing up. All the characters in the book, including Jon's two challenging sisters, struggle to find a place in the world. For one of them, the struggle is a war.

Because of the graphic nature of the boys' language and some of the off-color scenarios they engineer, the book is appropriate only for older teens. Feedback as been very interesting in terms of gender. I’ve been told the book was “hilarious” and “addicting” by both boys and girls. Girls, though, report having shaken their heads continually as they read, muttering, “Boys,” the whole time (maybe with the word 'pathetic' thrown in every so often—okay, very often. Fine, pretty much every page). Boys report that they see themselves in Jon and his friends, often only too well. It's a book they say that did a rare thing: it made them laugh and think at the same time.

As an author, I can't hope for anything more.

David Michael Slater is the author of nine picture books, including CHEESE LOUISE; THE RING BEAR (an SSLI Honor Book); JACQUES & SPOCK (a Children's Book-of-the-Month Alternative Selection); and FLOUR GIRL (a 2008 Mom's Choice Award winner). Seven more titles are scheduled for '09; Slater's teen series, SACRED BOOKS, recently launched with THE BOOK OF NONSENSE (a finalist for the Associaion of Booksellers for Children's Best of 2008 list and Cybil Award nominee); Finally, he has a film in development, MOCHA COLA HIGH, with Right Angle Pictures.

Click here for SELFLESS 

Bull Rider - Speaking Out About the Consequences of War

Boys Read Blog:

Bull Rider - Speaking Out About the Consequences of War –

I started writing Bull Rider in 2004. It was a story for very young kids and in outlining Cam O’Mara’s family, I imagined his older brother in the Marines. That fit the setting and the situation. I didn’t have any intention to write about the Iraq War. But as the book changed to one for older readers and as the wars in the Middle East ground on, it seemed only honest for Ben O’Mara, the Marine, to be deployed to Iraq. And if he were deployed, he could be hurt. Badly. That’s a fact of war and that’s what moms and dads, sisters and brothers, and children think about when it gets dark and quiet at night. Lying in bed praying for someone you love to wake up again in the morning, that’s scary stuff. And I felt like someone needed to just say it out loud.

Personally, I didn’t want to go there. It’s easier to pretend that the war isn’t happening. And as a writer, it seemed invasive to ask people who already had enough problems – like life threatening injuries to themselves or their family – how they felt. I didn’t want to learn about war injuries. But that’s the story I had in my head and I was compelled to share it, honestly, with kids. So I did the research. I approached people who work with the war injured and interviewed them. I read injured soldiers blogs and blogs from their families. I visited the Palo Alto VA Hospital’s Polytrauma Unit (although the patients happened to be elsewhere that day.) I learned a lot. And I was overwhelmed with the nature and gravity of the sacrifice that some of our military men and women have made. Regardless of my own feelings about these wars and war in general, I was moved by the honor of what they did because they were asked. It was humbling and I wanted to share that too.

And then there was the question of politics. I have some definite opinions and they may not be the same as the O’Maras’. But I wanted to tell the brothers’ story about what can really happen when you go to war. It didn’t matter what their politics were and it certainly didn’t matter what mine are. The story would be the same. The Bulletin for the Center for Children’s Books said about Bull Rider, “The book isn’t overtly anti- or pro-war so much as pro the people who are struggling with this difficult change in their lives. This is therefore a gripping read for fans of family dramas, and it’s certainly high time that this aspect of the war’s consequences received a sensitive and compelling exploration.“ This is exactly the response I had hoped for. I hoped my book would help kids think about the consequences of war, and I believed dwelling on politics would stand in the way of that.

So Bull Rider became the story of Cam and Ben O’Mara, two regular brothers who competed with each other and bugged each other, until their relationship was changed permanently when Ben suffered a traumatic brain injury, the loss of an arm, and post traumatic stress disorder following an explosion in Iraq. Cam is a fourteen year old guy, so when his world is rocked, he acts out – takes his skateboard to the Grange parking lot, rides a bull, goofs off in school. That’s how he handles the emotions – until his brother needs more from him and in a move that is both dangerous and loyal, Cam risks a ride on the monster bull Ugly to help Ben.

Bull Rider is engaging boy readers. Book sellers say it is a nice alternative to the fantasy that is out there. Librarians and teachers tell me that boys who don’t read much at all are picking up Bull Rider. Initially skaters and rodeo fans are interested. But once they start reading, I believe it’s the openness about war captures their attention. . The circumstances are not white washed or skipped over. There is a real problem – one that any of the readers might face. Right now. Today. And last, I think boy readers are drawn in by the relationship between the brothers. It’s competitive, supportive, and loyal. No matter how much they annoy each other, Cam and Ben O’Mara have each others’ back. I think that’s what a lot of boys long for and in Bull Rider, that’s what they get.

Click here for, Bull Rider.

 Thank you Suzanne Morgan Williams for your wonderful book!