HOPE THROUGH STORIES

Welcome to Library Lions special edition Hope Through Stories. Authors and Readers sending Hope to children and teens through books and donations to Ferguson Library.
 Joelle Charbonneau    

 

Bestselling author of TheTesting Trilogy Gave us permission to repost her Roar for Ferguson Library and the pivotal role it’s playing reaching out to children and teens in Ferguson MO. (original post here)  

Because at the darkest moment in every story there is hope….

Authors united in support of the students of Ferguson, MO

The terrible events in Ferguson, MO have rocked the community and the nation. The outrage, sense of betrayal and hopelessness are obvious in every photograph, interview and social media message.  I don’t know what will happen next, but I am certain it will linger long into the future. 
As a parent and a young adult author, I can’t help but think of the youngest members of the Ferguson community.  I worry that they will see the hopelessness and unrest around them and turn their back on the possibility of a better future.  I worry that they will believe they don’t matter.  I am terrified they will lose hope. They need to be reminded that they are important and that there is hope even in the darkest of times.

(Photo J.B. Forbes/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/AP/File )

Fellow authors – I ask you to join with me in sending hope to Ferguson through signed books. The Ferguson Library is doing amazing work to help the young people in their community.  An interview with director Scott Bonner gives a glimpse into their efforts.  We can help them do more.  We all know that sometimes it takes just the right story to make the difference. Let’s send them as many as we can so each child can find the one that speaks to them. 

Please let me know if you are sending books (talktojoelle@aol.com) so I can add you to the list of authors on this page. Let’s show the students of Ferguson that there is hope in each and every story. They still have their story to write.

HOPE THROUGH STORIES
c/o Scott Bonner
Ferguson Municipal Public Library
35 N. Florissant Road
Ferguson, MO 63135

DONATE DIRECTLY TO FERGUSON PUBLIC LIBRARY Click here to visit the library's webpage.  A DONATE button is located on the upper right hand corner if you would like to send money to help them in their efforts. 

Hope Through Stories Authors

Joelle Charbonneau – author of THE TESTING trilogy

Veronica Roth - author of the DIVERGENT trilogy

Charlaine Harris - author of the Sookie Sackhouse mysteries

Jay Asher - author of THIRTEEN REAONS WHY

Ellen Hopkins - author of RUMBLE

Alex London – author of PROXY

Stephanie Keuhn -author of CHARM and STRANGE

Tess Sharpe – author of FAR FROM YOU

Sarah Fine – author of GUARDS OF SHADOWLANDS trilogy

Elizabeth Wein - author of CODE NAME VERITY

Stephanie Diaz - author of EXTRACTION

Helene Dunbar - author of THESE GENTLE WOUNDS

Debra Lynn Shelton – author of THE SECRET KEEPER

Linda Rodriguez – author of the SKEET BANNION Mysteries

Melissa Walker - author of ASHES TO ASHES

Ellen Booraem - author of TEXTING THE UNDERWORLD

Crissa-Jean Chappell - author of MORE THAN GOOD ENOUGH

 Samantha Vamos - author of ALPHABET TRUCKS

Dahlia Adler - author of BEHIND THE SCENES

Kim Baccellia - author of CROSSED OUT

Wendy Wunder - author of THE MUSEUM OF INTANGIBLE THINGS

Todd Hasak-Lowy - author of 33 MINUTES

Miriam Busch - author of LION LION

Julia Karr - author of TRUTH

Catherine Ryan Hyde - author of PAY IT FORWARD

Patricia McCowan - author of HONEYCOMB

Shannon Lee Alexander - author of LOVE AND OTHER UNKNOWN VARIABLES

Anne Schober - author of HEART PRINTS

Lawrence Tabak - author of IN REAL LIFE

Livia Blackburne - author of MIDNIGHT THIEF

Amy Reed - author of DAMAGED

Nicole Maggi - author of WINTER FALLS

Elissa Sussman - author of STRAY

Diana Renn - author of LATITUDE ZERO

Melissa Kantor - author of MAYBE ONE DAY **

Robyn Schneider - author of THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING **

Jackie Morse Kessler - author of LOSS **

T M Geoglein - author of COLD FURY trilogy **

Megan Miranda - author of HYSTERIA **

Elaine Wolf - author of CAMP **

K.M. Walton - author of CRACKED **

** books with asterisks donated by an amazing literary publicist - Amy Del Rosso

Paul Anthony Shortt - author of THE MEMORY WARS trilogy

Martina A. Boone - author of COMPULSION

Jay Stringer - author of The EOIN MILLER trilogy

Annette Laing - author of The SNIPESVILLE CHRONICLES

Scott Bly - author of SMASHER

Kathryn Burak - author of EMILY'S DRESS

Lisa McMann - author of the UNWANTED series

Sharon Mentyka - author of B IN THE WORLD

Thomas Pluck – author of BLADE OF DISHONOR

Sean Beaudoin - author of WISE YOUNG FOOLS

Greg Pincus - author of THE 14 FIBS OF GREGORY K.

David P. Haight - author of ME AND MRS. JONES

Tanita S. David - author of A LA CARTE

Gabriela Denise Frank - author of CIVITAVERITAS - AN ITALIAN FELLOWSHIP JOURNEY

Sue Whitmer - author of COLLECTING DREAMS

David Habben - illustrator of IT's NEVER TO LATE TO BE NICE

Kerry Paterson - author of IT'S NEVER TO LATE TO BE NICE

Susanna Stratford - author of MAMA YOGA

Greg Stolze - author of SINNER

Kate Bassett - author of WORDS AND THEIR MEANINGS

Adam Bertocci - author of TWO GENTLEMEN OF LEBOWSKI

Kelli Russell Agodon - author of HOURGLASS MUSEUM

Carrie Jones - author of the NEED Series

Mary Ting - author of The CROSSROADS SAGA

Patt Blount - author of SOME BOYS

Jody Casella - author of THIN SPACE

Marissa Burt - author of STORYBOUND

Beth Fehlbaum - author of BIG FAT DISASTER

Rachel Caine - author of MORGANVILLE VAMPRIES

Alexandra Duncan - author of SALVAGE

Bethany Hegedus - author of GRANDFATHER GANDHI

Maurene Goo - author of SINCE YOU ASKED

Andrew Smith - author of THE MARBURY LENS **

Robin Benway - author of ALSO KNOWN AS **

Yelena Black - author of DANCE OF SHADOWS **

Katie Cotugno - author of HOW TO LOVE **

Sandra McLeod Humphrey - author of HOT ISSUES COOL CHOICES **

Roni O'Connell - author of FLOAT **

Ann Marie Frohoff - Author of FEVER PITCH **

Jacqueline West - author of THE BOOKS OF ELSEWHERE

Kate Walton - author of CRACKED AND EMPTY

Kim Baker - author of PICKLE

Joy N. Hensley - author of RITES OF PASSAGE

Sarah Noffke - author of the LUCIDITES series

Julie Murphy - author of SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY

S. Chris Shirley - author of PLAYING BY THE BOOK

Erica Silverman - author of COWGIRL KATE

Sydney M. Cooper - author of THE FORSAKEN LANDS series

Mindy Hardwick - author of WEAVING MAGIC

David Patneaude - author of SOMEONE WAS WATCHING

Tim Shoemaker - author of CODE OF SILENCE series

Francesca Forrest - author of PEN PAL

Jeremy Zimmerman - author of KENSEI

Janet Lee Carey - author of DRAGONSWOOD

Katherine Pryor - author of SYLVIA'S SPINACH

Thank you, Joelle, for this special edition post! And thank you in advance to all the authors, librarians, and Library Lions readers for sending your goodwill and support to Ferguson Municipal Public Library giving Hope Through Stories.

Note to Librarians: If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at jlcarey@hotmail.com for an interview slot. The calendar for 2015 is currently wide open J

Note to Authors: If you’re interested in Roaring for Libraries on this blog, contact Janet at jlcarey@hotmail.com for an interview slot. 

AUTHOR, GINGER WADSWORTH ROARS FOR LIBRARIES

Happy July! Author Ginger Wadsworth has agreed to swing by to share her books and her Library Love with us here on Library Lions. Take it away Ginger.

 

Ginger at Yosemite National Park. Half Dome in the background.

Hello! My name is Ginger Wadsworth, and my newest book is Yosemite’s Songster: One Coyote’s Story, illustrated by Dan San Souci and published by the Yosemite Conservancy. 

Yosemite’s Songster just won the Spur Award in Storytelling from the Western Writers of America. Dan and I are teaming up for the second title in the series! 

Besides being a nonfiction author, I am a sister, wife, mother, grandmother, cousin, aunt, and a friend.  My favorite things to do: read, walk, body surf, enjoy nature, garden with California native plants, bird watch, go to the library, travel, hang out with family and friends, collect information, cook, and did I mention I like to read?  I live in Northern California with my husband, Bill, our three dogs (Oreo, Scout and Willa), our chickens (Egg-O-Land Farm), and rooms full of books . . . too many to count!

 

Library Love When You Were a Cub

"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need," Cicero

 

Ginger getting ready for Brownie Camp, 2^nd grade

Going to our local library was a regular family activity. I remember walking along the low brick wall edging the building, up the steps, and inside to the children’s room on the left.  Tall stacks invited me to search for the perfect titles, usually about horses or dogs. We always lugged home armfuls of books. Every night, my father read library books to my two brothers and me before we headed off to bed.

 

After my parents said goodnight and closed my bedroom door, I scurried beneath my 4-poster bed with my flashlight, pillow, and a book to read. And I wonder why I’ve been wearing glasses since the fourth grade. J

“Libraries raised me.” ― Ray Bradbury

More Library Love
I write nonfiction for young readers, so I always begin my research at my local library.

Ginger at her local public library, Orinda, CA

Google is great, but there is nothing better than perusing a real book. I usually start by reading the back matter, where a treasure trove of information waits . . . where/how the author did research, the individuals that he/she contacted, and a bibliography of titles for further reading. I’ve traveled around the United States to do research in libraries in Yosemite National Park, the Beinecke Library at Yale University, the Bancroft Library at the University of California/Berkeley, Herbert Hoover’s Presidential Library, and many more. Each spot is different, and I feel so lucky to “work” in one of these amazing edifices.

 

 

Author’s Roar
Funding for libraries, especially school libraries, is currently under threat. As an author, what are your thoughts about that?

“When I read about the way in which library funds are being cut and cut, I can only think that the door is closing and that American society has found one more way to destroy itself.” ― Isaac Asimov

This quote pretty sums up my feelings!  The only way I know how to help is to suggest that you join your local Friends of the Library group. I did, and now I’m actually a board member. There is a smorgasbord of ways to volunteer from sorting donating books to working at a monthly Friends book sale. I’ve written the Friend’s newsletter and found speakers for various programs. For the past twenty years, I’ve also run and helped judge our Friend’s creative writing contest for local high school students. I currently participate in the Paws toRead program. Along the way I’ve met some totally dedicated library folks and our universal goal is to serve our library, i.e. our readers and our community, and to make sure the building is open, staff is in place, and a plethora of books, etc. is ready!

 

At a library with my golden retriever, Willa. Children learning about the summer reading program.

 

A Lion’s Pride of Programs
With Lin Look from the Orinda (California) Library, I helped start the first Paws to Read in our county. Now there are programs in many other local libraries. Elementary schools are also initiating similar afterschool reading sessions. Children in grades K-5 sign up to read out loud to a trained therapy dog.

Nicholas reading to Willa in Orinda Public Library, taken by Michelle Bea (his mother) and used with permission.

Children get to practice their reading and hang out with a dog. It’s a win-win situation for everyone, and it’s actually part of a national program called R.E.A.D.  With my golden retriever, Willa, I have been doing this for eight years. We visit three public libraries and two afterschool programs. Willa can’t wait to prance into the library in her yellow vest that denotes that she is working.

We’re affiliated with arfnet, a local animal rescue foundation. I hand out Willa’s business card to each reader. Many children have read to her; she even has her own little fan club!  My goal as a writer is to put books—any good books—in the hands of children. And to have them be able to read!! What could be more perfect than at the library with a trained, gentle therapy dog lounging beside a young reader! 

“Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.”  ― Maya Angelou

Roar For Librarians
I’m going to ROAR for Lin Look, Youth Services at Orinda Library, part of the Contra Costa County, California library system. 

 

Willa with Youth Services Librarian, Lin Look, from the Orinda, CA public library.

I just spent several days with her at our local elementary schools, helping her introduce the countywide, summer reading program and prizes our many libraries are offering young readers.  I won’t go into all the details of what she does, but as you can probably imagine, she wears multiple hats as she works with toddlers on up! 

"At the moment that we persuade a child, any child, to cross that threshold, that magic threshold into a library, we change their lives forever, for the better." Barack Obama (Keynote Address, ALA Conference, 2005).

ONE LAST ROAR
"A good library will never be too neat, or too dusty, because somebody will always be in it, taking books off the shelves and staying up late reading them." - Lemony Snicket

I love this quote in so many ways because this describes how I feel about my community library AND about my library in my home.  Or should I say my home, which is actually a library.  You get the picture . . . books everywhere!!

Let’s Link Up
http://www.gingerwadsworth.com

http://www.facebook.com/ginger.wadsworth

Thanks for the interview, Ginger!

Love Libraries? Give a Roar in “Comments” below.

Note to Librarians: If you’re a Youth Librarian working in a school or public library we’d love to hear about you and your library. Contact Janet at jlcarey@hotmail.com for an interview slot. The calendar for 2015 is currently wide open J

Note to Authors: If you’re interested in Roaring for Libraries on this blog, contact Janet at jlcarey@hotmail.com for an interview slot.