AUTHOR JUSTINA CHEN ROARS FOR LIBRARIES

Today we're thrilled to welcome acclaimed author Justina Chen to Library Lions. Check out her newest book and hear her Roar!

Justina Chen is an award-winning novelist for young adults whose most recent book, A Blind Spot for Boys, is a Booklist Top Romance for Teens. North of Beautiful was named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus and Barnes & Noble. Her other novels include Return to Me, Girl Overboard, and Nothing but the Truth (and a few white lies), which won the Asian Pacific American Award for Literature. Additionally, she co-founded readergirlz, a literacy and social media project for teens, which won the National Book Foundation’s Prize for Innovations in Reading. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University where she was given the Dean’s Award for Service.

When she isn’t reading or writing, Justina can be found hiking with her daughter (who’d rather be shopping) or Skyping with her son who now lives in Abu Dhabi.

“Educators and librarians hoping to engage female readers want to add this novel to their shelves.” –VOYA

Shana Wilde has always had a blind spot for boys. Can she trust the one who’s right in front of her?

Shana is officially on a Boy Moratorium. After a devastating breakup, she decides it’s time to end the plague of Mr. Wrongs and devote herself to her true passion: photography.

Enter Quattro, the undeniably intriguing lacrosse player who slams into Shana one morning in Seattle. Sparks don’t just fly; they ignite—and so does Shana’s interest. But just as she’s about to rethink her ban on boys, she receives crushing news: Her dad is going blind.

Shana and her parents vow to make the most of the time her father has left to see, so they plan a photo safari to Machu Picchu. But even as Shana travels away from Quattro, she can’t get him out of her mind.

Love and loss, humor and heartbreak collide in this new novel from acclaimed author Justina Chen (North of Beautiful).

About writing the book
Of all my novels, A Blind Spot for Boys was the most fun to write. Machu Picchu, a bedbug sniffing dog, a girl who puts herself on a Boy Moratorium? Those were such fun elements and balanced some of the more serious themes in the book. Seeing your blind spots clearly—the blind spots we have for our mistakes (especially the ones we keep making over and over and over again). The blind spots we have for people. The blind spots we have for our past.

Teachers and Librarians check out the free Educator’s Guide

Library Love When You Were a Cub
My second home when I was growing up was the Cupertino Public Library. I would spend hours and hours in the library, browsing books first in their children’s section when I was in elementary school, then in the adult section as I grew up to be a teen. The few YA books at that time were housed in slender rounders on the second floor that I would check every visit in hopes that a new book had been written for girls my age.

This deeply ingrained memory of wanting stories that reflected me propelled one of the literacy projects readergirlz spearheaded, Operation Teen Book Drop (Operation TBD)For a number of years, we partnered with Young Adult Library ServicesAssociation  (YALSA), publishers, Children’s Hospitals and libraries to get 30,000 YA novels into the hands of teens around the country.

More Library Love
Celebrating librarians and teachers who work so hard to match books to teens drove Janet Lee Carey, Dia Calhoun, Lorie Ann Grover, and I to create readergirlz.

Readergirlz with Nancy Pearl

That same mission to nurture librarians has led me to commit to create small happy hour gatherings

for librarians and teachers so we could celebrate the launch of A Blind Spot for Boys together with Lorie Ann Grover’s new novel, Hit.

 

I’d like to give a personal shout out to Michelle Lane for organizing a fantastic Northwest book festival. Through A Cavalcade of Authors  thousands of teens have been able to meet with their favorite authors because of her, her vision, and her team of literacy-minded volunteers.

We are so blessed in the greater Seattle area to have truly great librarians who are providing amazing thought leadership on what it means to be a library and provide youth services. Their programming is cutting-edge and community-building. So a special shout out to Jackie Parker Robinson, Rachel McDonald and Darcy Brixey.

A Lion’s Pride of Programs
One of my greatest joys as an author are my visits to middle and high schools where I get to spend time with remarkable students, teachers, and librarians.

Photo with Middle School librarian “Walter the Giant”

With Hanna Teter and Arlington Librarian

One of the most memorable visits was to Charlotte Country Day School in North Carolina. Megan Fink is a truly wonderful librarian who worked with media specialists to sponsor a multicultural day where I had the privilege of being the keynote speaker. The school district bused in a couple of hundred of students to Charlotte Country Day so they could hear me. On display outside the auditorium was a student’s senior art project: a pair of wings crafted from maps and inspired by my novel, North of Beautiful. I was beyond touched that my words could catalyze a young woman to create art.

Let’s link
JustinaChen.com
Facebook: facebook.com/AuthorJustinaChen
Twitter: @JustinaYChen

Thank you Justina for sharing your books and your Library Love with us!

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. 

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. 

 

 

 

AUTHOR AIMEE REID SHARES LIBRARY LOVE

Welcome to Library Lions interviews. Author Aimee Reid is stopping by LL this month to share her  books and her Library Love.  

Aimee is a mom, children's author, former teacher, avid reader, and library lover. Her book, Mama's Day with Little Gray is published by Random House Children's Books. Aimee's next book, Welcome to the World, will release from the Nancy Paulsen imprint of Penguin Random House.

 

School Visit

Library Love When I was a Cub
Thanks to the wonderful Beginners Books series from Random House and regular storytimes at home, I was reading when I entered Kindergarten. My teacher discovered this about me when she noticed me squatting by the classroom shelves, turning pages and moving my lips. She asked me to read the books to her, which I did. At first, she thought I had memorized them. Gradually, she realized that I had read all of the books in our classroom library.

[Beginners Books from Random House]

My teacher called home and arranged to take me to the bigger school library so that I could pick out more books to read. Wow! I clearly remember looking up, up, up at the tall shelves filled with books of every size and description. "How many books can I take out?" I shyly asked. "As many as you like, dear," was the answer. I'll always be grateful to that teacher for noticing my appetite for books and feeding it.

 

More Library Love
From the moment my first book sold, I knew that I wanted to have my book launch in a library. I wanted to throw a party to which everyone was welcome. I wanted to celebrate all that is good about connecting children with books. And my wonderful local library system said yes!  

We had a wonderful time! Friends new and old enjoyed music from a local children's musician. We read and made crafts and sang and rejoiced. So many people came to enjoy the fun that we couldn't all fit in the room at once! No matter— we ran two programs so everyone could be included. This spirit of offering welcome to all is a key reason why I love libraries. 

 

Author's Roar
Libraries are equalizers. As a former teacher, I have at times been keenly aware of the disparity between the high level of resources--computers, books, and enrichment opportunities--available to some students from their homes versus the restricted supports available to others. I was proud to be a part of a public education system that offered learning for all regardless of socio-economic status. I can tell you this: books and access to knowledge are essential. We need to make certain that all students can readily find the resources they need to thrive. What better way to do this than to keep school libraries healthy and pay librarians to be the expert guides our children need? I am proud to roar out my support for libraries.

 

A Lion's Pride of Programs

  NYPL Lion

Libraries are places of discovery and opportunity. I enjoyed taking my children to story times when they were younger. Now that I am a children's author, I love visiting libraries. My visits are highly interactive. After all, I learned from those wonderful librarians who entertained my children!

At a recent library visit, the children and I moved like elephants and chanted elephant poems. We got creative with elephant crafts and tried on elephant tattoos. The children (and the adults) loved meeting Mama Gray and Little Gray in the form of my wonderful Folkmanis puppets. Finally, we read my story together. What a rich time of connecting to story and to one another.   

 

Let's Link Up

Aimee's blog, Good Books to Share, celebrates the good that sharing children's books brings to the world. Follow along to gain inside information from children's authors and illustrators and hear about how sharing children's books has changed people's lives for good.

Website: http://www.aimeereidbooks.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aimeereidauthor

Twitter: @AimeeEReid

Thank you, Aimee for sharing your books and your library love with us.

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. 

 

MAUREEN MCQUERRY LIBRARY LOVE

Welcome to Library Lions interviews. Author Maureen McQuerry has stopped by to share her newest book and her Library Love. Take it away Maureen!
 

I write YA and MG novels that have a mythical bent. If someone were to ask me what my books have in common, I might say this: they end up wandering into the mythic woods. Even though the times and settings and premises are very different, there’s always a touch of magical realism For many years I taught high and middle school and worked closely with librarians who spend their days championing reading. And I’ve discovered that there’s a library in each of my books! I didn’t plan that out and it took a reader to point it out to me!

The Peculiars features Mr. Beasley’s amazing library in Zephyr house based on the real library of J.S. Walker

In Beyond the Door, one of the main characters Julian, is a mild mannered librarian by day but something quite different in another guise (no spoilers here!) My current WIP progress features the awesome Seattle library as the future headquarters for the Intelligence community. Libraries must run very deep in my subconscious.

Book Launch Event for Beyond the Door with Morris Dancers


Library Love When You Were a Cub
Libraries were places of refuge for me. I loved the smell when I walked in the door. I loved the quiet. I loved the fact that I could leave with an armload of books and live in different places through different characters until my books were overdue. And they always were. But there was one special librarian who always greeted me with a smile and waived the fee. He loved to talk to me about what I was reading.

More Library Love
The librarians I know and visit with today work hard to spread the love of reading to all students. One of my favorite author events is Cavalcade of Authors. Librarian Michelle Lane organizes an event that allows 1,000 students to spend the day with 16 authors and attend outstanding workshops.

Signing books at Cavalcade of Authors

A Lion’s Pride of Programs
I visit schools where libraries are the heart of the school, place students go to connect with books and with each other, to talk about ideas, and explore subjects that interest them. Reduced funding for libraries means limiting students’ chances to imagine, explore, learn and connect.

Recently I asked several groups of middle school students how they choose the next book they want to read. The most common answer? My librarian.

School librarians know the latest titles but more importantly, they know their students and can make recommendations on based on a student’s interest. Often school librarians are the ones who alert teachers about my books and invite me to come and share.

Students are my favorite audience. They ask the best questions. One of my favorite activities with students is taking an idea and then extending it by asking what if just like authors do. I offer workshops on creating conflict and tension, and story structure and character arcs.

Hooray for ALA!
ALA 2013 in Anaheim was a chance to meet hundreds of librarians face to face, sign books and thanks them for what they do for authors, teachers and students.

Let’s Link

Website: www.maureenmcquerry.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maureen.mcquerry   Twitter:@maureenmcquerry

Thank you, Maureen, for your terrific interview!

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.

 

BRAVO FOR TEACHER-LIBRARIANS!

Welcome to Library Lions interviews Raising a Roar for libraries and the outstanding librarians serving youth in schools and public libraries across the U.S. Please Roar today’s guest, Stuart Levy.

 

(Stuart pictured here on left with author Chris Crutcher.)  

I am the teacher-librarian at Inza R. Wood Middle School in Wilsonville, Oregon.

 

I have been a teacher at Wood for the last 21 years, and this is my 10^th year as the librarian. According to my computer, as of the time of this writing, we have had close to 150,000 checkouts during that time. Wow!

The Skinny
 I love that I get to work with all of the students in the school, plus all of the staff. It’s a great feeling to connect someone with just the exact resource that they need – especially when they didn’t even realize that what they needed existed! Libraries can be amazing places. I also love reading young adult literature. There are some incredible authors out there, and the books nowadays are so much better than the ones that were written back when I was in middle school. I love the fact that buying books is part of my job.

 

A Mighty Roar!
Libraries are the great levelers in our democratic society. In a library, everyone is truly equal in a library. Regardless of how many books people have at home, everyone has access to all of the books within the library catalog. For free! It’s truly an amazing concept that I think people take for granted. And, not only do they have access to the “stuff” for free, but they have access to people who can help them get the “stuff”, explain the “stuff”, and train them how to use the “stuff”, all for free. Libraries are not just repositories of information; they are the keys that unlock the doors for all of our citizens.

 

(Students playing Rock-em Sock-em robots as a part of the lunchtime activity conducted by Wilsonville Public Library to promote their evening teen event.)

Library Laughs

I always find it amusing when students ask if they can “rent” a book. I ask them how much they are willing to pay, and this puzzled look appears on their face. I tell them that they can rent from Redbox, but our materials they get to borrow for free.

 

(Students checking out the new books.) 

A Lion’s Pride of Programs
There are tons of great non-fiction for students to just read. It’s amazing to me that students completely overlook some really interesting non-fiction books that I buy – except, of course, for the sports, biographies, and Ripley’s books. When I purposefully give some of those books to students, they eat them up. But, when they are on their own, they typically don’t pull books from those sections.

 

I want to plug the importance of having teacher-librarians in schools. Our numbers have dwindled over the years. There are about half the number of teacher-librarians in Oregon from about 20 years ago, and the number of schools, and students, have increased. Some people, outside of the system, think that all you need is someone to check in and check out books. But, anyone who has actually been in a school with teacher-librarians knows that we do a heck of a lot more. We actually are teachers, and we understand students. We understand instruction, curriculum, and assessment. We work with all of the people involved in the community to create a place where everyone feels safe and supported, and we provide the resources that allow everyone – everyone – to succeed in what they need to do. School libraries are magical places, and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

Readers Roar
“Libraries are the awesomest place on earth. Even though you are supposed to be quiet, you can have lots of fun.” Abigail, 8^th grade.

“They are a place full of wonder and thought.” Willow, 8^th grade

“It’s a place where you can escape reality.” Emily, 8^th grade

 

(Students entering our weekly Librarypalooza  that gives them a riddle or puzzle to solve.) 

Book Brag: What three books are hot this year? Why?

Divergent series by Veronica Roth: very hot! I think it’s because it’s an Oregon Reader’s Choice Award, plus the movie is coming out (and, it’s a very engaging book).

Wonder by Palacio is also very popular, probably because it’s well written and a very compelling story.

Maze Runner by Dashner continues to be very popular in our school. The author visited about 3 years ago, and, ever since, it’s stayed as one of our top checkouts.

Author! Author!
The best author visits I have had are the ones when the author truly connects with the students. Sometimes that is done by simply talking about when they were young, or even from reading from one of their books. But, it’s the simple act of talking “with” the students instead of “to” the students. I have also have had some authors who are willing to not only speak to the large student body but also to do writing sessions with smaller groups of interested students. That has been very powerful for that group.

Thank you, Stuart for your terrific interview!

Let’s Link

Mr. Levy’s Blog   

Library Website  

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.