Wordy Girls

Wordy Girls is no longer an active blog, and its two main posters are each posting individually. Laura Salas is posting on her own blog, laura salas: writing the world for kids, and Susan Taylor Brown is posting on hers, susan writes: once upon a time there was a girl who wanted to write. Thanks for your comments, ideas, and discussions over the past 9 months. Please come join visit both of us! 

P.S. For those who asked--this was not a "breakup" of any kind. Our critique group of four (Bonny Becker, Susan Heyboer O'Keefe, Susan Taylor Brown, and Laura Purdie Salas) decided to try a group blog, and we did. Bonny and Susan Heyboer O'Keefe don't feel they are bloggers--they are not one with the blog, have not been bitten by the blog bug, etc. And Susan Taylor Brown (susanwrites) has another blog, too. So we decided to end Wordy Girls, let Susan Taylor Brown get back to her own blog, and I've started my own too. But we're all still a critique group!

 
Thanks to some terrific advice from a bloggerific friend, I'm changing up 15 Words or Less poems to simplify them.  From now on, I'll post the picture on Thursday, and the poems will stay in the comments section. On Friday, I'll go to whoever is hosting Poetry Friday and invite folks to check out the poems already written and add their own.

This is the final Wordy Girls post! Laura Salas is posting on her own blog, laura salas: writing the world for kids, and Susan Taylor Brown is posting on hers, susan writes: once upon a time there was a girl who wanted to write. Please come join us there! 

When clean wind
clears away
red light exhaust,
head,
forepaws
and grin
roll out.

---Liz Jones


Lazy day--
don't stay away
too long,
there's so much
out there
to play with. 

---Diane M. Davis


No Worries

I can wait
love
you
I can wait
love
you
I can wait
love
you

---Deb Marshall


I could
have caught
that cat
if you
would
have let me
just keep running

---Susan Taylor Brown


If you opened that door
I just might go
And never look back.

---Bonny Becker


Perfect Dog Day

fire hydrant
pungent trees
cool weather
lack of fleas
can’t complain
life’s a breeze

---Laura Purdie Salas

If You Could Read My Mind

Objects
Closer
Peekaboo
Life in rewind
My rear view
Who's the poet:
me or you?

---Pamela Ross

How cute is he? Here in Minnesota, people take their dogs everywhere spring - fall. It was a gorgeous day yesterday--cool, sunny, breezy, upper 60s, and on the way home from racquetball I took a pic of the dog in the car next door (I wasn't driving!). What's he thinking? What's his mood? Or what does he remind you of? Car trips from childhood? Waiting in the car while Mom ran errands? Let your imagination go and write a 15 Words or Less poem. Here are the guidelines, if you're new to this. Have fun!

Lee Bennett Hopkins

Lee and me


Lee Bennett Hopkins gave the closing keynote at the L.A. conference. (I'll also post a few notes on his poetry master class later this week.)

In 3 words: passionate, heartfelt, storyteller

Favorite bits: 

Every word we put on paper must be thought of as poetry.

Times change.
Time changes things.
Children change.
But some things remain constant.
Poetry must reveal constants, too.

When Elaine Magliaro at Wild Rose Reader recommended Becoming Joe DiMaggio to me (after I asked for good middle grade poetry collections/novels in verse), I checked it out at the library. I have to confess I did not have high hopes that it would be a good fit for me. I'm not big on historical fiction and I pretty much hate baseball. So looking at the cover, with the boy and grandfather listening to an old-time radio on the bottom and a baseball player on the top...well, I wasn't wildly enthused.

But then I opened the book and started reading. What a wonderful surprise. In just 24 poems, poet Maria Testa shares the story of an Italian-American boy growing up in the 30s and 40s. Joseph Paul's relationship with his grandfather is the cornerstone of this book and of his childhood, though his mother, sisters, and volatile, small-time criminal father all have roles to play, too. The poetry is simple and lovely, and the effect is of flipping through a family photo album and picking out the most important moments in a boy's childhood and magically being there for those moments.

Here's one of my favorite poems in the book.

Conversation

The police came
and took Papa 
away, I said.
      I know.
Papa said
it would just be for
a short time
and the policemen
laughed
and Mama cried.
     I know.
We were supposed
to play catch.
     I know.

The radio was on
of course,
but low.

I stood up
out of my chair,
and climbed into
Papa-Angelo's lap.
I listened to
my grandfather's heart
beating
strong and steady
and loud,
loud enough
to be heard above
the sudden music of
a Joe DiMaggio 
home run.

     I love him, you know.
           I know.


Life at home isn't simple for Joseph Paul, but he has his grandfather to love, learn from, and look up to, and always, always, baseball to represent his great American dreams. While Joseph Paul doesn't grow up to be Joe DiMaggio, as he wishes early in the book, he does grow up to be himself, and that's a gift all on its own.

The poetry in this book is accessible, and kids from 3rd grade through middle school (and even high school) could read and enjoy it. It's great to have poetry with a boy main character, and a sports tie-in, too, though listening to baseball is as far as the athletic activity goes (which suits me just fine!).

A fun project in the classroom might be to have your students do a life timeline (which I know the kids in our schools do already, in about 5th grade, I think) that identifies 10 or so important events so far in their lives. After reading Becoming Joe DiMaggio as a class, invite your students to write poems about the seminal moments of their own lives. Who are they becoming?

Thanks, Elaine, for this recommendation!

 
Cabin Fever

Firewood,
cots, trees,
Sleeping bags,
bumblebees,
Secret kisses,
boys to tease
Something missing:
"Breeze!"
"Please!"

---Pamela Ross


I have never been to a cabin
but if I ever go
I imagine
starry skies.

---slayground


Camp Piedmont
 
Wet suits,
Sandy beds;
Boating, swimming, eating.

Bad food,
Good friends;
Singing, laughing, flirting.

---Kim from Hiraeth


Memories...

Green cabins,
Girl Scout troops,
Giggles,
Chilly toes,
Snuggly sleeping bags,
Chocolate-covered s'mores faces.

---Catherine Ipcizade


Never Far

A hint of mildew,
wet bathing suits
over an ancient
buddy board,
brings camp
home.

---Diane M. Davis

Kirby Larson

In 3 words: wry, organized, determined

Favorite bits:

The beginning of your book:
Does it convey the backstory and hint at the problem?
Does it shock and intrigue and hint at the problem?
Does it engage you in the character and hint at the problem? (are you getting the hint?)

After Magic Kerchief, she had no sales for 5 years. “Sometimes when life gives you lemons, it shops at Costco.”

While working on Hattie Big Sky (great book!), she made three index cards for each month of the novel: one card told what was happening in the world; one card told what was happening in Vida (the small town Hattie lives near); and one card told what was happening in Hattie’s life.

Each month (OK, almost each month!), I post my thoughts on a poetry-related topic in my Pinch of Poetry area of my website. For September, I'm mulling over how to tell if you're writing poetry that will appeal to adults or kids.  Poetry is poetry, many people say, and that is true. But if you're trying to market your work, it's helpful to identify whether it will appeal more to adults or to kids (and to adult editors or children's editors). 

Here's how it starts:

"In reading over some work of a critique client recently, I found that much of her poetry was lovely but had an adult feel to it. In writing my critique letter to her, I had to try to identify what makes a poem for children versus a poem for adults. This is so difficult, because poetry is not black and white. It slips and skips and slithers through the grey spaces of sound and meaning."  Read the rest here...

Personally, I look at Barbara Juster Esbensen's Swing Around the Sun and think if it weren't published in picture book format, it could easily be considered adult metric poetry. Ditto for Lilian Moore's work and many others.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. Do you have a favorite adult poet that you think kids love too? Or a children's poet whom you think really should be published for adults? Do you consider certain characteristics true only of children's poetry or adult poetry? What do you think?

Uh-Oh

See my shadow,
Reaching.
Strong.
My feet are up,
My head is...
Wrong.
Ouch!

—Cathy Ipcizade


Laugh out loud,clap out loud,crowd grooves
To some flip flopin', eye poppin' moves.

—Deb Marshall

Dancing
Prancing
Way up high
watch my feet
soar 'cross the sky
with style.

— Diane M. Davis


Gotta try
leaping high,
feet to sky,
hair awry.
Passersby
wonder why.

I just sigh.

—Fiona Bayrock


Wheeling
Soaring,
Scooping
Up
Sky

Ground-bound
Shadow,
Dare me to
Fly

—Laura Purdie Salas


Almost Famous

Watching you take leaps of faith
reminds me of
another
summer
spent
in
your
shadow

—Pamela Ross

Writing Chapter Books

Sara (author of Clementine, among other books) in 3 words: Free-flowing, thoughtful, compassionate

Favorite bits:

When you have your main character, figure out his or her three main characteristics. Then figure out what a character with the three opposite characteristics would be like. That person makes a great secondary character.

When you're trying to be authentic with your character's feelings, try to think of a similar adult threat or situation and then transfer that to your child character. For instance, if your main character is feeling left behind by a friend who's got a new best friend, imagine yourself if your spouse traded you in for a younger, better-looking person. If you feel the feeling, you'll make the right word choices.

"Book Two ends with three desserts and hooker shoes. As a girl, it doesn't get any better!"

The most telling moments about a character are when she lies about herself.

[Sara's thoughts jumped around a lot, so I was not hopeful at the beginning of this workshop. Luckily, I was wrong!  She had really great things to say. So many of her comments on characterization really struck me as useful for a book I'm working on (not even a chapter book). She gave some of the best advice and tips I've heard anyone give about characterization. This was, for me, probably the single most useful workshop of the conference.]