Maria's Mélange

Continuing to share my favorite reads from 2014.... this time I'm focusing on picture books. It was another amazing year for picture books. I did a Mock Caldecott with a group of 5th graders this year. They were passionate about three main titles: Sam and Dave Dig a Hole The Adventures of BEEKLE & Extraordinary Jane Here are my favorite picture books from this year: NONFICTION: How to Make a Planet (reviewed earlier this year  http://www.mariaselke.com/2014/09/how-to-make-planet-nfpb-review.html ) Star Stuff (also reviewed this year -  http://www.mariaselke.com/2014/11/star-stuff-carl-sagan-biography-nfpb.html ) My Country 'Tis of Thee (Wow! I reviewed this one, too!  http://www.mariaselke.com/2014/07/my-country-tis-of-thee-nfpb2014-review.html  )  FICTION Sam and Dave Dig a Hole The winner of my 5th grade Mock Caldecott. The Adventures of Beekle Runner up for our Mock Caldeco...

My Favorite Middle Grade 2012 Books I'm going to cheat just a little bit, in order to keep this post at a reasonable length. The Nerdy Book Club community has been amazing at sharing the love for both Wonder and The One and Only Ivan. I whole heartedly endorse this affection, and I urge anyone reading this post to immediately go buy and read those books. In this post, though, I'm going to focus on a few books that didn't make the rounds as energetically. First up, two gems from Walden Pond Press. Neversink  by Barry Wolverton Hardcover, hardcover, 287 pages Published March 27th 2012 by Walden Pond Press ISBN 0062027913 (ISBN13: 9780062027917) Lockley is a puffin - not a penguin, thank you very much. Neversink is his island home. Many species of auk live on this island, along with a single garrulous walrus named Egbert and a lovely hummingbird named Ruby who visits each summer. Yet their life is about to change as an owl named Rozbel co...

This week's slice is a continuation of the story I started last week. It's starting to get a bit long, so I'm not sure how I'll deal with that next week. For now, the part that was up last week is in blue, and the new material follows in black. I still haven't even gotten to the three objects I was given as the spark for this story... (check out other Slice of Life writers hosted by Two Writing Teachers )  Every life is filled with moments. Mostly, these moments are ordinary. Fill the dishwasher. Discover that you drank the last of the milk before noticing that the recipe that needs to go in the oven right now requires a third of a cup. Scrambling to find someone to bring to the holiday party for work so that no one gives you those pitying, “she’s always alone”, looks yet again. Empty the dishwasher. Grab a bowl of dry cereal to eat in front of the television, rather than venture out to the Indian take out place. Some moments start out as just part of t...

 I wrote and posted every day in March, and now I'm joining in the weekly Slice of Life, hosted by Two Writing Teachers . This Slice is a beginning - the start of a fiction story. I haven't dabbled much in fiction in the past ten years or so. I have a wonderful Twitter friend - Michelle-  who inspires me with her own writing, though. She sets herself frequent "writing challenges" and then posts her stories on her blog . This week her challenge was to write a story about a random selection of objects (given to her by another of our tweeps). I decided to jump on board... but it took the entire weekend to even get my brain to give up the start of a story. I think I have the basic outline living in my head now, but I ran out of time to get it complete for today's Slice. Here is the beginning...  Every life is filled with moments. Mostly, these moments are ordinary. Fill the dishwasher. Discover that you drank the last of the milk before noticing that t...

I'm attempting to write every day as part of the Slice of Life March challenge, hosted by Two Writing Teachers . Stop on by! “So, why do you write these strong female characters? Because you're still asking me that question.” – Joss Whedon  (Creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Dollhouse, and wonderful writer on the X-Men comics.) (The image of the spark that led me down this rabbit hole today. I was out shopping with my god-daughter yesterday and bought myself this awesome bag.) Yes, I am a woman. One who loves superheroes, science fiction, and Slayers. One who loves hobbits, dwarves, and elves. One who loves knights, castles, and dragons. What do I want most in my stories? I want great stories, of course - stories that are well crafted and filled with action. What I do I want second most? Female characters who are vibrant, powerful, and inspiring. I want them in the books that I read. I want them in the movies I watch. I want them in the comic...