Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Erica’s Five Books: Le Geek, C’est Chic (or Revenge of the Creepy Carnies)

Have you noticed Geeks are getting way too much play these days? Even before Alexandra Robbins’s The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth, there started to abound some kind of cultural caché of coolness in conjunction with being a Geek. This is absolutely fulsome, people! What about the original Geeks, the ones who bite heads off of live chickens in carnival sideshows? They don’t want to be cool and they don’t appreciate having the word Geek co-opted by runty ne’er-do-wells hoping to parlay their quirky, underdog, outsider status into the new chic. To that end, I’ve compiled a list of books designed to restore meaning to the term Geek, while paying homage to angry, creepy carnies everywhere.

Geek Love by Katherine Dunn (Vintage, $15.95)

Swamplandia! by Karen Russell (Vintage, $14.95)

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (Anchor, $15.00)

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury (Avon, $7.99)

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (Quirk, $17.99)

Erica David, October 2012

Monday, October 29, 2012

Janet's Five Suggestions to Unplug, Stay Present, and Uni-Task

Is the ability to multitask truly an asset? Are we more efficient or simply racing in so many directions that we convince ourselves that we must be getting more accomplished? Do we really stop to listen and pay attention enough to remember? Or are we so plugged in that our memories, our stress level, our time with the people we love constantly being sacrificed? How many new phobias, anxieties, pranks, language changes, brain overloads, accidents, learning disabilities, and more are a result of being constantly connected?

Try turning off your device for a while (chances are you won't miss an emergency) and try one of these books to help reclaim yourself in the natural world:

Beginner's Guide to Birds by Donald and Lillian Stokes (Little Brown & Co, $9.99)
Entrances to Carpenter Woods are all over West Mt. Airy... pick one trail, take this simple, pocket size book along and enjoy a slow watchful walk.

Trees of Pennsylvania by Stan Tekiel (Adventure Publication Inc, $12.95)
Knowing the variety of trees surrounding us can bring about more of a grounded feeling to our day. It really is kind of nice to hug a tree.

Where to Bike in Philadelphia by Julie Lorch (BA Press, $24.95)
It is amazing how different our daily routes become on foot or on bikes. We see more of our everyday environment and become more connected to change of seasons, our bodies, our senses.

Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert (Harcourt Inc, $12.00)
Try this simple children's book illustrated to capture the heart of fall foliage to encourage both you and your child to take long walks in the next few weeks. Collect leaves. Jump in leaves. Press leaves. Make leaf crowns.

Stars by May Lyn Ray and Marla Frazee (Beach Lane Books, $16.99)
Before bed, on a crisp October evening, walk outside on a clear night and just look up. Everyone will sleep better.

Janet Elfant, October 2012

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Young Adult Author Profile: Ruth Tenzer Feldman

Please join us this Thursday, October 25 (tonight!), for an evening of new young adult literature! Four authors, three local and one formerly local, will be reading from and discussing their newest books. This interview with Ruth Tenzer Feldman, author of Blue Thread, is the last of the author profiles I've been posting on the blog this month.

For more details about the event, see our website or the Facebook event page.

1) How would you describe your writing?
The marketing folks at Ooligan Press would say that my writing is primarily nonfiction and historical fiction/fantasy for young adults. The editor of ODYSSEY magazine sees my writing as mainly about health and science. My writer's critique group describes my writing as nuanced and passionate. But I'd describe my writing as the process in which I strive to churn a gazillion emotions and ideas into a good read.

2) How does writing fit into your everyday life?
Right now I'm madly revising another historical fiction/fantasy manuscript that is a companion book to Blue Thread. Writing fits into nearly every available moment.

3) What authors and/or poets inspire you?
That's a long list! I read a wide range of young adult books, and draw inspiration from so many authors. Where do I start? OK. Here are a few: Paolo Bacigalupi (Ship Breaker), Vera Brosgol (Anya's Ghost—a graphic novel), John Green (The Fault in Our Stars), Ransome Riggs (Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children), Laini Taylor (Daughter of Smoke and Bone), and Tim Wynne-Jones (Blink & Caution). I also seek sustenance and guidance from back to the classic authors: Ursula Le Guin, Mark Twain, Flannery O'Connor.

4) What part does the community of Philadelphia play in your life and your writing?
I went to college in Philadelphia, and lived and worked in the city for a while. Traits from real people in the city's Department of Licenses and Inspections (my first job out of college) still show up in my characters. My husband is Philly-born and bred. Philadelphia also gave me a very real, walk-the-streets sense of American history.

5) What is the last book you have read that you enjoyed? Tell our Big Blue Marble community a little about it.
I recently devoured The Scorpio Races, by Maggie Stiefvater. It's my kind of fiction, with just enough fantasy to tickle your brain. On an island off the coast of England, sometime in the 20th century, a guy we adore (Sean Kendrick) competes against a girl we adore (Puck Connolly) in a dangerous horse race. We want both of them to win, but only one can be first across the finish line. Did I mention that they love each other? And that the horses are flesh-eating "kelpies" from the sea?

Ruth Tenzer Feldman is an award-winning author of books and articles, mainly for children and young adults. She has been an attorney, editor, research analyst, ticket seller, and keypunch operator. Her 10 nonfiction books focus on history and biography, while her articles range from leeches to Einstein’s refrigerator. Blue Thread (Ooligan Press, 2012), historical fiction/fantasy for young adults, entwines the struggles of two teen girls living 3,000 years apart. Ruth lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband, dog, and innumerable dust mites.

Monday, October 22, 2012

Young Adult Author Profile: E.C. Myers

Please join us this Thursday, October 25, for an evening of new young adult literature! Four authors, three local and one formerly local, will be reading from and discussing their newest books. This interview with E.C. Myers, author of Fair Coin and Quantum Coin, is the third of four author profiles I'll be posting on the blog this month. Keep checking back!

For more details about the event, see our website or the Facebook event page.

1) How would you describe your writing?
Functional? Unadorned? In all seriousness, my style is often described as “clear” and “accessible,” which not every author would like to hear. In young adult fiction, this can be a strength though, and it’s just a reflection of the kind of books that I like to read. I can appreciate a clever or well-crafted line, and I respect wordsmiths who write beautiful prose, but as a reader and a writer I am most interested in characters and story and not so much in describing every detail. Every work is also different; some books need a snappy pace, and others invite a more leisurely approach to convey a particular tone or atmosphere.

2) How does writing fit into your everyday life?
Writing is the focus of most of my waking hours! First of all, I write and edit articles, letters, and speeches for my day job, and I’m working on my fiction every chance that I can get around work, family, and friends. When people say they don’t have time to write, they usually mean they won’t make time to write. As busy as life gets, and it gets very busy, I write every morning for sixty to ninety minutes before work, and often in evenings and on weekends. Of course, “writing” these days often means “writing-related activities,” whether I’m blogging, answering interview questions, designing bookmarks and swag for my book, updating my website, etc. I love watching films and television, reading, and playing video games too, but those all take a back seat to social interactions and writing, if they aren’t entirely left by the side of the road for months at a time. Though I’m a big consumer of content, I get more satisfaction from creating my own.

3) What authors and/or poets inspire you?
I am most inspired by authors who get published through talent, hard work, discipline, and sheer determination. You know that everyone who has a book on a store or library shelf has had to give up something important: time with family, hobbies, checking their Facebook page. And most authors don’t do it for money, but because they want to—they’re compelled to—tell stories. That goes for anyone who creates any kind of art.

I enjoy the work of a lot of contemporary authors of science fiction and fantasy, for adults and young adults, and I’m fortunate enough to be friends with many talented people who create amazing stories and are devoted to writing the best work they can. Every one of them inspires me to keep writing and improving and challenging myself. But I’m also inspired and encouraged by authors I read when I was young, like William Sleator and Robert C. O’Brien—writers who perhaps never achieved the fame and fortune they deserved, but created books that deeply affected me as a child and as a writer that stick with me today.

4) What part does the community of Philadelphia play in your life and your writing?
I’m a recent transplant from New York City, where I was part of a large, diverse creative community. It has taken me a while, but I’ve found a similar community in Philadelphia that is just as active and supportive. It feels somewhat smaller, but I’m impressed by how passionate everyone is about their work and excited about what their friends are doing. The only problem is I haven’t gotten as involved with the local scene as I’d like. One of the reasons it took me so long to meet other geeks and writers is because I was so busy with settling into a new city and a new job and spending time with family, but I’m ready to take more advantage of the culture and creativity here and contribute more to it.

5) What is the last book you have read that you enjoyed? Tell our Big Blue Marble community a little about it.
I’ve just finished Railsea by China Miéville, a young adult novel which takes place in a very post-apocalyptic earth covered in train rails maintained by mysterious mechanical “angels.” Trains navigate the crisscrossing network of tracks like ships on the high seas, hunting the giant, deadly creatures that now inhabit the dirt; scavenging old technology for treasure; or pirating. The story is focused on a boy named Sham Yes ap Soorap, who joins Captain Naphi’s ship as she searches for her “philosophy,” a humongous mole she’s been hunting a la Ahab and Moby Dick. Adventure ensues. It reminds me a bit of Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan series crossed with Philip Reeve’s Predator Cities Quartet, which are some of my favorite books.

E.C. Myers was assembled in the U.S. from Korean and German parts and raised by a single mother and a public library in Yonkers, New York. He has published short fiction in a variety of print and online magazines and anthologies, and his young adult novels, FAIR COIN and QUANTUM COIN, are available now from Pyr Books. He currently lives with his wife and a doofy cat in Philadelphia and shares way too much information about his personal life at ecmyers.net and on Twitter @ecmyers.

Photo credit: S. Kuzma Photography.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Jen’s Five Books of Issues Relevant to This Election Season

Voting Rights and Women’s Rights:
Blue Thread by Ruth Tenzer Feldman (Ooligan Press, $12.95)

The only work of fiction on the list, Blue Thread is one of the books for our upcoming Young Adult multi-author event on October 25, and it’s the story of two Jewish teenagers standing up for their rights across centuries of time. Oh, and the power of the printing press. This story of women’s suffrage doesn’t address the same issues raised by recent attempts to impose a sudden Voter ID law upon the state of Pennsylvania, but it does highlight what happens when women are arbitrarily refused a say over the paths of their own lives.

Separation of Church and State:
Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism by Susan Jacoby (Henry Holt, $18.00)

A fabulous and highly researched book of American history, Freethinkers pulls together the threads of history among nonreligious Americans. Among other things, it’s where I learned that in revolutionary times, Catholics and Evangelical Christians allied themselves with the secularists (and with other small religions) to prevent the establishment of religion in this country…and to ensure, through the Constitution, that “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States”. Kind of ironic, no?

Marriage Equality:
My Two Moms by Zach Wahls (Penguin, $26.00)

I was initially wary of the attention given to 19-year-old Zach Wahls in his testimony for the legalization of same-sex marriage in Iowa -- suspecting that he gained extra status through being straight and white and an Eagle Scout -- but then I thoroughly enjoyed reading his book, which uses the specific values of the Boy Scouts to frame the story of his family and its corresponding lessons about family in general.

Immigration:
Outcasts United: An American Town, A Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference by Warren St. John (Spiegel & Grau, $15.00)

Place hundreds of war refugees from multiple countries in a small town in Georgia that wasn’t expecting them, and you get some…tension. One former refugee takes it upon herself to organize teenaged boys into soccer teams, helping deal with their sense of trauma and loss, with their complicated multinational dynamics, and with the (mostly) covert hostility of neighbors and local government, who do everything they can to prevent them from practicing and competing. And these are legal immigrants.

Twisting of Facts:
Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen (Simon & Schuster, $16.00)

As someone who cares a lot about accuracy, I have taken special interest in learning about the ways history has been distorted in textbooks to fit ideals of patriotism, racism, jingoism, etc. (A friend who worked for a textbook company used to complain that every time Texas law changed what was allowed in their texts, the same changes were applied to all textbooks countrywide.) Like Freethinkers, this book taught me all sorts of things I’d never known about my own country. It’s now required reading in some high school classrooms.

Jennifer Sheffield, October 2012

Friday, October 12, 2012

Young Adult Author Profile: Elisa Ludwig

Please join us on Thursday, October 25, for an evening of new young adult literature! Four authors, three local and one formerly local, will be reading from and discussing their newest books. This interview with Elisa Ludwig, author of Pretty Crooked, is the second of four author profiles I'll be posting on the blog this month. Keep checking back!

For more details about the event, see our
website or the Facebook event page.

1) How would you describe your writing?
My writing definitely changes with the story's demands, but in the Pretty Crooked series it's lighthearted and quick-paced, with a very contemporary sensibility and just a touch of snark. Also, there's fashion. And some criminal activity. And smooching.

2) How does writing fit into your everyday life?
I am a fulltime freelance writer by trade, so I am literally writing something—whether it's copy for a client, a food feature for the Inquirer, or my latest YA manuscript—at most hours of the day. Thankfully, I have muscular fingers.

3) What authors and/or poets inspire you?
In the YA world, I love M.T. Anderson, Sarah Dessen, A.S. King, E. Lockhart, Frank Portman and (who doesn't?) John Green. I also read a lot of literary fiction and really enjoy Alice Munro, Jennifer Egan, Mary Gaitskill, Tessa Hadley, George Saunders and Jeffrey Eugenides. Oh gosh, the list could go on...

4) What part does the community of Philadelphia play in your life and your writing?
I grew up in Plymouth Meeting and am now a proud resident of East Falls. I've always been excited to support small businesses and the libraries of Philadelphia and being an author has given me a whole new opportunity to engage with them. None of my books so far actually take place in Philly—I've been waiting for the right story to set here, but there are a few percolating.

5) What is the last book you have read that you enjoyed? Tell our Big Blue Marble community a little about it.
I'm currently reading The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily Danforth, a debut contemporary YA about a lesbian girl coming of age in Montana in the late 1980s/early 1990s. It's beautifully written with vivid detail and the kind of gritty emotional realism that anyone who's ever been a teenager, gay or not, can relate to.

Elisa Ludwig studied writing at Vassar College and Temple University, but she wanted to be a writer long before all of that. Technically, it was when she started writing, editing and publishing The Elisa Bulletin which she printed out on a dot matrix printer and sold for ten cents a pop. She has been pick-pocketed twice, and once caught someone mid-pocket. Other than occasional jaywalking, she’s a law-abiding citizen. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband. PRETTY CROOKED is her first novel, and will be followed by PRETTY SLY in 2013, and PRETTY WANTED in 2014. You can visit her online at www.elisaludwig.com, and watch the book trailer here.

Tuesday, October 09, 2012

Young Adult Author Profile: K. M. Walton

Please join us on Thursday, October 25, for an evening of new young adult literature! Four authors, three local and one formerly local, will be reading from and discussing their newest books. This interview with K. M. Walton, author of Cracked, is the first of four author profiles I'll be posting on the blog this month. Keep checking back!

For more details about the event, see our
website or the Facebook event page.

1) How would you describe your writing?
In a word? Honest. In a lot of words? I try to write things so that my readers have access to the hearts of people otherwise overlooked.

2) How does writing fit into your everyday life?
I write full time, so it actually is my everyday life, and I love it.

3) What authors and/or poets inspire you?
Beth Kephart, A. S. King, John Green, J. K. Rowling, Lois Lowry, Judy Blume, Andrew Smith, Stephen Chbosky, Sherman Alexie.

4) What part does the community of Philadelphia play in your life and your writing?
Growing up in the Philadelphia suburbs, the great city of Philadelphia has always been a part of my life. I know how to navigate it, I love coming into town—it is, hands down, the best city on earth.

5) What is the last book you have read that you enjoyed? Tell our Big Blue Marble community a little about it.
SMALL DAMAGES by Beth Kephart is a gorgeously written book about a pregnant teen named Kenzie who is sent to Seville, Spain for a few months. Kephart’s writing is lush and poetic, enough so that while reading, I felt as if I were in Seville. It’s a story about choices and love, loss and hope, and it is a masterpiece.

K. M. Walton is the author of Cracked (Simon Pulse ~ Simon & Schuster 2012) and Empty (Simon Pulse ~ Simon & Schuster 1-1-2013) and the co-author of Teaching Numeracy: 9 Critical Habits to Ignite Mathematical Thinking (Corwin Press 2011 - lead author Margie Pearse) for mathematics teachers K - 8. As a former middle-school language-arts teacher she's passionate about education and ending peer bullying. She gives school presentations on the topic "The Power of Human Kindness." She lives in PA with her husband, two sons, cat, and turtle. Visit the author at kmwalton.com or follow her on twitter @kmwalton1.