Sometimes There's More to Writer's Block

Review: The Classroom

Finding a date for the first time. Oh how I remember the horror of it, the sheer terror that haunted every thought I struggled with, every breath I took to the point where - usually to my relief - I did not find a date. In fact, I usually had not even raised the courage to ask.

That's what Trevor Jones; a good kid faces on his very first day of middle school in Robin Mellom's "The Classroom." Not only does Trevor have to find a date, he carries an additional burden, a deadline. By the end of the day, the first day of school he must have a date to the first school dance of the year. It is surprising that Trevor doesn't go home sick. I know I would have. I wouldn't even have made it to lunch. I would have been in the nurse’s office before first period ended. Trevor is a seventh grader. In addition to finding a date he must learn the ins and outs, the tricks and treats, the path through the maze that weaves its way through the rules both written and unwritten of middle school life, both academic and social.

Trevor managed to survive elementary school thanks to the help of Libby, his neighbor and best friend, but Libby has announced that she will no longer be there for him, at least not to the extent that she was during middle school when she rescued him from a number of social faux pas.

A popular technique used in many contemporary TV shows is used to tell this story. A film documentary is being made and the various characters step outside the story to tell their side of whatever happens to be going on at the time. Also like a TV sitcom, the book includes a good-sized cast of well-rounded characters such as a gossipy girl and a smart aleck bully.

I loved the story. It was both funny and heartwarming. The only fault I found was that it seemed unrealistic that a school dance would be the focus of the first day of school. I'd rather the story had begun during the second or third week with Trevor still struggling to find his place in middle school society, rather than have a couple week's worth of activity heaped upon him on his very first day. Still the story is fun and entertaining. I imagine most middle school kids as they read this will be saying things like, "That happened to me."

I believe there's a sequel. I'm looking forward to it.

The War Parts

<blockquote><em>This is an exercise where I thake the first line of a book and start writing. The goal is to write a complete scene.</em></blockquote>

All this happened, more or less. The war parts, anyway, are pretty much true.*

The question is, which were the war parts and which were not. Now, you could take a perfectly peaceful morning or afternoon, for that matter, sun shining, one or two - you count them - clouds in the sky, flies throwing themselves randomly at the screens, butterflies preparing to tickle the darkest thoughts of wandering three-year olds, birds singing songs of love and joy and Mel Torme or Rod Stewart or Nora Jones. You take a deep breath and get ready for it.

This is one of those war parts and you know it.

The enemy is spying on your entrenched defenses. The enemy is moving into place. The enemy is loading its arsenal with the latest weaponry. You, meanwhile, are hoping everything has blown over. You are hoping it has been sent down a path into the land of the forgotten and lost. You are hoping your coffee or tea or orange juice or chocolate milk or glass of light, white wine will be sipped, savored, enjoyed rather than gulped down rather than be tossed in disgust or left forlornly on a table when the attack begins and yesterdays stalemate is brought into stark detail so that you are left with either a demand to confess or retreat or simply flee because resistance would be merely feeding the power that turns this moment into a war part.

First line of 'Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut

A Baby Boomer Quiz

I was looking through some of my old files (things I saved before 2000) and found this Baby Boomer

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240"] Beatles (Photo credit: Ricard Lopez 1)[/caption]

Quiz. I have no idea where it came from but the original author attributes some of it to WSDM 98 Oldies Radio in Terre Haute, Indiana, a station that changed its name and its format a few years ago to 92. 7 Bob FM.  Here are the answers.

Who/what was?

1.    World leader that pounded his shoe on the table at the United Nations
2.    First name of the Beaver's best friend
3.    First and last name of Wally Cleaver's best friend
4.    Running Bear's Indian maiden
5.    First U. S. astronaut to orbit the earth
6.    Played Peter Pan before all those imitators
7.    1963 song recorded by the Kingsmen that no adult would let us sing. (Hint: the first word is "Louie.")
8.    Kept breaking windows around Mayberry
9.    Stage name for character who replaced Gomer Pyle
10.    First and last names of all the Beatles (If you can't answer this one, you'd better give up now.)
11.    Variety show host who brought the Beatles to American TV
12.    Stage name for Perry Mason's opponent who NEVER won a case
13.    Who were Hoss's brothers?
14.    Who knew best?
15.    Real name of actor who played the Rifleman
16.    Miner who stood "six-foot six and weighed 245"
17.    Claimed to build strong bodies 12 ways
18.    Graduated 6th grade so he could cipher figures for his uncle
19.    Said "I have a dream."
20.    Said "I can't get no satisfaction."
21.    Said "I will not seek nor will I accept my party's nomination for . . ."
22.    Said "Don't trust anyone over 30."

Fill in the blanks

23.    Raised in the woods so he knew every tree / Kilt him ((7 words)
24.    She wore an itsy bitsy teenie weenie ((3 words)
25.    Hey kids. What time is it? (4 words)
26.    M-I-C . . . See you real soon. K-E-Y . . . (5 words)
27.    I've got smog in my noggin, ever since (4 words)
28.    Reason the Purple People Eater wouldn't harm the songwriter: "I wouldn't eat you cause (3 words)
29.    Before he was Skipper's little buddy, Bob Denver was Dobie's best friend (3 words)
30.    Superman, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice and (3 words)
31.    Where have all the flowers gone? (5 words)
32.    You'll wonder where the yellow went (7 words)
33.    I'm Popeye the sailor man! I'm Popeye the sailor man! I'm strong to the finish (5 words)
34.    You're all invited back next week to this locality / to get a (5 words)
35.    Good night, Chet (3 words)

Bonus points
Where were you on November 22, 1963 when you first heard that John F. Kennedy had been assassinated in Dallas?
Whistle the theme to "The Andy Griffith Show."

 

 

Writing a Picture Book

Here are just a couple picture book rules:

It should not be much more than 500 words long. Theodor S. Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss) wrote "Green Eggs and Ham" after his publisher, Bennett Cerf bet him $50 that he couldn't write a book using only 50 words. The Cat in the Hat is only 225 words long. Go take a look at either book. You probably thought there were a lot more words.

A picture book must include pictures. Since most picture books are 32 pages long that means there must be at least 14 pictures. That's not rule #2 though. The second rule is that the story should not describe the pictures and better yet, should not even mention them.

Those are just a couple reasons why "Writing a picture book is like writing 'War and Peace' in Haiku."

Prompt: Aliens and Other Planets

Here's another prompt that might help kickstart your writing, might even lead to a story for you.

You have been fascinated by aliens all your life. You've seen every movie and every TV show about aliens. You have dreams about living on a planet that is not earth. They seem so real. You think you can feel the ground beneath your feet and smell the things around you. One day in one of your dreams everything starts looking familiar or maybe it looks like a person or maybe you  around and wonder where are you?

 

Books with Silly Titles

Every year Bookseller Magazine awards it's Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year. The prize has been awarded every year since 1978 when the winner was: Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude Mice. I'm sure that was a real page turner.

Included in the most recent contest were: How to Sharpen Pencils by David Rees, How Tea Cosies Changed the World by Loani Prior, and Goblinproofing One’s Chicken Coop by Reginald Bakeley (the most recent winner in 2012).

Philip Stone, the Diagram Prize's co-ordinator, said: "People might think this prize is just a bit of fun, but I think it draws welcome attention to an undervalued art. Publishers and booksellers know only too well that a title can make all the difference to the sales of a book. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian has sold almost a million copies to date, while books such as Salmon Fishing in the



Yemen, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared perhaps all owe some of their success to their unusual monikers.”

Although I don't have a chicken coop, Goblinproofing One's Chicken Coop still looks fascinating. Apparently it offers a bevy of tips to help you protect your home from a potential infestation of fairies.

As soon as I finish writing this I'll be checking my library to see if they have copies of The Book of Marmalade: Its Antecedents, Its History, and Its Role in the World Today (the 1984 winner),  How to Avoid Huge Ships (1992), Highlights in the History of Concrete (1994), and People Who Don't Know They're Dead: How They Attach Themselves to Unsuspecting Bystanders and What to Do About It (2005)

Of course if I still lived in New York or Maryland I'm sure I couldn't wait to get a copy of The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide to Field Identification. I sure hope the author is working on a follow-up edition for the west coast.

Writer's Block

If you store up your words long enough... eventually you might have enough to write a novel...

Review: Mr Duck Means Business

Mr. Duck is a businessman. He has so much to do that he follows a schedule. He likes his quiet, unchanging life. Then one day life changes with a splash. A pig cannonballs into Mr. Duck's pond. Soon a cow, a horse, goat, lamb and some chicks turn the peacefulness into a party.

"The water got wild. The scenery got crowded. And the peace and quiet?
It.
Was.
Gone.
Mr. Duck tapped.
He flapped.
He totally SNAPPED.
`QUA-A-AA-A-ACKKK!"

He orders them out of his pond. Soon it is quiet. Too quiet. Mr Duck is bored. Perhaps he is lonely. He makes a small change in his schedule and makes some friends.

Tammi Sauer's Mr. Duck Means Business is a fun read. Kids will giggle at Mr. Duck's determination, not to mention the fun the other animals have when they invade the pond.

Jeff Mack's illustrations are colorful and amusing. I love the expressions on the animals faces.

Making My Own Soda

I was about eleven when we discovered a new candy treat. We called them 'Fizzy Sticks.' That wasn't what they were. They were actually Pixy Stix, a sweet and sour candy that poured from a straw-like wrapper. The corner candy store and other stores around town sold them for a penny each.

Just a matter of history here. Because parents weren't very fond of Pixy Stix - the powder found its way onto the carpet, furniture and clothing, leaving them sticky and discolored - the company redesigned the candy into little tablets called Sweet-Tarts. Today, you can still find Sweet-tarts, but the Pixy Stix is all but non-existent.

At that time soda was a dime for a 12 oz bottle. However, you could buy a 12 ounce bottle of soda water for just a nickel. Adults tended to like the soda water, but for me, it tasted terrible.

You can see what's coming here, can't you? That's right. I realized that if I poured a one cent grape flavored Pixy Stix into a five cent bottle of soda water, I could get a bottle of grape soda for just six cents! I would be a hero. All the other kids would love me because that would mean they could get a bottle of soda and four cents worth of candy for just a dime.

I bought a couple Pixy Stix. I figured if the grape wasn't all that good I could try to again with cherry flavored. I bought a bottle of soda water, popped off the cap and poured the Pixy Stix powder in. I didn't even manage to pour the whole thing in because about half the powder was in when the liquid exploded out of the bottle, almost all of it!

I had no idea what had just happened. I felt really ripped off. Not only did I not get a bottle of soda for six cents, I wasn't going to be a hero. I was happy I had taken the precaution of not letting anyone else in on my wonderful idea. It would have been even worse if anyone else took part in my embarrassment.

I did get to taste the result of my experiment. One swallow of my marvellous grape soda. It wasn't any good either. It smelled like grape soda, but still tasted like soda water.

Should Schools Teach Goal Setting and Creativity?

As reported at UPI.com, according to a recent Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup poll, more than three out of four adults think schools should teach creativity and goal setting.

You probably agree. Sounds like a great idea, right?

Wrong. The idea stinks.

The thing is, schools should already be teaching creativity and goal setting. If they're not, it's not the teacher's fault, nor is it the school's fault. It's your fault. You and our government have shaped out schools according to an image of what a school should be - a place where every student will learn exactly the same thing and learn it about as well as everyone else. That's not simply foolish, it's impossible. You know as well as I do that there are subjects you are not interested in. Notice, I did not say 'you are not good at.' If a student is not interested in something he or she is not going to learn it as well as other student's who are interested in it.

Goal setting should not need to be a separate course or series of lessons. They should simply be a part of the day-to-day school experience. For that to happen it helps if the parents are also involved in the child's school experience.

While teaching goal planning is an honorable idea (and I'm assuming it would be taught through specific lesson plans), it should not be necessary. I learned goal setting by being given a variety of assignments. Some of them needed to be completed that night, others needed to be completed in the future. Those that needed to be finished in a few days were easy. I worked on them each day till they were finished. Those that needed to be finished in a month were a bit more difficult, but I learned how to plan what needed to be finished and to set up a schedule for finishing it. I know I learned some of these techniques from my teachers, others I learned from my parents. I remember my mother saying, "you have a book report due next week. What are you reading?"

That's one of the reasons I find the desire to have the schools teach goal planning  is actually just a cop-out by today's parents. It seems to me that after a long day at work it's easier to sit the kids down in front of the TV or the computer or the game console and leave them alone rather than spend some time working with them, communicating with them, teaching them such things as goal setting.

As far as teaching creativity is concerned, students who study creative writing or art are learning how to be creative. Students who take part in after school activities are often learning creativity. However, there is a major problem in our school system that stifles creativity. Tests. Not just the day-to-day tests that help a teacher gauge whether the students are learning what is being taught, but the Administrative and governmental tests that are used to determine if the school is meeting the current standards expected of schools by the various governing bodies that fund the schools.

That might not be a problem if those tests were used as a guideline rather than a financial and budgetary tool. In essence it is not an educational tool, but becomes one because the teachers and school administrators are forced to design their curriculum to give the school the greatest opportunity to grade high overall and receive the funding needed to pay for the curriculum in the first place. In other words the teachers hands are often tied. They are not being allowed as much opportunity to teach to the kids as they are being given the directive to teach to the tests. When that happens the freedom a teacher needs in order to help a child be creative and allow a child to be creative is stifled because it has little place in a curriculum that is designed to meet standards rather than to educate children.

Am I way off base? You tell me.

Intuition

It seems to me that all writers would like to think their work is intuitive, but I don't think it is. Intuition usually grows out of experience. Doing or seeing or experiencing something -- things that are similar or in some way related -- more than once, often many, many times.

A writer is not likely to choose a word she is unfamiliar with. Nor is a writer likely to take a character or follow a character down a  path the writer has not in some way traveled before. The choice may feel intuitive, and it is, at least in the sense that the writer has felt that feeling before and now sees a reason to feel it again.

 

Prompt: The Bunny

You are a bunny rabbit. One day you decide to do things differently.

Do you hop sideways?  Maybe you decide not to eat plants anymore Maybe you decide to go to school. Maybe you start hopping sideways. Maybe you find a camera and start taking pictures. Maybe you talk.

What kind of bunny are you? What color are you? How long are your ears? Maybe you growl or bark.

Do you know any other bunnies?

Review: Stuck

‘It all began when Floyd got his kite stuck in a tree…’ What would you do if you were little and your kite was stuck? You might throw something at it. That's what Floyd does in Oliver Jeffers latest book, 'Stuck.'

Floyd throws his shoe, but it gets stuck, too. He gets other stuff and throws it at the kite, but that stuff gets stuck too. He throws such things as 'his cat Mitch (who got stuck because we all know how cats are notorious for getting stuck in trees),' a ladder, a saw, a chair, his door, 'the milkman, who surely had somewhere else to be,' a rhino, 'the curious whale, in the wrong place at the wrong time,' a boat, a ship, a whale, a fire-engine including the firemen, and a gorilla. Does he ever get his kite back? You’ll laugh your way through this book from beginning to end... then you'll find out.

The illustrations are brilliant because they are simple yet engaging - something that adds to the book's charm. Also, some interesting color choices help keep the tree and its ever-growing collection interesting by emphasizing the progression of items as the

day progresses from morning to evening.

A Terrible Thing

A terrible thing happened to my blog the other day. I dissolved it. I was having a problem with it. So I backed the entire thing up and deleted it.

BIG mistake.

I thought I would be able to do one of two things: either restore the entire blog from the back up or restore parts of the blog from the back up. However, the back up software did not recognize its own back up. And I discovered that while all the images I had posted were backed up, all the text was saved as code either in a .php document or a .sql document. Since I'm not enough of a computer geek to know which is which and how to translate them back into a readable text document (by readable I mean minus all the computer jargon/language.

That's why, if my blog was gone for a day and if it looks different to you (by different I mean nothing older than a few days), that's why. I will replace what I can. Since my back up is not a back up that makes any sense to me, that will not be a lot. However, this blog will go on. It just has a new starting place. A new inception date.

Doest Thou the Hokey-Poke

Verily, I say unto thee: Hast thou attempted the Hokey-Poke? Thou shouldest lest thou be viewless.

Herewith, take unto thy heart a version of the Hokey Pokey that wouldest made, perhaps, Shakespeare smile.

From grammerly.com

 

A Mosquito and Goldie Hawn

“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”*

Then again, happy families are all alike only because they’re always giggling. If they’d stop with the giggling, just for a second, they’d see they actually fit into that unhappy category. All families are unhappy at some time or another, unless they never stop giggling. It’s the damn giggling that drives me crazy.

I used to start giggling for no reason at all. Pretty soon I’d be laughing and all my brothers and sisters would be giggling or laughing, too. Eventually, someone would turn the TV on and that would end that unless, of course Laugh In or Mork and Mindy was on. Then we’d be giggling again.

That Goldie Hawn, she sure loved to giggle. Made us all a really happy family. If we’d have been able to record her and keep playing her back, over and over and over we’d there would never have been a sad moment for any of us, at least not while we were in the house. Head out the door for the school bus… Now, don’t get me started. I’m the one who had a teacher who taught her brother how to pitch and he was a relief pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals.

I giggle every time I think of that because there was the time she hauled off and threw an eraser at me. Would have hit me smack dab diddle in the middle of my face if a mosquito hadn’t bit me the night before and the bite chose that moment to start itching. For the kid behind me it was like when you’re driving behind somebody and they suddenly change lanes, leaving you hitting your brakes because the guy who is now in front of you is loaded with chalk, if you know what I mean. Kinda funny, isn’t it?

*Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

 

A Note to Myself

A couple mornings ago I awoke and found this note on the nightstand.

Obviously I had an idea for something, probably a story. I didn’t remember having written this.

Beyond that it doesn’t make any sense to me. It’s undecipherable. Sometimes it doesn’t even look like my handwriting. It’s as if an alien landed nearby, had to make a note for himself, found my pen and pad of paper, but forgot to take his note.

I checked the cabinets. The peanut butter is still there. I’ve heard aliens love peanut butter.

handwriting, notes, peanut butter

How to Identify Conflict

Here’s a little writing tip I just learned.

Write a synopsis of your story. You know, tell what happens ( Dorothy is suddenly caught in a tornado that carries her to a faraway land called Oz). If at anytime you insert the word ‘but’ in your synopsis, you have conflict. If, however, you cannot insert the word ‘but’ anywhere, then you have no conflict and you have no story.

Dorothy, a farm girl,  finds herself transported to a faraway land called Oz.  BUT an evil witch wants to Dorothy. Before she can return to Kansas Dorothy has to deal with the witch and a wizard.

inspiration, pitch, plot, writing tip

 

Quotation: Trenton Lee Stewart

We writers of literature for children like to think of children as good, kind and sweet. For the most part they are, or can be. That’s the way we tend to portray them. However, they often usually lack inhibitions. So they are known to do what they want to do, say what they want to say.

A number of years ago a woman who lived above me sent one of her children down to borrow my curry powder. I was boiling some cabbage at the time.

Before the boy asked about the spice he said, “Wow, it really stinks in here.” I think I’d like to write a story about him

childhood, rudeness, Trenton Lee Stewart, writing

 

Picture Books and Food

Years ago I often saw two different but similar bumper stickers: 'You Are What You Eat' and 'You Are What You Read.'

I've been working on a children's picture book with vegetables as one part of the tale, that's why this article in the Mercury News attracted me. As I read it, however, I thought of those two bumper stickers. So, for me that's the theme of the article and the two bumper stickers come together.

You eat what your read.

You read what you eat.

Three books featuring food are discussed: "Yummy Yucky' about foods that are yummy and foods that are not. Unfortunately, the yummy foods tend to be sugary. The second book is a Sesame Street book, 'Ding Dong Elmo's Here' has the Sesame Street puppets looking at platesful of mostly fruits and vegetables. The third book, 'The ABC's of Fruits and Vegetables and Beyond' is actually an alphabet where the author's intention was to get children familiar with the vocabulary of healthy eating.

When my daughter was seven she was afraid to eat mushrooms and beans because a friend had convinced her that both of them were 'dirty.' It took us a little while to convince her that by the time we cooked them they weren't dirty anymore. The point is, though, that children are influenced by what they are told about food and books have a part in that.

What will it be in kid books: cupcakes or carrots?

Children's Media Diets

Okay, here's your shocking fact of the day: According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), children are now spending an average of seven hours a day on entertainment media, including televisions, computers, phones and other electronic devices. How much time does that leave them to play with other children? Are they interacting at all with their parents or siblings? And what about being outside, is their sunshine coming from a screen?

I used to rush home from school to watch my favorite TV show, The Lone Ranger. I would have sat there until dinner watching whatever came on next, but my mother turned off the TV and told me to do my homework or go outside.

An LA Times story a few years ago indicated that children 2 to 5 years old spend close to five hours a day watching TV and kids 6 to 11 fill up on more than 28 hours of TV every week. And that's just television.

I've heard too many stories of parents handing their child an iPad or Kindle to keep them quiet. Sure, the things can be educational, but so can a book or the back-yard.

Most kids complain that they get too much homework, and maybe more than 2-2.5 hours worth per day is a bit excessive, but perhaps the reason they're complaining is because the homework is infringing on their screen time.

I've said this before and I'm sure I'll say it again. Too often parents take the easy way out by putting their child in front of a screen instead of finding a way to involve their child in life. It's much easier to let the TV talk to the children than it is to talk with them and be curious about who they really are. It's much easier to be a caretaker than it is to be a parent.

 

Saliva On Pacifiers Can Ward Off Childhood Allergies

When I was growing up I always thought it was disgusting whenever my mother put a pacifier in her mouth before sliding it into the mouth of one of my baby brother's or sisters.

If we were at home and the thing was dropped on the floor, one of us would rinse it off under the faucet. However, if we were away from home, that's when it went into her mouth between the floor and the baby's mouth.

I remember asking her why she did that and she said, if there was dirt on it, the baby would just spit it back out. I don't know if that was really the reason, but it made sense to me because I often saw my baby brothers or sisters spit the pacifier back out as soon as it was put in their mouth. Even today if something has dirt or hair or anything on it that shouldn't be there when I put in my mouth I spit it out (unless, it's chocolate or ice cream in which case I try to keep it in my mouth while I try to carefully draw the dirt or whatever to some place in my mouth where I can control it).

I believed my little brothers or sisters were spitting their pacifiers out because they weren't interested in a nipple that wasn't giving any milk. Makes sense, doesn't it? I like a nice bottle of beer every now and then, but if the thing's empty I'm not going to keep trying to get something out of it.

I found this study that indicates saliva on a baby's pacifier can fight childhood allergies. Only one of my siblings has any problems with allergies. I'm trying to remember if she was the one who was always spitting the pacifier back out. I remember somebody doing that, so it was probably her and I'll bet if she reads this (which I'll make sure she does) she's going to wonder what she didn't like about those pacifiers.

If you've got a baby, if you're always rinsing the pacifier off before putting it back in your baby's mouth, maybe you should consider taking a chance on the dirt. Consider what you're doing as 'pre-flavoring' the pacifier.

 

Should a Picture Book Emphasize a Message?

For some reason many people who know very little about writing picture books think a picture book has to teach something, that it has to be educational, that it has to have a moral.

There is one common truth with all writing whether it's a novel, short story, poem, news story, Romance, Science Fiction, Picture Book or almost anything that people are expected to buy: It tells a story. Underneath, there is usually something being taught, something educational, a moral. However, whatever that might be is immaterial. Often it's the reader who finds it. Often the author didn't know it was there, because it wasn't something the author was concerned with.

A good Picture Book tells a story first and foremost. Today the better non-fiction Picture Books weave the facts, the details into a story. Even the Picture Books that are referred to as Concept Books (picture books that are often plot-less because their emphasis is on a concept), usually have a story to tell.

A good writer has stories to tell. Good readers want to hear stories. Good writing is as simple as that. There's no reason to make it more difficult (and it is difficult) by trying to build a story around a moral or something the author feels needs to be taught.

I just finished reading Tara Lazar's latest Goodreads blog, "What’s Wrong With Writing Message-Driven Picture Books?" It says much the same thing.

 

Review: I Represent Sean Rosen

Sean Rosen has an idea. He believes it is a great idea, one that will revolutionize the entertainment industry. He is confident in himself. So confident that he is willing to drop everything in order to make his idea a reality. It is unfortunate for Sean that he is just a kid. He discovers that no one will listen to him unless he has an agent or a manager. So he invents them and stumbles through one roadblock after another as he learns how to maneuver through the cracks, crevices and canyons of the entertainment industry.

"I Represent Sean Rosen," by Jeff Baron is an entertaining middle grade book, at least as good, if not better than any of the Wimpy Kid books. Sean Rosen is a kid I'd like to meet, a kid I found myself rooting for with every page turn. While Sean is an unbelievable kid (it's hard to imagine a 12 or 13-year-old could accomplish this). The character is so well drawn that I found the story believable. Sean is funny, irresistible and clever.

Although this is considered a middle grade book, it's more than that. I think most adults will enjoy it and might, in a sense, relive their own middle grade years while they read I Represent Sean Rosen.

Review: From The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

Twelve-year old Claudia Kincaid doesn't feel appreciated so she decides to run away from home to someplace special. She takes her nine-year old brother Jamie along on her adventure. Then it becomes their adventure when Jamie contributes his savings.

They take a train to New York City and for a week they live at Metropolitan Museum of Art, hiding from the guards and employees, sleeping in a bed in one of the displays, bathing in a fountain in the Museum cafeteria and finding some extra spending money in the fountain. They eat at the museum cafeteria as well as a nearby automat.

The adventure changes when Claudia sees a small statue of an Angel that might have been carved by Michelangelo. They are caught up in the mystery of the statue that the museum purchased at auction for only $225. If it was carved by Michelangelo, it is worth millions, if not, then it is just a pretty statue. Claudia decides to find out.

Eventually she travels to Farmington, Connecticut to see the statue's previous owner, Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Will Claudia and Jamie have enough money left to get back home? Will Mrs. Frankweilerbe willing to help? Does their family really miss them? Perhaps most importantly will Jamie and Claudia learn anything of value about the statue, about their family, about life, about themselves?

I know this is a work of fiction, but why do I feel like the story really happened? Why do I want to Google 'Angel' by Michelangelo?' If I lived in New York I would want to tour New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, look for that bed, eat in the cafeteria. I'd want to walk from the train station to the Museum, have lunch at the automat, walk from the museum to the Post Office, then take the train up to Farmington. I know the fountain in the Museum cafeteria is gone, the last Horn and Hadart automat closed more than twenty years ago, and Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler's home never existed. However, I'd like to 'tour' the story. It seems like it would be so much fun.

I tried to run away from home once. Mine was a spur of the moment decision, not something as well planned as Claudia's trip. Her mother didn't know anything about it. My mother handed my lunch bag with an egg salad sandwich, an apple and a cookie. Claudia was gone more than a week. I was home in time for dinner (having eaten the sandwich, cookie and apple). In the end Jamie and Claudia learned that they are special and important, but it's still nice to have a secret to hold.

From The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is a wonderful story from the late E.L. Konigsburg