Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: Cinderella

Today’s pick:  Cinderella (As If You Didn’t Already Know the Story) by Barbara Ensor

Random House, 2006

From Amazon:

I know, I know. You’ve heard the story a million times before. Mean stepmother. Lots of sweeping. Fancy ball. You remember. Or do you? Did you remember that Cinderella was such a nice girl—so smart and funny? You probably would’ve liked her. Did you know that “Cinderella” was just a nickname? And that her handsome prince loved Jell-o and was a wonderful dancer?

Readers will delight in following Cinderella through all the usual happenings, presented in a most unusual way. And they’ll finally see what becomes of her after she marries the prince. So maybe you should hear the story one last time. Because it’s actually way different than you might have thought. . . .

Kids who have outgrown picture books and are ready for something longer—but still love illustrated texts—will gravitate toward this Cinderella, which was an IRA-CBC Children's Choice selection. Black-and-white silhouettes of everything from the ugly stepsisters to Cinderella’s slipper (actual size) are intermingled with Cinderella’s letters to her recently deceased mother in this totally original package. And don't miss the companion book to this fairy-tale reboot: Thumbelina, Tiny Runaway Bride.

My Take: 

This retelling of the traditional Cinderella story was fun to read. I agree with the cover which calls it “a quick read for smart girls”. I enjoyed the letters to Cinderella’s (dead) mother and the silhouette illustrations that broke up the text. The story doesn’t differ much from the traditional version, although there are some modern elements. What makes it stand out is author’s voice. I’d recommend this as a younger middle grade read, though it’s fun for any age. Because it’s short and illustrated, it would be a good choice for a reluctant reader, too.

Other Info:

Barbara Ensor is an author and artist. She created the cut paper illustrations for her story.

On her blog she says, “Everything in my books is kind of like a sandwich between something I completely know and something I have completely made up.”

Other books by this author include:

Thumbelina: Tiny Runaway Bride


For more, check out Barbara Ensor’s website.

Looking for more MMGM? Check out these links:

Joanne Fritz

Shannon Messenger

Shannon O'Donnell

Myrna Foster

Ally Beecher

Barbara Watson

Deb Marshall

Anita Laydon Miller's Middle Grade Blog

Middle Grade Mafioso

Literary Rambles

Ms. Yingling Reads

Jennifer Rumberger

Pam Torres

The Accidental Novelist

G.S. Prendergast

Gina Carey

Laurisa White Reyes

Marshall and Emiline

Dorine White

Temre Beltz

What's So Hard About Writing a Synopsis?

One of the hardest things for me to write is a novel synopsis. I find it even harder than query letter, almost harder than writing the entire novel.

When I begin, it always seems close to impossible to sum up the main points of a novel in one to two pages. The summary that I wrote up before I began writing the novel doesn't fit anymore, and the scene by scene outline I often keep as I write is too detailed. So now what?

Focus on main characters and main plot events. When I get sidetracked by subplots, there's too much information. Too many characters just makes it confusing.

Pretend to tell a friend. If I write about the story as though I'm explaining it to a friend in a letter (or even a critique buddy), it comes more naturally than if I try work from scene summaries. Once I have something down, I can go back later to make sure the events are ordered correctly.

Include a sprinkling of unique details. Not too many, because the point of a synopsis is to show the plot of the story. But a key detail here and there adds some flavour that makes it easier to read than an boring list of events.

I think that's what makes writing the synopsis so challenging. In its essence, it is a list of events. But it needs to be written to highlight and emphasize what's important about those events, using as few words as possible while still capturing the story momentum.

Do you have any good tips for writing a synopsis?

Middle Grade Agent News

1)  Over at MiG Writers, my writing buddies have been cooking up something really cool. Next week is agent week!!!!

We're hosting interviews with four agents that rep middle grade and YA, asking them some tough questions about the market, misconceptions, and what they are looking for in submissions and in their clients. For more, check out Meet Our Agents over at MiG Writers.

2) Earlier this week, D'Arcy Pattison of Fiction Notes posted about the Top 20 Agents for Middle Grade Fiction, based on self-reported statistics at Publisher's Marketplace. Although this information must be considered carefully (not all sales are reported on Publisher's Marketplace, for example), it may give you an idea of which agents are selling middle grade fiction to publishers.

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: Flyaway

Today’s pick:  Flyaway by Lucy Christopher

The Chicken House, 2010

From the Publisher:

While visiting her father in hospital, 13-year-old Isla meets Harry, the first boy to understand her and her love of the outdoors.

But Harry is ill, and as his health fails, Isla is determined to help him in the only way she knows how.

Together they watch a lone swan struggling to fly on the lake outside Harry’s window. Isla believes that if she can help the damaged swan, somehow she can help Harry. And in doing so, she embarks upon a breathtakingly magical journey of her own.

My Take: 

This is a lovely story of family and friendship. Isla has a special tradition of watching the whooping swan migration with her father. But this year, everything goes wrong. The swans are disturbed by a new power plant and one becomes separated from its flock. Then Isla’s father has a heart attack. While visiting him in the hospital, Isla meets a boy her age, Harry, a cancer patient waiting for a bone marrow transplant. Isla and Harry watch the lone swan from the window of Harry’s hospital room, and together they plan to reunite the swan with its flock.

I got very wrapped up in the story with Isla and her worries. I loved the details about Isla’s unusual art project and her uncertain relationship with her gruff grandfather. As a writer, I would read this story again to study how the author created such rich and defined characters that all have realistic emotions and reactions.

Other Info:

Lucy Christopher begins her first draft thinking about the characters and emotions. Later, she thinks about the themes.

According to the FAQ on her blog, the idea for flyaway came from “the images of birds and migration merging in my head with thoughts about long-term illness”.

Other books by this author include:

Stolen 

For more, check out Lucy Christopher’s website.  

Looking for more MMGM? Check out these links:

Joanne Fritz

Shannon Messenger

Shannon O'Donnell

Myrna Foster

Ally Beecher

Barbara Watson

Deb Marshall

Anita Laydon Miller's Middle Grade Blog

Middle Grade Mafioso

Literary Rambles

Ms. Yingling Reads

Jennifer Rumberger

Pam Torres

The Accidental Novelist

G.S. Prendergast

Gina Carey

Laurisa White Reyes

Marshall and Emiline

Dorine White

Temre Beltz

Memorable Middle Grade Books: Lois Lowry

Lately I’ve been thinking about stories I read as a child that influenced my writing and my life. One that really sticks in my mind is A Summer to Die by Lois Lowry.

Something about this story intrigued me and I read it many times. Maybe it was because it was the first time I read a story with a character that died. Or because the main character had a sister and I didn’t (I have brothers). Or because the story includes a description of the birth of a baby, something that was relatively new to me at the age of 11. There was a lot in this thin book, including lovely writing. The characters really came alive for me when I read this story, no matter how many times I read it.

Kids today might find the pace too slow or the writing too detailed. But I loved details the author included – the painted eggs, the names of the plants (nature again), the photography (not digital, of course), the quilt made of the girls’ baby clothes. [This makes me think of the quote I posted from Molly O’Neill on memorable details in writing middle grade books.] The details in A Summer to Die definitely made an impression on me. Those details helped to build and carry so much of the emotion of the story.

An interesting side note: It was not until I was an adult that I learned that this book was a fictional account of Lois Lowry’s own life and the death of her sister. And it was her first book.

Are there any books from your childhood that introduced you to something you’d never experienced or thought about before? Do you still remember details from books you read as a child?

Free Kindle Books for Children on April 19

I don't usually post on Thursdays, but I thought you might want to know about these free Kindle books, available during a Give A Child a Kindle Book promotion. There are also two bonus books in multiple e-book formats.

The books include YA, middle grade and picture books so there's something for every age group.

Read more (and find links to the books) here:

Author Stacy Juba's blog

Ms. Martin Teaches Media blog

More Essential Info for Writing Middle Grade

If you write middle grade and you haven't seen this, make sure you check it out: Everything you ever wanted to know about middle grade, the finale over at Dystel and Goderich. In the wrap up to this informative series, editor Molly O'Neil and agent Michael Bourret talk about how to make your middle grade novel stand out. For example:

Molly O'Neill: "A lot of time, it’s the details that make a story memorable. In fact, it’s often those same specific details that we remember, months or years after reading a book, rather than the plot itself."

Michael Bourret: "It’s important to break out of your comfort zones and explore the world. Writers need inspiration, and our increasingly digital world provides opportunities to learn and grow, but it can also become, as Molly so well said, and echo chamber that just reinforces what a writer already “knows.”


Also, do you know about this contest for writers of middle grade?

Children's Writer is having a Middle-Grade Mystery Writing Contest.

Write a fictional mystery that will engage readers 9 to 12, in no more than 900 words. There is a fee of $15 if you're not a subscriber (but then you get to be one for 11 months -- that's good value) and the deadline is April 30, 2012.