ROSY COLE'S MEMOIR EXPLOSION (FICTION)

PICTURE BOOK
ROSY COLE'S MEMOIR EXPLOSION: A HEARTBREAKING STORY ABOUT LOSING FRIENDS, ANNOYING FAMILY AND RUINING ROMANCE by Sheila Greenwald (Farrar Straus Giroux)

At lunch, Hermoine Wong plunked down next to me. "How can you write a memoir?" she challenged me. "Nothing's happened to you yet."
"A memoir is about feelings and memories and families and friends," I informed her. And it just so happens that I have them."

One of the hardest parts of being a memoirist that I've found is that people grow and change over time, but when you trap someone is a book, they can't grow and change. They are frozen in whatever scene they have been drawn, as characters and not as people, and this is a hard fate for loved ones to bear (or even ones who are not so loved). This is the lesson learned from Rosy Cole's school of hard knocks. When given the school assignment to write about the most interesting person in her family, she is convinced to write about herself. Like any enthusiastic novice, she turns to a book for some help, specifically Write Your Life: A How-to Guide for Memoir. Through it, she learns to meditate, to usde her senses to inspire memory, and to use old photos to induce recall. She also learns what every successful memoir needs, among them: "talent, tears and turning points," "romantic relationships," and "confronting demons." SOme of these points are, indeed, a bit of a stretch for our heroine, and when she decides to host a memoir workshop for her classmates, tempers flare. Sort of a early-reader cousin to HARRIET THE SPY, Greenwald does a good job depicting the swinging moods, best laid plans and preteen girl provocations that are truly a plague. Best of all, there are some very interesting ideas to experiment with in a language arts classroom context. With all the journaling that goes on in schools and so precious little from which to draw, this title is an especially welcome addition.

Sheila Greenwald is a name to know; fans of Suzy Kline, Megan McDonald, Johanna Hurwitz (my son learned to read using Hurwutz's books, incidentally) and yes, Beverly Cleary, will enjoy her sparky realistic fiction. While I don't know if Rosy Cole trumps my Greenwald favorites, MARIAH DELANEY'S AUTHOR OF THE MONTH CLUB and the sadly out-of-printMARIAH DELANEY'S LENDING LIBRARY DISASTER. I always appreciate her characters' imagination and initiative, and the banter and situations are sure to be recognized by readers. Greenwald's own spot illustrations add to the "I can do it!" attitude of her girls. (8 and up)

Also of interest:
SING A SONG OF TUNA FISH is my memoir for children, about growing up in Chicago in the 1970's. One of the original titles we considered for this book was Let Me Tell You Something Stories, because each vignette starts out with "let me tell you something about..." (my family, school, my neighborhood). I wanted children to read this book and see that their own real lives are chock full of stories worth telling! I love teaching memoir writing to kids, and I hope that this book, along with my on-line teacher's guide (which includes more than twenty "let me tell you something about" story prompts) will be a helpful spirngboard into journaling. Also, check out these memoirs/autobiographical writings for young audiences by other children's authors and illustrators:

THE ABRACADABRA KID by Paul Fleischman
KNOTS IN MY YO-YO STRING by Jerry Spinelli
26 FAIRMONT AVENUE by Tomie DePaola
HOW ANGEL PETERSON GOT HIS NAME by Gary Paulsen
LOOKING BACK: A BOOK OF MEMORIES by Lois Lowry
BILL PEET: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY by Bill Peet
A DAY OF PLEASURE by Issac Bashevis Singer
CHEWING THE CUD by Dick King-Smith
DOWN A SUNNY DIRT ROAD by Stan and Jan Berenstain
FIVE PAGES A DAY by Peg Kehret
A GIRL FROM YAMHILL by Beverly Cleary
HOMEWICK: MY OWN STORY by Jean Fritz
CHILDTIMES by Eloise Greenfield

Awards to be announced
The big American Library Association awards will be announced tomorrow (1/22), including the Newbery for outstanding writing and the Caldecott for illustration. You can watch it on a live webcast, too! Go, Dianna Aston's AN EGG IS QUIET! Go, Elizabeth Winthrop's COUNTING ON GRACE! Go, everybody who published a book this year!

Sad news:
I regret to report the very tragic passing of talented author/illustrator Harry Horse. Sincere sympathy to his friends, fans and family.

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