Poetry Friday: Halloween Edition

Happy Halloween, everyone! This week's Poetry Friday roundup takes place at Poetry for Children.

Weekend Reviews on a Monday

First, the apologies:

1. I've been a bad, bad blogger. But I'm turning a new leaf now that The Cybils review copies have been ordered.
   
2. Poetry Friday roundup will be up tomorrow. Many great entries, including some first timers this week.
3. Against all my better judgment, I'm joining Jennie of Biblio File (Smalltown alum!) for NaNoWriMo. Yes, I should be working on editing other things, but I have a new story to tell. Adult, or at least teen, this time.

Okay, apologies over, short and sweet. Let's just get to this weekend's reviews:

The Publishers Weekly reviews are up. David Macaulay's latest The Way We Work: Getting to Know the Amazing Human Body gets a big red star.

And speaking of Macaulay...Andrew Dansby interviews him for the Houston Chronicle.

And speaking of interviews, don't miss Nicolette Jones's with David Almond for the Telegraph. (Selected quote from Almond: "Sometimes I think the reason I write for children is to tell myself, with hindsight, that everything, however horrible it is, will work out OK in the end.")

And speaking of David Almond...his new novel, Jackdaw Summer, gets a rave review from Geraldine Brennan in the Guardian. (Brennan also reviews a few other new books in this column.)

Also in this week's Guardian:

• Lisa O'Kelly reviews Middle Grade fiction.
• Kate Kellaway reviews new picture books.
• Alyssa McDonald appreciates E.M.Gombrich's A Little History of the World.

Amanda Craig "recommends magical and macabre children's books for Hallowe'en" in the Times. 'Nuff said.

The Times Children's Book of the Week is The Boy in the Dress by David Walliams, ilustrated by Quentin Blake, reviewed by Nicolette Jones. (Quentin Blake!)

The AP brings you cooking books for kids. (Link via the Maryland Daily Record.)

Three children's book articles in this weeks San Francisco Chronicle:

• Halloween books, reviewed by Regan McMahon.
• Regan McMahon also reviews fall books with kids, cats and other creatures.
• And Susan Faust reviews books "that take on war."

Feature Alert: Libby Purves writes in the Times that "children need to be sprinkled with fairy dust" in reaction to the news that Richard Dawkins is writing a children's book. (Selected quote: "The reason I am delighted at Professor Dawkins' investigation, therefore, is that I am pretty sure his intelligence will bring him to the same conclusion as the psychologists: that a bit of magic and fantasy in childhood is useful and helps you to grapple with your fears about life, death, peril and chance.")

Dan Smith talks to Neil Gaiman about The Graveyard Book for the Toronto Star.

Susan Perren reviews six new books for the Globe & Mail.

Mary Harris Russell reviews Chains, by Laurie Halse Anderson, and Octavian Nothing: The Kingdom on the Waves, for the Chicago Tribune. ("Brilliant historical fiction.")

Janet Christie reviews children's books for the Scotsman. Also in the Scotsman, an interview with Anthony Horowitz.

Good week!

Poetry Friday HERE

Leave me your links, people! I'm on the roundup.

This Week in TV--One Week On

It was sad to get home this evening and realize there was no Project Runway awaiting me. (This moment was especially poignant when I realized we have no idea when PR will return. Or where. [Please, don't let it be on Lifetime. I'll have to get over serious issues to watch it on Lifetime.]) Then I remembered we hadn't yet discussed the finale, so I could at least blog about it here.

Okay, so first and foremost...the editing? Nightmarish. It seemed as if Kenley had a chance of winning the whole thing, even though you and I watched the whole season (along with Michael, Nina, and Tim) and knew, just knew, she would be third. And, of course, she came in third. Come on, people, we're not stupid!

Leanne? Total winner. This was my favorite dress in her collection (to the right). Gorgeous, unique, and new. (Those of you who know my book tastes know that risk-taking is always rewarded.)

And, her win proved to me that Project Runway, over five seasons, has mostly gotten it right. Let's break it down:

• Season One: Jay? Yes, even though Kara Saun was a close second. An awesome season overall.
  
• Season Two: All of them failed in my opinion. Daniel's collection was awful, Chloe's was weird, and Santino's poorly crafted. I would have picked Santino for the win (I did like his California Golden Girl dresses best), but understood why the judges chose Chloe. She had a collection. It just happened to be ugly.
• Season Three: Okay, this was the season that upset me most. I was 100% behind "Bad Mommy" (Laura) from day one. I liked her clothes, I liked her attitude, I liked her snark. Jeffrey's Gothic Lolita look (which won) seriously got me down. Oh, and Mychael Knight? Nice Guy, horrible final collection.
  
• Season Four: Three great people in the top three--Rami, Christian, and Jillian. Christian totally deserved the win, however.


• Season Five brings us back to Korto...the best second-placer ever.
  

I'm sorry, but this is one gorgeous dress. (Even though the ProjectRungay guys accuse it of titscrepancy.) Everything in Korto's collection was beautiful, the colors were brilliant, and normal women could wear her clothes. But she just didn't reach the same level of innovation as our sweet nerd girl Leanne did.

That being said, I'd buy clothes from Korto. (Especially this particular dress.)

What say you...about Project Runway Season Five? About Project Runway in general? About the end of Project Runway on Bravo? (Tim doesn't want to move to Los Angeles. I think we should support Tim, because he's the best thing about Project Runway, hands down.)

Photos

I've stayed away from politics on the blog during this oh-so-very-long season. But, I just have to link to Callie Shell's photographs of Obama. They are stunning. Enjoy.

(Keep clicking on "show me more images." The best ones are behind the first page.)

(Link via Gawker.)

Weekend Reviews

I do know it is Tuesday, and not the weekend, but I figured a late roundup was better than none at all. So here we go--the weekend reviews!

It's almost that time of year: Karen MacPherson reviews Halloween books for Scripps News Service, published here in The Rocky Mountain News.

And, Rebecca Young reviews Halloween titles in The Wichita Eagle.

And, Scotland is in on the game: Kathryn Ross takes a look a Halloween books in the Scotsman.

Oh, and did you know there's an election soon? Monica and Hannah Young review political books for the youngsters in the Winston-Salem Journal.

Here's a link to this week's Publishers Weekly reviews. (I really want to read My So-Called Family.)

Stephanie Dunnewind considers many new picture books for The Seattle Times.

Mary Quattlebaum is at the helm of this week's "For Young Readers" column in the Washington Post Book World. (She reviews four new books, including The 39 Clues.)

Judith Meyrick reviews Canadian children's books for The Chronicle Herald (Nova Scotia).

Sonja Bolle is back in the Los Angeles Times, this week reviewing Marion Bataille ABC3D. It's a rave review.

Um, super weird article on Harry Potter from the Telegraph.

Interview Alert: An interview with Judith Kerr in the Times. (When Hitler Stole the Pink Rabbit was one of my favorite books as a child.)

Also in the Times: Amanda Craig + dragon books = genius review column.

Kristin Kloberdanz provides "one-minute" reviews of three teen books, including John Green's Paper Town, in the Chicago Tribune.

Also in the Chicago Tribune, Mary Harris Russell reviews four new books in her "For Young Readers" column.


Have a great week, everyone!

Majorly OT: Entertain me, people!

I've had blogging malaise lately. Heck, I've had life malaise. Maybe it's the change of seasons, the loss of summer. Maybe it's the LONG Cybils lists or the endless grading. End result? Slow blogging and slow reading.

But...I'm trying to pull myself together and write the super-huge weekend reviews post and then order the Cybils review copies. In the meantime, I turn to you to entertain me, people. Here's what I want to know: Which ill-advised pop song do you love even though you know you shouldn't? You know, this song shows your lack of taste and discernment, but you love it anyway.

I'll put my answers in the comments, though the image is a hint. Tell me the truth, and you know you'll feel better.

(I am also majorly behind in my critique groups, so I have my work cut out for me!)

A talk with illustrator Nicole Tadgell

I'm always happy to receive a package from Lee & Low Books. They publish some of the most interesting and joyful children's books around. Sally Derby's No Mush Today, illustrated by Nicole Tadgell, is no exception. This story of a girl who just doesn't want to eat mush for breakfast brings light and fun to a familiar domestic battle.

The heroine of No Mush Today sets out on her own after refusing to eat the cornmeal porridge set in front of her: "Puttin' on my shiny shoes,/goin' over to Grandma's./No mushy mush at Grandma's house./No bawlin' baby there." Because, you see, it's not just the mush that's at issue in Nonie's world--there's the new baby brother, as well.

Nonie thinks a permanent move to Grandma's might be in order. But, then, there's a picnic and Grandma doesn't really want to run around, but Dad does. And, it turns out that Mom and the baby brother miss her, so Nonie thinks she just might give her family another try.

Sally Derby's text is fast-paced and childlike, while Nicole Tadgell's lovely, warm illustrations--with greens, blues, yellows, and browns at their heart--bring life to Derby's minimalistic text. Take a look at Tadgell's rendering of Nonie's homecoming. The most hardened six-year-old will be unable to resist that beautiful baby in green--even if you've given him your favorite stuffed animal.

No Mush Today is best suited for children ages three to seven. I recommend it particularly for all first children and for children who really hate breakfast.

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I had the opportunity to talk with illustrator Nicole Tadgell (who blogs here) as part of her fall book tour which concludes on November 1 when she'll sign books at the Kennedy Center for the annual Multicultural Children's Book Festival in D.C. Here's our conversation:

Kelly: Tell me, Nicole, about working with Lee & Low. (I think they're a fantastic house.) How were you hired? How did you team up with Sally Derby for No Mush Today?

Nicole: I had done work with Bebop Books, an imprint of Lee & Low for Moving Day Surprise a few years ago. Knowing Lee and Low's reputation for quality multicultural books, I had been wanting to work with them for years. My agent and I regularly sent updated portfolio pieces to them, and with luck, there was a manuscript they felt I'd be a good fit for. As with most publishing houses, the author and illustrator don't actually work together during the book process.

Kelly: As an artist, how did you know illustrating for children's books would be a good move for you?

Nicole: It's natural for me. I've always been sort of child-like in how I see the world, and I still remember what it was like to be little. I enjoy drawing things that children like to see, quite simply!

Kelly: No Mush Today centers around a sibling relationship. Do you have a sibling? Did this change the way you illustrated the book?

Nicole: Oh, yes! I have a younger sister and brother, and I recall how it was very disruptive in my world as a child. I'd say it influenced the way I illustrated the book, because I knew from experience how Nonie felt.

Kelly: What do you think about the state of multicultural picture books in the U.S. today?

Nicole: I think there are so many lovely books out there I've seen, and there must be hundreds more that I haven't seen!

[Kelly: Agreed! That's why this article from the Guardian was particularly disturbing.]

Kelly: Tell us a little bit more about you. Where do you work and live? How do you spend your days?

Nicole: I work as a graphic artist in Worcester, at Davis Advertising for 15 years. I do my illustration work in the evenings and on weekends. It's sometimes challenging to balance both, and sometimes the dust bunnies seem to take over when I get busy! I live in Central Massachusetts, and I love New England - especially this time of year when the leaves are brilliant and the air is crisp.

Kelly: Thank you so much, Nicole, for stopping by.

What's Missing? 2008 Cybils and More (Links)

I've been going through the Cybils 2008 nomination lists this evening and considering what is missing. I've been holding my votes until the very last day, and here are some titles I'm considering:

Whew! Someone finally nominated April Lurie's The Latent Powers of Dylan Fontaine today. So, that means I can nominate Meg Rosoff's odd but powerful What I Was in the Young Adult category.

Another category I follow carefully is poetry. I was happy to see that Imaginary Menagerie was nominated (and early!). I also really liked this year (and they're still not nominated!) J. Patrick Lewis's The World's Greatest: Poems and Pam Munoz Ryan's Our California. Hmmm...what to do? Someone help me out here, okay?

In 2008 there was only one Graphic Novel for me--Joann Sfar's Little Vampire--a book I loved and one I return to frequently. My heart remains true to the little vampire. Why? Because Little Vampire is a graphic novel children as young as six can read and one adults will enjoy as well. Little Vampire is about love and loyalty--to family, to friends, to monsters. My graphic novel nomination is a no-brainer.

The last category I am following carefully is the Middle Grade fiction category. I'm a judge this year (yay! I decided working with the publishers was not enough for me...), so I'm excited by which five-to-seven books will come my way in early 2009. My favorite book of the year (besides Little Vampire) was Frank Cottrell Boyce's Cosmic, but it has been nominated. So I think I'm going to nominate Judy Blume's Going, Going, Gone! with the Pain and
the Great One. I know this isn't an original or an out-of-the-box choice, but I love the Pain and the Great One books and they should be recognized--even if Judy Blume, the Queen of Children's Fiction, wrote them.

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Two other links of notice today:

1) My writing group friend Chris Marciniak has a book deal! Go, Chris! I am so proud of you and can't wait to see your book in print. (I've read Mike & Emma so many times, I am in love.)

2) Need a calming waste of time? Then don't miss This is Sand. Man, many minutes have gone by today creating sand art for me. Notice the passive? Wonderful.

I voted. Now it's your turn!

My blogging has been on the slow side lately. Work has been insane, this political season has got me down, and the Cybils are in full swing.

But here's the good news: I voted today! For President and all the rest of it. And it felt good. I've done my duty and now I can just hope for the best.

Speaking of voting...there are only two days left to nominate your favorite children's books of 2008 for the Cybils. I'm headed over there right now and will do a 'what's missing' post tomorrow.

This Week in TV: What Can You Do?

Well, that was one sad Project Runway episode for me. Jerrell was a designer whose clothes I never really liked, but I enjoyed him as a person. I'll be sad to see him go. Seriously, though, his dress was fug. There it is to the right. It looks like it's smoldering. Not a good sign for a wedding, wouldn't you say?

Complicating matters from an emotional point of view for this Project Runway viewer was that my favorite remaining designer--Korto--turned in what I thought was a much worse dress than Jerrell's. They kept her, I think, because her final collection is very good and over the course of the season she's done extremely well.

But, still--take a look to your lower left. Korto made a skinny girl look heavy. On her wedding day. In taupe. TAUPE. What was she thinking? I get the whole non-traditional approach to a wedding. But go with red, then, or pink--not brown!

I know what I'm thinking: There's no way Leanne isn't going to run away with Season Five. Her dresses were great and she's the only contestant who doesn't falter with gigantic misses like these two entries. She has a unique point of view and is steady. No surprises here.

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ETA: The good in this episode? The always marvelous Tim Gunn. Talking to the designers and tearing up. All teachers know that feeling. You have a great group of students and you're sad to say goodbye, but proud of them at the same time. And Tim on a tandem bike with Leanne in Portland? A moment to cherish.

Poetry Friday Schedule

Here is the Poetry Friday Schedule for the next several weeks:

October 10: Picture Book of the Day
October 17: Becky's Book Reviews
October 24: here at Big A little a
October 31: Poetry for Children
November 7: Check It Out
November 14: Yat-Yee Chong
November 21: Brimstone Soup
November 28: Lisa Chellman
December 5: Mommy's Favorite Children's Books
December 12: Wild Rose Reader
December 19: Author Amok
December 26 The Miss Rumphius Effect
January 2: A Year of Reading
January 9:
January 16:
January 23: Laura Purdie Salas

There's the Thanksgiving spot remaining. A few of you mentioned that you'd take any spot, but I wasn't sure that meant the Thanksgiving one. So, if you offered to host and don't see your name on this list, pick another one in the comments.

(Jim D and Lisa--your dates were already taken by the time you left your comments. Please choose another date!)

Weekend Reviews (on a Monday, again)

I hope posting the weekend reviews on a Monday doesn't become a habit. Still, better late than never. Here we go...

Check out this week's set of reviews from Publishers Weekly. The new Sabuda Peter Pan looks great.

Craig Wilson talks to Marlo Thomas about the 35th Anniversary reissue of Free to Be...You and Me for USAToday. Free to Be...You and Me was the most influential book of my childhood. Did you read it, too?

Lisa Carricaburu reviews Halloween books for The Salt Lake Tribune.

In this week's Not-a-Review category: Kate Agnew asks "Why are there still so few attractive reading books featuring black and Asian children?" in the Guardian.

Also in the Guardian, Diane Samuels reviews Alexie Sherman's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.

Barbara Britsch reviews Middle Grade fiction and non fiction for The Toledo Blade.

The Detroit Free Press posts Children's Ambassador Jon Scieszka's "good books for boys" list.

And speaking of Scieszka, Jennifer Miller talks with him in the Rocky Mountain News.

Preston Williams talks to Chris Crutcher in a superb profile piece (including analysis about why high school students like Crutcher's books) in the Washington Post. Thanks, Sara, for the link!

And in the Washinton Post Book World, Kristi Jemtegaard reviews Halloween books for children, including Judy Sierra's newest book Beastly Rhymes to Read After Dark.

Helen Mitsios reviews what I think is an adult title teens will like--Real World, by Natsuo Kirino and translated by Phillip Gabriel--in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Interview Alert: Amanda Craig interviews Julia Donaldson in the Times.


Mary Harris Russell reviews four new books for The Chicago Tribune, including the new Polly Horvath novel, My One Hundred Adventures.

Interview Alert: Justin Berman talks to Neil Gaiman about The Graveyard Book for the San Fransico Chronicle.

Poetry Friday: Organization Time!

Today's Poetry Friday roundup is over at Two Writing Teachers. Thanks, Stacey and Ruth!

And, in taking a look at the Poetry Friday schedule, I noticed it's time for new hosts. If you'd like to host a forthcoming Poetry Friday, then leave me a note in the comments. Available dates:

October 10:
October 17:
October 24: here at Big A little a
October 31:
November 7: Check It Out
November 14:
November 21:
November 28:
December 5:
December 12:
December 19:
December 26 (Should we take this one off?)

I'll be back later today with a review of Hip Hop Speaks to Children.

This week's TV note: Noooooo!

Okay. Project Runway 5 is now officially the lamest season ever. They had to pull a Season 4? I mean, really. During Season 4, there were four good designers left standing. (Christian, Rami, Jillian, and Chris March.) I understand why they wanted to give Chris one more chance last year. But, why, oh, why are they giving Kenley another chance? Is it because she's good TV? 'Cause she's cute? Take a look at this horrible number to your left. You could be imprisoned for a dress like that.

And, frankly, I take issue with Michael Kors's statement that Kenley has done "interesting things" throughout the season. The 50s dress may be cute (to some), but it is decidedly not new or interesting.

As for the rest of the clothing last night.? Dreadful. Korto's dress did look like a pageant dress. Leanne's hip ruffle was a crime against (wo)manity. And Jerrell's winning number?

Doesn't look so good in the light of day, does it? I'm still shaking this episode off and wondering if I should even care who wins Season Five.

Go, Korto! (I guess a spark still lives inside me.)

The Cybils 2008

Nominations are now open for the 2008 Cybils. Read all about it here.

New Voices Blog Tour: No Girls Allowed

I'll admit it: When I was little, I wanted to be a boy. So I was thrilled to talk to Susan Hughes about her new book No Girls Allowed: Tales of Daring Women Dressed as Men for Love, Freedom and Adventure! for the New Voices Blog Tour. (A review will be posted tomorrow, but as you'll see from my interview, I loved these stories of girls dressing as men throughout history.)

Now for the interview:

Kelly: Thanks, Susan, for taking the time to talk to me today. I really enjoyed No Girls Allowed: Tales of Daring Women Dressed as Men for Love, Freedom and Adventure! Like you I was always fascinated by stories of girls and young women dressing as men throughout history. I’m really glad you decided to tell their stories. How did you narrow the stories down to just these seven examples?

Susan: I’m surprised you knew about these girls and young men! I found out about them accidentally, while researching for a book about spies. When I searched online for “undercover” and “women’ and “disguise,” many of these stories began popping up. I was surprised and intrigued. There were so many women sharing this experience! But we couldn’t tell all the stories in our book, and so, as you point out, I had to narrow them down to seven. It was difficult, but I ended up choosing stories that were, first of all, the most interesting, and then, ones that helped show how pervasive these experiences were. I chose women whose adventures began, and took them to, a variety of places around the world, and I chose women whose stories ranged throughout different historical time periods.

Kelly: Why did you decide on a graphic novel format for telling these tales?

Susan: Actually, this was the editor’s idea. I wrote up a proposal to tell these stories as typical non-fiction text and she came up with the terrific idea of telling them in the graphic novel format. She thought, and I agreed, that the stories were exciting, dramatic, and action packed, and they would lend themselves to this visual form with short, snappy dialogue. Reading these stories in the graphic novel format is almost like watching a movie about them – very engaging! I’d never written to this format before, but I really enjoyed the challenge and learned a lot about dialogue while doing it.

Kelly: Willow Dawson’s bold black-and-white panel style works wonderfully with the young women’s stories. What can you tell us about Ms. Dawson?

Susan: Willow is an experienced Toronto-based graphic artist and illustrator. I’ve met her several times now. It’s so nice to get to know one’s co-creator on a project! Willow is lovely -- smart, talented, and thoughtful. She was able to read my text and see the shape of the story, and help direct it. As I wrote, I was trying to provide her with opportunities to show all that was happening behind the words, and she did that and more. She added texture and atmosphere to each story. For an example, in the second last frame of the chapter about Sarah Rosetta Wakeman she placed a crow on Wakeman’s tombstone. The final frame, which is also the final frame of the whole book, shows simply the crow flying away, providing a poignant reflective moment. Also, I was impressed by Willow’s incredible attention to detail. She and the editor were meticulous about making sure everything in every frame was historically accurate.

Kelly: Of the seven stories included in No Girls Allowed, which is your favorite and why?

Susan: Agggh, I can’t choose a favourite. I love the story of James Barry, because she is such an inspiration, a woman with such ambition to practice medicine even though women were not allowed that she went undercover as a man, all her life, and not only that, but pushed the envelope with her insistence that health care be available even to the weakest and most vulnerable in society; I love the story of Ellen Craft, because she disguises herself and puts herself at great risk to escape slavery and to make a life with her husband, and then she goes on to continue the fight by working for the freedom of others; I also love the story of Sarah Wakeman, because she fought in the Civil War, hoping to earn money to send home to her family, without knowing she was following in the footsteps of Mu Lan, who had disguised herself as a soldier to protect her father, and without knowing that she was sharing this difficult and dangerous experience with hundreds of other disguised American female Civil War soldiers. And I love the other stories too … ! It’s too difficult to choose!

Kelly: One thing that struck me when reading these stories, is that, often, the heroines find they are not alone—that there are other young women passing as men fighting alongside them. In my favorite story, “Alfhild,” the heroine even inspired these girls to start their own pirate band! That’s very cool, especially when considering that Alfhild lived in 9th-century Scandinavia. Did this phenomenon surprise you when you were researching No Girls Allowed?

Susan: Well, as I explain in the afterword of the book, you have to remember that this book is based on historical facts but many of the details were not available. So some of this is the result of my imagination at play. In fact, the story of Alfhild is actually based on a very old legend which may or may not be based on an actual event. Because the story has been passed down and passed down, like the story of Mu Lan, it’s been included, especially as we have good documented accounts of the many British and Irish women pirates that did sail the seas. Instead of repeating one of these better known biographies, I decided to bring to light Alfhild’s story, a woman of a time and place that many North American kids won’t be familiar with. Did it happen? Were there other women also disguised as pirates that she might have met? Did they unite to form their own girl (pirate) band? I’d like to think so, and I think the story I wrote and Willow illustrated delivers a plausible riff on the centuries-old Alfhild legend.

Kelly: Tell us a little bit about you, Susan. Do you write full time? What are you working on now?

Susan: I am full-time writer and editor of children’s books and educational materials. Right now, I’m a developmental editor on a social studies program for the Atlantic provinces. I’m also working with an editor on the final stages of a non-fiction manuscript about how science has, and is, helping us search for lost people, such as Sir John Franklin and his crew, and Anastasia Romanov. It will be published by Kids Can in 2010. I’m also in the final editing stages of a young adult novel, unnamed as yet, which will be published, also by Kids Can, in 2010. It’s very exciting to have so many great opportunities like these!

Kelly: Okay, now a speed round:

• Beer, wine, or a soft drink? Wine.
• If you had the chance, would you travel back in time? Yes. Where would you go and why? I’d like to hang out with some of the girls/young women that I wrote about in this book and see how they spoke, what they felt, and if life for them was really like the way I’ve been imagining it. Perhaps I’d even take a copy of my book back for them to read!
• Beach, city, or forest? Beach.
• Why did you decide to write children’s books and not, say, mystery, chick lit, or “literary fiction”? I was looking at the job board one spring after my third year of university and saw an ad looking for student English majors to work for a children’s publisher, and the die was cast!
• Coffee, tea, or a triple skinny latte? Coffee, and more coffee!
• Movie, Theater, or a Concert? Theatre.
• If you had an entire week and unlimited resources to do whatever you’d like, what would you do and why? Travel with my family through the continent of Africa and spend the money on supporting local communities there in some fundamental way, either related to health or education.
• Halloween, New Year’s, or Valentine’s Day? Valentine’s Day.

Thanks again, Susan! You can catch the rest of the New Voices tour here:

Sept 29
Shelf Elf: read, write, rave
Matt Hammill, Sir Reginald’s Logbook

Sept 30
Good Comics for Kids
Willow Dawson, No Girls Allowed