And now for the good news...

After a day filled with plastic surgery books for the tots and scary book deals (Bethenney Frankel [A Real Housewife of NYC]; Patti Stanger [the Millionaire Matchmaker]), I was feeling low. Fortunately there's plenty to read on the children's book blogs to raise one's spirits.

Sara Lewis Holmes tells the story of her niece's trip to the Harry Potter set--a trip sponsored by the Make-a-Wish foundation. Read it and you just might donate.

Speaking of donations...Those fabulous readergirlz--with the help of YALSA--are at it again. Here's what you need to know: "Not only are YALSA and readergirlz donating thousands of publisher-donated young-adult books to teen patients across the U.S. and in Canada, they’re also encouraging all teens and YA authors to leave a book in a public place on April 17, in celebration of Support Teen Lit Day. There will be a big celebration later that night at the “TBD Post-Op Party” hosted at the readergirlz MySpace forum (April 17th from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Pacific, http://groups.myspace.com/readergirlz)."

Now, which books should I leave out and about tomorrow?

Tomorrow is Poem in Your Pocket day! All you have to do is carry a poem around with you to share with others. Cloudscome has celebrated a wee bit early due to scheduling issues and you can see the results over at A Wrung Sponge. Need a poem? Elaine Magliaro has you covered over at Wild Rose Reader.

Whew! I feel better now.

Poetry Friday (II)

Lorie Ann Grover's On Pointe is the Readergirlz book of the month. And it's perfect for a Poetry Friday review as it is a novel in verse.

Clare has a dream: to dance professionally. In the summer before her senior year in high school, she moves to her grandfather's home to train more seriously and try for the City Ballet:

There are only
sixteen positions
in City Ballet.
Sixteen positions
make the company.
How many in my class?
How many in the conservatory?
How many in western Washington
dream
like me
to be
one
in sixteen?

Clare trains hard and loves to dance. (I especially appreciate Lorie Ann Grover's descriptions of the pain and the beauty of dancing on pointe.) But Clare has a problem--one that escalates while living at her grandfather's--she's becoming too tall. And there's not much she can do about that.

Clare's not alone in her struggles. Her "best friend" in Madame's serious class is Rosella and Rosella has been throwing up to maintain her weight. Dia has grown too big and needs "a big bra" and her hips "are huge." But with the stakes as high as they are no one does much talking. When Dia is called in for "the talk" with Madame, for example, Dia disappears without a word. And no one mentions her absence.

Add to Clare's stress her mother's constant mention of "our dream" when they talk on the phone. (Not to moms: don't do this!) Oh, and grandfather--a wonderful, kind, prune juice drinking man six days of the week--becomes a little passive aggressive on the whole Sunday church-going issue.

In writing On Pointe as a novel in verse, Grover has chosen wisely from an aesthetic point of view. Clare's personality--straightforward, hardworking, serious--comes through in Grover's spare free verse. On Pointe is for anyone who has ever thought, "Even though I'm trying hard,/failure/could be/my future."

On Pointe is highly recommended for children as young as ten and as old as eighteen. I'd also recommend this book to the moms of the world (even the most well-meaning of us can make some big mistakes).

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Readergirlz has great questions, book group suggestions, and a community challenge related to On Pointe.

Help! (MySpace question)

I'm new to the whole MySpace thing. I joined up to participate in Readergirlz.

That being said, I'm still not sure I know how everything works. Here's my question du jour:

• If someone leaves you a comment, how do you respond? I click "add comment," but it says I have to be a friend. Hmmm...

Thank you for your patience.

Readergirlz

I know that I'm absolutely the last person to post about the awesomeness that is Readergirlz. I have a really good reason, though. I'm writing a feature on the site, the authors and their mission for the March The Edge of Forest.

I will say now that what I most especially like about Readergirlz is the link the divas make between reading and community enhancement. By reading, girlz can make a difference not only in their own lives, but in their community. Likewise, the divas reach out to girlz who may not have the opportunity to meet an author and hear about the writing process. Very cool.

On a related note, I had to join MySpace to follow Readergirlz. Please help, you younger, hipper members of the kidslitosphere. I have no idea what to do! I already have one friend named Tom. Who is he? Where did he come from? Is he the generic friend? As you can see, any assistance is welcome.

Finally, a big tip o' the hat to Little Willow of Bildungsroman. She designed the Readergirlz site! She's a real Renaissance woman.
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Update! I figured out that Tom is the MySpace guy. Man, I have a lot to learn.