Literacy Now

Ellis Weiner’s writing has been making kids and grown-ups laugh for more than 30 years. Ellis skewered popular culture at NATIONAL LAMPOON and SPY Magazine, and entertained the preschool set as a writer for such beloved TV shows as BEAR IN THE BIG BLUE HOUSE, READING RAINBOW, and EUREKA’S CASTLE. He is the author of several humor books for adults, including YIDDISH WITH DICK AND JANE, and ARFFIRMATIONS: MEDITATIONS FOR YOUR DOG. In addition to his busy writing schedule, he teaches humor writing at UCLA and performs frequently with his jazz band, The Status Seekers.

Ellis, you’ve been an editor for NATIONAL LAMPOON, a columnist for SPY, and the author of such titles as DROP DEAD, MY LOVELY and HOW TO RAISE A JEWISH DOG. Oh, and you used to write for TV, too. So what made you want to become a middle grade novelist?

It occurred to me that very few adult “comic novels” actually made me laugh—a fact that led to me to believe that anything I would write in terms of adult (i.e., for adults, not…you know…sex) humor would have a hard time getting published.

This happened around the same time that I absorbed through the cultural atmosphere the sense that Lemony Snicket was writing the kind of thing I wouldn’t mind either reading or writing. (He had been at it for years, but his work had only recently caught my attention.) So I read his first three, and was delighted to see that my sense of what one could get away with, when “writing for kids,” was decades out of date.

I knew I could amuse myself—not to mention indulge my inner pedant—by writing about smart kids interacting with oblivious adults. All I needed was a basic framework. When I thought of the Professor, and the idea of treating different colleges and academies as various enclosed microcosms, I knew I had it.

It’s sort of like STAR TREK, now that you mention it: the crew—professor, kids, dog—go from planet to planet, pursued by twin Romulans.

Let’s talk about THE TEMPLETON TWINS HAVE AN IDEA. Whose idea was it for you and the Narrator to team up on this project?

Well. It was my idea, although The Narrator does have an antecedent in my previous writing.

In around 2006 I decided I needed to have a web site. But I didn’t want to present a disingenuous, self-centered thing in which I pretended I wasn’t promoting myself. So I looked at other writers’ sites, and saw that Ian McEwan’s was written and maintained not by him, but by an academic.

So I invented an academic named Renee Willis (an anagram of my name), whose ostensible role was to curate a web site about Ellis Weiner. Except that when you read the descriptions of my books, my bio, and everything else on the site that he’d “written,” you realized he hated my guts—probably for having rejected his attempts to sell freelance material to the NATIONAL LAMPOON years before.

This worked better than I’d expected—more than one person wrote me emails, asking if I was aware that some maniac was insulting and mocking me on a website supposedly dedicated to my work.

Willis turned out to be a touchy, snide, superior, fussy, condescending jerk—does this start to sound like someone we know? I’ll leave it at that.

Kirkus Reviews said, “The scene-hogging narrator steals the show in this clever series opener.” Ellis, how do you feel about the Narrator hijacking your novel?

Grudgingly reconciled. He’s funnier than I am, although I don’t think he is aware of that fact. If, in order to continue to secure his services, I have to agree with him that he is smarter than an 11-year old, I’m happy to do so.

Moving on: your twin protagonists, John and Abigail Templeton, are kidnapped by your antagonists, another set of twins, Dean D. Dean and Dan D. Dean, with a grudge about a bad grade. Did you write this in response to the ever-increasing emphasis on grades as a measure of success?

False answer: Yes. This book, and the entire series to come, is in fact a withering critique of the American educational system.

True answer: No. I just needed something to turn Professor Templeton’s nemesis against him.

Each chapter ends with “Questions for Review” that call on the reader to think critically about the story, but also give the Narrator a platform to taunt the reader a bit. How do you predict young readers will react to these unorthodox quizzes?

I think they’ll laugh at a lot of them and not quite fully get some of them, but if they consult with their parent, guardian, or academic advisers, all will become clear.

By the way, I don’t think the Questions for Review call upon the reader to think critically about the story, since most of them require the reader to think adoringly and worshipfully about the Narrator. But I do think the act of reading the book itself is an act of critical thinking.

It would be nice, in fact, if some readers have the reaction to the book that I had when, at the age of 13, I read my first MAD magazine. I thought—or at least felt, maybe in a nonverbal, visceral way—“I didn’t know you were allowed to do that.”

Come see Weiner at IRA’s 58th Annual Convention in San Antonio, Texas! He will be participating in the author panel, “And Then What Happens?! The Enduring Appeal of Series Fiction” on Monday, April 22, 2013.



Jamie Thomson (DARK LORD: THE EARLY YEARS) and Dirk Lloyd

Books that Make Us Linger

A reformed textbook writer, Steve Sheinkin has dedicated his recent career to making up for his previous sins by writing gripping narratives that would never make it past the school board. He is the author of several fascinating books on American history, including The Notorious Benedict Arnold, which won the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award for nonfiction. His latest work, Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—The World's Most Dangerous Weapon, was released earlier this week.

Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—The World's Most Dangerous Weapon is the story of the world’s first nuclear weapon. What makes this book a “global thriller,” as you’ve dubbed it?

Well, it’s got nonstop action and a cast of characters no novelist could invent, and the scenes speed around the world, from Berlin to Washington, D.C., from Moscow to the deserts of New Mexico. I love spy thrillers, novels I mean, and my goal was to try to recreate that almost dizzying pace, but to do it as nonfiction.

Bomb ends on a cautionary note about our nuclear future. How do you hope this book affects students’ notions of war and weaponry?

Unfortunately, this is an issue that’s not going to go away. I think students need to know about nuclear weapons—how and why they were originally made, how dangerous they are, who has them, who is trying to get them. Discussing and debating the decision to use atomic bombs in World War II can help students think about how such decisions should be handled in the future.

It would be nice to think we won’t face this question again, but that’s probably not realistic.

In Bomb, as in your other narrative nonfiction, you write about people and events that aren’t usually included in textbooks. How do you find the quirky or little-known facts that make your stories unique?

Like I tell students at school visits, I think of myself as a kind of detective. Okay, it’s a nerdy sort of detective work, but still… I find an interesting story or character in one source, and that becomes a kind of clue. I’ll follow the clue to other sources: books, journals, interviews, letters, wherever the facts lead.

I spend more time researching than actually writing, and I always end up with way more stories than I can cram into any one book. That’s the saddest part of the job—having to cut cool stuff because it just doesn’t fit.

On your homepage you confess that you used to write text books, but that you now “write history books that people will actually read voluntarily.” How do you bring life and excitement to material that might otherwise be considered boring and “academic”?

Really, history is just stories about people and dramatic events, so there’s nothing inherently boring about it. The problem is, if all kids know about history comes from textbooks, they think history is boring. So my job is to bust through the resistance by telling exciting and entertaining stories.

I try to take all the sources I find and craft the material into scenes, just like you’d do if you were making a movie. Hopefully, readers will have so much fun reading the book, they’ll forget they’re supposed to be learning. That’s what I’m going for with BOMB.

You also write regularly for the Interesting Nonfiction for Kids blog. What’s the goal of the site, and how do you work to achieve it?

That’s a great site, because it offers an inside look at the working process of all these different writers of non-fiction. Writers blog about research they’re doing, challenges they face in the work, upcoming projects, the craziness of the publishing world, and more.

When I contribute entries, I like to share obscure stories I’ve come across in my research, stuff that may never make it into any book. Basically, those of us who write nonfiction are convinced that true stories are every bit as fun and exciting to read as fiction, and the INK blog helps us prove it!

Denise Brennan-Nelson is an award-winning children's book author. As a frequent lecturer and speaker she encourages adults and children to tap into their imaginations to create richer, fuller lives. She also shares her enthusiasm for reading and writing in unique school presentations across the country.

The transformative power of imagination is a prominent theme throughout your books. How will that thread continue into your next release, MAESTRO STU SAVES THE ZOO?

Often we think of imagination as something artists, writers, and children have an abundance of, and the rest of us…well, it’s in short supply. And though it’s true that some have a more developed imagination than others, the reality is we all have imaginations, and we use them more often than we realize.

In MAESTRO STU SAVES THE ZOO, Momma and young Stu listen to the animals. She could call these sounds “annoying,” but her imagination kicks in to put a positive twist on them; it’s a symphony! Stu pretends to be a maestro conducting the animals in a symphonic performance. The illustration shows Stu holding a wooden spoon with a blanket tied around his neck like a maestro’s cape. No fancy props needed; just an imagination and an adult encouraging child’s play.

Later in the story, when the animals realize they are going to lose their home, Stu uses his imagination to help the animals come up with a solution. “I have an idea,” he tells them. Promising words from anyone, but especially a child!

We all have ideas. And our ideas become richer, clearer, and more frequent when we take the time to nurture our imaginations. A developed, utilized imagination can transform a room, a party, a story, a life. It can take the ordinary to extraordinary, the mundane to magnificent!

In MAESTRO STU SAVES THE ZOO, and several of your other books, a child is able to have a large impact on the people and events around him/her. Why is it important for young people to hear this message?

“Children should be seen and not heard,” was a popular adage when I was a kid. And coming from a family of eight children, I’m sure my mom and dad had that thought often. But the adage, “To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world,” is one I would like all children to hold in their hearts.

In SOMEDAY IS NOT A DAY OF THE WEEK, Max can’t find “Someday” on the calendar and tries to convince Momma that they need to pick one of the seven days to go to the fair. Momma acknowledges Max by saying, “You’re right. I never thought of it like that.” I’ve spoken those words many times as my own children have taught—and continue to teach—me many of life’s valuable lessons.

All children should know that their ideas should be shared with others and what they think and feel is important. They have a fresh perspective on life and can teach us much if we let them.

In WILLOW, a little girl helps her art teacher rediscover creativity and her love of art. In your career, what inspiration or renewed passion have you found from students and/or readers?

Willow gives her art teacher, Ms. Hawthorn, a gift. And it’s more than just her well-loved art book. Ms. Hawthorn is the recipient of Willow’s “magical” smile, her non-judgmental attitude, and her colorful spirit!

When I spend time with students, I receive similar intangible gifts for inspiration. I am inspired to think outside the box, learn something new, keep my imagination turned on, notice things around me, ask more questions, play, not worry so much about the little things… The inspiration is endless!

Encouraging others to believe in themselves and their dreams, talking to them about overcoming obstacles, perseverance, etc. inspired me to get off my duff and I recently competed in (and completed!) my second triathlon.

Your “…Likes to Say” series focuses on idioms, a colorful element of speech that is often ignored in the classroom. Why did you decide to shine a light on these commonplace and oft-overlooked phrases?

My mom was the queen of idioms! She said so many funny, odd things when I was a child. I didn’t always understand or appreciate what they meant, but I still loved hearing them. For years I scratched my head wondering what Mom meant when she said “If the shoe fits, wear it” or “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade.” It was these expressions and many more which were the inspiration for MY MOMMA LIKES TO SAY, the first in the Likes to Say series.

One of the reasons I love writing about idioms is that it gets everyone talking about the things their momma, daddy, or grandparents like to say. I also hope that by “shining a light on them,” it helps children, especially ESL learners, to understand these often confusing expressions.

In your speeches you talk about something you call a “morale bank.” Can you explain this concept and how it can help our members to improve their colleagues’ and their own work?

If you have a bank account, and make withdrawals but fail to make deposits, you become overdrawn, or worse, you go bankrupt. The same concept applies to our “morale bank” which is where our confidence and enthusiasm are stored.

I once heard someone say, “I cannot take care of you if I do not take care of me.” We can’t give what we don’t have. If we don’t feel good about ourselves and what we do, how can we serve others?

Keeping ourselves emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually full will ensure that our morale bank account won’t become overdrawn and we will have a reserve of positive feelings, attitudes, and experiences to draw from.

Shannon Hale is the Newbery Honor–winning and NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of PRINCESS ACADEMY, THE BOOKS OF BAYERN, BOOK OF A THOUSAND DAYS, and the graphic novels RAPUNZEL’S REVENGE and CALAMITY JACK—as well as three novels for adults. She and her husband, the author Dean Hale, have four children and live near Salt Lake City, Utah. Visit her online at www.shannonhale.com.

Next Tuesday Bloomsbury will release PALACE OF STONE, the sequel to your Newbery Honor-winning book, PRINCESS ACADEMY. What were the special challenges of writing the follow-up to a novel that received such prestige?

It was intimidating! And not necessarily because of the prestige, but due to all the readers that the award attracted to the book. So many more people had read PRINCESS ACADEMY than anything else I had written, and they were telling themselves their own stories about what happens next. I was hesitant to interfere with my own version. It wasn’t until I had a story idea so intriguing, complicated, and alluring to me that I was able to ignore my fears and just had to write it. I’m so glad now that I did.

Books with strong female protagonists, such as those in the Princess Academy series, are often labeled “girl books.” But you’ve said that it is equally important for boys to read books with dynamic female characters. Why?

Sometimes we say that boys won’t read books about girls, and then we make that true by only offering them books about boys. I hear from some teachers that they’re afraid the boys won’t like books about girls, so the ones they choose to read as a class are targeted for the boys. When I do school visits, the schools often take the girls out of class for my assembly but omit the boys. We’re telling them in many subtle ways that anything to do with girls is bad for boys. That girls can’t be interesting protagonists. That girls aren’t heroes. That girls aren’t worth reading about. I’m worried that in our well-intentioned ardor to help boys become confident readers, we’re reinforcing a culture of sexism.

Meanwhile, our girls will read most anything—they are more flexible readers and likely will grow into more flexible adults. I’m scared that in the long term our boys are going to get left behind. The irony is I hear from fourth to six grade teachers that when they read PRINCESS ACADEMY to their class, the boys are initially put off (understandably by the title and cover) but in the end are just as big of fans or even bigger fans than the girls.

Teachers are in a unique and powerful position to introduce diverse books and help form children’s love of reading as well as their views of the other gender. I try to be conscious about what books I offer my own son. He loves graphic novels and fantasy, and at age eight doesn’t care yet if he’s reading about boys or girls. He just wants a good story. I’m crossing my fingers that attitude endures!

In high school, you were really into theater—something you say was helpful to your career as a novelist. How does participating in school dramas improve students’ writing?

Acting is a profound exercise in character creation. You really get inside her, feel what she feels. I use those same techniques when I write. I also did improv, which is an excellent tool for letting go of total control. You take what someone gives you and work with it. Sometimes a story takes a turn I didn’t expect, and I can play with that, see if the twist is interesting and leads to a good place. If it doesn’t, there’s always rewriting!

You’ve said that a good writer only tells half the story and the reader creates the rest. Can you elaborate on that theory of writing?

I’m flattered that you’ve done so much research on me! Yes, this theory is extremely important to me as a writer and a reader. One of the advantages reading has over visual forms of storytelling, like movies, is how open the story is. A reader supplies the visuals, determines the voice, creates the mood, decides how quickly or slowly the story progresses. The reader has so much control.

When I write, I’m conscious of not trying to do all the work. Stiff, controlling overwriting doesn’t allow a reader to fully enter the story. The writer should provide enough but not too much. Never try to force the reader to feel or react a certain way or make absolutes of interpretation. A story will have more power when the reader does half the work, finds what he/she needs from the story, creates her own morals.

I’m afraid my answer is too cryptic. I could write a book just on this idea alone!

In the “ridiculously long bio” on your website, you note that you were never considered “the best or the brightest” writer during your schooling, but now you’re a NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author and a Newbery honoree. How did that lack of academic recognition drive you to become a successful author?

I do think the “neener-neener factor” can be a powerful motivator! There’s a certain honor in having battle scars, as well. I like that I can have empathy for other writers or dreamers of any sort that haven’t had a smooth path. I’m glad now that I can encourage them from experience.

Besides being regarded as a generally lackluster talent, I also received many rejections. My first book, THE GOOSE GIRL, was soundly rejected by the who’s who of children’s publishing. And though I ached and sobbed at the time, those scars made me stronger. Now I can honestly tell kids that people will tell you that you’re not good enough, and they will be wrong.

Marta Acosta is the author of the award winning Casa Dracula novels and NANCY’S THEORY OF STYLE, and was a frequent contributor to the San Francisco CHRONICLE and the CONTRA CONTA TIMES. A graduate of Stanford University, she has degrees in literature and creative writing. She’s a native of the San Francisco Bay Area, where she lives with her family and rescued dogs.

More than one reviewer has made the comparison between DARK COMPANION and JANE EYRE. To what extent did you want to pay homage to this classic story with your very contemporary novel?

I’ve loved JANE EYRE from the first time I read it when I was a kid, and I wanted to honor Charlotte Brontë’s gothic without writing a literal update. Brontë’s book needs no updating: it is perfect as it is. I was fascinated by Jane’s character, her fierce determination, and sense of self despite her destitution. Those qualities are not fixed to any time period.

Bronte’s novel was probably the first gothic I read, but I have always enjoyed stories about a solitary young woman who finds herself in sinister circumstances. I used tropes found in JANE EYRE and in other gothics, such as the poor orphan, “twinning,” isolated locations, eerie natural settings, light and dark imagery, blood as symbolism, and supernatural elements.

Much has been written about the lack of ethnic diversity in YA literature. Jane Williams, the protagonist in DARK COMPANION, is biracial. Why is it important to you that races and ethnicities that may not be considered the American “majority” be represented in YA literature?

I don’t believe that characters must look like us in order for us to empathize with them. However, I do feel that the lack of diversity in fiction presents a false and simplistic view of contemporary society. This is not the world I inhabit, and these are not the teens I see every day. I think it probably sends a message, “You are not worthy of our attention,” to girls who don’t fit the beautiful, blond, secret-princess clichés. “You are not the ideal.”

I’m creating characters who happen to be Latino, or African-American, or Asian, or just a big ol’ mix. Race and ethnicity are elements of their identity, not the entirety of their identity. My characters have the same hopes, aspirations, strengths, weaknesses, and quirks as anyone else. If I have any message, it’s that I believe that what unites us is greater than what divides us. Our humanity transcends skin color, gender, heritage...

I’d like to mention that some of my own favorite characters are blond, blue-eyed girls, including poetry-spouting Mary Violet, who becomes Jane’s best friend in DARK COMPANION. She’s my anti-Mean Girl.

You’ve said that you like to write about girls who are “bright, interesting, and [have] more on their minds than clothes and boys.” How does Jane Williams go beyond the typical YA heroine?

I cannot speak for other YA heroines, but Jane is passionate about her science and math studies. They help her understand and interpret the greater world. She remains loyal to those she left behind at a poorly funded school in the hood. She accepts that she’s not pretty enough to use her looks for instant admiration, and she works hard to get ahead.

She does become dazzled by a beautiful, spoiled boy, because he represents those things that she has never had in her life: beauty, family, status. Her precarious situation makes her vulnerable to those who wish to exploit her. She has an acute sense of the divide between the haves and have-nots, yet she’s also open enough to become friends with her new classmates.

You’re finishing up the “Girls’ Nightmare Out” book tour with fellow Tor authors Kendare Blake (GIRL OF NIGHTMARES) and Lisa Desrochers (Personal Demons series). Book tours are obviously about meeting your readers and promoting your new book, but what inspiration can be found from traveling and spending time with fellow authors?

A few authors live in New York and can easily meet and talk to agents, editors, and writers, but most of us operate in isolation. DARK COMPANION is my sixth book, and I’m still learning about the publishing biz. It’s great to talk to other writers, share experiences, offer advice and connections, and just be with others who “get it.”

You write romantic comedies under the name Grace Coopersmith. In addition to being your pseudonym, Grace is a pretty fantastic alter ego for you. What kind of freedom does stepping into a new name provide?

Oh, I don’t think I would have been a credible author of a book about a fashionista since I live in old jeans, sensible walking shoes, and routinely ruin my nails by gardening. Grace is the sort of person who irons her clothes and always brings the right bottle of wine, instead of re-gifting whatever is in the cupboard. Grace never cusses and always has fresh flowers throughout the house. She likes pink and doesn’t think being a sissy is a bad thing for a girl.



5 Questions With... R.J. Palacio (WONDER)