Thanks to Tye Murphy for creating a book trailer for the Tenners’ spring releases!  Lots of good titles here, guys.  Enjoy!!

As my mom will undoubtedly tell you, I’m a pretty much a Luddite.  I was the last of my friends to get a cell phone, which happened sometime in 2001.  I don’t have a Blackberry, iPhone, or Tivo, and I still listen to tapes in the car.  In spite of this aversion to Things New, I am really appreciating the internets lately.   What have they done, you ask?  I’ll tell you.

1) I raised $78 for my local library, thanks to Jennifer Hubbard’s Library-Lovin’ Blog Challenge.  Hard to imagine coordinating such an effort and disseminating the news over snail-mail.  Harder still to imagine how much we’d actually raise.  But somehow, with the clicking, it’s easy to do. 

2) Because I wrote some thoughts on the School Library Journal’s Battle of the Books, I won a t-shirt from them.  It will be the nerdiest piece of apparel I own, hands-down, which means it will become soon become well-loved.

3) This is the most embarrassing to admit I’m pleased about, but it’s a great story, so I have to tell it: I shared some good news on Twitter about how a judge ruled that a Mississippi high school student can attend the prom with her girlfriend.  It got retweeted by someone with over a million followers and then retweeted in turn.   I guess I’m embarrassed to report that I’m happy about my part of it because it’s not my story.  The story belongs to an incredibly brave young woman who opened herself up to hatred in the name of progress.  But I had a tiny bit of pride that I was the one who helped spread news to people who might not otherwise have heard it. 

4) The Internet allows you to line up pinch-hitters for your honeymoon.  Yes!  From April 10-20, you will get treated to On the Scene with Nice and Mean, thoughts by writers/bloggers Micol Ostow, Irene Latham, Tami Lewis Brown, Margie Gelbwasser, Susan Robertson, and Emily Kristin Morse.  (Sorry I’m not linking to you guys–my lunch break is already dwindling as it is.)  I doubt they would have responded to a chain-letter requesting nice and mean tales for post-honeymoon reading!  (NB, I didn’t get married over the weekend and not tell you.  That happened in August.  It’s a delayed ‘moon.)

5) Yep, I’m burying a lead, but anyway: the Internet will allow me to give away an ARC of Nice and Mean!  Be one of the first to read it.  Contest will take place April 5-9th, and will include lots of other Simon and Schuster books and Tenner swag.  A marketer friend of mine pointed out recently how the internet makes it easier than ever to reach our niche market, and it’s true.  Though I sometimes find all the self-promotion opportunities overwhelming, I would have had even less idea how to do it sans le net. 

So–your turn.  What’s your favorite thing the internet has done for you?

The Music Man’s Marion is, of course, an excellent librarian, but my favorite librarian is my friend Judy, whom I worked with several years ago.  Judy was obsessed with cleaning the gunk off the binding labels, and whenever I’d stop in to chat (often), she’d say, “Let me just get my cleaner,” and she’d stand there and attack the binding with a wet cotton ball.  She had a fantastic collection of colored pens and paper clips, and while she’d clean, I’d arrange the paper clips in rainbow order.  Often, I’d find that one of my favorite students, a Judy fan as well, had beat me to it.  Judy’s that kind of librarian–loyal fans, long talks.

One of my favorite Judy Library stories involves the Poppleton books for young readers.  Poppleton is a great character: large and pink, what he lacks in intellect he makes up for in kindness.  In one Poppleton book, he carries, among other things, a suitcase and–I believe–a pink hanky.  Judy, being the great librarian that she is, assembled miniature Poppleton items for her class to hand around, including a tiny square of pink Kleenex.  One of her first-graders, on seeing it, looked up at her anxiously.  “Is this Poppleton’s?” he asked.  “Should we be careful so we don’t mess it up?”

Or at least I think that’s how the story goes.  The point is, Judy is a librarian who makes magic happen, whether she’s solving your problems over a stack of gummy books or cutting a tissue down to imagination size. 

Saturday, March 27th is your last day to have a comment counted toward the Library-Lovin’ Blog Challenge!  Leave a comment and I’ll donate $1 to the local library.  If I amass 10 comments today, I’ll make it $1.50 per!  And thanks to Jennifer Hubbard for starting the challenge in the first place!  You are a visionary!

[I am on hold with American Airlines.  Perfect opportunity to update the blog!]

[Note once again: if you comment on this or any post, I will donate $1 to my local, recently flooded library!  I’ve got something like 20 comments so far–I hope you’ll take me up to my goal of $40!]

So I’m participating in the Library-Loving Blog Challenge, started by fellow Tenner Jennifer Hubbard.  I talked in an earlier post about how libraries are helpful to me, but now I’d like to talk about how librarians are helpful to the community.  (Sorry if I sound a little like a game-show host.  Blame the hold music.)

One of my part-time gigs is working at an after-school program housed in a Louisville library.  The librarians have enough to do keeping up circulation and helping people use the computers, but they’re always extra friendly and helpful to our program.  One of them volunteered to come and do story hour with us once a month (yes! 20 minutes I’m not in charge of!), and the other is On Top Of It when it comes to making sure the space-sharing goes smoothly.  Another group has been in there before ours recently, and she routinely comes down to ensure that the transition is going as scheduled.  She doesn’t have to do this–there’s a steep flight of stairs involved–but she always does.

Before I took this job, I never realized the extent to which libraries aren’t just book houses and computer stations, but community centers as well.  The local hospital comes by to provide free health checks and information in the lobby.  AARP runs tax consultation sessions.  And hello–we’re there with our elementary-schoolers who take forever in the bathroom!  There are probably a million other partnering organizations I’m not aware of because I’m only there a few hours a week. 

In and among all this, the librarians I work with always make me laugh and help me feel welcome.    So thank you, Miss S and Miss R (I will spell out your names if you give me permission next week), for providing such a resource to our entire community.  And please note that I do my best to get those kids out of the bathroom!

{Remember: if you leave a comment on this or any post, I will donate a dollar to the funds-needing Louisville Public Library!}

This is kind of one of those cheatery posts in which I refer you to something else, but something is going on right now that I so enjoy that I can’t help but refer you to it.

You may have heard of the Morning News’s Battle of the Books, in which 16 books compete in March Madness style for the winner.  School Library Journal is doing the same for children’s books. 

I so enjoyed last year’s, not just because I got all but one right (I never succeed in predictions like this), but because the judges, all seriously honored authors, share such intricate, thoughtful reasons for preferring one book over another.  I am a judgmental reader, to be sure, and to be honest, I feel like my opinions have sound reasoning.  But hearing what these veteran authors think–authors who have been writing ten times as long as I have, who have served on award committees and seen all kinds of things come and go–always opens up my brain to different kinds of judging.  They make me want to read more widely, write more widely, and become a part of  The Conversation. 

For this week’s reading pleasure, here’s Julius Lester on why he chose the magnificent Tales From Outer Suburbia  by Shaun Tan over Newbery Medal Winner When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead.  People are pretty shocked.  When You Reach Me was the only book I can remember that earned Newbery buzz early on, retained it, and won with great enthusiasm–so little of the grousing you might hear when a surefire winner walks away with the prize.  People just love this book, but Lester chose the graphic novel, and I think his reasons are compelling and thought-provoking.

Also, you should read both of these books!  http://ow.ly/1qnFD

[Comment on this post and I will donate $1 to my local library!]

Sorry to be MIA, faithful readers!  First of all, I am pleased to report that about 35 people entered the Nice and Mean swag giveaway, and we have winners!  Congratulations to

Lisa from North Carolina, who won the grand prize!

And to runner-ups, Liz from Florida and Vidisha from Georgia!  (I don’t really know what the privacy rules are around sharing peoples’ information, so I’m hoping that this is both sufficiently personal that, if the winners are reading this, they can say to their friends, “She’s talking about me!” and that nobody will be like, “Liz from Florida!  She’s in my English class, and she should totally be writing her paper instead of entering contests!”  Sorry, Liz from Fl, if you actually teach English instead of take it, or if you hate English and don’t want to be mentioned in the same sentence with it.  If it’s any consolation, even though I’m a teacher, I regularly get asked on airplanes, “Are you in school?”  This may be a combination of the fact that I don’t usually wear make-up on airplanes and I’m usually clutching the armrest whimpering, “I don’t want to die” during the slightest hint of turbulence, but I digress.  Congratulations, Lisa, Liz, and Vidisha.)

One of the reasons I’ve been a bit MIA is that I’ve just started what I’m calling EMP–Early Morning Playwriting.  One of my excellent freelance-ish jobs is teaching playwriting in local schools, and I just started a new one last week.

It’s too bad that I can’t share too many specifics, because there are always interesting stories to tell, and I’m especially enjoying this class, despite the fact that we meet at 7:40 am! 

In my full-time teaching days, I used to have to report for homeroom at 8, but I didn’t have to be fully alert or engage the students much beyond, “See any good movies this weekend?” and “Does anybody want to play Blokus with me?”, so the current situation is a bit new.  Happily, these students get an A+ from me in being alert and engaged.  They have fun ideas and made me laugh today when acting out a play I’d brought in about a wizard demanding his tax return.  There was yelling and attitude and flailing around on the floor, all of which I very much appreciate–at least, when there’s acting involved.  Come to think of it, all three of those things make more than an occasional appearance in some other teaching gigs, but that’s all I’ll say about that. 

The only bad thing about EMP is that when I get home around 9am, I’m oddly of bleary and it’s all I can do to get myself to write, so that’s meant less time on the blog.  But I hope to reappear, especially because I’m going to be drumming up enthusiasm for the April Fool’s Nice and Mean ARC [Advanced Copy] Giveaway!  And I’m still participating in the Library-Loving Blog Challenge.  So do come back, and I will, too. 

Now I’ve got to re-load the caffeine.  I’ve got to plan some lessons for the afternoon that involve minimal floor-rolling.

Note 1: leave a comment and I’ll donate a dollar to my local library

Note 2: Nice and Mean giveaway still in progress !

Last month’s poll question was, What did you think of your parents when you were in seventh grade?  Interestingly, this poll got the fewest number of responses ever–a mere 13, compared to past responses of 50 or more. 

Maybe I didn’t publicize it right, or maybe people are not interested in remembering what they thought about their parents at that age.  Or maybe some of us are parents and don’t want to go through that Looking Glass. 

In any case, here’s the report:

The majority of voters (42%), wrote that their parents were

“Pretty nice, helpful and loving, whether I saw it at the time or not.” 

 15% voted, “Probably they had my best interest at heart, but so they were annoying/ critical/ over-protective!”

Nobody said that their parents were easy to scam, but two people (15%) replied, “My parents…oh, you mean the people who fed me sometimes?”

Three people replied that their answers were too complex for multiple choice, and one respondent, a friend with an interesting mind, wrote,

“7th Grade pretty much drove home my creeping suspicion that my parents were neither all powerful, all knowing, nor able to take care of every problem I might have, as great as they were. Quite the bummer.”

Does that sum it up?  Scratch the surface?  I don’t know.  Parenting and being parented can be such loaded experiences—it’s a wonder how we don’t crack at the weight of it all. 

I asked this question because in Nice and Mean, Marina and Sachi, the protagonists, have very different relationships to their parents.  Marina, the mean girl referred to in the title, has a mom who is often quite narcissistic, which fuels Marina’s anger.  Sachi, the nice girl, is Indian, and her parents can be strict about many things, but there’s more love than in Marina’s relationship with her parents.  There are just so many things that influence a parenting experience—the parent’s job, financial situation, feelings about their own place in the birth order, relation to their new home, etc. etc.  Maybe this poll drew the fewest votes because it’s all too complex for multiple-choice. 

Onward, then!  This month: Nice people are….

Complex, potentially, but hopefully, less loaded.

See you at the voting booth!   And maybe the giveaway, too!

Short and sweet, ’cause I don’t have a lot of time:

Leave a comment here between now and the end of the month and I will donate a dollar to the local library.

You heard me.  One Washington.   Cent smackeroos.  A hundred red cents. 

So easy.  Just do it!  If you’re stuck, just say, “I love libraries.”  (“I love liberries” or “I love Giles the hot librarian on Buffy” will do.)

To see more, scroll down two posts.

You don’t want me to come after you, now, do you? 

** Special thanks as always to Betty von Betty for promptly rising to the challenge.  As for the rest of you–you can do it!

Today marks 3 months until the release date of Nice and Mean, and I’m going to celebrate by giving things away!  Booky bookmarks, Dr. Pepper lipgloss in three varieties, and some Indian bangle bracelets can all be yours to help celebrate the world of Niciemeanieness in anticipation of the big release.

Mavie, the delightful blogger at The Bookologist, is kind enough to host the giveaway, and she has all the details on her site of how you enter and earn points. (She’s on West Coast time, so if you go there and it’s not up, just check back later.)  I’ll be here all week to get you pumped about Nice and Mean and about being the first kid on the block with the swag. 

Why should you want to read Nice and Mean when it comes out in three months on June 8th?  (Or even pre-order it now?)

-We’ve all read about the mean girls, but what’s going on in the heads of the nice girls–the ones who smooth everything over for everyone?  Nice and Mean gives the scoop.

-Haven’t you ever wondered, maybe with annoyance, what makes people popular, especially when they’re, you know, MEAN?  Nice and Mean investigates. 

-Haven’t you ever wondered why everyone is suddenly wearing…. (Fill in the blank.  I’d wonder why people are wearing gladiator sandals, but I wouldn’t want to offend you, so never mind.)

-Don’t you think Dr. Pepper is the drink of choice?  Me, too.  You will get to think about it a lot when you read this book.

So, what are you waiting for?  Don’t let someone else get this fabulous Nice and Mean prize pack.  Comment, Tweet, and get other followers on board to win today.  If you comment, I will contribute money to my local library, as seen below.  And hey!  Thanks for coming!  It really means a lot to me.

Note: this contest is open to people of all ages, but you must live in the US, and will last until Friday, March 12, 2010, C.E.

Welcome to the library-loving blog challenge!

 Whether you’re a bookstore lover or a library devotee, chances are that your local library is doing something awesome right now. 

 They may be finding a book that your non-reading child will actually like.  They may be helping someone use the internet to look for jobs, or trying their dangedest to find the name of the book that you only remember as, “Oh, it had a pink cover, it maybe it was blue, and it had the word ‘girl’ in the title.  It came out last year, or maybe the year before…”  They may even, if you beg the right way, be forgiving your library fines. 

I don’t know what I’d do without the dedicated and hospitable staff at the Louisville Free Public Library.  It must be an effort for them to smile when they see me coming, because I always ask them to pull so many books for me from around the city.  But they are always well-informed and kind, even though they’ve had a horrible year. 

In August, a flash flood that covered the city in two feet of water—the city!  Not the country!  We have regular city streets!—ruined the sorting and storages facilities at the main branch.  Many people pitched in for the recovery effort, but the library is still in need of funds.  The picture below is from the week of the flood.  Imagine already struggling with funding your multi-service operation and coming in to find this in your basement.  (The truck is the Bookmobile, drowned.) 

 Here’s where you and I come in: I joined writer Jennifer Hubbard’s Library-Loving Blog Challenge.  For every commenter on this post between now and April 6, 2010, 12:00 pm, I will donate 50 cents to the Louisville Free Public Library, up to an amount of $40. 

How easy could it be?  You comment, I proudly find two quarters, and the library gets a gift.  If you don’t know what to say in your comment, “I love libraries” will do. 

Note that my pledge is “per commenter,” so if a single person leaves 50 comments, that still only counts once.  But you can do more by spreading the word.  Please link to this post, tweet about it, and send your friends here so they can comment and raise more money. 

If you’re moved to make a flat-fee donation to your library, or to start your own challenge, you are quite welcome, and please leave that information in the comments.

For a complete list of participating bloggers (and to visit other sites where you can help libraries just by leaving a comment!) visit the writerjenn blog at http://writerjenn.livejournal.com/

Thanks for joining!  I look forward to seeing comments in the name of library love.