tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10158138199135479672024-03-05T00:28:43.480-06:00Notes from BlueBlue Ballietthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08455790503780153629noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1015813819913547967.post-41393421344600702922018-03-30T11:41:00.001-05:002018-04-01T08:29:36.426-05:00Juicy Secrets<br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11.000000pt;">I</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">n celebration of the release of my latest novel, </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-style: italic;">Out of the Wild Night</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">, I was interviewed by my amazing
editor, David Levithan. David convinced me to share a few juicy secrets about writing, ghosts and
Nantucket. Here goes:
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-weight: 700;">David Levithan: </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Hello, Blue! I’m very thrilled to be talking to you today about your new novel, </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-style: italic;">Out of the
Wild Night</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">. It’s been such a pleasure to work on it with you – you’ve written a ghost story that’s both
heartbreaking </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-style: italic;">and </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">life-affirming . . . with no shortage of chills and spooks thrown in. Where did the idea
for the book come from?
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-weight: 700;">Blue Balliett: </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I first visited Nantucket in the summer at age eighteen, and fell madly in love with this
magical place. Coming from Manhattan, I felt as though I’d stepped into a novel – all was mysterious,
old, understated, steeped in stories, and made by hand. There were no skyscrapers, no wide sidewalks,
and few right angles. As a shy kid who had always wanted to make books, I know I longed to write about
Nantucket even then, but it wasn’t until I heard some stories about real ghosts a couple of years later
that I felt I had a handle. The ghosts, oddly, gave me a reason to speak out and a place to hide as a
young writer. Hiding behind ghosts! How funny -- I’ve never quite thought about my beginnings as a
writer in that way.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-weight: 700;">DL: </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">What has been your own experience with Nantucket ghosts?
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-weight: 700;">BB: </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Hmm, well, I did have an odd experience on Nantucket that made me listen carefully to the strange
experiences of others. Over a period of years, I then interviewed lots of people and recorded their
stories. I learned that seeing a ghost wasn’t really an unusual happening on this island. I’ve always been
a curious person, and of course the thought that this small community at sea was home both to the
living and to an active group of the dead made my head buzz with excitement. Impossible! But not!
Thinking about Nantucket’s ghosts has always made me happy if a little scared, as the idea of their
existence breaks so many rules. I guess I’ve always been a </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-style: italic;">what-if </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">person.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-weight: 700;">DL: </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">It’s always interesting to me how most ghost stories are at the same time universal and local. In
talking to so many people about their Nantucket ghost stories, I’m curious if you found that there were
any themes that kept recurring? How do you think the geography and history of Nantucket affects the
ghosts that people experience there?
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-weight: 700;">BB: </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">When an old house changes hands and is renovated, many startled owners or workers report
experiences they can’t easily ignore. A figure moving through a room or simply standing in a corner;
knockings, latch doors that rattle, open on their own or slam, the distinct sound of footsteps or
sometimes voices when there isn’t any explanation, objects hopping around on their own – these are
the kinds of things that happen. Perhaps disturbances shouldn’t be surprising, as Nantucket’s old
buildings were inhabited by a tough group who survived because they fought back. As people who lived
off the sea and the land on a tiny island far from the mainland and far from outside help, they were
resourceful. Their lives were mostly hardscrabble and their homes, although modest and practical, were
their castles. Theirs, theirs, theirs!
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-weight: 700;">DL: </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I’m struck, in thinking about </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-style: italic;">Out of the Wild Night</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">, about how writing about ghosts is very much
writing about death, and writing about death becomes, in a very clear and moving way, a form of writing
about life and what matters in life. Often, of course, there’s a fear of talking about such things with
children, but I love how you embrace it and acknowledge life and death for what they are. Was there a </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">certain approach you made, or certain things you kept in mind, knowing you were writing this story for a
younger audience?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-weight: 700;">BB: </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I think I’m most myself when writing for kids, as I say what’s deep inside. As a young reader, I loved
it when books spoke to me about the world without sugar-coating the hard things – like death or
separation from someone you love -- so that is always in my mind. Life can be piercingly hard and
painful, even at the youngest ages, and kids feel loss and hurt very deeply even when they don’t show it.
I always hate to hear ‘kids bounce back,’ as it plays down the depth of their feelings.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Ghosts seem like a perfect vehicle for exploring the fact that life is full of death and vice-versa.
The idea of ghosts gives me goosebumps but also makes me happy. I guess it’s reassuring. Their refusal
to go away, not only on modern Nantucket but over many centuries and around the world, makes
human life feel big, extraordinary, and filled with possibility. As an adult who’s still the kid I used to be, I
love that feeling.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-weight: 700;">DL: </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">As you are well aware, I love the character of Mary, the town crier who has one foot in the past and
one foot in the present. What was it like to put on her shoes and see the story through her eyes?
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-weight: 700;">BB: </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Amazing, truly. My character Mary is based on a real woman with that name who lived on
Nantucket. I have a photograph of her, taken sometime in the 1880s. When I stepped into her shoes,
imagining what it might be like to be the fierce, slightly grim person in this image, I felt like she and I
then made this story happen together. She truly came to life in my head. It was a strange feeling, as if
she pulled me into her world as I pulled her into mine.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-weight: 700;">DL: </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Do you think you’d enjoy being a town crier? In a way, is that what novelists do?
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-weight: 700;">BB: </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Yes, I love that idea, that we scribblers are really town criers! Mary was a shy person before she
found herself needing to become brave enough, after death, to become a ghostly town crier, ringing her
bell and shouting through her horn. The idea of doing something so loud makes me cringe and I know
Mary was cringing too, at least at first. . . .
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-weight: 700;">DL: </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">One of the themes that runs through all your books is the importance of home. Can you talk a little
about why this speaks to you (and readers) so strongly, and how it appears in </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-style: italic;">Out of the Wild Night</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">?
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-weight: 700;">BB: </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Home can be any place and any size, but it’s where all of us hope to find peace and safety, right? If
home is a happy place, it’s where you relax, become invisible to the rest of the world and allow yourself
to dream. I’m well aware of how painful it is for a child to feel home changing because of adult distress,
or even to go back and forth between homes if your parents have parted ways, which was my
experience. As an adult living in Chicago, I’ve spent time in many homeless shelters and with people
who’ve lived for years without a home. I never take the gift and privacy of a home base for granted, and
my wish is that none of us ever do.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">It seems logical that a person’s spirit might linger in a home after they’re no longer alive -- a
spooky thought, but it makes sense to me that some part of us saturates our surroundings, and I love
the thought that ghosts might feel inspired to hang around and influence those who are still living.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-weight: 700;">DL: </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">And in </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-style: italic;">Out of the Wild Night</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">, the homes aren’t just a touchstone for the individuals’ memories –
they’re also repositories of the community’s history. And yet . . . the homes are threatened by people
who show no regard for this history. The word </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-style: italic;">preservation </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">takes on a soul here that goes well beyond </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">architecture. I’d love for you to tell us a little about where this strand of the story came from, and what
you’d love young readers to take away from it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-weight: 700;">BB: </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">When I first saw Nantucket, I was bowled over by the old, intact nature of so many of the island’s
seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth century wooden houses. The past was still here! For centuries,
owners preserved these houses, only repairing what was needed. The oldest of these structures are
sturdy, having been built with wood that remains sound – wide boards from first-growth trees or
sometimes from shipwrecks, and a history of being lived in and loved by people who hated waste.
Whether you’re a visitor or year-round Island resident, until recently there was a general sense of
feeling lucky to be able to experience a place that belonged so clearly to another time.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Sadly, the last fifteen years or so have brought a wave of owners who are less interested in
these houses as treasures from another time, and want the interiors to look modern and serve twenty-
first century needs. The exteriors of Nantucket’s old structures are protected by local and federal rules
on historic preservation, but the insides are not. Many of these Quaker homes, filled with history and
unique detail, have been gutted. Doors, mantels, windows and floors are taken to the dump. Latch
fittings and nails made by a blacksmith are tossed. The destruction of so much that has been valued and
passed down is heartbreaking to those of us who feel these handmade houses have a life of their own.
And if we feel this way, imagine how a ghost might feel. . . .
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">There are old, under-appreciated buildings in every community across every country in the
world, and my hope is that the kids who read </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-style: italic;">Out of the Wild Night </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">will perhaps see these creaky
structures in a fresh way. All are filled with layers of living. All tell stories, as Nantucket’s old homes do,
to any who look closely and imagine. New isn’t always better. It’s often a lot less interesting, and besides
-- there is wisdom in reusing and restoring old spaces. Any ghost can tell you that.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-weight: 700;">DL: </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Another theme that you return to often is the power of curiosity. I think it’s safe to say that you
write some of the least passive characters in children’s literature – they aren’t just investigating
mysteries, but they are also investigating the quirks and wonders of life itself. When many mysteries use
the plot an end in itself, you always use the plot as a springboard for wider examinations. What compels
you to do this? Do you always know what your characters will discover, or do you find yourself
discovering alongside them as you write?
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-weight: 700;">BB: </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I love open doors that invite you in and narrow paths that twist out of sight. I love books that propel
the reader forward, allowing them to see the familiar world in new ways. For whatever reasons, I’ve
always wanted to push the limits of what’s possible in everyday life, even as a kid. I remember hanging
by my knees from two rings, outside, at about age seven. I thought, </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-style: italic;">Wow, if I pull my legs out really fast,
I’ll be able to flip around and land on my feet in the dirt! Even if most kids can’t do that! </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I decided to try.
Of course, I ended up landing right on my head. The shock of that </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-style: italic;">clonk </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">is still with me (hopefully not in
more ways than one!).
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">As a kid, I was thrilled by the feeling of looking into real-world mysteries, and dreaming that I
might be the one to figure them out. As a parent and then as a classroom teacher, I loved watching kids’
faces as they thought about the same thing. Maybe it’s just about succeeding where adults have failed . .
. . It’s delicious to feel that all things in this miraculous world of ours are possible, if not likely – and that
any of us can perhaps stretch the rules, even of life and death.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">My characters most definitely have taken me along on their adventures, surprising and
educating me – perhaps the characters in </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-style: italic;">Out of the Wild Night </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">most of all. Before Mary Chase came
along, I would never have believed that a ghost could tell such a story.
</span></div>
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<br />Blue Ballietthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08455790503780153629noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1015813819913547967.post-90317847565806096392015-07-16T09:30:00.001-05:002015-09-13T09:21:12.662-05:00The Bounce of a Book<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="line-height: 200%;">If a writer is lucky enough to see
their work used as a diving board or a trampoline, that, I think, is a moment
to celebrate. </span><span style="line-height: 200%;">Look!</span><span style="line-height: 200%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%;">A step, a pause for concentration and now a
jump…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="line-height: 200%;">It’s all about the bounce.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pieces
and Players</i><span style="line-height: 200%;"> is my sixth novel, and I’ve been lucky enough to be a witness
to some of the independent life of my books.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="line-height: 200%;">When I visit schools, I get glimpses of projects and investigations
built on my mysteries.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%;">This is a huge
treat.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%;">How exciting is it to actually see
your book as a bridge between imaginations -- yours and someone else’s, someone
you don’t even know?</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="line-height: 200%;">Once a teacher, librarian or kid
takes a bounce on a book, the story begins to stretch and breathe. </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%;">A breeze enters the room; characters look
around.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%;">The book becomes unpredictable,
even dangerous – how cool is that? </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%;">It’s
certainly no longer simply written or spoken words.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%;">Has the story become a tool, a piece of
equipment, or perhaps an interactive form of art?</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%;">What a dream for a writer, being able to
observe some of this leap-and-fly magic!</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="line-height: 200%;">A bounce on some detail, and </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">whoosh</i><span style="line-height: 200%;">…</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%;">off these readers go in surprising directions.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%;">What a
thrill to see!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="line-height: 200%;">All of us readers have taken a
bounce on a book, but the writer is rarely a direct witness.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%;">Writing for kids and then absorbing what
they’ve taken away from the page is truly an amazing experience.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%;">When making my stories theirs, kids give me
so much.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%;">First, they show what they feel.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%;">Next, I hear what they’d like me to tackle and
which characters should be involved.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%;">They
suggest what I might do differently or what they want to see again.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%;">I love to hear and share their ideas. </span><span style="line-height: 200%;">Writing is a solitary activity, but the bounce
of a book is not.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="line-height: 200%;">Of course, getting the thousands of
letters I’ve gotten over the years from kids has been miraculous, and a
different kind of very special experience.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="line-height: 200%;">I’ll never take that for granted, and the thoughtfulness of the written
word can’t be topped.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%;">I’ve opened and read
all of these letters in my kitchen and often shared them with family or friends.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%;">I keep them in boxes.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%;">Yes, really, every one!</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%;">Their images and sparkle stay with me.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%;">These are wonderful and often deeply moving
bounces, but a different kind of experience from being physically in the same
room.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="line-height: 200%;">Here are some bounce pics from the
past couple of months.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvFyyMkSTnADE0vJeZ9_1WhPDfLOCk5XBBkhOYT4h50zl_xLcicLYkhK4n7CKxZ3QR3CojhaYrslzSFcGiQNIJZwlMwIxMoX7z-4r3kRTJF9SLaCD3NQ7V_OS3VwfrS3zqOFcgEl2C0Oc/s1600/Blog+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvFyyMkSTnADE0vJeZ9_1WhPDfLOCk5XBBkhOYT4h50zl_xLcicLYkhK4n7CKxZ3QR3CojhaYrslzSFcGiQNIJZwlMwIxMoX7z-4r3kRTJF9SLaCD3NQ7V_OS3VwfrS3zqOFcgEl2C0Oc/s640/Blog+1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A design project inspired by <i>The Wright 3</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7d5hvgtN_SWYxw9mtQiCwvXmn5usVg5uNg2-Oow7QXCDyubCVZZnU9dJwtij9f1Gsktqng5Fhzp9KCTSTbWWliB6pmYoW1Ps8X86g-O-RYUFk5t61u-OzjsSE_EARXsqWDMXkWUJzIJI/s1600/Blog+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7d5hvgtN_SWYxw9mtQiCwvXmn5usVg5uNg2-Oow7QXCDyubCVZZnU9dJwtij9f1Gsktqng5Fhzp9KCTSTbWWliB6pmYoW1Ps8X86g-O-RYUFk5t61u-OzjsSE_EARXsqWDMXkWUJzIJI/s640/Blog+2.jpg" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A map for <i>Pieces and Players</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxfCLfEjFVuyhsY9mr9xDDHCjwJoYl7TFoLGD-58lxYIcgsrKQU4auvkLA09oZTs1mkUzjYmfk8soVxSRoQpqmC513xrxvF1Xo08-j8jwlw8hEzz00FQID0vwNznbdFTykMTGSXA-CoCQ/s1600/Blog+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxfCLfEjFVuyhsY9mr9xDDHCjwJoYl7TFoLGD-58lxYIcgsrKQU4auvkLA09oZTs1mkUzjYmfk8soVxSRoQpqmC513xrxvF1Xo08-j8jwlw8hEzz00FQID0vwNznbdFTykMTGSXA-CoCQ/s640/Blog+3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kids role-playing Tommy, Calder, Petra, Zoomy, and Early--the panel takes questions from the class</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhicKJrJh9QRHG32Djd7QABgyZxnNFP4ZArehdDsZVcH6lZZsa0slRXYyQvt_1f7U-sFIXEvZ0__iBXD1MGb6j9ymRKTKGmbNvfKA4Kh3Pp-OpQ5rpyjZJMz6R9DeIMyw9saDhWm5tb_KE/s1600/Blog+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhicKJrJh9QRHG32Djd7QABgyZxnNFP4ZArehdDsZVcH6lZZsa0slRXYyQvt_1f7U-sFIXEvZ0__iBXD1MGb6j9ymRKTKGmbNvfKA4Kh3Pp-OpQ5rpyjZJMz6R9DeIMyw9saDhWm5tb_KE/s640/Blog+4.jpg" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A life-size Mrs. Sharpe</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_rHvDuBIURis1p986_TCC0Owf58cpgDW3oaqpP_sSttl5oi2haktIOVfvebJ7gBWt1vj8ptyQHNFUb28RcV_4R2Tz7j8FMI7XBgtYGkMlNJB-k37ZtvMck_lnhzrEK1tUN_6YaCtEDlk/s1600/Blog+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_rHvDuBIURis1p986_TCC0Owf58cpgDW3oaqpP_sSttl5oi2haktIOVfvebJ7gBWt1vj8ptyQHNFUb28RcV_4R2Tz7j8FMI7XBgtYGkMlNJB-k37ZtvMck_lnhzrEK1tUN_6YaCtEDlk/s640/Blog+5.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An illustrated excerpt</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYs2bKMAFZjEEO1roF0YhbEL8Il35fvOtlzu3-QSn3QmHDSj5Faj6f6dK-Fc2HmwOdeBaOE9vi99_-7ihwOjpsbwIQSQqIVXPi1mQUO_zD_3dQfZsxJ1vnh5a1UPiMRgkVr4lZaq7YNoU/s1600/Blog+8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYs2bKMAFZjEEO1roF0YhbEL8Il35fvOtlzu3-QSn3QmHDSj5Faj6f6dK-Fc2HmwOdeBaOE9vi99_-7ihwOjpsbwIQSQqIVXPi1mQUO_zD_3dQfZsxJ1vnh5a1UPiMRgkVr4lZaq7YNoU/s640/Blog+8.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Humpty Dumpty pops out of <i>Pieces and Players</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzcQg7IP9imkf_2ZPeFF5Ry0Fw28CpZl1vx-tKz-o7S289vurHhk8bE22pOYu2S9p1kvpqbGCx3z21G_0uyIon7JcUfnyE9mq9eLvNqCwZcNVArBXly7UcoS_aGL9eEie_j65kuky8_ds/s1600/Blog+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzcQg7IP9imkf_2ZPeFF5Ry0Fw28CpZl1vx-tKz-o7S289vurHhk8bE22pOYu2S9p1kvpqbGCx3z21G_0uyIon7JcUfnyE9mq9eLvNqCwZcNVArBXly7UcoS_aGL9eEie_j65kuky8_ds/s640/Blog+6.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another exerpt</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Blue Ballietthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08455790503780153629noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1015813819913547967.post-12067965959839536682015-04-13T14:43:00.000-05:002015-04-13T15:07:04.962-05:00Curiosity, Bam!<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve written six mysteries for kids, and curiosity is at the
heart of every single one. In fact, curiosity
has shaped my life. Curiosity is
powerful.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What is it that’s so--I don’t know--energizing about tackling
a problem or question that doesn’t yet have a solution or answer?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve always noticed that kids sit up when
asked what they <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">really</i> think about
something that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">really</i> needs some attention. At those moments, their brains are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">all there</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe it’s a bit like what happens when your
cat is staring off into space, clearly a little bored, and a bug skitters
by.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bam!</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The cat is all eyes and ears, all
action.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every muscle in his body says,
‘Got it!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can do this!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Crunch</i>!’</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXw-AAGwnxDEk_K-njXVQfT74RUnUk7scMW3TEG0uZAHdOq_SsSuUZlAfNOm-oa8Xl_wTdiExRNEo_q1MnM6qBWKuWiQ8CEr9EIUh0ySratT7rWfhhe9peBk0jdkmNtDsCoIGDoXm6f8s/s1600/Blue+Balliett+photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXw-AAGwnxDEk_K-njXVQfT74RUnUk7scMW3TEG0uZAHdOq_SsSuUZlAfNOm-oa8Xl_wTdiExRNEo_q1MnM6qBWKuWiQ8CEr9EIUh0ySratT7rWfhhe9peBk0jdkmNtDsCoIGDoXm6f8s/s1600/Blue+Balliett+photo.jpg" height="400" width="351" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Curiosity leads me to Chicago's Bean</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As a kid, I loved the feeling of being curious, and invented
mysterious situations out of my everyday world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I read every mystery that I could get my hands on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a grownup, I still love reading a book that
demands every ounce of my attention and makes me need to know what’s on the
next page.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are the stories I try
to write. I want kids to share my love of being curious. Being curious can lead
to a life of adventure and intrigue—a life in which you use your mind as a tool
for digging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Digging, sorting and
finding.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I hope that after reading <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pieces and Players</i> kids will look around their world and say, ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bam</i>!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I can do that!’ <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I talk about the unsolved art heist that drove me to write this new book and the
very real stolen art that keeps calling out to be rescued, kids get very
excited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here is a problem that needs
desperately to be solved.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Wouldn’t it be something if a reader of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pieces and Players</i> were to run across one of the missing works of
art?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Curiosity is a driving force, and not to be
underestimated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bam!</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Blue Ballietthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08455790503780153629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1015813819913547967.post-83892345948428779992014-08-31T09:42:00.000-05:002014-08-31T09:56:19.979-05:00The Scrabble and Scratch of It All<div class="MsoNormal">
A lot of writers I know bounce between two worlds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m no different.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Most writers are introverts by nature, wouldn’t you
say? We make forays into the real world,
look around with delight and excitement, but then retreat to our hidey-holes to
work. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s in our writing spaces that we spend huge amounts of
time dreaming, digesting and then translating.
We change ideas into symbols.
Then we undo, destroy and rework lots of what we just did. Scratch, scrabble, gnaw, pause, erase, pause,
write, pause, erase again; we are creatures who dig into and chew our way
through life. We stop answering the
phone. We do everything but disappear
into our pages.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For me at least, that’s one side of how I live. The other side loves to be out there in the
world and has lots to say about it. The
other side gets inspired by my contact with kids, by the way they see, and by hearing
from readers of all ages. And now that
I’ve just finished my sixth mystery, I am traveling and talking quite a
bit. In order to do this right, I
sharpen my thinking in various directions, shaping it to fit the audience. If talking with kids only, I try to reveal
how I made these books and to share the mess, worry and thrill of it all. If speaking at a convention or book festival,
I may also be focusing on common core issues, fiction versus nonfiction in our
schools, literacy, libraries, and the balance between electronic media and
books. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzvZ2ENcKtsMc5wS-siR0Or9B9p0alHnji0T__Z-acFj_bEaoo_FIZOn-XRKdV7qXYnGHznXxYElKoHbFAYLHOSujAL0efjAKIwJJS_rOyrGF3Z3e1BO9C14BsJvZ-HhhGqlqqkGcJEk4/s1600/DjangoPacking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzvZ2ENcKtsMc5wS-siR0Or9B9p0alHnji0T__Z-acFj_bEaoo_FIZOn-XRKdV7qXYnGHznXxYElKoHbFAYLHOSujAL0efjAKIwJJS_rOyrGF3Z3e1BO9C14BsJvZ-HhhGqlqqkGcJEk4/s1600/DjangoPacking.jpg" height="320" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Django hopes to go along</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This process of gathering my thoughts for a talk is always
both centering and energizing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It forces
me to roll the cat hair off my clothes, shove whatever I’ve been working on to
one side and come up for fresh air, and I always enjoy my interaction with the
professionals and kids that I meet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Always.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wonder, at these times,
why I don’t say Yes to more.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And then suddenly I’m back home, jiggety-jig, and as soon as
my suitcase is unpacked, <i>zing</i>! I’m like a magnet in front of steel. I’m back glued to my chair in the laundry room,
typing or scribbling away. And as I’m
one who clearly loves to make books, almost everything I do in my workspace
centers on that. It’s as if the everyday
world fades and vanishes when I step into my hidey-hole. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s a bit rubber-band-like, this stretch-snap-stretch that
defines my real world vs. my writing world. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I think I like this blog business – I’m in the laundry room,
but also here with you. I’ll have to
remember that this is possible. But wait
– hold on a moment while I scribble down an idea that just occurred, one to go
in the next book! Just a moment…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Blue Ballietthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08455790503780153629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1015813819913547967.post-14913883285034707902014-08-17T10:15:00.002-05:002014-08-20T14:40:33.797-05:00Pieces and Players<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m thrilled to report I’ve been deep in criminal activity.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Remember Calder, Petra and Tommy – my characters in <i>Chasing Vermeer, The</i> <i>Wright 3</i> and <i>The Calder Game</i>? Well,
they’re ba-a-a-ack! (Tommy insists on an
ominous ta-TAH flourish here.) And this
time, they’re together in the same book with Zoomy, from <i>The Danger Box</i>, and Early, from <i>Hold
Fast</i>. They’re all in my new mystery,
<i>Pieces and Players</i>, which will be out
April 1, 2015.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It might be more accurate to say I’m in <i>their</i> mystery. Everyone
hears writers talk about characters ‘coming alive’ in the writing process,
surprising them with rogue actions or unexpected acts of kindness. Well.
Ever since the whisper of this five-some idea entered my head several
years ago, these five voices have grown slowly louder and louder. They got older, stronger and bossier – until
they finally managed to take over. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Help! I muttered to myself as I began to scribble
notes. Can I keep up with these
guys? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Soon my laundry room, where I write, was a swirl of
activity, and dangerously crowded; five thirteen year-olds jostled for
position, surrounded by thirteen stolen works of art, a handful of suspicious
adults, a sudden death, skin issues and body odor… and this is a small room. I stopped turning on the washing machine and
dryer while working; it was already far too noisy in there. What was happening? Yikes! At times I felt I might fall to the floor,
panting for breath, and my characters might run right over me, leaving a sneaker
print on my nose and a Post-It next to it. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGU9hRn2NKDacWf1or0mMo8IeXd4Fq-ga2mN7Cg2SAwrp28fJCoqmXtVXhrOe2u81twwQf31PcRBLmsnwgYwAorBhUgjEZVFYCi3VoET5yGy0B0h5V8S4qyWUieWID9zDYILbV4lTyWMI/s1600/P&P+Cover+Art+Cutout.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGU9hRn2NKDacWf1or0mMo8IeXd4Fq-ga2mN7Cg2SAwrp28fJCoqmXtVXhrOe2u81twwQf31PcRBLmsnwgYwAorBhUgjEZVFYCi3VoET5yGy0B0h5V8S4qyWUieWID9zDYILbV4lTyWMI/s1600/P&P+Cover+Art+Cutout.jpg" height="555" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brett Helquist's illustration of Tommy, Zoomy, Early, Calder, and Petra</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
And then one morning I sat down with my coffee, pushed shut
the laundry room door, and the five looked calmly at me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was clear that I was no longer in
charge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Someone had lost and someone had
won. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These kids had made their unwieldy
group match an unwieldy crime – a heartbreakingly <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">true</i> art crime that really does need to be solved – and even left
some room for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mother Goose</i>, dilly
beans, and a hairy cat whose name is Rat-a-tat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After circling around each other and me for months, the five started on
a dangerous adventure. Soon my characters and I were listening to the stolen
art, and -- was the art also listening?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And could that have been a ghost?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ms. Hussey and Mrs. Sharpe are back, along with a number of
rich folks with wrinkly skin and a gorgeous old museum. And although the action happens all over the
city of Chicago in this story, my laundry room, in fact, still feels
crowded. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve handed in my final copy edit, guys, and Brett Helquist
has done the artwork, so quiet down! Huh?
What are you saying? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Oh, that! Okay, I’ll
share. Here’s what I believe: If anyone can get to the bottom of the
biggest art heist in United States history, the one at the heart of this
mystery, it’s Tommy, Calder, Petra, Early and Zoomy. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Thirteen pieces.
Thirteen players. And yes, a
writer who feels lucky she was along for the ride.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Blue Ballietthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08455790503780153629noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1015813819913547967.post-61584582320121785332013-06-14T13:03:00.000-05:002013-06-14T13:11:12.576-05:00Clicks from the Hold Fast TrainI began speaking and traveling, talking about <i>Hold Fast</i>, in January of 2013. Events were added to events as the months rolled on. By June, the Hold Fast train -- as everyone at Scholastic began to call it -- had chugged into over seventeen cities; I'd been from Chicago to Houston, Dallas, Washington, D.C., New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Nashville and a number of cities closer to home, like Naperville and Woodstock and Kankakee and North Utica. <br />
<br />
This blur of planes, cars and hotels came together into an amazing experience, as I was able to see <i>Hold Fast</i> welcomed by thousands of kids of many backgrounds and ages, libraries, social service agencies, urban planners, teachers, and teachers of teachers. I'd never expected such a wild reception for this unusual story. <i>Hold Fast </i>even hit the New York Times bestseller list in May. <br />
<br />
Here are some clicks:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy4VL0pqB_Dr8eYKQsKuhXVJFruKO6OKocFmWSBHwJ0gvrkO2x4KSXa9P8lOTXOIQJysEaATTORrpOGgRV91xoZrpai7PBoK_MLTnoifvR-p0993P5pNUlaaddt3sKEosTsyDXvjFXZH8/s1600/HF+Cake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy4VL0pqB_Dr8eYKQsKuhXVJFruKO6OKocFmWSBHwJ0gvrkO2x4KSXa9P8lOTXOIQJysEaATTORrpOGgRV91xoZrpai7PBoK_MLTnoifvR-p0993P5pNUlaaddt3sKEosTsyDXvjFXZH8/s320/HF+Cake.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A cake in Houston</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoXVvH_lvk7cEALd085wTrh8sFSkuUZn1GEVayorie7jAH8keyNhwRfUUmzlKQluzK0L1SEN5FDnlkKpzL7yeCHC0pF-pmL6QjmhBSsDw9iPARlq9bS27UZUYXnegEkkL0eO_m8uCSI5U/s1600/Richmond+Heights+Talk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoXVvH_lvk7cEALd085wTrh8sFSkuUZn1GEVayorie7jAH8keyNhwRfUUmzlKQluzK0L1SEN5FDnlkKpzL7yeCHC0pF-pmL6QjmhBSsDw9iPARlq9bS27UZUYXnegEkkL0eO_m8uCSI5U/s320/Richmond+Heights+Talk.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wonderful St. Louis</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEmsfykFGXkbh8qAoLU-lf1V7mSqhoOdJZCTJqGgHyOFwO-pamjcb14p65iRUfEiq1sCZej6oNnHLzNjkrn6KZBGUSRfDXukt-GEG3x1fqgAr6CMGyLYPLkcjYo1HWUkE-oHGvlPF2RX8/s1600/Tattoos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEmsfykFGXkbh8qAoLU-lf1V7mSqhoOdJZCTJqGgHyOFwO-pamjcb14p65iRUfEiq1sCZej6oNnHLzNjkrn6KZBGUSRfDXukt-GEG3x1fqgAr6CMGyLYPLkcjYo1HWUkE-oHGvlPF2RX8/s320/Tattoos.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hold Fast meets Chasing Vermeer tattoos, New York.</td></tr>
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<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZJ1XKBjaSCYNy2bjLGYHScfPBQzt_VQj9IJ9oF7U6cJjAOiOb5cz43mCKsTLAuoDvSVs_udiTrXIJGCGnzYg3UXH5MvBilTpgI3oZLoCdfpAANOAGDAYYis1bO-mTqlWGOMPtp-tiNdU/s1600/Blue+LA+Book+Festival+Panel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZJ1XKBjaSCYNy2bjLGYHScfPBQzt_VQj9IJ9oF7U6cJjAOiOb5cz43mCKsTLAuoDvSVs_udiTrXIJGCGnzYg3UXH5MvBilTpgI3oZLoCdfpAANOAGDAYYis1bO-mTqlWGOMPtp-tiNdU/s320/Blue+LA+Book+Festival+Panel.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sizzling day at LA Times Festival of Books</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBNbdC8HJQIbzL0mZ50uQ_VDq8kmo6VKMKQvUOnHSFOEnmiW6AbZHehgomw8I4KXc2Ex5piZIsxWnhZZ2ibYPyvzx1PcgKkS7qD5DwQcydy_6QygxQ6zFj2Tz0uOzo6ttuzT1K4so-BKw/s1600/Blue+Juana+Briones+School.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBNbdC8HJQIbzL0mZ50uQ_VDq8kmo6VKMKQvUOnHSFOEnmiW6AbZHehgomw8I4KXc2Ex5piZIsxWnhZZ2ibYPyvzx1PcgKkS7qD5DwQcydy_6QygxQ6zFj2Tz0uOzo6ttuzT1K4so-BKw/s320/Blue+Juana+Briones+School.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Colorful Palo Alto, California</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUn-4OipXD1SirtutH5Fyw_oIrm2Do-SknnrDqeR44HPa5NiV87NBLidQD___4Sbdh-KjAcawAdnuENSJzZPaJNEaiaZ4Dcp1VLmkEdlhb3KiFKaUOsyFjynYZ5oWWlPgyS5aJytf1_cI/s1600/Blue+APA+Keynote+2+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUn-4OipXD1SirtutH5Fyw_oIrm2Do-SknnrDqeR44HPa5NiV87NBLidQD___4Sbdh-KjAcawAdnuENSJzZPaJNEaiaZ4Dcp1VLmkEdlhb3KiFKaUOsyFjynYZ5oWWlPgyS5aJytf1_cI/s320/Blue+APA+Keynote+2+(1).jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Closing Keynote, American Planning Association<br />
National Planning Conference, Chicago</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-v2sS-3IuZtr2mdgv9HlPjFMidOOQSiCpVYV7QcfQV9REfFlIp-Xmp72Ikj53r5mvn3YtpgC1KYOiJMsO1NNQEBqHkXx9NSvkAkmZxTm8z-qJtHwP1UYAD_FymXLzUQK8xeQSzsPpLmo/s1600/Blue+APA+Keynote.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-v2sS-3IuZtr2mdgv9HlPjFMidOOQSiCpVYV7QcfQV9REfFlIp-Xmp72Ikj53r5mvn3YtpgC1KYOiJMsO1NNQEBqHkXx9NSvkAkmZxTm8z-qJtHwP1UYAD_FymXLzUQK8xeQSzsPpLmo/s320/Blue+APA+Keynote.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Room full of urban and regional planners</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvN-gKYNf-O230pgJs6ngaQLouWcMmzkvrw9Oy_2d6HrncrKXKgFt9SqRVQutJ7VPL-1xu_WCB2Q71H2Ez7hKKLErUyQYT3A53bBUw7onBhM26Acur1YNR944H6SpnvJFHaKSLf9CQP7Y/s1600/DjangoManuscript.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvN-gKYNf-O230pgJs6ngaQLouWcMmzkvrw9Oy_2d6HrncrKXKgFt9SqRVQutJ7VPL-1xu_WCB2Q71H2Ez7hKKLErUyQYT3A53bBUw7onBhM26Acur1YNR944H6SpnvJFHaKSLf9CQP7Y/s320/DjangoManuscript.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Django is not pleased that I'm on the road</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwTP6Y0e92-phmoq5AJTbVT9OKWoMEEuwFUgRAA0Dq2QGZZfJZ2eyKknD5aoGEUCJMJ_FodgeYqh0KwqxVhv2VE8snIsRFrGiM-AZvpkIGWB6csEFrWcPCtTLiqYHe-oOQGnbW_N_qj2o/s1600/DjangoPen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwTP6Y0e92-phmoq5AJTbVT9OKWoMEEuwFUgRAA0Dq2QGZZfJZ2eyKknD5aoGEUCJMJ_FodgeYqh0KwqxVhv2VE8snIsRFrGiM-AZvpkIGWB6csEFrWcPCtTLiqYHe-oOQGnbW_N_qj2o/s320/DjangoPen.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Don't you dare pick up this pen!" </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-5oihqSWzc-yfD8wKX8W8g_yQFA2o2GQdpfq3PV-gmHLwLlClPH7swFBfgU4myoxwzMy_iL_m75iMnRFs43zzE4yAfL7RwPCRU51ZBcGJV2dE4o9CuklowSQ4m2iYJoR0XmLPeEENOfo/s1600/Hicklebee's.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-5oihqSWzc-yfD8wKX8W8g_yQFA2o2GQdpfq3PV-gmHLwLlClPH7swFBfgU4myoxwzMy_iL_m75iMnRFs43zzE4yAfL7RwPCRU51ZBcGJV2dE4o9CuklowSQ4m2iYJoR0XmLPeEENOfo/s320/Hicklebee's.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Visiting Hicklebee's Books, San Jose</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Qaw-SuCALn-mPF7SyFAsH02wio0tQ3meqkzsA_bL1r1iiqDcFWj9Heqik3P8cfh2FJ1rA3DRQl2gltKPwfxYWXTzycztiFPoq_pkVlCLYBpDXjv7CG4jsp-qOl8umBgkt3wrT4DZ6ws/s1600/hicklebee's+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Qaw-SuCALn-mPF7SyFAsH02wio0tQ3meqkzsA_bL1r1iiqDcFWj9Heqik3P8cfh2FJ1rA3DRQl2gltKPwfxYWXTzycztiFPoq_pkVlCLYBpDXjv7CG4jsp-qOl8umBgkt3wrT4DZ6ws/s320/hicklebee's+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Signing books at Hicklebee's . . .</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilOudfTeTBxAQc8ZYqgQnsyXjg4BB-cn13GHUte02L7KqfXA4QTQAzgXp3DswQx2ZIkbii5wPzDh5I6_Pq4N4ALXGtdErYNlvqupyDZOgODT563h1DyKfjPd0KUl7lv-DuJPd_mNYkiMQ/s1600/Hicklebees+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilOudfTeTBxAQc8ZYqgQnsyXjg4BB-cn13GHUte02L7KqfXA4QTQAzgXp3DswQx2ZIkbii5wPzDh5I6_Pq4N4ALXGtdErYNlvqupyDZOgODT563h1DyKfjPd0KUl7lv-DuJPd_mNYkiMQ/s320/Hicklebees+3.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and then the wall</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i><br /></i>
<i>Hold Fast</i> and I have had a winter and spring to remember.<br />
<br />
<br />Blue Ballietthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08455790503780153629noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1015813819913547967.post-15334539620587171112013-05-10T08:36:00.001-05:002013-05-10T15:05:26.152-05:00Three Cheers for E.L.K. (1930 - 2013)<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
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E. L. Konigsburg was a very special
person in my life. Sadly, I never met
her, but it feels as though I’d known her forever. I was twelve years old when my mother gave me
<i>The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E.
Frankweiler</i> for my birthday. Quite
honestly, it blew my mind: it took place in a museum I knew, not too far from
where I was growing up in New York City; it had big, exciting ideas about real
art; it had independent characters who were treated as though they knew how to
think, and think they did. I read that
book again. And later, as a parent and a
teacher, again. And again.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYhd10Jxtxo9PaB4jXxHZBTXpZQI7QmNucJ56U7aKXw0eWiwhjCprqPVylVxtYej7nmM1zU2RFic0U52ff8iAVgRekT6fiApE3WPdBKwLyRpFixZhOr6HF6n6b2uUICuTGMuaP2L-j5Kk/s1600/Konigsburg.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYhd10Jxtxo9PaB4jXxHZBTXpZQI7QmNucJ56U7aKXw0eWiwhjCprqPVylVxtYej7nmM1zU2RFic0U52ff8iAVgRekT6fiApE3WPdBKwLyRpFixZhOr6HF6n6b2uUICuTGMuaP2L-j5Kk/s400/Konigsburg.JPG" width="298" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 200%;">I do think that book changed my
life. It changed how I thought about
the world around me.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="line-height: 200%;">I might not have gotten an art
history degree if not for </span><i style="line-height: 200%;">The Mixed-Up
Files</i><span style="line-height: 200%;">; I might never have written </span><i style="line-height: 200%;">Chasing
Vermeer</i><span style="line-height: 200%;">. Ever since my first mystery
came out in 2004, I’ve talked about how much Konigsburg’s work has meant to me,
and about how instrumental what you read as a kid can be in determining who you
become. I do believe that the words and
stories absorbed early in life can matter deeply. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="line-height: 200%;">Yesterday </span><i style="line-height: 200%;">Hold Fast</i><span style="line-height: 200%;">, my fifth mystery, hit the New York Times bestseller
list. Would it be there without E. L.
Konigsburg? Would I be writing today if not
for </span><i style="line-height: 200%;">The Mixed-Up Files</i><span style="line-height: 200%;">? A great many things might not have happened.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="line-height: 200%;">Thank you, Mrs. Konigsburg, for all
you’ve given me and generations of other devoted fans. A book that gives you yourself, no matter who
you are, is truly something.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Blue Ballietthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08455790503780153629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1015813819913547967.post-9389323435616023662013-04-09T15:32:00.002-05:002013-04-12T10:33:42.110-05:00Angels and Heroes in Plain Sight This is a shout-out for the angels and heroes of the book
world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All who publish books know who
these bigger-than-life folks are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">They</i> know who they are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But can the reading public identify these Clark
Kents?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Excuse the retro reference, but I
always liked his glasses and the nonchalant way he whipped them off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think his specs may be back in style.)<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Just in case, here goes:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>these heroes and angels are the people in the independent bookstores
around the U.S., and the librarians in our public libraries and schools.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are angels because they are champions of
the art of reading; they recommend, they guide, they educate without demanding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most do a heroic amount of heavy
lifting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Witness the owners of independent
bookstores, who always have strong backs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They lug books into schools while ferrying the visiting author, they
even lug books to libraries, through many a dark and stormy night, or at the
very least through dinnertime…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>they
don’t complain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They often supply
delicious cookies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYKaeDwHlwxag8Aig9uOMx8PGIwrwM3UNK8sgiesEbQqLSdCOCynuvz3fa2K-JPdMxlCgUir5MIMJf_Vb5TITGmvF47311_WANfjPDwNhjByckI1l-NpxJ6S6zFQukoDSe0fBGoCkWOdQ/s1600/Arlene+Lyne+Read+Between+the+Lynes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYKaeDwHlwxag8Aig9uOMx8PGIwrwM3UNK8sgiesEbQqLSdCOCynuvz3fa2K-JPdMxlCgUir5MIMJf_Vb5TITGmvF47311_WANfjPDwNhjByckI1l-NpxJ6S6zFQukoDSe0fBGoCkWOdQ/s400/Arlene+Lyne+Read+Between+the+Lynes.jpg" width="297" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Arlene
Lynes, owner of Read Between the Lynes, </span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Woodstock, Illinois. (photo by
Jack Bechaud)</span></div>
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<br />
The librarians read tirelessly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They sift and sort.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They answer questions from all ages and with
great patience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They take care of authors
and make libraries the hands-down heart of a school or a community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like the indie booksellers, they work
overtime. They change lives by supplying the just-right book at the just-right
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Angels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Heroes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am currently doing a great deal of travel
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about daily, of how great these people really are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have wings and super-powers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Don’t be fooled – they’re hiding in plain sight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
Blue Ballietthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08455790503780153629noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1015813819913547967.post-58689738894727106592013-03-25T20:27:00.000-05:002013-03-25T21:11:09.276-05:00Holding on for Hold Fast<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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These days, I’m holding on for <i>Hold Fast;</i> it’s a traveling
spring. Over the past few weeks, I’ve
visited many schools in many places and will continue to travel through
April. I am at my most relaxed when with
kids, and I have been hearing many surprising, excellent and touching
questions. In addition, I’ve heard or
read heart-warming, startlingly wonderful comments from sources of all ages,
and at all times of day -- in schools, bookstores and library talks, in a flow
of reviews, in outspoken and beautifully-written online blogs. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I’m not good at taking pictures at each school I visit – I
wish I were. I’m all in the moment, the
moment is over, I’m back in a car, and whoosh!
Life goes on. However, last week
I was in a public school near downtown St. Louis that was so unusual that I
need to share some of what I saw. There
is much in the news these days about public schools and what’s wrong with
them. Sometimes there is lots right.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4_83fOk5gnlZZrgZmEjAU6kAxejXuRr0Ow9DZ5bGkwX6iPRs_Zb6f97TL6Hj52seoroV1Sy1JG1XGBP9bvJb7X7FoaaddoAducTXQNLLRSC7gGk1o_RtoHJsjzajliKvt0b3X4nUjodA/s1600/Diversity.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4_83fOk5gnlZZrgZmEjAU6kAxejXuRr0Ow9DZ5bGkwX6iPRs_Zb6f97TL6Hj52seoroV1Sy1JG1XGBP9bvJb7X7FoaaddoAducTXQNLLRSC7gGk1o_RtoHJsjzajliKvt0b3X4nUjodA/s320/Diversity.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
I walked into the Maplewood Richmond Heights Elementary
School, in Richmond Heights, Missouri, and stopped. What – a Banksy-inspired painting? A close-to-Lichtenstein? An unusual piece of art designed to honor and
support a center for homeless boys?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOiDWwVs-5SX9EurqBuce4HdLfinu1itBdVmS88ZslqmeDv2SiOxuysHlacoUIeES3ccF-6N81llbkZyqexuXDzXhb2BS3mDzJT93-LiSBQZScpDVmRMMHsBGslUuEBE-AVZSGWeYhgzo/s1600/Banksy+Inspired+Message.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOiDWwVs-5SX9EurqBuce4HdLfinu1itBdVmS88ZslqmeDv2SiOxuysHlacoUIeES3ccF-6N81llbkZyqexuXDzXhb2BS3mDzJT93-LiSBQZScpDVmRMMHsBGslUuEBE-AVZSGWeYhgzo/s320/Banksy+Inspired+Message.JPG" width="238" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8H0sUOq4Gmvb_QgCqtUm5ZE9yICOoXKWGJKYQ8GELTx57LuDhd2C3CjkCNmdkL2c-mK0uYpCcP1PtysewFHrvN8-IRwzpFqCyuiAil3j6aRcnXm9_8X9YbZ_3evm38LRVxHl_TSFXW0M/s1600/Lichtenstein+Inspired.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8H0sUOq4Gmvb_QgCqtUm5ZE9yICOoXKWGJKYQ8GELTx57LuDhd2C3CjkCNmdkL2c-mK0uYpCcP1PtysewFHrvN8-IRwzpFqCyuiAil3j6aRcnXm9_8X9YbZ_3evm38LRVxHl_TSFXW0M/s320/Lichtenstein+Inspired.JPG" width="238" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbPGNqDZx0RTUagDl8rmY16w7kTihYLTHRTGlvzXhnfjNRyBB_LjNaj1W4t1BE05X4OF7jrKAH3Sa3-lTp6bBC2jwhH6pymnNqR-uiahRDNHdkuKBXQ8NpIkQBb99VKBCsMuMU5fxnXSw/s1600/Bench.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbPGNqDZx0RTUagDl8rmY16w7kTihYLTHRTGlvzXhnfjNRyBB_LjNaj1W4t1BE05X4OF7jrKAH3Sa3-lTp6bBC2jwhH6pymnNqR-uiahRDNHdkuKBXQ8NpIkQBb99VKBCsMuMU5fxnXSw/s400/Bench.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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This is a school with social justice overtones that
structures projects around a theme each year, supporting their budget with
grants and the input of local artists. This year, the theme was exploring the idea and
metaphor of ‘School as Museum’, and the kids had painted, built, researched and
designed some amazing exhibits. The
topics were issues they felt needed some museum attention, like bullying; the
environment; drug use in neighborhoods; poverty in the world around us. Kids
were obviously building and documenting knowledge using real-world issues and
problems, and I could see that Ms. Hussey and I, if we’d been invited to teach
there, could have jumped right in. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In this photo, a group of sixth graders pose in front of an
exhibit which studies both interrelated facts and some proposed solutions to poverty
and homelessness. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was on a schedule and couldn’t stay long, but the whiff of
powerful yet heartfelt critical thinking that I witnessed there is still with
me. After my talk, I grabbed my phone
and took these pictures. For anyone
wanting to get a close look at an awesome constructivist curriculum in a public
school setting, I say, <i>Go to St. Louis! Visit the MRH kids,</i> as they call
themselves. Hold fast for some powerful
learning. </div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And, by the way, the kids seemed pretty excited about <i>Hold Fast</i>, which makes me happy. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Blue Ballietthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08455790503780153629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1015813819913547967.post-3881030777142511132012-11-25T12:58:00.000-06:002012-11-25T13:00:09.376-06:00Ouch, Oof: the Battle of Fiction vs. Nonfiction<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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I’ve just returned from the National Council of Teachers of
English Annual Convention, one with strands reaching into the lives of teachers,
librarians, academics, university students and lifelong learners. It’s a fabulous gathering of thinkers and
word-lovers, and again and again I heard the tension in conversation about the
looming public school Core demands, and the place–if any–of fiction in
the structure of that upcoming Core curriculum.</div>
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<i> Ouch! Oof!</i>
Fiction and nonfiction are slugging it out behind closed doors. I’ve just read a marvelous <i>New York Times</i> article called, <i>What Should Children Read?</i> <a href="http://nyti.ms/RXKCQi">http://nyti.ms/RXKCQi</a> It inspired me. As it isn’t fiction, is there irony
here? Nah, behind all inviting
nonfiction lies a story.</div>
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These are odd times.
It used to be that fiction and nonfiction carried equal weight as
complimentary ingredients in a school curriculum; they were also the salt and
pepper, or maybe the oil and vinegar, that seasoned lots of less intriguing but
healthy stuff, at least for those students who weren’t math and science stars. Both fiction and nonfiction shared stories
that gave you a reason to gather necessary skills and tools -- tools that would
send you out into the world one day as a capable communicator and wage-earner
yourself. </div>
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Not to overdo the cooking metaphor, but everyone likes to
taste and eat, and… well, I see my job
as a fiction writer, one whose work often appears in schools, as this: I’m a maker of good smells in the learning
kitchen. I try to leave readers of any age hungry. To make anyone who reads my mysteries want to
dig and explore further, and to ask more questions. (I should also mention that my books don’t
fit neatly into the category of either ‘mysteries’ or ‘fiction’ as they always seem
to be packed with facts and real-world ideas.
Facts, after all, are the best teasers in our puzzling times.) I wish I heard the messy word ‘inspiration’
being mentioned in talk of school reform as much other multisyllabic terms like
‘data-driven instruction’ and ‘high-stakes assessment.’ I feel this is a
mistake, simplistic as it sounds.</div>
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I believe the job of fiction in our schools should be to
make readers curious about non-fiction, to make them love the process of
following words and ideas, and to make the world at large feel more
relevant. Fiction has the power,
ironically, to make nonfiction come alive. </div>
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There. I’ve thumped
the podium. And waved my spoon.<o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Blue Ballietthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08455790503780153629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1015813819913547967.post-67673308309234736242012-10-02T21:33:00.000-05:002012-10-02T21:33:03.741-05:00Unlikely Paths
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m clearly not in the habit of blogging, but sometimes I’m
moved to say, Yes! Yes! Here’s an essay
on career choices that is such wonderful advice for people of any age that I
have to point wildly to it: <a href="http://nyti.ms/QlPHiD">http://nyti.ms/QlPHiD</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This story sure resonates with my past; although I wanted to
be a writer, I couldn’t seem to make a living doing it, and so I did many other
things. The most demanding of these
things was teaching young kids, which had never been a part of my original
Author Plan. Lo and behold, as I let go
of writing dreams and learned to teach, something very odd happened: I grew
from feeling I wasn’t a natural in the classroom to loving it, then eventually
writing about it, which brought me back to my earliest passion. I’d arrived at my goal by leaving it
behind. In addition, I’d found a new passion
that could coexist with my oldest one.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I think that doing the very best you can on almost anything
is, in itself, a liberating process, and can open many unexpected doors. Perhaps at the moment you lose sight of where
you thought you wanted to go, the journey really begins.<o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Blue Ballietthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08455790503780153629noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1015813819913547967.post-7110116431670369012012-04-09T14:33:00.005-05:002012-04-09T14:55:00.056-05:00Glitterman, Banksy, Buckeye: Last Seen in the Midwest<div class="MsoNormal">Here’s the setting: Happy Hollow, West Lafayette, Indiana; a small public school.</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">Here’s the mystery: how did this school, using my four books, tackle and complete all of these projects? </div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">Shortly after <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Calder Game</i> was published, I visited Happy Hollow for the first time. I was astounded by what I saw: mobiles, models, a life-size maze filled with clues and codes. These projects represented years of bringing the characters and ideas in my first three books to life, thanks in large part to the energy and enthusiasm of Sue Stan, an amazing fifth grade teacher at the school. Incredibly, Sue’s headfirst dive into the world of my mysteries spread to many other classrooms.</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">I returned to the school last week. Thank goodness for cameras, because I can share some of what I saw. I was welcomed with a message in hand-made, 3-D pentominoes, and when I walked into the gym, where I spoke with the fourth, fifth, then sixth graders, I was surrounded by thirty to forty life-size characters from the books.</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">There was also a Gas Gazette-inspired collection of portraits with puzzling, in-depth descriptions; renditions of the Robie House; and lots more added to the maze I’d seen years before. These projects continue to evolve and pieces go home each year, only to be replaced by new clues, challenges and portraits.</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">This is an author’s dream, a peek at what happens when you become an ingredient in hundreds of kids’ imaginations. I was also given six glass orbs decorated with details from all four plots. Suddenly, there in my hand was Pummy, the Lady, all of the pentominoes, the Invisible Man… plus chocolates, spring lilacs from a reader’s garden, a pot of pansies, blue M & Ms galore. Boy, was I spoiled. I also have a Happy Hollow quilt sent to me one year, covered with kids’ renditions of favorite elements. </div><div class="MsoNormal">This all goes to say: give kids an opportunity and books <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">do</i> come alive. And when an author has a chance to meet, witness and share delight, well, that is a happy moment.</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">Here's a glimpse: </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH5lgS4hZoHhBEozz9N97mzpzXZW5VpCk6MAwzeRcA1c58uO-fMc4ggBkY64-oxF_6MspeGKjmmaZlLzVakPzHaL1CIPDNI37I_gy2S97G14NnJnSj1sDpXm31zTXzRwXsJn4dw5V9wA8/s1600/IMG_1619.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH5lgS4hZoHhBEozz9N97mzpzXZW5VpCk6MAwzeRcA1c58uO-fMc4ggBkY64-oxF_6MspeGKjmmaZlLzVakPzHaL1CIPDNI37I_gy2S97G14NnJnSj1sDpXm31zTXzRwXsJn4dw5V9wA8/s640/IMG_1619.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPAqamhpSNRBGuHV72xeQ5IfP3FwoWhKr5Va4MWOi_YUOzdBSOr7blR5h-xZapeEpuUcQ_kT6Je3zxLCKbknrLomLGa7kraq1TRryKHpuKMRxP2rLk_M8gdJbRHAYz8ShobxB8U5HsbIo/s1600/Goldman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPAqamhpSNRBGuHV72xeQ5IfP3FwoWhKr5Va4MWOi_YUOzdBSOr7blR5h-xZapeEpuUcQ_kT6Je3zxLCKbknrLomLGa7kraq1TRryKHpuKMRxP2rLk_M8gdJbRHAYz8ShobxB8U5HsbIo/s640/Goldman.jpg" width="436" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div></div>Blue Ballietthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08455790503780153629noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1015813819913547967.post-10901735577115286852011-12-19T20:29:00.000-06:002011-12-19T21:03:23.774-06:00Saying Yes: A Classroom of Expert DetectivesI had no idea, when <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chasing Vermeer</i> was first published in 2004, that it would take on a life of its own. That’s the funny thing about getting your thoughts out into the world; they do begin to breathe and walk. They travel, evolve, take up residence inside the minds of people you’ll never meet.<br />
<br />
That is a source of great surprise and interest to me, and I feel lucky whenever I catch a glimpse of the lives my four mysteries have led. I love the thought of being a catalyst, as a writer. Of being used as a tool or divingboard or stepladder! Of being useful.<br />
<br />
I keep all of the letters I get from kids, and am often woefully behind on writing back, simply because life whirls along. I wish that the kids who write could see me opening their mail in my kitchen. I’m always thrilled to read about the spark of inspiration. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yes</i>, a letter might say, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">you gave me a new way of seeing</i>. Kids write other wonderful things that I hardly deserve. Reading these Yeses is a gift.<br />
<br />
I try to say Yes myself to as many school and library visits as are doable, given the quiet time I need to research, sort out my thoughts and write. I don’t manage to do it all. But during the past year, I visited many incredible classrooms, and had some conversations with kids that reassured me: what I always say I believe about their capabilities isn’t wrong. If you listen to kids, truly listen, they will change how you process the world and what you believe is doable. They will.<br />
<br />
Last week I visited a classroom in a charter school on the south side of Chicago, an old building a few blocks from where I live. A gifted student teacher, working with an amazing classroom teacher, had spent most of the fall reading and analyzing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chasing Vermeer</i> with a class of fourth graders. They invited me to visit.<br />
<br />
Stunned is the best word for how I felt in that classroom. Impressed isn’t enough. The kids were articulate, eager to share what they’d done, and experts on deconstructing a mystery! Each had written a long mystery story of their own, after keeping detective notebooks for weeks and figuring out how <i>Chasing Vermeer </i>was put together. (I think they know my thinking better than I do myself.) They had trained themselves to become detectives. They had predicted, tracked and sorted ideas. They were in obvious control of much knowledge. The scope of this unit was truly amazing. <br />
<br />
I took pictures, but their student teacher, the mastermind behind this piece of curriculum, had taken many photos that she shared with me, images showing process. She gave me permission to share some here.<br />
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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrDRidUgnmrr86cgn1oSY5qLex6_Ec-HZdTXI_STEViQKPYBhyb2OoLV1hz0WvqOJ-Ia9eylAn1cVDoe91sVLGAKZMeiNY6ox3nQunX_e0sWec0c8UeTKW7icZcy6VWHgBHX0jgY8fqAk/s1600/IMG_3382.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrDRidUgnmrr86cgn1oSY5qLex6_Ec-HZdTXI_STEViQKPYBhyb2OoLV1hz0WvqOJ-Ia9eylAn1cVDoe91sVLGAKZMeiNY6ox3nQunX_e0sWec0c8UeTKW7icZcy6VWHgBHX0jgY8fqAk/s320/IMG_3382.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1S5vipyr7UqVnGnMqFriwEtgf2EDPI_6XfBqXNkU8DN56KfDG_AZGPw4Q1uDiC1AYaxCU8niXtgz4iD0jV0Pw-xcWcf3r1gHZdkzBQiB_U-GVEpkVu6eCfhzFad04oKP-j1dlMxS6cqE/s1600/IMG_3430.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1S5vipyr7UqVnGnMqFriwEtgf2EDPI_6XfBqXNkU8DN56KfDG_AZGPw4Q1uDiC1AYaxCU8niXtgz4iD0jV0Pw-xcWcf3r1gHZdkzBQiB_U-GVEpkVu6eCfhzFad04oKP-j1dlMxS6cqE/s320/IMG_3430.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">I wish that those who decide which schools succeed, which fail and how kids best learn could have visited this classroom with me. With kids, almost all is possible given respect, confidence, belief, opportunity to focus, a bunch of Yeses and a few materials. Joy is always around the corner, and I believe it’s often closer than we think.<br />
<br />
Kids, given a chance, will show the way. </div>Blue Ballietthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08455790503780153629noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1015813819913547967.post-39328731896793244452011-04-30T12:18:00.000-05:002011-04-30T12:21:19.271-05:00Listening<div class="MsoNormal"> I’ve made a number of visits to schools and libraries this winter, and have also been following the discussions, suggestions, arguments and threats circling around school reform in this country. It strikes me that one ingredient in this problem is missing: the kids themselves.</div><div class="MsoNormal"> Given an opportunity and when treated with true respect, kids are capable problem-solvers. More than that: kids from all kinds of backgrounds would willingly participate in a debate about the best ways to learn and what to study. Kids have amazing practical ideas, and there is great power in an inspired mind – I am impressed, over and over, by how sharp and incisive kids’ thinking can be. </div><div class="MsoNormal"> On a recent visit to a school in Indianapolis, I asked a group of ten- and eleven-year-olds to imagine the best set-up for learning. One boy said he thought every school should allow kids to be more creative in their work, and should include a room where you could go and ‘invent stuff’, just a place filled with odds and ends, tools, materials, whatever the school could include. In short, a place to mess around and use your hands. Another student said he thought too much time on computers made kids forget to think (!!), and that more time should be spent working on solving real problems out in the world, or at least the neighborhood. He wanted grownups to listen to kids’ ideas. “Kids would work much harder and care more,” he explained.</div><div class="MsoNormal"> At a talk in Plymouth, Minnesota, kids wanted to know how to develop a story that will make the reader care; how to put good ideas together so that everyone will think they’re good; how to do the kind of research that goes into my books. At a library visit in Milwaukee a few days ago, I was blown away, again, by how passionate kids can be – about ideas and how to communicate. Passionate is the key word, once they feel ‘safe’ sharing and believe the listener is truly interested.</div><div class="MsoNormal"> All kids want to participate. All kids want to feel the power of being valued. Recently, I chatted with a young boy, someone barely up to my elbow, who attends an inner-city school in Chicago. He had a packet of basic math skills that he whizzed through, his homework. Then he wanted to talk. Bursting with energy and sparkle, he said, “So what’s YOUR story?” He was really asking. “Everybody’s got a story,” he confided. </div><div class="MsoNormal"> They do. I wish that kids could have a voice in the making of their own education. Although this seems obvious to those of us who have worked closely with many kids, it doesn’t seem to have occurred to those in charge of reshaping our schools.</div><div class="MsoNormal"> Maybe if the experts asked a few questions and listened a lot more. Listening is free, and it’s easy to do. It’s possible our kids could be included as valuable partners in reassessing our beleaguered public school system. I believe we have untapped power, and it’s everywhere. </div>Blue Ballietthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08455790503780153629noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1015813819913547967.post-24791096891909566382011-03-20T12:16:00.000-05:002011-03-20T13:25:45.828-05:00I Stir the Soup, and Zoomy visits The White House<div class="MsoNormal">Yikes, I’m afraid I’m not much of a blogger. I like the idea, but the habit isn’t there. Once the first giant snow fell on Chicago this year, I happily withdrew into my laundry room, where I write, and also into the making of many kinds of soup. As our house is old and the first floor very cold in the winter, making soup is easy and inviting; there’s the chopping, stirring, good smells and then warmth of having the stove on for a few hours. On any given afternoon, I’m in a big scarf and red slippers, hair on end, stirring the pot.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: left;"></div>The other kind of soup I’ve been stirring is the word-and-idea soup that always precedes the actual writing of one of my mysteries. I do a ton of research. I write many notes, some in the middle of the night. I like this stage, as I’m kind of floating in a bunch of thoughts, watching them as they bump up against and sometimes change each other in the process. </div><div class="MsoNormal">Help, it sounds like I’m IN the soup here, instead of stirring it. That could be. Sometimes I’m not sure where I am in the mix, but I know this stage of making books is exciting and often surprising. I try not to worry too much about whether what I’m doing is a ‘good idea’ or not, at least at this stage. I just keep tasting the mix, and adding what feels right. Okay, before we get off this soup thing, word-stirring is a slightly trickier process than stirring celery and carrots and bits of chicken, because you can add and then subtract. With soup on the stove, you pretty much have to move forward.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" height="133" src="http://news.bookweb.org/files/President%20and%20Board%20rev.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; height: 334px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; width: 500px;" width="200" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Beth Puffer (center) of the Bank Street Bookstore in New York City, and other representatives of the American Booksellers Association, gave President Obama a copy of </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">The Danger Box</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> for the White House Library on January 20, 2011.</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
So, my winter has been busy inside my head but quiet outside. One huge surprise from the outside world was learning that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Danger Box</i> traveled to The White House as a special gift, to become a part of The White House library! Wow, I even saw a photograph of President Obama standing by his desk and looking inside the book. Zoomy, one of the characters in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Danger Box</i>, would say this proves that turtles most definitely have wings. I’d agree.</div><div class="MsoNormal">While I’m stirring the pot, I never imagine such glorious and amazing things happening to the ideas I’m stirring around. I’d probably never write another word if I thought that way. It would be too scary. I’d stay in my red slippers and stick to stirring veggies in our old stainless steel soup pot.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Here’s how <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Danger Box</i> was opened at The White House this winter: <a href="http://news.bookweb.org/news/aba-presents-books-president-white-house-library">http://news.bookweb.org/news/aba-presents-books-president-white-house-library</a></div>Blue Ballietthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08455790503780153629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1015813819913547967.post-34414063507834734202010-12-19T10:48:00.000-06:002010-12-19T11:09:42.695-06:00The Christmas of the Rattling Door<div class="MsoNormal">Christmas in Manhattan, when I was growing up, was a time when winter weather seemed to soften the city; pavements were not as hard, traffic grew kinder and the buzz of grown-up activity -- that hum that never stops in New York City -- somehow shaped itself around the dreams of children. After all, this was also a time when many of us waited impatiently for a small, round man to fly through the sky.</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn5m6fn9d7kxdp23aTzmJJTz5GWmAJKjFdwqHhSKomCF-ut518l4X4LETF6E8DopwkojwCORSy0oF4GJQ_64875T8goYb2yeOPBcqjGLZNV1BqTGnpqTrD7Mv_y2Dtdc4mIGjxGR7sCoA/s1600/YoungBlue-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn5m6fn9d7kxdp23aTzmJJTz5GWmAJKjFdwqHhSKomCF-ut518l4X4LETF6E8DopwkojwCORSy0oF4GJQ_64875T8goYb2yeOPBcqjGLZNV1BqTGnpqTrD7Mv_y2Dtdc4mIGjxGR7sCoA/s200/YoungBlue-1.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me </td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal">But first, there was the tree. Our family lived in a long, thin apartment, and the tree was an event. We bought it each year on a street corner. Then my dad, mom and the three of us children carried it home, coaxing it through the back entrance of our building and trying not to break branches in the twisty basement corridor or on the old elevator gate, the kind that crashed open and closed.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Once inside the apartment, the tree filled our tiny kitchen. After some dark muttering and much scientific maneuvering, my dad rushed it down the narrow hall that stretched the length of the apartment, scattering needles and sending the cats skittering. Light from the street poured in the southwest corner of the living room at all times of day, and that is where the tree came to rest.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Next the old boxes of homemade ornaments appeared from deep in my mother’s closet. We added more decorations each year, making them from paper, clay, toothpicks, pipe cleaners and hard cookie dough. Christmas in our apartment included a happy explosion of runaway metallic sprinkles, crumbs and half-eaten chocolates; the sugar content ramped up to a fabulous level.</div><div class="MsoNormal">We made chains of popcorn, cranberries and painted macaroni for the tree. There were dozens of candy canes, which we couldn’t eat until Christmas day. One year we had many German candies wrapped in shiny paper and hung like ornaments, a gift from friends.</div><div class="MsoNormal">I think my parents tried to de-emphasize the commercial side of the holiday, but we always had new books that surprised, socks and mittens, something to play with, and the thrill of our stockings, in which every little thing was wrapped. The stockings crinkled and jingled; they bulged with things to be discovered. And, as Santa couldn’t hang them from the fireplace, he left them at the ends of our beds, to be found on Christmas morning. Our parents always seemed just as surprised as we kids were; it was proof of magic.</div><div class="MsoNormal">And then one year the idea of Santa coming into the bedroom my sister and I shared, tiptoeing in when we were not awake, began to frighten me. Badly. Perhaps we’d seen a movie that had a grouchy or drunken Santa – I can’t remember where the fear started, but worries about this nighttime visit created such panic that I couldn’t get to sleep on Christmas Eve. Should Santa leave the stockings on the sofa this year? No! My sister and I worried that he might not leave them at all if we made a request. My father finally pushed a dresser up against the door that connected our bedroom to the living room, so that Santa could only get in to our room through our parents’ bedroom, which somehow made it okay. My sister and I went to sleep.</div><div class="MsoNormal">I awoke to the sound of rattling and the thud-thud of the door handle against the back of the dresser. I screamed at the top of my lungs, “SANTA!! HE’S HERE! HE’S TRYING TO GET IN!!” </div><div class="MsoNormal">Then I heard my dad laughing and saying, “Oops!” while he and my mom hurried in the other door to hug and reassure, and a dreadful but slowly comforting thought began to flicker in my brain.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Santa. My parents. Those cookies and the glass of milk we always left for him on the mantel, and the year when he forgot to eat or even take one sip, but still filled the stockings. The fact that we lived on the sixth floor of a fourteen-story building, and somehow Santa zoomed up and down that endless chimney and squeezed out the old grate into our living room, complete with giant pack. Hmmm. </div><div class="MsoNormal">Sometimes release from no-questions, 100% magic is a relief. Christmas wasn’t any less twinkly and deliciously cozy, it just became, well, a little less unknown, and for a kid like me, that was just fine. That is, until the year my sister and I heard sleigh bells outside our window one Christmas Eve and peeked out to see a huge, dark shape just whisking around the corner of a nearby building. I’m still thinking about that one.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Perhaps that’s why I write mysteries. It’s the rattle and then the unexplained sight in the dead of night… it’s the potent combination of ‘Oh, no!’ and ‘What if it’s all true?’. It’s the hunt for proof of magic. It’s Christmas all over again.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">(I wrote this for the current edition of the School Library Journal</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-style: italic; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, and had a wonderful time remembering details, sounds and tastes. It's amazing how much floats to the surface if you think back in a quiet moment. -BB See "Holiday Memories 2010" at <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a class="twitter-timeline-link" data-expanded-url="http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/slj/newslettersnewsletterbucketextrahelping2/888495-477/holiday_memories_2010.html.csp/" href="http://bit.ly/eHOcly" rel="nofollow" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0084b4; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/slj/newslettersnewsletterbucketextrahelping2/888495-477/holiday_memories_2010.html.csp/">http://bit.ly/eHOcl</a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: small; font-style: italic; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i></div>Blue Ballietthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08455790503780153629noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1015813819913547967.post-64153684986632067642010-10-21T19:00:00.000-05:002010-10-30T09:32:52.045-05:00My road listI’ve had a busy few weeks on <i>The Danger Box </i>book tour, and a ton of great experiences. These are some of the things I’ve done:<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDMa_UFFiVQgbXvTuPFFQXyCIlyQPNpadRjC96m56J2ZqtBFlm3YNQ9KjF_gsfw_8kK1okSCAsEKNMHQTHzgmzyL57NcbbU83nzuxDUv9HADJRxKRvEWSx7qHfu8b2tgTnC_UcOeWwFMo/s1600/stocksigning.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDMa_UFFiVQgbXvTuPFFQXyCIlyQPNpadRjC96m56J2ZqtBFlm3YNQ9KjF_gsfw_8kK1okSCAsEKNMHQTHzgmzyL57NcbbU83nzuxDUv9HADJRxKRvEWSx7qHfu8b2tgTnC_UcOeWwFMo/s400/stocksigning.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b>Signed</b></span> books, using the last of my two purple pens from Three Oaks – luckily, I’ve found some identical ones. Good thing, as I’m attached now!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><b>Met </b></span>many wonderful kids, who’ve asked why I didn’t use their town for the setting and not Three Oaks. Also, they want to know if the high-speed train will stop again at the old Three Oaks station one day.</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;">Eaten</span></b> an embarrassing amount of chocolate, while driving from one side of Michigan to the other; my driver found me some heavenly pecan-caramel chewy things.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikuiw5PqFtXBBFrwPR0up6lI4G5uvj3bz7Zuogq1bjS4SGL24SMxmWbWlCwrcawvtHnFeU_C1jVFSWgsmGaaeRDOIx-VjZne6fjrehQFFBsN0eIGJbM7cKEtAn5ZivXen7ry72qeyCQ4k/s1600/mediasigning.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikuiw5PqFtXBBFrwPR0up6lI4G5uvj3bz7Zuogq1bjS4SGL24SMxmWbWlCwrcawvtHnFeU_C1jVFSWgsmGaaeRDOIx-VjZne6fjrehQFFBsN0eIGJbM7cKEtAn5ZivXen7ry72qeyCQ4k/s320/mediasigning.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Slept</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"> </span>in cars and planes. Admired the turning leaves and brilliant sunshine of the past few weeks.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Visited</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;"> </span>many wonderful schools and talked with kids after my power point presentation was over. They asked so many terrific questions, and I’m always sad when we run out of time and there are still many, many hands up. In the photo above, I'm signing a book while a cameraman from a TV station and a news photographer do their thing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5nIIQeCsnnHmSxIeif-rQKkCYfLci2EyYlm225YPdNjuW4Xme9NETFrI0gXJksNdJUHmQ3N_Clk2Fi4yJuqVh15rjkmgRrOS9S4_u4n-PKARoKwHEJBmRWLyctnlXSsPHEjGMqsossO4/s1600/bookpile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5nIIQeCsnnHmSxIeif-rQKkCYfLci2EyYlm225YPdNjuW4Xme9NETFrI0gXJksNdJUHmQ3N_Clk2Fi4yJuqVh15rjkmgRrOS9S4_u4n-PKARoKwHEJBmRWLyctnlXSsPHEjGMqsossO4/s200/bookpile.jpg" width="150" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><b>Spoken </b></span>with lots of independent booksellers and librarians at the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association conference; they are passionate readers, and true believers in the power of the written word. This is always a thrill, being around so many dedicated book people. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b>Squashed</b></span> my suitcase into the overhead storage bin on the plane going home, as I’d added a bunch of new books. This is the kind of problem I like. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: lime;"><b>Shared</b></span> secrets with the kids, authors and illustrators at the Rhode Island Festival of Children’s Books and Authors last week. I’m speechless when I think back on all the great conversations I had. And hugs. And sharings-of-ideas. This is what a book tour should be about, don’t you think?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhplnWQUb2U4eHsQ6rIf4WaECdp2PjatYmPHdfsDdF-e_L29sCCrAUZ1JO6vOUbhJKBXN8yclIe5REG_TRLqvUMzNt6EPnX8tsO5ANk0_edZYXbT1Q_-hidtQUp9HEyyhfYJbm9RNpbeeI/s1600/DSC_3320.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhplnWQUb2U4eHsQ6rIf4WaECdp2PjatYmPHdfsDdF-e_L29sCCrAUZ1JO6vOUbhJKBXN8yclIe5REG_TRLqvUMzNt6EPnX8tsO5ANk0_edZYXbT1Q_-hidtQUp9HEyyhfYJbm9RNpbeeI/s320/DSC_3320.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I haven’t forgotten about keeping an eye out for danger boxes. Some of the most memorable I’ve spotted are: a nineteenth century wooden chest, for travel; a box filled with shells; a crate of fall apples, with the red peeking from between the slats; boxes packed with copies of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Danger Box</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Could those be double danger boxes? </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxYkJRA99cw5fLE0Ucc-qGYDfyyxkZ5CW08AmW51AgBQC_UrcllC49YOD_otZw2UINMKmp6z7qxV8FYl6Yso2pJKGT9zeJGkC9hrq_czQis9jsFTt7oOmAQotFAXINTXkcPMWJQHn022s/s1600/DSC_3308.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxYkJRA99cw5fLE0Ucc-qGYDfyyxkZ5CW08AmW51AgBQC_UrcllC49YOD_otZw2UINMKmp6z7qxV8FYl6Yso2pJKGT9zeJGkC9hrq_czQis9jsFTt7oOmAQotFAXINTXkcPMWJQHn022s/s320/DSC_3308.JPG" width="320" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOwnT5QVwbZNIAfAXGs3pnzXZOf5NPKXI6XXI4VTiDFr0z4I60cBlV2FhhV-rIzoU6rsXyp1q3OSfpzCxX6imWmo1VAxhJ9sIhQjleMxmPpf6hBjuM7A_dKMeQBfZYxiB3QupKgKrJTqk/s1600/bleachers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOwnT5QVwbZNIAfAXGs3pnzXZOf5NPKXI6XXI4VTiDFr0z4I60cBlV2FhhV-rIzoU6rsXyp1q3OSfpzCxX6imWmo1VAxhJ9sIhQjleMxmPpf6hBjuM7A_dKMeQBfZYxiB3QupKgKrJTqk/s640/bleachers.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOwnT5QVwbZNIAfAXGs3pnzXZOf5NPKXI6XXI4VTiDFr0z4I60cBlV2FhhV-rIzoU6rsXyp1q3OSfpzCxX6imWmo1VAxhJ9sIhQjleMxmPpf6hBjuM7A_dKMeQBfZYxiB3QupKgKrJTqk/s1600/bleachers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></span></div></span></span></span></div>Blue Ballietthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08455790503780153629noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1015813819913547967.post-83779896395208769332010-09-30T20:36:00.000-05:002010-09-30T20:36:38.312-05:00The 10:60 Sign<div class="MsoNormal">Since I left Three Oaks 21 days ago, I’ve talked with thousands of kids in a wonderful array of schools. It’s always intriguing to be a visitor in a school you don’t know, and I look forward to seeing what’s up on the walls and what the kids’ expressions are while they travel through the hallways. Also, I love going into the school library and soaking up the atmosphere. Libraries have gotten so exciting since I was a kid – at that time, you had to be quiet every second once you stepped in the door, there weren’t many comfortable places to sit, there was nothing on the walls and librarians did NOT chat with you. Now school librarians do all kinds of cool and imaginative projects, and kids seem so relaxed with them – the librarian is almost like an extra friend, one who’s always good for encouragement and ideas.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPOovbKTneycnyzTQ40NCrvIP3NSsyCvHfiQNEaQiRRohPQIA9U9-m0kGdXb7uTgLgrG9dFJ8bNHYNvbX25e_AbDaAOhemwvdTAgLd3WeyyVIrRj9xoJhY6JIZmszZKIUElLS29QR2lZU/s1600/Gym+Pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPOovbKTneycnyzTQ40NCrvIP3NSsyCvHfiQNEaQiRRohPQIA9U9-m0kGdXb7uTgLgrG9dFJ8bNHYNvbX25e_AbDaAOhemwvdTAgLd3WeyyVIrRj9xoJhY6JIZmszZKIUElLS29QR2lZU/s320/Gym+Pic.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">Here I am in a sea of kids, about 550, in a gymnasium in a wonderful Illinois school. The librarian reminded me of Ms. Hussey, and even though it was super hot in there, the kids were fabulous and filled with terrific questions. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I did see an amazing danger box last week, in the form of an online ‘museum box’ that kids in another school were using to do projects that grew from my books. It was incredible -- when you clicked on a section of the box, a cube spun around and showed you all the entries. I remember a cube with many kinds of chocolate and a history of the Cadbury chocolate company (this coming from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Calder Game</i>), and another with pictures and a history of Johannes Vermeer, Frank Lloyd Wright, Alexander Calder, Charles Darwin… you could spend ages unpacking and spinning all of the cubes in that box, and it was both magical and inviting.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB-vpS2L9rutD_5aJwzbRRBlH_o-SRMUBfEGzuc1v2cDartymFSx9_azJyn1RTlVpZ8kzdK9UglzfE-Ubm6pTH0ytjap3vhiuQHTvX2SQbwfx9L7_XAzw2o-IBeTatwMX9d_10MuJ0gVs/s1600/Bulletin+Board.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB-vpS2L9rutD_5aJwzbRRBlH_o-SRMUBfEGzuc1v2cDartymFSx9_azJyn1RTlVpZ8kzdK9UglzfE-Ubm6pTH0ytjap3vhiuQHTvX2SQbwfx9L7_XAzw2o-IBeTatwMX9d_10MuJ0gVs/s320/Bulletin+Board.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">Here I am standing in front of a mysterious bulletin board inside a school. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Last week I was thrilled to meet the Sign Maker for an unusual sign I photographed in Three Oaks almost two years ago, while doing research for the book. We were both so excited. Although living elsewhere, this kid has lots of family in the town. The sign has been traveling with me in my power point presentation -- through schools, national conferences and conventions -- and by now lots of people of all ages from many parts of the U.S. have seen it. I’ve also posted it on my website (blueballiettbooks.com), which means it will be traveling to other countries. I think of it as the 10:60 Sign.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZFzbtrZxdgfe_5H24NQS1AWUqQ2lDiQXeA4d3EF7sRXdERO8JUHnejTOt7USoCYCfr-OJm0riqn2fhuSfIQkbFGwyc9NsLfxLifx6Jnp3zNdbtJANCJHJD9EYHyarzmyD0TTgwxJOx6Y/s1600/Three+Oaks0119.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZFzbtrZxdgfe_5H24NQS1AWUqQ2lDiQXeA4d3EF7sRXdERO8JUHnejTOt7USoCYCfr-OJm0riqn2fhuSfIQkbFGwyc9NsLfxLifx6Jnp3zNdbtJANCJHJD9EYHyarzmyD0TTgwxJOx6Y/s320/Three+Oaks0119.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>I loved meeting the Sign Maker. We agreed that when the sign was written and stapled to a telephone pole in town, it seemed unlikely that it would appear anyplace else. You never know where an original piece of thinking may go, once out in the world.</div>Blue Ballietthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08455790503780153629noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1015813819913547967.post-89592031715941836362010-09-19T11:29:00.000-05:002010-09-19T11:59:30.046-05:00An old danger box and an odd idea<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqAsAG2-9Ek0gF9e8-XnECcVcIAMV0AlYXUpMIVSkyXIkoxRL_k_RMKJnOROOUzBYcuqhK9OgfhTErGSqUOyRyyLZDHH18vyTYfTbhq6tpvKtIL9d9PfGRy13j2JRsBx3nOpsfJZ6gt58/s1600/Met+Danger+Box.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqAsAG2-9Ek0gF9e8-XnECcVcIAMV0AlYXUpMIVSkyXIkoxRL_k_RMKJnOROOUzBYcuqhK9OgfhTErGSqUOyRyyLZDHH18vyTYfTbhq6tpvKtIL9d9PfGRy13j2JRsBx3nOpsfJZ6gt58/s320/Met+Danger+Box.jpg" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Three Oaks is a hard act to follow, but I then flew to New York City, signed some books and of course managed to find myself at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Wandering around all those delicious rooms filled with shape and color and so many dreams, I had a thought: I'll keep my eye out for all danger boxes.<br />
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Here's one I spotted, hundreds of years old and made from worn leather. It's Spanish, and is living on a balcony inside the Met, on the second floor. I won't tell you exactly where, in case you want to go hunting. I'll try to add a variety of boxes to this travel collection by taking a photo whenever I see one. My husband Bill was with me here, and snapped this mysterious picture -- I would never have asked a stranger to do it. I look very peculiar and possibly dangerous...<br />
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Bill and I play a game in museums, and if I'm with one of our kids they join in, too. We'll look around at whatever is there, and imagine, in our minds, that we can each take home one treasure. At the end of our visit, we compare notes on which treasure each of us picked.<br />
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My treasure for this last visit, aside from the slightly scary Spanish danger box, was a very tiny painting by Edouard Vuillard of a woman sitting at a table covered with food. She looks completely happy to be where she is, and the colors and patterns that surround her are subtle and somehow private. It's art that invites me in, and the image also feels like an ingredient in my own danger box, that is, my imagination.<br />
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Here are a few questions that just occurred to me: Is your imagination an endlessly deep danger box? And can you decide what to put in it, or do things simply fall in? And if you take a treasure away in your memory and keep it, doesn't that make owning it seem unnecessary?<br />
<br />
Here's a wild thought -- maybe more art thieves could be persuaded to forget about actually taking things, and start making their own danger boxes. I'll have to ask the kids in Three Oaks what they think about that one.<br />
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Meanwhile, who knows what dangerous box or idea I'll run into next...</span>Blue Ballietthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08455790503780153629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1015813819913547967.post-43812787431104488532010-09-14T22:08:00.000-05:002010-09-15T19:41:43.408-05:00I begin in Three Oaks<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZPfdqYiNtg46SUHF7ypx5PvAOGZKkso2m6dg2e2JYevqnnWCl9rMex3ZCNZc-6NozDMb7lLy8gZK_cKy6NbxILNfwos3tXql47AS43JAUQi4WmOKzVXpN0iXQPa8utkBYuwF84VIPh6Y/s1600/DSC_3269.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZPfdqYiNtg46SUHF7ypx5PvAOGZKkso2m6dg2e2JYevqnnWCl9rMex3ZCNZc-6NozDMb7lLy8gZK_cKy6NbxILNfwos3tXql47AS43JAUQi4WmOKzVXpN0iXQPa8utkBYuwF84VIPh6Y/s320/DSC_3269.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>September 9, 2010. <br />
<div><br />
</div><div>This is an amazing and touching start to a book tour -- I'm spoiled forever. While I was researching <i>The Danger Box</i>, I had some wonderful visits with the Three Oaks kids. I promised I'd be back to launch the book with them. Here I am.</div><div><br />
</div><div>You could have knocked me over with a feather when they pulled out this banner, the coded message, and... my very own Danger Box! Painted and labeled by the kids, it was packed with everything I could possibly need -- notebook, purple pens (essential, how did they know I hadn't found any yet?), a plaque from the kids that I'll keep forever, a gift certificate from Drier's Meat Market, a lovely painted sign from one of the art teachers, some purple post-its, a small traffic cone that says, 'You're Terrific' in case I have a wobbly day, and lots of yellow CAUTION tape. What more could a writer want?</div><div><br />
</div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2QsRs03Z3ky2xUay0WpCdvmzZEIIowEuDxFT2gCcuCgpMZ1UI5igomxHA9HVORVEEbvqBc6mhhn4sukdLFwtemDH2mDYUm6eeHFAZ9H6Gpi0pDhSZvyKvKuusJkY_V6k6qWbtF1U5X7c/s1600/DSC_3256.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2QsRs03Z3ky2xUay0WpCdvmzZEIIowEuDxFT2gCcuCgpMZ1UI5igomxHA9HVORVEEbvqBc6mhhn4sukdLFwtemDH2mDYUm6eeHFAZ9H6Gpi0pDhSZvyKvKuusJkY_V6k6qWbtF1U5X7c/s200/DSC_3256.JPG" width="132" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlzebWBcQDhC5oXmMpVoAiYt51eX2Sgtkp4fXoA7gdz8ye8TXcOcAuhHAERIuwPShd4aSBz-y9-_s_v3tHEo3UWWYl4oAH4nl8i7XBaRQmlIYBiIA3gc4Y8SKmrztXaSFJPEH6EuceupY/s1600/DSC_3273.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlzebWBcQDhC5oXmMpVoAiYt51eX2Sgtkp4fXoA7gdz8ye8TXcOcAuhHAERIuwPShd4aSBz-y9-_s_v3tHEo3UWWYl4oAH4nl8i7XBaRQmlIYBiIA3gc4Y8SKmrztXaSFJPEH6EuceupY/s200/DSC_3273.JPG" width="200" /></a>After meeting with kids at the Middle and Elementary Schools, having an open meeting at the library and then a delicious lunch in town, off I went, arms filled with treasure, bringing Three Oaks with me. I'll be back to tell the kids how it all went later this fall, after visiting many schools, libraries and bookstores. Meanwhile, Carolyn Drier, third-generation owner of the meat market, will be selling copies of <i>The Danger Box </i>for<i> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">t</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">hose who want</span></i> to buy one in town. I suggested she send me some meat-packing labels to sign, whatever she has on hand. I love that thought: whoever buys a copy with their ham, bratwurst or hot dogs will know just where that book has been. And I love the thought of my books in that cozy store, near the jams and pickles and mustard. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Garry Lange, newly retired principal of the Elementary School, gave me a beautiful old paving brick from Elm Street, which was covered over a number of years ago. I'm honored. Much of me is still in Three Oaks, and I can't wait to get back for another visit. By then the pumpkins will be out.</div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4C3y0_IY78BaXbMF0Oy9Bh3KjSfRj6Lbb9enBrF9s3MiERAFWlQhxIIrWj0jImrmQ-hpTNzpQo852MzlTa5N4oyFkAyivj8TDN9Lhj675AkNzv0ApCO0p6QcYqauvzXXaUiRVObmVI5g/s1600/IMG_0688.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4C3y0_IY78BaXbMF0Oy9Bh3KjSfRj6Lbb9enBrF9s3MiERAFWlQhxIIrWj0jImrmQ-hpTNzpQo852MzlTa5N4oyFkAyivj8TDN9Lhj675AkNzv0ApCO0p6QcYqauvzXXaUiRVObmVI5g/s640/IMG_0688.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div><br />
</div>Blue Ballietthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08455790503780153629noreply@blogger.com2