 Tuesday, March 06, 2007
March is Women's History Month, a fine time to celebrate the historic achievements of women -- in politics, culture, and, of course, WORDS! In honor of this event, I thought it might be fun to write a series of posts all month long ... about women authors and artists or fascinating female characters in books I come across this month.
 So far, I know that over the next two weeks, I'm going to tell you about the amazing author Jhumpa Lahiri, about a new website for gutsy girls who love to read, and about an artist who plays with words. I'm also going to keep my eyes open and see what else comes up because this is the way it goes with being an editor: Once you have a topic or theme on your mind, everywhere you turn, you see things and people that remind you of it.
Anyway, enough tangents!
Today, I want to tell you about a fabulous new book I recently read. Flora Segunda, by Ysabeau S. Wilce, is about an adventurous, spirited girl (named Flora) who lives in a country called Califa in a house (called Crackpot Hall) that has eleven thousand rooms and a red dog.
Flora is almost 14 years old and one of the few remaining members of the once-glorious Fyrdraaca family - her mother is the Commanding General of the Army of Califa and her father, a wounded warrior/soldier is there, but not quite there (if you know what I mean).
Crackpot Hall used to be an enchanted mansion where rooms appeared, disappeared, and shifted shapes. It was a living being with an elevator that had its own mind and could carry you to far, unknown corners of the house. Now, it is a ghost of a home, falling apart. Unlike the other great homes of Califa, it has a banished and vanishing magical butler named Valefor who wants Flora to help him get his powers (and rule) back.
On the eve of her 14th birthday, Flora is dismayed. She's about to be initiated into the world of soldiers: "When Fyrdraacas turn fourteen and celebrate ... off we go to Benica Barracks to learn to march, to learn to ride, to learn to shoot, to learn to die," she tells us.
Flora doesn't want this. "I want to be a ranger, a scout, a spy. Rangers don't follow orders; they slide around the rules, scoot around the edges of the law. They hide and they listen and they uncover things that are concealed. They discover the truth though it be surrounded by a bodyguard of lies," she says. And, so the drama begins:
Flora Fyrdraaca knows taking shortcuts in Crackpot Hall can be risky. After all, when a House has eleven thousand decaying rooms that shift about at random, there's no telling where a person might end up. But it's not just household confusion that vexes Flora, what with Mamma always away being Commanding General of the Army, Poppy drowning his sorrows in drink, and Crackpot Hall too broken down to magickally provide the clean towels and hot waffles that are a Fyrdraaca's birthright.
Yet Flora is nothing if not a Girl of Spirit. So when she takes a forbidden shortcut and stumbles upon her family's biggest secret--Valefor, the banished Butler--she and her best friend Udo plunge happily into the grand adventure of restoring Valefor to his rightful (or so he says) position. If only Flora knew that meddling with a magickal being can go terribly awry--and that soon she will have to find a way to restore herself before it is Too Late.
Flora Segunda is a fantasy novel written in an original voice and filled with quirky characters. I was immediately captivated by Flora's character and if you're like me, you'll identify with her intense desire to be true to herself and her willingness to take risks, even if it means having a bit of explaining to do to her Army General mother! The world of Califa is imaginary, but somehow it seems very real too and is one that I'd love to visit again (thankfully, there's a sequel on the way!).
I had the chance to have lunch with the author Ysabeau Wilce a few weeks ago and was fascinated to learn that she based the world of Califa on a real city in which she used to live and that she drew maps for every part of this world she created.
If you plan on reading the book or have read it, I wonder if you can guess what city that is? (Yes, this seems to be the week of blog posts about cities!).
If you guess right (click on comment below), I'll see what I can do about getting you an autographed copy of Flora Segunda.
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Monday, March 05, 2007
Back in February, we interviewed China Mieville, author of the new fantasy book, Un Lun Dun. We also asked you to "write a short story or poem about your town... the flipside of your town." Here is one of the stories we received. Congratulations to 8th grader Sarah Davies! We're sending you a signed copy of Un Lun Dun!
We still have 4 copies left! Email YOUR upside-down town story or poem to word@weeklyreader.com for a chance to win one of them!
INSANE LOUIS
-by Sarah Davies, Grade 8
There is a place that is quite strange. Some would even call it insane. In fact, that is the name of this place, Insane Louis, that is. Few have heard of this mystical place and only three or four have actually been there but the people who know of it will swear on their lives that it exists.
Insane Louis is said to be an upside-down version of St. Louis. It is a place full of wonder and magic. The logic that governs the real world is lost in this one. There is only one way to get there and although many have made attempts to enter Insane Louis, it only accepts a select few each decade. Every year millions of people flock to the Arch in order to try out the fabled instructions. They pace underneath the monstrous structure twelve times and then chant the words "Insane Louis" 20 times. It is said that a door will appear to anyone that the town accepts.
A 14 year old boy was the last one to enter Insane Louis. He explored his new discovery for three weeks before coming back to earth. Many claimed that this boy was crazy until he disappeared into an invisible door right in front of a news crew. Now this boy brings back stories and sketches of what he has seen and done in Insane Louis.
Experts have come to a few conclusions after interviewing everyone who has been able to enter the strange land. One is that the landscape and weather there is quite different from the landscape of St. Louis. There are mountains everywhere that seem to grow like trees and the rain changes colors as it falls from the sky. The ground is icy yet the air is warm.
Even though the look of Insane Louis is different, the major landmarks and places of St. Louis all seem to be present with some very strange changes to them. The Arch is hot pink and sits in the middle of a lake. The Botanical Garden is more like a vast jungle than a garden. Busch Stadium seems to be abandoned yet it produces the very noticeable stench of hot dogs. Scientists are perplexed by the weird coincidences in this strange land.
Although only a handful of humans have set foot in Insane Louis, there are many creatures that inhabit it. There are dog-like animals that are scaly as fish and penguins that can soar through the sky. Ferocious horses with claws and razor sharp teeth seem to be the only threat on the land.
As the days go by, more and more people will try to gain access to this wondrous place and many hope that Insane Louis will on day open its doors to all. Until then, the mystery and intrigue of it will cause many people to dream of a world full magic, wonder, and unlimited possibility.
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Friday, March 02, 2007
 Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday Cat in the Hat!
Happy Birthday to you!
On this day in 1957, Dr. Seuss published what would soon be the quintessential children's book, The Cat in the Hat.
At the time, schools across the country were using See Spot Run as their champion to engage early-readers. The problem was that See Spot Run was rather (ahem) boring.
In 1954, a journalist named John Hersey wrote an article for Life Magazine that stated that the reason children were such bad readers (in his opinion) was that they weren't reading anything very exciting or imaginative. In his article, he basically dared popular children's book authors of the time to come up with a book that would have kids reading on the edge of their seats. Dr. Seuss went for it.
 Dr. Seuss (his real name was Theodor Geisel) took 2 and a half years to write his now classic book about a mischievous cat who comes to play with two children and their angry goldfish while their mother is away. He used a vocabulary list of words for early readers to write his story. He used only 236 words and many of them were only one syllable!
So The Cat in the Hat has been around for 50 years. What does that mean, really? Well, for starters, what does it mean to you? Do you remember growing up and having your parents read you this wonderful story? Or perhaps you remember reading it yourself? Write to us at word@weeklyreader.com. Tell us your thoughts. Or you can comment below.
Happy Birthday, you rascal!
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Thursday, March 01, 2007
- Poem by Gloria Maciorowski, Grade 7
August arrives
Finally! As she swirls gallantly
Beckoning to all who sit in her path.
She cheers; blanketing sun on petals
Of vibrant flowers.
As September saunters in,
Shaking and churning as the leaves
Tumble
Down
On the last day of every month this year, we will be posting the best student writing that we received in that month. Oops. Today is the first day of March. My bad. Sorry about that. At any rate, we'll post March's Student Writer of the month on March 31st. So get in your entries now! You can either click on "Submit Your Writing" on the right or you can email your poems/stories/essays to word@weeklyreader.com. Each winner will receive a glamorous prize and then, at the end of 2007, we'll have a vote to let YOU decide who was the Student Writer of the Year! Sweet.
We had a lot of great student writing in February. It may seem a little strange to be writing about August this month... but here at WORD, we're open to anything.
Congratulations Gloria! You are February's Student Writer of the Month!!!
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