Happy Leap Year Everybody!

Well actually, it's leap year all year. I guess today is Leap Year Day? Can I get a ruling on this?

Anywho, by now you should have READ's special Time Travel issue in your classroom. It's weird because we worked on that in the past.... and now, here you are, in the present, reading it. Whoa. Cosmic man.

Well, how do you like it? Feel free to give your two cents by clicking COMMENTS below or emailing us at word@weeklyreader.com.

We have already received one observation from a very intelligent class at Holy Cross Lutheran School in Wichita, Kansas. Their teacher, Ms. Vanwey, writes

"My 7^th  graders were in a tiz concerning Time Will Tell! How did the author add together 24 and 25 to come up with 60 as the age Jon was when he came back to 2008."

Well, that's a very good question. Our math is all screwed up! When Jon Pacone returns to 2008, he should be 49, not 60! Our only sorry excuse is that we stink at math. But someone on our end definitely should have caught this oversight. All apologies to time travelers everywhere.

Also, the question was stated of whether or not Jon would have been living two different lives at once. The first being the first time he lived through those years, and the second being his return to the past self living those years. Hmm... well... you see... um... time travel is a very tricky thing involving lots of compound theories and... um... holy cow! Look! Quick! Behind you! There's a flying cow!

Moo.

Well, at least Billy Pilgrim can time travel with class.
So it goes.

It happens maybe twice a year... I don't like it anymore than you do. I am sorry to say that our blogging skills, as of late, have fallen to the wayside. Sorry about that.

I'm trying to do my best with War & Peace. I got through Part One, barely. I will try to get back into Part Two tonight. But it's not easy, let me tell ya.

Some sad news, our resident Writer's Strike/pop culture blogger, Jessica, has left our fair company. We wish her well and will miss her bloggy presence.

Also, we've got magazines. Yes, as a side-job to blogging, we also put out these two magazines called READ and Writing. And next year, we are combining the two. So there's that.

All of this adds up to lots of work for the WORD bloggers here at Weekly Reader. But wah wah wah, right?

Where's the student writing? Where's the book and author news? Where is the bloggy we know and love? My friends, I tell you, a re-birth is coming. Please sit tight and bear with us during these slow times. We promise you... the best is yet to come.

Word.

The following interviews were conducted by Weekly Reader Senior Edition editor, Laura McClure.

This year’s Caldecott and Newbery medal winning books transport readers into the past. Newbery-winning book, Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village, by Laura Amy Schlitz, explores life in the Middle Ages. Caldecott-winning book The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick takes place in the early 1900s in France. Weekly Reader talked with both authors about their success stories. Here’s what they had to say:

Q&A with Brian Selznick
Weekly Reader: Which came first--the words or the illustrations?

Brian Selznick: It started just as a written story. … I thought maybe [there would be] one drawing a chapter or some spot illustrations. While I was working on the book, I started watching all these old movies and I thought it would be interesting to try to tell the story [with images] like an old movie.

WR: How long did it take to finish the book?

BS: I worked on the whole book for about 2 1/2 years, [including] a year to do sketches. … On a good day I could finish two complete drawings. I made them all one-quarter the size that you see in the book. … When you blow up a drawing, … it makes everything softer and lighter, like old movie stills.

WR: Do you see yourself in Hugo, the main character?

BS: I definitely do. … When I was a kid, I really loved to draw and to make things. Hugo is actually much better with his hands then I was as a kid. I remember being frustrated with what my hands couldn’t do.

WR: What advice do you have for aspiring authors or illustrators?

BS: The most important thing is to just write about or draw the things that really interest you. … A reader or someone looking at pictures very often can tell whether or not the person making the thing loved it and was really interested in it.

Q&A with Laura Amy Schlitz

Weekly Reader: What inspired you to write this book of monologues and dialogues?

Laura Amy Schlitz: The children [at the school where I am a librarian] study the middle ages. … They give their imaginations to it and I wanted them to have a dramatic piece [to perform] so I wrote those short plays, those monologues for them and they’ve been performing them for many years now.

This book shows the good, the bad, and the ugly of the Middle Ages. Why did you decide to show all aspects?

I think when you know about the Middle Ages, you can’t help realizing what a dangerous and difficult time that was. … Suppose it’s winter and you get your feet wet. You don’t have another pair of shoes. If you get frostbite, you’ll go lame. … Those are facts [of life in the Middle Ages], but it doesn’t follow that the people were all miserable. They also had hope and good days and aspirations.

What do you hope readers take away from this book?

I would like to think that readers can imagine that time, but I think what I want most is for readers to be able to have the excitement of pretending to be somebody else. The thrill of performing the pieces in front  of the audience—I want the readers to get the applause.

What are you working on now?

I’m working on a chapter book now, I’m on chapter 29 but I don’t yet know the end, I don’t know how far am I from the end and I’m just trusting that the end exists somewhere and that I will find it.

Why, hello there, fellow WORDians. How's everyone doing? Did you catch American Idol last night? I was mostly in and out of the room when it was on, but I did manage to catch that guy with the dreadlocks. He's totally my favorite right now, and it's not just because I think he's adorable. Which is he. But anyway...

With all this Idol watching, I'll admit, I haven't been able to make it to the library in awhile. Actually, I can't just blame my predilection for cheesy reality shows taking up all my time. (Although American Idol is the number one show in the country, so while you're scoffing at me for admitting I watch the show, percentage-wise, I think it's safe to assume that at least some of you watch it as well.) I also haven't been to the library in awhile because I usually end up at a bookstore and buy my books. However, this is an expensive habit, especially since I usually read the books I buy once, and then put them on a shelf and never look at them again. (Except for when I read them over and over.)

I should go to the library more. But apparently libraries are a little different than they used to be. That's right. They're not just for borrowing books anymore. Or even for borrowing cds and dvds. They're for playing video games.

That's not a typo.

Video games!

A library in Michigan has started hosting video game parties! Can you believe it? I used to get shushed for whispering a little too loudly while working on a research paper with a buddy. And now kids are playing video games there!

I guess anything that can draw people into the library is a good thing--but what about the serious readers? I don't think I'd be able to do research or sit in a corner with a good book if people were playing Guitar Hero or Dance Dance Revolution next to me.

What do you think? Do you go to the library for the books, or for the social experience?

by Devon Fonville

I had something I treasured but didn't cherish.
It was given by a person who got the same from me.
The treasure wasn't round or bounced.
It wasn't fluffy with cotton in it.
It wasn't nothing that can be written on
but it could be torn up,
it also could be broken,
but I don't think people wanted it
to brake or tear apart.
They wanted it to stay together,
but my gift began to crumble,
and tear time by time.
It never occurred to me that it would be taken away
so I had no worry.
But it left.

PS The thing I treasure so much was a thing called love.

An eyelash fell off yesterday, and I made a few wishes. World peace. To be a millionaire. To wake up and realize I'm actually married to Brad Pitt (and I look like Angelina). An end to the writers' strike.

Well, one out of four ain't bad.

That's right! The strike is over! Woo-hoo!

Television shows will start to come back pretty soon. We can catch up on all of our favorite shows. No longer is there a need to watch Rock of Love 7: Tommy Tutone Edition (Jenny, Jenny, I Really Want Your Number!) or Who Wants to Buy My Baby? or America's Next Top Paperweight Quality Control Assistant General Manager or whatever other reality show they come out with next. There will be scripted shows!

Say it with me. "Scripted." It sounds so nice rolling off the tongue.

Who would have thought the strike would have lasted three months? Who would have thought we'd miss new TV so much?

I mean, yeah, don't become a couch potato. You should still go out and see natural light once in awhile. And, of course, don't start slacking on your reading. But at least there will be options.

Now, if only my other three wishes would come true...

OK, this is really random. And no, for once this isn't going to be an entry about the on-going writers' strike. (Although, I did read that the strike might be ending soon. Yay!) But I was doing some writing today--as is required in my line of work--and I thought I did a pretty good job, if I do say so myself. But writing is so subjective. What if all my adoring fans don't like it?

Remember that scene in A Christmas Story (I'm sure you've seen it--they practically play it 24/7 in December. Not that I'm complaining, because it is a hilarious movie.) where Ralphie has to write a theme for his teacher on what he wants for Christmas?  He writes this empassioned essay about how he wants "a Red Ryder BB gun with a compass in the stock, and this thing which tells time." Then he imagines his teacher saying, "Poetry. Sheer poetry, Ralph! An A+!" Well, when he gets the paper back, there is no A+. Instead, scrawled across the top, it says "You'll shoot your eye out!"

Sigh.

Sometimes, doesn't it just feel like that? You put your heart and soul into a piece of writing, and all you get back is the proverbial "You'll shoot your eye out."

Anyway, my point (I do have one) is that it shouldn't matter what you write. OK, yes, for school, if you're assigned an essay, please follow your teacher's requirements, and do the studying and all the preperation and all that. I don't want any angry letters, please. But anyway, I really feel that it's most important to write about something you care about. And enjoy doing it. It's not the subject that matters.

So write on. Don't worry what people think about it. As they say, you can't please everyone. As long as you enjoy writing, that's all that matters. And the more you do it, the more confident you'll get with your writing, and the better you'll get.

And if you do write about how you want a BB gun, be careful.

After all, you don't want to shoot your eye out.

- by Laura Markert, age 15.

She was born many years ago
In the early days of spring
When the blossoms where just blooming,
and the river returning to life.

She has seen many times when the earth changes forms
When the days grow colder and the nights are long
When the hottness of the day makes her grow weary,
But still, she awaits her most favorite of times.

She silently waits. Waits for when the birds in the sky
fly to the south
For when the leaves atop her head change to the hundreds
of different colors.

The leaves are her friends, her companions, her children
They flutter in the breeze as they change their shades
From dull and wrinkeled to bright and smooth
From brown and dark green to firery red and golden yellow.

But soon the wind will come and take her children.
It rips them from their branches and takes them far,
far away.

Yet she is not sad nor is she mad
She is exited and exuberant.
Yes, the turbulent winds have taken her friends
But still, she is happy.

She waves goodbye to her children as the
cold sets in her bark.
And she thinks of how happy she will
be next year when she will have more.

She falls into a deep sleep and dreams
of the year to come
When her children will be born again and she
will live once more.

Guess what, kids? That's right, more news on the writer's strike. Yay! So what's the news? Um, pretty much nothing.

There were rumors about talks going on soon. But no. It was all a lie. Or maybe they're in talks, but they're still no where near deciding. As I've mentioned, the Grammys will still go on; however, it might not be the same program we've come to love. Many musicians who are also actors (like Justin Timberlake) don't want to cross the picket line. So the show might be a shell of it's former self. And that's made those nice people who run the Oscars a little nervous. Will the Oscars be able to go on as scheduled? Only time will tell.

With practically no new TV on (besides Lost, but that only has a few episodes that were filmed before the strike), I've been forced to take drastic measures. I've done something I swore I'd never do, and I don't think I can even look myself in the eye anymore (not that I could before, I'm not that flexible). That's right, I watched ... sports.

Shudder.

Not just any sports either, but the Super Bowl. Well, most of it anyway. OK, some of it. I just couldn't do that to myself. But from what I could gather, it was a pretty exciting game. (I've been told to say, "Yay, Giants!")

Come on, Writer's Guild members. Don't do this to me. I mean, yes, Tom Brady is hot, even though he's not on the team I was supposed to be rooting for. And yes, I live in New York, so it was cool to have a New York team. But I don't like sports. Gym class was always a nightmare for me, and I'm afraid of some post traumatic stress flashback to volleyball my junior year. I'm not meant to watch sports. I'm meant to watch new TV shows.

I know you all know what I'm talking about.

So, I'm sure (actually 100 percent postive) that you are all more athletic than I am, and enjoyed the Superbowl. What did you think? Any Giants fans out there? And for those of you sad about the writer's strike, which shows do you miss the most?

Yesterday was February 1st. Oh hey! I guess that means today is Groundhog Day! Cool! Does anyone know if he saw his shadow?

But that's not what I came here to talk about today. Please bear with me. I'm easily distracted. Oh look, a puppy!

Um.

I finished reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy yesterday. I have nothing good to say about it except that it won the Pulitzer... so I guess someone somewhere must have liked it. Wherever you are, I'd really like to have a conversation with you. I just don't understand what you were thinking. Maybe it's just me?

Moving right along...

Last night I started the mammoth experience that is Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace. I'm not going to lie. I was scared. I've been looking forward to this since I got the new translation for Christmas... but I've also been dreading it. I don't want to be the guy in the Challenge that says, "Um, yeah, I quit." And besides that, I also don't want to be the guy who misses out on this classic literature because of some weak notion that "it's too hard. Wah." Oh stop it.

I cracked open the book around 9:00 last night. Gingerly, I turned the first few pages. I stared at the title page for a good minute or so, thinking to myself: "After you turn this page, Bry, there's no turning back." Hmm... well maybe it wasn't as dramatic as all that after all. But the title page was very pretty and yes, even inviting.

The next few pages flew by pretty easily as well. The copyright information, and Table of Contents were a breeze. No sweat! Bring it Tolstoy!

Then came the introduction...

"If the world could write by itself, it would write like Tolstoy."
    -- Isaac Babel

Nice! What a flattering quote! What else?

I kept reading. (Incidentally, the introduction was written by the translator, Richard Pevear.)

"War and Peace is the most famous and at the same time the most daunting of Russian novels..."  oh boy ... "as vast as Russia itself and as long to cross from one end to the other. Yet if one makes the journey, the sights seen and the people met on the way mark one's life forever."

Ahh. My fellow WORD enthusiasts, can I just tell you what a breath of fresh air this was? No, not that. What am I trying to say? ... These first words, found here in the introduction, gave me not only a sense of hope and excitement for the next 1200+ pages, it also brought me directly out of my nervous funk and into the world of this sweeping Russian literature.

The rest of the introduction talked about Tolstoy as a man. Who he was and how he wrote. I'll save this for future bloggy posts as I can see this one is getting a little long and I want to tell you about the beginning of Volume One, Part One.

That's right. You heard me. VOLUME ONE. This book is so massive, it has actual Volumes. Ha! You gotta love it!

I read the first 25 pages of Volume One, Part One last night. I was surprised at how much fun it was! Seriously surprised! At first, I had a little trouble with the character names and the French... oh yes, the characters in this part anyway, speak some French and the translations are in footnotes at the bottom of the page. Sheesh! You get used to that too though.

Rather than go on and tell you the story so far, I'll just say that I am now over my fears and look forward to this great read. It's probably one of the toughest books I have ever tackled. But every once and again you have to challenge yourself. In literature and in life. OK, that was cheesy. I'm just inspired and excited, that's all. And I'm going to go read some more now.

How you doin, Alicia and Audra??

Word.