A picture is worth a thousand words

Thanks for the projects

Many thanks to Milton Academy in Milton, MA for the great projects with How to Steal a Dog!

Highly scientific survey

I love kids

This is so funny.

Only four things

I only have four things to say today:

T. G. I. F.

I love kids

From a student:

I loved it when you showed us a writing piece with markings from your publisher. I never knew that a publisher could say so much about one single page in a book.


I love kids.

A book playhouse!

A playhouse made out of discarded children's books at the Iowa City Public Library!

Thanks to Bookshelf Blog for this one!

Six feet of books

I love this wallpaper.

It reminds me of my beloved father-in-law.

When he moved into a new house that had a lot of built-in bookcases, he didn't have enough books to fill them.

So he went to a church used book sale and told them: "I need 6 feet of books."

YOU GOTTA LOVE THAT!


(This post in memory of my father-in-law. We miss you!)

Now THIS is how to review a book

From a young reader:


If you have not read this book than you are CRAZY! If you are in 3 or 4 grade then read this book NOW!

I love kids

From a fan:

I love your book How to Steal a Dog. It truly is the best book in history.

I'm so proud

I recently heard from a librarian in San Diego who helps run a children's book club.

After reading How to Steal a Dog, the club was inspired to brainstorm ways to help The Monarch School, a school that provides an accredited education to homeless and at-risk kids.

I'm really proud to know my work has inspired such thoughtfulness and helped focus on this dire need.

She will be blogging about it soon on her terrific blog, Libraries Matter.

A nice greeting

Thanks so much to John F Kennedy School in Canton, MA, for this lovely greeting!

Some fans

Aren't they great?!

The journey continues

I've gotten all tangled up in my work in progress and found myself spinning my wheels.

I like the writing.

But it's just that: writing that I like.

It doesn't feel like I'm writing to a goal.

And actually I'm not. I don't have an ending and it's becoming obvious in the writing.

So I spent a day trying to sort out the plot by making a chart. I've NEVER done that before!

The problem is that I have multiple viewpoints and they weave in and out, so I was losing track of what was going where.

There's still one element of the story that has me stumped:

I even drew a little map of the setting. (Good artist, huh?)

An interview and a great website

I was delighted to be interviewed for this great website, The Rusty Key.

Happy Birthday, Dad

In loving memory of my dear old dad:

Recycled from three years ago.



(Note: If you sharp-eyed editor types notice that there is a discrepancy in the dates, it's because I got it wrong in 2007. Heh. Sorry, dad.)

It's that time of year again

It's time for school visits.
Now I start my day like this:

See how fast I'm zipping up the highway!

Kansas Part 2

The day of the William Allen White Award ceremony.

Here I am backstage with my student presenter, Gracie Schmidt:

Waiting for our turn:

(l to r) Gracie Schmidt, me, Mikey Hughes, Cindy Kadohata



Gracie introducing me:

Me saying something brilliant:

Me, saying something else brilliant:

The William Allen White Award medal!

Thank you, Kansas!!

Kansas Part 1

My trip to Emporia, Kansas to accept the William Allen White Book Award for How to Steal a Dog was fantastic.

The day started with a tour of the beautiful campus of Emporia State University - decorated for the occasion.




A lovely dinner the first night, when I met Cynthia Kadohata, whose book, Cracker: The Best Dog in Vietnam, won the award in the Grade 6-8 division.

Cynthia Kadohata (left) and me

After dinner, Cindy and I went to chat with students who were attending a sleepover the night before the award ceremony. I got to meet the student who would be presenting me with my award, the lovely, adorable, funny, smart fifth grader Gracie Schmidt. Gracie presented me with a basket of HOMEMADE boiled peanuts. (She had read that one of my fond childhood memories was when my grandfather grew peanuts and my grandmother boiled them.)

Gracie Schmidt (left) and me

Boiled peanuts!

A band played in front of the auditorium:

Getting ready for the ceremony:

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Just back from Kansas. A great experience accepting the William Allen White award for How to Steal a Dog.

Lots of pics to post....but in the meantime...check out the featured review of The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester in the October issue of The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books.

Lisa Graff is in the house!

I'm so happy to have my pal, Lisa Graff, stop by on her blog tour today!

Lisa's new book, Sophie Simon Solves Them All, is a hilarious romp, perfect for the younger set.

I love this book!

Lisa is also the author of some other favorites of mine:

Umbrella Summer
The Life and Crimes of Bernetta Wallflower
The Thing About Georgie

So, let's chat with Lisa:

What was the worst job you've ever had?

I've had a whole slew of weird jobs, but probably the strangest one was my work study job during my freshman year of college, back when I was still pre-med (this did not last long). I worked at an eye research lab at UCLA, and one of my many tasks there was to cut up frozen rat eyeballs into microscopic slices and stick them on slides for examining. It wasn't very, um, appetizing, as you might expect, but I must have a bit of a macabre streak, because I actually enjoyed the job quite a bit.

What was your most embarrassing moment?

My middle school had the very strange practice of hosting a "money jump" during the school-wide assembly at the end of each semester. Twice a year, the name of every student who had received straight A's on their report card that semester would be put into a hat, and one was selected to jump--in front of the entire school--across a long taped-together strip of dollar bills. As far as you could jump, that how much money you got to take home. I remember specifically that after the jump, the entire student body would count out loud as Mrs. Rouse, the language arts teacher, slapped the bills into the winner's hand -- Twenty-six! Twenty-seven! It was very dramatic.

Anyway, I'm sure you can see where this is going. At the very end of seventh-grade (a year in which I was so awkward that I wore stretch purple leggings almost every day), I was called down for the money jump. I didn't really want to do it. Sure, it was cool in theory. Who wouldn't want to earn money for good grades? But the idea of having the nerdiest (and, let's face it, probably least coordinated) kids in the school jumping for cash in front of hundreds of their classmates was obviously a potential disaster in the making. And so of course I fell flat on my butt. I earned exactly four dollars. The most humiliating part of it was when the entire school counted out my earnings as Mrs. Rouse doled out the dollars to me -- Three! Four! . . . And that was it. I was the least successful money-jumper in the history of Big Bear Middle School.


What was the book that made you fall in love with reading?

The first book I remember absolutely devouring was Around the world in 80 Days. I was in fourth grade, and I had found the book randomly on the library shelves, without anyone suggesting it to me, so it really felt like was just mine--a book that no one else in the world had ever discovered before. I loved it so much that I actually built a fort in my room by nailing a blanket into the wall (I'm sure my mother loved that), the sole purpose of which was to read that one book. I would it in there, for hours, curled up with the outside world miles away, completely absorbed. It was magical.


What is your stupidest fear?

I am afraid of very many things, but the absolute stupidest one is that I will walk into my bathroom some morning, bleary-eyed, and discover a boa constrictor in my toilet. This actually happened to my parents (twice! Well, it was the same boa, but it made two appearances before they caught it . . . ) when they lived in Mississippi, before I was born, and I must have heard the story so many times when I was a kid that I became downright traumatized. I fully realize that the chances of this happening to me are slim to none, but still to this day I feel the need to check inside every toilet before I squat, just in case.

What word or phrase do you drive copyeditors crazy with (e.g., use too often or incorrectly)?

I just think I might just use the word 'just' just a tad too often. But it's just a habit I just picked up somewhere. (Ugh. Seriously, my 'just' usage is out of control. I can't help it.) I also have absolutely o idea how to use semi-colons, so I try to avoid them at all costs.


Who is your literary crush (besides me)?

You! Definitely you! :) Also George Bernard Shaw. And Louis Sachar. And Katherine Paterson.

In the realm of fictional literary crushes (specifically The Hunger Games), I will proudly declare myself a member of Team Gale (although Peeta's not too shabby, either . . . )

What's one thing you thought would be in your story (a character, plotline, them, etc) that didn't end up in the final version?

I always write several drafts of a book, and so much changes between the first and the last draft that sometimes the two are barely recognizable. That said, Sophie Simon definitely went through the least changes of any of my books. There were two chapters in the book that were greatly modified for the final version, one from the teacher (Mr. St. Cupid)'s point of view, and one from the point of view of a ring-tailed lemur (!!). Fortunately, my very wise editor encouraged me to change those things. There was a truly awful scene in Pete's Pet Store, which will never see the light of day. I'm not sad about that in the slightest, except for losing a very sassy parrot who didn't make the final cut. Maybe she can sneak her way into a different book . . .


If you could combine three of your favorite children's books into one, which books would they be and how might you blend the stories or characters?

Oh, this is such a good question! And hard. Hmmmm. I will pick . . . Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Graceling, and Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! In this new book, entitled Don't Let the Graceling Be a Wimp!, Greg does his best to get through middle school without being stuffed in a locker, with the help of his best friend, Pigeon, whose secret grace is the ability to shout really loudly. And, um, there's sword fighting.


You used to blog about conducting beauty experiments (which was highly entertaining, by the way). Which one was the biggest failure? Success?

A yes! That was about two years ago, when I was attempting to try all of the beauty advice from six women's magazines in six months. I got through five months before my medicine cabinet (and my brain) pretty much exploded. It was lots of fun, though, if also extremely weird.

Definitely the most ridiculous thing I did during that period (and there were a lot of ridiculous things) was to give myself a beehive hairdo, which I word--with fake eyelashes and blue sparkly nails--on a five a.m. plane trip to Arizona. Because, you know, why not? I actually set off the metal detector at the airport because of all the bobby pins I had stuck in my head. (I think it was something like 87. It was a little insane.) So I'm not sure if that would be considered a success or a failure.

The things I liked the most were the small, creative tips that were easy (and cheap!) to implement, and actually somewhat useful. Like putting powder on your face before you foundation, to make everything last longer. Or dabbing a bit of lip gloss on your eyelids for a quick pick-up if you're out and about. Or (my favorite) using a quick swipe of hand sanitizer on your armpits if you're ever caught without deodorant (the hand sanitizer kills the bacteria under your arms and thus the smell as well--who knew??) My absolute least favorite thing I did--including the numerous weird haircuts and dye jobs I suffered, which were also brutal--was the day I had to boil four cups of rice in far too much water, then let the leftover water cool . . . and then I had to drink it. It was slimy, milky, definitely putrid, and it did not, as claimed, do a single thing to clear up my complexion.

I see on your web sit that at one time you wanted to change your name to Lisa Graff, Great Scientist. What would be your second choice?

Hmmmm. If I had to change my name now I would probably choose to go by my middle name, Colleen, which I love.


Okay, here's a problem for Sophie Simon to solve:

Your teacher has chosen a cheese factory for your class field trip. All the kids in the class would rather tour a nearby chocolate factory, but just can't seem to convince the teacher. They're looking to you do do the job. How would you do it?


Oh, my! How could anyone ever choose between cheese and chocolate? Two such wonderful treats . . . Well, short of inventing a time machine so that they could travel to both during the same school day (probably a difficult task, given Sophie's constant lack of funds), she would most likely have the students mention to their teacher the amazing health benefits of chocolate (Did you know, for instance, that it can help lower high blood pressure as well as prevent blood clots? Bring on the cacao!), as well as its fascinating history (discovered in the Amazon 4,000 years ago, used as an Aztec health elixir, and finally unleashed to the world by Spanish monks . . . It's practically a soap opera!)

The teacher, however, might counter with some fun facts of her own--cheese has its own fabulous health benefits, for one thing (preventing hypertension and osteoporosis, anyone?) and the study of different methods of cheese making around the world could fill up a social studies class for years. So really Sophie would be left to choose which group truly felt the strongest about their particular dairy product. To do this, she would most likely unleash the wisdom of Solomon, and threaten to set both the cheese and the chocolate factories on fire if neither side would come to a decision. And whoever agreed to go with the other for the sake of saving their favorite food would be the victor. (If no one agreed, well, I guess everyone in town would have the makings for a lot of cheese and chocolate fondue parties . . . )


Thanks for the fabulous questions, Barbara, and for letting me stop by!


Want to win a free copy of Sophie Simon Solves Them All?

Farrar, Straus & Giroux is giving away a free copy of Sophie Simon Solves Them All to one lucky blog reader! Just send an email to graff.lisa@yahoo.com, along with the name of this blog, for a chance to win (winners will be notified within the week). Or follow along on the rest of Lisa's blog tour for more chances. For the full schedule of stops, visit www.lisagraff.com.