Two Lyrical Reads to Transport You

This month, as part of the Novels In Verse reading challenge, hosted by Amanda at Born Bookish,  I read Inside Out & Back Again by Thanha Lai and Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall. I didn’t realize it when I picked these two books out, but they had a lot in common. To start, look at the covers:

I must admit, it was the beautiful cover that first attracted me to Thanha Lai’s book. You know how I love trees ;)  Then when I learned that it was written in verse, well, there was no question. I had to read it right away.

Although classified as fiction, both of these books are based on the real experiences of the authors.

Inside Out & Back Again

From Amazon: 

"No one would believe me but at times I would choose wartime in Saigon over peacetime in Alabama.

For all the ten years of her life, HÀ has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, the warmth of her friends close by . . . and the beauty of her very own papaya tree.

But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. HÀ and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, HÀ discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food, the strange shape of its landscape . . . and the strength of her very own family.

This is the moving story of one girl's year of change, dreams, grief, and healing as she journeys from one country to another, one life to the next."

Inside Out & Back Again  is beautifully told in free verse. Through the seamless flow of poems, we experience the sights, sounds, and tastes of Ha's journey as she, her mother, and her three brothers travel from Vietnam to America. Ha's fears, her curiosity, her guilt, her temper and her bond with her family, all make for a compelling tale and we hope beyond reasonable hope, right along with Ha and her family, that in the end they will be reunited with her father, who has been missing in action for years.

Under the Mesquite

From Amazon:

"When Lupita learns Mami has cancer, she is terrified by the possibility of losing her mother, the anchor of her close-knit family. Suddenly, being a high school student, starring in a play, and dealing with friends who don't always understand, become less important than doing whatever she can to save Mami's life.

While her father cares for Mami at an out-of-town clinic, Lupita takes charge of her seven younger siblings. As Lupita struggles to keep the family afloat, she takes refuge in the shade of a mesquite tree, where she escapes the chaos at home to write. Forced to face her limitations in the midst of overwhelming changes and losses, Lupita rediscovers her voice and finds healing in the power of words.

Told with honest emotion in evocative free verse, Lupita's journey toward hope is captured in moments that are alternately warm and poignant. Under the Mesquite is an empowering story about testing family bonds and the strength of a young woman navigating pain and hardship with surprising resilience."

In Under the Mesquite, Lupita's story is told in rich, picturesque language. The author carries us, along with Lupita and her family to homes on both sides of the United States-Mexican border. And she makes us feel at home there too, successfully incorporating Spanish words and glimpses of Latino experiences.

Time for a Little Fun

Last week I received The Versatile Blogger Award from new blogging friend, Fiona J. Phillips over at Fi's Magical Writing Haven. Thanks, Fi. I'd also like to thank C. Lee McKenzie from The Write Game, for bestowing this honor on me several months back.

The rules insist that I tell you seven things you don't know about me, and pass the award on to five other bloggers, so here goes:

1.  I'm keeping all of the chocolates I received for Christmas (coconut wreaths, cordial cherries, thin mints, assorted cremes, etc.) on my desk. I've been spending an inordinate amount of time in my office this month. Any connection? I'll let you decide ;)

2.  I also received a gift card to our local independent book shop. Stacked in a very satisfying pile on the corner of my desk (next to the cache of chocolates) are North of Beautiful, by Justina Chen Headley, I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak, Second Sight by Cheryl B. KIein, and May B. by Caroline Starr Rose. I am in readers bliss.

3. I love to bake, but hate to cook. Give me Toll House cookie bars over pork chops any day!

4. I never learned to dress like an adult. I wear jeans, t-shirts and sneakers every day. (Although I recently went on a shopping spree in preparation for attending a writers conference later in the year.) I almost don't recognize myself all dressed up.

5.  Figuring out what to make for dinner is my least favorite part of each day. Sometimes I just want to scream, "Really, I have to cook every day?"

6. Although I swore this would never happen to me, I sometimes forget how old I am.

7. I was once asked if my (older) sister was my daughter. This happened only once and I tell myself that the room was dimly lit, the woman who asked was elderly and surely she had some sort of vision impairment. It wasn't. And to my knowledge, she didn't. But I tell myself this anyway.

And now I'd like to pass this award on to five of my blogging friends. I hope you'll click on over and check them out.

1.  Mirka Breen shares wonderfully honest posts on her own blog and is a faithful commenter on so many others. Thanks, Mirka!

2.  Susanna Leonard Hill runs a truly versatile blog. She's always got something going on: challenges, contests, polls, prompts. There's never a dull moment.

3.  Janet Sumner Johnson because she is awesome! See this post.

4.  Sarah Pearson has an addicting blog feature called Musical Stories. If you haven't already, you're going to want to check them out. 

5.  Rosalind Adam because she's one of the nicest people I've met since I started blogging.

Now, to celebrate the fact that I'm going to be diving into the query process with my YA novel in verse this week, I'm joining a reading challenge. My daughter, Amanda, is hosting a Novels In Verse Reading Challenge over at Born Bookish.

I've signed on at the Sonnet Level to read 9-12 novels in verse before the end of the year. I hope you'll consider joining as well. And if you've never read a novel in verse, you may be surprised to find how many of them there are. She's got lists of both MG and YA titles here.

Fictional Distraction

Image courtesy of AarinFreePhoto.com

I hope you all had a very happy Thanksgiving! I had intended to post yesterday, but the day got away from me. Today, if you're looking for a little fictional distraction from the sales and the crowds, I hope you'll visit Every Day Fiction and read my story "Dinner Plans" (And consider joining the lively discussion in the comments section.)

Also, if you'd like a chance to win two books by Holly Black, my daughter is hosting her first giveaway over at Born Bookish.

Until next time, I hope you find lots of great Black Friday bargains and enjoy plenty of delicious turkey leftovers!

Voices of a Love/Hate Relationship

When my children were small, the only time we listened to the radio was when we rode in the car, so I always had command of the controls. My goal was to teach them to be discerning listeners, explaining why I flipped the station each time something inappropriate came over the airwaves. I was guiding them, providing a voice for them, until they began to hear and listen to their own inner voices.

As a writer, I often have a love/hate relationship with voices. I love when the muse whispers to me. I love when my characters seem to write themselves onto my heart, demanding that I put them down on the page. But then there are the voices that tell me I’m not good enough, I’m delusional to think I could ever really do this. That’s the hate part of the equation. But in the end, we all choose who we listen to, don’t we?

I’m thinking about voices a lot this week as I return to my WIP after an eight-week cooling period. In an article I read by Writer’s Digest’s Brian Klems, he shares The Geyser 5-Step Approach to Revision. Step Two he calls Invite the Flow to Return. This was a perfect reminder to me that revisions are not just about addressing the technical issues. It’s about recapturing the feeling you had when you were writing, and letting your characters talk to you again.

In honor of characters who speak to us, I’m sharing on of my favorite songs: Voices.  Enjoy!

Do you have a love/hate relationship with voices? How do you decide which voice to listen to?


Speaking of voices, I’m trying out my reviewer’s voice this week. My daughter, Amanda, invited me to share a book review over on her blog, Born Bookish I hope you’ll check it out!