Monday, October 29, 2007
Intergalactic Medecine Show loves Fire-Us
Enthusiastic and long review of the post-apocalyptic trilogy I wrote with my friend, Nancy Butcher. This series never got a whole lof of play, but there are some dedicated fans out there, all the same...
Blog Bookmark Gadgets
Monday, August 13, 2007
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Nutty comment on the Colbert Nation official site
Somebody is suggesting Colbert have me on the Colbert Report, as I am "the biggest liberal who could ever be spawned in this good country. She claims that she loves America but we all know she is lying."
So evidently some conservative nutter has read The American Story and -- who knows? didn't like the story about Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs? Thought I was "soft" on Native Americans?
Why am I so tickled?
Blog Bookmark Gadgets
So evidently some conservative nutter has read The American Story and -- who knows? didn't like the story about Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs? Thought I was "soft" on Native Americans?
Why am I so tickled?
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Barre (Vermont) Read Steal Away
This was back in early May, but I forgot to post this picture of the banner hanging from the public library. I spent two days in Barre middle schools and being feted. Like I always say, being feted is much nicer than being fetid. It was a little weird to discuss a book I wrote fifteen years ago -- the kids I was talking to were more familiar with it than I was. I meant to reread it before I went, but for some reason I didn't. And I couldn't remember many of the details. I said something about one of the characters, and the kids in the classroom all said, "Huh? No she didn't!" Ooops.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Tom Brokaw endorses The American Story -- Again
Tom Brokaw is in town for Skidmore's graduation -- I think he was a speaker. My friend Emma does the photos. Bada boom, bada bing, and he has an autographed copy of the book in his hands.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
The Banana strikes again
This teacher blog describes the pre-reading activities inspired by Once Upon a Banana.
Blog Bookmark Gadgets
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Magnus at the Fire a nominee for Missouri Show Me Readers Award
With 50 states its hard to keep up with state book awards, but I just found this listing for 2007-2008 nominees.
Blog Bookmark Gadgets
Monday, April 23, 2007
What's the Korean word for banana?
I don't know, but a Korean publisher has bought translation rights to Once Upon a Banana. I know David painted all the signs blank, with the sign text an overlay for just this reason -- so that translations would be possible. But wow, Korean? If they are able to make it all rhyme I'll be amazed!
Blog Bookmark Gadgets
Monday, April 16, 2007
Live Radio Interview on Tuesday, April 14
This will be at 2:15 EST on a program called "Awaken With Grace" and she'll be interviewing me about In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer. You can listen in by clicking the link above -- it will take you to the radio station and then if you just click "listen" -- it will open in iTunes or your MediaPlayer.
Blog Bookmark Gadgets
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Children's Literature Assembly 2007 Notables in the English Language Arts
Phew, that's a mouthful, but the relevant info is that Once Upon a Banana is on this list.
Blog Bookmark Gadgets
Monday, March 26, 2007
Tasting the Sky, by Ibtisam Barakat
Some months ago I mentioned that my friend Ibtisam had written a memoir of her Palestinian childhood. Here it is, now published. Please click on this entry title to see the full description of the book, plus blurbs by Naomi Shihab Nye, Suzanne Fisher Staples, and me.
Friday, March 23, 2007
The American Story in action...
Here's a blog entry from a mom (and fellow writer) whose son has connected current presidential scandal mess to Nixon's devolution, courtesy of my Watergate store in The American Story.
Blog Bookmark Gadgets
Friday, March 16, 2007
The Winner's Circle running now in New York Post
This is chapter one of my Saratoga racing-themed serial novel, The Winner's Circle. It's been running in newspapers around the country for about three years, as part of the Breakfast Serials program. It's a ghost story. It's a horse story. Enjoy!
Blog Bookmark Gadgets
Sunday, March 11, 2007
The American Story named one of 2006's best by Chicago Public Library
According to Andrew Medlar, Chicago Public Library, Children and Young Adult Services,
"Many elements come into play in this selection of the most outstanding
titles for children and young adults that belong in every library and home.
Throughout the year we look carefully for:
* Books that meet high standards of writing and illustration
* Books that have a significant curriculum link
* Books that reflect living in an urban, multicultural society
* Books that present a topic not previously available in a juvenile
format
* Books that add zip to programs and special projects"
Blog Bookmark Gadgets
"Many elements come into play in this selection of the most outstanding
titles for children and young adults that belong in every library and home.
Throughout the year we look carefully for:
* Books that meet high standards of writing and illustration
* Books that have a significant curriculum link
* Books that reflect living in an urban, multicultural society
* Books that present a topic not previously available in a juvenile
format
* Books that add zip to programs and special projects"
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
They're gonna love me in Estonia...
I got an email yesterday from a publisher in Estonia, enquiring about the availability of Estonian language translation rights to The American Story.
They are, shall we say, extremely available.
Blog Bookmark Gadgets
They are, shall we say, extremely available.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Columbia Tribune says "A book every family should own."
"The American Story: 100 True Tales From American History by Jennifer Armstrong is one of the best timelines of our history that I’ve come across," says their columnist.
Blog Bookmark Gadgets
Jennifer, where have you been?
Okay, to begin with, I was supposed to be in Sarasota, Florida. I had a book signing lined up at Circle Books, and a visit to a school called Open Door Academy. In the time not spent signing books or talking about books, I was going to be playing at a duplicate bridge tournament. See, this article from the Sarasota Herald Tribune says so.
Then the blizzard happened. I was supposed to fly on Wednesday. HA! By 5:30 a.m. my 10:00 a.m. flight from Albany had already been cancelled. Forty minutes waiting on hold with the airline produced the information that there was no way -- and I mean no way -- to reschedule me on another flight before Saturday. And my return ticket was for Sunday. So I didn't go to Florida. Bridge partner James, scheduled to leave the next day, figured he wouldn't get out either, and why go anyway if I wasn't going to be there? And it snowed and snowed and snowed.
So on Wednesday afternoon, Valentine's Day, with the snow coming down at a rate of about 3 inches per hour, the Scrabble tournament convened at my house in front of the fire. There were interludes of shoveling, pushing cars, etc. More Scrabble. More snow.
Then on Thursday, James and I drove to Connecticut to play in a bridge tournament there. We figured we had planned on spending three days playing bridge, so why not just do it at another tournament? It wasn't quite like going to Florida, but when you're playing bridge in the stuffy ballroom of a convention center, it doesn't much matter what's happening outside.
With a break on Friday morning for me to be the guest speaker at an on-line conference, a webinar on Bringing History to Life, we played five matches, approximately 135 hands. Surprisingly there were a number of junior players and college aged players. Wow. A sign that the game is not dying out completely. For the first time James and I were not, at 45 years old, the youngest players in the room.
Saturday morning we watched me on C-SPAN 2, a horrifying experience. If you've never watched yourself on t.v. let me just say that if you have the opportunity to see yourself on t.v. don't take it.
Now I am back in front of the fire, regarding the snow piled up outside. Come on, spring. Come on.
Blog Bookmark Gadgets
Then the blizzard happened. I was supposed to fly on Wednesday. HA! By 5:30 a.m. my 10:00 a.m. flight from Albany had already been cancelled. Forty minutes waiting on hold with the airline produced the information that there was no way -- and I mean no way -- to reschedule me on another flight before Saturday. And my return ticket was for Sunday. So I didn't go to Florida. Bridge partner James, scheduled to leave the next day, figured he wouldn't get out either, and why go anyway if I wasn't going to be there? And it snowed and snowed and snowed.
So on Wednesday afternoon, Valentine's Day, with the snow coming down at a rate of about 3 inches per hour, the Scrabble tournament convened at my house in front of the fire. There were interludes of shoveling, pushing cars, etc. More Scrabble. More snow.
Then on Thursday, James and I drove to Connecticut to play in a bridge tournament there. We figured we had planned on spending three days playing bridge, so why not just do it at another tournament? It wasn't quite like going to Florida, but when you're playing bridge in the stuffy ballroom of a convention center, it doesn't much matter what's happening outside.
With a break on Friday morning for me to be the guest speaker at an on-line conference, a webinar on Bringing History to Life, we played five matches, approximately 135 hands. Surprisingly there were a number of junior players and college aged players. Wow. A sign that the game is not dying out completely. For the first time James and I were not, at 45 years old, the youngest players in the room.
Saturday morning we watched me on C-SPAN 2, a horrifying experience. If you've never watched yourself on t.v. let me just say that if you have the opportunity to see yourself on t.v. don't take it.
Now I am back in front of the fire, regarding the snow piled up outside. Come on, spring. Come on.
Friday, February 09, 2007
2007 Scrabble Challenge
Some readers may recall my description of a literacy fund raising event last fall where I played team Scrabble with some friends. These same three friends, regulars at my weekly Game Night, have been my constant adversaries on the great board. 2006 was marked by trash talk and competing claims of Scrabble supremacy.
In the interests of proving once and for all who is the best Scrabble player among us, Rumara proposed a tournament to last for one year. Rules would be official National Scrabble Association; scads of data would be recorded in a spreadsheet. Rumara actually joined the NAS in order to get the OFFICIAL world list (referred to as OWL). She prepared a binder for each of us with rules, strategies, useful word lists (the two-letter words, the three-letter words, the u-dumps, the i-dumps, etc.).
After a few weeks of play, usually on Sunday night but often at other times (for example, for five hours on Wednesday afternoon this week; what a good thing we're all self-employed) we have honed our techniques and policies.
1. In the interests of random seating and avoiding cries of "She always sets him up!" we take N,S, E, and W from the bag, lay them face down, and draw for seating at the start of each match. We then draw for who goes first, in the usual manner.
2. "Style points" are noted on the spreadsheet, although we don't have a way to quantify them yet. They may come in handy in the final accounting, perhaps as a tie-breaker, if necessary. Style points are awareded for any especially clever play on the board, such as forming a box, bridging two particularly problematic letters, making a long side-by-side word, etc. Style points are awarded by consensus.
3. Because there are a variety of ways to determing who is "winning," we've begun analyzing the spreadsheet to figure out the best measurement. Right now we are trying a sum of average score + number of wins + number of points (based on first, second, third and fourth place finishes) + number of bingos (7-letter words). By this method, I'm winning right now; however, if we use median score + number of wins + number of points + bingos, then Rumara is winning and Mike is in second place, with me in third. James is last right now, although last week he was first in scoring. Once we figure which method (average or median) gives us the truest picture of Scrabble mastery, we'll create a function for that calculation in the spreadsheet.
This week my bingos were: BESTING, SILLIER, LOUSIER, RECOUPED, and FALTERER. Michael had one bingo, COSTING, and Rumara tried to play RENAMERS and was forced to retract it after a successful challenge.
Stay tuned for further updates. There will be some breaks in the action -- James and I are going to Florida to play in a bridge tournament, Mike is going to Europe to play hockey, etc. -- but we try to squeeze our sanctioned matches in as often as possible as schedules allow.
Blog Bookmark Gadgets
In the interests of proving once and for all who is the best Scrabble player among us, Rumara proposed a tournament to last for one year. Rules would be official National Scrabble Association; scads of data would be recorded in a spreadsheet. Rumara actually joined the NAS in order to get the OFFICIAL world list (referred to as OWL). She prepared a binder for each of us with rules, strategies, useful word lists (the two-letter words, the three-letter words, the u-dumps, the i-dumps, etc.).
After a few weeks of play, usually on Sunday night but often at other times (for example, for five hours on Wednesday afternoon this week; what a good thing we're all self-employed) we have honed our techniques and policies.
1. In the interests of random seating and avoiding cries of "She always sets him up!" we take N,S, E, and W from the bag, lay them face down, and draw for seating at the start of each match. We then draw for who goes first, in the usual manner.
2. "Style points" are noted on the spreadsheet, although we don't have a way to quantify them yet. They may come in handy in the final accounting, perhaps as a tie-breaker, if necessary. Style points are awareded for any especially clever play on the board, such as forming a box, bridging two particularly problematic letters, making a long side-by-side word, etc. Style points are awarded by consensus.
3. Because there are a variety of ways to determing who is "winning," we've begun analyzing the spreadsheet to figure out the best measurement. Right now we are trying a sum of average score + number of wins + number of points (based on first, second, third and fourth place finishes) + number of bingos (7-letter words). By this method, I'm winning right now; however, if we use median score + number of wins + number of points + bingos, then Rumara is winning and Mike is in second place, with me in third. James is last right now, although last week he was first in scoring. Once we figure which method (average or median) gives us the truest picture of Scrabble mastery, we'll create a function for that calculation in the spreadsheet.
This week my bingos were: BESTING, SILLIER, LOUSIER, RECOUPED, and FALTERER. Michael had one bingo, COSTING, and Rumara tried to play RENAMERS and was forced to retract it after a successful challenge.
Stay tuned for further updates. There will be some breaks in the action -- James and I are going to Florida to play in a bridge tournament, Mike is going to Europe to play hockey, etc. -- but we try to squeeze our sanctioned matches in as often as possible as schedules allow.
Monday, February 05, 2007
Houston Chronicle
This story is about the writer-in-residence program I was doing at Annunciation Orthodox School in Houston last week. It was an interesting program, where I helped students take research on a historical subject or person and turn it into fiction. Some kids were really receptive and wrote like maniacs, and some were extremely reluctant to make logical inferences about the facts they had discovered. It was a long week, but a good one.
Blog Bookmark Gadgets
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Well whaddaya know...
Today's mail brought a large, stiff envelope with the return address reading The White House. Huh? says I, inspecting it. I opened it up, hardly knowing what to expect.
Turns out to be an autographed picture of Laura Bush, with a letter thanking me for the signed copy of The American Story which someone passed along to her. I know I signed at least two copies of the book for her -- various people with access offered to pass the book along -- and evidently at least one of them has finally made its way to her attention. "I appreciate your generosity and look forward to reading your book. With best wishes, Laura Bush" is how the letter concludes.
This reminds me of a funny period of my sleep life from six or seven years ago, the period I refer to as "my dreams about Laura Bush." In the early days of the first term I had naive hopes that with a librarian in the White House we might see some really serious attention paid to children's literacy issues. On several occasions I dreamed that I ran into the First Lady at some conference -- a librarian convention, perhaps -- and would begin a conversation something along the lines of, "Hey, it's great to see you, do you think we could get together for a cup of coffee and discuss some things?" She was like many librarians I have met at conventions over the years -- a friendly acquaintance with mutual professional interests.
After a while I stopped having those dreams.
Blog Bookmark Gadgets
Turns out to be an autographed picture of Laura Bush, with a letter thanking me for the signed copy of The American Story which someone passed along to her. I know I signed at least two copies of the book for her -- various people with access offered to pass the book along -- and evidently at least one of them has finally made its way to her attention. "I appreciate your generosity and look forward to reading your book. With best wishes, Laura Bush" is how the letter concludes.
This reminds me of a funny period of my sleep life from six or seven years ago, the period I refer to as "my dreams about Laura Bush." In the early days of the first term I had naive hopes that with a librarian in the White House we might see some really serious attention paid to children's literacy issues. On several occasions I dreamed that I ran into the First Lady at some conference -- a librarian convention, perhaps -- and would begin a conversation something along the lines of, "Hey, it's great to see you, do you think we could get together for a cup of coffee and discuss some things?" She was like many librarians I have met at conventions over the years -- a friendly acquaintance with mutual professional interests.
After a while I stopped having those dreams.
Friday, February 02, 2007
Columbia, Missouri, says Banana should have been a Caldecott winner
Well, but it wasn't. It was on the Notables list, but it didn't make the Caldecott red carpet, sadly. But thanks, Columbia, Missouri, for the vote of confidence.
Blog Bookmark Gadgets
Okay, Jen, but how was Houston?
Houston, which was a school visit trip, turned into a media blitz -- all on one day. I spent four days at Annunciation Orthodox School doing a really cool writer-in-residence project (more on that in another post) and Monday started with an interview with a Houston Chronicle reporter; then my trusty publicist at Random House called to say that a radio station in Beaumont, Texas, wanted to do a live interview with me that afternoon, before my booksigning; and when my hostess and I got to the bookstore at 3 the C-SPAN crew was already there, filling the little store (Blue Willow) with their gear. We did a bunch of lighting tests, sound checks -- to my chagrin they told me what I was wearing wouldn't look right so could I just wear my green cardigan and not the fancy tapestry coat (and I chose it special for t.v.); I went off to a quiet spot to the the radio interview, and when I returned to the store for the 5 o'clock taping we had a full house. I actually gave my full American Story speech, even the part about the -- you know -- atheist anti-war pro-choice vegetarian blue state liberal bit and I wasn't sure if I was imagining the look of horror intensifying with each label. Potentially, it was "vegetarian" that cut the deepest with some of those Houston folks; actually, afterward a bunch of them came up during the signing and joked about it "that's not not not not not us" but book folk are book folk, after all. Lots of people bought books, and even several members of the t.v. crew, who say that in spite of doing bookstore events all the time they NEVER actually buy the book. So I guess I won them over. In spite of the -- you know -- vegetarianism...
Blog Bookmark Gadgets
South Florida Sun Sentinel
This piece looks familiar -- I think they picked up the story the Washington Post ran a few weeks ago on The American Story.
Blog Bookmark Gadgets
Thursday, January 18, 2007
C-SPAN, take 2
Well, some of you may recall that one of my book tour stops last fall was meant to include a taping with Book-TV; it was cancelled for some peculiar reason.
However, my tireless publicist at Random House has continued to knock on C-SPAN's door: my next bookstore event (in Houston, later this month) will be taped.
The date is January 29, 5 p.m. at the Blue Willow bookstore in Houston. If you are in the neighborhood please come by. I don't know when they'll be airing the segment, but it would be great if you can be part of the audience. I'll be giving a presentation about The American Story and taking questions. And autographing books. I'll be in Houston for most of the week visiting Annunciation Orthodox School, doing a history writing writer-in-residence program.
I was about to say, "Whew! it'll be nice to get out of the ice and cold of upstate New York!" but apparenty Texas isn't getting off so easy this winter, either. In any event, I'll be heading south in about a week and a half, and hope to see some of y'all there.
Blog Bookmark Gadgets
However, my tireless publicist at Random House has continued to knock on C-SPAN's door: my next bookstore event (in Houston, later this month) will be taped.
The date is January 29, 5 p.m. at the Blue Willow bookstore in Houston. If you are in the neighborhood please come by. I don't know when they'll be airing the segment, but it would be great if you can be part of the audience. I'll be giving a presentation about The American Story and taking questions. And autographing books. I'll be in Houston for most of the week visiting Annunciation Orthodox School, doing a history writing writer-in-residence program.
I was about to say, "Whew! it'll be nice to get out of the ice and cold of upstate New York!" but apparenty Texas isn't getting off so easy this winter, either. In any event, I'll be heading south in about a week and a half, and hope to see some of y'all there.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Free-Lance Star (Fredericksburg, VA) picks Banana out of the bunch
A mock Caldecott group at the local library didn't select it as a winner or an honor, but they just had to mention it all the same, evidently.
Blog Bookmark Gadgets
If you want to buy any of my books...
Buying them through the Givezilla site will benefit the Ethiopa Books for Children and Education Foundation, aka Ethiopia Reads. This would be a most excellence confluence of Good Things for me. This is a foundation and mission very close to my heart.
So if you think you'd end up ordering on-line, please consider ordering from Givezilla.
Thanks!
Blog Bookmark Gadgets
So if you think you'd end up ordering on-line, please consider ordering from Givezilla.
Thanks!
Monday, January 15, 2007
ice getting thicker
It's beginning to look very much like trees may start falling today. Already there have been power flickers. Are we going to lose electricity? Please, please, please no!
Ice Storm
No snow this year, which is great if you're not a skier, like me (not a skier, that is). But now this? Since January 1 I have been conscientiously walking at least 10,000 steps a day, as measured by my pedometer. Yesterday the sidewalks were slippy and scary, and by 11 p.m. when my weekly Game Night came to its exhausted end (Scrabble tournament, bridge, hearts, lots of pizza and yelling and a nice fire in the fireplace) I discovered I had only 6,500 steps or so. So I went out for a walk. It wasn't too cold, but the ice was starting and I walked in the streets instead of on the sidewalks, since that felt safer. At one point I police car cruised past, and I wondered what I would say if, for some reason, they stopped to speak to me, "Well, I have to get up to 10,000 before midnight, officer, so I'm carefully walking in the dark, on an icy night. It's a goal, you see."
I went back in when I reached 8,200 and walked the remaining 1,800 steps in the house. I reached 10,000 at 6 minutes before midnight.
Now we have a crazy glaze of ice out there. How will I do 10,000 steps today? I guess I could go to a mall and walk inside. What a dreary prospect.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Magnus at the Fire an IRA-CBC Children's Choice for 2006
IRA (International Reading Association) and CBC (Children's Book Council) annually invite 10,000 school children around the country to participate in this selection process. According to the listing of the 2006 winners, "Children love this story about a faithful and heroic horse who serves the community well."
Thanks, kids!
Blog Bookmark Gadgets
Thanks, kids!
Friday, January 12, 2007
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Friday, January 05, 2007
Thursday, January 04, 2007
History Contest Winner
Nate Crawford, a 5th grade student from Bellevue, NE, was the winner of the December writing contest on my website. Go to the sidebar here (on some computers it drops to the bottom, don't ask me why) and click on "CONTEST WINNERS" to read his letter from George Washington to Lafayette.
An autographed copy of The American Story is going in the mail to him and his class today.
For two chances every month to win a copy of the book, check out my website.
Blog Bookmark Gadgets
An autographed copy of The American Story is going in the mail to him and his class today.
For two chances every month to win a copy of the book, check out my website.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
The air going out of the balloon
In the heady shopping whirl leading up to Christmas, The American Story and Once Upon a Banana were like colorful balloons bobbing above a sea of shoppers. Now, they are lying on the floor, looking a little shriveled. Well, that was predictable.
Now that my autumn of publicity and the holiday season are behind me, it's back to work. I'm preparing an on-line webinar for February, and revisiting a macabre middle grade novella about a slightly mad dollmaker in pre-Revolutionary Paris which I had started a few years ago and put aside. On the last day of 2006 I emptied all the waste baskets, washed and folded all the laundry and emptied the sink of dirty dishes and headed north to the High Peaks. New Year's Day was the first official day of my 1,000 mile challenge (minimun of 10,000 steps a day) and a walk along the icy banks of the Ausable River was the perfect start. My friends Jane (of the Ethiopia trip) and her husband, Christian, pointed to the icicles growing from the rocks across the river from their beach -- "they'll be there until May" they said. It isn't really cold here yet, but will be soon enough, and winter is the time I typically hunker down in front of the fire and get the most work done.
So along with my 1,000 mile walk this year I'd like to complete a new book.
Blog Bookmark Gadgets
Now that my autumn of publicity and the holiday season are behind me, it's back to work. I'm preparing an on-line webinar for February, and revisiting a macabre middle grade novella about a slightly mad dollmaker in pre-Revolutionary Paris which I had started a few years ago and put aside. On the last day of 2006 I emptied all the waste baskets, washed and folded all the laundry and emptied the sink of dirty dishes and headed north to the High Peaks. New Year's Day was the first official day of my 1,000 mile challenge (minimun of 10,000 steps a day) and a walk along the icy banks of the Ausable River was the perfect start. My friends Jane (of the Ethiopia trip) and her husband, Christian, pointed to the icicles growing from the rocks across the river from their beach -- "they'll be there until May" they said. It isn't really cold here yet, but will be soon enough, and winter is the time I typically hunker down in front of the fire and get the most work done.
So along with my 1,000 mile walk this year I'd like to complete a new book.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)