3 Favorite Books I Read this Year, Plus an Inspiring Song

Happy Poetry Friday! Today, instead of a poem, at the end of this post I'm sharing some song lyrics I've found especially inspiring during this challenging year. But first, I want to continue our end-of-the year series about a favorite book, poem, or quote we read in 2020.

Last week, Gwendolyn discussed as her favorite book, I See You, I See Myself: The Young Life of Jacob Lawrence, written by Deba Foxley Leach. (I've already added the title to my to-read list.) Unlike Gwen, I couldn't limit my favorites to just one title. I'm sharing three! The first two books are titles picked by the Not for Kids Only Book Club I'm a member of.

1. Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds (Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books). 

This book has won numerous awards, including a Newbery Honor, a Printz Honor, a Coretta Scott King Honor, and the Edgar Award Prize for Best Young Adult Fiction. Not only is Long Way Down a beautifully written novel in verse, this powerful book also deals with important issues that are especially relevant today.

2. Echo Mountain by Lauren Wolk (Dutton Books for Young Readers).

This novel, set in Depression-era Maine, is a 2020 title featured on Anderson's Bookshops Mock Newbery list. Despite the historical setting, this story about coping with unemployment and hardship is also relevant these days. The writing is quite lyrical, so I wasn't surprised to learn Lauren Wolk is a poet as well as a novelist. 

3. What Is Poetry? The Essential Guide to Reading and Writing Poems by Michael Rosen (Candlewick Books). 

This engaging nonfiction book was first published in the U.K. in 2016, but wasn't released here in the U.S. until 2019 and I just discovered it recently. I'm still working my way through this one because I'm savoring and learning from each section. Michael Rosen includes many great tidbits in this book, such as the following:

"Poems are a midway point between poets and readers. The poet pours in one set of meanings. The reader picks up a poem and puts in another set of meanings, and the two meet somewhere in the middle. That's what reading a poem is all about. It's a conversation between two sets of thoughts: the poet's and the reader's."

In researching Rosen's book, I was surprised to learn the author contracted COVID-19 earlier this year and was hospitalized for three months. He talks a bit about his experience and ongoing health issues at the beginning of this video. I hope he eventually makes a complete recovery.   

Finally, as promised, I'd like to share some song lyrics that have inspired and encouraged me during these difficult times. They're written by Carrie Newcomer, a performer I discovered when someone shared this song with me earlier this year:

Excerpt from lyrics of "You Can Do This Hard Thing"

by Carrie Newcomer

 

Here we stand breathless  

And pressed in hard times.

Hearts hung like laundry

On backyard clothes lines.

Impossible just takes

A little more time.

 

From the muddy ground

Comes a green volunteer.

In a place we thought barren

New life appears.

Morning will come whistling

Some comforting tune,

For you.

 

You can do this hard thing. 

You can do this hard thing.

Its not easy I know, 

But I believe that its so.

You can do this hard thing. 

 

©2016 Carrie Newcomer  

It's hard to believe Newcomer released this song in 2016. "You Can Do This Hard Thing" feels like it could be an anthem for 2020. 

 

You can read the song's complete lyrics on this page of her website by clicking the cover of the album, The Beautiful Not Yet. And you can hear her perform the song below or on YouTube here.

 

Don't forget to check out this week's Poetry Friday round up at Susan Bruck's Soul Blossom Living.

 

 

Posted by Carmela Martino

Hello Again

Happy New Year!  I'm happy to be back this week as a "guest blogger" -- especially on this most exciting day when the children's book world celebrates its equivalent of the Academy Awards.

As most of you probably know, you can follow the live feed of the ALA announcements here:
http://live.webcastinc.com/ala/2014/live/

Yay, librarians!  Yay, writers, illustrators, and editors!

I have been enjoying my hiatus from blogging duties to relax, read (gasp), and yes, even work on my own writing -- that is, when I'm not teaching, working at my day job, or schlepping my kids all over central Maryland.  The opportunity to "fill the well," as they say, has been much needed and most welcome.

While I have been on a bit of a reading binge, I admit that I haven't run out to acquire most of the (I'm sure fabulous) books on this year's Mock Newberys lists.  [Here, by the way, is an awesome Mock Newbery blog.] I have made no secret in the past of my populist tastes, and a colleague I respect very much who writes literary fiction recently said something very revealing to me.  She shared that she enjoyed dabbling in writing for kids because "it's okay to have a happy ending."  The fact that it's not okay to have a happy ending in "serious" works probably wholly explains my populist taste.  As someone who's suffered from depression my entire adult life, I frankly don't enjoy reading books that depress me.  

(courtesy of Way Off Broadway)

Over the holiday break, my daughter was cast in a local production of The Sound of Music, and we have been glorying in listening to My Favorite Things on endless repeat.  I also introduced her to my favorite childhood show, The Brady Bunch, and she prefers it to all of our Netflix offerings. Eight is such an amazing age -- that blend of wit, innocence, intelligence, ignorance.  I honestly wish I could freeze this moment in time forever. 

But while I grew up in an era of Little House and The Waltons, it's now a world of Dance Moms and the Kardashians and Justin Bieber.  The catch word is "edgy."  Scan the list of acclaimed books, and count how many feature dead parents, siblings, mental illness, war, or some combination thereof.  Certainly these books are necessary and important, and I would never want to imply otherwise. I also greatly appreciate the fact that today there is a place for heroines like Katniss (even if I can't bring myself to read anything about vampires or dystopian societies).  At the same time, I wish there were more appreciation today for the literary "comfort food" that sustained me through my childhood.  I believe there is still an appetite for the cozy, (and yes, cozy can be realistic!) family stories that I loved and that my daughter still loves today.

In some ways, our kids are so sadly wise in the ways of the world.  Yesterday I had to tell my daughter about a mass shooting at "our" local mall, which we visited just last week.  Experienced in "duck and cover" drills as she is, she barely reacted to the horrifying news.  At the same time, I never thought that I would have an almost-nine-year-old who still believed in Santa -- and she is far from alone among her peers.  Technology is, I'm sure, a big part of the reason -- in this Internet age, Santa's rapid transit feats no longer seem quite so impossible; and those video chats and apps featuring the "man" himself add credibility, too.  But I also suspect that our kids want to cling to the innocence of childhood, to be kids longer than they are often allowed to be.

At least in the field of picture books, happy innocence is still the rule.  If you're looking for something to warm your heart, don't forget to enter the giveaway for Jill Esbaum's delightful new book, I Hatched!
Click here for contest details.

Congratulations to Jill on her recent book birthday and to all of today's ALA nominees and winners! -- Jeanne Marie

Working My Way through the Year's Best Books

Esther's heart quickens in January with thoughts of authors and illustrators about to be surprised with happy news. Mine jumps for joy at the end of each year with the buzz about praiseworthy new books to read. I scour the award lists for intriguing titles and authors whose names I recognize. Here are some sources to browse for your next exciting read:

Cybils awards are given each year by bloggers for books and book apps in eleven children's and young adult categories: Book Apps, Easy Readers & Early Chapter Books, Fantasy & Science Fiction (Middle Grade), Fantasy & Science Fiction (Young Adult), Fiction Picture Books, Graphic Novels, Middle Grade Fiction, Nonfiction for Middle Grade & Young Adult, Nonfiction Picture Books, Poetry, and Young Adult Fiction.

The CCBC-Net listserv holds monthly discussions about literature for children and young adults. Every December, members discuss their favorite books of the year.

The Mock Newbery 2012 group on Goodreads has 537 members; the group chose Okay for Now by Gary Schmidt as its winner. Honors included Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu, Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai, and A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness.

USA Today called Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai and Okay for Now by Gary Schmidt favorites in several polls.

Mock Newbery awards are held by many schools and libraries. Some results are posted online:

Heavy Medal, a Mock Newbery Blog from School Library Journal, posted results and a description of the deliberations from the Rockridge branch of the Oakland Public Library for the annual Mock Newbery. Their winner? Amelia Lost by Candace Fleming. Honor books were A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness and I Broke My Trunk! by Mo Willems.

Other results were reported from Queens Library, including the winner, Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt and one Honor, Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick. The Maryland Library Association's winner was also Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt.

After discussing thirty titles, the ACPL Mock Newbery from the Children's Services department of the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana, selected one winner, Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai, and one honor book, Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt.

As I pore over each article, I'm adding new titles to my must-read list and deliberating about my own favorites. Happy reading!
JoAnn Early Macken

P.S. You can still enter our drawing for an autographed copy of Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg. Read April's interview. Then post a brief comment sharing an "oops" in your life and how you (or someone else) turned it into something beautiful. Be sure to include an email address (format: teachingauthors at gmail dot com) or a link to an e-mail address. Or you can e-mail your comment to teachingauthors at gmail dot com with "Contest" in the subject line. Entry Deadline is Wednesday, January 25th, 11 p.m. (CST). You must have a U.S. mailing address to win. The winner will be announced on January 27th. Good Luck!