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April 16th, 2010

Hey All,

I realize that Children’s Book Day came and went without comment from me. I intended to write something, but never got around to it. Remember that I do have 2 small children, a job that has me for 20 hours a week, a house that I must clean, and an addiction to bananagrams.

Wait…scratch that last thing. Forget I said it.

Lately I’ve been working on more art projects than writing projects, but I intend for that to change soon. May is going to find me seriously working on my search for an agent, and finalizing “Melanie’s Gift”. I’ll put up a few of the poems on this site within a week. Promise.


1. Lucy Pevensie from “The Chronicles of Narnia” by C.S. Lewis

April 1st, 2010

A little girl, far from home during a war.  She finds what all children dream of: a secret world.  Of course no one believes her.  Of course she refuses to deny what she knows to be true.  So she goes back to this secret world, and learns its troubles.  She has to save it.  It’s a big, scary job to give a little girl and her siblings, but Lucy never questions it.  She never wavers from her commitment to the Right Thing.  It becomes difficult and sad, but she perserveres and trusts in Aslan (being the youngest and the least hampered by self consciousness or fear of the unknown, she bonds with him immediatley).

In the four books she appears in, she changes little.  She is eight years old in “The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe” and seventeen in “The Last Battle”.  Her vocabulary grows, her education grows, but she remains Lucy the Valient.

I cannot count how many times I have read “The Chronicles of Narnia”.  For over two decades they have been my favorite books, and she has been my favorite character.
Lucy on Wikipedia.


2. Josephine March from “Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott

April 1st, 2010

Though “Little Women” is very much of its period, in terms of language, the four sisters have very relatable personalities, and none (for me) more so than Jo. Tall, awkward, creative and very much a misfit in her society, she is nevertheless fiercely loved by her family and friends. She is bold and brave, constantly striving to be a better person, without giving up the things that define her. She’s wonderfully honest. She’s ambitious, yet realistic. As a teenager and as a woman, Jo March was and is me and everything I strive to be.

I turn to her and her wonderful, wonderful family once a decade, and each time feels like the first time.

I was lucky enough to play her on stage my senior year of high school, and I loved it. Though I’m not the biggest fan of the play adaptation (it’s a tough one to adapt for the stage…films have done it better) to play my heroine remains a highlight of my time on the boards.

Ladies, how long has it been since you revisited Jo (and Meg, Beth, Amy, and Marmee)?

Read about Louisa May Alcott.


4. Coraline Jones 3. Alice Rumphius

March 30th, 2010

coraline-cover.jpg

4. Neil Gaimen is a master storyteller, in my opinion.  He’s written lots of really great characters in his work both for children and adults, but none are dearer to me than Coraline.  Coraline is a bright girl, with two hard working parents who love her very much, but don’t pay her as much attention as they should.  Also, they’re boring. Coraline discovers a parallel world through a door in her new/old house.  In this other world, everyone is spectacular and fun, and there are Other Parents who dote upon her.  She soon discovers that this perfect, magical world has a horrific secret behind it.  Rather than freak out, this kiddo fights.  Her story is one many kids can identify with, and her handling of it is brave and very smart.

I want to say more about her, but for those who haven’t read the book, I really, really don’t want to spoil anything. If you liked Lucy Pevensie and Hermione Granger, you’re going to love Coraline Jones.

More books by the man who made Coraline.

220px-missrumphiusbookcover.jpg

3. Alice Rumphius is very much in this world.  She was partly autobiographical, which makes author Barbara Cooney cool on so many levels.  As a little girl, Alice tells her beloved grandfather that when she grows up, she want to travel the world and have a house by the sea, just as he did.  He tells her that those are wonderful aspirations, but she has to make sure that she does something to make the world a more beautiful place.

Alice grows up and becomes a librarian.  She travels the world and makes fascinating friends and sees the wonders of nature and foreign cultures.  As an elderly lady, she buys her house by the sea, and remembers her grandfather’s words.   She wonders what to do to make the world a more beautiful place, and the answer comes to her as she recovers from illness.  What she does is so very simple, and makes her corner of the world so very, very beautiful.  To be honest, when I am old, perhaps I will not have travelled all over the world, and I may not own a house by the sea (though I’m not that far right now) but I think I may do the very thing that she did to make the world more beautiful.

More about the real life Miss Rumphius.


6. Anne Shirley 5. Irene Adler

March 30th, 2010

I realized a few days ago that March was almost over and I hadn’t finished my list of the top 10 female literary characters yet. That’s why you’re getting two in one, and the final four will be in some post before Thursday. Keeping it in March! Still counts for Women’s History!

6. Anne Shirley is from the Avonlea series by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Growing up as a redhead, I was bound to be drawn to her. Not only redheads love Anne (spelled with an “e”), though. She’s pretty irresistible. Passionate, creative, outgoing and tenacious. We saw her as an insecure girl, desperate to be loved. We got to see her grow into a confident and articulate young woman with a family built by love. Even though she matured, she never outgrew her love for the dramatic and poetic and beautiful. My favorite friends are those who remind me of her.

5. Irene Adler outsmarted Sherlock Holmes in “A Scandal in Bohemia”. Only four people have ever outsmarted Sherlock Holmes, and she’s the only woman who has ever done so. Lots of other writers like to speculate a romantic relationship between them (sex sells, no matter how out of character). In reality, they only met once, interacted for about half an hour, she turned the tables on him and then disappeared. She’s a favorite because of the impact she had in such a short piece of fiction.

Read more about Anne Shirley

Read “A Scandal in Bohemia”


7. Dahlia Travers

March 14th, 2010

Bertie Wooster’s good and deserving Aunt (not his Aunt Agatha, who ate broken bottles and turned into a werewolf at the full moon). A middle aged tough gal who was very modern for the twenties. She is constantly trying to rope Bertie into some insane scheme, usually involving theft or impersonation. She has no scruples when it comes to gambling, but her love for Bertie is clear because many times it is mentioned in the stories that she sent him boxes of goodies while he was at boarding school, and when he was an infant, he swallowed his pacifier and she saved his life (a fact of which she is constantly reminding him). She is, at the very least, hilarious.

A series of telegrams between Dahlia Travers and her nephew, Bertie Wooster:

“Come at once. Love, Travers”

“Perplexed. Explain. Bertie ”

“What on earth is there to be perplexed about, ass? Come at once. Love, Travers ”

“How do you mean come at once? Regards. Bertie ”

“I mean come at once you maddening half-wit. What do you think I meant? Come at once or expect an aunt’s curse by first post tomorrow. Love Travers ”

“When you say come, do you mean come to Brinkley Court? And when you say at once, do you mean at once? Fogged, at a loss. All the best, Bertie ”

“Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes. It doesn’t matter whether you understand or not, you just come at once as I tell you and for heaven’s sake stop this backchat. Do you think I am made of money that I can afford to send you telegrams every ten minutes? Stop being a fathead and come immediately. Love Travers.”

Probably my favorite Dahlia quote ever:

“The girls you’ve been engaged to and have escaped from would reach, if placed end to end, from Piccadilly to Hyde Park Corner. I won’t believe you’re married till I see the bishop and assistant clergy mopping their foreheads and saying, ‘Well, that’s that. We’ve really got the young blighter off at last.”

Books like “The Cat Nappers” and “Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves” are worth the read for her hijinks alone.


8. Olivia from the eponymous series by Ian Falconer

March 12th, 2010

She’s an erudite urbanite who loves fashion, school, jumping on her bed, music, toys, reading, opera, art museums, sand castles, her family, the color red, and making breakfast for her old little brother Ian, and her new little brother, William.

She’s a little girl with big dreams. She’s more awesome than some of her peers because she’s a pig.

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Oh, and she won a Caldecott.


9. Mirabelle Buttersfield from “Shopgirl” by Steve Martin

March 12th, 2010

Mirabelle is the heroine of Steve Martin’s novella “Shopgirl”. She was the first female character I ever felt I truly connected with. There were things I had in common with her that I did not think I had in common with anyone else. I developed quite an affection for Mirabelle. She’s very three dimensional, very real, and her story is truly a slice of life, told with gorgeous prose. She’s kind and gentle and quiet and witty. She’s artistic and just idealistic enough. She’s lonely and shy and capable of great passion and during the course of the story, we see her Depression and joy and heartbreak and growth.

“Shopgirl”, and other books by Steve Martin.


10. Vida Winter and Margaret Lea from “The Thirteenth Tale” by Diane Setterfield.

March 9th, 2010

The blog over at ModCloth gave me this idea, and they even share some of my opinions. So here are my top ten favorite female literary characters (broken up over 10 separate entries).

10. (tie) Vida Winter and Margaret Lea from “The Thirteenth Tale” by Diane Setterfield.

Famous, dying Vida chooses quiet, young Margaret to write her biography. Two women with deep, secret sorrows. They love books more than than they love most people. They are fascinating women who love books with fascinating women in them. Walking through Margaret’s mind is both heartbreaking and comforting. Vida Winter’s life story is a spellbinding, almost gothic mystery. If you love Bronte and DuMaurier, give these ladies a read.

The ModBlog entry that gave me the idea.

Author page for Diane Setterfield.

Find your nearest independent bookstore or library.


Library Finds: All Aboard the Dinotrain!

February 11th, 2010

Written by Deb Lund, illustrated by Howard Fine.

At the library a few days ago, while hunting for something new, I spotted the spine for this book. The title made me raise my eyebrows. Adding dinosaurs and trains is a guarantee that Sam will love whatever it is.

Boy did he! As soon as we got home, he asked me to read it twice. The art is excellent, very detailed. The book is written in rhyme, with a language that reveals the author knows what she’s talking about (when it comes to trains, anyway).  It’s funny, it has twists, and it’s the perfect length for a short story time…you won’t mind reading it twice in a row.

We’ll look for the other books from this team (and the artists as individuals), but I think Dinotrain will be our favorite. Sam shows no signs of outgrowing either infatuation anytime soon.

Here’s Deb Lund online.

Here’s Howard Fine online.

Find your local bookstore.