Posts Tagged Book Giveaway

Interview with Author Cathy Carr and Book Giveaway!

Cathy Carr is the author of the award-winning novel, 365 Days to Alaska, which is a Junior Library Guild Selection and a Bank Street Best Children’s Books of 2021.

Readers will fall in love with Cathy’s latest book, Lost Kites and Other Treasures (Amulet Books), just released on February 6.  The main character,  Franny, is passionate about making artwork out of collected scraps and various objects. Franny’s creativity serves as an outlet as she navigates challenges with friendships, and her relationship with her grandmother, Franny’s legal guardian. At the heart of the story are hidden secrets about Franny’s mother, who abandoned her years before. It was a joy to enter Franny’s world, as she pulls together scraps of hope throughout her journey.

When she is not writing, Cathy loves to cook, garden and take hikes in nature, all the while collecting found materials for art projects. Cathy lives in New Jersey with her husband, son and “scrappy” cats, Nutmeg and Ginger. Cathy took time away from her busy writing schedule to offer a bit of background on Lost Kites and Other Treasures.

 

Please share your inspiration for creating Franny (Frances), the main character.

When I was in my late twenties, some friends of mine had a little girl who was an absolute hellion. I loved her, but she was a handful. She had a hair-trigger temper, she cussed, she had a habit of trying to kick men in the crotch (I left that out of my book), and she had flyaway white-blonde hair—which is the reason why Franny is blonde. She grew up to be a completely reasonable, healthy adult. She was my most direct inspiration for Franny, but many other bits and pieces inspired me too—my father’s troubled childhood, for one.

You explore a variety of aspects of mental illness, and specifically, bipolar disorder, from stigma to symptoms to effect on loved ones, What prompted you to write about this important topic?

It’s common. And for many people, it’s still a taboo subject. People are often startled when I speak about it openly. And, man, do a lot of them have their own tales to share. I have a clear memory of standing on our side porch while the guy who came to read the meter told me all about his schizophrenic daughter. He and I are still friends on Facebook. The mother with OCD, the cousin with bipolar, the uncle who had serious problems but would never see a psychiatrist because that would mean he was “crazy” —I’ve heard so many stories over the years. I didn’t see that common experience reflected in the fiction I was reading for kids, and I thought it should be reflected.

Franny is an artist, using found objects to create her work. Some of the characters appreciate her creativity, others, not so much, initially. What do you hope readers will take away from her artistry?

If Franny’s example inspires kids, or adults, to start a creative habit, or restart one that they’ve put by or neglected, that would make me happy. One thing I love about Franny’s artistry is that she just keeps on making because it gives her pleasure and purpose; she doesn’t stress too much about whether it’s good. This reminds me of something one of my friends said when my first book came out and I was fretting about sales or reviews or something, one of those stressful things writers have no control over. She said something along the lines of, “You wrote this book. It’s a good book. There’s a lot of you in it. It’s out in the world now, so get busy and start working on the next one.” Such excellent advice.

Throughout your story, Franny is faced with challenges to her friendships, including both physical separation and emotional separation due to betrayal of trust. You’ve portrayed relationships realistically, including the fact that Franny is also human and makes some mistakes along the way, which she admits to. Could you offer what you wanted to relay to young readers through these relationships?

Perfection is an unrealistic standard. We all mess up. And no one can be everything to everyone. If your toilet is overflowing, Franny’s friend Ruben is the guy to call. In other circumstances, not so much yet. He still has a lot of growing up to do. So, it’s important to give each other some grace. It’s also important to give people room to grow. People really can change. Sometimes I think we lose sight of this, especially under the influence of social media, which encourages us to form ruthless judgments of people based on 280-character tweets. Not a lot of room for nuance there.

Lost Kites and Other Treasures explores dysfunction within family relationships as well, from Nana’s secrecy about Franny’s mother’s illness, to the impact on Franny’s uncle of his sister’s illness and his response to the situation. Franny asks Ruben and friends whether their families ever fight, and what the outcome of those arguments are. Please offer insights into these relationships and situations in your story.

Life is complicated. Human relationships are complicated. I think both Nana and Uncle Gabe have been sort of worn out and worn down by the problems of Franny’s mom. What can help us under those circumstances, I believe, is community. Once Nana has that, she can start figuring out a better way to deal with her daughter’s troubled history. This is why Franny asks Ruben whether his family ever fights. If it’s just something that happens in your family, it feels awful and shaming. To know that it happens in pretty much everyone’s family lets you know you’re not alone. As for Tate’s claim that his parents never fight, some people need to portray themselves and their families as innately superior. This is often because of insecurity, but it can really be annoying to the rest of us.

I believe your story offers hope and personal growth as themes, from Franny’s hope that Nana will change in some of her stubborn ways, to Nana’s admission that even as an adult, she can be wrong in how she has behaved, in what she has communicated and, often, not. Could you please elaborate on these themes?

I think hope is important in middle-grade fiction. It’s important to communicate to our readers that a mistake isn’t the end of the world, that people’s characters aren’t set in stone, and that sometimes people behave the way they do because of circumstances you’re not aware of.

I loved how Miss Midori helped Franny’s artistic light shine, and how as an educator, she was a champion for Franny. Sadly, Franny didn’t feel that way about one of her other teachers. Care to expand on this?

It’s a common part of the school experience—the teacher you just don’t like! You don’t get them. They don’t get you either. Often it’s just two personalities that aren’t in very good sync. It’s such a common part of the middle-grade years I think it’s important to reflect that reality. On the other hand, a good teacher is a real gift, and that’s a common experience too. Mr. Burns is actually based on a math teacher I once had. I never heard him raise his voice. To this day, I have clear memories of how kind he was, especially to us geeky kids who weren’t the most socially successful.

Without giving away the ending, I loved how you didn’t tie everything up with a tight, shiny bow, but rather, true to Franny’s nature, wrapped the story up in scraps of hope. Did you consider ending the story otherwise?

“Scraps of hope”: I love that expression. No, I wasn’t tempted to write a sweet ending. Bittersweet is more my style. I try to emphasize hope and positivity in my writing for middle-schoolers, but I also work to be realistic. New problems and trials will arise, the way they always do. Nana and Franny are on the verge of having a new home at the end of the book, but there will be toilets to unclog and kitten pictures to sort through, because that’s life.

Lost Kites and Other Treasures is your second middle-grade novel, Can we look forward to other MG titles? What are you working on now?

Yes! Right now I’m working on my third novel, about a middle-grade girl in North Carolina. It’s still a rough draft, but there will be more complicated friendships, more struggles toward empathy, more family fights, and at least one pet chicken.

Thank you, Cathy, for offering insights into Franny and her world in Lost Kites and Other Treasures. To learn more about author Cathy Carr, visit her website here. For any questions or comments, feel free to reach Cathy at cathycarrwrites@gmail.com.

Cathy has offered a free copy of Lost Kites and Other Treasures through a random giveaway. Enter the Rafflecopter below. (Note entries only from continental United States.)
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STEM Tuesday: Snow and Ice– Book List

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kids of all ages wonder at the world of snow. Listed here are some great resources to learn more about it. From blizzards to ice ages, these books have something for everyone fascinated by snow and ice.

Curious About Snow (Smithsonian) - Kindle edition by Shaw, Gina. Children Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

 

Curious About Snow

by Gina Shaw

The very basics of ice and snow. With great photographs, this book starts with the basics, right from what ice is, how it is formed, what snowflakes are, right up to blizzards and snowstorms and how people have fun in the snow!

 

 

 

 

Ice: Chilling Stories from a Disappearing World - DK: 9781465481702 - AbeBooks

 

Ice: Chilling Stories from a Disappearing World

by various authors (DK publishers)

This beautiful big book full of stunning photographs is a deep dive into the frigid regions of our earth. It gives readers a complete picture of our icy world, from prehistory, to the geography of these lands, to the flora and fauna, and how humans have adapted to living in cold regions.

 

 

 

 

 

Meltdown: Discover Earth's Irreplaceable Glaciers and Learn What You Can Do to Save Them: Sanchez, Anita, Padula, Lily: 9781523509508: Amazon.com: Books

Meltdown: Discover Earth’s Irreplaceable Glaciers and Learn What You Can Do to Save Them

by Anita Sanchez (Author), Lily Padula (Illustrator)

This kids’ guide to glaciers is packed with information to give readers an exciting overview of glaciers and how important they are. With graphs, charts, photographs and more, this book will dive into the secrets of glaciers, teach readers how to become climate activists, and share ways to save the glaciers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mission: Arctic: A Scientifc Adventure to a Changing North Pole: Weiss-Tuider, Katharina, Schneider, Christian: 9781771649568: Amazon.com: BooksMission: Arctic: A Scientific Adventure to a Changing North Pole

by Katharina Weiss-Tuider and Christian Schneider

 

Until now, the world of the Arctic was a mystery. This guide follows the 2019 MOSAiC expedition whose mission was to let their vessel freeze in the sea ice and drift to the north pole. Why? To study how the Arctic is changing. Featuring photographs, facts, diagrams and more; the thrilling world of the Arctic will come alive as readers discover its secrets.

 

 

 

 

 

What Was the Ice Age? by Nico Medina and Who HQ

 

What Was the Ice Age?

by Nico Medina

A part of the “What Was” series, this book is a look at our world 20,000 years ago when glaciers and ice covered most of our planet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Explore The Ice Age!: With 25 Great Projects: Blobaum, Cindy, Stone, Bryan: 9781619305816: Amazon.com: Books

Explore The Ice Age!: With 25 Great Projects

by Cindy Blobaum (Author), Bryan Stone (Illustrator)

What exactly is an ice age? How do organisms and ecosystems deal with them? How do they affect the Earth? Explore the Ice Age illustrates with activities what happens during and after such an event. Filled with illustrations and fun facts, this book will be a welcome addition to your library.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Out of the Ice: How Climate Change Is Revealing the Past: Eamer, Claire, Shannon, Drew: 9781771387316: Amazon.com: Books

 

Out of the Ice: How Climate Change Is Revealing the Past

by Claire Eamer and Drew Shannon

A fascinating look into how unexpected things have been emerging from ice melting due to global warming. The book  discusses glacial archaeology, a scientific field in which researchers study these finds and discover new things about our past.

 

 

 

X-Books: Weather: Snow

Snow (X-books: Weather)

by Bill McAuliffe

Take a look at the five most devastating snowstorms recorded and discover fascinating information about the wonders of snow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blasted by Blizzards Book by Jill Keppeler | Epic

Blasted by Blizzards (Natural Disasters: How People Survive)

by Jill Keppeler (Author)

 

Want to learn the basics of blizzards? Blasted by Blizzards focuses on why they occur, what happens afterwards and what to do to prepare for a blizzard-shaped disaster.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ice! Poems About Polar Life Book Review and Ratings by Kids - Douglas Florian

 

Ice! Poems About Polar Life

by Douglas Florian

With poetry, wordplay and lots of humor, poet Douglas Florian introduces children to animals that live in the polar region, and also explores scientific concepts like global warming, animal adaptations, and much more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Susan Summers is a wildlife enthusiast and an author. Contact her at: https://susan-inez-summers.weebly.com/

 

 

Shruthi Rao is an author. Her home on the web is https://shruthi-rao.com

 

 

 

STEM Tuesday — Spooky and Scary Science– Interview with Gail Jarrow

Welcome to STEM Tuesday: Author Interview, a repeating feature for the last Tuesday of every month. Go Science-Tech-Engineering-Math!

Happy Spooky Season! What better way to celebrate this deliciously horrific month than with a book that’s TERRIFYING?!

American Murderer: The Parasite That Haunted the South is a riveting tale of an unwelcome guest that wreaked havoc in the 19th and early 20th centuries by boring into unsuspecting bodies through the skin and leaving its human hosts with wrecked bodies and brains.

Horrifying! Let’s dig in with Gail Jarrow!

 

American Murderer

Included on NPR’s 2022 “Books We Love” List Finalist, 2023 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction ALSC Notable Children’s Book

Andi Diehn: My first question feels a tad obvious, but why did you devote a whole book to hookworms?!   

Gail Jarrow: Gross and disgusting appeals to many  in my audience of ages 10+. You can’t beat a vampire creature that clings to the inside of your intestine wall with its suction-cup mouth and sucks your blood until you get sick or  die. And what’s more disgusting than a discussion of leaky outhouses? But beyond that, my account of hookworm disease in the U.S. is a little-known story showing  the  changes in medicine and public health that occurred in the early 1900s. I also was drawn to the subject because it dramatically illustrates how  researchers used the scientific method to make medical discoveries.

AD: Arthur Looss and his accidental discovery of how hookworms entered the body – wow! What does this tell you about the courage of scientists (or at least that particular scientist!)? 

GJ: You have to admire them!  Looss made a dangerous lab error that he recognized as an opportunity. In  research for my books, I’ve encountered several scientists who have intentionally put themselves at risk. Sometimes they’re so sure of themselves that they don’t consider their experiment to be reckless. But in other less certain situations,  they decide that being a human guinea pig is the only way to test a hypothesis. In Bubonic Panic, I tell how Waldemar Haffkine injected himself with the first plague vaccine in 1897, keeping records of his physical reaction. In Red Madness, Joseph Goldberger swallowed a “pill” made of feces, urine, blood, and saliva from pellagra victims to prove that the disease wasn’t contagious. His 1916 experiment put the infectious theory to rest. (Pellagra is a vitamin deficiency disease.) In 1984, Barry Marshall successfully tested his hypothesis that a bacterium caused stomach ulcers by swallowing a beaker full of the microbe. He did get an ulcer, which he cured with antibiotics, but he also received the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery.hookworm

AD: Stiles’s name for his newly discovered hookworm – the American Murderer – is chilling! Why do you think he gave it such a chilling moniker?

GJ: Stiles wasn’t a subtle man. He knew this human hookworm killed people, and he gave it a name to communicate that fact. The name certainly brought attention to the parasite, and it gave me a good book title.

AD: Your descriptions of how people with hookworm were treated – even by medical professionals – is heartbreaking. What’s the lesson here? How can we use that moment in American history to improve current medical practices?hookworm victims

GJ: Having written a few books about the history of medicine, I’ve learned that  “accepted” theories can be wrong. Patients suffer when the mantra is “everyone agrees that. . ..”  As part of my research for American Murderer, I read medical books from the late 19th/early 20th centuries. According to the experts, human hookworm disease didn’t exist in the U.S. except in recent migrants. But Charles Stiles proved that was incorrect and that millions of southerners were infected, probably for generations. He had studied in Europe, where the disease was recognized and easily treated. The American medical establishment, particularly in the South, was slow to go along because Stiles was a parasitologist, not a physician. They also didn’t want to admit that, because of their ignorance, they’d misdiagnosed and failed to treat their patients for years. The sick people were dismissed by  their communities as lazy and stupid. And because victims were usually infected by hookworms at home,  it appeared as if these undesirable character traits simply ran in the family.  The lesson for today is that the medical community must be open to new ideas, knowledge, and approaches and should not dismiss them for the wrong reasons.hookworm education

AD: The cotton mills and Stiles’s narrow focus on hookworms – how might history have been different if Stiles had entertained the idea that other issues affected the mill workers?

GJ: Perhaps that  would have sped up reforms, especially concerning child labor. Still, just a few years later, in 1916, Joseph Goldberger and the U.S. Public Health Service investigated the health of mill workers and identified poor nutrition as a pervasive problem. These studies, as well as Lewis Hine’s photographs of child laborers, helped to bring reforms.

AD: The story of the hookworm is the story of public health – what did we learn from that era that we’ve put to use in more recent times, like with covid?

GJ: The hookworm campaign that started in 1909 demonstrated that in order to reduce or eliminate a disease,  it’s important to educate people about prevention and treatment. The information must be explained clearly and accurately without being condescending. In the early 1900s, newspapers were key to disseminating that information.The articles were written by Stiles, the Public Health Service, and doctors. Today we see similar efforts to transmit facts about COVID, influenza, prenatal care, vaccines, and other health concerns. But times have changed. People no longer have just one reliable source to keep them informed, such as their local newspaper. While additional kinds of media are available to educate the public today,  more unvetted, confusing, and false information is readily available, too.

before and after hookworm victim

A before and after image of a boy cured of hookworms

The hookworm campaign also showed that people are more likely to accept and act on information when they hear it from someone they trust. That meant keeping the  campaign local, at the county or state level and even in the schools and churches. The strategy was to reach people where they were, no matter who they were in terms of socio-economic status or race. The clinics  were staffed by local doctors and community volunteers known by the visitors. Today we see a decline in trust of public health institutions like the CDC and FDA–for many reasons. That’s proving to be a problem.

AD: It’s wonderful to see the before and after photos of victims who were cured, but I also worry about longterm effects on their mental/emotional health – did officials do anything to support individuals once they’d been cured of hookworm? 

GJ: Judging from the personal testimonies I read, I’d say that people who had been cured felt so much better physically that they were  happier and more positive about their lives. With energy to work and learn, they could support and care for their families. Rather than focusing on emotional support (an approach which is more of our time than theirs),  the campaign’s follow-up plan was to stop reinfection by educating hookworm victims about how the parasites spread and helping to install effective waste disposal systems at homes. State education departments added hookworm to the curriculum so that students learned about the disease’s cause, prevention, and treatment. Laws  in southern states required well-maintained outhouses in schools. Eventually, sewers were built in most towns and cities, which stopped the spread of hookworm and other intestinal diseases. But even today, many rural homes like mine are not hooked up to a municipal sewer, and it’s up to the homeowner to have a safe system. newspaper clippings

AD: Why was it important to you to bring readers to the present time to see what the worm situation is like today?

GJ: I always aim to convey hope in my endings.  Hookworm infections were significantly reduced in the United States. Research brought better treatments. The recognized importance of proper waste management spurred  infrastructure improvements.  At the same time, I tried to get young readers to think about what happens when they flush  a toilet and how their health can be affected by tiny parasites. I even included some advice about wearing proper footwear on our southeastern beaches to avoid infection by dog hookworms. 

I also wanted young readers to be aware that at least 1.5 billion people worldwide are still afflicted with soil-transmitted worms, including hookworms. These infections negatively impact a country’s economy and political stability.  It’s essential to know what’s going on in the world beyond. Sooner or later, these things affect all of us.

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Gail Jarror headshot

Gail Jarrow is the author of nonfiction books and novels for ages 8-18.

Her books for young readers have earned the Winner of the Excellence in Nonfiction Award from YALSA-ALA; the Robert F. Sibert Honor Book Award; Orbis Pictus Honor; Children’s Book Guild Nonfiction Award; the Jefferson Cup; Grateful American Book Prize Honor; Golden Kite Honor for NF for Older Readers; Eureka! Gold Award; ALA Notable Book; Notable Social Studies Trade Book; the National Science Teaching Association Outstanding Science Trade Book and Best STEM Book, Best Books awards from Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, Booklist, Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, Bank Street College of Education, New York Public Library, Chicago Public Library, and NPR. She has received additional awards and recognition from the American Booksellers Association, American Library Association, Public Library Association, the Society of School Librarians International, and Junior Library Guild.

 

Andi DiehnAndi Diehn grew up near the ocean chatting with horseshoe crabs and now lives in the mountains surrounded by dogs, cats, lizards, chickens, ducks, moose, deer, and bobcats, some of which help themselves to whatever she manages to grow in the garden. You are most likely to find her reading a book, talking about books, writing a book, or discussing politics with her sons. She has 20 children’s books published or forthcoming.