Author Angela Shelton Discusses Writing Fantasy for Children

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Today I’m excited to participate in the blog tour for  Angela Shelton, author of the new middle-grade fantasy series, The Adventures of Tilda Pinkerton. As a stop on the tour, I have one copy of Tilda to give away to someone who comments here by midnight (PDT), Friday, December 28. (U.S. and Canadian residents only please). (Please note: the giveaway is closed. Congratulations to April on winning.) Here’s a bit of information about the book and the author. Keep reading to find out what Shelton has to say about the challenges of writing fantasy for children.

The Adventures of Tilda PinkertonSynopsis: The Adventures of Tilda Pinkerton

If you had a super power what would it be? Invisibility? The ability to fly? X-ray vision? What about the ability to make hats? Not regular hats but magical hats . . . hats that make people blossom, help them become the person they secretly wish they could be. Tilda Pinkerton has that ability. But will hat making help her save the universe from evil powers trying to destroy it? Things don’t look good, especially since Tilda can’t remember who she is or why she’s on the planet of Ooleeoo.

Somewhere out in the Sombrero Galaxy, Tilda Pinkerton is being hunted by the Keeper of Darkness. But Tilda isn’t worried. Of course that could be because she doesn’t remember who she is or what she’s doing on the planet of Ooleeoo. Even in the middle of cosmic danger, Tilda does what she does best: creates hats that make people . . . not better, but MORE of the person they are meant to be. When the mayor of Ooleeoo bans Tilda’s hats is he just being a curmudgeon or is he secretly working for the enemy? Can Tilda figure out who she is in time to save the galaxy?

The Adventures of Tilda Pinkerton is the perfect combination: it has a roller coaster ride of a story for middle-grade readers and the interesting addition of words to expand their vocabulary that will make parents (and teachers) happy. If your child is looking for a new series to enjoy The Adventures of Tilda Pinkerton may be the answer to her reading wishes.

Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Quiet Owl Books (July 31, 2012)
ISBN-10: 0615646778
ISBN-13: 978-0615646770
Twitter hashtag: #TildaPinkerton

Author Angela Shelton

Author Angela Shelton

The Challenges of Writing Fantasy for Children
By Angela Shelton

Isn’t writing for children the easiest thing in the world?

Excuse me while I roll on the floor laughing. Sure, just start writing for kids. They’ll love it. Try the fantasy genre – it’s even easier!

Not.

Kids are Smarter than You Think

Despite some comments by wine guzzling mommy bloggers, the above statement is true. Kids are smarter than you think.

They don’t miss much either. One of the challenges in writing for them is to NOT dumb things down. If you write for children like baby talking to a two year old who can already speak in complete sentences, they will look at you like you have lost your fantastical mind.

We are in a time of dilemmas. On one hand, advanced learning levels are being lowered so that everyone can get a chance, not just the super smart kids. On the other hand, the New Common Core Standards are being implemented in many states, requiring larger vocabulary and advanced learning for all levels.

I lean towards the advanced learning being required. I’ve seen how kids will rise to the occasion, even kids with learning disabilities.

Don’t underestimate kids!

Who are you writing fantasy for?

I thought I was writing for 10-12 year-old girls. Apparently kids read up —which means younger kids are reading what older kids are meant to be reading and the older kids are reading Twilight. Yes, it’s true.

I’ve also seen that the biggest buyers of my book, The Adventures of Tilda Pinkerton are women 50+. Who knew?!

I spoke to a few twelve-year-old girls about my fantasy book. I asked them what they liked about it, what they were missing, and what they wanted more of.

They told me they wanted more “inappropriate things.”

That’s right. They wanted kissing, touching, naughty no-nos, and that unrequited angst you get from being in love with a vampire or werewolf. Puke.

The Adventures of Tilda Pinkerton is a clean read and a vocabulary builder. There is nothing naughty in it besides a few flirtatious scenes between Mayor Mudpie Melic and Belinda Balletomania (because of her very large bouncing bosom while ballet dancing).

So what are the challenges in writing for children? One of them is that some children grow up very quickly now and want to read and watch Twilight when you think they still want a fairytale!

What do you do about it? 

Keep writing. Write what you want to read. So far, the kids who are reading my fantasy book are advanced reading boys and girls, age 8-9. That is the age group I thought Tilda would be too advanced for. I forgot—kids are smarter than you think and kids read up.

Plus, you may have been totally off base about what age you were writing for and a line of women 50+ may show up to get their book signed.

Number one rule—write what you want to read.

Angela Shelton is an author, actor, and public speaker. She has been writing since she was eight years old. Her first novel was adapted into the movie Tumbleweeds. Angela won a regional Emmy award for her portrayal of Safe Side Superchick in The Safe Side video series created by Baby Einstein’s Julie Clark. After living in Los Angeles for over a decade, Angela left the big city for a one-light country town to marry her first love and fulfill her dream of writing books in a barn house.

http://tildapinkerton.com/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/angelashelton

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/AngelaSheltonFanPage

https://www.facebook.com/tildapinkerton

Angela’s Book Blog – http://magicalhatshop.com/

About Angela Shelton

Angela is an author, actor, and public speaker. She has been writing since she was eight years old. Her first novel was adapted into the movie Tumbleweeds. Angela won a regional Emmy award for her portrayal of SafeSide Superchick in The Safe Side video series created by Baby Einstein’s Julie Clark. After living in Los Angeles for over a decade, Angela left the big city for a one-light country town to marry her first love and fulfill her dream of writing books in a barn house.

Her Tilda Pinkerton books can be traced back to her childhood fear of dictionaries! Angela was a big believer in the “if I can’t spell it, how can I find it in the dictionary to learn how to spell it” school of thought. In fact, she was so frustrated by the uselessness of dictionaries that she destroyed several during her childhood. She eventually got over her fear of dictionaries (OK, she still hates them. But she learned to hide her antagonism for word books), and began writing. Her Tilda books contain a plethora (Go ahead, look it up. At least you know how to spell it!) of wacky words and definitions to expand the vocabulary of readers in a fun way. No dictionaries involved!

 

Three Questions for Author Heather Vogel Frederick

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Heather Vogel Frederick photo

Heather Vogel Frederick’s The Mother-Daughter Book Club series, comes to an end with her latest release, Wish You Were Eyre. Originally planned for four books, the series was so beloved that Frederick extended it to six. Many real-life mother-daughter book clubs have started out by reading about Frederick’s fictional one, and they have sometimes gone on to read the classic stories featured in her books.

With the last of that series on the shelf, I was curious about what Frederick would be feeling about finishing up the stories of Emma, Jess, Cassidy, Megan and Becca. Here are three questions I asked, along with her responses:

MDBC: What did you find most rewarding about writing the Mother-Daughter Book Club series?

HVF: Wow, where do I start? It was really fun to play “Empress of the Universe” in choosing favorite classics for my fictional book club to read, and hoping thus to entice young readers to give them a try.  My plan worked!  I loved hearing back from so many fans who were delighted to discover, say, Daddy-Long-Legs or the Betsy-Tacy series. Knowing that some of these classics will find their way into the hands of young readers, thanks in part to my books, is just tremendously cheering. The other, unexpected, reward from writing this series has been the opportunity to connect with so many girls. As the mother of two boys, this has been sheer fun.

MDBC: What will you miss the most?

HVF: It’s really hard to say goodbye to characters I’ve come to know and love. I hesitate to tell you this, because it sounds so sappy, but as I was writing the final chapter I burst into tears. Just broke down and sobbed! I hadn’t expected this at all, and was completely blind-sided by the wave of emotion. As a writer, though, you really do live part-time in the world of your own creating, and I guess it just hit me that “this is it–I won’t be spending time in this world, with these people, any more.” It was bittersweet for me.

MDBC: What are you looking forward to now?

HVF: I’ve begun work on a new novel, another contemporary middle-grade story, this one set in the fictional town of Pumpkin Falls, New Hampshire. I was born in New Hampshire and moved back there in high school, so it’s fun to be on familiar turf. It’s still early days yet, I’m just getting to know my characters, but I like them very much so far. I’m taking Jane Austen’s writing advice to heart when she said, “Three or four families in a country village is the very thing to work on…”

MDBC: Heather Vogel Frederick working on a new middle-grade story set in a New Hampshire town sounds like the very thing to read when it comes out. While I’ll miss the characters I’ve come to love from your series, I’ll look forward to discovering new ones.

Book Review: Fangirl by Ken Baker

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Fangirl cover image

Josie is a normal 9th grader who can’t wait for summer to arrive. She loves to write songs, hang out with her best friends Ashley and Christopher, and obsess over her favorite singer, Peter Maxx.

Peter is 16 and would like to have a normal life. Most people imagine his life as a teen pop star is all glamour, but the truth is, he’s exhausted half-way through a 40-concert tour that has him constantly in the spotlight.

When Josie and Peter meet by chance when he stops by her high school to give an award in a video contest, the sparks fly. But can a teen star expect to have a normal relationship with a regular girl?

Fangirl by Ken Baker goes back and forth as it tells the story from both Josie’s and Peter’s perspective. Josie is kind of shy and writes lyrics when she’s trying to make sense of the things in her life. And with her parents’ recent divorce it seems like a lot of things don’t make sense. Peter struggles to stand out as a person, not just an icon. His dad, who sees fame as something fleeting to be  pursued while the iron is hot, pushes him to perform.

Fangirl is every girl’s fantasy—what girl wouldn’t want to get to know the famous celebrity she has a crush on—but it’s also interesting to read about how Josie stays true to herself despite the pressure she feels to act in ways that Peter will like.

Moms who read this with their daughters may need an interpreter to figure out the abbreviations in the text messages that go back and forth between Josie and Peter, but it’s still fun to read. Girls aged 12 to 14 will especially like Fangirl.

The publisher gave me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review: Ask the Passengers by A.S. King

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Ask the Passengers cover image

A. S. King, author of Everybody Sees the Ants and Please Ignore Vera Dietz isn’t afraid to write about big issues facing teens, including bullying, domestic abuse and alcoholism. With her latest book, Ask the Passengers, King delves into the issue of sexual identity and what defining it means not only to the teen, but to the people surrounding her as well.

Astrid Jones is the main character who retreats to her backyard picnic table when she wants to escape the tension in her life. Lying there she focuses on sending her love to passengers on passing airplanes. It’s her way of holding everything together until she graduates high school and escapes the whispers and secrets that come with living in small town, Unity Valley.

And Astrid has a lot of secrets to keep. Her mom is a control freak who favors Astrid’s younger sister Ellis and criticizes Astrid. Her dad smokes pot and mostly refuses to be pulled into the conflict. Astrid’s best friend and next-door neighbor, Kristina, is lesbian, and she dates a popular guy at school who is gay because they give each other cover.

Astrid herself thinks she may be attracted to her co-worker Dee, but she’s not sure if that makes her a lesbian or just confused about what she wants. When an unexpected event tears away the layers Astrid has built around herself, she finally has to decide who she is and how she must go forward.

Ask the Passengers delves into the philosophical as the story follows Astrid on her journey of self-discovery. She wonders why everyone expects her to say outright that she’s not heterosexual when she’s not even sure herself. People thins she’s lying when she says she doesn’t know.

Everyone in Astrid’s high school seems to have an opinion about who’s okay to date and who’s not, and hate messages against gays are scrawled on classroom bulletin boards, so she knows if she makes a statement about who she is it’s more than a casual declaration. Astrid finds that she’s testing the bounds of friendship and learning a lot about people closest to her as well as casual acquaintances through this one issue.

The small stories interspersed about the reactions of passengers on airplanes who receive Astrid’s love are interesting too. They offer little snippets into multiple issues people deal with on a day to day basis. Ask the Passengers offers a lot for discussion both on what Astrid is facing and what the passengers resolve about their lives. I recommend it for ages 15 and up.

The publisher gave me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

Book Review: If the Buddha Had Kids by Charlotte Kasl, Ph. D.

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If the Buddha Had Kids cover image

There are many books to help parents decide how to raise their children. But a new book by Charlotte Kasl, Ph. D., takes an approach I haven’t seen before. It’s called If the Buddha Had Kids: Raising Children to Create a More Peaceful World. While the guide touches on the tenets of Buddhism and how they relate to parenting children, it also has lots of common sense advice for parents who are searching for ways to raise their children with both love and discipline.

Kasl starts by explaining some of the basic tenets of Buddhism, then she goes on to explore how they can be applied to common situations parents find themselves facing. Each chapter takes an issue—why children misbehave, managing emotions feelings and impulses, use of electronics, struggles over food, and more—and looks at how parents can respond.

Kasl uses examples, both good and bad, from her own parents and discusses challenges she faced raising her own daughter. The chapters are written so it’s easy to focus and reflect on a single issue before moving on to another. To help with the reflection, Kasl frequently lists suggestions and questions for parents.

You don’t need to believe in Buddhism to find the ideas helpful, and Kasl isn’t trying to convert readers to those beliefs as she writes. Rather, she provides advice that will help parents even if they don’t accept all of her suggestions.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review: Adaptation by Malinda Lo

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Adaptation cover image

Reese is on her way home from a debate competition with her teammate and teacher when a strange phenomenon occurs: bird strikes across North America bring several airplanes down and all air traffic is suspended. When they try to get from Arizona to their home in San Francisco in a rental car, there’s an accident in the desert. Twenty-eight days later Reese wakes up in an isolated military hospital where she’s told she had advanced, top-secret treatment to save her life.

But when Reese starts to have unsettling dreams and she notices that her scars heal quickly, she begins to wonder what happened to her at the hospital. With her friends David and Julian, she sets out to uncover the mystery.

Adaptation by Malinda Lo is a fast-paced science fiction mystery that keeps you guessing what’s going to happen until the end. It’s most successful when following the main plot line of Reese, her debate partner David, and their quest to find out what happened to them. But there’s a lot going on in the book, and I sometimes found it frustrating when the action slowed down to explore one of several subplots.

There’s the question about the bird strikes and conspiracy theories about the government’s involvement based on its continued reaction by killing birds wholesale. Reese is questioning her sexual identity and whether or not she is attracted to girls or guys. Reese’s friend Julian is involved with groups trying to get evidence of alien contact in the place known as Area 51. There’s also a difficult relationship between Reese and her unapologetically philandering dad, who is divorced from her mother. It’s a lot for a reader to take in.

That can also mean a lot to discuss if you pick this up with your book club. Because of the questioning on sexual issues, I would recommend Adaptation for groups with girls aged 16 and up.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review: Soccer Sisters: Lily Out of Bounds by Andrea Montalbano

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Lily Out of Bounds cover imageLily James lives and breathes soccer. She and her teammates, her soccer sisters, have drawn up a code of conduct with 10 rules to live by. But when a new girl, Colby, subs on the team in a couple of tournaments, she leaves Lily questioning some of those rules.

In Colby’s mind, anything is acceptable in a game if it helps you to win. And breaking rules off the field is acceptable if you have fun doing it. Lily has to decide whether to stick to the code or go along with Colby’s rules.

Lily Out of Bounds, the first in a new Soccer Sisters series by Andrea Montalbano, does more than look at the game of soccer and how it’s played, though there’s plenty of soccer play in the book. It also looks at how teens and pre-teens handle the challenges of facing peers who push them in directions they are not sure they want to go.

Lily is confused about Colby’s actions. They help the team to win on the field, and off the field they are a lot of fun. But going along means she has to lie to people she cares about and play in a way that doesn’t feel right to her. Once she begins to see that Colby’s actions do have consequences, she’s more able to determine for herself what’s right and wrong.

Soccer Sisters, with Lily Out of Bounds as the first book, is a promising new series for girls aged 9 to 13.

The author provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

Book Review: Every Little Thing Adapted by Cedella Marley, Illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton

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Every Little Thing cover imageFrom Bob Marley’s daughter Cedella, comes a new picture book based on her father’s song “Three Little Birds.” The message repeating over and over in the song is “Don’t worry about a thing, ‘cause every little thing is gonna be all right.” The same is true for the book, which is titled Every Little Thing.

A boy rises in the morning to great a new day, with three little birds on his doorstep leading the way. The birds are there when he sees someone sitting alone on a swing at the playground, so the boy includes the lonely kid in a soccer game that’s going on.

The birds are there when he makes a mess baking in the kitchen, but the boy’s parents hold him and tell him it’s going to be all right. And the birds are there when his mom and dad sing him to sleep at night. The illustrations, by Vanessa Brantley-Newton are colorful and fun. They include a grumpy kitty, who isn’t having as good of a day as the boy is. The kitty would like to catch the birds, but in the end, even he ends up charmed by them.

Cedella Marley includes a note in the end about the meaning the song has for her, and how it passes along an important message: “as long as we share our love with others, even if storm clouds gather, we will be okay.”

My husband and I often sang “Three Little Birds” to our daughters when they were growing up. Every Little Thing offers the opportunity to share the music along with a great story for kids. I highly recommend it.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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