Poppies

The poppies send up their
orange flares; swaying
in the wind, their congregations
are a levitation

of bright dust, of thin
and lacy leaves.
There isn't a place
in this world that doesn't

sooner or later drown
in the indigos of darkness,
but now, for a while,
the roughage

shines like a miracle
as it floats above everything
with its yellow hair.
Of course nothing stops the cold,

black, curved blade
from hooking forward—
of course
loss is the great lesson.

But I also say this: that light
is an invitation
to happiness,
and that happiness,

when it's done right,
is a kind of holiness,
palpable and redemptive.
Inside the bright fields,

touched by their rough and spongy gold,
I am washed and washed
in the river
of earthly delight—

and what are you going to do—
what can you do
about it—
deep, blue night?

~Mary Oliver


(thanks to cuil for first sharing this poem with me)
Poetry Friday roundup at Mommy's Favorite Children's Books

links, glorious links

Just a few posts and such I've enjoyed recently and wanted to share...

~Priya posted a really wonderful interview with Ingrid Law, author of the delightful Newbery Honor book Savvy.

~I got a kick out of the Hales' Rapunzel's Revenge thank you shout-out to Cybils.

~Justina Chen Headley, author of North of Beautiful, wrote a great, empowering guest blog post over at Shaping Youth.

~The lovely Noel interviewed the brilliant Jaclyn Moriarty, author of The Year of Secret Assignments, over at Novel Journey.

~Cory Doctorow's advice for "Writing in the Age of Distraction"

~EW's '12 Movies Coming in 2009' (fyi, Public Enemies is going to SO ROCK.)

Let it Snow

by John Green, Maureen Johnson, Lauren Myracle

Let it Snow is a collection of three novellas, all taking place somewhere around the time of Christmas (Eve, day of, day after...). Each story is a romantic dramedy set in a little town in North Carolina. Characters from one story make cameos throughout the other stories, which provides a nice sense of interlacing and connection.

I wanted to actually read this during Christmas time, but it came in late for me at the library, and then I had to put it off because of Cybils reading. I'm glad I finally got around to it, though. It's a good winter read that is just as enjoyable now as it would've been during the holiday season.

I can't say which of the three stories I liked best, because they all built on each other progressively in a really smooth, lovely way. They all made me laugh (especially John Green's). They all pretty successively manoeuvered the tightrope walk between touching and sweet vs. schmaltzy. While each of the authors' stories had a distinct writing voice and flavor, they all blended well together. It felt like a comfort read of sorts: fast, fun, and perfect for curling up with in front of the fire.


(note: contains some language and mild innuendo)

Cybils Winners: Announced!

Today is the day of the Cybils winners announced! This year I was a judge for the Sci-Fi/Fantasy shortlists. We were in charge of picking two winners: one for middle grade, one for young adult.



The MG winner: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The YA winner: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I am so excited about these two books. They are both innovative, wonderfully written, have fabulous characters and stories - everything about each is rich and beautiful. I'm really, really happy with our choices and truly think we picked the best of the best. (A shout-out and thank you to my fellow judges, Tasha, Anne, Tanita, and Eisha!)

Also, I'm super-glad Rapunzel's Revenge won for best MG graphic novel! Yay!

For a full list of the winners, visit the Cybils site.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I Love You
by Carl Sandburg

I love you for what you are
knowing so well what you are.
And I love you more yet, child,
deeper yet than ever, child,
for what you are going to be,
knowing so well you are going far,
knowing your great works are ahead,
ahead and beyond,
yonder and far over yet.


Thank you to everyone who has inspired, encouraged and befriended me, and to every person who has ever given me a gift by reading this blog. Happy Valentine's Day!!

Never Stronger

Again in conversations
Speaking of fear
And throwing off reserve
The voice is nearer
But no clearer
Than first love
Than boys' imaginations.

For every news
Means pairing off in twos and twos,
Another I, another You,
Each knowing what to do
But of no use.

Never stronger
But younger and younger,
Saying good-bye but coming back, for fear
Is over there,
And the centre of anger
Is out of danger.


~W. H. Auden

Poetry Friday roundup at Big A little a

Readergirlz presents: Rita Williams-Garcia

This month, readergirlz are discussing No Laughter Here by Rita Williams-Garcia.

Read the February issue of readergirlz. There's a playlist for the book, plus book guide questions and party ideas.

Drop by the readergirlz forum and discuss the book with other readers, ALL MONTH LONG!

Download this month's poster. (PDF)

LIVE CHAT:
Join our hour-long chat with Rita Williams-Garcia TOMORROW, Thursday, February 12th at 6 PM PST/9 PM EST at the readergirlz forum.

Roundtable Discussion
Some of the readergirlz divas and postergirlz had a great time talking together about No Laughter Here. Read the roundtable discussion.

Find Beauty Challenge & The Beckoning of Lovely

Justina Chen Headley, author of North of Beautiful, presents the Find Beauty Challenge! I hope you all will enter. Here's what she says:

Tell the world what you find to be Truly Beautiful! Just upload a 90-second video describing what real beauty means to you...and you could win yourself an iTouch! PLUS, for every uploaded video, I'll donate $10 (up to $1,000) to Global Surgical Outreach, an amazing group that helps kids with cleft lips and palates in the third world.

Here's what to do:
1. Record a 90-second video essay about what's truly beautiful to you!
2. Upload the video onto YouTube.
3. Then...send a link to north@marthabee.com. (Martha Brockenbrough--tech guru and my friend of much wonderosity--will link your video to the North of Beautiful YouTube channel.)
4. Tell all your friends to RATE your video.

Read the Official Rules for the NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL: FIND BEAUTY CHALLENGE here.

****

Something similar that I wanted to share is The Beckoning of Lovely, which I heard about from Beth Kephart, one of the judges of this venture:



Both of these "challenges" are incredibly exciting and inspiring! I hope they inspire you to find beauty in what we normally deem ordinary or boring. Nothing in this world is boring. Go live lovely!

Quotes: Savvy by Ingrid Law

"Do you ever feel like life is just some weird dream and someday you'll wake up and find that you're someone else entirely?"


Maybe it's like that for everyone, I thought. Maybe we all have other people's voices running higgledy-piggledy through our heads all the time. . . . I began to realize how hard it was to separate out all the voices to hear the single, strong one that came just from me.


Then I remembered what Lill had said just before falling asleep in the motel the night before. You never can tell when a bad thing might make a good thing happen. I realized that good and bad were always there and always mixed up in a tangle.

I am...

inspired,
overwhelmed,
thankful,
happy,
blessed,

and full of so much love that I think my heart might burst.

North of Beautiful

by Justina Chen Headley

Trying to describe all that this book is about is difficult...it encompasses so much. It's about a girl named Terra and the birthmark on her face that has made her life so ugly. It's about a girl longing to be free, and wishing for someone to give her permission to be so. It's about relationships - the one you have with yourself, and the ones you have with others. It's about what the word "beauty" really means . . . and how that's not such a simple term to define.

Justina Chen Headley has crafted a truly stellar novel in North of Beautiful. She managed meticulously the delicate balance of mixing dark with light in her story. Her talent for weaving various themes and imagery throughout a book is brilliant. It's a story that overwhelms you with truth; both characters and story ring with a painful, sweet honesty. The book made me cry, not because it was sad, but because it was good. I love books that inspire me, make me want to live . . . this one made me want to travel, and go geocaching, and make collages and art.

The joie de vie that defines Justina herself shines through in her writing. She without a doubt possesses the gift of writing beautifully, and I for one am so enthused as a reader to be a recipient of that gift.