The Color of Bones - Sample

I've been hard at work prepping the upcoming release of my first middle grade novel, The Color of Bones. For those of you who aren't familiar with kids' books, middle grade means for ages 9-12, or sometimes it's labeled as ages 10 and up.

If you're on Goodreads, you can click the cover and add it to your to-read list.

And you can read the first two chapters by clicking below.

The Color of Bones - Sample

My First Book - The Color of Bones

The Color of Bones (releases April 10, 2012)

Twelve year-old Derby Shrewd lives in a divided town. Lights live on the Northside of the Line, Darks live on the Southside. Hillside has been that way ever since the Line appeared naturally from the ground, much like a spring welling up from deep inside the earth. Now the Line controls the town, keeping Hillside separated, zapping those who come near it and killing those who dare cross it. 

But when Derby, a Northsider, finds a pile of bones stacked on the Line, he sets out to uncover the person's identity. While doing so, he befriends a Southside girl and soon begins to challenge the Line and the town's rules. And then, before he can turn back, Derby goes too far.

My Favorite Middle Grade Reads of 2011

My reading level never surpassed age 12, give or take six months, so I mostly read books targeted at 8-12 year-olds. Here are my favorite reads from 2011, and also the books that, in my teacher/writer/reader opinion, deserve Newbery consideration.

Deadlines & Creativity

This video exemplifies what deadlines can do to creativity. I realize that some people work well, sometimes better, under pressure. But young minds usually panic under timed assessments, whether it's regurgitating multiplication tables in under five minutes or writing an essay in fifty. In this case, it's a piece of art.

When you give a kid a task like this one (see video), the product's quality (and the student's performance) will obviously parallel how much time they're given. The more time they're given, the better the product. When I say better, I mean higher quality. You'll see what I mean in the video.

This little experiment brings up the argument of quality over quantity. This is precisely why I often give my students two nights to do a homework assignment as opposed to one. *Note to parents: a school or teacher should not be judged by the volume of homework they assign. Homework should be thought provoking. It should force students into situations that elicit critical thinking and creative output. In this context, I define output as the brain's ability to produce. *Note to teachers: if the brain is absorbing input (the teacher's constant lecturing), it cannot produce output (the student's critical thinking and creative problem solving).

When you walk into an elementary school, you see creative art projects done with recyclables. You see paper bags that have evolved into puppets, all with the help of scissors and glue and a crayon or two. When you walk into a high school, you're lucky to see a creative project of any kind displayed anywhere. There is a simple explanation for this. Younger students are given the time to think, the time to create, the time to problem solve while using creativity. They're given what I call Brain Time. Older students spend most of their day listening to teachers, absorbing words and explanations while copying notes from the board. I'm not saying this is the case everywhere. But it's more common than not.      

I believe in giving students quality Brain Time. 

I believe in letting them produce creative output.   

I believe in letting the clock face come to life.  

The Longest Kids' Table Ever

Thursday was feast day at preschool. This is just before chaos showed up.