1st to finish her coursework, 2nd to have her ceremony, yet 1st to get her diploma because his was mailed and hers was actually in her folder, was Child 2. (You following these numbers? No competition here or anything.)
Thursday, July 29, 2010
It's Goof-off Day
Photo time! This spring was college graduation for both Child 2 and Child 3. 2nd to finish his coursework, but 1st to have his ceremony, was Child 3. (No competition here or anything.)
Family gathers for the big day!
Always posin'
Such proud parents -- but what's that fly on his cap, Dad?
The cute engaged couple :)
But lest we be too serious...
Some things never change
1st to finish her coursework, 2nd to have her ceremony, yet 1st to get her diploma because his was mailed and hers was actually in her folder, was Child 2. (You following these numbers? No competition here or anything.)
Family gathers for the big day!
Let's switch photographers!
The cute young marrieds :)
Proud parents and grad
It's for real!
No bunny ears? He must be the good child :D
1st to finish her coursework, 2nd to have her ceremony, yet 1st to get her diploma because his was mailed and hers was actually in her folder, was Child 2. (You following these numbers? No competition here or anything.)
Monday, July 26, 2010
July Critique Giveaway Winners!
The winners of this month's critique giveaway are: karenbschwartz and Angela Ackerman!
Here's the procedure. Email me at marcia at marciahoehne dot com:
Here's the procedure. Email me at marcia at marciahoehne dot com:
- The first 1000 words of your magazine story, chapter book, mid-grade novel, or YA novel pasted into the body of the email.
- Be sure to tell me the genre of the material (one of the above four).
- Put "(Month) critique winner" in the subject line.
- The deadline to submit your ms. for critique will be the DAY BEFORE the next month's critique contest begins. Critique contests always begin on the third Thursday. Therefore I must hear from the July winners by August 18.
- When I receive your email, I'll acknowledge receipt and let you know when you can expect my response.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z, by Kate Messner
Critique giveaway still open, now through July 25! Scroll down one post!
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Gianna Zales, 7th grader, is an artist and cross-country runner. As she says, she has no trouble with finish lines, but deadlines are a whole other story. It's a week before the big science project is due, and if Gianna doesn't get a passing grade, her slot at cross-country sectionals will go to mean-girl Bianca. Still, she's not worried. How
hard can it be to find and identify 25 different leaves and arrange them in an attractive presentation? Especially when it's fall, and you live in Vermont, where Robert Frost wrote such poems as "Birches"? Well, when you have time-management issues and life keeps happening, it can be very hard indeed. Nonna, who lives with the family, is showing signs of Alzheimer's, and her memory lapses turn the household topsy-turvy at a moment's notice. Mom, a type-A personality who doesn't get the artistic, intuitive nature that her mother and daughter share, buries her worry in her own activities and doesn't come through on some of the help she offers. Her best friend, a boy for whom she's developing feelings (and vice-versa), is smart, organized, generous, and more than willing to help, but when jealous Bianca feels Gianna is getting too close to done and trashes her project in the cross-country locker room, even Zig can't undo that.
Spoilers Ahead ... This book deals with a subject I'm not sure I've seen addressed: a tween's need for work/life balance. Even at the height of her leaf-project disorganization, it's arguable that Gianna balances life better than her nose-to-the-grindstone mother does. It comes as no surprise that in the end Gianna prevails -- she gets her project in and runs in the sectionals. What is surprising is all the twists and turns it takes to get her there, her mother's "help" at the end (but on the other hand, not surprising at all), and Gianna's refusal to turn in work that not only isn't her own, but isn't her. Her artistic presentation of her leaf project, at absolutely the last, last minute, is, in the word of the title, brilliant. Readers will love seeing this likable girl triumph in every way. While there's no neat wrap-up for Nonna, Gianna and the little brother she formerly considered pesky join forces in a project meant to help Nonna with her memory for as long as possible.
Evocation of setting is superb in this book. Gianna's relationships with Nonna and Zig are especially well done. This is a quiet book that works! Highly recommended.
___________________________________________________________
hard can it be to find and identify 25 different leaves and arrange them in an attractive presentation? Especially when it's fall, and you live in Vermont, where Robert Frost wrote such poems as "Birches"? Well, when you have time-management issues and life keeps happening, it can be very hard indeed. Nonna, who lives with the family, is showing signs of Alzheimer's, and her memory lapses turn the household topsy-turvy at a moment's notice. Mom, a type-A personality who doesn't get the artistic, intuitive nature that her mother and daughter share, buries her worry in her own activities and doesn't come through on some of the help she offers. Her best friend, a boy for whom she's developing feelings (and vice-versa), is smart, organized, generous, and more than willing to help, but when jealous Bianca feels Gianna is getting too close to done and trashes her project in the cross-country locker room, even Zig can't undo that.
Spoilers Ahead ... This book deals with a subject I'm not sure I've seen addressed: a tween's need for work/life balance. Even at the height of her leaf-project disorganization, it's arguable that Gianna balances life better than her nose-to-the-grindstone mother does. It comes as no surprise that in the end Gianna prevails -- she gets her project in and runs in the sectionals. What is surprising is all the twists and turns it takes to get her there, her mother's "help" at the end (but on the other hand, not surprising at all), and Gianna's refusal to turn in work that not only isn't her own, but isn't her. Her artistic presentation of her leaf project, at absolutely the last, last minute, is, in the word of the title, brilliant. Readers will love seeing this likable girl triumph in every way. While there's no neat wrap-up for Nonna, Gianna and the little brother she formerly considered pesky join forces in a project meant to help Nonna with her memory for as long as possible.
Evocation of setting is superb in this book. Gianna's relationships with Nonna and Zig are especially well done. This is a quiet book that works! Highly recommended.
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