Strong At The Heart

Several pages just got updated on this site. Reviews has new online honors, interviews, and reviews posted. There are three new recommended books up, including a forthcoming novel by Chris Lynch. And the link partners page has some great sites added. Oh, and I expanded the bio page because people were lifting the first part to paste into articles, fliers and programs, but it had nothing about Strong at the Heart or this website in it!

survivor magazine

Here’s a new approach to survivor activism and communication. A survivor named Melissa is publishing an e-magazine, using her skills and experience in magazine design. The articles in Survivors Hall of Success are short, inspiring, and mostly about activism and aspects of healing including self image.

One of the cover articles on last week’s issue (number 22) was about Strong at the Heart.

You can subscribe by e-mailing Melissa at ReadyToGrow2005@yahoo.com.

Strong at the Heart received three honors this spring. Now they are all up with links.

Every year the Children’s Book Committee at Bank Street College selects a short list of recommended books for teens. Strong is one of the books honored this year. The committee was founded over ninety years ago to help parents, librarians and teachers select good books for young readers.

Strong at the Heart was also chosen for the New York Public Library’s Books for the Teen Age. This is an annual listing of recommended books that you can download as a pdf. It’s also a published in hard copy and available at New York public libraries.

I already posted about the Skipping Stone Honor Book award, but now you can see the official announcement at their website.

Here’s their description of the award: “Twenty-five honored books… encourage understanding of world’s diverse cultures, nature and ecological richness. They promote cooperation, nonviolence, respect for differing viewpoints, and close relationships in human societies. Together, the honored titles offer a great variety of learning experiences for all ages.” Good company to be in!

blog link

If your interest is in children’s and young adult books, you really should know about Cynthia Leitich Smith’s site. I’ve followed it for years and it rocks. She has great annotated lists of recommended books, information for writers, and thoughtful articles on aspects of children’s and young adult literature.

Her blog is a lively place with author interviews and other news. On her May 9th entry she linked to this site. Thanks, Cynthia!

Today was an in between kind of day. I’m back from travel for the book. Haven’t solidified upcoming appearances for summer or fall yet. There’s a stack of short writing assignments on my desk.

The sky was half fog (to the east), half sunshine (to the west). I jumped on my bike in the late morning and rode out through farm land towards the coast, just taking it easy and feeling the sun on my arms and face. I passed the calf I saw being born a few days ago; he’s on his feet—as he was twenty minutes after birth–but looking fully at home in this world now.

At the boat ramp I got off, lay on my back near the river’s edge, listened to the water flowing by, and watched the clouds forming and teasing apart over my head. I’ve too many ideas for books already. But a new one came, beautiful, full blown. I can taste it, practically hold it in my hands, turn the pages, and read the words already written.

I knew that when I got home I’d have a pile of commitments to work on, so I took my time riding back, noticing the wildflowers coming out, soaking in the green of the new pastures and the warmth of the sun.

Insead of tackling that stack on my desk, I sketched out the introduction for the new book idea.