Thud, thud, thud – can you hear the cacophony of balls at the stadium?

Last night I went to an exciting game of basketball between the Australian Boomers and the USA. A friend had organised tickets for Mr 10’s basketball team, and there were a few parents to supervise – lucky, lucky me!

Both my sons play basketball, my middle-grade book is about basketball and I’ve recently read a couple of books about basketball. Whenever I watch my boys play basketball, as well as chatting to other parents and watching the silky-smooth moves of my boys and their mates, I’m trying to put into words the sound of the ball thudding on the court and to work out how to describe a lay-up movement or the feeling a player has when their ball swishes through the ring.

The game last night was exciting and fast-paced (even though the Boomers lost), and the pre-game entertainment was fun.

There are quite a few novels about basketball at different levels. The first one I’ve reviewed below is great for 10-14 year-olds, the last two are more suitable for teen readers.

Crossover by Kwame Alexander – I loved, loved this one. I borrowed it from the library but I’ll buy my own copy. It’s a verse novel, which means the story is told in poems. I’ve already decided this is the next book to read aloud with Mr 10. The character is 12, so be aware that there are older issues here – his twin brother has a girlfriend and his Dad is not well.  The rhythm, language and rhyme – as well as the fabulous plot – really makes this book worthy of the Newberry Medal. Look at this clip where Alexander reads one of his poems – his writing is just as warm and humorous as he is. Imagine opening up your kids’ eyes to the possibilities of a story being told in poems, with a thudding basketball rhythm to boot. So awesome!

The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian by Sharman Alexie – this is for teen readers – the protagonist deals with racism, alcoholism and puberty. The 14-year-old protagonist, Junior, is such a self-deprecating story-teller, and it’s easy to immerse yourself in his world. He’s skinny, stutters, has a big head, is a cartoonist and decides to leave his school in the ‘rez’ and go to the all-white high school miles away. I read it earlier this year, and when I flicked through it again for this review, I wanted to start reading it from cover to cover – again.

Take the shot by Susan White – this debut novel was published only this month. Bug has to keep his new basketball team a secret from his parents because his genetic illness means he’s not supposed to play high-contact sports. Life has suddenly become complicated for 14-year-old Bug when his family moves house to live with his Nana and he starts a new school. Themes include genetic illnesses, attraction to girls, friendships.

All three of these books feature male protagonists who love basketball. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere in this blog, it’s wonderful when girls read books about male protagonists and vice versa. But the book I’m writing has a girl who is passionate about basketball – time to even up the score!

 

Walking up our driveway to the side door a few weeks ago, I noticed a folded piece of lined paper on the ground. As I picked it up, I could see it had handwriting on the inside so I opened it up in case it was a piece of homework from one of the kids.

It was a letter addressed to Natalie from Mum, in an unfamiliar handwriting.

I don’t know any Natalies who live in my street.

I did read the letter, and it made me feel such warmth to the Mum who wrote it to her daughter, Natalie. I’m guessing that English isn’t the first language of this writer, but she expressed herself so beautifully.

The letter was dated in 2007, and Mum was writing to Natalie because she was going on her first trip away from home in Melbourne to Queensland with friends. There were 6 pieces of advice – numbered – on bedtimes, swimming, health issues, manners, emotions, and drinking and driving.

Mum wanted Natalie to know that she was so proud of her – I think she had recently finished Yr 12 and turned 18 because there was mention of a driving licence and study.

Mum used a beautiful simile – I will miss you big big big … like … ocean!!!

I don’t want to quote anything else from this warm, personal letter. Local friends – do you know a Natalie, maybe around 30 now, with two older brothers, a fabulous fashion sense and a gorgeous Mum? I would love to return her letter to her.

I have a couple of boxes of cards and letters from friends, parents, grandparents, work colleagues, and maybe once a year or so I flick through them. There’s something so nostalgic about reading old notes and remembering where you were at a particular point in time when a friend reached out to you. I have a lovely note from a friend when one of my grandmothers died, funny, grammatically incorrect notes from my kids, beautiful love letters from my husband, kind thank-you notes from friends.

It’s so quick and convenient to send text messages or emails but reading a handwritten note is almost a tactile experience and seems embedded with more thought and connection.

It would be easy to invent a story about Natalie and her Mum, springing off from this letter. Perhaps Natalie never came back from her Queensland holiday because she found a surfer boyfriend? Perhaps her two big brothers and her Dad came up to find her? Perhaps Natalie was suffocated by her mother’s advice? Perhaps she deliberately ignored her mother’s bedtime suggestion and the advice to swim between the flags?

But the real story is the very obvious love that this Mum has for her Natalie.

I so appreciate that ‘Love your bookshop’ day – Saturday 10th August – happens around the same time as my birthday! I’ve been banned by my family from buying any books but as long as they are supporting our local bookshop, I don’t mind at all.

After all, I support our local bookshop throughout the whole year, not just on one particular day!

Here are ten reasons why you should find time tomorrow to mosey into your favourite bookshop:

• buy yourself a treat – readers deserve treats!
• learn about a new topic with a non-fiction book
• spice up your cooking with a new cookbook
• become the favourite person for your child/grandchild/niece/nephew and buy them a book
• give yourself a wonderful reason to stay in, get cosy and hunker down on a winter’s evening with a glass of red or cup of tea and read
• flick through a beautiful coffee-table book with glossy photos
• make a head start on your Christmas shopping – think how good you’ll feel!
• buy two or three copies of a juicy novel and give them to your friends – so you can discuss over a coffee
• support a favourite author – they usually receive only ten percent of the sale price of their book
• have a chat with the passionate bookshop staff who love reading and love discussing all things literary with customers

Have I convinced you? Please report back!

I have rushed into many a school sick bay for my children. There was the time Mr 10 was concussed during a PE lesson. And the time there was a call to pick up Mr 15, then 5. It ended up with a doctor appointment, then a five-day hospital stay – while I was eight and a half months pregnant with baby number 3. Fun times!

Thankfully, most of the time, a calm but purposeful walk into the sick bay, a big hug, a quick sign-out and a rest on the couch was all that was necessary.

Nova Weetman’s book, Sick Bay, tells the story of two grade 6 girls, who don’t have much to do with each other at school but end up getting to know each other in the sick bay. Riley has diabetes, Meg relies on breathing in brown paper bags to keep her calm.

The story is told from both girls’ perspectives in alternating chapters. Meg’s mother is not coping very well after Meg’s dad’s unexpected death. Riley’s mum is protective (controlling?) about her daughter’s diabetes.

Chapter by chapter, the girls edge towards friendship with a few hiccups along the way.

For anyone who feels a little different and has tried to hide it, this is a perfect book for 10-12 year-old girls. It’s an age for friendship dramas, and the end of grade six is such an important stage. Sick Bay thoughtfully presents a range of characters whom readers will adore.

I certainly did!

Nova’s earlier books, The secrets we keep and The secrets we share, are also worth checking out – beautifully written with lots of heart.

Yesterday, I listened to a panel of writers at Readings bookshop talk about the books they read growing up, at ages 8, 12 and 16.

The panelists – YA novelists Nova Weetman, Emily Gale, Allayne Webster and Vikki Wakefield – spoke at the event The readers we were, the writers we became.

There was much hilarious laughter at the overlap between the writers – Judy Blume, Trixie Beldon, Flowers in the attic, Sweet Valley High …

As a kid, I read Anne of Green Gables, Trixie Beldon, Nancy Drew, C. S. Lewis, Judy Blume, all the Billabong books. Plus lots of standalone titles – anything I could find from both the school and local libraries.

Allayne Webster spoke about the importance of reading Deanie by Judy Blume because there was a character who had eczema, and for the first time she saw herself on the page, as a person who had eczema.

Emily Gale remembered feeling that she’d rather be in a book than living her own life, and talked about walking around the streets aimlessly as a teenager, waiting for her life to begin.

Nova Weetman wanted to be Miranda from Picnic at Hanging Rock, and was so disappointed when the final chapter was published years later – the story wasn’t real!

Vikki Wakefield read because she was bored, and found many a trashy novel under the bed of her friend’s parents.

I bought Nova Weetman’s latest middle-grade novel, Sick Bay, because Miss 12 is still sick. She’s been entertaining herself on the couch under a quilt with watching Gilmore Girls. One of the main characters, Rory, talks about books constantly. So Miss 12 has made herself up a reading list of classics – Animal Farm, Lord of the Flies, To kill a mockingbird etc. I wonder how many she’ll read and how influential they’ll be. I’m glad Nova’s book will make it to her list, even if it didn’t appear on Gilmour Girls!

Let me know which books you read as a kid which have stayed with you.

At the moment, my favourite book is … the thesaurus! My copy is The Macquarie concise thesaurus, first published in 1985 – I have the 1998 version. Maybe its time for an update! It has an orangey-yellow dust jacket with green edges and the iconic gum leaf symbol in an acrylic painted motif on the front. The keywords are printed in bold and there’s a letter to tell you whether the keyword is a noun, verb or adjective before the suggestions for alternative words.

I use this book all the time in my writing. It’s not a tool for first draft writing but for editing. Every word has to count, every word has to pull its weight, every word has to portray exactly what you want it to say. That’s a lot of pressure on each word! Here’s a few snippets from my middle-grade novel –

Before the thesaurus – The poor mouse is desperate, hitting its head against the front of the trap.

After the thesaurus – The poor mouse is desperate, butting its head against the front of the trap. (Butting sounds more desperate than hitting).

Before the thesaurus – Mum’s voice is a wave of anger coming down the phone.

After the thesaurus – Mum’s voice is a torrent of anger hurling down the phone. (Torrent is a stronger word than wave. Coming is a vague word – hurling has a lot more force).

I attended a writing masterclass with Kate Forsyth in Sydney earlier in the year. She taught us that each word has a connotation and a denotation. Denotation is the literal meaning of the word – sparkle means to shine brightly or to be vivacious or witty. The connotation is the implied meaning, it’s a little more subtle. Sparkle in this case means artistry, fire, happiness, light, to be happy, to bubble, to excel or to shine. The word sparkle can be a verb or a noun.

So sparkle could give readers an impression of creativity, illumination,  accomplishment, festivity, gladness, joy, exuberance, light-heartedness OR can imply to surpass, glow, gleam, shimmer, radiate, burn, flare, twinkle, depending on your purpose and your audience.

If your audience are eight-year-old kids and you’re talking about happiness, you might use the word joy or glad. If your audience is a group of business people and you’re trying to persuade them to improve their customer service, surpass might be the best word. If your audience is a group of women listening to a talk on spirituality, illumination or radiate might work best.

Even if your perfect word isn’t listed in the entry you’re reading, often those synonyms will trigger the right word for you.

I used my thesaurus to show a grade six class the difference in words and their implied meanings. We looked at the word walk, then used the thesaurus to find alternatives – amble, meander,  saunter, roam, stroll, march, parade, swagger, tramp, sashay, hobble, shuffle, totter, traipse … It’s so much fun to do this word with kids and ask them to act out the different ways to move from point A to point B!

I’ll be taking our puppy for a walk today which means that sometimes I’ll be swaggering along with pride as really, she’s just so cute and everyone wants to stop and admire her! But sometimes I’ll be pulled along by her energetic gambol and other times I’ll be ambling along as she’ll stop to sniff everything!

If you were going for a walk today, how would you do it? Would you sashay along city streets? Would you meander along a river? Or would you shuffle through a busy crowd?

As usual, I’ve been reading an eclectic mix of books. I like to mix up my reading material, moving from a middle-grade fantasy book to a contemporary adult novel to a non-fiction book.  Here’s what I’ve been reading over the last few weeks –

• The year of magical thinking by Joan Didion – I’ve been meaning to read this for a while and finally borrowed it from the library. It’s a non-fiction account of the year after the unexpected death of Didion’s husband. Didion describes herself as a ‘cool customer’ so this is no sentimental story but a clear-eyed perspective of how life moves on after death. I found myself holding back tears – it’s a beautiful lovesong to their marriage.

• Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo – I reread this favourite middle-grade novel about Opal and her smiling dog because I just love DiCamillo’s writing. She blends humour and quirkiness with heartfelt observations and moments – something worth savouring again and again. Mr 9 is reading it with me now.

• Boy swallows universe by Trent Dalton – amazing debut novel. A friend lent this to me, and I’m so glad she did because it will definitely be in my top ten books for the year. It’s the story of Eli Bell and his older, mute brother August. After their junkie mother and heroin dealer stepfather are caught up in a drug scandal, the boys are sent to live with their father, whom they haven’t seen for years. Eli has a compelling voice, the novel has an original concept and the ending had me turning pages swiftly to find out what happened next.

• The tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris – a non-fiction story of a Jewish man imprisoned at Auschwitz who was responsible for inking the indelible numbers on all incoming prisoners. It’s a love story about the charming Lale who meets Gita in the camp, and a story of triumph and sadness and death and friendships. We read it for our bookclub this month.

• The vein of gold by Julia Cameron – I’m still reading this one, a little bit every morning with my cup of tea before the kids wake up. Renowned creativity writer Julia Cameron has plenty of experience in guiding creatives in all sorts of fields. It’s lovely – and challenging at the same time.

• City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert – I almost ran to my local bookshop to buy this one within days of its publication date. Marie Foleo interviews Liz here. I’m only a little way in but I am fully immersed in her world of 1940s showgirls and theatre life.

Let me know what you’ve been reading in the comments. It’s the perfect season for going to bed early with a page-turning book or for sitting by the fire with a compelling book and a hot drink or glass of wine!

Once upon a time, there was a woman who didn’t quite live in a fairy-tale but thought that she almost did.

She was a little like Cinderella – she was going to a ball the very next night but while she had her dress and glass slippers all ready to go, she knew she needed to clean the bathrooms and tend to the children first.

She was a little like Beauty – living in a house full of books – but without the Beast, of course!

She was a little like the old woman who lived in a shoe – she was looking after this child who had missed a week and a half of school through illness, and she was looking after that child who was in the middle of exams and then there was this child who seemed to have sports training or a playdate or something going on.

She was a little like Sleeping Beauty – except without the sleep – it was just that she wanted to sleep.

She was a little like the miller’s daughter in Rumplestiltskin – she was spinning and spinning her straw, trying to turn her words into gold.

She was a little like Hansel and Gretel – always getting herself a little lost. (Thank goodness for google maps!)

She was a little like Goldilocks – trying different porridges, connecting with different publishers at a recent writing conference, trying to find one that was just right for her and her book.

As in all fairy tales there are trials and tribulations, and courage will be tested.

And as this is a modern woman in a modern fairy-tale (complete with her fairy-tale prince!), she knows the fairy tale continues after the happily-ever-after …

 

PS – Congratulations to Lee, who won a copy of Markus Zusak’s Bridge of Clay! I’ll be in touch, Lee, via email.

 

 

 

My lovely, lovely husband bought me a hardback copy of Markus Zusak’s latest novel, Bridge of Clay, for Christmas. And then he gave me a paperback copy – with a different cover – for Mother’s Day!

In his defence, I am difficult to buy books for, and as there is a constant rotation of books from the library and friends, it’s tricky to keep track of all the books coming in and out of our home.

And as he bought it in an interstate airport bookstore, there’s no going back to exchange it.

So I am offering a giveaway to one lucky reader. Please leave a comment by Thursday 30th May, 5pm, with a book recommendation for me and you’ll go into the draw to win the paperback copy of Bridge of Clay. The winner will be notified by email and I’ll post the book to you.

As for why I loved reading this fabulous book, the reasons are many.

• I loved the concept – five brothers, mostly teenagers, living alone. Living with only two sons, I can only imagine the noise, the arguing, the wrestling.
• The voice is strong and distinct from page one – In the beginning there was one murderer, one mule and one boy, but this isn’t the beginning, it’s before it, it’s me, and I’m Matthew, and here I am, in the kitchen, in the night – the old river mouth of light – and I’m punching and punching away. The house is quiet around me.
• There is so much heart in this book – beautiful small moments of tenderness that show the human condition – It’s a mystery, even to me sometimes, how boys and brothers love.
• Markus Zusak took thirteen years to write this book – this article is worth reading. After his success with The book thief, he struggled to find a narrator that was as unique as his narrator Death in his earlier book. I’m so glad he didn’t give up.
• The characters are real and messy and flawed and beautiful. We’re shown the best and worst of them.
• The narrative flips around in time, so that we have an understanding of how the characters grow into their later selves.
• The breadth of the novel is astonishing – we have Michaelangelo, horse-racing, a typewriter, a few animals, a piano, Greek mythologies, running, two marriages and a divorce, an artist and of course, a bridge.

This is one of my favourite reads for the year, and I can’t see it moving from my top ten adult novels.

Leave me a comment and suggest another fabulous book to win your copy of Bridge of Clay.