Loree Griffin Burns: A Life in Books

BLUE LIPSTICK
By John Grandits
Clarion, 2008

Category: Concrete Poems

I know! I know! A Poetry Friday post from me? Crazy. But I am so excited about this collection of poems that I have to share.

Concrete poems, for the uninitiated, are poems whose words are displayed purposefully and artistically so as to expand the meaning or context of the poem. The resulting images lend nuance and intrigue and humor. For example, the poem “Talking to my Stupid Younger Brother Is Like Swimming Upstream in a River to Nowhere” is a hilarious and oh-so-realistic conversation between fifteen-year-old Jessie and her younger brother Robert; the fifty-four lines of the poem are arranged in the shape of a river. (For a better explanation from a better-qualified explainer (is that a word?), check out this How-To by concrete poet Paul B. Janeczko.)

Anyway, I was inspired to pick up BLUE LIPSTICK after hearing John read from the collection at IRA last week. His poems are funny, realistic, accessible, and completely brilliant. BLUE LIPSTICK is a glimpse into the life of a contemporary teenager; Jessie touches on everything from bad hair days to silver spandex ... and she brought me straight back to the 1980s (er, my teenage years).

The truly fabulous news is that BLUE LIPSTICK is a follow-up to John’s earlier collection of concrete poems, called TECHNICALLY, IT’S NOT MY FAULT, which gives reader’s a look at life from younger brother Robert’s point of view. TECHNICALLY is so on my To Read list.

Happy Poetry Friday!

MY DAD’S A BIRDMAN
By David Almond
Illustrated by Polly Dunbar
Candlewick, 2008

Category: Middle Grade Fiction

I’ve said it before, but I love meandering through the library stacks, judging books by their covers. Just last week I came upon MY DAD’S A BIRDMAN and was taken in by the title, the jacket art, the cover beneath the jacket. It is a gorgeous little package and there was simply no way to leave without it.

Reading the book felt the same way. One glimpse into Lizzie’s world and I was hooked: Lizzie’s dad, whose sadness is barely hinted at in words and pictures; Auntie Doreen, who just doesn’t understand sadness that cannot be cured with dumplings; and Lizzie herself, who loves her dad enough to don wings and fly. I thought the book was a Dahl-esque little masterpiece of oddness and irresistibility and I highly recommend it. In fact, I have been told by a certain kidoodle in this house that I should read it again ... out loud.

The Boston Authors Club has named TRACKING TRASH one of six 2008 Highly Recommended Books for Young Readers, which means I will be attending the 11th Annual Boston Authors Club Award Luncheon at the Boston Public Library on Thursday. Believe it or not, I have only been to the BPL once, and that was one hundred years (or so) ago. I am excited to get back there!

I am also excited about the possibility of meeting the authors of these other Highly Recommended titles:

Ralph Fletcher, THE ONE O’CLOCK CHOP (Holt, 2007)

Jack Gantos, I AM NOT JOEY PIGZA (FSG, 2007)

Peter Johnson, WHAT HAPPENED (Front Street, 2007)

Mitali Perkins, RICKSHAW GIRL (Charlesbridge, 2007)

Jane Yolen and Robert J. Harris, THE ROGUES (Philomel, 2007)

These 2008 Young Reader Award Recipients will also be honored on Thursday (but as award winners, they have to give speeches!):

Brian Selznick, THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET (Scholastic, 2007)

Elizabeth Alexander and Marilynn Nelson, MISS CRANDALL’S SCHOOL FOR YOUNG LADIES AND LITTLE MISSES OF COLOR (Wordsong/Boyds Mills, 2007)

Mark Peter Hughes, LEMONADE MOUTH (Delacorte, 2007)

For a complete list of Boston Author Club 2008 Awards (including adult authors and titles) as well as details on Thursday’s award luncheon, visit the official Boston Author Club Award website.

Well, sorta.



These are my neighbors ... and their brandy-new hive of honeybees.

Whenever I need a little inspiration, I need only head over to their place. How cool is that?

PIPPI LONGSTOCKING
Written by Astrid Lindgren
Translated by Tiina Nunnally
Illustrated by Lauren Child
Viking, 2008

Category: Middle grade fiction

Somehow I got through a childhood filled with books and stories without ever reading PIPPI LONGSTOCKING. And so I was tickled to find this newly translated and fabulously illustrated version in my daughter’s Easter basket. (Love that Easter bunny!)

Pippi captured my heart in Chapter Two, “Pippi Is a Thing-Searcher and Ends Up in a Fight.” What’s a thing-searcher, you ask?

“Someone who goes searching for things, of course! What else would it be?”

I am, in fact, a thing-searcher. I’ve never called it that, but as I listened to Pippi explain it all became very clear:

“The whole world is full of things, which means there’s a real need for someone to go searching for them. And that’s exactly what a thing-searcher does.”

And that, my friends, is exactly what I do. The world is full of things and there is a real need for someone to go searching for them. Pippi hunts for gold nuggets and ostrich feathers, I seek trash trackers and honey bee keepers. Like Pippi, I always find something. And after these many, many weeks of school visiting and writing conferencing and in-general gallivanting, it is high time for me to get back to it … “before some other thing-searchers show up and make off with all the gold nuggets around here.”