Loree Griffin Burns: A Life in Books

Marc Aronson, who blogs about nonfiction for young people at the School Library Journal website, recently asked his readers what they love about reading nonfiction. I’ve been mulling the question for days, and my answer is this: the stories are true.

Before anyone gets outraged, let me state, for the record, that I adore fiction. I read an awful lot of it, and I react strongly and emotionally to made-up characters and situations all the time. (For a fine example, ask my three kids how I handled Dumbledore’s death.) But my reaction to fiction is always tempered, just the tiniest bit, by the knowledge that the stories and the characters and the situations are not real, but instead dreamt up in the mind of a working writer.

Conversely, the emotions stirred when I read non-fiction are boosted, sometimes imperceptibly and sometimes by leaps and bounds, simply because the stories and characters and situations I have just discovered are real. The people existed in flesh and blood. Their deeds are a matter of historical or personal record. I could learn more, should I choose to, without the author’s knowledge or consent, because the story is not his or hers, but ours; it belongs to you and to me and to all of humankind.

Corny, I know, but that's my answer.

Here are two works of nonfiction I read recently and adored. These are not reviews, mind you, but hearty recommendations.




WRITTEN IN BONE
By Sally M. Walker
Carolrhoda, 2009

Category: YA Nonfiction


Sally M. Walker’s meticulously researched and sparklingly rendered young adult standout, WRITTEN IN BONE is perfect for any person of over the age of ten with an interest in history or science or real-life mysteries. In fact, I suspect persons over the age of ten heretofore uninterested in these topics, upon reading the book, will be inspired to wonder about history and science and real-life mysteries and, perhaps, why they hadn’t wondered about these things before.






THE DAY-GLO BROTHERS
The True Story of Bob and Joe Switzer’s Bright Ideas and Brand-New Colors
by Chris Barton
Illustrated by Tony Persiani
Charlesbridge, 2009

Category: Picture Book Nonfiction


In THE DAY-GLO BROTHERS, Cris Barton and Tony Persiani share the story of Bob and Joe Switzer and their somewhat accidental discovery of colors that glow in the dark AND in the light. The spotlight here is on serendipity, the unique strengths of two very different brothers, and how the road to our childhood dreams is often circuitous, eye-popping … and not so very hard to navigate after all.


Do YOU read nonfiction? What books have you adored lately? Do tell! And for a roundup of web-wide posts on nonfiction for children, check out today's post at Wendy’s Wanderings.

I kicked things off on Friday at Wellesley Booksmith, where I watched Kristy Dempsey and Christopher Denise entertain a gaggle of preschoolers with stories and art. These two are a pair beyond compare (so to speak), and it was fun to see them interact with their readers. You should totally check out their new picture book:



ME WITH YOU
by Kristy Dempsey
Illustrated by Christopher Denise
Philomel, 2009



On Saturday I was supposed to hold my raffle drawing. But I forgot! When I finally remembered, my husband drew the name cloudscome from my bowl of entries. Please get in touch with me via email (lgb (at) loreeburns (dot) com, cloudscome, because you have won a brandy-new copy of this delightfulness:




THE BIRDS OF CENTRAL PARK
by Carl Vornberger
Harry Abrams, 2005



And on Sunday, my boys turned eleven. ELEVEN! Among their birthday gifts were books from Mom. For Sam, older by one minute and puzzler extraordinaire:




WHEN YOU REACH ME
by Rebecca Stead
Wendy Lamb, 2009

And for Ben, younger BUT BIGGER (as he explained over and again yesterday), and my military guy:




OPERATION YES
by Sara Lewis Holmes
Scholastic, 2009


In the books department, it was a lovely weekend!

THE BIRDS OF CENTRAL PARK
By Carl Vornberger
Harry Abrams, 2005

Category: Non-fiction for young adults and grown-ups

Did you know this second week of September has been proclaimed Random Acts of Publicity Week? I didn’t either, until I read this random act of TRACKING TRASH loveliness by Sara Lewis Holmes. Sara is a sweetheart, and she has inspired me to share a little book love, too.

My choice: THE BIRDS OF CENTRAL PARK.

I first found this book on the shelf of a serious birder I interviewed last winter. Having birded in Central Park myself, I was intrigued. Being an enthusiastic (although decidedly amateur) photographer, I was downright excited. Last week, as I worked through the birding chapter of my citizen science book, I finally got my hands on a copy. To say I adored it would be putting it mildly.

Firstly, the pictures are stunning. I wholeheartedly recommend the book for the images alone. As it turns out, though, fine images are not all you’ll find in THE BIRDS OF CENTRAL PARK. There’s encouragement, in the form of visual proof that a truly diverse array of avian wildlife perches in the heart of New York City. There’s birding insight AND photographic insight as well; nothing overwhelming to beginners, mind you, just a goodly amount of useful information for both birders and photographers.

Any budding wildlife photographer, budding birder, city dweller with the heart of a naturalist, or animal lover would enjoy this book. After drooling over a library copy, I bought one for myself. And guess what? I also bought one for YOU.

Yep.

You.

I’m going to raffle a copy of THE BIRDS OF CENTRAL PARK here on my blog. Leave a comment below and I will enter you in the drawing. In true Random Acts of Publicity Week spirit, you are encouraged to spread the word about this book and the drawing; if you do, let me know and I will enter your name in the drawing a second time. Raffle entry comments will be accepted until Friday at midnight.

Happy Wednesday!

THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z.
By Kate Messner
Walker, 2009

Category: Middle Grade Fiction

When my kids are grown, I think one of the things they will remember most about childhood is curling up together on the couch to read. One of the things I will remember most is reading them books written by my friend Kate.

When we four finished reading Kate’s first novel, SPITFIRE, my kids asked, “A girl wrote this?”

Three years later, when we finished reading Kate’s third novel, THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z, they asked, “The same girl wrote this?

Yes, Kate Messner does it all: action-packed historical fiction, emotionally charged contemporary fiction, evocative picture books (trust me on this … they are coming soon!). THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z gave my kids a great sense of the breadth of ground a single writer can cover … and more proof that girl writers rock. All that, and a great read, too. Thank you, Kate, and happy book release day to you!

Here's some flap copy enticement:

Gianna Zales is a star runner with one more hurdle to jump before she goes to cross-country sectionals – a monster leaf collection project. To get it done, she’ll have to survive a rival who desperately wants to take her place at sectionals, a grandmother who leaves her false teeth in the refrigerator, and a best friend whose feelings about her are changing like the leaves. Gianna Z needs a stroke of brilliance to make it work!

And here's a link to a fantabulous review over at Kelly Fineman's Writing and Ruminating blog.

Need more? Visit Kate’s website, or her recent blog post, for information on THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z and upcoming signing events. Oh, and don't miss this book trailer; it is star-studded and super-fun:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwsgo3vOAGY

SAVING THE GHOST OF THE MOUNTAIN
By Sy Montgomery
Photographs by Nic Bishop
Houghton Mifflin, 2009

Category: Middle-grade Nonfiction



My kids like to joke that I could never write the sorts of books Sy Montgomery writes … and they may be right. SNAKE SCIENTIST? Um, no thanks. TARANTULA SCIENTIST? I don’t exactly love hairy spiders. QUEST FOR THE TREE KANGAROO? I thought so for a moment or two, but then I noticed a blood-sucking cloud forest leech attached to a human arm, quite possibly the author's human arm, in the first chapter. I’m out.

I’m a different sort of adventurer, I guess.

But, oh how I love to imagine Sy and her intrepid partner-in-images, Nic Bishop, as they trek around the planet having crazy exciting and somewhat dangerous adventures, bringing back stories of science and conservation. In SAVING THE GHOST OF THE MOUNTAIN, author and photographer traveled to Mongolia to help track the elusive snow leopard. They climbed up, hiked over, and slid down mountains, searching all the while for leopards and, failing that, leopard scat. The book is irresistible and satisfying, despite the unpredictable nature of those ghostlike cats.

I admire Sy's moxie, but I also admire her sensibilities, as evidenced in these lines, my favorites in the entire book:

Protecting an animal is like loving someone. It’s not something you do and then finish. It’s a long-term promise, honored over and over, one step at a time.”

Amen to that.



For those who don't know, Mondays are reserved for celebrating children's nonfiction in the online kidlit world. You can read more about this celebration here on Anastasia Suen's Picture Book of the Day blog, and you can find a roundup of today's Nonfiction Monday posts here at the SimplyScience Blog.