All Rileyed Up

Happy Swallows Day! Today is the day we celebrate the return of the swallows to San Juan Capistrano. Parading and festivities to continue on through the weekend. Since not all of you will be able to join me for them, here’s a little online celebration.

Please meet Kathryn Fitzmaurice, a local author whose debut novel, The Year Swallows Came Early, is a work of middle grade fiction featuring Eleanor “Groovy” Robinson. Groovy is an 11-year-old girl with dreams of cooking school and a life full of (sometimes unhappy) surprises. Join her and her best friend Frankie as they take tentative steps into the world of parents’ mistakes, betrayed feelings, and the power of forgiveness. (There’s a more detailed story description on Kathryn’s site).

1. You were first inspired to write by your grandmother, a science fiction author. Have you ever penned any science fiction?

Kathryn Fitmaurice: I have never written any science fiction or fantasy. I always think that those science fiction/fantasy authors must be very talented in order to create an entire world. Just think of all the details they make up!

2. Your main character in The Year The Swallows Came Early, 11-year-old Eleanor “Groovy” Robinson, is named after your grandmother. Are there any personality quirks that your fictional Eleanor and the real Eleanor share?

Kathryn Fitzmaurice: The only thing they share is their name. But Groovy’s great grandmother, Eleanor Robinson, whom she is named after; her character is almost exactly how my own grandmother was. My own grandmother (the real Eleanor Robinson) had a porcelain owl collection, she wrote very late at night, and was interested in paranormal happenings. I tried to make the character in the book very much like my own grandmother. I did this to honor everything she had done to encourage me in becoming a writer. Of course she never got to read my book, but it still feels really special to me.

3. I love the article in the OC Register about your journey from inspiration to published book and your grandmother’s inscription in the Emily Dickinson book. Have you ever shown your grandmother’s box of unpublished writings to anyone else?

Kathryn Fitzmaurice: My family has seen them, and then I showed them to the photographer at the OC Register. My mother and I go through them sometimes, but no one else has seen them. Here is a photograph of a few of them in a pile:

These were from her short story collection. I really love reading them along with the detailed notes she wrote to herself about her characters and their personalities, etc.

4. How long did it take you to write The Year the Swallows Came Early?

Kathryn Fitzmaurice: It took me three years to write the story. Of course, a lot of it was done (revised) the last year, after I got an agent.

5. Your second book is about Groovy’s friends. Do you intend to write more books about these characters or are you going to stop at two?

Kathryn Fitzmaurice: The second book is about Frankie. It’s written from his point of view. I’m still revising it right now. He is more difficult to write about than Eleanor because he’s much more complicated. I’m not sure if I’ll write one about any of the other characters. I think it would be fun to write one about Marisol, though. She’s so bossy and talented at the same time!

6. You’ve woven a lot of food into your tale. Does food play a large role in the second book as well?

Kathryn Fitzmaurice: No, food does not play a big part in the second book because food is not really a part of Frankie’s day to day life. In fact, the only thing he really likes is cheese sandwiches!

7. Did you ever attend or want to attend cooking school yourself?

Kathryn Fitzmaurice: Well, here is where I admit that I completely can’t stand to not only make out a grocery list, but go to the market! I cook because I have to. I have two teenage boys who are always starving, but really, I don’t enjoy cooking that much.

8. How did you come to choose writing Middle Grade instead adult fiction?

Kathryn Fitzmaurice: Yes, it is considered middle grade fiction, for readers ages 9-12. I enjoy writing for this age because kids these ages are still so hopeful about their world and all the possibilities that may happen. And also, when I first started the book, my own boys were about this age, so I was reading (with them) a lot of middle grade novels.

9. What are some of your favorite Middle Grade (or YA) books?

Kathryn Fitzmaurice: I enjoy anything written by Kate DiCamillo, Debra Wiles, Sharon Creech, Susan Patron, Ann Martin, and Katherine Hannigan….I could go on for awhile here. There’s so many amazing writers today.

10. What is your writing schedule like, ie do you have a set time every day during which you write?

Kathryn Fitzmaurice: Usually, I write every weekday between the hours of 9am and 3pm. But that doesn’t always happen. I drink very strong green tea while I write and try not to answer the phone (unless it’s my mother!). My dog, Holly, sits with me in my home office. She is a very big help!

11. Do you find you spend more writing time with the computer keyboard or pen and paper? Pros or cons of either?

Kathryn Fitzmaurice: I always write the first draft on the computer, then print it and make revisions in pencil. I need to see it on the floor all layed out so I can cut and paste sections together. Then I retype it back on the computer, print it again, make more revisions, etc., until it is done. This usually takes SEVERAL times before it is ready to be read by my agent, who usually (luckily!) sends it back again for another draft. Then, once the publisher, Molly O’Neill at HarperCollins, sees it, she will also have suggestions to make it better. There is the copy editor, who looks at it after the editor and helps me find the discrepancies I may have overlooked. On one page of the manuscript, there could be up to ten sticky notes from the copy editor suggesting changes.

12. Though you grew up in Arizona, you now live in California and set your story in a California town. Do you find the California landscape/environment inspires your writing?

Kathryn Fitzmaurice: I have always loved living in California. I’ve lived in three houses since I’ve been here, all within a couple of miles from each other. But Arizona is really beautiful, too. I love the desert almost as much as I love the beach.

13. Anything else you’d like to say?

Kathryn Fitzmaurice: Thank you very much for interviewing me!

Kathryn has graciously offered to give away one signed copy of The Year the Swallows Came Early. To enter the giveaway, please check out Kathryn’s site and leave a comment here by midnight Pacific time Wednesday March 25 (which happens to be my birthday) telling me why you want to read this book or what you enjoyed learning about Kathryn. The more entertaining the comment, the more appreciative I am…

US addresses only.

EDITED: The winner is Edj! Come on down!

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This post contributed to Thursday Thirteen.

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13… hours I’ve spent the past two days spent reading Twilight and New Moon

12… hours I’ll likely spend over next two days reading Eclipse and Breaking Dawn

11… dollars spent to acquire the book, Twilight

10… times my teenage niece asked me if I had read the book yet after I bought it

9… pages it took to get me hooked on the first book

8… times I thought to myself “Edward sounds dreamy”

7… times I’ve spotted missing quotation marks – who edited these books?

6… errands I blew off today to finish New Moon

5… times I exasperatedly thought “how could Bella have not yet figured out Jacob’s problem?” while reading New Moon

4… times I have eyed Eclipse, debating on whether or not to start reading it now or this evening

3… position on my Netflix queue for Twilight, even though the DVD won’t be out til the end of the month

2… other books I should be reading instead of these, Loving Frank for book club next week and Song of the Lark which is due back to the library

1… time I will read these books because while the story is quite intriguing, I daresay I won’t gain much more from a second reading.

So what about you? Have you fallen into the trap that is Twilight?

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This post contributed to Thursday Thirteen.

Meet Daniel X, a 15 year old alien hunter ridding the earth of incorrigible aliens. The Dangerous Days of Daniel X is book one of a series, and this particular, um, episode gives us a glimpse of Daniel’s life and family history as well as his encounter with Seth Ergent, number six on The List of Alien Outlaws.

According to the Young Adult Library Services Association, boys more often than girls don’t like to read because they find it “boring,” they “like other activities better” and they “can’t get into the stories.” I checked in with Beth Patin, head librarian of The Holy Cross School in New Orleans, an all boys school grades 5-12, who said, “Boys do read. They just don’t associate themselves with the type of books that most English teachers suggest. Teachers often assign classic novels that are perceived as uninteresting. It would liven things up if a teacher would assign a current story, that maybe has an Ipod in it.”

She encourages her students to read by “Finding out what they are interested in and then making a connection with a book in that subject area. Boys love technology: audio-books, the Amazon Kindle, and electronic books are great formats for guys.”

So will Daniel X make the cut?

I asked Patin to help me out in a completely unscientific survey and asked all the students who stopped by her library during lunchtime whether or not they would read this book based on the description above. Out of ten students, seven said yes, one asked for more details, one said he’d read it already (nerd alert) and one, interestingly, repsonded “I don’t read.”

James Patterson, the father of a ten year old boy himself, aims to give boys something they’ll want to read. Seizing on the facts that boys like action and are more inclined to read comics and graphic novels over other forms of fiction, Patterson included in The Dangerous Days of Daniel X all the action, dialogue, drama, aliens, and superpowers one might expect to find in a comic book or graphic novel, replete with jokes and gross-out material (think scum, ooze, earwax, and the word “spaghetti-like”). Surprisingly, no skateboarding, which I had fully expected.

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X is quick reading and does feel like I’m reading the thoughts of a boy. Some of the dialogue gets a little silly for me, but then again, I’ve overheard boys’ conversations and they sometimes sound silly too (and yes, I’m sure they think I sound ridiculous). As a mother, I give this the mom-stamp of approval for boys. It’s clean and it follows all the basic elements of novel writing, so it’s a good starter book to interest boys in reading before they move on to heavier stuff. All in all, I’ll pass this copy on to my nephew and I think he’ll enjoy it.

Things to know:

Buy the book here.

The book’s website here.

Want to read and review books like this? Go here.

P.S. On another note, congrats to Beckie, who won the CD giveaway.

James Patterson’s Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports is a book that lives up to its title, complete with gangs, explosions, and romance (hoo ha!).

Quick summary minus spoilers: Maximum Ride, better known as Max, is a smart-talking, fourteen year old girl who is the oldest of six children called bird kids. The bird kids are the result of experiments performed by genetic scientists heck-bent (PG-rated book, folks) on curing the world of war and greed and environmental destruction. How do these megalomaniacs plan to cure the world of said evils? Why, by killing everyone who contributes to the problems and creating a stronger, more powerful human species. It’s up to Max and her trusty flock to save the world from this “Re-Evolution.”

Now, some of you more faithful readers may know that I have issues with eagles. Although Patterson never specifies any particular species of bird the bird kids’ DNAs have been spliced with, I feel confident saying that Max would be a terrifying person to behold. She has WINGS, people, WINGS! (A point Max makes herself with such lines as “I blame you for altering my DNA! I mean, I have wings, lady! What were you thinking?”) Yet I read this entire book in one day because it was THAT CAPTIVATING AND ENJOYABLE. (I also thought this review was due a couple days ago and had put off reading it to the last minute, but do not let that deter you from the original point that this book is THAT CAPTIVATING AND ENJOYABLE).

My overall thought is this: if you are a boy or girl between the ages of 9-14, you will enjoy this book and likely get a decent vocabulary lesson out of it (and if you’re really good, you might catch the grammatical error in the first sentence of chapter 37). If you are the parent of said child, you may have just stumbled upon a book that will open your child’s eyes to the wonderful world of reading.

Why will boys like this? Danger. Excitement. Fight sequences. This book is quite comic book-esque, with its genetically altered heroes and snarky one-liners (Wolverine or Gambit, anyone?). See, the bird kids are considered an imperfect experiment, and those heck-bent scientists wish to “retire” them (a euphemism I’m sure you can interpret). This aspect gives every fight sequence the admirable quality of “fighting for one’s right to life.” Everyone deserves the right to live, no matter how different they are.

Why will girls like this? In short, Max. Max is one hundred percent female and one hundred percent bad mamma jamma. The leader of the flock, her catchphrase throughout the book is “There’s always a plan.” She is quick-thinking, assertive, confident, strong, and many more adjectives that lend themselves readily to the word “Heroine.” This girl takes care of herself, her friends, and the world (ie, she cares about her fellow people). If you really want to get a feel for Max, consider this line: “I know this will surprise you, but I don’t damsel well. Distress, I can do. Damseling? Not so much.” Come on, you know you prefer your daughter reading about tough witty girls like her instead of Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield (not that I know anything at all about Sweet Valley High).

Why will both boys and girls enjoy this book? Power in the hands of youth. It’s a book that rallies the young to take a stance for the world they are to inherit – it reminds children that they CAN make a difference, that it is within their grasp to foster new understandings of how to take care of the world, and that it’s okay to express dissatisfaction with the way “the grown-ups” (yes, that’s the word the book uses) handle things.

As for setting (which I’m a big fan of), Maximum Ride takes us to a handful of locales, thereby ensuring a future movie with beautiful “filmed on location!” sets. I’ve never read a book by Patterson before, although my cousin raves about the Alex Cross books. There are a couple point of view shifts that I didn’t catch until after the first couple sentences (personal pet peeve), but other than that, the pacing is excellent, and easy to read. While Patterson does capture the voice of a fourteen year old accurately, Max makes references to pop culture that I daresay a fourteen year old of today wouldn’t make. Do you know any fourteen year olds who reference Yogi Bear? Do they even know who Yogi Bear is? It’s only one sentence here and there, and not a big deal, because us “grown ups” will get those jokes.

On that note, I think I’m going to go participate in a beach clean up or protest a pharmaceutical company, or, I don’t know, start a blog and save the world. Happy reading.

Important things for you to know:

Buy the book here.

Read more about the book here.

Want to review books like this? Go here.

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