Interview with Kate Messner, Author of Sugar and Ice

This is a interview by iopll98 and watergirl444 with Kate Messner on her new book Sugar and Ice.  This book is about a figure skater, and that's exciting to me because I've been a skater since I was two years old.

It says on her website that Kate grew up in Medina (a small town in Western New York), and she has been a teacher of middle school English. In 2006 she won the National Board Certification in Early Adolescent English Language Arts award.She is now an author and a teacher. 

We're honored to have this opportunity to ask her some questions about being an author!

1. Can you tell us a bit about your new book Sugar and Ice?
Sugar and Ice is about a girl from a small-town maple farm who earns a figure skating scholarship to train with the elite in Lake Placid. I started writing it during a Lake Placid skating camp my daughter signed up for a couple summers ago because I was fascinated by the sports psychologist who spoke to the parent group about the pressures of competitive skating.


2. Do you base any of your characters off of yourself or people you know?

Oh sure! My kids accuse me of “stealing from their lives” all the time, and I do use bits and pieces of real people in many of my characters.  Claire, for example, shares my son’s love for Math and my daughter’s love of skating – but not competing.   And the game their family plays -- “Who’s that Guy?” -- is one that my family has been known to play, too!

3. Is being a teacher and a writer hard? Why or why not?

It’s only hard in the sense that it makes it more of a challenge to find time for writing.  But in other ways, it’s wonderful.  I have middle school voices in my ears all day long, so it’s much easier for me to make my characters sound like real kids.  And I think my writing makes me a better teachers, too, because I completely understand the feeling of getting a paper back with “You can do better” scrawled across the top.  My editor does that all the time.


4. I have skated since I was 2 and really enjoy it.  Have you skated before?  Do you think your book will be most appealing to kids who like to skate?  Was there any event from the book that is inspired by real life events involving skating?

I never learned to ice skate until I was an adult, but when I moved to Northern NY, I decided it was time.  I’m pretty good now, though I can’t do anything too fancy.  Backwards crossovers are about as daring as I get out on the ice.  Many of the events from the book — Claire’s MATHCOUNTS team, the pancake breakfasts, and the local skating shows with junior coaches helping younger kids — are inspired by things in my own community.  Other parts of the book are based on interviews I did with people involved in the more competitive side of skating.


5. Who is your favorite author?

Hmm...how about if I choose three?  JK Rowling wrote my favorite series of all time — the Harry Potter books.  But those books weren’t around when I was a kid.  Back then, my favorite authors were Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume, both of whom have really inspired me and shaped my writing life, too.


6. What advice to you give your middle school students most about writing?

Read. Read. Read.  Reading lots of books will help you be a stronger writer.   And write.  If you want to write, don’t let anybody tell you that you have messy handwriting or you can’t spell or anything else negative.  That yearning to tell stories — to write them down and share them — is what makes you a writer. So just do it.


7. What is your favorite kind of chocolate?

Lake Champlain Chocolates are amazing, especially these sea-salt caramels they make.  (That question made me hungry!)


Thanks for the fun questions!  Hope you all have a great vacation!

All the best,

~Kate

And thanks to Kate Messner, whose book Sugar and Ice is now available, along with her other books, such as The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z. 

Guest Review: Some Girls Are, by Courtney Summers

A review by Lil Miss Perfect

The book that I read was called Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers. This book was really good, but it made me sad at the same time. It is a terrific book. Let me tell you about it.
           
The sad part of the book is that the main character, Regina, is blamed for sleeping with her best friend’s boyfriend when he actually he raped her. It gets around the whole school but no one believes her side of it. All of them believe the rumor that is going around school instead of believing the real truth of what happened.
However, the happy part of the book is that there is this kid named Michael that believes her. He is the only one in the whole school that will actually talk to her. He is sticking with her because he knows what it is like to have everyone hate you. I won't spoil the ending, but I'll just say that things get a lot worse for Regina before they get any better.

I really liked this book and I think it is one of the best books I have ever read. It is definitely in my top five books. I would absolutely recommend this book to others. It is super good, but super sad at the same time. This book will get you angry at some of the characters. Read this book. Go do it, people. Do it now!!

Review: The Cleric Quintet: Book II, The Sylvan Shadows

THE CLERIC QUINTET

THE SYLVAN SHADOWS

I am doing a reveiw on The Cleric Quintet: The Sylvan Shadows, by R.A. Salvatore. This is the second book in a series.

Cadderly, a young scribe/priest is journeying to the elven forest of Shilmista with Elbereth the elf prince and Danica the battle hardened monk who is his lover. He was sent on this mission by headmaster Avery. Once there, he notices that Shilmista is under attack from the goblin army of Castle Trinity. Danica, Cadderly, Elbereth and Shayleigh the elf maiden must help awaken the ancient trees to stop the invasion. afterwards, Cadderly sets of for the city of Carradoon trying to figure out the secrets of his life..................................................

The strengths of this book are there are good details about the feelings between the characters.  The characters are very easy to relate to.  The details are exquisite; it's amazing how he wrote the book.  It has a very good pace.  The book is upbeat, and you never really get bored while you're reading it.  I like it because it's one of the longer books I've read, and I'm always in need of a good book. 

I've read all of the books in this series, but I picked this one to review because I really liked the whole war going on in the Shilmista, which is the Elven forest. 

I rate it five chocolate bars! 
Appropriateness is half fairy princess and half vampire because there is a lot of violent details about the slicing of heads off and the bashing of skulls, that kind of thing, especially where Ivan and Pikel, the dwarven brothers, are concerned.

--Wolfboy409 out.

Review of Caddie Woodlawn, by Carol Ryrie Brink

At age 11, Caddie Woodlawn is the despair of her mother and the pride of her father: a clock-fixing tomboy running wild in the woods of Wisconsin. In 1864, this is a bit much for her Boston-bred mother to bear, but Caddie and her brothers are happy with the status quo. Written in 1935 about Carol Ryrie Brink's grandmother's childhood, the adventures of Caddie and her brothers are still exciting over 60 years later. With each chapter comes another ever-more exciting adventure: a midnight gallop on her horse across a frozen river to warn her American Indian friends of the white men's plan to attack; a prairie fire approaching the school house; and a letter from England that may change the family's life forever. This Newbery Medal-winning book bursts at the seams with Caddie's irrepressible spirit. In spite of her mother's misgivings, Caddie is a perfect role model for any girl--or boy, for that matter. She's big-hearted, she's brave, and she's mechanically inclined! (Summary from Amazon.com)

Caddie is a girl of 11 and, for her day, she is very independent. Instead of sitting inside and knitting or sewing, she is outside, right at her brothers’ side, meeting Indians and having the time of her life. The more days that pass by, the closer she is to being stuck inside all day with her sisters. This is also the story of all the things she goes through when she is 11.

When you read this, you can tell that most girls aren’t like her. She loves to go outside and see the world around her. You can read about how she got a bad cold and how she and her family face a big decision. It’s fun to see how she has changed from the beginning of the book.

I love this book because it’s very well written .You feel as if you’re watching this as it happens. It is a bit less amazing because it kind of drags on about some things, but all in all it is a good book.

I rate this book 4 out of 5 chocolate bars!!

--HarryPotterLover7698

Fanfiction: Unwinding in My Eyes

Hi Hi! It’s me, LocoCoco, and I’m going to try to make a fanfiction about this book I was reading, Unwind, by Neal Shusterman. I just thought this book was AMAZING! So here ya go!

*                                                          *                                                                    *

Unwind: The process by which a child is both terminated and yet kept alive.

Someone like me, that’s all I want. I’m Ume Nephthys, age 15, and an Unwind.

My parents both wanted me to be with them, but not with the other, so they fought over me. And I eventually got tired of it, so I ran. When I had got back, I found out that they signed the papers for me to be Unwound.

Now, I’m running again, but not from my parents feud, from the Juvey-cops. Juvey-cops are the ones who bring the Unwinds to the harvest camps. The places where your… Unwound.

I had a friend named Cletis. We would always sneak off in the middle of the night and vandalize houses near by. But his father signed him over just to save himself money. I still try to convince myself that he’s still alive, but…

Now whenever I’m running, I’m always thinking about him. My parents are still trying to find me, but I think they’ve given up already. Just after two months of me hiding.

But now, I think that I will be able to live the rest of my remaining three years in safe keeping.

I was walking along a freeway out in the middle of nowhere and this truck was stopped by, “Oh, crap.” There were Juvey-cops  everywhere and I saw the truck-driver being arrested. I also saw a boy around 16. Brown eyes and hair. He looks over at me and I could see the depression swimming in his eyes. An Unwind.

Then he did something that no Unwind should do. He ran. He ran towards me. And when he got close enough, I saw he was saying something to me. “Run! To the woods!” Was he actually trying to help me? Helping me or not, I took his advice and ran.

When I got deep enough I stopped to catch my breath.

I heard the bushes rattling and I hid behind a tree. A girl around my age with brown hair and green eyes rushed out. I could tell she was an Unwind too.

Then behind her a voice called out, “Wait!” I look behind her and see that same boy, except he was carrying another boy. He had light blond hair and his eyes were closed.

“What? Who are you?” The girl asked.

I stepped out from behind the tree to listen more. “I’m Connor. But you have to help me or we’re both dead.”

He noticed me. “Who are you?”

Should I tell them my real name? “Ume.” I find myself saying it before I could stop myself.

“Ume huh? Well, would you like to help save our lives?” I nod.

When I heard the foot steps of the Juvey-cop, I started crying for help. “Help! I-I think I broke my arm!”

The cop ran over to me. “What happened?” I looked around. Both Connor and that girl were in place in the tree above the cop.

“It was that Unwind, he needed a hostage, so he-”

“I see, hold on and I’ll get him.” I smiled. He looked at me strangely.

“What?” I looked up.

“NOW!” Connor and the girl jumped down off the tree on top of the cop.

When we got away, we stopped to rest. I found out the girl’s name was Risa. Nice name. The other boy that Connor brought into the woods woke up, he said he was a tithe. Tithes are the special Unwinds that think there’re ‘chosen’. His name is Lev. I don’t really trust this guy, so I don’t let my guard down around him.

Once we’ve rested for a little, we continue to walk towards, what we thought, was a safe place to hide. I knew we were getting closer to civilization because of the rusted electrical tower and food wrappers.

“What are we going to do for food?” I look around at Connor.

“I’ve been on the run for two months. I think I can get us some food.”

When we get to a house by the edge of the woods, I walk up to the door and ring the doorbell. A tired looking 30 year-old women answers the door. “What is it?”

I disguised my voice as best I could. “Hello. I’m Sparrow and I am collecting food for my school. Could you spare some for me?”

She looked me up and down. Then she went back into her house. “I told you it won’t-” Connor shouted at me.


“Sh.” She came back out carrying a bag full of food.


“Thank you.” I walked away from the house and put the bag on the ground. “You told me what now?”


Connor stayed quiet. I looked out at the street. There was a cop car sitting there. But there was also a group of kids waiting for a bus. “Hey guys. Let pretend that we’re with that group until the cop goes away.” Risa smiled.


“You're good with this street smart stuff, aren’t ‘ya?”


I nodded. “Ya, but lets get over there first so we won’t look suspicious.”


Connor, Risa, Lev, and I walked across the street to the group of people. But before the cop could go, the bus pulled up and flashed the ‘illegal-to-cross-while-red-lights-are-flashing’ lights.


“Crap. We have to get on this bus.”


“What?” They said at the same time.


I shook my head. “The cop can’t leave and if we don’t get on the bus, he’ll know some thing’s up.”


“She’s right.” Lev said. Wow, he can talk.


“Get on.” We got on the bus and sat in the back.


“Now, we have to stay together.” I said, just above a whisper. “If just one of us gets caught, we’re all dead.” I looked out the window. “Keep your eyes peeled.”

When the bus stopped at the school we all got out and looked around. Teachers were blocking all ways to leave the grounds. “Ok, we need a plan.” I looked at Risa. “You got one?” She shook her head. I sighed.


“How about you?”


Connor smiled. “I was hoping you’d ask. This is the plan. We’ll all hide in the bathroom until the lunch period. Then maybe we can get out with the crowd.”


I nodded. “That’s good. Ok, any questions? No, ok. Lets go.”

In the bathroom, Connor was in one stall, Risa was in the one beside it, I was next to her, and Lev was in the last one. “We have to talk quietly. And only if there’s no one here. Understood?”


“Yes.”


“Mmm hmm.”


“Sure.”


The door opened. Just some girly-girls checking their hair probably. When they left Risa spoke up. “Where will we go?”


I sighed again. “I haven’t gotten that far in the plan yet.” The door opened again. “Wow, wear something better next time.” “Hey, how was that test?” “Aug, horrible.” The door opened and closed. Then finally, the bell rang. “We should switch stalls. Just in case some of the same people come in.”


“Good idea, Risa.” I was starting to trust that girl. We got out of our stalls and I went over to Lev’s. “Ok tithe. Out.” I opened the stall door…No Lev. My eyes widened. “Guys where’s-” The fire alarm cut me off. “We have to go!” I shouted over the screech of the alarm. They nodded. We ran outside the bathroom and I scanned the crowd. There were Juvey-cops. Everywhere.

*                                                                  *                                                            *

Wells? Do you like? I hope so.*Sigh* Me so glad that THAT’S over. Me try to make other one soon. BYES!XD

Guest Review of Kira Kira by Cynthia Kadohata

Kira Kira by Cynthia Kadohata

kira-kira (kee' ra kee' ra): glittering; shining

Glittering. That's how Katie Takeshima's sister, Lynn, makes everything seem. The sky is kira-kira because its color is deep but see-through at the same time. The sea is kira-kira for the same reason. And so are people's eyes. When Katie and her family move from a Japanese community in Iowa to the Deep South of Georgia, it's Lynn who explains to her why people stop them on the street to stare. And it's Lynn who, with her special way of viewing the world, teaches Katie to look beyond tomorrow. But when Lynn becomes desperately ill, and the whole family begins to fall apart, it is up to Katie to find a way to remind them all that there is always something glittering -- kira-kira -- in the future.  (Summary from Amazon.com)

This quarter (of the school year) I read a book called Kira, Kira by Cynthia Kadohata about a girl named Katie and her relationship with her sister Lynn. In this book, I made some connections, things I like, and more.

One thing I can connect to is how the author described changes, not only in the character, but in her surroundings, like where she lives, who she talks to, and her family.

Some things I liked were how Katie made progress and how much the character improved her knowledge and her actions.

I would recommend this book to people who can handle an emotional book and who love surprise. I think this book earned its reward, and I think that Cynthia Kadohata knew what she was doing.

Not rated

--Stelena27 (Book Report)

Guest Post on Be More Chill by Ned Vizzini

Be More Chill by Ned Vizzini

Jeremy Heere is your average high school dork. Day after day he stares at beautiful Christine, the girl he can never have, and dryly notes the small humiliations that come his way -- until the day he is told about the "squip." A pill-sized supercomputer that you swallow, the squip is guaranteed to bring you whatever you most desire in life. By instructing him on everything from what to wear to how to talk and walk, the squip transforms Jeremy from a supergeek to one of the most popular guys in class. Soon he has made friends and has the attention of the hottest girls in school. But his real dream, Christine, remains out of his reach. Jeremy eventually finds out that there is also a dark side to having a computer inside your brain -- and it can lead to disastrous consequences. (Summary from Amazon.com

Jeremy is the main character. At first he is not cool, and the girl that he likes doesn't like him...

Then someone tells him about a squip, a computer chip that they put in your brain that tells you what to do to be cool. He has to steal beanie animals from his aunt's collection so that he can buy it. Then, with the leftover money he earned, Jeremy gets an Eminem T-shirt and sweatshirt. Then the squip makes him cool. (No spoilers!)

I think that Be More Chill was a very good book, but it cuts out some of the end where I think we should know what happens. At some points it gave a little more detail than I think was needed. And at the end it felt like it was skipping things that should have been there. Like the part from a week before the play to all the way to the play.

I liked how at one point Jeremy wasn't even cool, even with the squip. My favorite part was when Jeremy got high and then had to run from a football player who got mad at him for kissing his girlfriend.

I rate this book 4 out of 5 chocolate bars!

Spikez

Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief, Book One, by Rick Riordan

This is a review on...a squirrel!  I do this a lot, sorry, but I just lost my train of thought.  Where was I?

Oh, well, this is a story of an adventure and also love. This is the first book in The Olympians series, by Rick Riordan.  I've read all five of the books in the series, but to tell you the truth, I didn't have a choice to read the first book.  It was completely by accident--I got it as a gift at the end of my summer camp session.  I was sucked in, and anyway I was bored because we were in the middle of a storm.  Well, actually it was more like a tornado.  So.  This book was fantastic, but in the beginning it really didn't tie down because he said he was seeing things, like a teacher disappearing. 

I liked it because we find out who Percy's father is, and there was a lot of water mentioned in the book.  I like water.  When I was in second grade, my teacher, Ms. K, told us a lot about Greek myths, so I was stuck on Greek myths--any kind of mythology--and this book was amazing because it mentioned a lot of monsters I never knew of, so I could learn more about their legends.

Some things I thought were interesting about Percy Jackson:

• He has ADHD
• He is a demigod
• We find who he is
• He is dyslexic
• This is a good book
• He is guy from a prophecy
• He is the son of a mortal
• His dad is a god
• He has a Camp Half-Blood Cabin In Montak
• He is elevn 

 My rating on Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief (Book One) is 4 1/2 out of 5 chocolate bars.

There is a little bit of mild violence, but it's okay for children.  I read it when I was nine. 
check this outpercyjackson

fan art

Hello this is Ren here. As I promised I drew fan art of the book I read. This one is fan art of The Last Apprentice: Revenge Of The Witch. The book is about a boy named Tom who was sent to work as an apprentice of a spook. A spook is some one who travels from village to village defending them of witches, boggarts, and ghosts--yes, ghosts. I drew one of my favorite characters: the Spook.

He has a name, but I think that would be kind of giving away spoilers. In the picture there are things that are mentioned in the book. On the left are the iron bars that are on the ground with a hand coming out.  In the book that's what you need to do to bind a witch. The rock on the right is a reference of how the apprentice before Tom, Billy, who was mentioned in the book, died. It's also the way of how to bind boggarts. They didn't mentioned how to bind ghosts but if they did I would of drawn that too.

--Ren

This picture is based on the manga xxxHolic. The woman's name is Yuko, and the boy's name is Watanuki. The little black thing on the rope that Watanuki is pulling is named Mokona. In this scene, Yuko is forcing Watanuki to move a bunch of boxes with some rope. In all honesty, I doubt Watanuki will ever move them. Yuko probably knows he won't be able to move them, which is why she asked Watanuki to do it. The reason Watanuki is in an apron is because that's his "work uniform" Yuko makes him put on everyday. Mokona is trying to help Watanuki by cheering him on, but it's obvious the only thing Mokona is doing is adding more weight to what Watanuki is pulling.

--YamiHeart

This fan art is from the book A Great And Terrible Beauty. The drawing is of Gemma Doyle, the main character. I drew it because, well, I like to draw, and I was bored one day.  --Up North Girl

Review of Jane-Emily by Patricia Clapp

Emily was a selfish, willful, hateful child who died before her thirteenth birthday. But that was a long time ago. Jane is nine years old and an orphan when she and her young Aunt Louisa come to spend the summer at Jane's grandmother's house, a large, mysterious mansion in Massachusetts. Then one day . . . Jane stares into a reflecting ball in the garden - and the face that looks back at her is not her own.Many years earlier, a child of rage and malevolence lived in this place. And she never left. Now Emily has dark plans for little Jane - a blood-chilling purpose that Louisa, just a girl herself, must battle with all her heart, soul, and spirit . . . or she will lose her innocent, helpless niece forever. (summary from librarything.com)

Jane Emily is about a girl named Jane whose parents just died and starts living with her aunt and grandparents on her mother's side. After that, she is invited to her grandmother's house (from her father's side) along with her aunt, Louisa, and her aunt is not happy about that. When they arrive, her aunt doesn't mind it so much any more but strange things are happening with Jane. But what is the cause? Jane seems to think it's Emily, a girl who lived there a long time ago but she also died there. Her aunt is more than skeptical.

As things play out over the summer, things get difficult for Jane's aunt. First, she is away from her boyfriend. Second, she may have a little crush on a young doctor that may like her back.

But with her niece thinking Emily is still here, the aunt may not have time for romance.

I liked this book because it gives you a reason to keep reading. Its writing style, the way she is describing the places, you think you know right where you are. I think one weakness is that there's a bit too much romance and not enough of the actual main story line.

When reading the story, if you choose to, then just remember this is placed back in the past.

:) :) :)

I rate this book 4 out of 5 chocolate bars!


HarryPotterlover7698