Talk about the kidlit you're reading! - Page 52

MsJudy · 09-05-2011, 08:23 PM

CJ, you may still be a little sensitive. Nothing I said was directed at you, personally, in any way. I was just trying to encourage playground king (and all of us) to look at the books with analytical eyes, even when they aren't really to his taste.

C.J. Rockwell · 09-06-2011, 03:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MsJudy

CJ, you may still be a little sensitive. Nothing I said was directed at you, personally, in any way. I was just trying to encourage playground king (and all of us) to look at the books with analytical eyes, even when they aren't really to his taste.

I wasn't speaking just for me with what I said either. I know you weren't outing me or PK. I was just lightly using my own struggles with this issue only to illustrate that it's normal to feel this way sometimes.

That doesn't mean I advocate avoiding it forever.

I was speaking generally too. Really.

Remember, you and others on AW told me when Gabriel didn't pan out, I was better off setting it aside and start something else, because every story I write will teach me something to make the next better.

Don't you think "Reading Like Writers" has the same logistics?

So I'm sorry if I came off rude again, Judy, everyone, but I'm really trying to be respectful, I swear it.

MsJudy · 09-06-2011, 05:26 AM

No offense taken.

And it's all about what you need at a particular moment. Sometimes I'm just hungry for information: Show me how to write. I'll devour a whole bunch of kidlit books, studying them with magnifying glasses to see how they're put together.

Other times, I just want to read. Find me a good story and get carried away by it. Then I'll look for a big, thick grown-up book because I know I'll never write anything like it.

And sometimes I read just to see what everybody's talking about. Books like Twilight or The Underneath, books that aren't really my style/taste. I may or may not finish the book, but I read enough to see what all the hype is about.

If reading like a writer is painful for you, then it's certainly a good idea to take a break from it. We don't learn well when we're depressed!

Amarie · 09-06-2011, 05:36 AM

I'm reading Knightley Academy and it's keeping my attention so far, a good thing these days. It's an alterative history-type book, and it does acknowledge in a subtle way that there is the looming spector of writing a book about an orphan going to a special school. One of the chapters is titled The Boy who Passed.

playground_king · 09-07-2011, 07:11 PM

So I went to my library and realized, oh yea, they'll have all the Percy Jackson books. So I just rented the rest of the series.

MsJudy · 09-08-2011, 03:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by playground_king

So I went to my library and realized, oh yea, they'll have all the Percy Jackson books. So I just rented the rest of the series.

Good heavens, where do you live? In my corner of the world, libraries are free. At least for now...

playground_king · 09-08-2011, 07:45 PM

Oh they were free. When I said rented I didn't mean like a Blockbuster or something where you pay for them haha.

redsoxboy123 · 09-09-2011, 05:17 AM

Hey guys...

Do you have any recommendations where the main character is between 8-12 yrs old?
I'm asking because at the beginning of my WIP, my main character is 10 yrs old and he moves away from his home and quickly makes new friends. Then the story skips ahead 4 yrs and he's a teenager. Later on in the story, he thinks back to when he was 11-12 yrs old.

Lets narrow it down:
I have read Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief and all 7 Harry Potter books. I guess fantasy/science fiction is one possible category. Has anyone read House of the Scorpion? That would be in that category. Another category would be action adventure books.

Bye guys see you later

Kitty Pryde · 09-09-2011, 05:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redsoxboy123

Hey guys...

Do you have any recommendations where the main character is between 8-12 yrs old?
I'm asking because at the beginning of my WIP, my main character is 10 yrs old and he moves away from his home and quickly makes new friends. Then the story skips ahead 4 yrs and he's a teenager. Later on in the story, he thinks back to when he was 11-12 yrs old.

Lets narrow it down:
I have read Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief and all 7 Harry Potter books. I guess fantasy/science fiction is one possible category. Has anyone read House of the Scorpion? That would be in that category. Another category would be action adventure books.

Bye guys see you later

About 90% of the books recommended in this thread have an 8-12 year old protagonist. Read through and there are a lot of awesome book recs.

MsJudy · 09-09-2011, 07:55 AM

Reading the third book in the Last Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney (also known as the Spook's Apprentice). So many series (yeah, I'm looking at you, Skulduggery Pleasant) lose their steam after the first book, but so far he's done a good job of crafting each story so it stands well on its own. I really enjoy his characters.

jtrylch13 · 09-09-2011, 11:03 PM

Dragging through Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors. Now I remember why I gave this series up a few years ago. Books are okay, as I've said before, but just too juvenille. I think even kids would find them so. I know several of you are big lovers of the CB series so I apologize. I am still reading and I'm hoping to actually finishe the entire series this time, because the story is interesting, but the development isn't there. Oh, well.

playground_king · 09-11-2011, 03:16 AM

I must admit, the Percy Jackson series definitely picks up in the third book. His writing is MUCH better and the quests and interactions with the god's are a lot more, I don't know, believable I guess? And doesn't seem like they were just placed there to advance the plot. I think it also has something to do with Percy getting older, maybe I can connect with the MC easier now?

Ferret · 09-11-2011, 03:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by playground_king

I must admit, the Percy Jackson series definitely picks up in the third book. His writing is MUCH better and the quests and interactions with the god's are a lot more, I don't know, believable I guess? And doesn't seem like they were just placed there to advance the plot. I think it also has something to do with Percy getting older, maybe I can connect with the MC easier now?

I actually liked the first book more than the others (although I think I've only read the first three).

Kitty Pryde · 09-11-2011, 03:21 AM

I've been plowing through a thousand page adult novel (note to writers: 400K is too long!) but i took a break to read Darth Paper Strikes Back. So far I like it even more than the first, much higher stakes and more interesting conflict.

romancewriter · 09-11-2011, 09:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jtrylch13

Dragging through Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors. Now I remember why I gave this series up a few years ago. Books are okay, as I've said before, but just too juvenille. I think even kids would find them so. I know several of you are big lovers of the CB series so I apologize. I am still reading and I'm hoping to actually finishe the entire series this time, because the story is interesting, but the development isn't there. Oh, well.

I wasn't a big fan of Charlie Bone either. I read the entire series but thought there was too much conflict in Charlie's life. His home life kind of sucked, his school life kind of sucked, other than a few friends and couple of his family members most everyone else in the series was out to get to him. I probably won't reread the series, and I tend to do that with quite a few MG series, can't stop reading Warriors for example, I just didn't much care for the series in general.

No offense to those that liked it

romancewriter · 09-11-2011, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MsJudy

Reading the third book in the Last Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney (also known as the Spook's Apprentice). So many series (yeah, I'm looking at you, Skulduggery Pleasant) lose their steam after the first book, but so far he's done a good job of crafting each story so it stands well on its own. I really enjoy his characters.

I started the series and quit because I'm a big wimp and the stories were a bit creepy for my taste. I did recommend the books to my oldest son, whose 23 and he's started reading them. Interesting premise, interesting characters, just not my cup of tea.

romancewriter · 09-11-2011, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ferret

I actually liked the first book more than the others (although I think I've only read the first three).

I LOVED Percy Jackson. I'm rereading them here and there. I also just reread the Last Hero, and I'm looking forward to the next installment. Didn't much care for the Kane Chronicles though. It felt like he used his best funny bits writing Percy, and couldn't come up with anything fresh for the Kane Chronicles. I don't think the book was horrible, but didn't think it was great either.

RuthD · 09-11-2011, 11:23 PM

I'm reading The Girl Who Could Fly. I like the story's premise--sheltered farm kid with a just-outed special power is taken to a top-secret government facility that runs a school for kids with special powers. Shades of Charlie Bone (which I DO love, though y'all are entitled to your own opinions!) and Harry Potter, etc.

At the halfway point, I find myself reading in critique mode instead of being caught up in the story. My main complaints: (1) the MC is a hayseed caricature who randomly exclaims things like "Butter my butt and call me a biscuit!" There isn't enough personality development to pull that off. (2) The mean people have no motivation for their actions, so it's just random over-the-top cruelty (3) lots of telling and redundant combinations of showing and telling. (4) the writing is clumsy and full of cliches, and tries too hard to be clever.

It's blurbed by Stephenie Meyer, who called it "the oddest/sweetest mix of Little House on the Prairie and X-Men." O-kaaaay. So far, I would call it "trying to be a cross between Savvy and The Mysterious Benedict Society but falling a little short".

Ferret · 09-12-2011, 12:12 AM

I'm reading the second Emily Windsnap (mermaid) book. I've almost finished it, and I think I can safely say that, in my opinion, the second book is better than the first--which is very unusual for a series.

redsoxboy123 · 09-12-2011, 01:46 AM

I loved reading the 1st Percy Jacskon book. I like the way it was written from his point of view as a 12 yr old kid (but this was changed for the movie).
As I said above, I have a thing for fantasy or science fiction novels.

Kitty Pryde · 09-12-2011, 09:03 AM

Darth Paper Strikes Back was awesome, much stronger than the first book, which was pretty rad itself.

Then I read The Grand Plan To Fix Everything, about a little Indian-American girl obsessed with Bollywood films and a certain Bollywood actress, who has to move with her folks to a tiny village in India. Many awesome Bollywood-style adventures ensued.

Now reading Jac0b W0nderbar and the C0smic Space Kap0w. The protagonist is really super unlikeable for me, a pretty horrible and unrepentant kid (destroying school property, destroying mom's property, lying about misdeeds, gluing stuff to a teacher's butt, causing his mom despair). I guess it's supposed to be his major flaw, but it comes off as douchey rather than sympathetic or lovable. But once the kids leave Earth their adventures are highly amusing, so I'm sticking with it.

Smish · 09-13-2011, 02:41 AM

Re-reading Olive's Ocean.

RuthD · 09-13-2011, 05:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smish

Re-reading Olive's Ocean.

That's a good one.

I'm re-re-rereading Half Magic.

timp67 · 09-13-2011, 06:21 AM

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Half Magic!

Smish · 09-13-2011, 06:23 AM

I've never read Half Magic!

09-05-2011, 08:23 PM	#1276
MsJudy practical experience, FTW Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: california Posts: 5,673	CJ, you may still be a little sensitive. Nothing I said was directed at you, personally, in any way. I was just trying to encourage playground king (and all of us) to look at the books with analytical eyes, even when they aren't really to his taste. __________________ represented by Jenny Bent of the Bent Agency. Most happy.

09-06-2011, 05:26 AM	#1278
MsJudy practical experience, FTW Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: california Posts: 5,673	No offense taken. And it's all about what you need at a particular moment. Sometimes I'm just hungry for information: Show me how to write. I'll devour a whole bunch of kidlit books, studying them with magnifying glasses to see how they're put together. Other times, I just want to read. Find me a good story and get carried away by it. Then I'll look for a big, thick grown-up book because I know I'll never write anything like it. And sometimes I read just to see what everybody's talking about. Books like Twilight or The Underneath, books that aren't really my style/taste. I may or may not finish the book, but I read enough to see what all the hype is about. If reading like a writer is painful for you, then it's certainly a good idea to take a break from it. We don't learn well when we're depressed! __________________ represented by Jenny Bent of the Bent Agency. Most happy.

09-09-2011, 07:55 AM	#1285
MsJudy practical experience, FTW Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: california Posts: 5,673	Reading the third book in the Last Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney (also known as the Spook's Apprentice). So many series (yeah, I'm looking at you, Skulduggery Pleasant) lose their steam after the first book, but so far he's done a good job of crafting each story so it stands well on its own. I really enjoy his characters. __________________ represented by Jenny Bent of the Bent Agency. Most happy.

09-11-2011, 03:21 AM	#1289
Kitty Pryde i luv you giant bear statue AW Moderator Join Date: May 2008 Location: Lost Angeles Posts: 8,862	I've been plowing through a thousand page adult novel (note to writers: 400K is too long!) but i took a break to read Darth Paper Strikes Back. So far I like it even more than the first, much higher stakes and more interesting conflict. __________________ My student teaching project is helping my fifth graders put on a bone marrow donor drive and raise money for childhood cancer!

09-11-2011, 11:23 PM	#1293
RuthD careful...you'll end up in my novel Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: St. Louis Posts: 1,141	I'm reading The Girl Who Could Fly. I like the story's premise--sheltered farm kid with a just-outed special power is taken to a top-secret government facility that runs a school for kids with special powers. Shades of Charlie Bone (which I DO love, though y'all are entitled to your own opinions!) and Harry Potter, etc. At the halfway point, I find myself reading in critique mode instead of being caught up in the story. My main complaints: (1) the MC is a hayseed caricature who randomly exclaims things like "Butter my butt and call me a biscuit!" There isn't enough personality development to pull that off. (2) The mean people have no motivation for their actions, so it's just random over-the-top cruelty (3) lots of telling and redundant combinations of showing and telling. (4) the writing is clumsy and full of cliches, and tries too hard to be clever. It's blurbed by Stephenie Meyer, who called it "the oddest/sweetest mix of Little House on the Prairie and X-Men." O-kaaaay. So far, I would call it "trying to be a cross between Savvy and The Mysterious Benedict Society but falling a little short". __________________ My blog: Readatouille Last edited by RuthD; 09-11-2011 at 11:55 PM.

09-06-2011, 05:36 AM	#1279
Amarie carpe libri Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: never in the here and now Posts: 2,961	I'm reading Knightley Academy and it's keeping my attention so far, a good thing these days. It's an alterative history-type book, and it does acknowledge in a subtle way that there is the looming spector of writing a book about an orphan going to a special school. One of the chapters is titled The Boy who Passed.

09-07-2011, 07:11 PM	#1280
playground_king practical experience, FTW Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 650	So I went to my library and realized, oh yea, they'll have all the Percy Jackson books. So I just rented the rest of the series.

09-08-2011, 07:45 PM	#1282
playground_king practical experience, FTW Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 650	Oh they were free. When I said rented I didn't mean like a Blockbuster or something where you pay for them haha.

09-09-2011, 05:17 AM	#1283
redsoxboy123 Training in a Taekwondo studio Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Vermont Posts: 123	Hey guys... Do you have any recommendations where the main character is between 8-12 yrs old? I'm asking because at the beginning of my WIP, my main character is 10 yrs old and he moves away from his home and quickly makes new friends. Then the story skips ahead 4 yrs and he's a teenager. Later on in the story, he thinks back to when he was 11-12 yrs old. Lets narrow it down: I have read Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief and all 7 Harry Potter books. I guess fantasy/science fiction is one possible category. Has anyone read House of the Scorpion? That would be in that category. Another category would be action adventure books. Bye guys see you later

09-09-2011, 11:03 PM	#1286
jtrylch13 Has semi-colon and will use it! Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Michigan Posts: 682	Dragging through Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors. Now I remember why I gave this series up a few years ago. Books are okay, as I've said before, but just too juvenille. I think even kids would find them so. I know several of you are big lovers of the CB series so I apologize. I am still reading and I'm hoping to actually finishe the entire series this time, because the story is interesting, but the development isn't there. Oh, well.

09-11-2011, 03:16 AM	#1287
playground_king practical experience, FTW Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 650	I must admit, the Percy Jackson series definitely picks up in the third book. His writing is MUCH better and the quests and interactions with the god's are a lot more, I don't know, believable I guess? And doesn't seem like they were just placed there to advance the plot. I think it also has something to do with Percy getting older, maybe I can connect with the MC easier now?

09-12-2011, 12:12 AM	#1294
Ferret waiting Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 628	I'm reading the second Emily Windsnap (mermaid) book. I've almost finished it, and I think I can safely say that, in my opinion, the second book is better than the first--which is very unusual for a series.

09-12-2011, 01:46 AM	#1295
redsoxboy123 Training in a Taekwondo studio Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Vermont Posts: 123	I loved reading the 1st Percy Jacskon book. I like the way it was written from his point of view as a 12 yr old kid (but this was changed for the movie). As I said above, I have a thing for fantasy or science fiction novels.

09-12-2011, 09:03 AM	#1296
Kitty Pryde i luv you giant bear statue AW Moderator Join Date: May 2008 Location: Lost Angeles Posts: 8,862	Darth Paper Strikes Back was awesome, much stronger than the first book, which was pretty rad itself. Then I read The Grand Plan To Fix Everything, about a little Indian-American girl obsessed with Bollywood films and a certain Bollywood actress, who has to move with her folks to a tiny village in India. Many awesome Bollywood-style adventures ensued. Now reading Jac0b W0nderbar and the C0smic Space Kap0w. The protagonist is really super unlikeable for me, a pretty horrible and unrepentant kid (destroying school property, destroying mom's property, lying about misdeeds, gluing stuff to a teacher's butt, causing his mom despair). I guess it's supposed to be his major flaw, but it comes off as douchey rather than sympathetic or lovable. But once the kids leave Earth their adventures are highly amusing, so I'm sticking with it. __________________ My student teaching project is helping my fifth graders put on a bone marrow donor drive and raise money for childhood cancer!

09-13-2011, 06:21 AM	#1299
timp67 Guinea pig in the laboratory of God Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: California Posts: 787	I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Half Magic! __________________ Blog: Reader. Writer. Boredom fighter! Twitter Robots have a favorite book THE BOY WHO HOWLED from Bloomsbury USA Children's Books

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