Photo Verse for October

Prose becomes verse on autumnal days.

Trees catch fire, burning brighter than words,

Their golden reds taunting the murky depths.

Maples fireworks explode in clear blue skies.

Pines shadows highlight this deciduous extravagance. 

How can these gaudy colors be natural?

I am no poet, but October engenders such reflections.

I Crawl Through It by A.S. King

I Crawl Through It by A.S. King is a surreal young adult novel which satirizes education in the USA. Everyday is a new bomb threat with police dogs sniffing the halls. The principal is literally buried to her neck in paperwork. Teaching is geared only to standardized tests, and a naked man in the bushes is selling letter answers.

"When I was done with makeup exams, I broke all my number two pencils in half so they could feel how I feel every day." -Stanzi

Seeking to escape the chaos/boredom of school, Gustav is building an invisible helicopter to fly to a colony of geniuses. Stanzi, a biology prodigy, can only see the helicopter on Tuesdays (ha!), but she agrees to run away with her secret crush. Stanzi's alcoholic parents won't notice her absence. Her best friend, China, has turned herself inside out, wearing her guts like skin and expressing herself in poetry. Another friend tells only lies, making her hair grow. The unreliable narration alternates among the three girls.

"Your Number Two Pencil Has More Self-Esteem Than I Do." -China

Are you still following me? I Crawl Through It is not an easy book to summarize. This puzzle-cum-novel is built from paradoxes and metaphors with multiple meanings. In my reading, the invisible helicopter represented creative innovation. Only a genius can see what others cannot see or visit a place that few can find. However, King's isolated colony of geniuses is more of a dystopia than a utopia. As Stanzi asks, what's the point of discovering the cure for cancer if you can't save other lives?

"There is no such thing as individuality when one is part of a collective of people who think they're all individuals." 

I Crawl Through It is not for everyone; it was designed for kids who find answers that don't appear on standardized tests. The reader must suspend disbelief to take this book for a spin. Challenging novels like this one aren't usually written for teens, but it's wonderful to find an author who is willing to trust the intelligence and the imagination of younger readers.

A.S King writes in the acknowledgement pages, "Some people don't know if my characters are crazy or if they are experiencing something magical. I think that's an accurate description of how I feel every day."

Reviewer's Disclaimer: Upon my request to Little Brown Books for Young Readers, I received a digital galley through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book was released last month and has garnered starred reviews from Publishers' Weekly, School Library Journal, The Horn Book and Booklist. My photo is from Simpson's Point, where I read most of this book. It's too chilly for swimming now but still my favorite destination to bike from home at high tide.

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@Barrie Summy

A Vermont Weekend at Bread Loaf

Bread Loaf at Middlebury College in Ripton, Vermont

I've never gone on a writer's retreat. A tiny home office and solitude is all I need. Since my last child left home in September, I now have a surfeit of quiet time. I'm enjoying my productive space, but I miss the sound of kids coming home, telling me about their days, and our protracted family dinners. My husband and I had been counting the days until Middlebury Family Weekend.

By luck of the family housing lottery, I was granted the writer's fantasy of staying at Bread Loaf, the most prestigious/oldest of American literary conferences (but not open to children's authors.) The campus was closed last year for remodeling, and although the floorboards shined under LED lights, Bread Loaf has not lost its Victorian charm. I sipped local cider while reading (Lauren Groff's Fates & Furies) by the fire.

After seeing our room, I could understand why authors and poets compete for time at Bread Loaf. There were two comfortable twin beds and a pair of desks with ergonomic chairs. The twenty rooms on our floor shared two single-sex bathrooms, but I never had to wait for one of the three showers. It felt like being back in college, making new friends (Ada and David) while brushing teeth and chatting in the cafeteria over a hot buffet breakfast. The biggest difference was that everyone was quiet and considerate, except for one woman yakking on her cell phone (who knew that "rustic" could be a swear word?)

This was the view through my screened window. Bread Loaf is located in the Green Mountains National Forest with acres of hiking/ski trails, which we explored on our last morning. All the buildings were painted a butternut squash yellow to fit the autumnal landscape under golden light. Our Brunswick friends, Maria and Conrad, stayed in one of the annex buildings. Our kids went to elementary school together too.

While my husband sat in on Middlebury classes, my son and I hiked up Rattlesnake Cliffs.

The daunting trail name didn't fit the moderately steep four-mile loop past a waterfall (1K feet of elevation.) Rattlesnakes are rare in Vermont, although another hiker warned us of a black bear on the trail.

We didn't see the bear, but we saw plenty of woodpeckers and Silver Lake. The cliff top was an excellent spot for our Noonie's picnic. Colin is planning to return with friends for peak foliage.

Views were spectacular in all directions. Middlebury is in the Champlain valley, ringed by the Great Lake and several mountain ranges. We hiked for 3 1/2 hours, including a leisurely lunch and photo/wildlife stops.

The next day our son took us to Burlington, the biggest city in Vermont (population 40K). We had a delicious lunch at Skinny Pancake, that would be American for sweet and savory crepes. It was worth the half hour long line for the Josh Panda and Nutella & Strawberry crepes. Yum!

After lunch, we strolled along the shore of Lake Champlain, enjoying the 60 degree sunny weather.

From the pier, we watched a sailboat race before a lighthouse and mountains.

The arbored walkways and outdoor cafes reminded me of Quebec. Being Vermont, the busiest store was The Outdoor Gear Exchange. My son had planned a perfect weekend for us. It was hard to leave but easier knowing that our kids are going to a terrific school in a gorgeous location. I'll return in February when our daughter starts Middlebury College after her gap term. Now back to revising my young adult novel...

New Diverse YA Romances: Jenny Han, Becky Albertalli & Nicola Yoon

Yesterday was probably my last swim of the season. This photo of me at Simpson's Point was from two weeks ago.

I have been thinking a lot about diversity in young adult fiction as I revise my work in progress. My YA features a half Chinese American who falls in love with British boys during her junior year abroad. I chose a protagonist of mixed ethnicity to represent a typical American because the USA is a nation built on immigration and assimilation. Eve's story was also inspired by my family's sabbaticals in England.

I'm a product of the melting plot myself: half Lithuanian Jewish and half Swiss/British American. My British husband is a professor of Asian Studies and Government at Bowdoin College, and our extended family is Japanese, Chilean, Italian-Canadian and Mexican American. Many of our friends are raising biracial/hapa children. What will those kids read? Assuming they are still reading books...

I buy YA novels for my Japanese American niece, and it's a challenge finding characters who somewhat resemble her and share her interests. Most novels with diverse protagonists have racial conflict as the central plot. Yes, minorities are frequently victims of prejudice, but they also fall in love, play sports, travel beyond their country of heritage and act like normal teens. Ethnicity can be an important part of character, but it doesn't need to prescribe or to limit the story arc.

Realistic fiction should include diverse characters because the real world is diverse. However, most YAs, especially romances, portray a white world with a few token minorities. That isn't realism. Love comes in many colors and various orientations. This year I was pleased to discover several excellent YA romances with diverse protagonists. I've included three mini-reviews below, but my selection was limited to those books I've read. If you know of others, please note them in the comments.

P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han (May, 2015) is the sequel to To All the Boys I Loved Before (2014). Lara Jean is half Korean American and busy acting as a surrogate mom to her nine-year-old sister. Their Korean American mom died several years ago, and their Caucasian dad does his best to cook Korean beef and to keep their maternal culture alive in a predominantly white suburb of Charlottesville, Virginia. These paired books are partly about grief and family, but the central plot is romance. Lara Jean's quiet world of baking at home is upended when her secret love letters are mailed to all her crushes.

These delightful and quite innocent romances would appeal to girls of any ethnicity. The values are traditional, but the world is very up to date with social media scandals. They are a quick and easy read, and both are on the NYT bestseller list. Jenny Han is one of my favorite authors of YA romance. She captures the confused feelings of being a teen in love. Han is great on sibling relationships too; the youngest sister was so adorably funny.

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli (April, 2015) is a strong debut which is likely to win awards. What makes this novel special is the authentic voice. The straight female author used her experience as a child psychologist to tell a typical coming out story. It's set in the suburbs of Atlanta with racially diverse secondary characters. Simon's secret gay romance is threatened when another boy finds their flirty emails and blackmails him. Simon struggles to protect the privacy of the other closeted boy, whose identity is unknown even to him.

I raced through this book in one day, laughing at Simon's witty observations and eager to uncover the identity of his mystery love. My only criticism is that all the pop culture references will date this novel. Still, this is a marvelous book for gay teens and for readers of all ages. The parents were hilarious. This author clearly knows how to laugh at herself.

Another strong debut is Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon. Released earlier this month, it already tops the NYT bestseller list. This novel has a great premise: a girl allergic to the world is confined to her house and falls in love with the troubled boy next door. Their doomed romance builds slowly through hilarious window pantomimes and soul searching emails. It was encouraging to find a Japanese-African-American protagonist in a bestseller book by a Jamaican American. The illustrator, her husband, is Korean American, and several characters are diverse. The Hispanic nurse was the most well developed and realistic character in the book.

Unfortunately, the protagonist's ethnicity doesn't go beyond physical description. Maddy wears shoes inside, and her third generation Japanese American mom cooks French food for special occasions. They play English word games and their furnishings are generic. I was expecting the author to draw a parallel between Maddy's confinement in a bubble to the Japanese American internment during World War II, but no family history is mentioned on either side. All we know is that her African American dad and biracial brother died in a car crash when Maddy was a sickly baby. More is revealed with the big plot twist at the end, but you'll have to read my Goodreads Review (includes a hidden spoiler) to learn why I was unconvinced by the ending. I was expecting something deeper, but this book is an entertaining read which will appeal to a general audience. I hope Yoon chooses to draw more from her interesting family background in her next book.

There is no rule that authors need to match their characters to their own ethnicities. However, more research is needed if writing beyond personal experience. What teens need are more diverse books, especially in YA romance. Any more suggestions?

Note to authors writing diverse characters: include ethnic details for realism/character building, but don't describe skin color with food. YA author Sarah Ockler offers more advice here: Race in YA Lit: Wake Up & Smell the Coffee-Colored Skin, White Authors!

Reviewer's Disclosure: I bought Han's novels at Bull Moose in Brunswick, Albertalli's novel at Longfellow Books in Portland and Yoon's novel at Harvard Book Store in Massachusetts. I was not compensated for my reviews. I'm a supporting member of We Need Diverse Books.

Blue Angels over Brunswick

Living near a former naval air base, we always knew when the Blue Angels were in town. The pilots practiced aerial stunts over our house, roaring like thunder. In a mixture of irritation and glee, I'd abandon my work to watch the jets barely clear the white pines in our yard.

As a young boy, my son (right) found the jets too loud, but home from college, he wanted to watch the Great State of Maine Air Show in person. To avoid the notorious traffic, we biked to the Brunswick Executive Airport, where we met up with his childhood friend. Both boys are majoring Physics so it was as interesting listening to their commentary as the announcer's. 

It was also fascinating looking inside the nearly windowless transport jet. The nose of the plane tilted up so that tanks could drive off like exiting a ferry boat. The ladder leads to the cockpit.

There were a lot of people, but the crowd was as well mannered as a kids' soccer tournament. Cadets in camouflage fried up delicious steak and cheese sandwiches. Beer was served, but no one was drunk or loud, at least not compared to the jets. The show opened with slow older planes, and I quite enjoyed the biplane. The stunts reminded me of Black Dove, White Raven by Elizabeth Wein.

The Blue Angels were the climatic act. Captain Higgins is the first female pilot to fly for the Naval squadron. This veteran of the war in Afghanistan pilots Fat Albert, the transport plane. Only men fly the F/A-18 Hornets (in a diamond formation 18 inch apart!) Oddly enough, they sounded louder from my house. Maybe that was the din of glasses rattling in our cupboards.

The show ended with a five jet nose dive, separating into a gorgeous Fleur de Lis. It was a ballet in the sky.

I wish that combat jets flew only for entertainment and not for war, but this is the world that we live in now. I'm grateful to the men and women who serve our country while my son is at college. Maybe one day he'll design a spaceship that doesn't burn so much fossil fuel.