Month: May 2008

Knowing Joseph – Review and Contest!

Judith Mammay’s debut novel, Knowing Joseph, opens with a little kid making a scene in a bowling alley parking lot. Brian Bertram walks away from him. “I’m glad I don’t know that kid!” he says. 

But the boy kicking and screaming and throwing himself on the ground is Brian’s autistic brother, Joseph.   So begins Brian’s struggle — to deal with his brother, to defend him, and ultimately, with the help of a surprising new friend, to understand him.

Judith — Judy, to her friends and

[info]jmammaywrites

on LJ– is one of my online critique partners.  I always enjoy her writing, so I picked up JOSEPH expecting to like it. I wasn’t disappointed, and I was especially taken with the details that let readers see Joseph as a real person and not just “the kid with autism.”  Judy has an autistic grandson, and that was important to her.  Knowing Joseph is a natural book choice for older siblings of autistic kids, since Brian grows to model so many caring, supportive strategies for helping his brother.  It’s a great title for schools, too, because it helps readers understand what’s behind scenes like the temper tantrum at the bowling alley.  And understanding leads to acceptance.

This book has many of the same themes as Cynthia Lord’s Rules, one of my favorites.  Knowing Joseph is probably geared toward a slightly younger audience, though.  I’m guessing the 8-10 crowd will like it best, and it has nice big print and plenty of white space so reluctant readers won’t be intimidated.  Kudos to the BTP design team for making sure this book will be accessible to kids with special needs, too.

 If you’d like to win an ARC of Knowing Joseph, just leave a comment below about why you’d like to read it (or with whom you’d like to share it).  I’ll choose a name at random Friday night at 6pm EST to win!

Too Much Blushing: A Revision Story

I’m wrapping up a new revision pass on a middle grade novel.  It’s been through all my regular critique partners, and I needed a fresh perspective before I finish and send it back to my agent. I especially wanted to identify any places where the pacing was slow. 

So earlier this week, I gave it to a few of my book-loving 7th grade students, along with three stacks of Post-It notes.  I asked them to put a pink Post-It in spots they liked best, a blue one in places where they were getting bored, and a green one with a comment where they had something else to say.  One student returned the manuscript two days later, and I just finished working through her comments.

She pointed out seven places where I was able to tighten up the pacing and went on to offer another 38 suggestions on everything from voice to consistency.  Check out the variety of feedback…

It’s kind of weird that she’s crying from that comment, which wasn’t even that bad. Maybe you should make it meaner.

This whole cross-country part is really entertaining.

How old is Ian?

Oh – I can relate to this part!

Too much science talk.

I thought it said she zipped up her sweatshirt when she went out, and now you’re talking about a jacket.

Is Nonna her dad’s mom or her mom’s mom?

A real kid wouldn’t say this.

I love evil school people.

Too much blushing here- too sappy.

Does this kid have a future in editing, or what?

Her last comment made me laugh in recognition.  I really try to guard against sappiness in my writing, but when you’re the kind of person who listens to Barry Manilow and cries at Folgers commercials, it creeps in occasionally.  Thank goodness I have a twelve-year-old editor to help me root it out.