The Magic Words: Writing Great Books for Children and Young Adults

The Magic Words: Writing Great Books for Children and Young Adults
Author: Cheryl Klein
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 326
Release: 2016-09-06
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0393292258

This master class in writing children’s and young adult novels will teach you everything you need to know to write and publish a great book. The best children’s and young adult novels take readers on wonderful outward adventures and stirring inward journeys. In The Magic Words, editor Cheryl B. Klein guides writers on an enjoyable and practical-minded voyage of their own, from developing a saleable premise for a novel to finding a dream agent. She delves deep into the major elements of fiction—intention, character, plot, and voice—while addressing important topics like diversity, world-building, and the differences between middle-grade and YA novels. In addition, the book’s exercises, questions, and straightforward rules of thumb help writers apply these insights to their own creative works. With its generous tone and useful tools for story analysis and revision, The Magic Words is an essential handbook for writers of children’s and young adult fiction.

Teens and the New Religious Landscape

Teens and the New Religious Landscape
Author: Jacob Stratman
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 243
Release: 2018-08-28
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 1476630992

How are teenagers' religious experiences shown in today's young adult literature? How do authors use religious texts and beliefs to add depth to characters, settings and plots? How does YA fiction place itself in the larger conversation regarding religion? Modern YA fiction does not shy away from the dilemmas and anxieties teenagers face today. While many stories end with the protagonist in a state of flux if not despair, some authors choose redemption or reconciliation. This collection of new essays explores these issues and more, with a focus on stories in which characters respond to a new (often shifting) religious landscape, in both realistic and fantastic worlds.

Writers' & Artists' Guide to Getting Published

Writers' & Artists' Guide to Getting Published
Author: Alysoun Owen
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2019-11-28
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1472950208

The W&A Guide to Getting Published provides the would-be published author with expert knowledge on securing a book deal – from preparing a manuscript for submission, to finding an agent, from working with an Editor, to effective self-promotion. It considers all stages in the 'selling' of your idea and manuscript and gives up-to-date information on how the publishing industry functions and how authors can best navigate its mysteries and complexities. Each chapter provides practical, how-to advice on what to do, where to seek additional help, what costs might be involved, cautionary dos and don'ts, and useful case studies. This guide considers all publishing formats (print, digital and audio) and markets (fiction, non-fiction, children's and books for adults) to offer all-round support for the budding writer.

The Secrets of Story

The Secrets of Story
Author: Matt Bird
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2016-11-01
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1440348235

You've just boarded a plane. You've loaded your phone with your favorite podcasts, but before you can pop in your earbuds, disaster strikes: The guy in the next seat starts telling you all about something crazy that happened to him--in great detail. This is the unwelcome storyteller, trying to convince a reluctant audience to care about his story. We all hate that guy, right? But when you tell a story (any kind of story: a novel, a memoir, a screenplay, a stage play, a comic, or even a cover letter), you become the unwelcome storyteller. So how can you write a story that audiences will embrace? The answer is simple: Remember what it feels like to be that jaded audience. Tell the story that would win you over, even if you didn't want to hear it. The Secrets of Story provides comprehensive, audience-focused strategies for becoming a master storyteller. Armed with the Ultimate Story Checklist, you can improve every aspect of your fiction writing with incisive questions like these: • Concept: Is the one-sentence description of your story uniquely appealing? • Character: Can your audience identify with your hero? • Structure and Plot: Is your story ruled by human nature? • Scene Work: Does each scene advance the plot and reveal character through emotional reactions? • Dialogue: Is your characters' dialogue infused with distinct personality traits and speech patterns based on their lives and backgrounds? • Tone: Are you subtly setting, resetting, and upsetting expectations? • Theme: Are you using multiple ironies throughout the story to create meaning? To succeed in the world of fiction and film, you have to work on every aspect of your craft and satisfy your audience. Do both--and so much more--with The Secrets of Story.

The Continuum Encyclopedia of Children's Literature

The Continuum Encyclopedia of Children's Literature
Author: Bernice E. Cullinan
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 930
Release: 2005-01-01
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 9780826417787

Provides articles covering children's literature from around the world as well as biographical and critical reviews of authors including Avi, C.S. Lewis, J.K. Rowling, and Anno Mitsumasa.

The 100 Most Popular Young Adult Authors

The 100 Most Popular Young Adult Authors
Author: Bernard A. Drew
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 560
Release: 1997-10-15
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 031307819X

The book focuses on individuals writing in the '90s, but also includes 12 classic authors (e.g., Mark Twain, Louisa May Alcott, J.R.R. Tolkien) who are still widely read by teens. It also covers some authors known primarily for adult literature (e.g., Stephen King) and some who write mainly for middle readers but are also popular among young adults (e.g., Betsy Byars). An affordable alternative to multivolume publications, this book makes a great collection development tool and resource for author studies. It will also help readers find other books by and about their favorite writers.

Handbook of Research on Children's and Young Adult Literature

Handbook of Research on Children's and Young Adult Literature
Author: Shelby Wolf
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 568
Release: 2011-04-27
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1136913572

This multidisciplinary handbook pulls together in one volume the research on children's and young adult literature which is currently scattered across three intersecting disciplines: education, English, and library and information science.

Writing Children's Books For Dummies

Writing Children's Books For Dummies
Author: Lisa Rojany
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 435
Release: 2022-05-10
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1119870011

Create the next very hungry caterpillar, big red dog, or cat in the hat with a hand from this trusted guide In Writing Children’s Books For Dummies, you’ll learn what to write between “Once upon a time . . .” and “The End” as you dive into chapters about getting started writing, how to build great characters, and how to design a dramatic plot. On top of the technical writing advice, you’ll discover how talented illustrators work and how to find an agent. The newest edition of this popular For Dummies title even shows you how to choose a publisher—or self-publish—and how to use social media and other marketing and PR to get the word out about your new masterpiece. In the book, you’ll learn about: The fundamentals of writing for children, including common book formats and genres, and the structure of the children’s book market Creating a spellbinding story with scene description, engaging dialogue, and a child-friendly tone Polishing your story to a radiant shine with careful editing and rewriting Making the choice between a traditional publisher, a hybrid publisher, or self-publishing Using the most-effective marketing and publicity techniques to get your book noticed Perfect for anyone who’s ever dreamed of creating the next Ferdinand the Bull or Grinch, Writing Children’s Books For Dummies is an essential, easy-to-read guide for budding children’s authors everywhere.

Reading and Writing Pathways through Children’s and Young Adult Literature

Reading and Writing Pathways through Children’s and Young Adult Literature
Author: Alicia Curtin
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2022-07-29
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1000601722

This thought-provoking book will provide masters students, teachers and researchers with a toolkit and theoretical framework for teaching literacy through children's literature. It features innovative ideas for developing student and teacher experiences with literature and popular culture texts in the classroom, providing practical examples and teaching aids throughout. Taking a collaborative approach, Curtin explores how teachers and learners can engage with literature and its authors for the development of literacy in classroom practice. Connecting reader and writer identities and worlds through interviews with and suggested classroom activities from authors themselves, this text combines author, teacher and learner perspectives in the development of creative pedagogies that extend understandings of literacy beyond reading, writing and text. Exploring fairy-tales, comic books and graphic novels, children living in literature (i.e., texts which portray children, their lives and experiences), popular culture, young adult fiction, and non-fiction and digital texts such as blogs etc, this text develops a sociocultural understanding of literacy as a lived and contextually dependent practice where meaning is derived through relationships between people, settings and culture. Different contexts for literacy are explored, including reading and writing strategically (to learn about literacy and literature), widely (for personal purposes) and deeply (to transform understanding) (Short, 2011). This text will be an invaluable resource for teachers, researchers or anyone interested in reading and writing stories. The author interviews will also be of particular interest to older learners themselves as a way to develop their understanding of their own reading and writing practices. Pedagogies can be adapted to any age group, ranging from the early years to young adult.

Stories, Time and Again

Stories, Time and Again
Author: Jan Irving
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 210
Release: 2005-11-30
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0897899717

Lively and imaginative book-based programs make it easy to engage young learners, while building their literacy and reading skills, and their love of books and reading. Your library or classroom will sizzle with excitement when you present these creative, book-based programs—and you just may have as much fun as the kids. Each of the ten chapters focuses on a popular theme or study area—Tropical Rainforests, Animals Down Under, In the Know (manners), and more—offering an annotated list of selected picture books and chapters books, and two complete programs with step-by-step instructions, materials lists, and all the reproducible patterns, scripts, and stories you'll need. Through reading, storytelling, puzzles, creative dramatics, writing exercises, arts and crafts, and more, you can engage young learners, while building their literacy and reading skills, and their love of books and reading. Children will delight in learning about amazing rainforest animals, performing a skit based on myths from ancient Egypt, writing their own fantasy stories, and holding a mouth-watering Medieval banquet. Designed for public and school libraries, these programs also fit beautifully into classroom studies. Grades K-6.