Welcome, Liesl Shurtliff!

Liesl Shurtliff is a favorite author here at A Year of Reading. Franki has reviewed Rump, Jack, and Grump. Liesl has a new series, Time Castaways, and the second book has its book birthday on Tuesday!

Time Castaways: The Mona Lisa Key

by Liesl Shurtliff

Katherine Tegen Books, September 17, 2019

Time Castaways: The Obsidian Compass

by Liesl Shurtliff

Katherine Tegen Books, October 15, 2019

Liesl has graciously shared her thoughts on The Importance of Reading Wisely. We couldn't agree more!

The Importance of Reading Widely

By Liesl Shurtliff

“You are what you read.” It’s a sentiment many people have tossed around over the years, right along with “You are what you eat.” And if both of these things are true then I challenge anyone to define who I am. I read too widely, and I eat absolutely everything. I’m a person with many tastes and interests. I think we all should be.

I see many initiatives to get people to read more, and I like them, but what I’d liked to see a little more of is encouragement for people to read more widely, move outside their comfort zones, pick up a book you wouldn’t normally choose. Here are my suggestions:

Read both fiction and non-fiction

Statistics show that women tend to read more fiction, and men gravitate toward non-fiction. This is fascinating to me, and I could delve into all kind of psychoanalytic theories about why this is and what it means, but that would be (mostly) beside the point of the post. Suffice it to say, I think we should tip the scales in both cases. Men should read more fiction. Women should read more non-fiction. Both are good for you.

I personally used to think non-fiction was code for BORING. I’ve since learned that non-fiction can be some of the most engrossing books out there. It’s one thing to get lost in a good story. It’s another to get lost in a good story that is completely REAL. Malcolm Gladwell, Erik Larson, and Elizabeth Gilbert have been a few of my favorites.

Read outside your usual genre.

Whenever someone asks what genre is my favorite I say “Good writing.” Perhaps the definition of what makes a good book is subjective, but I’ve found my own tastes have become more refined the more widely I read. Yes, I read a lot of fantasy as that is what I write, but I’ve read plenty of poorly written fantasy, and I’ve found that it helps my own writing to read a wide variety of genres and styles. I feel like I’m in a rut when I read too much of one genre. It can start to feel stale and boring, sort of like eating only one kind of food. No matter how good those tacos are, eventually I’m going to want some salad. Mix up your reading diet with a mixture of genres.

Read books and authors outside your own race, culture, religion, country, experience and world view.

Reading has been touted as an activity that develops empathy, but for whom are we developing empathy? People like us? People whose experience and world view is not so different from our own? That will not develop empathy, only self-assurance. Challenge yourself and your world view. Pick up a book that makes you a little uncomfortable. Or a lot. And please, read books written by authors who are intimately acquainted with the experience being written about (aka #OwnVoices.) It matters.

Read children’s books!

Okay, I am slightly biased here, seeing as I’m a children’s book author, but please believe me when I say there is some incredibly good literature being produced in the children’s book world. Don’t stick your nose up at it. Pick up a picture book, a middle-grade or young adult novel, or a graphic novel, and remember what it was like to be a kid. Or pick up a book you remember reading and loving as a kid and see what you think of it now. I’ve done this and usually find I love it just as much, even though I’m reading it with a completely different perspective. It’s a nostalgic experience.

Reading is good. Reading a lot is better. Reading widely is best, just like eating a varied diet. Take stock of your reading choices. See if you can mix things up every now and then.   Get recommendations for friends or co-workers. If there’s one thing I know it’s that people love to talk about what they’re reading. And if they don’t read, well then, we should all be ready to share our own reading recommendations and feed the famished. Best to have a variety on hand.

Liesl Shurtliff is the New York Times bestselling author of the (Fairly) True Tales series and the Time Castaways trilogy. The second book is available October 15th! Her books have been named to over two dozen state award lists and have won many awards including a Children’s Book Award from the International Literacy Association. Liesl lives in Chicago with her husband and four children. Lieslshurtliff.com @lieslshurtliff

Thanks for visiting, Liesl! We can't wait to read your new series!

A Guest Post by Emma and Elizabeth : The #stickynotechallenge

(Today's post is a guest post by 3rd graders Elizabeth and Emma. They wanted to share their idea of the #stickynotechallenge and to invite you to participate with the hashtag and Padlet.)

Elizabeth and Emma started the  #stickynotechallenge. Emma and Elizabeth are both nine years old in third grade. First at writing workshop Elizabeth just finished a story and wanted to make a challenge. So she came up with the #stickynotechallenge and next she showed Emma. Emma liked the idea. They told Mrs. Sibberson.  She liked it too. The #stickynotechallenge board was a tiny wall nobody ever did it so it really was just for Elizabeth and Emma at the time. One day the question of the day was How do we spread awareness about the #stickynotechallenge? because only kids and few teachers see our board. A few days later Elizabeth and Emma walked into the room and Mrs.Sibberson had a surprise for everyone. Mrs.Sibberson bought us some BIG blue sticky notes and some medium pink,orange,yellow and green sticky notes.  Mrs. Sibberson told us we could use the wall outside of the room if we wanted to.

 The #stickynotechallenge is how we keep trying to ask questions. Outside of our classroom we have a big board. We write down our questions on a sticky note and we stick them on the board. On our board we have the rules of the #stickynotechallenge. Our board also has two signs. One says “Little Questions” and the other one says “Big Questions”. We also have “Question of the Month”. The Question of the Month is an opinion so there can be more  than one answer. Our first question of the month is What is your favorite color? Our question of the month got a lot of answers.

The #stickynotechallenge started one day on a wall by a table in our classroom.

The #stickynotechallenge grew when Emma and Elizabeth wanted "to get the word out". This is a photo of the first day, before kids and teachers added to it.

Next we are going to try to study some of the big questions. Big questions are questions that have more than one answer. Some of our big questions right now are : What are civil right?, How can you learn Japaneese? Some ways we can study them are by using the internet and in books. We also found out that we can get other people’s ideas from the #stickynotechallenge. Just in case you are wondering why do we need to keep track of our thinking? We keep track of our thinking so our brains can get bigger and we get smarter. By asking questions we can get smarter and if someone answers our questions we would learn something. The #stickynotechallenge helps us know more. We created this so people learn more and they would become smarter. The #stickynotechallenge can help everyone become smarter. Kids and adults can do it. That’s what makes it fun! Why we say don’t write your name is so that  people can be respectful. If we told people to write their names we’re afraid that people might write great questions and then someone might not like the person and write a mean question. That’s why we say don’t write your name.

 One day Mrs. Sibberson said “Do you want to do a guest blog post on my blog?” Emma and Elizabeth said “sure”. We also made a Padlet that people from all over the world can write questions but our Padlet you cannot answer. That is the only negative. During writing workshop Mrs.Sibberson asked Elizabeth and Emma to go over to her table. Mrs.Sibberson asked us if we wanted to make a padlet about the #stickynotechallenge. First we had to decide what we wanted our background to be. We couldn’t decide--there wasn’t really a back round that matched. Luckily Bridget was sitting at that table and she said we also could upload pictures for our background. Mrs.Sibberson had a picture of our #stickynotechallenge board so we made that our background. Visit our Padlet and ask a question!!

RULES     

                               1.)Get a sticky note

                               2.) Write a question or wonder

                               3.) Don’t write your name

                               4.) Stick it anywhere

                               5.) Wait for someone to answer

                               6.) HAVE FUN!!!!!

                                    

WRITE IT READ IT SHARE IT

-#stickynotechallenge