Handling is (also) for teen writers and those who teach them (thank you, Bookslut), and a librarian speaks

My friend Colleen Mondor is at it again—reading ardently, recommending generously. Her monthly Bookslut columns are a source of endless interest, and her December column is no different—featuring, among others, Jason Fforde, Gavin Extence, and Jenny Davidson.

Colleen also very kindly includes Handling the Truth in her column, and I love finding that book here, among the YA reads, for I have always believed that this book about the making of memoir was relevant for teens and those who teach them. I found that hunch confirmed while at NCTE in Boston, where I was thrilled to meet so many who teach memoir to younger writers and to hear their stories about the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth graders who have plunged into the personal.

Says Colleen:

For the teen writer, Handling the Truth offers some valuable insight into many facets of the writing life, especially finding the truth in a story. Packaging Handling the Truth along with a couple of the dozens of memoirs Kephart lists in her detailed bibliography would be a great way to tell the teen in your life that you take his or her writing dreams seriously.

I share as well these words from a kind librarian named Rick, forwarded to me by none other than Serena Agusto-Cox

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Writing on Memoir in The Millions. Being Reviewed in Bookslut for Dr. Radway. Going to San Francisco.

Summer eases away. Yesterday I let it. Some rain, some sun. Some breeze, some stillness. Reading, and then writing, and then writing again. Making a list of all the books that I must read. Buying several.

By Thursday evening of this week, I'll be in one of my favorite American cities—San Francisco—to conduct three very different (from each other) Handling the Truth workshops at Book Passages, Books Inc., and the Flamingo Conference Resort and Spa (located in Santa Rosa, conducted on behalf of the Redwood Writers Workshop).

(For more on the nearly twenty events scheduled for the next few months, please look for the events on the left-column of this blog.)

I'll also be holding the gloriously designed Going Over galleys in my hand for the first time, hugging dear Tamra Tuller, meeting that incredibly vivacious publicist Lara Starr in person (oh, yeah!), sitting down with the wonderful Ginee Seo, Stephanie Wong, and Amber Morley of Chronicle, and sharing a meal with local librarians and booksellers. Finally, I'll have a chance to spend some real time with Wendy Robards, whom many of you know as Caribousmom. Wendy's Small Damages quilt sits before me as I write these words. It is here as inspiration.

The days will be jam-packed. I'm looking forward to every second.

In the meantime, today, I share this essay, written for The Millions, about memoirists who glance up from the page and recognize their readers—and those who do not. I feel privileged to be given room on that amazing book site.

Also, finally, beautifully, I share this Bookslut column, by Colleen Mondor, who took the time to read and to write about Dr. Radway's Sarsaparilla Resolvent. All of you know how much this book means to me. It makes me so happy, therefore, that Colleen embraced it.What's more, she embraced it in a column called "Living in a Springsteen Song" (could you get any closer to my heart?) and likens it to "Copper," one of her favorite TV shows.

To more sun. To more breeze. To endless Springsteen.

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Small Damages: The Bookslut Review

Colleen Mondor, author of the Alaskan wilds, fearless reviewer, and famed blogger, has been a constant source of kindness to my books, and on this November morning I am so happy to wake up to her beautiful thoughts on Small Damages, which appear in an article called "A Dose of Reality" in the November issue of Bookslut.

Her final paragraph on the book is this, below.  But I encourage you to read the entire column, which also features Dream School, Maverick Jetpants in the City of Quality, Dora: A Headcase, Happy Families, and Baby's in Black.  Colleen, thank you.

Gracefully Kephart steers her protagonist through every emotion, every question and answer, and the conversations she has with her growing group of Spanish friends (notable for their wide range of age and circumstance) only make her journey that much more interesting. The Spanish setting, beautifully described throughout, adds an air of gentleness to the book's passages and makes this elegant title a novel of singular power. There are many books that treat teen pregnancy as a plot point, but Small Damages gives it the attention it deserves, and a character whose happily-ever-after is wonderful to watch unfold.

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The gracious Bookslut review of Dangerous Neighbors

In Colleen Mondor's wonderfully informed Bookslut November round up, she's taking a look at mysteries—books like Double Trouble, Fixing Delilah, Zora and Me, The Painted Secret, and Tell Me a Secret.  I was happily surprised to discover that Dangerous Neighbors was included in the mix, and I am honored.  Colleen clearly puts her heart and soul into every review she writes, every opinion she offers. 

A few words from her November column here:

First and foremost, this is a love story to the Philadelphia of long ago. Kephart has steeped herself in the city’s history and it shows, especially in the detailed way she writes about the Centennial events and displays. But it is also the story of a secret love and how keeping that secret can be especially appealing to a teenage girl -- how it can lead her to forget about everyone else and how watching that secret grow larger and larger can torment those who keep the secret with her. Dangerous Neighbors is about sisters and a city and a whole lot of love and tragedy. While not a thrilling mystery it is a confection of singular depth nonetheless and just as irresistible.

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