Portland Parents

Calling all Teen Authors! Bored this winter break?
Grades 6-12

Multnomah County Library is holding a Teen Writing Contest. Up to 1500 words, prose only. The contest will run until January 10, or until 200 entries are received. More Information!

You could win a Powell’s Gift Card!!

In another lifetime, I mean, during this lifetime but a long time ago, before we had kids and a mortgage, I was a storyteller. I told stories for audiences, around campfires, and at dinners. And I was pretty good; not the best, but getting some practice and finding some comfort in it. One question, however, kept coming to me- “How do you learn all these stories?”

I always replied that they could do it too. And in fact, they already had dozens of stories. They could tell me the Three Little Pigs, or Rapunzel, or Cinderella, Snow White — they could even tell me a synopsis of books they had read. They knew these stories. I think the hard part is actually believing in yourself enough to tell someone else the story.

My wife’s favorite memory of her grandfather is how he used to tell them stories; she and her sister would lie in bed and he’d tell them the story of two princesses (coincidentally named the same as the girls), and how they saved the kingdom. Or escaped in a hot air balloon. Or fell down a mountain. Sometimes I think about this as my daughter begs me to read her a book, tell her a story, and sing her a song before bedtime. I indulge her and let myself ramble on. My current favorite story to tell is pretty much a combination of Naoise and Deirdre and their elopement, and a story where the bride has three treasures to throw behind her, that create a forest, a lake and a mountain. It’s actually the original way I heard the Flight of Deirdre but I can’t find an example now.

Anyway; the point I’m leaning toward is that our kids crave stories. And we have them for only a short time where we can give them everything they want. They want adventure and magic, mystery, science, puzzles – all of that stuff. And I’ve been thinking of recording bedtime stories, not just for my kids but also for other kids as well. In fact, I was considering sort of a podcast. But then I started looking around, and there’s some already out there!

If you don’t believe you can tell your kids a bedtime story, maybe you could try one of these podcasts. Don’t sleep with the earbuds in, but play them on some speakers. You could listen in too- you never know what you’ll hear.

• Miette’s Bedtime Stories
• Escape Pod
• “Children’s Fun Storytime,” somewhere out there on iTunes!

Are you an artist? Is your kid? Does your family enjoy the Summer Reading Program? How would you like your artwork to be seen by teens across the county?

Illustrate the cover of the 2009 Teen Summer Reading gameboard. The winning artist will receive a $50 gift certificate to Art Media. The winner and honorable mentions will be featured in an online gallery on the Library’s website.

The Summer Reading theme this year is “Be Creative @ Your Library”. Deadline for submission is Friday, February 27th.

Download the Template!

You may think of “science” as the cold hard facts that make up the body of our knowledge. However, science is more than that. Learning about science includes data, but also ethics, peculiar personalities, hunches, obsession, and perhaps the most important trait for a human to possess.

Curiosity

OMSI educators and local scientists will lead four different series of book discussions at four different neighborhood libraries.

Get more information and enroll.

Iron Jaw and Hummingbird by Chris Roberson is good. Not great, somewhat better than average.

Mars is controlled by the Chinese, who call their civilization the Celestial Empire. But for teenagers Gamine and Huang, it is anything but heavenly. Gamine was taken off the street by an aristocrat, schooled as a fine young lady—then abandoned at her patron’s whim and forced to make her living as a grifter. Huang’s army career is cut short by a bandit ambush. When the two meet, Gamine —“Iron Jaw”—is the leader of a sham religious movement, and Huang, or “Hummingbird,” is the bandits’ chief tactician. They join forces to bring down the corrupt government that has determined their lives. Iron Jaw and Hummingbird offers a planet’s worth of adventure!

Roberson’s stories of Chinese Mars could be an engrossing story of alternative future. If you’re a fan of his other stories set here, then you probably want to pick it up, but there’s not enough Martian flavor to make this solidly science fiction. It doesn’t treat the relationships between the characters very deeply either. It’s not a surprise that Gamine and Huang become romantically entwined, and this is presented as a fait accomplait.

It’s difficult to decide what this story is actually about; it’s not two people falling in love, it’s not the Chinese flavor on Mars. It’s not huge battles of bandits / rebels against an empire. In fact, most of the story is oddly turned in the last few chapters, as the story winds to a close.

All of this sounds like it was a bad book, but it was not.. The story is interesting, there are some expected plot devices that did not fail to go through. The use of airships on Mars is interesting, and where Roberson skims over the science of the “terraforming” of Mars. It’s a good kid book. I’d recommend it for a younger teen who’s not so entranced by “magic.” It’d also be a good book to open a discussion with your kid about death, religion, revenge and revolution.

This was a fun book. I’m mildly worried that the protagonist will be one of those “I can do anything” kinds, like the one in Eregon, but the ride there will be fun. At the moment, it’s enjoyable and fun. And an easy read- I finished it in a few hours. It’s probably good for a third or fourth grader, but you should read it to get a handle on it too. No sex, no cussing, no real violence. Well, some violence but it’s rarely fatal.

Conn is a street rat with quick fingers and soft feet who steals a wizard’s stone. The stone, a locus, is the focus for the wizard’s magic, and touching it should have been painful. Theft should have been fatal. It wasn’t, and the wizard wants to know why. The kid becomes his servant and they learn the reasons for the city’s drop in magic.

A great book, and I can’t wait for the sequel. You can learn more at the Magic Thief’s website.

This was a great story.

First, you should understand that I like stories about superheroes. I like superheroes. However, I abhor flawless heroes. I can’t stand the “I can fly, I have super speed, you can’t shoot me, I’m super strong” hero that can whip anything into shape and has no problems at all. I’m looking at you, Supes.

Thom Creed doesn’t have that problem. His father, a hero, was kicked out of the Legion and is a pariah. He (Thom) has some great powers, but can’t really control them yet, and they trigger epileptic seizures (of the flashy grand mal variety). Oh, and he’s gay, and like all teenagers, he longs to be in love. And his mother left his father when he was younger.

This kid has some major problems in his life. To help him overcome them, he meets up with some also challenging friends. Scarlett, whose fiery temper (and power) are a mask for a serious problem. Ruth, in her words, a “tough old broad” who can see the future.

There are two kissing scenes in the story. One of them is mildly integral to the storyline and the other is the payoff for the love interest. I’ve read some romances, but never read a romance with less kissing. The kissing didn’t bother my 11 year old. But if two guys kissing offends you, then you should probably avoid this book. Also, non-pc means to describe gay guys are in the book; I consider one of the words used to be a cussword (it begins with f and can also mean a bundle of sticks for a fire).

What was more offensive to me was the smoking; it felt like a lot. On one hand, Ruth is a smoker. But she can see the future and knows that she won’t die because of smoking. The cigarettes are kind of integral to her character sketch. She’s the kind of tough old bird that won’t stop smoking, won’t wear her seatbelt, favors her middle finger, has a rough tongue and tells the truth. And yet she has a heart of gold. Another character that smokes … she could not have smoked but it would have made Ruth stand out as different more. And her smoking shows some changes in her that if I go into very deeply will reveal the character. Finally, Scarlett smokes once or twice, but it seems to be part of her tough girl image.

However, the smokers aside, I really, really liked this book.

The characters are well rounded, and the real characters are for the most part not too stereotypical. Except for Ruth, but everyone needs a golden hearted crone. The unreal characters; Justice, Uberman — they are the kinds of heroes I hate. But they’re really only peripherally in this story, and I can overlook their superiority. In fact, most of the “A-list heroes” are shown to be flawed and are poster kids for “sometimes super-human is less-than-human.”

Thom’s teenage angst is portrayed well and in expected boundaries. His planning to run away from home is spot on and I have to say probably what I would have done in the same circumstances. There are some unknowns; I didn’t know who “Dark Hero” was until late in the story. There were three options who stood out in my mind (I was making the assumption that Dark Hero’s civilian identity was already in the book). The pacing of the book is excellent.

With the smoking and the kissing, it’s probably not a book for a younger kid. But if your kid can read romances and her world isn’t shattered by two guys kissing, I recommend this book.

I wanted to like this book. Kathleen Bryan’s use of stained glass as a container or structure for magic is refreshing. The characters are interesting. The structure of the plot is interesting- not too unusual, and yet different enough from the normal “princess has to leave the kingdom and return to save it” sort of thing that this story is.

However, the caste system and some of the mythology in the book got in my way. On the one hand, the two protagonists “could never marry” and can even travel together because nobody would expect them to be close to one another. While this isn’t that big a deal, it whacks you over the head several times. And on the other hand, “the young god” sacrificed himself to “bind the serpent” and three days later his tomb was empty. Yes, this “young god” is a Christ figure. These two problems come together interestingly enough, however.

The magic of the Knights of the Rose, the beautiful stained glass, is as structured as the society is rigid. And this solidity or structure is what is allowing the Serpent to get free. Only “wild magic,” the magic of the Mother and of nature can save the world. In a similar respect, we can easily envision this shattering revelation to affect the love between the two protagonists.

The book is well written and an enjoyable read. When I was a kid, I didn’t pick up on the Aslan/Christ connection in the books of Narnia. It’s possible that kids won’t see this as blatantly as I did. I still recommend it, although not as warmly as some other books.

Rick Riordan is coming!
He’ll be doing the October Teen Author Lecture for the Multnomah County Library. It’s 7PM on Oct 13; tickets are $5 for students and $10 for adults. He’s the author of the fun Percy Jackson series, a fantasy about a son of Poseidon.

When my daughter heard the news, she squealed as if he were a rock star. I guess he’s a rick star.

I like this book and its predecessor, the Sea of Trolls. I like it because I enjoy the ancient Irish history. These novels bring together Saxons, Vikings and the Irish. It also brings together the “old faith” and the “new faith” of Christianity.

These stories work with Jack, a young man who is learning his strength as a Bard. He has been taken under the wing of the old Bard. In The Land of Silver Apples he travels to a monastery where they had a beautiful stained-glass window. The chief of the area is a half-selkie.

Jack and his friends eventually have to go beg a boon from the “lady of the lake” – and the elves and trolls who live underground. He grows up a little both as a Bard and also as a man.

It’s a good story.