MMGM - SAVING ZASHA

Saving Zasha

Randi Barrow

Scholastic 2011

This story takes place post WWII Russia. Thirteen-year-old Mikhail finds a dying man and his German Shepherd, Zasha. Mikhail's mother was unable to save the man. They took his body to town to turn him into the police, but the children convinced their mother to let them keep Zasha. The father in the story was a soldier and had been missing for two years, but Mikhail and his family still held hope for his return.

There were hardly any dogs in Russia after the war. Many were lost in combat, to starvation and in the slaughter of German dogs. They had to keep Zasha hidden from the soldiers and from dog thieves who sold them on the black market.


People began to suspect that they had a dog (dog thieves,  Dimitri, the dog breeder and a young girl named Katia) and it became harder and harder to keep their secret of having Kasha, who they had just discovered was pregnant.

I loved this book. The author did a wonderful job of getting you to love Zasha and I was worried about her well being throughout the story. But I thought the ending was a little abrupt and too easily wrapped up. I wanted her to go just a little farther before ending the story.

If you like historical fiction and if you like dogs, you will like this story.

I read somewhere that if you are writing a children's story, you should have a dog as one of your characters. I agree and I have used that tip in my writing as well, and this author did a wonderful job with Saving Zasha.

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Middle Grade First Lines and First Paragraphs

MMGM

I'm always surfing the web for writing tips and techniques. I search for the rules of writing and advice from other authors. I have read that first lines or first paragraphs can stir your curiosity, create surprise, be humorous, have shock factor, state a simple statement of facts, and last, but not least, hook your reader into reading more.

Here are a few first lines and/or paragraphs from middle grade books:

Charlotte's Web - “Where’s Papa going with that ax?”

Holes -  “There is no lake at Camp Green Lake.”

A Wrinkle in Time -  “It was a dark and stormy night.”

A Series of Unfortunate Events -  “If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book.”

The Hobbitt -  “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.”

Wonder -  I know I'm not an ordinary ten-year-old kid.

 Rain Reign - I am Rose Howard and my first name has a homonym.

Navigating Early - The first time you see the ocean is supposed to be either exhilarating or terrifying. I wish I could say it was one of those for me. I just threw up, right there on the rocky shore.

Fever - I woke to the sound of a mosquito whining in my left ear and my mother screeching in the right.

The Ballad of Lucy Whipple - "Mama," I said, "that gold you claimed is lying in the fields around here must be hidden by all the lizards, dead leaves, and mule droppings, for I can't see a thing worth picking up and taking home."

A Year Down Yonder - Oh, didn't I feel sorry for myself when the Wabash Railroad's Blue Bird train steamed into Grandma's town. The sandwich was still crumbs in my throat because I didn't have the dime for a bottle of pop. They wanted a dime for pop on the train.

Everything on a Waffle - I live in Coal Harbour, British Columbia. I have never lived anyplace else. My name is Primrose Squarp. I am eleven years old. I have hair the color of carrots in an apricot glaze (recipe to follow), skin fair and clear where it isn't freckled, and eyes like summer storms.

Duck and Cover - I survived the long drive from Cleveland. Now if I could just survive the Russians, I'd be OK. Some people worried they were going to blow up the United States. Mom and I had come back to West Virginia to start over. How could we start over if the world was coming to an end? (Sorry, but I had to include the first paragraph of my book.)


Wishtree - It's hard to talk to trees. We're not big on chitchat.

As you can see from the examples, some books do it better than others.

Have you read any of these books? Which one is your favorite line? What are some of your favorite first lines or first paragraphs?

A little practice can go a long way. Write and write again until you get it right.  

Now go and create the perfect first line for your story.



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MMGM - The Little Riders & Ghost

I've read two books this past week. An older one . . .

 

by Margaretha Shemin

illustrated by Peter Spier

I found this gem in one of our town's Little Libraries. It was originally published in 1963, but was published again in 1988. There was a movie made from it in 1996.

An eleven-year-old American girl named Johanna is living in Nazi-occupied Holland. She sits at her window and views the church steeple and watches the little riders as they ride out on their white horses when the clock strikes the hour. She resents the presence of a German soldier quartered in her grandparent's house, until the night she tries to hide part of the town's treasured clock mechanism.

I loved this little book. It is short, the book I have is only 76 pages, but it is a good historical fiction that takes place during WWII. Johanna is a very likeable main character. She is courageous and, near the end, forgiving. 

and a newer one . . . 

 

 

by Raina Telgemeier

Ghosts, is a graphic novel. According to the reviews on Amazon, Raina Telgemeier's graphic novels are very popular.

I'm not really into graphic novels, but I must admit I loved Archie, Betty and Veronica when I was a child. Kids seem to love them. I think they would appeal to the reluctant reader because of the graphics and the lesser word count.  But I can tell there is a lot of work that goes into writing them.  Her characters are very expressive.

Here is what it says on Amazon:

Catrina and her family are moving to the coast of Northern California because her little sister, Maya, is sick. Cat isn't happy about leaving her friends for Bahía de la Luna, but Maya has cystic fibrosis and will benefit from the cool, salty air that blows in from the sea. As the girls explore their new home, a neighbor lets them in on a secret: There are ghosts in Bahía de la Luna. Maya is determined to meet one, but Cat wants nothing to do with them. As the time of year when ghosts reunite with their loved ones approaches, Cat must figure out how to put aside her fears for her sister's sake - and her own.

If you, or a child you know, like graphic novels, I would recommend this book to you.

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MMGM - The Key to Extraordinary

The Key to Extraordinary 

by Natalie Lloyd

February 2016

This is what it says on Amazon:

Everyone in Emma's family is special. Her ancestors include Revolutionary War spies, brilliant scientists, and famous musicians--every single one of which learned of their extraordinary destiny through a dream.

For Emma, her own dream can't come soon enough. Right before her mother died, Emma promised that she'd do whatever it took to fulfill her destiny, and she doesn't want to let her mother down.

But when Emma's dream finally arrives, it points her toward an impossible task--finding a legendary treasure hidden in her town's cemetery. If Emma fails, she'll let down generations of extraordinary ancestors . . . including her own mother. But how can she find something that's been missing for centuries and might be protected by a mysterious singing ghost?

I like this First Line:

It is a known fact that the most extraordinary moments in a person's life come disguised as ordinary days.

This is a neat book. It is filled with a little magic, mystery, wonderful characters, and a cafe that serves boneyard brew and peach-lavender muffins. They live at Blackbird Hollow, Tennessee. One of Emma's jobs is giving tours of Blackbird Cemetery, which happens to be in her backyard and is one of the oldest and most famous resting places in the state. She loves the beautiful names on the tombstones.

 I think you will enjoy this story. 

I don't make peach-lavender muffins, but I do make Applesauce Muffins that are delicious.So grab the book, a muffin and a cup of milk or coffee and enjoy.

Applesauce Muffins

 1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

3/4 t. vanilla

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 cups self-rising flour

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. allspice

1/2 cup chopped nuts (Hickory nuts or walnuts)

In a bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla. Mix well. Stir in applesauce. Combine flour and spices. Stir into creamed mixture. Fold in nuts.

Fill paper-lined muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

 TOPPING:  1/3 cup sugar, 1/2 t cinnamon, 3 T melted butter. Dip tops of baked muffins into melted butter, then into sugar cinnamon mixture.

OPTIONAL TOPPING:  Shake cinnamon/sugar mixture on top of muffins before or after baking.

OPTIONAL: Just put a nut on top of the muffin before baking.

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