Photo of the Week--8/30/10

Having grown up in Michigan, neither TSU or I are scared away by the chance of cold weather on vacation. So a few years back we spent Boy's winter break on a trip out west to Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. We lucked out by having only one day of bad weather (and that was rain, not snow), and really enjoyed seeing the region's natural beauties. This picture was taken at Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah, famed for the glorious orange hoodoos that dominate the landscape. You can see the tops of some of them behind us, along with a little bit of snow that remained in the crevices. It makes for a beautiful contrast, the white snow and the orange hoodoos, but here it's a backdrop for a rare picture of the two of us.

I paint, therefore I ...

... clam. I don't yam or spam, and my blog is a sham. No flim flam, ma'am, this isn't a scam, if you even give a damn.

That's right, I'm in the middle of a major remodel of my dining room. I spent a couple days painting it (all by myself!), and coming up TSU and I are going to install new flooring. So I haven't had time to do much in the way of blogging. Although I did have time to browse the rhyming dictionary. New Printz reviews coming next week, though, and hopefully a very belated report on the fun I had in LA at the SCBWI conference (although not on the trip home)—complete with jokes and a limerick!

So have a little patience (a gram?) until I'm out of this decorating jam and can wear my blogging tam.

Recipes from Fish Camp: Breakfast Fruit Toppings

Breakfast at fish camp usually involves pancakes or french toast 5 days out of 6, so it's important to have a variety of toppings so boredom doesn't set in. Maple syrup is tasty, but fresh fruit toppings are so much better for you, and are relatively easy to make. I try to make these once a week at home; at fish camp I just multiply the recipe by factor of A LOT. Here is the basic recipe:

1 cup fresh fruit (blueberries, peaches, apples, pears, raspberries, anything that's good cooked)

1 tablespoon All-Fruit (ie, those fruit spreads that are sweetened only with juice)

Some combinations I've made: fresh blueberries with blueberry All-Fruit; fresh peaches, apricots, or apples with apricot All-Fruit and cinnamon; fresh peaches/apples/pears with raspberry All-Fruit. If a fruit isn't in season, I've used canned (peaches and pears); you could also use frozen berries, but rinse them in cold water first, to reduce the amount of meltwater you get.

Put the fruit (peeled, pitted, cored, and/or chopped, as needed) into a microwavable container with the jam. Microwave about 20 seconds at a time, stirring every time, until mixture is juicy and warm. Serve over pancakes, french toast, or waffles.

These recipes are for an individual serving, so multiply accordingly to serve more people. When I make a large batch, as I do at camp, I cook the fruit and jam over the stove instead of in the microwave, because it's faster.

And what do I do if I have a fresh fruit that doesn't cook well, like strawberries or bananas? Well, then I go to my freezer and get a couple tablespoons of non-fat whipped topping, which adds less than 40 calories to the breakfast. Yum!

Photo of the Week--8/23/10

Oh my, two photos of me in the same month! And another one I don't hate! Maybe it's the baby gator, mouth carefully taped shut, that makes me look good in comparison. Actually, I think reptiles are cool, so I don't mind handling snakes or lizards or other scaly critters, provided they're harmless (or rendered so). This was taken on a trip to Florida in February 2005, so I bet I was also thrilled to be someplace warm and sunny where I could wear shorts. We might be taking another trip down there next winter; hopefully I won't encounter this little guy all grown up.

Recipes from Fish Camp: Rachel's Oatmeal Spice Cake

This tasty treat was extremely popular at camp this year. It's named after my cousin Rachel not just because she made it for us, but because she reportedly came home from high school every day and made this cake. (Ah, to have a teenager's metabolism!) But never mind the evil frosting, since the cake has oatmeal it must be good for you, like breakfast!

Oatmeal Spice Cake

NOTES: Do not use old-fashioned or instant oats for this recipe. This makes a enough for a 9x9 cake pan; double for larger pan (the extra can be baked as muffins).

1 cup (3 ounces) quick-cooking oats*

¾ cup water, room temperature

¾ cup (3¾ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg

4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, softened

½ cup (3½ ounces) granulated sugar

½ cup packed (3½ ounces) light brown sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350F. Cut two 16-inch lengths aluminum foil and fold both lengthwise to 5-inch widths. Spray an 8x8-inch metal baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Fit foil pieces into baking dish, one overlapping the other, pushing them into corners and up sides of pan; allow excess to overhang pan edges. Spray foil lightly with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Combine oats and water in medium bowl and let sit until water is absorbed, about 5 minutes. In another medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together.
3. In bowl of standing mixer, beat butter and sugars on medium speed until combined and mixture has consistency of damp sand, 2 to 4 minutes, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula halfway through mixing. Add egg and vanilla; beat until combined, about 30 seconds. Add flour mixture in 2 additions and mix until just incorporated, about 30 seconds. Add soaked oats and mix until combined, about 15 seconds.
4. Give batter final stir with rubber spatula to make sure thoroughly combined. Transfer batter to prepared pan and lightly tap against counter 3 or 4 times to dislodge any large air bubbles; smooth surface with spatula. Bake cake until toothpick inserted into center comes out with few crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking. Let cake cool slightly in pan, at least 10 minutes.

Topping

6 tbsp butter

½ cup brown sugar

¼ cup evaporated milk or whipping cream

½ tsp vanilla

1 c. chopped walnuts or pecans

Heat ingredients over low heat in saucepan; fold in nuts. Apply to freshly baked cake.

Enjoy!

The Printz Award Winners: 2003

In this installment of my survey of those books that "exemplify literary excellence in young adult literature," according to the American Library Association, I consider the honorees from 2003.

Winner:

Aidan Chambers, Postcards from No Man's Land
Honor books:
Nancy Farmer, House of the Scorpion
Garret Freymann-Weyr, My Heartbeat
Jack Gantos, Hole in My Life

These four works couldn't have been more different, but they were all excellent reads.

Farmer’s House of the Scorpion: this is a brilliant piece of speculative science fiction, of the kind you rarely find in books for children or young adults. While fantasy is extremely popular for this audience—fairy tales are some of the first tales we tell children, after all—it seems many authors are hesitant (or unable) to explore the more complex ideas posited by sci fi. The idea Farmer explores—cloning, and whether clones are human and deserve the same rights—could be very complicated, but the way she approaches it makes it simple: she tells the story from the point of view of Matt, a four-year-old living in isolation with his caretaker in the middle of a poppy field. Matt doesn’t know he’s a clone, he only knows he is supposed to stay hidden, even from the local children who happen by. When he can’t resist their invitations to come play, he gets injured and they take him home. His escape shows him two different things: that he is both valuable—everyone around him is worried for his safety—and yet also an “animal” who is filthy and not fit to be among humans. After a period of isolation where he is caged like an animal, he is rescued and learns the truth: he is the clone of El Patrón, an elderly but brutal drug lord who has the power to ignore laws requiring that a clone’s brain be destroyed at “birth” (clones are grown inside cows, and thus not legally “human”), and raise him instead as a real boy.

The book continues to follow Matt from age 4 to age 14, as he learns who and what he is, eventually discovering (and trying to escape from) the dangerous implications of being a clone. The brilliance of the book is that it works for readers of varying sophistication. More mature readers will understand right away that clones are intended for spare parts, and that Matt only has a future as long as El Patrón’s health holds out. Younger readers may not grasp this concept, but they gradually learn about it as Matt does. No matter how much the readers understand of the idea of cloning, they both experience a sense of growing dread, and both find a rewarding reading experience in sharing Matt’s coming of age story. The ALA recognized this broad appeal, awarding the book not only a Printz honor but a Newbery honor as well (the first of only two books so honored); the novel also won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature.

Freymann-Weyr's My Heartbeat: this novel presents an interesting triangle: although 14-year-old Ellen is in love with her brother Link's best friend James, she recognizes they are devoted to each other and she is lucky to be included in their activities together. Things change drastically when a friend at school asks if the boys are "a couple" and she can't put the idea out of her mind. She asks them directly if they are "together" and their differing answers cause a rupture. Ellen becomes James's confidante (and eventual lover) while she struggles to understand her brother's behavior and his role in the family. This is a very mature and thoughtful book—maybe a bit too mature, with a 14-year-old narrator who seems more perceptive than most girls her age—but it was an interesting look at complex characters.

Gantos's Hole in My Life: and for something again completely different, we have this memoir by the award-winning author of the comic "Joey Pigza" series for middle graders. There is little to laugh about in the subject matter, however, as Gantos relates how he lived on his own in a welfare hotel during his senior year of high school before joining his family on the Caribbean island of St. Croix. After briefly working for his father, the aspiring writer agrees to help sail a ship filled with a ton of hash up to New York. He hopes for adventure but instead finds an FBI investigation that results in a smuggling conviction and hard time. Gantos has to decide how he will cope with jail, and what kind of person he will try to become.

I didn't read this book, but listened to it unabridged, read by the author. He relates his story in a blunt and simple style (and lots of humor, despite the serious subject); even so, I was impressed with some of his turns of phrase, like how he created a “blazing bonfire of blame” during his first week in prison. He effectively communicates how thoughtlessness led to one huge mistake without sounding preachy, and the memoir not only works as a "scared straight" story but as the account of a writer's birth. I don't think I've read a more brave and honest book, the author revealing things about himself most people would rather hide.

Chambers's Postcards from No Man's Land: Chambers has been writing groundbreaking novels since the late 1970s, and in 2002 won the Hans Christian Anderson Award, awarded biennially by the International Board on Books for Young People for "lasting contributions to children's literature." This is his most acclaimed novel, also winning Britain's Carnegie Medal in 1999. You'll notice it took a couple of years for it to make it over the pond, and I'm not surprised: it has a very complex structure that relates several interweaving stories. The first is of British teenager Jacob, who is visiting Holland both to attend a commemorative service for the battle of Arnhem, where his grandfather fought, and to meet Geertrui, the Dutch woman who sheltered his grandfather after he was wounded. He begins with a few misadventures in Amsterdam (his belongings are stolen), and his story is interwoven with Geertrui's, a first-person account of how the British paratroopers landed in their neighborhood and how she came to shelter and then fall in love with a wounded soldier left behind during the British retreat. This passages are themselves interwoven with a few actual war accounts from paratroopers, many of whom were teenagers themselves, recounting their experiences of the Battle of Arnheim.

So we have Jacob finding himself during his travels in Amsterdam and Arnheim, Geertrui experiencing first love, and a few assorted soldier's accounts of battle. An impatient reader might get lost in the complex structure, but each character is distinct and clear, and their individual struggles are compelling to read. It was a very interesting and satisfying novel to read, although it could be challenging for some young teen readers. It has a lot of crossover appeal for adults, and I can understand why it won a ton of awards.

For me, however, I can't get over how much I love Farmer's House of the Scorpion. It does such a good job of taking the all the things I love about science fiction—interesting ideas that inspire creative answers to that eternal question "What if?"—and making it accessible to readers of all ages. I not only enjoy her book as a reader, I admire it as a writer, making it my clear favorite of the bunch.

Photo of the Week--8/16/10

During winter break in 2004, four generations of my family took a trip to the Mayan Riviera in Mexico. My grandmother mostly lounged, but did take a trip floating down an underground river (at 88!); my parents ventured out to the Mayan seaside city of Tulum with us; TSU and I ventured further and climbest the tallest Mayan pyramid at Nohoch Muul; and Boy enjoyed a trip with his dad and grandpa to a cenote, a water-filled sinkhole. Here you can see him taking the plunge into the water. I don't even think anyone had to throw him in; he was brave and jumped all by himself. What a beautiful setting; I'd love to go there again some cold, cold winter break.