The Red Maple Award

The Red Maple Award, established by the Ontario Library Association in 1998, celebrates the best fiction and non-fiction books written for Grades 7 and 8.  The winner is selected by Ontario's young readers.  Here are some titles which stand out for me:

1998 After the War (Carol Matas)

Teenager Ruth is realeased from Buchenwald Concentration Camp at the end of World War II, only to find out she is the only survivor of her family.  She meets a young man who convinces her to travel to Palestine, where many Jewish refugees are headed.  They make a daring escape across Europe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/After_the_War_%28novel%29

2002 Clara's War (Kathy Kacer)

Clara, a 13-year-old girl imprsioned in a Jewish ghetto called Terezin during the Second World War, faces hunger, disease and death as she awaits transportation to a Concentration Camp.

http://www.openbooktoronto.com/books/claras_war_kathy_kacer

2008 Safe as Houses (Eric Walters)

Teenager Lizzie Hardy walks two children home from school on a wet, blustery day in 1954.  Inside the children's house, she babysits, not knowing that Hurricane Hazel is on its way.  Outside, the Humber River rises at an alarming rate.

http://www.ericwalters.net/novels/safe-as-houses/

2010 Word Nerd (Susin Neilsen)

A 12-year-old boy is picked on at school to the point where some bullies, knowing he has a peanut allergy, contaminate his lunch.  His mother pulls withdraws him, choosing to home school him.  He befriends the landlord's 25 year old son who invites him to his Scrabble Club.  There, he finds the acceptance he never had.

https://vikkivansickle.wordpress.com/2010/05/10/far-from-the-last-word-word-nerd/

2011 The Bite of the Mango (Mariatu Kamara)

One girl's journey from Sierra Leone war victim to UNICEF special representative.

http://www.openbooktoronto.com/news/mariatu_kamaras_bite_mango_wins_cbc_young_canada_reads

2013 Real Justice:  Fourteen and Sentenced to Death:  The Story of Steven Truscott (Bill Swan)

When I was in elementary school, I first read the account of Steven Truscott's trial and conviction for the murder of his 12 year old schoolmate, Lynne Harper.  Pierre Berton wrote a poem "Requiem to a 14 Year Old", which included vivid images of the anxious boy, sentenced to hang, in the Goderich Jail.  Here is another book about Steven Truscott, who ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time and was wrongly accused of murder.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15027125-real-justice

Note:  For more information about the Red Maple award, visit http://www.bookcentre.ca/awards/red_maple_award.

Blogging: Jump Start Your Creativity

"You can't use up creativity.  The more you use, the more you have." 
(Maya Angelou)

It is far too easy to run out of ideas once you start a blog.  Before you know it, you have abandonned your project.  You are the author of a "ghost blog".  Susan J. Getgood, in her book Professional Blogging for Dummies (http://www.amazon.ca/Professional-Blogging-Dummies-Susan-Getgood/dp/0470601795) recommends ten strategies to jump start your creativity.  

1.  Keep a Notebook

Carry around a 3 x 5 inch notebook (small enough to fit in your purse or a jacket pocket).  Every time you get inspiration, jot down the idea to look at later.  Don't forget to keep a notebook at your bedside for late night inspiration.  When you are surfing the Internet, if you come across a useful article, bookmark it at delicious.com.

2.  Read the Newspaper

As you pour over the newspaper, an interesting headline might catch your eye.  Take advantage of it to build a post.  If you don't subscribe to the newspaper, go online and read snippets from the day's news.  Or search the archives of various newspapers.  Old headlines can also serve as inspiration.  I remember when my husband helped his dad put new siding on his cottage, when they took off the old siding, underneath they found newspapers from the Second World War.  What food for thought!  

3.  Reread Your Favourite Posts

Write a roundup, a top ten of your favourite posts.  Pick a theme ex. My Top Ten Posts About Cooking Light.  Maybe you've written about a controversial issue and your opinion has changed. 

That is also fuel for a good post.  

4.  Read Other Blogs

Use another blog post as inspiration for your blog.  Provide a link to the original post.  This is where your blogroll comes in handy.  Then you have your favourite blogs right at your fingertips.    

5.  Search the Internet Aimlessly

Type in a keyword and let the searching begin.  Use aggregators like alltop.com or Yahoo! which lets you choose a trending topic and surf.  If you sign up for stumbleupon.com, the search engine will find results for you based on your likes and dislikes.  

6.  Spend an Hour on Your Hobby

Doing an activity that you like reminds you why you love it so much.  Grab your binoculars and go bird watching.  Grab your camera and photograph nature.  Grab your tools and putter in the garden. Raid your kitchen cupboards and bake up a storm.  Spending time at your hobby produces something called "flow" where, you are so immersed in the activity, that an hour seems to pass by in minutes.  It relaxes the mind, but at the same time focusses it.  

7.  Play a Game

Play games like Scrabble or Boggle.  It serves as a fun way to strengthen your verbal skills.

8.  Look Up Old Friends on Facebook

Pick someone you went to high school with who had an unusual last name.  Look him up on Facebook and see how he turned out.  If it's a girl, type in her maiden name.  If she is married, often she will include her maiden name with her married name.

9.  Take a Walk

Bring your notebook and/or camera along.  Jot down your observations.  See where your thoughts lead you.  Go to the driving range.  If the weather is inclement, stay inside and ride the elliptical machine.  Physical activity clears the cobwebs out of your head.

10.  Move to a Different Window

Move to a different chair or a different room.  Walk to the local coffee shop or library.  It's amazing what inspiration you will get in a public place.  There's a story wherever you go.  I found that out when I was taking an online writing college course.  At the specialist's office, I had an hour to kill in the waiting room.  My homework was to pretend I was a newspaper reporter, go to a cafe or park or other public place and "get a scoop".  I got out my notebook and started to record my observations. Lo and behold, there was a big story right under my nose.  The elderly man beside me asked the teenage girl beside him why her arm was in a sling.  She said she was the victim of a drive by shooting, right in Brantford!  Who would have thought?

11.  Listen to Music

Listen to your favourite songs and let your mind wander.  A catchy lyric might serve as inspiration for a blog title.  Visit http://writersrelief.com/blog/2014/12/writers-playlist-part-1-music-jump-start-creativity/.

12.  Read a book

I read the book Goals:  How to Get Everything You Want Faster Than You Every Thought Possible by Brian Tracy which gave me a whole month's worth of material for blogging. See http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2015/01/conceive-believe-achieve.html.

For more information, read Write Starts:  Prompts, Quotes and Exercises to Jump Start Your Creativity by Hal Zina Bennett (2010).

"Think outside the box" at astrologyunboxed.com.