MARCH 2023
Our March line-up includes interviews with Marlana DeMarco Hogan, John Patrick Green, Lilah Fitzgerald, James Yang, Melissa Stewart, Gabi Snyder, and Dr. Linda J. M. Holloway.
Judy Newman talks typewriters, and Nick Spake reviews Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
Check out our newest book reviews and spring reading list! It's all inside!
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Story Monsters Ink® is sponsored by Once Upon a Dance and Dr. Joy Pillay
FEATURES
Marlana DeMarco Hogan
Has the Recipe for a Culturally Captivating Book Series
by Marcella Comerford
After a 25-year career in the classroom, most teachers would be enjoying a retirement of the usual sort, but Marlana DeMarco Hogan began a new chapter with something else she had always been called to do—write children’s literature.
She earned her teaching degree in Italian language and culture from Rutgers University and is a former Italian teacher at Old Bridge Township Public School System in New Jersey. “Just after I retired from teaching in 2009, I began writing Growing Up in the Dragonfly Zone,” Hogan says. “I was inspired by my son’s love of nature and his interest in exploring our magical backyard with our dog Ember while he was growing up. It was a love poem to my son, and with every line, I hoped to capture the importance of playing and exploration as a means to grow and learn. And with each change of season, he found a new and exciting playground in his very own backyard. Hands-on learning at its best! It was not even my intention to write a children’s book at that time.”
While it may not have been her intention, fate had its own plans. Her five-book children’s series was just displayed at the 2023 Bologna Children’s Book Festival in Italy in March. Hogan says the books were categorized as Children’s Nonfiction Family Multi-Generational by Bologna Books Plus and Combined Book Events, who presented them for her and her publisher, Newman Springs Publishing, under The New Title Showcase. Hogan says this was un sogno realizzato (a dream come true).
“My family stories and activities are the inspiration for these children’s storybooks,” Hogan says. Her parents, immigrants from Italy, welcomed her into the world just three months after they arrived in America on July 22, 1961. Her cultural heritage and experiences growing up, being a parent herself, teaching, and worldview have informed her writing, and she has been able to share an incredibly unique and rich life that wouldn’t otherwise be available, with many youngsters (and their parents and guardians!) through her books.
John Patrick Green
Takes Readers on a New Heist
by Marcella Comerford
John Patrick Green is a New York Times bestselling author/illustrator with an extensive background working with Disney as an illustrator and colorist whose InvestiGators graphic novel series has blown up over the past few years, drawing young fans’ rapt attention to the tune of six books and a seventh to be released in the fall. In his newest release in the series, InvestiGators: Heist and Seek, Mango and Brash go undercover as internationally renowned painters to expose a crook who has truly mastered the art of crime.
Green has been diving into the creation of a new series, an offshoot of InvestiGators called Agents of S.U.I.T., which delves into the lives and focuses on the stories of the other characters in InvestiGators, pulling attention away from the original main characters and onto some of the sidekicks. Green said that this ingenious idea was spurred by a few things—he needed to slow down a bit after writing two 200-page books a year, and his publishing company, Macmillan, was still ready to devour more of the InvestiGators style graphic novels that had fans clamoring for more.
Green said that after pitching a few ideas, he and Macmillan came to a happy middle ground of a spin-off series, “Starring other characters introduced with a few cameos by Mango and Brash,” he says. Mango and Brash being the superstars of InvestiGators. Green said that in book five of InvestiGators, readers were starting to be offered clues about the spin-off series, and while he was eager to develop the new series, he also expressed some relief at having a co-writer and another person handling art duties. Understandable so, as Green has not only been writing and illustrating at a furious pace, but also touring the states, hitting up to 30 markets across the U.S.
Slowing down a bit is also right in line with Green’s philosophy on creativity and new ideas as well. “Ideas kind of come from everywhere,” Green says. “From life experiences, interactions with other people, random happenings that seem funny, and so on. It’s hard to say exactly where to find an idea, because honestly, when you’re trying to find one is when you’re least likely to succeed in doing so! Ideas are wily creatures like that.”
One to Watch:
Lilah Fitzgerald
by Lindsey Giardino • photo by Meg Fitzgerald
Lilah Fitzgerald grew up on a mountain.
Yep, you heard that right. Born in the small Silver Star Mountain town of Okanagan in British Columbia, Canada, Fitzgerald grew up “mountain schooled” with nature as her classroom, spending most of her time outside. Her mom is a teacher and homeschooled Fitzgerald and her sister. “Because of that, my world was shaped by my own wants,” she explains. “I spent most of my time outside—skating, skiing, and snowshoeing in the winter, and hiking and frolicking in the summer. I explored nature in every season, told stories in my mind, and performed any and every chance I got.”
Fitzgerald knew from as early as the age of four that she wanted to become an actress. “My mom and I made a deal (that she did not know was, in my mind, a binding contract) that I had to do one year of community musical theater before pursuing it professionally,” she says. “I had to wait two years to even be old enough to join the program, but I held on to my goal, and on the night of my year-end performance, when I was not quite seven, I said, ‘Okay Mom, can I be a real actor now?’”
Luckily, Fitzgerald’s mom held up her end of the deal, going above and beyond to make her dream a reality. She drove Fitzgerald six hours, over a snow-covered mountain pass, to every single audition. She was booking roles, so the family ended up moving to Vancouver so she could keep acting.
Beyond work, though, Fitzgerald’s childhood was made up of fairy tales that shaped her. “My imagination was fostered and encouraged, allowed to run rampant,” she says. “My mom would read to me as often as she had time, and even before I could read myself, I would pick up books and pretend to read them, making up my own stories based on the covers and the, at that point, indecipherable scrawl across the pages. Who I am is a compilation of every fairy tale I’ve gotten my hands on.”
Illustrator Profile:
James Yang
by Lindsey Giardino
James Yang grew up in a small town in Oklahoma in the 1960s. His was the only Korean family in town.
Childhood was generally a great time for Yang, and he fondly remembers riding bikes with friends (similar to Stranger Things but without the monsters). There were awkward moments, though, growing up Korean in a small Southern town, especially in middle school.
“But those moments helped form my sense of humor, which made me pretty popular,” he says. “The experience also gave a sense of being on the outside looking in, which is perfect for an artist or writer. Would I live my childhood over again? Except for a couple painful moments, absolutely. There are more happy memories than not and it eventually led me to a place where I’m comfortable in my skin.”
Art has always run in Yang’s family. His grandfather was a painter in Korea, and his work can be viewed in the Busan Museum of Art in Busan, South Korea. Following in his footsteps, Yang became a freelance illustrator. “The Watergate years made me excited about the news, and one former student from my high school, Stan Watts who was an airbrush god in the 1970s, gave a talk at our school, and I was hooked,” he shares.
One to Read:
Dr. Linda J. M. Holloway
by Lindsey Giardino
Dr. Linda J. M. Holloway lives her life by her own personal quote: Dream your dreams. “This means to not be afraid to dream, and whatever your dream—no matter how big, small, or crazy it might seem to others—it is your dream,” she shares. “So, dream your own dreams that will make you happy, make your heart skip a beat, bring about a dance, keep you up late, wake you up early in morning, and allow you to be the person God Almighty has created you to be.”
One of Holloway’s own dreams is writing children’s books. Today, the multi-award-winning author currently has five such books on the market, all of which are designed to explore the impact of children’s social emotional learning, as well as influence childhood literacy.
What was your childhood like?
I grew up on a farm in Mound Bayou, Mississippi, with my parents, six sisters, and two brothers. This is where I learned many valuable lessons about life. My parents taught me to value Christianity, family, education, and love for fellow mankind. It was also during this time my mother, Mrs. Willie Lue B. Holloway, really stressed the importance of reading. Therefore, she made a huge sacrifice to invest in approximately five sets of home encyclopedias and children’s books. She was very adamant about me learning to read. It was during my childhood that I fell madly in love with reading, words, and storytelling. One of my many favorite childhood memories that stands out to me was when my sisters and I would perform plays for our parents. It was such a joy to learn our parts and see our parents smile as we would put on this big play production for them to enjoy after a long hard day of work.
Fraud Alert?
No! All Books Are Legit!
by Elizabeth Jorgensen and Nancy Jorgensen
My local bookseller friend said, “I’m afraid I’ll be discovered as a fraud.”
Although she sells books for a living, she said, “I’m not a voracious reader. I’m not one to read a book from start-to-finish and I’m not going to pick up a classic novel.”
“I have students like that,” I said, thinking of a high school junior who only reads sports books, and my friend’s daughter who reads only one page at a time, and myself, when I skim boring pages.
Readers have peculiar styles, and librarians, parents, and teachers can bolster and nurture these differences by doing the following:
Help students choose books that interest them.
Encourage reading multiple books simultaneously.
Empower students to stop reading when a book isn’t working for them.
MONTHLY COLUMNS
-
Life of a Reader
Words per Minute
by Judy Newman -
Q&A
Melissa Stewart
by Julianne Black DiBlasi -
The Book Bug
Gabi Snyder
by Raven Howell -
Monsters at the Movies
Shazam! Fury of the Gods
by Nick Spake -
Liv On Life
Technology: Growth or Destruction?
by Olivia Amiri -
Kids Corner
Take a Listening Walk
Click here -
Character Counts!
Modeling Good Character
Makes a Difference!
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