Author in Residence Lisa Ann Sandell: Creating Worlds

Our third awesome Author in Residence, Lisa Ann Sandell, is back with her fourth and final video for us! Check out her mini-issue at the rgz website.

Throughout her visit, she has been posting at the readergirlz blog (watch her first vlog, about writing inspirations, here, and her second, about how art influences her, here).

Here is the fourth of Lisa's vlog entries about creating worlds from the real world around us:

Thank you for your gorgeous contributions, Lisa! We heart you!

Author in Residence Lisa Ann Sandell: Representation in Art

Our third awesome Author in Residence, Lisa Ann Sandell, is back with her third video for us! Check out her mini-issue at the rgz website.

Throughout her visit, she will be posting at the readergirlz blog (watch her first vlog, about writing inspirations, here, and her second, about how art influences her, here).

Here is the third of Lisa's vlog entries about writing, in which she illuminates the story of representation in art and literature:

Don't you just love the way Lisa thinks? I want to take a class in Lisa Ann Sandell!

Author in Residence Lisa Ann Sandell: Her Books!

Our third awesome Author in Residence, Lisa Ann Sandell, is a deeply insightful writer who will be on the rgz team through August! Check out her mini-issue at the rgz website.
Throughout her visit, she will be posting at the readergirlz blog (watch her first vlog, about writing inspirations, and her second, about the power of art).

Check out her list of awesome books, and then check out the books themselves!

Lisa told us that her first novel, The Weight of the Sky, is loosely autobiographical. This book tells the story of Sarah, an American teenager who travels to Israel on her first trip away from home by herself.In Israel, Sarah volunteers on a kibbutz, or communal farm, and falls in love with the land - and a boy - and comes to appreciate what really matters to her in life, what she wants to do and who she wants to be. A coming-of-age story about self-discovery.

Published March 2006

Song of the Sparrow tells the story of Elaine, a young woman who, with her father and brothers, lives in a military camp led by Arthur of Britain. The men fight against invaders from many directions, and Elaine does what she can to help the Britains by learning the healing arts to tend to wounded soldiers. There is romance and lots of adventure.

Lisa says, "What I love best about the stories of King Arthur are the

themes of friendship, equality, and justice - I think these ideals are what make the human race noble. I also tried to inject this novel with the notion that girls can be as strong as men, even if they aren't doing the same things. We all have a role to play and the role of girls and women is just as important as that of men."

Published May 2007

In A Map of the Known World, Cora Bradley's older brother has died in a car crash. Now she finds solace in drawing maps of and envisioning herself in exotic locales. Then, as she begins high school, Cora begins to spend time with Damian, the handsome, brooding boy who was in the car with Nate the night he died, and she uncovers her brother's sec

ret artistic life, and realizes she had more in common with him than she ever imagined. The themes of this novel cover the redemptive powers of art, friendship, and love.

Published April 2009
Did You Know?

Both Song of the Sparrow and Weight of the Sky are verse novels.

Lisa's short story entitled "See Me" was published in the anthology 21 Proms.

Author in Residence Lisa Ann Sandell: Art as Inspiration

Our third awesome Author in Residence, Lisa Ann Sandell, is a deeply insightful writer who will be on the rgz team through August! Check out her mini-issue at the rgz website.

Throughout her visit, she will be posting at the readergirlz blog (watch her first vlog, about writing inspirations, here).

Here is the second of Lisa's vlog entries about writing, in which she shows us some inspirational art and what each piece means to her:

Lisa asks, "What is some of your favorite artwork?"

Learn more about Lisa Ann Sandell and our author-in-residence position.

More About Author in Residence Lisa Ann Sandell!

Here's a little more about our newest Author in Residence, Lisa Ann Sandell. See her first vlog, about inspirations and writing habits, here.

Author in Residence Lisa Ann Sandell!

Our third awesome Author in Residence, Lisa Ann Sandell, is a deeply insightful writer who will be on the rgz team through August! Check out her mini-issue at the rgz website.

Throughout her visit, she will be cross-posting at the readergirlz blog. We are honored to have Lisa among us (look at those gorgeous books!).

Here is the first of Lisa's vlog entries about writing, in which she takes us on a walk and shows us some of her inspirations and writing spots in her hometown of NYC!

She also reads a gorgeous passage from Song of the Sparrow.

Thanks, Lisa! It's so much fun to get a peek into writers' worlds. Anyone else care to share their own creative processes? Tell us!

Learn more about Lisa Ann Sandell and our author-in-residence position.

May 2010 Newsflash: Win ABSOLUTELY MAYBE by Lisa Yee!

Dear rgz friend,

Thanks for helping make our third-annual Operation Teen Book Drop the best one yet.

• Thanks to the generosity of publishers, we delivered over 10,000 books to teens on Native reservations and tribal lands.


• 772 books were purchased by individuals to completely sell out the TBD Wish List. The books were donated to two tribal school libraries through GuysLitWire.


• More than 100 authors and friends left books in secret spots from Seattle to Madrid.

In short, it was awesome. Thanks to everyone—publishers, authors, editors, agents, bloggers, readers—for playing along. Thanks, also, to our partners: YALSA, GuysLitWire, and If I Can Read, I Can Do Anything.

This month’s featured book
We’ll be talking with Lisa Yee about her terrific novel ABSOLUTELY MAYBE. Set in Hollywood, it tells the story of a girl trying to make it in L.A. however she can. And because it is a Lisa Yee book, it’s hilarious, even as it touches on homelessness, abuse, alcoholism, and all manner of tacos.

We’ll be chatting with Lisa May 19 at 6 p.m. Pacific, location to be announced. Watch for the determination at http://readergirlz.blogspot.com to join the fun.

If you comment on our blog by May 5, we'll enter your name into a drawing for Lisa's novel.

Learn alongside our Author in Residence
We have loved having Elizabeth Scott as our AIR, and have learned a ton from the link roundups with really fantastic information for writers. If you want to know why characters need to suffer, what effect e-books will have on the printed ones, and how famous authors insulted each other with style, you have to continue the discussion on Elizabeth's blog.

Then, help us say goodbye to Elizabeth on May 3 at 6 p.m. Pacific, 9 p.m. Eastern. She’s been amazing, and we’re going to have a blast talking about THE UNWRITTEN RULE and what she’s learned as our AIR.

We’re definitely trying something new for this chat. It will be a TWITTER party! If you don’t have an account, sign up. Then look for us under the hashtag #rgz.

Our next AIR is Lisa Ann Sandell, author of A MAP OF THE KNOWN WORLD and other superb YA books.

Lisa starts the third week of May. We can’t wait!

Welcome to our newest diva!
Readers, we are thrilled to announce the addition of a new diva to our fold—one who has already been working tirelessly behind the scenes as our rgz media specialist and who will now take on the role of Social Media Diva. Please give a warm welcome to the witty, wonderful Martha Brockenbrough, author of Things That Make Us (Sic), the grammar guide which will have you laughing out loud! Martha is also the founder of National Grammar Day and SPOGG - the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar. Perfect, right?!



This month’s Postergirlz Picks:

LOOKING FOR ALIBRANDI by Melina Marchetta
BEIGE by Cecil Castellucci
GINGERBREAD by Rachel Cohn
NOTHING BUT GHOSTS by Beth Kephart
SOMETHING, MAYBE by Elizabeth Scott
GIRLWISE: HOW TO BE CONFIDENT, CAPABLE, COOL AND IN CONTROL by Julia DeVillers

This month’s community service project
826 National is a nonprofit tutoring, writing, and publishing organization. Kids between 6 and 18 can visit their local 826 chapter for tutoring sessions, writing assistance, free workshops, and more.

Hopeful writers should definitely check out the organization's opportunities for student publishing. High school students located in the Bay Area who love to write and are in need of financial aid may apply for college scholarships offered by 826.

The organization also has lots and lots of amazing volunteers who donate their time, energy, and expertise. 826 has locations in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, Michigan, Boston, and Washington, D.C. If you live in or near any of these cities, you should definitely drop by in person and volunteer your time and/or share your writing!

*****

the readergirlz divas' twitter~
Martha Brockenbrough (@mbrockenbrough), Things That Make Us [Sic]
Holly Cupala (@hollycupala), Tell Me A Secret (June 2010)
Liz Gallagher (@lizgallagherliz), The Opposite of Invisible
Elizabeth Scott (@escottwrites), The Unwritten Rule
Melissa Walker (@melissacwalker), Lovestruck Summer

co-founders~
Dia Calhoun (@diacalhoun), Avielle of Rhia
Justina Chen (@justinaychen), North of Beautiful
Lorie Ann Grover (@lorieanngrover), Hold Me Tight


http://www.readergirlz.com/
readergirlz blog
rgz Twitter

Cover Stories: A Map of the Known World by Lisa Ann Sandell

Lisa Ann Sandell's latest novel is heartbreaking and lyrical, just as the cover indicates. I asked her to share her Cover Story, and she graciously obliged:

"As I wrote A MAP OF THE KNOWN WORLD, I had no idea what this book might look like. With the title, I of course had a map in mind, but I wasn't sure what that map would look like. I didn't want to give too much away right up front, so I really struggled with this.

"Fortunately for me, Elizabeth B. Parisi, the art director who designed both A MAP OF THE KNOWN WORLD and my previous book, SONG OF THE SPARROW, is a genius, and she really got this book. She called my editor, the brilliant Aimee Friedman (also a phenomenal author), and me into her office to tell us that she'd come up with the idea of using the heart/sculpture as a central image. Elizabeth also thought of layering it on top of a map. If you look closely at the cover, you can see that in the black background are gridlines of a map.

"As soon as she told Aimee and me what she was thinking, we were both super excited. Elizabeth showed us photos of the work of a sculptor she knew, Leo Sewell. He calls himself a junk sculptor, and if you visit his web site, you can see that he sculpts these phenomenal pieces out of found objects. So, Elizabeth had seen one of his sculptures, the Big Apple and was inspired to use it as the basis for the heart. She photographed the

apple, then had artist Tim O'Brien paint a new piece, using the apple as a guide, in the shape of a heart.

"This process couldn't have been smoother or more delightful. Basically, as soon as she was finished reading the manuscript, Elizabeth had the idea, and Aimee and I were totally on board with it. And in the end, I can't think of a single image that would better capture the spirit of Cora's story, and I couldn't be more grateful for how beautiful this cover is or how perfect."

I love Lisa's Cover Story, especially because it incorporates real art that mirrors the work done in the book--perfect! What do you guys think?

Art Saves: Lisa Ann Sandell

Today's Art Saves contribution and guest blog comes from Lisa Ann Sandell, author of A Map of the Known World, one of this month's recommended reads.


Click image above to view full size in a new window.

"...[A]ll beauty in animals and plants is a quiet enduring form of love..." Rainer Maria Rilke wrote this line in a letter to a young poet (you can find the whole collection of his letters in Letters to a Young Poet), as he tried to let his correspondent, a young and aspiring writer, know that he could look to nature - plant and animal life - for inspiration and fodder. There is great beauty to be found in the world all around us. And for as long as art and artists have existed, they have tried to capture that beauty and to reflect it in their artwork. It serves as a reminder to all people that there is joy to be found in the world, that even the smallest things, from the tiniest hummingbird to the wispiest blade of grass, are important and enrich our life experience.

My father's father was a wonderful artist. He painted and took photographs, he drew and he sculpted. I feel incredibly lucky to have some of his work in my apartment now. He always took inspiration from the world that lay out of doors. A black and white photograph of a wooden fence post is so simple as to be terse. But it speaks volumes about the boundaries that we draw for ourselves, the way we carve up the earth and our lives, as well as the bleakness and the simplicity of life in the country. A sculpture of two polar bears, a mother and her baby depicts a stark iciness, but there is a warmth in the white marble figures, as a protectiveness and watchfulness of the mother is captured in the depth of her eye and the twist of her body.

When I look at these polar bears or at the photograph of the fence post, or any of his and may others' pieces of art, I remember that I should step outside and walk in the park, take time to be alone and think and treasure the great outdoors. For it was the intoxicating scent of a jasmine blossom that stirred me to write my first book, The Weight of the Sky, and the warbling song of a sparrow that brought me to my second, Song of the Sparrow. Thinking about land and animals and the spicy scents of exotic herbs took me to my most recent novel, A Map of the Known World.

Art and the world outdoors go together, and it's up to us to explore - and find joy in - both.

- Lisa Ann Sandell

Visit Lisa Ann Sandell's website and journal.
Read Little Willow's interview with Lisa Ann Sandell.

Diva Delight: A Map of the Known World, Lisa Ann Sandell

How lovely is Lisa Ann Sandell? VERY! And not just because I'm partial to verse novelists. :~) Or because her middle name is Ann without an "e," too. Her latest work is prose, and it launches in a few short days!



Cora is dealing with the death of her older brother, Nate. Surviving in a small town while trying to unravel who her brother really was, she dreams of distant places she might one day visit. Her passion is to draw beautiful enhanced maps. When Cora begins to relate to Damian, the boy who survived her brother's car crash, she finds truth, friendship, and her own way through her world.

"They say no land remains to be discovered, no continent is left unexplored. But the whole world is out there, waiting, just waiting for me. I want to do things-I want to walk the rain-soaked streets of London, and drink mint tea in Casablanca. I want to wander the wastelands of the Gobi desert and see a yak. I think my life's ambition is to see a yak. I want to bargain for trinkets in an Arab market in some distant, dusty land. There's so much. But, most of all, I want to do things that will mean something."

A Map of the Known World is a beautiful contribution to YA lit. The inclusion of art as a means to heal and understand is so well done and uplifting. In keeping with the novel's themes, Lisa has uploaded a virtual gallery. What a marvelous idea! She was kind enough to accept my collage for my latest work in progress. Look for Secrets!

Brava, Lisa! And happy launch to you!

A Map of the Known World
Lisa Ann Sandell
Scholastic Press, 2009