Holly and I spent a week out of the last two summers at the Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers WIFYR (rhymes with Swiffer) conference held in beautiful Sandy, UT. We recommend this conference and give it 6 starts out of 5. However, Holly will not be attending this year. She is now the president of the local girls youth organization for our church and will be away camping with them during the same week as WIFYR. She is bummed she will not be able to attend this year, but super excited to be working with girls ages 12-18. I am hoping to attend a few workshops in the afternoon, but may be running a summer reading camp. For sure we both plan to attend in the future.
Holly and Cari’s top ten list of reasons to attend WIFYR for 2013
- No kids allowed (yes, we do love our kids)
- Entertainment (the authors sing to you on the last day and it has something to do with Carol Lynch William’s not so secret desire to be a Western Country singer) and prizes on the last day
- Network with other writers/artists
- Get critiques by a published author and fellow writers in your writing workshop
- Book signings by your favorite author/teacher such as Matthew Kirby, Mette Ivie Harrison, Ann Cannon and more.
- Get a peak into current publishing trends
- Agents: Ammi-Joan Paquette & Steven Fraser
- Editor Alyson Heller Editor from Aladdin Books
- New mini-workshops for those who can’t do the the full day or week option
- Carol Lynch Williams -If no one else was there but Carol, you would still be so happy you came. Cari took her class year and she is not only a gifted author, but a skilled teacher (Cari is a teacher educator so take her word for it).
Hurry and go sign up- early bird registration ends April 30, 2013. Here is a link to the WIFYR website.
Dear Bookscoops,
May I point out to you a young person’s book recently published, which is an extraordinary diary of a young teenager in Chicago at beginning of World War II….. and her exquisuite and exceptionaly clear observations, along with the wonderful teen-age interweavings.
The Author is: Joan Wehlen Morrison Book Title is: “HOME FRONT GIRL: Diary of Love, Literature, and Growing Up in Wartime America” (Joan was a professional writer who has written for NY Times, top magazines, etc., and I should 2 published books: “AMERICAN MOSAIC” and “FROM CAMELOT TO KENT STATE”) But this book, discovered after her death, is her diary of the years between the beginning of World War 2 and her observations, which are quite extraordinary for her age, not to mention the usual girl stuff. It is such an exquisite book, I am on my third reading, as one tends to forget this is a teenager writing, even when seeing the silly girlie stuff!!! I do hope you will take a look at her book, and possibly consider it to be shown on this site.
Hopefully, A Grateful Reader, Beverly Smith (in Arizona()
Dear Bookscoops,
I would very much appreciate a response to my suggestions about a new book just published, written by Joan Wehlen Morrison as a teenager in high school in the years just as WWII was beginning…… She was so extraordinarily aware and comprehending at such as early age, I recommended her book to you for those reasons….. plus her very mature observations of the events leading up to WWII!! Do, please, let me know if you are aware of what I sent to you, and if not…. we can go from there.
Hopefully, Beverly Smith