Category Archives: Resources

Written in Stone and the Makah Whale Hunt of 1999

Debbie Reese who writes the Native Americans in Children’s Literature blog has posted a review of Written in Stone and invited a conversation about the concerns she raised about the book. I’ve been chatting with her in the comment section of her blog. If you’d like to see that conversation the link to her blog is highlighted above. I’m also putting my comments here for easy reference to teachers and librarians who may have questions about the material in the book. I have been a teacher myself. I really love talking to teachers and librarians so if you have questions about the story or about using this book in your class, please join the conversation.

I was happy to see both Debbie and Beverly Slapin comment on the controversy surrounding the 1999 Makah whale hunt. It was big news in the region and I’m glad to hear that the news made the national stage as well. The best information on how hunts are conducted is found here on the Makah website. http://makah.com/makah-tribal-info/whaling/ There is much additional information to be found at the Makah Cultural Research Center in Neah Bay.

The resumption of whaling by the Makah encountered some vociferous opposition, most notably by the Sea Shepherd Society, but it also found support from a number of places. The International Whaling Commission verified that the gray whale is no longer an endangered species. There were marine safety issues to work out with local agencies. The hunt took place near a very busy international shipping lane, so that called for some communication and planning. Those negotiations were lengthy and complex but it’s not my impression that they were acrimonious. Unfortunately the peaceful working out of details does not make for exciting news, so I think the national outlets in particular paid attention to controversy more than cooperation.

I heard the Chairman of the Makah Whaling commission speak in Portland about the day of the hunt shortly after its completion. He said that on the morning of the hunt, the media was not present when the whalers set out and arrived only after the whale had already been brought in. The helicopters and cameras did show up eventually and the atmosphere on the beach got a bit chaotic, but there was a brief window of time when the Makah were (not completely but nearly) alone with their whale, and that time meant a great deal to them. Cultural renewal is the phrase the chairman used to describe what that moment meant to the tribe.

That is the moment I wanted for Pearl and her great-granddaughter. The reader can deduce from the news helicopter chop that the moment of peace will be brief but it’s the prerogative of the novelist to pick the focus of a scene and I wanted to end with that one moment of connection for Pearl’s family and their whale.

Absolutely true that the activist that Pearl grew up to be would have been in the thick of the work of resuming the treaty right to hunt whales. In fact when I first thought about writing this story I wanted to write about the resumption of whaling. Self-determination of natural resources is a piece of the civil rights story that seldom gets told. It’s a rich history and one I’d love to see in books for kids.

Ahem! you publishing professionals who have said in my hearing that there’s a need for more middle grade non-fiction, this is the perfect topic for a non-fiction series! It involves geography, history, a variety of Native and Non-native cultures, biology, chemistry, climate change, economics, international trade. Think of the possibilities for critical thinking and curriculum connections!

Back to the topic at hand 🙂

I left the whaling controversy out of Written in Stone for several reasons. Most of all I wanted to keep the focus on Pearl as a teenager in the 1920s and leave the 1999 whale hunt to serve as a frame and show that although the Makah lost whaling in the 1920s, it was not lost to them forever. It also shows that the Makah have not vanished nor maintained an Amish-like distance from the things of modern life, but continue to live and thrive in the same place they’ve always lived.

As I researched the whale hunt, the piece of it that really interested me was that the Makah, who had organized their culture for centuries around whale hunting, had to gave it up when the whale populations plummeted in the Pacific as a result of industrial whaling. That cultural survival piece of how to go on being the people that you are when something that so defined you is gone. That’s interesting to me personally and I think it’s something that people from a wide variety of cultures can relate to.

It’s true that I’m writing as an outsider to the Makah experience. A fiction writer is always writing outside of her experience. However, the Irish have long suffered the suppression of their culture, language, music, literature, and dance. And I know how I feel about playing a jig or hornpipe on my violin that’s hundreds of years old or dancing a set from my father’s county in Ireland; it’s an avenue of insight for me. Many people have an experience of cultural loss in coming to this country and although it is not the same experience it does make the story more accessible to the reader. So I chose to focus on the cultural survival aspect of this story rather than the resumption of whaling.

I also felt that a contemporary story about the Makah whaling experience would be better told by a whaler or other member of the tribe. I’d much prefer to use my book, imperfect instrument that it is, to nudge local writers in the direction of writing and publishing. In fact I’m happy to hear you’ll be in Washington. I’ve been developing the position of Youth Outreach Coordinator in our local SCBWI, in part, for the purpose of fostering a more diverse generation writers. Perhaps that’s an area where we could work together. One of the benefits of having a book published at a large publishing house is that it can attract attention to an issue. There is still so little in print about tribes of the northwest, and my hope is that if this book does well enough, then other publishers will see the potential for more books set among these tribes and addressing these vital issues–a need that could be filled by local writers.

I’ll stop here for today but later this week I’ll get to the pirates and indians bit that Debbie asked about on her blog post because, yes, there is a story about that!

Below are maps of Neah Bay in case you are not familiar with the Olympic Peninsula, and a picture of the other thing the Makah are famous for–an excellent halibut fishery.

Using Pinterest with Middle Grade Novels

I don’t like to think of myself as a Luddite. I enjoy technology and social networking, but I confess when I first heard of Pinterest I was filled with dread. I didn’t need another distraction from my deadlines. I didn’t have an overwhelming desire to look at every cute kitten that ever lived or learn about people’s quirky taste in shoes. I had every intention of giving this new social network a pass.

But then while working on the author note for my book Written in Stone, I wanted a visual for a particular type of ocean going canoe made by tribes from the Pacific Northwest. I found a group of boards on Pinterest called the Native American Encyclopedia. It has, among other things, a large collection of historical photographs organized by tribe including a variety of images of canoes that I needed.

It got me thinking about ways I could use Pinterest to make my historical novel more useful to teachers and vivid for students.

Children in every single state study Native Americans at some point in their middle grade years. I know teachers are looking for good books with Native American characters. I also know that most people, when they think of Native Americans, default to the Great Plains tribes and picture the horse and teepee cultures of the prairie. My book is set among the cedar and salmon people of the Olympic Rainforest in western Washington. Most people don’t have a visual reference point for this incredibly rich and beautiful culture.

The Olympic Peninsula is home to the only temperate rainforest in North America. Most people don’t have a visual vocabulary for the temperate rainforest either.

I would have loved to do an illustrated book like the ones I remember from my childhood, but unfortunately illustrations would price the book out of reach for already struggling school libraries. It’s my hope that Pinterest can serve to fill the gap. I set up a board for each of my novels with images of the setting and key objects from the story.

The thing that makes Pinterest a particularly useful tool is the space at the bottom of each picture with room to write a caption. Most users put a very minimal title in the caption space, but there is room enough for 500 characters so I can give some context for an image or mention how it relates to my book.

It took me about 20 minutes to learn how Pinterest works and set up a board for each of my books. I spent about an hour gathering the initial images for each board. I spend about an hour a month adding images. That is a manageable amount of investment in time for what I hope will be an engaging and useful tool for classroom teachers and book clubs.

I’m still very new to Pinterest and I’d love to hear from teachers whether they use it already or would consider using it in the future. Here’s the link to my Written in Stone board. Please take a look and leave a comment!

The Death of Copyediting

I’ve heard about the death of copy editing many times, both from authors and librarians, lamenting the lack of time for copy edits and the multiplicity of errors in books. I can only speak from my own books at Random House, but in my experience copy editing is alive and well—distressingly so.

This might not be everyone’s experience. Perhaps it’s just my own manuscripts that go out emblazoned with the words Not Written By An English Major upon their foreheads. My most recent manuscript was copy edited by no less than three people—each with her own color of pencil. As I read through it was clear to me that Violet and Indigo did not like each other very much, but Green, obviously the middle child of the group, was there to say, “Come on, girls. Can’t we get along? It’s just a hyphen!”

I was left with my highly-embarrassed Scarlet pencil to follow after my much wiser sisters of syntax who marked no less than a dozen items on every single page of a manuscript that ran longer than 160 pages. It’s nearly 2,000 copy edit marks!

My job for and entire week was to think about every single one of those marks and make a decision. Often it was the fairly easy. “Duh, of course the comma goes there. Why didn’t I notice that ages ago?”

Although to be honest, sometimes it’s more like, “Fine, what ever you say! Who cares if concertmaster is one word or two?”

And I confess that from time to time it’s even, “Seriously? There’s a rule about that? Dang! I should have been paying attention in English.” Lucky for me Violet, Indigo, and Green were paying attention. In fact, they were the honors students, I’m sure of it.

Every now and then I have to say, “Now look, I know your suggestion is technically superior in every way but no kid would say or think this. Ever. Not in any century or any other planet. Sorry.” For reasons I do not begin to understand this is abbreviated STET.

I can see why copy edits get neglected. It’s difficult, often tedious work, it requires not just technical excellence from the copy editor, but also artistic sensibility, and it is frequently accomplished on a tight deadline.

And so, dear Violet, Indigo and Green, Thank you for your diligence. Thank you for your depth of knowledge in English, and for this book, German, French, Russian and (no kidding) Estonian. I am completely dazzled that you found a speaker of Estonian! Go Violet! Thank you for your probing questions, your willingness to hunt up accurate maps and even do the math on rates of exchange. I’ll never make fun of an English major again! Most of all thank you for respecting my reader enough to help me make Second Fiddle the best book it can be.

How Teachers Can Support a Child of a Deployed Soldier

apple and books 1. Acknowledge the soldier’s absence and encourage communication. A simple note or email to the family as soon as you learn of a deployment expressing your support and willingness to help sets you up for success over the coming months.

2. Be patient with a student’s mood swings. It is extraordinarily stressful to have a parent in combat, and some children feel ambushed by sad and angry feelings that crop up with little warning. Establish ahead of time a secret sign and a place your student can go if he or she needs to scream, cry or tear up all the newspapers in the recycling bin.

3. Be sensitive about news coverage. Some families stop reading and watching the news altogether because it is too upsetting. If current events are a part of the curriculum, consider alternate assignments.

4. Display the flag respectfully in your classroom. It’s a small gesture that means a lot to military families.

5. Watch for economic distress. There are many unanticipated expenses which go along with deployment: unexpected travel, phone bills, medical bills, and the loss of a reservist’s income. Discretely help the family take advantage of food stamps, WIC, reduced lunch, scholarships and clothes closets.

6. Adjust the homework load. This student will have many extra chores and less oversight from the remaining parent, so consider shortening the homework, offering tutoring and time to complete work at school or adjusting due dates.

7. Communicate good news with the deployed parent. Take pictures at school when the student is in the play or spelling bee or science fair. Email a copy of an outstanding essay, a high scoring math test or a work of art. Describe in loving detail a smart, kind or funny thing this student did at school. It means the world to a soldier far from home.

8. Honor holidays, especially Veterans’ Day and Memorial Day. Invite a veteran from a local veteran’s organization to address you class. Remind the class why we celebrate these holidays.

9. Pray. Most military families are people of faith. If you are too, tell you students that you are praying every day for their soldier’s safe return.

Book Recommendations for the Tender-Hearted Reader

People ask me for book recommendations all the time and the type of books they are most often looking for are what I think of as books for the tender-hearted reader. Sometimes the reader is very young and reading well above grade level. This type of reader wants the challenge of a book with a substantial plot, but doesn’t want the emotional intensity, romantic interest or scary content found in some books for older readers. Sometimes the reader is an older child who suffers nightmares, is unusually empathetic, or simply prefers a gentler tale.

Often such readers either choose books written a generation ago when the public taste in children’s books was more restrained or historical fiction, which by the nature of it’s content tends to be quieter and less edgy. These readers often enjoy non-fiction and poetry as well.

Here is a list of contemporary novels that I think will meet the needs of the tender-hearted. I will only post books I’ve read myself. So it will be a slowly growing list. Please contact me if you have a title you’d like to recommend. I will post a very brief description of the books I’ve chosen and provide links to author websites where possible. Check back often for updates.

Middle Grade Novels

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman--This is an intricate and fascinating story of a world in which a tenuous treaty holds between dragons and humans and Seraphina walks a dangerous line between both camps. There’s a lot here for a precocious young reader: heaps of action without grotesque violence, intrigue without soul killing viciousness, a dollop of romance without off-putting detail.

The Spy Mice Series by Heather Vogel Frederick—James Bond for 9 year olds!

The Mother Daughter Book Club Series by Heather Vogel Frederick—a series similar to the

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants but for younger girls.

Larklight and Starcross by Phillip Reeve—light-hearted science fiction with a very British sense of humor.

Up and Down the Scratchy Mountains by Laurel Snyder—as much adventure as you can possibly have when you bring along a prairie dog and a dairy cow.

The Five Ancestors Series by Jeff Stone—if you love action and adventure but don’t like magic, this kung fu series set in ancient China is for you.

The Penderwicks Series by Jeanne Birdsall—a story about the adventures of four sisters. It’s a contemporary story but in the spirit of Little Women.

Oddfellow’s Orphanage by Emily Winfield Martin--I was originally drawn to this book by its wonderfully retro artwork. It has the feel of a classic from the 20s or 30s, and is possibly the gentlest orphan story every told with charming illustrations on nearly every page. This one is on the young end of middle grade and might make a good first chapter book to read aloud together.