Caroline Star Rose | Reflections on the Teche

Posts Tagged ‘Caroline Star Rose’

Reaching

Posted in Celebration Saturday, Chalk-a-bration, Teaching, tagged Caroline Star Rose, One Little Word, rainbows, Reach on September 5, 2015| 9 Comments »

Ruth Ayres invites us the celebrate each week. Click over to her site Discover. Play. Build. to read more celebrations.

My one little word for 2015 is Reach. I was determined to reach with my writing. Take it to the next level. Well, this week came rejection. I hear from other authors that this is expected, normal, and we must power through, but it sent me into a slump. Because of Ruth’s invitation to celebrate each Saturday, I am climbing back up the tree and reaching out again.

I celebrate dancing! Friday night I’m tired, but I said yes to his invitation to go Cajun dancing. We only danced three songs, but we left smiling.

I celebrate rainbows. This week I’ve seen rainbows on two consecutive mornings on the way to school. One morning I pulled over and took pictures, the rainbow in the west, the glowing sun in the east.

Morning rainbow

Sunrise

I celebrate authors I admire. I received a signed copy of Over in the Wetlands, a beautiful book by Caroline Starr Rose about the place I live. She captured the magic of the wetlands, along with the fearful hurricane and the peace and rebirth that follows. She sent bookmarks and stickers for my students. I celebrate making connections with authors.

Over in the Wetlands by Caroline Starr Rose

In the midst of a rough week of state pretesting, I celebrate Chalkabration. We went outside in the South Louisiana heat and chalked up the sidewalks with poetry inspired by Laura Purdie Salas’s book Catch Your Breath: Writing Poignant Poetry.

Chalking poetry

This invitation to Celebrate each week helps me to see that there is much to rejoice. Rejection is small. Reaching is big. What are you celebrating today?

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Blue Birds Interview with Caroline Starr Rose

Posted in Blogging, Books, Digital Learning, Writing, tagged author interview, Blue Birds, Caroline Star Rose, verse novel on January 18, 2015| 12 Comments »

Please use this button on your site for DigiLit Sunday posts

Boudreaux is Caroline’s furry friend.

One of the greatest gifts of Social Media is the connection my students and I can make to authors. Caroline Starr Rose blogs regularly about writing. Last year, I won a 30 minute Skype interview. My students asked her for a galley proof of her next novel. We received it in August. Vannisa, already a fan having read May B, read it immediately. I read it over the holiday break. What a wonderful story! Both Vannisa and I loved the characters of Alis and Kimi. We are amazed by Caroline’s way of making history come to life in her characters. After Colby Sharp of Nerdy Book Club and SharpRead, Vannisa wrote a 5,4,3,2,1 interview.

Can you tell me a little bit about the story of Blue Birds?

Alis and her family have left London to help establish a colony on the island of Roanoke. She is the only girl and lonely for a friend. Kimi watches the newcomers warily. The English killed her father and sister, but she’s curious about the girl. Alis and Kimi form a forbidden friendship that threatens to change both their worlds.

How did you manage to find all the information for the book?

I read a whole lot. I also asked experts to look over my work to see if I’d gotten things right.

What is your advice to authors writing a historical fiction book as accurate as yours?

Read, read, read. Be true to the times. But beyond the facts, think about emotions and feelings. Through the ages, these are the things that unite us.

Are you currently thinking about writing a new book?

I’m working on one now about the Klondike gold rush.

What is your advice to student writers like myself?

You have something unique to say. Your work can only improve if you keep at it! Don’t be in a hurry to be finished or move on to something new.

http://www.carolinestarrrose.com

This post is part of a week-long celebration in honor of the book Blue Birds.

Get this free quote with pre-order of Blue Birds

Author Caroline Starr Rose is giving away a downloadable PDF of this beautiful Blue Birds quote (created by Annie Barnett of Be Small Studios) for anyone who pre-orders the book from January 12-19. Simply click through to order from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books A Million, IndieBound, or Powell’s, then email a copy of your receipt to caroline@carolinestarrrose.com by Monday, January 19. PDFs will be sent out January 20.

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ABCs of Poetry

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, tagged Caroline Star Rose, George Ella Lyon, I am From, Mississippi, National Poetry Month on April 23, 2013| 9 Comments »

Slice of Life Tuesday

In celebration of National Poetry Month, I am teaching my students a different poetry form each day. Because of all the interruptions, (testing week, field trips, etc.) we are only on the letter I. Today we wrote I am From poems. The I am From form originated with a poem by George Ella Lyon entitled, “Where I’m From.” Alan Wolf writes about the form in his book, Immersed in Verse. We begin by analyzing Lyon’s poem which uses some wonderful literary elements, specificity, imagery, alliteration, metaphor. Then the students make their own lists of sites, sounds, and tastes from their own lives. The challenge comes when you want to make the poem go beyond the personal to the universal. I have tried this form several times, and I’m never totally happy with the results. For last year’s attempt and some student samples, click here.

My students are continuing to post on their Slice of Life kidblog, so click the link to read some of their poems. Be sure to leave a comment.

I am from Sunday drives to Morton,
kisses from Grandmother, Aunt Laurie, and Sister,
picking pecans, and the musty smell
of homemade quilts and old tobacco.

I am from Beechcrest Drive,
running behind the sno-cone truck,
catching fireflies, and roller-skating
on the driveway, cartwheels in the grass.

I’m from climbing Paw Paw’s pink mimosa tree,
listening to loud opera,
From jumping on the trampoline
singing “Shimmy, Shimmy, my playmate,
Come out and play with me!”

I’m from loyal companions Loopy then Lucky,
from Bless-this-food-to-our-use
at every supper, surrounded by yellow-flowered
curtains in a bay window.

I am from the solid soil of Mississippi,
deep roots of oak and pine,
legacy of patience and drawl.

c) Margaret Simon

Easter photo with me, the oldest sitting, my brother and my younger sister.

There are so many great poetry month happenings in the blogoshere. Today, I am the guest blogger at Caroline Starr Rose’s blog site, Caroline by Line. Please stop in and leave a comment. Check out the progress of the progressive poem by clicking on the date in the right side bar. I am following Greg Pincus at GottaBook. He posts a poem each day. Heidi Mordhorst is building a poem at My Juicy Little Universe, 30 days, 30 words. She chooses a different word from the comments each day to add to the poem. An interesting process. Happy Poetry Month!

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Writing in Verse

Posted in Slice of Life, Writing, tagged Caroline Star Rose, Gae Polisner, verse novel on August 21, 2012| 15 Comments »

Join the Tuesday Slice of Life

On Friday Feedback with Gae Polisner, author of Pull of Gravity, the guest author was Caroline Star Rose who wrote May B. May B. is written in verse, like Love That Dog and Heartbeat by Sharon Creech, two of my favorite books. It was such a serendipitous stop. Like Caroline, I first wrote poetry. Only lately, the last 3 years with the work of Blessen, have I written fiction for young readers. So imagine my thrill to think about writing a young readers novel in verse.

I read all of Caroline’s advice about writing in verse. The two things that stood out most for me were 1) Each chapter or verse must be able to stand alone, and yet 2) Each verse must move the story along. I considered a book I had started ages ago and put aside. Now I think I have discovered the key that will open this old book to a new life–verse. So I tried it out. I posted one chapter that I had reworked into a verse. Before I even hung around long enough to get feedback, I was reworking more chapters until Friday night at 8 PM, I had 16 verses. I am hooked. The process has come alive for me.

I am posting the verse/chapter I posted on Friday Feedback. The main character, Jean, is writing letters to God because her best friend Simone has lymphoma. She is struggling with her own self-doubts as any 13-year-old would as well as the illness of her friend. Let me know what you think.

Dear God,
Simone’s hair,
soft and thick,
wavy blond curls I envy,
started falling today,
in handfuls she handed to me.
We looked in the mirror,
side by side.
My hair, short and bobbed,
looked shiny and healthy
next to her balding spots
appearing and frightening.
At the wig store, we had laughed
at the large lady drawling out
r-e-e-e-a-a-l hair,
The wigs are made with REAL hair!
I chose a wig, too,
I’ve always wanted long hair.
Simone handed me a lock.
It fell over my fingers.
I held it to my face,
so soft, so long,
so sad.

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