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Rodman Philbrick's latest blog posts
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9:40 AM PST, December 1, 2007
Those of you who think book banning is a thing of the past haven't been in a middle school library lately. In some schools certain administrators (think of them as former hall monitors) serve as gatekeepers, protecting innocent minds from too much stimulation. Sometimes this makes perfect sense - fifth graders will have to peruse 'Tropic of Cancer' on their parent's bookshelves, not in the school library. And school computers should be blocked, obviously, from the sickness of internet porn sites. But in the realm of actual books - real stories about real life, including the good, the bad, and the ugly- nothing in any library collection is likely to damage young brains. Hey, these are kids who think it's very funny every time Kenny gets killed on 'South Park'. And they're right!
Which brings us to a recent incident in Santa Rosa, California. Richie Partington, a nationally known librarian, educator, and advocate of children's literature, was hired as a Library Consultant by the school district. In that capacity he was 'book talking' one of my novels with 6th graders. The idea is to get the kids interested enough in the story so they might actually read it themselves.
Richie had selected my book 'The Last Book In The Universe' for his talk, and reports that the students were enthusiastic. Having heard the first chapter, they wanted to see what happened next. Great, mission accomplished. But when Mr. Partington showed up at the library with four copies for the kids to check out, he was informed that the school didn't allow books about gangs, or books that mentioned gangs, or, apparently, books that contain the word 'gangs'. That's the policy, no exception.
Let me explain. 'The Last Book In The Universe' is a distopian novel, set in a future where various gangs control the ruins of what was once a vast city. The protagonist is an orphan boy struggling to survive in a chaotic society. He teams up with an old man - an author writing the last book in a world where no one reads anymore - on an exciting adventure/journey to save the boy's dying sister. The story is profoundly anti-gang and anti-drug. Despite being science fiction, it's an old-fashioned tale about overcoming adversity and knowing the difference between right and wrong. It has been read by thousands of fifth and sixth graders and was named one of the '100 Best Books of The 21st Century' by the American Library Association.
If the school administrators had read 'The Last Book In The Universe' - something they did not bother doing - they might have realized they had it all wrong, and that it was exactly the kind of book that might appeal to urban 6th graders, many of whom come from troubled backgrounds. When Richie Partington insisted that the administrators actually read the novel before excluding it from the collection, he was fired. His consultant contract was terminated.
Canceled, kicked to the curb, out of a job, no paycheck.
Nice. And a splendid example for the kids who, for one short moment, expressed enthusiasm for the idea of reading a book on their own.
You can check out Mr. Partington's notions of what makes an appropriate novel for middle schoolers at richiespicks.com
7:52 AM PDT, September 25, 2007
The long overdue 'True Adventures of Homer Figg', a young adult novel that takes place during the Civil War, was finally delivered to my long-suffering (and endlessly patient) editor just before Labor Day. That leaves me free to get seriously back to work on 'Torn', the third Chris Jordan thriller for Mira Books. I just received copies of 'Trapped', the second book, which will be published in mass market paperback in November. Looks like a nice chunky page-turner.
Anyhow, here's the first draft of opening scene for novel-in-progress 'Torn':
1. The White Van Man
The day before my son’s school exploded, he asked me if Heaven has a zip code. We’re having breakfast, me the usual fruit yogurt, Noah his mandatory Cocoa Puffs, cup of ‘puffs to ½ cup milk, precisely. He licks his spoon, gives me that wide-eyed mommy-will-know look, and asks the big question.
“Not a real zip code,” he adds, “A pretend zip code, like for Santa. Like writing a letter to Dad. Just to say hello, let him know we’re okay and everything.”
It’s a strange and wonderful thing, the mind of a ten-year-old child. Last night, as we read our book before bed – the very exciting ‘Stormrider’ - Noah had asked, out of nowhere, ‘How we doing, Mom?’ We’d both known exactly what he meant by that – the slow, painful rebuilding of our world - and without missing a beat I’d responded, ‘We’re doing, okay.’ and he’d filed it away in his amazing brain and twelve hours later, out pops the idea of writing a letter to his dead father.
“You write it,” I suggest, “I’ll find out about the zip code.”
“Deal,” he says, and grins to himself, mission accomplished.
Then he calmly and methodically finishes his cereal. His last bowl of ‘puffs before my world gets destroyed for the second time in less than a year.
7:57 AM PDT, July 18, 2007
Midsummer posting. Okay, it's not exactly mid-summer, but here in southern Maine it certainly feels that way. Muggy, with drizzle. Maybe I should say Muggles, with drizzle, as the world awaits the last adventure of the boy with the caterpillar eyebrows. My niece Miranda is flying up from Florida so she can join her cousins Molly and Annie, all of whom plan to spend Friday evening in Portland, Maine, awaiting the midnight distribution of the books. Saturday will no doubt find all three of them up to their imaginations in the final installment of Harry Potter.
Alas, the only muggle eagerly awaiting my next book for middle school readers is my long-suffering editor. She'll be happy to know I have Homer Figg up in a balloon. He's been traveling with Professor Fleabottom's medicine show, performing as The Amazing Pig Boy, half boy, half pig. Now he makes his escape via hydrogen balloon (did you know the Union launched 3000 surveillance balloon flights during the Civil War? Neither did I. Thank you, Google!) and will be swept into territory occupied by the Confederate Army. The battle we now call Gettysburg is about to begin, and Homer will be fighting on the 'wrong' side - at least when it starts.
Meanwhile, back to the adult reading world. The mass market paperback edition of 'Taken', written under my pen name Chris Jordan, will be on the stands any day now. 'Trapped', the second Chris Jordan thriller, will be released in paperback in November. And as soon as I finish 'The True Adventures of Homer Figg' I have to get right to work on 'Torn', the third of the Jordan thrillers for Mira Books.
Other than the necessity of periodic fishing, the only interruption to my writing schedule will be next week's trip to San Francisco, where I'll be speaking to teachers attending Scholastic's Read 180 Summer Institute.
Haven't seen San Francisco in thirty-three years. I assume it's changed - I certainly have!
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Rodman Philbrick sent the following posts to customers who purchased The Journal of Douglas Allen Deeds : The Donner Party Expedition, 1846 (My Name Is America)