We Are All There for the Same Reason

If you’re the sort of person who’s inclined to stop by a blog like this one, there’s a pretty decent chance you’re the sort of person who’s interested in libraries and what happens to them.

But in case you haven’t heard, what’s happening to libraries right now is not very good.

This week, along with many other people, I rolled my eyes at an article that does not bear linking here written by a man who had not set foot in a library in many years and yet was completely convinced that they were musty old relics, well past their usefulness, that would not be missed if they were all shuttered tomorrow because there is Google.

I have been fighting for libraries for many years now, and of all the eye-rollingly dense arguments against them I have heard, that is certainly the least original one, and yet, it never fails to drive me crazy.

Oh, you don’t use, value, or understand libraries, so OF COURSE, you are very qualified to speak about them.

When somebody like me speaks out in defense of libraries, an uncharitable person might think, Of course the librarian and YA author doesn’t want cuts to her precious libraries for she knows what side her bread is buttered on. But that’s sort of a backwards way of looking at it.

The truth is, I’m a writer and a librarian because of every library I ever set foot in between the ages of 8 and 18, and because of every librarian who ever helped me find a good book or track down an answer, or left me alone because they knew I was feeling prickly and wretched and teenaged and wanting to be left alone. But they let me know that I could do that in the library because it was my place and it belonged to me and I was welcome to be there, prickly or not.

That is a nice story, and I daresay it is a common story, but it is the kind of story that makes someone disinclined to support libraries shrug their shoulders and say, “Why should my tax dollars support that?”

But it is also a story that I have in common with the kids who spend every single day at the library over the summer and the families who check out giant bagfuls of books every week, and the people learning English, learning to read, learning to knit, writing books, doing homework, figuring out how to prepare legal documents, registering to vote, volunteering, and job-hunting.

My library is up the street from Skid Row, and the thing that the staff and social workers and mental health professionals tell the vulnerable populations they work with is the same thing Paul Krugman told his readers last week on his New York Times blog:

We go to the library because it is a nice place and it improves the quality of our lives.

No matter where we come from, we are all there for the same reason.

Right now, the New York Public Library is facing $47 million dollars in cuts to their libraries, cuts that would close branches, reduce hours, and eliminate staff. Library visits, program attendance, and circulation of materials were all up in 2012, but still, the cuts are threatened.

The slogan for the letter-writing and outreach campaign to stop these cuts is “No place does more for more New Yorkers.”

I think that’s putting it modestly.

This is the time of year when library budgets are decided by city councils and boards of trustees. Some of those people understand why it is important to adequately fund nice places that make our lives better. Some of them do not. Of this latter group, I believe that most of them maintain a view that the library is a noble, if outdated institution that froze in time at precisely the moment they last set foot in one, which was sometime around 1975.

That is why, when people who don’t use, value, or understand libraries start cutting their budgets, it’s important that the rest of us stand up and tell them exactly what they’re cutting.

If you’re a New Yorker, take a minute and write a letter on behalf of NYPL. And even if you’re not, it’s a good time of year to check in with your local library and ask what their funding situation looks like. Will they have to cut hours, materials, or staff this year? Ask what you can do to help.

I keep coming back to two sentences I wrote before:

We go to the library because it is a nice place and it improves the quality of our lives.

No matter where we come from, we are all there for the same reason.

That seems like a small and simple and insignificant thing, but I don’t think you could say those words about any place other than a library.

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Mary McCoy is a librarian at the Los Angeles Public Library, and has been a contributor to On Bunker Hill and the 1947project, where she wrote stories about Los Angeles's notorious past. Her debut novel, DEAD TO ME, will be published by Disney-Hyperion in 2014. It's a YA mystery set in Golden Age Hollywood about a teenage girl investigating the attempted murder of her aspiring film star sister.

RULES FOR DISAPPEARING Release Day and Giveaway!

Today we are celebrating the release of fellow blog sleuth Ashley Elston's debut thriller RULES FOR DISAPPEARING. Want to win a signed copy? Be sure to enter at the end of the post.

RULES FOR DISAPPEARING -- (Hyperion/Disney)

She’s been six different people in six different places: Madeline in Ohio, Isabelle in Missouri, Olivia in Kentucky . . . But now that she’s been transplanted to rural Louisiana, she has decided that this fake identity will be her last.

Witness Protection has taken nearly everything from her. But for now, they’ve given her a new name, Megan Rose Jones, and a horrible hair color. For the past eight months, Meg has begged her father to answer one question: What on earth did he do – or see – that landed them in this god-awful mess? Meg has just about had it with all the Suits’ rules — and her dad’s silence. If he won’t help, it’s time she got some answers for herself.

But Meg isn’t counting on Ethan Landry, an adorable Louisiana farm boy who’s too smart for his own good. He knows Meg is hiding something big. And it just might get both of them killed. As they embark on a perilous journey to free her family once and for all, Meg discovers that there’s only one rule that really matters — survival.

Oh it sounds so awesome doesn't it? I can't wait to disappear into this one! You can read about Ashley on our About Us page and on Ashley's website. You can also find her on Facebook and Twitter.

Rules for Diasappearing is available today at your local Indiebound book store or through Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million, or Amazon -- you can also enter to win a SIGNED hardcover copy below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

CONGRATLATIONS ASHLEY!

Throwback Post: Time After Time

yourbrainatwork.org

We tend to focus on the aspects of mystery here at SS&A. Crimes, clues, research. Today, I want to discuss another aspect of the books we write, the 'Young Adult' part.*

The precise subjects and age ranges that justify a Young Adult classification can vary depending on who you ask. But, it's safe to say that the Sleuths on this site are a bit older than the target YA age range (for the record--and this may sound coincidental--we're all celebrating our 21st birthdays this year). Lately, I've been thinking about the ways I tap into the memories and emotions of my own teenage experiences (just a few years ago, really...yes, really) and channel those thoughts into my writing with hopes of touching today's youth.

I write darker things, so I find myself accessing the painful, angsty memories most often. When it comes to character emotions, that tactic is effective, though sometimes uncomfortable. Seriously, who REALLY wants to go back to high school, even if it's just in your memory? Obviously, that's not enough, because things do change, and unless I want to write a series of period pieces set in the [actual year/decade redacted], I need to do an accuracy check with some modern teens. And I do. With interesting revelations...

Timeless YA Attributes:

• First love hasn't changed much over the years. 
• Neither has being an outsider.
• Parents still don't know anything (until they do)

The Future is Now:

• Tech is so very important. "No one talks on the phone anymore," says my high school senior sister via text.
• The internet makes being mean a superpower.
• The world feels more dangerous (things like school shootings have more relevance when you actually go to a school everyday).

This list goes on, but I'd like to hear from readers and writers out there. If you're a young reader, are there any specific books that you feel are most true to your age and experience? If you're a not-as-young writer, how do you stay tapped into the group you write for?


*Sorry Middle Grade sleuths, just speaking from my own experience here.

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Lamar "L. R." Giles writes for adults and teens. Penning everything from epic fantasy to noir thrillers, he's never met a genre he didn't like. His debut YA mystery FAKE ID is about a teen in witness protection who investigates his best friend's murder and stumbles on a dark conspiracy that leads back to his own father. It will be published in Summer, 2013 by HarperCollins. He resides in Virginia with his wife and is represented by Jamie Weiss Chilton of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Find out more on his website, Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

Edgar Award Winners for YA and Juvenile Announced!

And the winners are...

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein for Best YA...

...and The Quick Fix by Jack D. Ferraiolo for Best Juvenile.


Congrats to the winners!

Find out more about the awards and other (very impressive!) nominees here.

Science Sleuths: Forensics For Kids

As a homeschool educator, I'm always sleuthing out new opportunities to integrate the sciences with the arts in my lesson plans. Recently, I was delighted to learn that the Science Museum of Richmond has a forensic science exhibit for kids. "Science Sleuths" is a hands-on opportunity for kids to explore the science of the human body, while developing their deductive reasoning skills.

Kids get a first hand look at the various ways forensic scientists help law enforcement professionals solve crimes. Exhibits explore the our DNA, and how our uniqueness enables investigators to narrow the scope of possible suspects. How forensic artists use witness observations to recreate an image of a suspect's face. How forensic anthropologists use what they know about human bones to identify the features of decomposed bodies. How our own digestive system can reveal the secret of a victim's last meal, or the presence of a particular insect can shed light on the approximate time of death.

These kinds of activities can become fuel for engaging creative writing projects, and home or classroom based experiments. Don't worry if you don't have a "Science Sleuths" exhibit at your local museum. You can easily create opportunities like this on your own!

For example, The Barrie School in Silver Spring, MD recently offered their students a one week forensic science program, where students were given a fabricated crime scene, and the tools to solve it.

The summer months also offer unique opportunities for kids to explore science through summer camp programs like this one, offered through the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. Too far from home? Try Googling forensic science camps near you. You'll be surprised how many are offered through your local museums, universities, and recreation centers.

Like this summer camp, sponsored by the Seattle Science Foundation, where students perform crime scene investigation, forensic anthropology, fingerprinting, serology, toxicology, hair analysis, DNA analysis, and forensic psychology.

If you're an educator looking for ways to include forensic science in your curriculum, I've found some websites you should check out.

The Kids' Science Challenge offers entire units on forensic science with a downloadable curriculum for grades 2 - 12, including reading suggestions, writing topics, experiments, and discussion prompts. Click this link, then scroll a third of the way down to the section called Detective Science Project.

The Science Spot Kid Zone provides an organized list of links to websites featuring activities, experiments, videos, and resources about forensic science. Find information on everything from fingerprinting, blood analysis, entomology, accident reconstruction, and our favorite -- mysteries. For teachers, they offer links to complete lesson plans on a variety of forensic topics, such as hair and fiber analysis, DNA, chromatography, impressions, and more.

Are you a teacher or parent who's found an exciting way to introduce forensic science to your student? Have you participated in a forensic science program you think we should share with our readers? Respond in the comments and let us know! We want to hear from you.

ELLE COSIMANO set aside a successful real-estate career to pursue writing. She lives with her husband and two young sons, and divides her time between her home near Washington, DC and a jungle tree house in the Mayan Riveria. Her YA novel NEARLY GONE will be published by Kathy Dawson Books/Penguin in March 2014, with a sequel coming in 2015. Learn more about Elle on her website, twitter, facebook, and Goodreads.

Enter to win Susanne Winnacker's new book, IMPOSTER!

We're busily hunting down author Susanne Winnacker and warming up the Interrogation Room lights for some intensive questioning about IMPOSTER, her new book about a girl who must catch a serial killer by using her ability to mimic the appearances of other people. 

Our sources tell us that we're hot on her trail and will hopefully have her in for interrogation sometime next month. In the meantime, who's interested in a free ARC?! IMPOSTER isn't out till May 28th, so here's your chance to read Susanne Winnacker's latest book before all of your friends!

The giveaway runs through May 10th. To enter, click on the Rafflecopter widget below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You can also pre-order IMPOSTER here! Keep an eye out for Susanne's interrogation next month (if we get the real Susanne, that is)!

Notes from a Lockdown Zone

Last week, I started drafting a cheerful post for this blog. It was about mystery and thriller books I'd read recently. In preparation for a workshop I'm teaching, I've discovered many new and exciting novels for young readers , and I've been looking forward to discussing my reading binge: great, page-turning mysteries and thrillers for kids.

Then I was interrupted. Real-life crimes, with real-life criminals, were unfolding in the news. In my hometown.

In Boston, where I've lived since 1994, an event dear to our hearts -- the marathon -- was attacked by bombers. Days later, my suburban town was in lockdown, and then our whole city. A manhunt took place a mile and a half away from my house.

In the photo to the left you see the view from my dining room window. It's small in this picture, but what looks like a bird in the middle is actually one of the helicopters looking for the suspected bomber #2. These helicopters were our constant companions from Thursday night -- they woke us up -- all the way until the dramatic capture on Friday night. At times they flew so close they rattled our windows. Even after the lockdown officially ended around 5:30 pm on Friday, the suspect still at large, the helicopters continued. Then crescendoed. As our dishes vibrated on the dinner table, my husband and I just looked at each other. "This isn't over," we agreed. Sure enough, the suspect had been spotted in a boat in a backyard, and the authorities were cornering him.

For an entire day, we did not leave our house. Nobody did. I will forever remember the eerie duet of birdsong and helicopters, because that's all we heard on Friday. No children played outside despite the gorgeous weather. No work got done. My husband's business, like businesses all over our town, had to close. My childcare plans were cancelled -- no school for my kindergartner -- which meant I couldn't work either. I envied those birds their freedom to go about their business. Thousands of people were similarly paralyzed, riveted to the news -- or, worse, mourning loved ones hurt or killed in the blasts.

Although the writer in me is always curious about new experiences, I can report that there's nothing exciting about being told to "shelter at home." Other feelings roil. Like anger about the numerous victims of this senseless crime spree. Like impatience. (When will this end? How will it end?) Panic. (Please don't let this play out anywhere near my street. Please stay down on your end of School Street. And can my husband take the trash out to the garage, or will a helicopter spot movement and zoom in?) Dread --robocalls from town police and alerts from the school where my husband teaches advised us to keep our doors locked, and only answer the door to uniformed police officers. (Only it wasn't just police officers going door-to-door. This caused some confusion to some of my young son's classmates, whose houses were searched not by familiar-looking officers in blue, but by SWAT teams with different uniforms and "noisy boots.") More dread -- could the guy be seeking shelter in our backyard? Behind our garage? (I kept chastising myself for that paranoid thought, until, of course, he did actually turn up in someone's backyard, outside the 20-block search zone).

Oh, and there was boredom. Lots of boredom while waiting for updates and trying to entertain our young son indoors, hour after hour after hour. We built every Lego creation ever designed. We played with everything. Watched happy movies. A snow day with no snow.

Our house was not searched, as we were outside the 20-block zone they were sweeping. We didn't hear gunfire or explosions from the awful events on Thursday night. But these events were close enough to feel extremely uncomfortable. I could have jogged twenty-minutes to where they found the guy in the end. The staging area for police and press conferences was in the parking lot of my local Target, where I run weekly errands. TV footage showed armored vehicles rolling place the little pink trattoria where my husband and I go for occasional date nights, and by where my child takes swim classes. I live in a town that borders Watertown, and consider it an extension of my neighborhood. My kid goes to school in that town. I write in the library there. I spend over 50% of my time in Watertown. 

Now in the aftermath, in the midst of the inevitable media hype and speculations, I find myself looking at the list of mysteries and thrillers I've been reading, the books I wanted to write about. And looking my own book, the mystery/thriller I am supposed to be revising at this very moment. And I find myself in literary lockdown. Whenever there is a big act of violence reported in the news -- such as Newtown a few months ago, and now this -- I experience a period of paralysis, followed by introspection.

Here's where I'm at. Young people are affected by violent crimes in real life -- as victims or as perpetrators. They are also, like us adults, living in the world, and affected by what they hear in the news.

Do those of us who write about crime, for young readers, have a moral imperative to handle this subject with extra care? Are mysteries and thrillers for kids and teens more than entertaining page-turners? Can they also help kids understand why people make certain choices, and what the consequences of those choices might be? Can thrillers help readers grasp how the world is no longer the same place once humans have been harmed? Can mysteries remind young readers that good can prevail, that justice must be served?

What do we want young mystery/thriller readers to take away from their fictional brushes with crime?

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Diana Renn grew up in Seattle and now lives outside of Boston with her husband and young son. TOKYO HEIST (Viking/Penguin, June 2012) is her first novel. Her next YA mystery, LATITUDE ZERO, will be published by Viking in 2014. She is also the Fiction Editor at YARN (Young Adult Review Network).