I have met more authors in the past 4 days than I’ve met in quite awhile. It all began with the recent YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) Diversity Symposium I attended this past weekend in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I presented a talk during the daily poster sessions on the topic “Understanding Spanish Speaking Countries Through YA Books.” The premise of the talk was to remind teen librarians that Latino teens come from different Spanish speaking countries and have many difference cultures. Just because they all speak Spanish doesn’t mean they should be all labeled with that category. Thus, teen YA books, generically labeled as “Spanish,” should be labeled by the country/culture of origin so Latino teens would understand the variety in Hispanic cultures. Books should be labeled as “Cuban, Cuban-American, Chilean, Puerto Rican, etc.” instead of just “Spanish.”
As I attended wonderful sessions on Diversity issues in Librarianship, I also had many opportunities to meet authors, get free books for the library, and take author photos for display in the library. I met authors like Nikki Grimes, Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, and Margarita Engle, as well as Ann E. Burg, Jennifer Cervantes, and many others.
Today, author James S. Hirsch came to Mr. Lundberg’s 7-2 ELA classes to talk about his latest book “Willie Mays: The Life, the Legend” and the writing process. Mr. Hirsch is also a Pollard parent of a student in Mr. Lundberg’s classes.
James S. Hirsch
James S. Hirsch and Mr. Lundberg
Mr. Hirsch noted he was a newspaper reporter before he became an author. He suggested students write about what they find interesting. He wrote about Willie Mays because he loves baseball and is interested in race relations in America. A piece of advice offered to students by Mr. Hirsch was that the most important thing to becoming a good author is to read. He also compared writing to music, saying it should flow and one should be able to hear its rhythm and sound. Following his talk, students had an opportunity for questions and answers.
Q: How long does it take to write a book?
A: One and a half – 2 yrs.
Q: Why did you start writing?
A: He loved sports and reading the sports page, so wanted to be a sportswriter in order to go to the games for free. By college he became interested in the world around him and writes to explain the world to himself.
Q: Favorite author?
A: Thomas Wolfe.
Q: What does it mean that Willie Mays authorized the book?
A: Willie collaborated with him, gave him access to personal information and interviews and shared in the monetary gain, but didn’t have editorial control.
Q: How much money can you make on a single book?
A: It depends. Publishers give advances based on advance sales, but that money is used to do research and pay bills. Some authors have 2 jobs; while others make a lot of money.
There were many more questions, and Mr. Hirsch ended by offering advice suggesting that students go to an event and write a word picture of what they see. This is an exercise in observation. They need to watch carefully and write the details of what they see.
Finally, I ended the day at the Wellesley Free Library where author, Mike Lupica, was giving a free talk. I was very excited to meet Mr. Lupica because I have been reading his books along with the boys. He is a big hit with them, and I like to keep up on what keeps them reading, and his sports books fly off the shelves.
Mr. Lupica talked about how much he loved sports when he was in middle school, and how he wanted to be a sports writer. He began writing because he was inspired by a basketball team of 7th graders. His son had been cut from the team for being too short, and was devastated. A few days later, Mike formed a team made up of kids who had been cut from the main team. They started out terribly, but wound up with a winning 2nd half – winning the last game by 1 point with 3 seconds left on the clock over a team who had pounded them earlier in the season. The resulting chaos of excitement was his most memorable sports moment.
With this inspiration, he approached his editor who told him to write a few chapters about it. He did, but then dragged his feet until he noticed that during summer break his sons kept wanting to read what he’d written and bugged him about when would he finish the next chapter. These 3 sons, who would have no problem claiming they were taken over by aliens so they wouldn’t have to do their summer reading, were actually WANTING to read, and that struck a chord. Thus, 6 yrs. ago, his first book “Travel Team” was born, and launched his YA sports writing career.
His new book is a complete change from his sports books, because Mr. Lupica always liked comic books and their heroes. If one had to choose between Flying or being Invisible, he’d choose Flying (unlike 3/4 of the audience when he asked for a vote.) “Hero,” released last week, follows a 14 year old boy who suddenly discovers he has super powers and can fly. Most of the action takes place in Central Park, not some far off world, which makes the book more believable. Mr. Lupica ended by telling his audience of over 200 (with 3/4 of them being boys) that he would keep writing books as long as they keep reading them. Following a question and answer period, Mr. Lupica signed books and posed for photographs.
Q: How long does it take to write a book?
A: About 4-5 months.
Q: What was your favorite book?
A: “Travel Team” because it was his first one. However, he really likes “Hero,” and has already begun writing a sequel to it.
Q: Do you plan to write any books about girls?
A: Three of his books have girls as strong characters. With an 11 year old daughter, he tries to make sure there are really cool girls in his books.
Q: What is it like being on ESPN’s Sports Reporters?
A: I love it. I love talking sports with my friends, and am amazed we just finished 23 years on the air.
Q: What was the inspiration for “Heat?”
A: In 1994, right before the baseball strike, he went to Yankee Stadium. While there, he saw about 30 kids playing soccer on a field that is now covered by the new Stadium. He asked if they’d like to attend the game and was able to get them tickets. When all entered, he did a survey and found only 3 of the 30 had ever been in the Stadium – despite living so close they could hear the cheers. He began thinking what would it be like to live so close to the most famous stadium in the world and not be able to go inside it. He also thought of the 14 year old pitcher who was in the news at the time. He had said he was 12 when playing Little League, even though he wasn’t, so Mike put it all together in a story.
Mike Lupica
