A Biography to Inspire Future Astronauts!

by Sue Heavenrich

Our very own Fran Hodgkins has a book coming out in January! The title, She Went to Space: Maine Astronaut Jessica Meir is self-explanatory. The book is 32 pages, written for ages 5-8 and published by ‎Down East Books.

Astronaut Jessica Meir hails from Caribou, Maine, the second-largest city in Aroostoock County and just 12 miles from the Canadian border. The county itself is huge, about the size of Rhode Island plus Connecticut, and well-known for potatoes, timber, and tourism. Now Caribou can add “birthplace of an astronaut” to its list. 

Not just any astronaut. In 2019, Jessica and her partner-in-space Christina Koch made history completing the first spacewalk made solely by women. They spent more than seven hours outside the International Space Station replacing a broken power unit. You can watch the NASA video here.

Writing a biography about a famous astronaut wasn’t something Fran had on her to-do list, but when the editor of Down East reached out to her about working on this book, Fran said yes. 

“It sounded like it would be a fun project,” Fran said. “and I was interested in writing about Jessica for a couple of reasons. Unlike a lot of famous people, she hadn’t yet been the subject of a book yet, and I wanted to show how someone who grew up in such an unlikely place as Caribou, Maine could reach for the stars.”

Becoming an astronaut is not the sort of goal kids from rural Maine normally aspire to. “Sometimes when you’re in a rural area, you face limits because the people around you kind of impose their own limits on you,” muses Fran. “Fortunately, Jessica’s parents were well-educated and very supportive of education. That opened up possibilities.”

At the core of writing nonfiction is research. Fran began by doing a general search for basic information. “The internet has made finding information easier, and because she’s a celebrity there’s an incredible amount of information out there.” Fran had no trouble finding articles in Maine papers, the Boston Globe, and other media. 

“Jessica had done video interviews with TV stations, and there are videos about her on YouTube,” Fran says. “Not only that, she has published scientific papers about oxygen use in birds during high-altitude flight and articles about deep dives. She’s one of those people you could research forever and never feel you know everything!”

One especially valuable source for Fran was the transcript of an interview Jessica had with an archivist at the Brown University’s Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women. 

“What a treasure trove! Because it had been conducted by an archivist, the interview was very thorough and professional, covering everything from Jessica’s family to her experience aboard the ISS.” Finding that interview, Fran explained, saved her weeks of research.

A lot of research is digital, but Fran still likes her old-school methods. “I have files downloaded and printed out. I guess having a stack of paper makes you feel like you've done your homework!” Fran also has about fifty PDFs of online sources on her hard drive, “though not as organized as they could have been,” she admits. But they allowed her to highlight particular facts she wanted to include in Jessica’s biography, and easily locate them in a search.

Fran wrote the book during 2023, and each time she sat down to work on it she asked herself: “If you wanted to be an astronaut, what are the things that would eliminate you?” She focuses on some of these challenges throughout the book – even providing some interactive moments for readers to find out if they have what it takes to become an astronaut.

“I wanted to write a book that kids from anywhere can see themselves in,” says Fran. “Books were important to me as a kid. They inspired me. That’s why I write for children.”

In addition to writing books for kids and posts for the GROG, Fran was previously guest at our Annual Arthropod Roundtable and is a member of SCBWI. You can read her profile and see some of her books here.

Pauli Murray: MG Biography of a Little-Known Civil Rights Activist and Interview with Author Terry Catasús Jennings~Julie Phend

Who was Pauli Murray?

How many of you know the name Pauli Murray? Until I read Rosita Stevens-Holsey and Terry Catasús Jennings' MG biography, Pauli Murray: The Life of a Pioneering Feminist and Civil Rights Activist, released this February, I had never heard of this incredible woman.  

Julie’s Review:

This book, written in verse for ages 10-14, tells the story of Pauli Murray, a activist for Civil Rights and Feminism before either movement was fully established. Born the child of mixed-race parents in Baltimore in 1910 but raised by an aunt in Durham, North Carolina, Pauli Murray never fit in.

 

Bright and perceptive, she “saw injustice and unfairness with uncommon clarity. And she didn’t accept it.” Instead, Pauli Murray tackled injustice with all the force of her determination. Despite poverty, she graduated from Hunter College, taught for the WPA Education Project, and wrote articles pointing out injustice. 

Pauli Murray, 1944

Her activist heart sent her on a quest to change the Jim Crow laws that held back her race at every turn. She entered Howard University School of Law and graduated top of her class, ahead of all her male peers. A paper she wrote while at Howard became the basis for arguments in Brown vs Board of Education, the Supreme Court decision that finally toppled those laws, though Pauli never received credit for it.

 

Despite a prize for her exceptional scholarship, she was barred admission to Harvard because of her gender. So she tackled gender laws along with Jim Crow laws. She went on to get a master’s in law from Boalt Hall of Law in Berkeley, California, and a doctorate from Yale University. She was a participant in President Kennedy’s Commission on the Status of Women and a founding member of the National Organization of Women. (NOW)

 

Pauli Murray battled poverty, discrimination, racial and gender barriers. And she never gave up.

 

This moving and inspirational biography tackles difficult issues head-on, while creating a vivid portrait of an incredible woman. The free-verse form makes it easy to read and allows the authors to return again and again to the important themes of Pauli Murray’s life. 

 

Interview with Author Terry Catasús Jennings:

Terry Catasús Jennings

Julie: You’ve had a big year! You published the Definitely Dominguita series, Pauli Murray’s biography, and have a picture book, The Little House of Hope, coming out this month.

 

Terry: Julie, thank you so much for hosting me on the GROG Blog. I’ve been very fortunate. All these projects have been in the works for a while, and then their paths converged. 

 

 

 

 

Julie: I was surprised I had never heard of Pauli Murray, even though as a middle school teacher, I taught both the Civil Rights and Women’s Movements. How did you learn about Pauli and come to partner with her niece, Rosita Stevens-Holsey, to write this book? 

Rosita Stevens-Holsey

 

Terry: I discovered Pauli Murray during research for The Women’s Liberation Movement: 1960-1990. The more I learned, the more I felt her biography needed to be made available to young readers. While I could do justice to her story as a feminist, I could not do justice to her story as a Black person, so I wanted a partner. My research led me to the Pauli Murray Center, and through them, I tried, at first unsuccessfully, to find Dr. Murray’s family. Then I went to see a play about Pauli Murray at Howard University. There was a row of seats reserved for the family, so I introduced myself. When I said I was looking for someone to work with me, Rosita raised her hand. She’s a teacher!  And she was already working to promote her aunt’s legacy. What could be better than that? The partnership has been as productive as it has been delightful. 

 

 Julie: Why did you choose middle grade readers as your audience? 

 

Terry: I wrote the story, with Rosita’s help and concurrence, so it would be accessible and engaging to an audience beginning with fourth grade. To me, that’s when young readers can understand the damage and humiliation of the Jim Crow laws, the struggles of women in the workplace, and the rights given us by the Constitution. I hope that anyone above the age of ten can enjoy this book and garner new knowledge and understanding from it.

Pauli Murray, Lawyer

Julie: Why did you choose to write the book in free verse?

 

Terry: Pauli just seemed to flow in verse. There were earlier prose versions, including a picture book, but none of them seemed to have the heart that Pauli Murray demanded. At one point, I started writing verses, and then it flowed. At first, our agent wasn’t crazy about the verse version, but then Courtney Fahey from Little Bee Books became interested. She liked verse and fell in love with the project. I felt writing the biography in verse would honor Dr. Murray, who was herself a poet. Our aim was to tell her story in a respectful way that would be accessible to young readers. And for folks with a little more age and a little less time, verse provides a way to learn about a transformative individual in an easy manner.

 

Julie: What do you love about this book?

 

Terry: There are certain passages I love. The verse about Pauli’s mother knowing her life might last no longer than a whisper on a windy night. The imagery of Pauli being prickly and a thorn in the side of those in power. 

Pauli Murray, 1967

But what I most love about the book is what it teaches young readers about a person who was previously ignored. It shows how difficult it was to gain the rights we now take for granted. How some legislators did what was right, and others got around those forward steps and caused human rights in our country to regress. Pauli Murray believed in the Fourteenth Amendment—the one that guarantees all will be treated equally by the laws. Right now, laws are being passed that would not pass the Pauli Murray test. They do not conform with the Fourteenth Amendment. I love that this book comes at a time when it can remind all of us that our only weapon in the fight for human rights is the ballot box.

 

Julie: Thanks so much, Terry, for sharing your passion for this subject and for introducing us to this amazing woman!

 

*Watch for next week’s Grog blog post with a sneak preview of Little House of Hope and Part 2 of my interview with Terry.

Sarah Aronson Writes Just Like Rube

by Sue Heavenrich

Last Friday I reviewed Sarah Aronson’s new book, Just Like Rube Goldberg over at Archimedes Notebook. It’s a biography of cartoonist – and incidental inventor – Ruben Garrett Lucius Goldberg who wielded pen with wit and also just happened to have a degree in engineering.

I loved the book so much that I bribed Sarah to join me today on GROG. Sarah – that chocolate I promised you? Welp, it never made it to the post office….

Sarah has written middle grade and young adult novels. Just Like Rube Goldberg is her first picture book, she says, “and it’s been a lifetime in the making.” Pretty much since she saw Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and tried to build her own breakfast machine.

As fascinated as she was with the Rube Goldberg-ishness of that idea, Sarah never saw herself as a nonfiction writer. And that meant (insert scary music here) Research! Fortunately for her, she has a mentor and friend in nonfiction writer Tanya Stone. But research wasn’t so bad, Sarah confesses. And she discovered that she likes writing things on index cards.

“I find myself becoming more organized with each book,” Sarah says. (Did I mention she’s working on a couple more?) And for anyone out there working on nonfiction, she has this bit of wisdom: write down where you find information, whether on a note card or in a footnote. 

“Doing the research was a fun exploration, and there is nothing about Rube Goldberg that doesn’t crack me up!” Sarah even discovered that she and Rube have some things in common:

• they both follow their dreams;
• they both work hard; and
• they never give up!

The icing on the cake: now Sarah’s working on another book that grew out of her research.

So what was it that drew Sarah to Rube? “His story is a wonderful immigrant story,” she says, “and as a Jewish writer, I was happy to be writing about a Jewish person who came to this country.” Sarah’s relatives also immigrated to the US, so she felt a personal connection. Plus the breakfast machine….

While Sarah was developing nonfiction writing skills, she was also learning to write a picture book. And that meant thinking about page turns and how to fit a story into 32 pages. “I made lots of dummies to see how the text would fit on the page,” she says. Many, many, many dummies later, she figured she had it – and all that time spent working on Rube was totally okay because Sarah LOVES picture books!

Picture books aren’t just for little kids any more. Nonfiction picture books are often the first step for kids when they begin researching a topic. “Fourth, fifth – even seventh graders pick them up,” says Sarah. She loves seeing how teachers incorporate them into their classroom. “We built a Rube Goldberg machine out of kids!” she laughed.

Every writer hits stumbling blocks, and Sarah thinks one of the important gifts we can give kids is to talk about failure. “Writing is a practice,” she says, “and it’s never going to be easy to share your heart. Even when it’s nonfiction.”

We need to allow kids time and space to try things and fail. “I’ve got a mission,” Sarah says. “I’m a member of the 100 rejection club. And I want kids to understand that the word ‘no’ really means ‘not yet’ or ‘try again’. We have to model how we dust ourselves off and do it again.”

Moving forward, Sarah’s working on a middle grade novel and finishing two more picture books. You can find out more about her and her books at her website.

Biographies: Boring No Longer by Pat Miller

If you think biographies are boring, then you haven’t read any recent ones. Long gone are birth-to-death yawners of two-dimensional dead guys.

Current biographies are attention grabbers. The recent ALA Youth Media Awards included 12 biographies. Titles like The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus by Jen Bryant won multiple awards.

Today’s biographies are like potato chips—it’s hard to read just one. And they offer new details and fresh perspectives on people you may think you know.

For example, here are five fresh looks at our Founding Father:

• Anne Rockwell wrote Big George: How a Shy Boy Became President. She surprises us with the story of how George mastered his hot temper and overcame his shyness.

• GEORGE: George Washington, Our Founding Father  by Frank Keating relates Washington’s life in first person, bringing George vividly to life. Included are some of the rules he used to guide his life. “Rule 56: Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation, for ‘tis better to be alone than in bad company.”

Farmer George Plants a Nation by Peggy Thomas reveals that George had three loves—his country was number three. Martha and farming were closest to his heart. Thomas details George’s passion for farming, including his labor-saving inventions and agricultural innovations

George Washington’s Teeth by Debora Chandra and Madeleine Comora relates the amazing chronology of Washington’s dental disease and loss alongside his accomplishments. Considering he was in chronic mouth pain, Washington’s achievements are even more remarkable.

 The House That George Built by Suzanne Slade divulges that the White House was Washington’s “baby”. He chose its location and helped survey the lot. He held a design contest and chose James Hoban, an Irish immigrant, as winner. Washington then set out to improve the design. Throughout his two busy terms as president, he kept a close eye on the construction and was responsible for bringing it in on time and under budget. However, completion came too late for Washington to spend a single night under its roof.

Besides adding personality to the well-known, biographers are resurrecting well-researched stories of forgotten women who risked their reputations, their fortunes, and their future.

• Rough, Tough Charley by Verla Kay tells of a shy orphan who was good with horses and eventually gained fame as a fearless and expert stagecoach driver. Even when a horse kicked him in the face and he lost an eye, Charley continued to drive a dangerous route, losing not a single passenger or coach. After retiring, Charley raised cattle and ran a stage stop. At his death, it was discovered that Charley was a woman. Despite the discovery, Charley remained an esteemed member of the Oddfellows Club. She had voted 52 years before the federal government gave women the right to vote!

• Irena Sendler and the Children of the Warsaw Ghetto by Susan Goldman Rubin is a heart-pounding story of a nurse who smuggled doomed Jewish children from Warsaw literally beneath the prying eyes of the Germans.
• 
  
• Cheryl Harness tells of a remarkable woman in Mary Walker Wears the Pants: The True Story of the Doctor, Reformer, and Civil War Hero. It will be difficult for children to imagine how shameful it was for women to wear pants—but Mary did. A skilled surgeon, Mary fought prejudice and red tape to serve on the front lines of the Civil War. She is still the only woman to have earned the Congressional Medal of Honor. 
• 
  
• Wild Women of the Wild West by Jonah Winter is one wild read. Fifteen women from Calamity Jane to Esther Morris are portrayed in two pages each. One of them, Mary Ellen Pleasant, became rich by operating a high-end boarding house where she was known as the best cook in San Francisco. She made smart financial investments and became a wealthy member of high society. When she was 51 the Civil War ended and Mary Ellen revealed her African American heritage and early life as a slave. She sued the city for discrimination on cable cars—and won. What she didn't reveal was that she provided the last station on the Underground Railroad for most of the slaves that escaped to San Francisco, providing them with jobs, shelter, and freedom.

Of all the biographies I read in the last few months, my favorite is The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion & The Fall of Imperial Russia by Candace Fleming. It has been named a 2015 Siebert Honor Book, Orbis Pictus Award winner, and a YALSA finalist for Excellence in Nonfiction. This is deeply researched book that reads like a novel, building detail upon ominous detail until the Romanov story becomes a Jenga tower. The tragedy is compounded because of all the ways it could have been avoided. This is one biography you can’t put down, and it’s a great example of all that is well with biographies today.

Candace Fleming and Peggy Thomas are two of the speakers at the  NF 4 NF Nonfiction Conference for Children's Writers. Join us!

Happy Birthday, Mr. President ~By Suzy Leopold

Today, August 4th, is the birthday of Barack Obama, our forty-fourth president of the United States of America. 

Happy Birthday to you, Mr. President. 

Happy Birthday Mr. Obama!

Do you know that Mr. Obama is an author of a children’s picture book? Of Thee I Sing was written for his daughters and published by Alfred A. Knopf in 2010. The nonfiction book is written as a sweet, 

Walnut, carrot, dried cranberry cake with cream cheese frosting.

tender letter to Malia and Sasha from their father.  Such a beautiful message that reminds the girls to follow their dreams and forge their own paths. 

Included in the book is a tribute to thirteen Americans from the past and the present along with their achievements, ideals and contributions that shaped our nation. 

Of Thee I Sing

The story begins . . . 

Have I told you lately how wonderful you are?

How the sound of your feet

running from afar

brings dancing rhythms to my day?

How you laugh

and sunshine spills into the room?

Malia and Sasha Obama

Turning the pages of the book, Mr. Obama asks his girls several questions followed by information about a hero or a famous American who has made contributions to our country.    

Mr. and Mrs. Obama have instilled the importance of many core values, in Malia and Sasha, including honesty, humility, self-discipline and respect. In the book, Of Thee I Sing, the girls are reminded of their positive characteristics and the belief of important family and individual values, that encourages them to grow into strong, young women. Mr. Obama then compares those traits to many individuals whom are known for their greatness.

Have I told you that you are smart?

Albert Einstein
That you braid great ideas with imagination?
A man named Albert Einstein
turned pictures in his mind into giant advances in science, changing the world with energy and light.

Have I told you that you are inspiring?

César Chávez

A man named César Chávez showed farmworkers their own power when they felt they had none.

The people were poor but worked 
hard and loved the land. 
César picketed, prayed, and talked. 
The people listened to their hearts 
and marched for their rights.

“Sí se puede!”  “Yes, you can!”

The illustrations by Loren Long are expressive and reminiscent.  My favorite illustration depicts the innocence and promise of childhood and the hope for each one as they become our future leaders. The two page spread includes kids of all beliefs, races and religions, from the West coast to the East coast and all the states in between. This particular illustration, touches my heart, as I see a multicultural group of boys and girls, standing tall and proud, reminding me that America is a melting pot.

Have I told you that America is made up of people of every kind?

To learn more about the Americans featured in the book, a brief biography is written, including pertinent facts and data about each individual.  

Back Matter

The presidential family’s dog, Bo, is even illustrated by the award-winning artist of this book!

Books written about strong individuals, whom are people of character and depict positive role models, are important books to share with our youth. 

As a writer, consider the value of writing books with strong characters, for children to read, learn and grow.

This book is a true treasure.

Celebrate diversity!

May I serve you?

A Glance at Picture Book Genres ~By Suzy Leopold

When writing picture books for children, consider the definition of genre and the categories of each, that are used to classify picture books for children's literacy.

What is a genre?  The definition can be defined as:

gen・re [zhä′ rǝ] n.  

A book type, classification or category of literature that is defined by content, form and style.  

The following are the most common types of reading genres:

• Poetry

Poetry often uses rhythm and rhyme to convey a message or story.  Sound, imagery and figurative language may be included.  Poetry is written in verse to inspire the reader to respond with feelings and thoughts.

Nonfiction

• Autobiography

A story based on true facts about the life of a real person written by that person.

• Biography

A story based on true facts about the life of a real person written by another person.  Memories, letters, diaries and journals are all part of this genre.

• Informational

Texts that are written based on facts about a variety of topics, such as animals, cooking, gardening, history, science, geography, space, weather, reference books, etc.

Fiction

• Fantasy

A story that is make-believe.  It includes elements that are impossible in real life, such as magical powers or talking animals.

• Historical Fiction

A fictional story that brings past events alive. The setting is real, however, the characters are not real.

• Realistic Fiction

A story that could happen in real life.  The made-up characters are not real.

• Science Fiction

A fantasy type story that blends futuristic technology with scientific elements and facts that are not possible in real life such as time machines, space travel and robots.

• Mystery

A story that is suspenseful and is solved at the end of the story.

• Traditional Literature

Stories that are passed down from generation to generation.  This genre includes tall tales, folktales, fables, legends, fairy tales, nursery rhymes, myths and even songs.

These are ten broad categories of genres.  There are many lists of sub-genres that include more categories and detail.

Marcie Haloin, along with Gaylynn Jameson, JoAnne Piccolo, and Kari Oosterveen created a more indept list of genres.  This compiled list, Genre Characteristics, is based off of an informative, resource book, Writing Essentials, written by Regie Routman [Heinemann: Portmouth, NH, 2005].  

 

On a future post, check out examples of book titles for each of these ten picture book genre categories. 

Do you have a favorite genre that you prefer to read about and/or write about? Consider expanding your craft of writing by trying new genre categories.