MARVELOUS MIDDLE GRADE MONDAY: Promise the Night Blog tour

Promise the Night by Michaela MacColl (Chronicle Books, 2011)

Fasten your seatbelts, folks! I’m about to rave.

But let me do so out of earshot of Don Vito’s new pet lion, Paddy. Yes, I made the fatal mistake of reading the Don the chapter in Promise the Night where Beryl is mauled by a supposedly pet lion. The next day, a magnificently maned creature was striding about the manicured lawns of the Mafioso compound, and he’s been sunning himself here ever since. The next thing I know, the Don will order me from my blogging desk job (which I love!) and make me his new lion tamer…

But I digress, as usual. Today is the start of Michaela MacColl’s blog tour for Promise the Night (Chronicle Books, 2011) and I really have only one thing to say: PROMISE THE NIGHT is BRILLIANT!!!

Ouch, your ears are probably still ringing, but I mean what I say. A number of you kind readers love historical fiction, and you won’t be disappointed by this one. Set in East Africa in the early years of the 20 century, Promise the Night tells the story of Beryl Clutterbuck, who later became the famous aviatrix, Beryl Markham. Abandoned by her mother at a young age, Beryl lives with her father in the Kenyan hills. Captain Clutterbuck is an ex-military man and a horse trainer, but he can’t tame his incredibly adventurous daughter.

There is adventure and danger galore, mostly involving animals. The novel begins with a leopard attack, in which Beryl’s beloved dog, Buller, is snatched by the big cat. Beryl tracks the animal, with the help of a Nandi boy, Kibii—and the two of them find the mauled dog. With the help of Kibii’s father, Arap Maina, Buller is nursed back to health--and thus begins Beryl’s life as an honorary member of the Nandi tribe. She breaks taboos, by going on a lion hunt. She rides her father’s wildest stallion. She survives a knife fight with a rival Nandi boy. And of course there’s also the mauling by Paddy, the “tame” lion.

Beryl eventually gets sent to a school in Nairobi, but her adventures don’t end there. She sets up a steeplechase course in the classroom, and chafes at so many rules that she eventually gets expelled.

The novel has wonderful descriptions of Africa, and a fabulous arc. It begins at night with the leopard attack, and ends at night with a promise of lasting friendship. Interspersed with the narrative are journal entries by the older Beryl, preparing for her transatlantic flight. They flow seamlessly.

Promise the Night has great crossover appeal, by which I mean that even with a female main character, I can see boys loving it. Shake a spear, lads.

But that’s not all. I had the good fortune to interview Michaela MacColl and I think you’ll find her answers fascinating. Plus, Chronicle Books is giving away a copy of Promise the Night to one of my lucky readers. Just comment on the blog. (I’m on Twitter now, @MGMafioso, so if you tweet with #PromisetheNight, I’ll make sure the Don gives you an extra slice of panettone.)

Interview with Michaela MacColl:

1.    East Africa is such a strong character in your novel, yet I've read that you've never been there. What sort of research did you do to make the setting so alive?

I wish I could have visited East Africa!  But I did a lot of virtual traveling online and had the advantage of some beautiful photographic books of the area where Beryl grew up.  And of course I had the benefit of some amazing writers who lived there at the time Promise the Night is set. Isak Dinesen’s prose is as good as a photograph and Elspeth Huxley’s Flame Trees of Thika describes the rough landscape through the eyes of British child – invaluable.

2.  I'll have to watch Out of Africa again! Now, I think the character of Beryl is remarkable. She strives to be a murani (Swahili for warrior) in everything she does. In fact, she is in so many scrapes--mauled by a supposedly tame lion, in a knife fight with a Nandi boy--that it's amazing she survives. Yet, creating such a headstrong character (even a character based on a real-life person) can be tricky. What advice did Patricia Reilly Giff give you to help Beryl "stay true to herself without becoming a brat"?

Pat Giff’s instincts about “brattishness” (not really a word, but it should be!) are perfect. At first she alerted me to the problem and whenever I strayed, she reined me back in!  I think the essential thing to remember is that no matter how much trouble Beryl gets into, no matter how many buttons she pushes – she is essentially likable. Throughout her life she had the knack of making friends and keeping them. Kibii remains her friend well into their middle-age.  Of course, she also made enemies!

3. Yes, she probably was a bit polarizing--but it did seem she was very loyal to her friends... Another character I love is Arap Maina, the head man of the Nandi village. He recognizes the warrior spirit in Beryl, and takes some personal risk going against the wishes of the tribe in allowing Beryl to go on a lion hunt. How much did you know about the real Arap Maina, and how much did you create from imagination?

The only information we have about Arap Maina comes from Beryl Markham’s memoir, West with the Night. He was clearly one of the two most important adults in her life (her father is the other one).  His teaching is gentle but uncompromising and her grief at his premature death in World War I is genuine.

When I found that I needed more insight into how a Nandi warrior would think and teach, I found modern memoirs written by Nandi were very useful.

4.    Promise the Night is a remarkable book, and I'm eager to read more of your writing. What are you working on now, if it isn't a state secret?

If it’s a state secret, then I should be run out of the state!  I love talking about my newest project.  Chronicle and I are working on a mystery series starring young writers. The first one is about Emily Dickinson solving the murder of Mr. Nobody! It’s due out in April 2013, just in time for National Poetry Month.

5. Here at Middle Grade Mafioso we always "grill" our guests about their favorite breakfast foods. After all, the key to a great middle grade day is a good breakfast. Previous interviewees have praised the breakfast benefits of chocolate chip cookies (C. Alexander London) and cereal (Chris Rylander). What is your breakfast of choice to start a writing day?

 I’m a Hazelnut coffee drinker. My Keurig is the most important appliance in the house (even more than the laptop first thing in the morning!).  Whole grain Cheerios with bananas is my food of choice – but I’ve been know to sneak one of the kids’ poptarts (frosted strawberry... Yum!)

Yum! Sounds as if you're set for the day!! Thanks for answering my questions--I really loved your novel.

There we have it, folks. Remember: Comment/Tweet with #PromisetheNight for a chance to win a copy of this marvelous novel!! (Winner will be announced on Friday the 20th)

(Here are the other blog tour stops, with the dates they'll be featuring Promise the Night. I'm looking forward to making some new blog friends. How about you?)

The Book Cellar	www.thebookcellarx.com	1/17/12
Mother Daughter Book Club	http://motherdaughterbookclub.com	1/18/12
Stiletto Storytime	www.stilettostorytime.wordpress.com	1/19/12
Amber Keyser	amberjkeyser.com	1/20/12
Royal Reviews	http://theroyalreviews.blogspot.com/	1/23/12
There's A Book	http://www.theresabook.com	1/24/12
YA Book Shelf	http://www.yabookshelf.com/	1/25/12
The Children's and Teens' Book Connection	http://childrensandteensbookconnection.wordpress.com/	1/26/12
Black 'n Gold Girl's Book Spot	http://steelergirl83.blogspot.com	1/27/12
pragmaticmom	http://PragmaticMom.com	1/31/12

My BIG News (Don Vito's "Over the Moon")

We've been very European here at Middle Grade Mafioso, and taken a nice long holiday break. But the grass hasn't been growing under our feet, because...

The Middle Grade Mafioso has an agent.

You heard that right. On January 9th, Stephen Fraser of the Jennifer DeChiara Literary Agency offered to represent me and my middle grade time travel novel, Shakespeare on the Lam.

We had a tremendous conversation, in which he said wonderful things about the novel and asked me about my writing goals.

The Don's cry of Mamma Mia! is still ringing in my ears. He's even talking about awarding me the Order of the Eggplant, and giving me a year's supply of panettone.

It all seems a little unreal.

Here I am, signing the agency agreement:

(Notice all the giants of children's literature by my side?)

I want to thank you all for your support on this journey. You have read, commented, and cheered me on. I am so grateful for your friendship.

I'll leave you with a picture of the littlest author. (My 5-year old, who lamented that no one wanted to buy his painstakingly illustrated books--for $14, no less. His 8-year-old brother kindly agreed to be his agent.)

Holding the manuscript of the next generation

Now the Don says I have to get back to work. We've got a FANTASTICALLY Marvelous Middle Grade Monday event for the 16th, when I'll be kicking off a blog tour for the crazily good novel, Promise The Night, and interviewing the author, Michaela MacColl. Plus, the publisher's giving you the chance to win a copy of the novel. Be here, or be square!!

Holiday well-wishes from the Mafiosi

Hello All,

No Marvelous Middle Grade Monday post from me today. (Eeek! Is it Armageddon?! Have the mafiosi been raptured?!) No, no such luck.

There are several factors explaining my absence, though. My middle son just finished his 5-week-long professional production of Frankenstein, the Little Monster. (Guess who he played?!) So we were out celebrating. And then, my oldest son has to have one of his semi-regular sleep deprived EEGs to keep tabs on his epilepsy. Night-owl Mom will stay up with him till midnight--this mafioso needs his sleep!!--and I will crawl from bed at 4 a.m. to make sure he's awake and then drag his to the lab for his 7:30 appointment.

Finally, I have a few Cybils-related activities to deal with. So, with all that on my plate, Don Vito has ordered me to rest from my blogging labors and fill up on panettone.

I will be making merry till the end of the month. I hope the rest of you have a wonderful holiday season--and I'll see you in 2012.

Buone Feste!

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: Most Wanted

Most Wanted by Kate Thompson (Greenwillow Books, 2010) Nominated for the Cybils by Anamaria Anderson. (All opinions are my own, and are not meant to reflect those of the entire panel.)

Interested in ancient history? The civilizations of Greece or Rome or Egypt? Then you'll enjoy this tautly written tale.

From the flap copy: While making his daily deliveries, a baker's son suddenly finds himself holding a stallion's golden lead. Soon the boy discovers that this isn't just any horse. It's the most powerful creature in all of Rome.  What will the mad Emperor do if he finds the boy with his prized horse? Cut off his head? Or worse?

As you can see, this is a plot-driven story. Cleanly written, it moves fast and also has some energetic artwork that really works well with the narrative. It would be perfect for a 2-4th grader who enjoys action, horses, and history.

The author, Kate Thompson, lives in Ireland and is a prolific writer. I enjoyed my visit to her website.

Have a marvelous middle grade Monday, everyone!!

How It All Went Down (The Bakers' Dozen Auction, I Mean)

To recap: My MG novel, Shakespeare on the Lam, was one of the entries in Authoress's Bakers' Dozen Agent Auction. Which meant my logline and first 250 words got a whole bunch of amazing and helpful critiques. And then on Tuesday, starting at 11 EST, the agents started bidding.

Was I glued to the action on screen? Well, I would have been--except that Tuesday was the day for my annual adventure with my father-in-law to snag the cheapest Christmas tree in the tri-county area. Last year I blogged about my trophy, the $10 tree that fell off a helicoptor on its way to Mexico. This year, we took a much more leisurely tack and bought $20 Groupons for Christmas trees and a half pound of organic coffee out at Boring Bark. (The Boring bit is the name of the town, not too far from Portland.) My father-in-law's 9 foot Noble is a nice-lookin' tree--and without the Groupon it would have cost $60. So we were chuffed little happy campers.

I got home around noon PST, to an excited voice mail from my wife. She'd been snooping over at the auction and called to let me know that several agents had been bidding, and that the full manuscript of Shakespeare had gone to Victoria Marini, an agent at the Gelfman Schneider agency (the agency that represents one of our favorite writers, Chris Bohjalian.)

I followed Authoress's instructions and e-mailed the full to Ms. Marini. She has a week's exclusive. After that, other bidding agents can make requests.

It was great fun, and I have to thank Authoress for the auction and for the sense of community she fosters on her blog. If you haven't found Miss Snark's First Victim, do yourself a favor and check it out. As one commenter once wrote, it's like Match.com for agents and authors.

Of course, I had to share the news with the Don. His reaction: "Marini? Italian name. I'll send her a panettone, a couple of bottles of my best cellared chianti." Very nice. I've given up trying to convince him that agents can't be bribed. Let him have his fun.

So there you have it. I'd worry and fixate, but I still have a ton of Cybils books to read and a Christmas tree to decorate. I'll see you all on Monday for some Marvelous Middle Grade. Have a great weekend.

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: Addie on the Inside

One thing all this reading for the Cybils has taught me: I no longer dislike novels in verse. The latest of these, which has totally cured me of my phobia, is James Howe’s Addie on the Inside. (Nominated for the Cybils by Tasha Saecker. All opinions are my own, and are not meant to reflect those of the entire panel.)

Addison “Addie” Carle is living “the purgatory of the middle school years” in a small town in upstate New York. She is an only child, opinionated, and her best friends are a group of misfit boys. One of the misfit boys, Joe, is gay. Addie starts a gay-straight alliance at her school and is taunted accordingly.

Howe, the author of Bunnicula, catches the rollercoaster emotions of middle school with perfect pitch. I have to believe this book was written by Addie, pure and simple, not a sixty-something author. And Addie is a complex character. She stands up for her beliefs, yet part of her also struggles with not being popular and with having the other girls taunt her. Weaving in and out of the narrative is her relationship with her boyfriend, DuShawn; the tender moments, the fights, the break-ups, the getting back together, the final break-up. But through it all Addie is resilient.

Here is part of her final poem:

I am a girl who is growing up

in my own sweet time,

I am a girl who knows enough

to know this life is mine.

I am this and I am that and

I am everything in-between.

I’m a dreamer, I’m a dancer,

I’m a part-time drama queen.

I’m a worrier, I’m a warrior,

I’m a loner and a friend,

I’m an outspoken defender

of justice to the end.

I’m the girl in the mirror

who likes the girl she sees,

I’m the girl in the gypsy shawl

with music in her knees.

As far as I’m concerned, this should be compulsory reading in every middle school classroom. And if you have a strong, spirited daughter who stands up for her beliefs, yet also feels the pressure to conform: THIS BOOK IS ABOUT HER. GET IT FOR HER!

(James Howe doesn't seem to have a website, but he does have a Wikipedia entry. You can read about him HERE.)

Mafioso On the Auction Block

Ever wondered what sort of stuff I write when I'm not entertaining the world with my blogging and tweeting skills?

Well, you have the chance to view--and even critique--the opening of my middle grade novel, SHAKESPEARE ON THE LAM. It was one of 35 YA/MG entries (out of 350) to be chosen to take part in Authoress's Bakers' Dozen Auction over at Miss Snark's First Victim. Come Monday, 15 agents will be doing the agent equivalent of the Black Friday dash into the Mall of America, nudging each other aside as they bid on the number of pages they want to read from the entrants they most covet. (I' Lucky Number 52, HERE.)

Till then, the rest of us get to comment and critique. I would love to see you there--and I promise that if you have any constructive criticisms I will be delighted. I want this piece to be the strongest it can be.