Today's Little Ditty: Finding my voice: YOU JUST WAIT (Giveaway!)

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Finding my voice: YOU JUST WAIT (Giveaway!)

While I've always been creative, when I decided to channel that creativity into a writing career, suddenly the playing field looked different. For a long time I struggled with how to be proactive—to dial up my muse and direct the creative flow. Who am I kidding? I still struggle with that! But I've learned a valuable lesson along the way: inspiration breeds inspiration. Creativity is about making connections, following leads, trusting the journey.

You may not end up where you expected, but you'll always end up where you're meant to be.

When you lead a jam-packed life like mine—fueled by distractions and a never-ending to-do list—you can't afford to wait for inspiration to strike. You need to find it where it lives.

Buy it at Amazon.com

That's why I'm thrilled that Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong recently unveiled YOU JUST WAIT: A POETRY FRIDAY POWER BOOK (Pomelo Books, 2016).

Think of this book as your guide and companion as you set out in search of your own creative voice.

A mash-up between a poetry anthology, verse novella, and an activity book in the style of Wreck This Journal, tweens and teens are going to go ga-ga over this book. I should know, I have two of my own. At a time when they're exploring who they are and experimenting with how to make their mark, why not encourage them to mark up the pages of this book!

But why should young people have all the fun?

Although Janet and Sylvia may not have had this in mind, YOU JUST WAIT is also the perfect resource for those of us who, despite our "advanced" age, may be itching to write a novel-in-verse and don't know where to begin.

Hello! We've got your do-it-yourself verse novel workbook right here!

Find out more about the Poetry Friday series at Pomelo Books

The Vardell-Wong team have established themselves as experts at linking poetry with teaching and learning—you can trust them to know what they're doing.

At the core of YOU JUST WAIT are twelve poems from a previous collaboration, The Poetry Friday Anthology for Middle School (an NCTE Poetry Notable), which are used as a jumping-off point. Janet Wong then wrote twenty-four new poems, weaving together a story about identity, sports, dreams, and frustrations, featuring a diverse cast of characters that young readers will be able to identify with on multiple levels. There's Paz, an Asian-Latina soccer player with dreams of athletic stardom, Lucescita, her feisty movie-loving cousin, and Joe, an older brother with dreams of his own.

While the story line, itself, will engage readers, for me, the magic comes from the way that the reader interacts with ALL the poems—outside poems, response poems, and mentor texts—on a personal level.

YOU are the one who sees the connection between them, hears the voices in your mind, and can write your own poems to weave those poems together to create a story only you can tell.
– from the introduction to YOU JUST WAIT (Vardell/Wong)

YOU JUST WAIT includes twelve "PowerPack" groups to guide you through the process of reading, thinking, writing, and responding. Aided by Sylvia Vardell's fun and helpful PowerPlay activities and Power2You writing prompts, you have a winning formula for spurring creativity, making connections, and allowing your own words and ideas to flow.

Come with me on a power walk through PowerPack 6 and I'll show you what I mean.