I am sick, sick, sick that I missed Ingrid Law's breakout sessions in L.A. I knew she was giving one of the keynotes so I'd get to hear her speak anyway, and there were some illustration talks that I wanted to hit instead. Big mistake!
I have just finished reading Savvy, and I have to say, it is a wonderful book. I love Ingrid's use of strange, wackadoodle words like fizgiggly, hobbledehoy, and shilly-shally. It is such a tricky thing to write for this age (middle grade)--especially in first person and especially using such rich poetic language. Ingrid walks a thin line, never falling off into wordy, overwritten prose, and she stays clear of sappy forced writing. How does she do that???
And, it's not just the writing that is beautiful in Savvy. Her plot is peppered with pink buses, talking tattoos, and a stuttering Bible salesman. Her characters are both silly and deep and full of secrets and wonderful magic. This is one of those books that I can't wait to pass down to my ten-year-old.
But, here is the best news. Ingrid Law will be HERE. In Oxford, Mississippi. This spring. She is our 2010 Young Author's Fair author, and she'll be speaking to our entire fifth grade (and each fifth grader in Oxford--over 500 kids--will get a free copy of her book). I am beyond excited!
sf
12 comments:
SF, I'm sick that I missed the first of Ingrid's breakout sessions, but I did catch the second. It was ahhhh-ma-ZING. I posted some notes from it on my blog, but I'm sure some of it was lost in translation. It's in my top 3 from LA, hands down.
Jess, I just read your notes and I am high-tailing it over to Team Blog to read more. Thanks!
You're welcome, Katie! I must admit: I'd never heard of Savvy before the conference, but I am so glad I went to her session! I have a copy of her book now that I'm dying to read, so I'm glad to hear SF enjoyed it. :)
Oh, what fun words. I don't read a lot of middle grade, but I will definitely check this one out!
You guys get to do all the fun stuff in Oxford. Las Vegas hosts the adult video awards. Phhhbbblltttt.
Awww... shucks. *blush blush* You are too kind! I'm so happy to hear that people enjoyed SAVVY and my talks at SCBWI.
I'm looking forward to my visit to Oxford next spring!
:)
Ingrid
Holy Mackeral! Ingrid Law was here. I should have cleaned up the place.
(We'll hook her up with some fried pickles and she'll be our new BFFs.)
Can't wait to see you, Ingrid!
I am really excited to read this book. You are so lucky she is coming to your school!!!
Oh, you are so lucky! I did go to one of her workshops and enjoyed it very much. And since I didn't have my book with me, she was kind enough to sign a bookplate and mail it to me. It just arrived on Friday! I thought that was so nice of her!
Oh wow! Thanks for visiting us, Ingrid. You are an inspiration to all of us. I can't wait to see you here in Oxford (my daughter is getting pretty pumped too--she loves books with great descriptions and she is licking yours up with a spoon).
sf
i hope that i get all the info on the conference! i don't write YA...but it sounds incredible. you wrote about her so poetically yourself! :)
when's lunch?
Is she bringing her cats?
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