Build a better world this summer, one story at a time

When I wrote about the Mayor’s Summer Reading Challenge of the Dallas Public Library system earlier this week, readers in surrounding cities may have felt left out. So, here’s some good news about summer literary activities for young people, no matter where they live.

artist: Matthias Zimmermann

Since I have family members in Richardson, I’ve long been familiar with the wonderful programs offered by the Richardson Public Library, from toddler story times to advanced activities for teens and adults.

A couple of offerings in Richardson this summer have grandkids Gabe and Alex particularly buzzing, including the Writer’s World Building Workshop, June 24, 2-4 p.m., taught by Polly Holyoke, author of the Bluebonnet-nominated The Neptune Project and The Neptune Challenge. Holyoke will offer practical tips to help build vivid new worlds in their own fantasy and science fiction writing.

Adult writers (like me) have paid to take classes on world building, but this one is free for writers ages 10-18 years. Registration required, at the Youth Services Help Desk at the library, 400 Civic Center Drive in Richardson, or by calling 972-744-4358. I called to be sure and – there’s no residency or library card requirement for this!

Also on the boys’ to-do list is the Young Authors class taught by children’s author Nancy Churnin (The William Hoy Story: How a Deaf Baseball Player Changed the Game) on Friday mornings from June 16 – August 4 (no class July 7). The boys have been writing and illustrating their own miniature comic books for years.

It helps that their dad is an illustrator and graphic designer. Still, Churnin’s help with writing strategies, illustration techniques, page layout and more, is a huge boost. Participants have a chance to write and illustrate a picture book to add to the library’s collection. How’s that for becoming a published author is just seven weeks? (Maybe dad will take the hint and get started on that picture book he keeps talking about. . . )

The classes are available to Richardson residents entering grades 5-9 this fall. Free, but this one requires registration and a valid Richardson library card (if you need more incentive to get kids their own library cards). Call 972-744-4358 or stop by the Youth Services Help Desk at the library to register.

Other free, no residency required summer offerings from the Richardson Library include 3D printing & Tinkercad (ages 13 and up), introduction to LinkedIn (teens and adults), and a 3D printing contest with separate categories for ages 7 through adult. And more. See the library site for details.

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Texas-based Half  Price Books  also joins the summer readathons with its Feed Your Brain summer reading program for kids in preschool through high school. Reading 15 minutes a day (during June and July earns Bookworm Bucks (good for in-store credit) for ages 14 and under. (Adults may read aloud to kids still learning to read.)

For teens, there’s a Feed Your Brain Summer Reading #BOOKBINGE. Read HPB’s recommended Penguin Teen titles and write a short review to earn your own Bookwork Bucks. See the site for details.

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The Richardson Library programs mentioned here and the Dallas Library’s reading challenge are just the iceberg tip of what’s available at local libraries this summer. Find, read, share and enjoy! 

Wordcraft -- Young people to books: we love you!

I could hardly believe the sight was real. Dozens of school buses from districts across North Texas lined the road outside the Irving Convention Center, unloading kids who’d given up a beautiful Saturday to hang out with their favorite authors at the first annual North Texas Teen Book Festival.

And it wasn’t just hundreds of kids, but thousands of them. The final attendance count totaled 3,500, according to festival steering committee member Mandy Aguilar. Crowds of young people (and a scattering of adults, like me) filled two stories of the convention center to see and hear more than fifty authors. And to line up for questions, and buy books, and mob writers for one-on-one discussions and selfies beyond number.

As someone who worries over predictions that boys stop reading once they hit adolescence, it was reassuring to see almost as many boys as girls line up to question authors.

And since I’m always looking for the next new thing to satisfy my tweenaged grandsons’ appetite for books, I took copious notes at author panels designated for middle grade readers (generally, ages 8-12).

What would tempt boys who crave male heroes but who don’t turn up their noses at spunky females? Boys who are daringly geeky, the kids who spout hockey league statistics at the drop of a puck, but are undecided about whether to pursue careers in science or the arts?

Maybe they’d like The Great Greene Heist, by engineer turned author Varian Johnson, www.varianjohnson.com/? Johnson still pursues an engineering career,  but he’s spending ever-increasing amounts of time writing award-winning books for young people.

And then there was Plano author Polly Holyoke (http://pollyholyoke.com/) with The Neptune Project, about a group of genetically-altered, ocean-dwelling young people and their dolphin friends. Former middle school teacher Holyoke enjoyed researching The Neptune Project and its out-this-May sequel, The Neptune Challenge. The downside of research? Sharing so much scary stuff with her daughters they're now reluctant to go swimming or scuba diving with her.

I personally sympathized with author/panelist Shannon Messenger who started her career intending to major in art, discovered she hated it, switched film because she loved a screenwriting course but found she hated the Hollywood life, and finally realized she really wanted to write novels, like the Keeper of Lost Cities series starring a preteen telepath, and admits at
http://ramblingsofawannabescribe.blogspot.com/ to keeping company with insane numbers of animals.

By lunchtime, all the mental exertion left me starving. But with the line for the convention center’s café out the door (note for next year, bring sack lunch), I hit the book room stocked by HalfPrice Books. Oh, here was something that looked fun, a book from Obert Skye’s Creature from My Closet series, illustrated by drawings my grandsons would love. (See samplings at his website, www.abituneven.com/.)

The boys were flying off the next day for spring break. And although their dad had loaded movies on his iPad, they couldn’t resist taking a book along as well, an actual printed book. Which one was it? I’m waiting to see. And to hear all about it.

By the way, if you missed the festival, I’m sorry. But mark your calendar for the next one, March 5, 2016. Because like a good book series, the sequel is already in the works.