Grocery Lessons

I made a late(ish) night trip to the grocery, and I learned a valuable lesson.  I haven't really been doing well in the 12x12 challenge, so here is my slightly tongue-in-cheek version of the lesson as this month's picture book. (My apologies to Laura Numeroff.)

If You Make a Late-Night Trip to the Grocery 

If you make a late-night trip to the grocery, you'll see blueberries. You'll notice they're on sale and want to buy them. When you buy them, the nice people at the grocery will put them on the top of the sack to make them convenient to reach.

When you get home, you'll carry all of the sacks at once into the dark kitchen. Since the kitchen is dark, you won't see the blueberries fall out of the sack. The clamshell that the blueberries are in will pop open, and the blueberries will roll all over the floor.

Since the kitchen is dark, you'll step in the blueberries that rolled all over the floor. Blueberries are very slippery. Slippery blueberries will squish under your feet and make you lose your balance. Falling doesn't hurt. Landing does.

When you get up off the floor, you will turn on the light and see blueberries (and squished blueberries) all over the floor. You'll want to sweep those up so no one else falls. Sweeping up blueberries is very much like herding cats.

Once you get the blueberries into a pile, you'll try to scoop them up. When you scoop them up, blueberries will roll all over the floor again.



I know, the ending needs work. Seriously, though, blueberries are slippery. Also, landing hurts.

Serial Monday - Supes Week 7

Last week's choice was much closer than usual. Usually there is one choice that wins by a landslide, but not this time. Does anyone have comments on why that might be?

Last Week's Choice:

What should Duke do?

Give Summer the journal.                    3 votes (37.5%)

Keep the journal and read more later.   5 votes (62.5%)

Week 6: Week 6

Week 5: Week 5

Week 4: Week 4

Week 3: Week 3

Week 2: Week 2

Week 1: Week 1

Rules: Serial Monday Rules

Supes - Week 7

Duke touched his bag. The flap was still closed. “No, I didn't see you leave anything. Want me to run back down and look?”

“No, that's okay.” Summer bit her lip. “I must have left it in my locker. No big.”

I'm such a jerk. Duke busied himself with the stack of books Summer had given him. I'll give it back to her after I find out what's up with her and Lou.

Duke had just found a relevant case when the bell rang for second period. He wrote down the information then looked up at Summer.

“Are we supposed to have this done by tomorrow?”

Summer shook her head. “Wednesday. We'll have tomorrow in class to finish it. You really don't pay attention in class at all, do you?”

Duke grinned at her. “I was distracted by my neighbor.” His grin widened at her blush. “Want to meet tonight to work on it more?”

Serial Monday - Supes Week 6

Two weeks and a new laptop later, and I am back in business! Thanks for being patient while I got everything straightened out with the laptops.

The poll from last time was:

What should Duke do?
Stop in the bathroom to read the journal   6 votes (85%)
Go to the library                                     1 vote   (14%)

Week 5: Week 5

Week 4: Week 4

Week 3: Week 3

Week 2: Week 2

Week 1: Week 1

Rules: Serial Monday Rules

Supes - Week 6

Dripping water echoed through the room. Walls, floor, sinks, and urinals were all stained the same sickly yellow. Duke wrinkled his nose.

He leaned up against a wall and pulled the journal out of his bag. Duke ignored the smell and the stains as he began to read. The first couple of pages were doodles, lots of hearts and flowers and intertwined initials. Duke skipped over to the first real entry.

            April 19

Nearly got run over by some crazy band chick today. She was sprinting down the hall toward the music room as I came out of Mr. Campbell's room. It was probably mean of me to send a gust of wind after her to blow the papers out of her hands, but seriously, she almost killed me.

On Hold

Until I can get some computer repairs, I'm going to have to put the blog on hold. Hopefully a visit to the Geek Squad (or its equivalent somewhere else) will get everything working again,and I'll be back at the end of the week.

Serial Monday - Supes Week 5

Last week I missed Serial Monday because I was fighting off an epic cold. I'm back to normal again, so Duke's back this week. This is a slightly shorter installment than last time, but I hope to make up for it next week.

Last week's poll:

What should Duke do next?

Talk to the girl now.                          4 (67%)

Wait until after class.                       2 (33%)

Week 4: Week 4
Week 3: Week 3

Week 2: Week 2

Week 1: Week 1

Rules: Serial Monday Rules

Supes - Week 5

Duke waited until Mrs. P. got a couple minutes into her lecture, then he turned to the girl beside him. “Didn’t I see you with Marie earlier?”

The girl glanced at him, rolled her eyes, and went back to her note taking.

Duke gave her a minute to finish the page, then he tried again. “So what’s this class all about?”

The girl sighed. “Pay attention and you’ll find out.” She turned the page in her notebook and made a point to look anywhere but at Duke.

Not exactly the warmest welcome he’d had all day, but it wasn’t the worst either.

Reference Book Rehash - Weeks 3, 4, and 5 (WGBfYA)

Author: Regina Brooks
Title: Writing Great Books for Young Adults

I’m a bit behind in my Reference Book Rehash – this is why I needed to have the rehash in the first place – so I’m combining weeks three, four, and five in this one post.

Chapter Three of Writing Great Books for Young Adults is a short chapter on character. Once again, Ms. Brooks runs through several exercises that evoke teenage emotions and help us choose which character is the best one for our story. By the end of the chapter we’ve got a main character who is three-dimensional and imbued with all those emotions we dredged up in the last chapter. The most important thing I took from the chapter was a reminder to always keep your character’s motivation in the front of your mind and to make sure he acts accordingly. That motivation should be clear to the reader so she’ll care about the character and not lose interest.

Now that we have the character in mind, the next two chapters deal with the plot of our story. Chapter Four deals with several different types of plots. Ms. Brooks lays out the structure of a plot, fleshing out Freytag’s pyramid. She works through it clearly, explaining the action at each step. I especially liked the descriptions of the different types of denouement – I’m a firm believer that the wrong ending can ruin a great story.

Chapter Five is all about building the plot of the story. It is so packed with information that a summary might be as long as the chapter itself. Ms. Brooks gives a rundown of plot faults and ten factors to help determine if the plot works. I’ll definitely be revisiting this chapter when I’m struggling with types of conflict or a plot that I just can’t figure out.

How do you build your plot? Does it revolve around your character’s motivation?



More Details
Week 1
Week 2

Serial Monday - Supes Week 4

Last week's poll:

What should Duke do next?

Go see Mrs. P. in Philosophy.                          1 (10%)

See if he can hear what's going on in this room. 9 (90%)

Last week: Week 3

Week 2: Week 2

Week 1: Week 1

Rules: Serial Monday Rules

Supes - Week 4

After a quick glance up and down the hall to be sure no one would catch him eavesdropping, Duke moved closer to the door. A clear, lilting soprano drew him forward. The pull was almost physical, a siren’s call. He didn’t stop until his toes bumped the door. It was all Duke could do to keep from yanking open the door to follow the voice. He forced himself to look in the narrow window instead.

A petite blonde stood in front of the teacher’s desk, twirling the end of one pigtail as she sang. The teacher’s eyes were buggy behind his glasses. He stared blankly at the girl, nodding like a bobblehead.

The corners of the girl’s mouth tipped up, but she kept singing. She stopped twirling her pigtail long enough to pick up a mug from the teacher’s desk. The teacher reached out with both hands, palms up as if in supplication.