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CHILDREN'S/YA
Sponsored by First Interstate Bank and the First Interstate Bank Foundation
Gary Schmidt: A Craftsman at Work
Gary Schmidt’s meticulous approach to writing for kids puts to shame anyone who thinks it’s easy. The Wednesday Wars, Schmidt’s 2008 Newbery Honor book, unfolds during the 1967-68 school year in suburban Long Island (Schmidt grew up in Hicksville, Long Island). To ensure authenticity, Schmidt read the New York Times from September 1, 1967 to June 30, 1968. The tumult of the year – the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Bobby Kennedy, the anti-war movement and the Vietnam war – provide a rich backdrop and contribute to the plot. Holling Hoodhood, the book’s protagonist, follows the New York Mets and struggles with Shakespeare assignments.
Schmidt’s editor described The Wednesday Wars as a comedy about serious things. Its tone is different than his earlier Newbery Honor and Printz Honor book, Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy. Set in Maine in 1912, it focuses on small-town reaction to the friendship between a minister’s son and a girl descended from slaves.
Schmidt writes picture books, folk tales, textbooks and adult spiritual books. He is mindful of his responsibilities. In a 2007 interview, Schmidt said his Newbery Honor awards haven’t changed his routine, but have given him, “this stronger sense that I better not mess around, that I’ve got some responsibilities to my audience, and I need to take that responsibility very, very seriously because what I want to talk to them about are things like hope, and community, and you can’t be screwing around when you’re talking to kids about hope.”
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Nancy Hull, who teaches at Calvin College with Gary Schmidt, will talk about her debut historical novel, On Rough Seas, set in World War II England. Alec and his cousin cling to their capsized boat in the English Channel, but the younger boy loses his grip and disappears. Alec must deal with the consequences of taking the skiff against his father’s wishes.
Obert Skye will bring his humor, fantasy, and edge-of-your-seat writing. Leven Thumps and the Wrath of Ezra will be published shortly before the festival. Elaine Alphin’s fiction is also captivating.
Award-winning illustrators Don Montileaux, S.D. Nelson, Carolyn Digby Conahan, and Susan Turnbull will present. Montileaux and Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve will discuss “Lakota Stories for Children.”
Jessica Anderson, a writing instructor for the Institute of Children’s Literature, writes for magazines, anthologies, and has three books to her credit. Jill Esbaum, Linda Skeers and South Dakota writing duo Mark Meierhenry and David Volk will share their children’s books.