Shirley Marr on Countdown to Yesterday

Posted on July 31, 2024July 20, 2024 by Alphabet Soup

Shirley Marr is an award-winning author and first generation Chinese-Australian living in sunny Perth. Shirley describes herself as having a Western Mind and an Eastern Heart and writes in the middle where both collide. She bases her stories on her own personal experiences of migration and growing up in Australia. Today we’re chatting to Shirley about her novel Countdown to Yesterday.

The cover of a children's novel: Countdown to Yesterday by Shirley Marr

Image shows a photo of author Shirley Marr, a first generation Chinese-Australian. Shirley has short brown hair and bright red lipstick. She's wearing a white button-through shirt with a black bow feature, and a leopard skin print skirt. She's sitting with her hands in her lap.

From the publisher:

James wishes he could go back in time. Back to when his mum and dad were together, when he had one home, when his family laughed and climbed hills and went to the movies. After meeting the enigmatic Yan, a girl who looks at the world differently, James discovers time travel might not be impossible after all. But if James can live forever in one of his six favourite memories, which one will he choose?

Can you tell us how you choose a title for your books?

Sometimes the title is the very first thing that I come with, but with Countdown to Yesterday, the quest to find the perfect title was a very long and drawn-out process that ended up involving my literary agent, my Australian, UK and US editors! I guess trying to find something clever, that also summed up all the big ideas in the book, was quite tricky. My working title was Tin Foil Tin Machine and other suggestions (among many more) included The Yesterday Machine, My Life in Six Memories, See You Yesterday, If We Go Back, Ground Control to Major Tom and My Favourite Yesterdays. I am interested in what the readers think of these alternatives!

If someone turned up with a time machine and offered to send you back in time … would you decide to go?

I don’t think I would try and go back to change anything, even the very worst of my memories, in case it changes the life I am living today. Right now, I am a full-time author who gets to write every single day and I feel I’m living my best life. Even though it took a long and hard time for me to get to this position. If I had a chance though, to be part of the audience at the very last Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars concert, I would definitely say yes! I would just watch very enthusiastically and be very careful not to do anything to affect history.

What’s your favourite cake in the Women’s Weekly Birthday Cake Book? (Have you ever had it for your birthday cake?)

That is the hardest question because I love them all. I’d have to say that like James in my book, I think the rocket cake is the best. I have never had it for my birthday, but I am hoping someone will bake it for my birthday next year.

Can you tell us a bit about what you’re working on next?

I am hoping that I can go back to Christmas Island either this year or the next. I grew up there as a child before arriving to Perth on the mainland and I would love to write an authentic and unique middle grade about the jungles, the basalt cliffs and the unique birdlife. I think the way that the red crabs migrate down to the beaches each year is a beautiful analogy for human migration.

Could you suggest a word prompt for young writers wanting to start a new story?

How about the word TIME?

Countdown to Yesterday is out now! Ask for it at your favourite bookshop or local library.

AWESOME EXTRAS

Read the first chapter of Countdown to Yesterday

Read a review of the book by Gabriel, age 13

Download a Countdown to Yesterday Word Search

Download the Teachers’ Notes for this book

Visit Shirley Marr’s website for more about her and her books

authors, interviews, poetry

Deborah Abela on The Kindness Project

Posted on July 24, 2024July 24, 2024 by Alphabet Soup

Deborah Abela with copies of The Kindness Project

Deborah Abela is an award-winning author and trained as a teacher before becoming writer/producer of a national children’s TV show. She has since written 30 internationally published and awarded books, including the Max Remy series, her climate change trilogy – Grimsdon, New City and Final Storm – and The Stupendously Spectacular Spelling Bee. The Book of Wondrous Possibilities is about the power of books to save us when we feel lost. Today we’re thrilled to host Deborah to talk about her latest book: The Kindness Project.

From the publisher:

Her teacher, Ms Skye, thinks kids can change the world with a Kindness Project. Nicolette wants to but how can she when Layla treats her like she’s invisible and DJ picks on everything she says? Leaf thinks Nicolette can be a superhero. So maybe if they work together they just might do it …

You’ve written 25 novels – what led you to write this one as a verse novel?

I’ve LOVED verse novels for so long. They’re like a regular novel, but instead of chapters there are verses. This means they have to get to the point very quickly, so they’re often real page-turners. I also LOVED playing with the look of the words on the page, so if something is

BIG

I wanted the word to look big. Same if a character felt scared or lonely. That was fun.

Did you need to learn any new skills before you started writing a novel in verse?

The big skill was learning how to tell a big story with not so many words. That meant I had to concentrate really hard on finding the exact word for everything that happened.

How did you feel about group projects when you were at school?

That depended on who was in my group. If I was with my friends, it was fun, but sometimes I had to be in a group with people I didn’t know, and that was hard, but if we were excited about the project, it worked out really well! So when Ms Skye puts Nicolette into a group with kids who don’t like her, I totally understand why she’s nervous.

Do you have a writing tip for kids who would like to try their hand at writing a verse novel?

Think about a something that has happened to you that made you feel happy or nervous or excited. eg auditioning for a play, getting your first pet, the soccer grand final. Tell that story, including how you felt, but only writing a few words per line. Include only the really important parts of that story. When you’re happy, look at the verse and see which words you can make look like their meaning. Here’s an example from pages 16 and 17. in The Kindness Project.

Page 16 from the novel The Kindness Project by Deborah Abela.

Page 17 from The Kindness Project by Deborah Abela — [Pages 16 & 17 from The Kindness Project]

What’s next for Deborah Abela?

I am working on two junior fiction ideas and a middle grade novel, but I have a new picture book coming out in February 2025 called No More Room in the Bed. It’s about a dark and stormy night and a bed that becomes full of frightened creatures who all want to squeeze in beside Dad. Until it all becomes too much!

The Kindness Project is out now! Ask for it at your favourite bookshop or your local library.

AWESOME EXTRAS:

Take a peek inside the book

Read some more writing tips from Deborah Abela

Download the Teachers’ Notes for The Kindness Project

Visit Deborah Abela’s website for more about her and her books

Cover of a children's novel: The Kindness Project by Deborah Abela

authors, interviews

Kristy Nita Brown on Where’s My Whistle?

Posted on December 19, 2023August 27, 2024 by Alphabet Soup

MEET THE AUTHOR

Kristy Nita Brown is a Western Australian author, writing junior fiction books and delivering creative writing, independent publishing and film making workshops at libraries and schools. Today we’re pleased to be chatting to Kristy about the first book in her Mavey and Beth’s Double Act series: Where’s My Whistle?, illustrated by Alison Mutton.

A children's book with twin girls on the cover.

The author provided Alphabet Soup with a reading copy of Where’s My Whistle?

About the book:

The Year Two song has whistling in it, and Mavey can’t whistle. To make matters worse, Mavey’s twin sister Beth has a mighty whistle. Terrified her classmates will laugh at her, Mavey and her family devise a plan to get Mavey whistling. Will Mavey learn how to whistle in time for the big concert? Or will Mavey’s toot stay mute?

First things first: can you whistle?

I can whistle. I remember my dad showing me how to whistle. We lived in the bush, so I had plenty of long car rides to practise. But Mavey and Beth’s Double Act: Where’s My Whistle? isn’t about me. It’s based on my eight-year-old daughter who can’t whistle. When she found out she was the only kid in her class that couldn’t do it, she was very upset. Together we searched the Internet for different ways to whistle. Do you know some adults can’t whistle too?

The book includes some interesting facts about whistling – did you write the storyline first or did all those whistling facts give you the idea for the story?

At the back of the book I included facts about whistling, a pan flute activity and the Skipping Song to play on the recorder. These came last. The story came first, from watching my daughter struggle with the feelings that come along with being unable to do something your friends can.

We learn that Mavey’s favourite subject at school is Music. What was your favourite subject when you were at school?

Music was one of my favourite subjects growing up because I played the flute. Every Saturday, I went to flute lessons at the Fremantle Music School. Then, on some Sundays, I performed with other kids in a small ensemble. My best friend at primary school also played the piano. We both loved music together. In high school, my favourite subject was small business. Because I sold lollies and washed the teacher’s cars, and made lots of money!

Do you have a tip for young writers who’d like to try writing their own chapter book?

My tip for young writers is to read as many books as you can that are similar to what you want to write. Then pick your favourite and follow the structure as you write your own story. Most chapter books have a similar number of chapters and word count. Usually, something happens in each chapter to move the story forward. At the end, the story is resolved in a way that the person reading it learns something, or feels good. Hopefully, following this structure will help a young writer get to the end, because I think finishing the story is the hardest part.

What’s next for Mavey & Beth?

I’m toying with a couple of ideas for the next Mavey and Beth book. I know the cover will be green and blue. I can picture the twins on the cover. But I’m not sure if the story will be about Mavey getting her ears pierced, a birthday party mishap, or a swimming lesson disaster. What do you think?

Where’s My Whistle is out now! Find a list of stockists at the author’s website.

AWESOME EXTRAS

Watch the book trailer for Where’s My Whistle? [YouTube]

Visit the author’s website for more about Kristy and her books

Visit the illustrator’s website for more about Allison and her books

Book reviews by kids, Glenridge Elementary School

Book review: Isadora Moon Goes to School

Posted on February 25, 2022February 16, 2022 by Alphabet Soup

Image shows the cover of a children's book: Isadora Moon Goes to School by Harriet Muncaster. The cover illustration shows a black sky full of stars with a white full moon at the centre of the cover. Moving across the moon is a child with bat wings, a fairy wand, a yellow dress, black-and-white striped tights and black hair blowing behind her. She has fangs. Ahead of her is a pink rabbit.

REVIEWED BY ARIELLA, SECOND GRADE, MISSOURI, USA

Isadora Moon Goes to School by Harriet Muncaster, Random House Books for Young Readers, ISBN 9780399558238

Ariella reviewed her own copy of this book.

Have you ever read Isadora Moon Goes to School? I think you should read it because it is about a girl who is half fairy and half vampire. So when she goes to fairy school she can not wear black. But at vampire school she can’t whoosh when she is flying; she flaps. So she goes to another school …

Do you want a cool book? This is the best one for you. One reason I love this book is because being half fairy half vampire is awesome and having a living stuffed animal is great. Another reason I like this book is because Isadora can be a good friend. For example, because she is half fairy and half vampire she can be friends with both fairies and vampires. I also think you should read this book because it is funny because Isadora has 2 breakfasts and is so full.

I hope you can get this book right away. I hope you like it!

Second grade students at Glenridge Elementary School (Missouri, USA) are guest reviewers at Alphabet Soup. Click here if you’d like to read more book reviews by Glenridge Elementary School. To send us YOUR book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!