One of my favorite things to do is sit down somewh...

2007-03-20T20:03:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things to do is sit down somewhere with a good book and lose myself for a few hours. This list is by no means complete, so please feel free to email me with recommendations for books that you don’t see listed here.

Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander
Tithe by Holly Black
The Hanged Man by Francesca Lia Block
In a Dark Wood by Michael Cadnum
The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
The Dark is Rising (series) by Susan Cooper
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
Catherine Called Birdy by Karen Cushman
Matilda by Roald Dahl
A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind by Suzanne Fisher Staples
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Looking for Alaska by John Green
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: A Novel by Mark Haddon
Godless by Pete Hautman
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
That Was Then, This Is Now by S.E. Hinton
The Canning Season by Polly Horvath
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Wicked by Gregory Maguire
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire
Sloppy Firsts: A Novel by Megan McCafferty
The Song of the Basilisk by Patricia McKillip
Winter Rose by Patricia McKillip
The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley
The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley
Beauty by Robin McKinley
Monster by Walter Dean Myers
The Language of the Goldfish by Zibby O’Neal
In Summer Light by Zibby O’Neal
Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson
The Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
His Dark Materials Series by Phillip Pullman
Shadow Falls by Amy Kathleen Ryan
Harry Potter (series) by J.K. Rowling
Holes by Louis Sacher
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb
Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

These are a few writing exercises that always seem to produce great results with my classes.

1. Good stories often begin with a great first line. Here are some examples:

• “All children, except one, grow up.” J.M. Barrie,  Peter Pan

• “It’s a funny thing about mothers and fathers. Even when their own child is the most disgusting little blister you could ever imagine, they still think that he or she is wonderful.” Roald Dahl, Matilda

• "By our second day at Camp Crescendo, the girls in my Brownie troop had decided to kick the asses of each and every girl in Brownie Troop 909." Z.Z. Packer, Brownies

Spend ten minutes brainstorming the best, most intriguing opening lines that you can. Then pick your favorite and run with it.

2. Follow these lines and see where they take you:

“If I could tell you just one thing about that night . . .”
“The only thing that really scares me anymore is . . .”
“The first time I learned I really couldn’t fly was when . . . ”

3. Write a description of a room that stands out in your memory. It can your grandmother's kitchen or your first bedroom before you moved all the way across the country. Now look back on that room and re-describe the place. You can use any and all sensory descriptions but sight: you can describe what it feels like, sounds like, smells like and even tastes like. Try to write the description in such a way that people will not miss the visual details.

4. Pick your favorite fairytale. It can be something well known or something more obscure. Then choose someone who is not the main character in the story and retell the story from his or her point of view.

5. If you are working on a piece now, write a letter to your main character from another character in your story. What does this second character really want your protagonist to know?

Carolyn MacCullough- Readers and Writers

One of my favorite things to do is sit down somewh...