Oregon Book Awards!

I'm over the moon today about the announcement that Hannah and Sugar is a finalist for the Eloise Jarvis Macgraw Award for Children's Literature, a Literary Arts Oregon Book Award. This is such an honor! There's something really special about being recognized in this state I have chosen to make my home. I love Oregon and am proud to be called an Oregon author. I put a lot of work over many, many years into making this book and it's a sweet feeling to know my story connected to people. It's nice to have a little outside reassurance that those insistent and insecure voices in my head were wrong all those years - thank goodness I didn't listen to them!

I hope you'll take the time to go to the Literary Arts website to view all the categories and the beautiful books nominated - including my good friend Martha Grover's book The End of My Career. Congratulations, Martha!!! This is so well deserved!


The other finalists for the Children's Literature Award are:
Cathy Camper for Lowriders to the Center of the Earth


Deborah Hopkinson for Steamboat School


Kathleen Lane for The Best Worst Thing


Cynthia Rylant for The Otter


What fantastic books! I'll be heading the the library soon so I can read them all. (Personally I think we each should win an award since all of the books fall into different categories. Hannah and Sugar, of course, is a picture book and then we have a graphic novel, a historical fiction picture book, a middle reader and a chapter book.)

Many thanks to Literary Arts for this recognition. I am very grateful!

Reviews!

The fabulous Martha Grover wrote a great zine review for Tater Totter over here:
http://somnambulistzine.blogspot.com/2013/06/writing-monday-6-10-13.html

AND the folks at http://totalwomenscycling.com included my lady bicyclist cards in their list of 6 of the best bicycling note cards:

http://totalwomenscycling.com/featured-article/cycle-style-6-of-the-best-bicycle-note-cards-5300/

Hooray and thank you Kirsty Medlock and Martha Grover!!

Martha Grover at the Blue Monk

Last night I went to see my friend Martha give a reading at the Blue Monk.  Here's a little sketch I made of the musical act in between readers.  

Martha read a piece she wrote about her recent appendectomy.  You can read the full piece here: The Full Appendix.  I recommend that you do.  I love her writing - it's so vulnerable that it's a little uncomfortable to read, but in the best, most moving sort of way.  It's gorgeous stuff.  She inspires me to be more brave.  Thanks Martha!

Somnambulist #20

I'm designing the cover for Martha Grover's next issue of Somnambulist.  Here's some thai basil that was drawn along the way.  It got me thinking about Ellsworth Kelly's fabulous plant drawings.  Don't you just love those?!