#50 - A Conversation with Cordelia Jensen & Laurie Morrison

Intro

 

Hi everyone and welcome to Books Between - a podcast to help teachers, parents, and librarians connect kids between 8-12 to books they’ll love.  I’m your host, Corrina Allen - a 5th grade teacher, a mom of two girls, and a new aunt!! A few weeks ago, my brother and his wife had a beautiful baby girl they named Nora and has been so wonderful to have a baby in the family again!

 

This is Episode #50 and today I am sharing with you a conversation with Laurie Morrison and Cordelia Jensen - authors of  Every Shiny Thing   

 

But first I am excited to tell you that today’s episode is sponsored by MoxieReader - a literacy app that’s like a fitness tracker for your reading life. It gives teachers insights into their students’ reading, customized recommendations, and a way for kids to set and work toward their own reading goals in a way that is engaging and fun. My 5th graders and I have been trying it out over the past couple of weeks and they really, really loved it!  They had armfuls of books they were excited to scan in and share with each other. I really feel like the end of the year is the perfect time to try something new that will energize your class and launch them into a summer full of reading. So head over to MoxieReader.com and try out their $7 for 3 months special by using the code welovereading!

A few announcements to pass along! The Twitter chat for  Every Shiny Thing will be on Monday, June 5th at 8pm EST using #MGBookClub.

There is also a fantastic educator’s guide available for the novel and a Flipgrid for the book where you can watch videos of Laurie and Cordelia and submit your own to ask questions about the book!

Our next Middle Grade at Heart book club picks are The Mad Wolf’s Daughter in June, Just Under the Clouds in July, and Where the Watermelons Grow in August.

 

Also - Ann Braden and Jarrett Lerner have teamed up with some other educators to launch the #KidsNeedMentors project to connect authors with classrooms through book deliveries, postcard exchanges, Skype visits and lots more exciting things.

 

A quick reminder that the outline of today’s interview and links to every book we chat about along with other awesome middle grade content can be found right at MGBookVillage.org.

Cordelia Jensen & Laurie Morrison - Interview Outline

 

Our special guests this week are Cordelia Jensen and Laurie Morrison - authors of the newly released middle grade novel  Every Shiny Thing .

 

Take a listen...

 

Every Shiny Thing

 

Let’s start with introductions -

Can you take a moment to tell us about yourself?

 

How did you two meet and decide to collaborate on this book?

 

Tell us about Every Shiny Thing!

Let’s talk about Lauren first since we meet her character first - as she is thinking about saying goodbye to her brother Ryan as her family is leaving him off at a therapeutic school for kids with autism. And we learn right away how upset Lauren feels about this.

Laurie - can you talk a bit about any experiences you had or research you did to write your part of the novel?

One of the things that’s been on my mind lately as a teacher and as someone who is always searching for books that are mirrors for children’s own lives is the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences. And oh does Sierra have so many of those - her mother is an alcoholic, her father is in jail, and she is living with a foster family.

Cordelia - how did Sierra’s character first come to you and how did you find that balance between her vulnerability and her resilience?

There are two images in Sierra’s section of the novel that are so powerful to me - the kaleidoscope and the garden. That symbolism of Sierra’s and Lauren’s and all of our lives fragmenting and reflecting and then cycling back together….

Can you talk a bit about those parts of your novel and how you came to include them in Sierra’s story?

 

One part of Every Shiny Thing that fascinated me was the Quaker school that the girls attend! And the Quaker values they study - can you talk a little but about that aspect of the book?

I really noticed how much of school life your novel got right.

Did that come from your own experiences as educators or did you do some research for that aspect of the book?

 

Let’s talk about the ending!! (I’ll cut this section of the interview and put it after the credits to avoid spoilers.)

Was the ending of the book different than how you first envisioned it?

 

Your Writing Life

What was your collaboration process like for writing Every Shiny Thing? Did you meet in person or do most of your work online?

 

What’s next for each of you?

Your Reading Life

 

Was there an adult in your life who made you the reader you are today?

 

What have you been reading lately?

 

Thank You!

Links:

 

Cordelia Jensen’s website - http://www.cordeliajensen.com
Laurie Morrison’s website - https://lauriemorrisonwrites.com

Cordelia on Twitter and Instagram

Laurie on Twitter and Instagram

Good Morning Sunshine Breakfast Cookies

Cranberry Orange Scones

 

Books & Authors We Chatted About:

 

NeuroTribes (Steve Silberman)

You Go First (Erin Entrada Kelly)

Star Crossed (Barbara Dee)

The Female Persuasion (Meg Wolitzer)

Well That Was Awkward (Rachel Vail)

The Science of Breakable Things (Tae Keller)

The Girl With Two Hearts

Dumplin (Julie Murphy)

One for the Murphys (Lynda Mullaly Hunt)

Forget Me Not (Ellie Terry)

Closing

 

Alright, that wraps up our show this week!  And thanks again to MoxieReader for supporting the podcast this month - definitely check out their website for an engaging way for your students to build their reading resume.

If you have a question about how to connect kids between 8-12 to books they’ll love or a suggestion about a topic we should cover, I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] or message me on Twitter/Instagram at the handle @Books_Between.

Books Between is a proud member of the Education Podcast Network. This network features podcasts for educators, created by educators. For more great content visit edupodcastnetwork.com

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Thanks and see you soon!  Bye!