Mary Pope Osborne Blog Tour

Mary Pope Osborne, author of the bestselling Magic Tree House series, is heading out on a blog tour. She is most known for her Magic Tree House books, which are the stories of a brother/sister team, Jack and Annie who travel all across the world, through time, to explore, solve mysteries, and discover new things. The books are favorites of early readers, and are perfect for beginning chapter books. This winter, the Magic Tree House musical will begin its tour through the US. For more information on that, visit http://www.mthmusical.com/.

Below is a list of the blogs that will be featuring interviews with Mary during the following week. Mine airs the 17th! :D Yes, I got to interview her. My dream come true. Wow!
So please check out all of these amazing links and stay tuned for Wednesday!

Monday 12/15: Big A little a, http://kidslitinformation.blogspot.com/

Tuesday 12/16: The Reading Zone, http://thereadingzone.wordpress.com/

Wednesday 12/17: Fields of Gold, http://somethingkind.blogspot.com/

Thursday 12/18: The Page Flipper, http://thepageflipper.blogspot.com/

Friday 12/19: The Well- Read Child, http://wellreadchild.blogspot.com/

Boise State Broncos 2008

Talk about another amazing football season. They won all twelve of their games and proudly wear the title of UNDEFEATED! :D Sadly, my favorite player (Ian Johnson, number 41) is graduating, so this was his last season. SNIFF



GO BRONCOS!!


Coming up on my blog:
Review of the amazing book Necessary Heartbreak by M.J. Sullivan.
Update on my plays Dragonsong and Secret Garden (closing night tonight!)
Unbelievable news concerning Mary Pope Osbourne

Happy Thanksgiving!

The past couple years have been pretty rough on me and my family with all the changes in our life, but through it all God has been there. We never thought that on this day, we would be celebrating Thanksgiving with old friends, in our brand new house, for the first time. I am thankful to God for his ultimate plan for every single one of use and his continuing surprises in my life.

I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Heroes of Faith

by Edgar De Witt Jones

By faith the voyaging Mayflower embarked
from Old England and found harbor off the
bleak New England shores.

By faith the Pilgrim Fathers set up a government
on a new continent dedicated to God and
inspired by a desire to do his will on earth as it is
done in heaven.

By faith Thomas Jefferson was stirred to strike a
blow for political independence and wrote the
thrilling document that declared that all men are
created equal and endowed with certain
inalienable rights.

By faith he said, "Love your neighbor as
yourself and your country more than yourself."

By faith George Washington left his spacious
mansion at Mount Vernon and espoused the
cause of the tax-burdened colonists.

By faith he forsook ease and comfort, choosing
rather to suffer hardship with his men at Valley
Forge than to enjoy the favor of a king.

By faith he became the President of the newly
born republic and endured as seeing Him who is
invisible.

By faith Alexander Hamilton established the
financial credit of the nation. In the eloquent
words of Daniel Webster: "He touched the
corpse of public credit and it sprang into life.
He smote the rock of national resources and
abundant streams of revenue flowed."

By faith James Madison gave richly of his
scholarly mind to form the Federal Constitution.

By faith Andrew Jackson fought the battle of the
impoverished and underprivileged many against
the privileged few.

By faith Abraham Lincoln bore the awful burden
of four purgatorial years seeking to preserve the
Federal Union.

By faith he carried a dreadful war to its
conclusion without hate in his heart, saying, "I
have not only suffered for the South, I have
suffered with the South."

By faith Woodrow Wilson in the dreadful
heartbreak of a world war dreamed a dream of a
war less world in which the nations should be
leagued together to keep the peace.

By faith he glimpsed that promised land which,
like Moses, he might not enter. And what shall I more say?

For time would fail me if I should tell of that unnumbered host,
the unnamed and obscure citizens who bore
unimagined burdens, sacrificed in silence and
endured nobly, that a government of the people,
for the people, and by the people might not
perish from the earth.

My Hero: Mary Pope Osborne

As long as I can remember, I have always enjoyed reading. There was a moment though, when the enjoyment became a love. This was after I was introduced to the Magic Tree House series. I was hooked. I proceeded to buy every one of Jack and Annie's adventures and was at the bookstore the second it opened whenever a new book came out. I wrote my own adventures for the brother and sister team, and I decided that when I grew up my home school curriculum would be based around every single one of those books. Years later, I still love their adventures and am still buying and reading them. The Magic Tree House series inspired me to expand my reading to all types of amazing stories and characters.

I will always remember those stories though, and how I wanted to be with Jack and Annie so bad. Mary Pope Osborne is my hero because she introduced me into a world of amazement and possibility through her books. I don't know of any author who has developed their stories as much as she and her husband have. They are creating research guides for all the books they've written and there are countless learning programs out there, even a broadway musical is going on tour now. Her dedication is my inspiration.

One of my goals in life is to interview her or even just meet her. I've started e-mailing some people to see if it's possible, but things haven't really worked out. I'm just going to keep trying though!

I love you Mary Pope Osborne!

Poem and Elections!

With the elections coming up I thought that I would post my opinion here and include a poem I wrote about abortion. First though, I just want to say that please read this bearing in mind I don't mean to offend anyone by this post and firmly believe everyone is entitled to their own opinion and reasons. Ultimately we are all fighting for the same thing...

I am a republican and so naturally go for John McCain, but this year neither of these presidential candidates have impressed me. The reason McCain is ahead in my books though, is because of his fights against abortion.

ABORTION. This subject is very personal to me. I was adopted the day after I was born. I recently asked my mom if she knew my biological mom's opinion on abortion. I learned that she wasn't too keen on it, but was being pressured a lot and if not for her pastor, who came and reeled her in, anything could have happened.

Tick Tock
by Traci

Hurry, the more time it takes
the more guilt I will feel.

Hurry, I don't want it any older!

Hurry, I can't bear to see it,
I would never be able to get through this.

Hurry, I feel like a murderer.

You are one and the same...

Slowdown, it doesn't matter if I'm one day old
or one week in the womb,
you will still be killing me.

Slowdown, I want to live.

Slowdown, if you could just see
how much we need each other.

Mother, you are killing me.
You and only you are my murderer.

Cybils Nominations

Go, go, go, HERE and see all the books that have been nominated for Cybils this year.
Below are some of the books I was thrilled to see on the lists:

Fantasy and Science Fiction (Middle Grade):
Fablehaven: Grip of the Shadow Plague by Brandon Mull
Out of the Wild by Sarah Beth Durst
Sisters of the Sword by Maya Snow ( see review here)
Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire by Derek Landy ( i love this book so much! see review here.)
Well Witched by Frances Hardinge ( I kind of thought this was nominated last year, but maybe I'm mistaken... see review here)

Fantasy and Science Fiction (Young Adult):
Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

Graphic Novels (Elementary/Middle Grade):
Babymouse #9: Monster Mash ( I actually haven't read this yet, but Babymouse rules!)

Graphic Novels (Young Adult):
Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon and Dean Hale, Illustrated by Nathan Hale
( This book is ALL THE WAY AMAZING)

Middle Grade Novels:
Bringing the Boy Home by N. A. Nelson ( see review here and author interview here)
Eve of the Emperor Penguin by Mary Pope Osborne ( watch for a post later on how this author is my hero..)
The Life and Crimes of Bernetta Wallflower by Lisa Graff

Young Adult Novels:
The Patron Saint of Butterflies by Cecilia Galante ( amazing book. see review here)
Redheaded Princess by Ann Rinaldi

Tablework for Dragonsong

I recently auditioned for the play DRAGONSONG based off the book by Anne McCaffrey. I was given the role of a dragon puppeteer. Basically I am responsibility ( with 3 other kids) for making a massive (40 foot) dragon head come alive on stage. More on that in a later post.

Dragonsong is basically a story set in the land of Pern about a young girl who loves to sing and play music and a boy who wants to be a dragonrider. Unfortunately their town's customs forbid these things and they must find a way to fulfill their wishes and dreams even it involves taking drastic measures. Just a wonderful, cute, little coming of age story.
Anyways, last night we had rehearsal and for three hours we did tablework. When the director said we were doing this, my response was, "say what?". I had no clue what it was. He went on to explain that it is getting to know the setting/environment/heritage, etc of our play. So, we talked about the land of Pern and why it was created and for what reasons. We discussed the significance of each scene and what the characters were feeling and how what they did was important and the certain elements we needed to make sure the audience got when watching this performance. For example, here is the first line in the play. We read it and then came up with the following things.

CAPTAIN: Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We are about to land on the planet of Pern. Please make sure your seat belts are securely fastened and your anti-gravity force field is turned to the positive position. You will notice the two escape hatches on either side of the cabin, marked with the old-fashioned word "exit". If there is an emergency landing of any kind, please proceed calmly to the exit hatch nearest you and descend to the ground outside the spaceship. We are now ready for maneuvers. Please stand by...

1. these people are leaving earth
2. why? because of a war (we found this out through some books the assistant director brought)
3. what is Pern? a planet of refuge, a dwelling place that eventually turns into a permanent home for harpers (singers), dragon riders, dragons, fire lizards, fisherman, people of all ages, etc.

So there you have it. Tablework. It was very interesting to go through this process because it was just a time to sit down and think about the play and imagine how it would be on stage and to really get into character. In all of the other plays I've been in the director(s) have just jumped right into blocking and rehearsals and leave the characters and research to the actors and actresses at home. So, it was great and I'm looking forward to what my director has in store for us next....

Here are some great links:
The Worlds of Anne McCaffrey
Book Review of Dragonsong by Emily