At last weekend’s SCBWI retreat, 4 editors imparted useful information–and shared book titles they love–Picture Books (PB), Middle Grade (MG), Non-Fiction (NF) and Young Adult (Y the effing heck A). I know what the abbreviations mean. YOU know what they mean. But, you know, my mom doesn’t, so…

Luckily I was able to decipher my own handwriting:

Charles and Emma: The Darwin’s Leap of Faith, Deborah Heiligman (MG and up)

Watership Down, Richard Adams (someone was having a delightful re-read)

Anything by MG author Sharon Creech, especially Walk Two Moons

Anything by Gary Schmidt, especially Okay for Now

One is a Feast for Mouse, Judy Cox (PB touted for having a gratifying story arc)

One Beetle Too Many, Kathryn Lasky (PB NF-ish–more Darwin)

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, Jacqueline Kelly (MG award winner, w/grasshoppers)

Shadow and Bone, Leigh Bardugo (YA–first of a forthcoming trilogy)

For the editors (Candlewick, Simon & Schuster, Houghton Mifflin etc., Henry Holt) these books are NOT too quiet, contain irresistible hooks that draw the reader in, have characters with distinct voices and——-

Maxed out on last weekend. Was all good, nice to be hosted by cheerful friars who dined with us (their steamed vegetables were delicious–but were they organic???) and meet so many writers, but brain (such as it is) must rest. Will read Proust to knock brain out. And here is a picture of a grasshopper.