R.I.P. George Edward Stanley
Sad news landed in our e-mail box this morning.
Renowned children’s author George Edward Stanley died on February 7.
Dr. Stanley thrilled young readers for decades. He authored more than 100 books for children and young adults; and he did this after he had written more than 200 short stories in American, British, Irish, and South African magazines and linguistic articles in major International journals.
Dr. Stanley was a professor of African and Middle-Eastern languages and linguistics in the Department of Foreign Languages at Cameron University. At one time or another he had taught all the Germanic and Romance languages, in addition to African and Middle-Eastern languages.
His many recognitions include Cameron’s most prestigious teaching award, The Hackler Award for Teaching Excellence, and the Cameron Alumni Association Faculty Hall of Fame. He received the Oklahoma Book Award in 2010 for his young adult novel, Night Fires.
He wrote under his own name, and under a variety of psudonyms, including M.T. Coffin for his popular Spinetingler series, and Laura Lee Hope for his Bobbsey Twins mysteries.
The George Edward Stanley Papers are housed at the University of Southern Mississippi’s de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection.
You will be missed, kind sir.
Memorials may be made to the Cameron University Foreign Languages Department.
YA/Teen book reader alert: High Before Homeroom
I see from the comments when we talk about Young Adult/Teen books that there is a significant group reading these books. So I have one for you and we can meet back in about a week and discuss your thoughts.
Native Oklahoman, Maya Sloan has written her first novel, High Before Homeroom. It’s based on those frustrating hormone releasing, crummy job, mom making you crazy, sibling rivalry, teen angst years. 
Not to mention all the school drama, and who doesn’t want to be one of the cool kids, if only to impress your girl. I really think it’s a good one that would appeal to male as well as female readers. I’m not quite done with mine. So far it’s LOL funny, but it tackles some serious issues.
Will finish during my “snow day” tomorrow, and see you back sometime at the first of next week for your take. So especially you CYA book bloggers, give this Okie author your best shot.
What do you think about the book trailer?
Love the “tat”, perfect for an Oklahoma author reading binge.
Cheyenne Madonna by Eddie Chuculate
I don’t usually like collections of short stories, but Eddie Chuculate’s book Cheyenne Madonna could change my mind. He uses the short story as the narrative of Jordan Coolwater’s life. A life of artistic talent and too much alcohol. “You can trace the progression of alcoholism in my family like a flying arrow and I’m the bull’s-eye.” Dear Shorty centers on his relationship with his father, and the tragedy of alcoholism, as they become more drinking partners than father/son.
The stories begin before his birth, with Old Bull, a Cheyenne Indian, going on an adventure with three of his friends, he survives a hurricane to return home alone, bringing his “dream tale” with him. The stories move through his upbringing by his Creek Indian grandparents, to his many problems with alcohol, incarceration and relationships with women. At the end of the book, Jordan hooks up with Lisa Old Bull, and all our stories become links.
My favorite is the story of his friend, Yolanda, a coming of age story amid the complex dance of race relations in Oklahoma. Then there’s the tale, A Famous Indian Artist, his in your face, drinking, and living life large, Uncle. Chuculate writes his realism with style and grace. All the stories ring true with no excuses, life is what it is, along with the good and bad relationships. Chuculate may be telling us we’re all just hanging on for the ride like Old Bull in the hurricane.
Give this Oklahoma author some of your time.
Eddie Chuculate is Creek and Cherokee Indian from Muskogee, Oklahoma. He has a degree in creative writing from the Institute of American Indian Arts. Cheyenne Madonna is his first book (hopefully not his last). He lives in Oklahoma.
Site of the Week:
Oklahoma’s Literary Landmarks
Did you know that Oklahoma has eight official Literary Landmarks, with more to come in the future? Literary Cat does, and he says you need to visit the link above to find out more.
The Sooner State has proved to be fertile ground for writers, and Friends of Libraries in Oklahoma (FOLIO) has joined with the national library friends organization (FOLUSA–Friends of Libraries USA), and state and local partners to pay tribute to our great writers.
The Literary Landmark project designates an historic or community site related to an individual writer’s life. In Woody Guthrie’s case, the whole town of Okemah is the landmark, since Woody’s boyhood home no longer exists. Ralph Ellison’s Oklahoma City home is also gone, so the Ralph Ellison Library has been dedicated in his honor. Angie Debo received two plaques: one for her home in Marshall, and one for the Angie Debo Collection at Oklahoma State University’s Edmon Low Library.
Read about Oklahoma’s Literary Landmarks, and then take a trek soon to a landmark near you!
(By the way, the link for writer John Joseph Mathews wasn’t working on the site, but you can read about this talented gentleman here.)
Bob Barry, Oklahoma’s sports announcer
I just realized we didn’t have a copy of Voice of Bedlam , the new sports book about Bob Barry and will soon fix that oversight, and you should do the same. Who doesn’t know Bob Barry? If you’ve lived in Oklahoma for more than one sports season then you must have heard of him. The book is written by Oklahoma native, Bob Burke, another well known name in Oklahoma for his many, many books about Oklahoma people and places. To get a feel for just how prolific Bob is Voice of Bedlam is his 101st book . Michael Dean is co-author of the book. 
Published by the Oklahoma Heritage Association.
This book highlights Bob Barry’s life and work as a television and broadcasting icon for Oklahoma’s sports community. It also gives a history of football and basketball at Oklahoma’s two largest universities, OU and OSU.
I know the three have been appearing at various bookstores throughout the state, but here’s one more that you can catch….
Appearing at Steve’s Sundry in Tulsa, Thursday, Dec.16
5:00-7:00
Voice of Bedlam: The Life of Bob Barry
$25.95
Come out on a Thursday night and meet Bob Barry,
co-authors, Bob Burke and Michael Dean.
News: C. J. Cherryh in Oklahoma Magazine; Book Smack!; Ian McEwan gets Tulsa Award
Cool, I just mentioned C.J. Cherryh in a blog post, and there she is in Oklahoma Magazine, November 2010 issue. It’s a nice article by Becky Carman, “Rooted in Red Earth”. C.J. has her own Wave without a Shore Blog. So you can keep up with her comings and goings, new books, and it looks like a new venture in e-books, called Closed Circle.
I know Young Bill is a huge fan of Cherryh’s work.
From the World of Librarians and Book folk, you can get Book Smack sent directly to your email. Some of the entries can be directed toward us librarian types, for example, *RA stands for Readers Advisory, Starred Reviews are books Library Journal recommends to librarians.
It’s free, and it’s good stuff, so I recommend it. Go to the Book Smack link, down the page at Library Journal you’ll find the e-newsletter entry for it.
Here’s what LIS library news has to say about it,
Want “high-impact reviews of street lit, genre fiction, graphic novels, audio, and DVDs, along with edgy RA, in-depth prepub info, and industry buzz” direct from seasoned library-type editors? Then you’ll want to sign up for Library Journal’s new twice-monthly newsletter BOOK SMACK.
Dec 3rd and 4th, Tulsa City County Library will give the Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award to Ian McEwan. First they have an Award presentation at a black-tie dinner: 7 p.m., Friday, Dec. 3 then a FREE Public Presentation: 10:30 a.m., Saturday, Dec. 4, at the Central Library.
McEwan has written numerous novels, short stories, screenplays, children’s books and other writings. His works include the highly praised novels “Amsterdam,” “Enduring Love” and “Atonement.”
Thanks Veterans! and check out the new Locus
First things first, I want to say Thank you to all the men and women who are now serving or served our country in the military. We don’t say it nearly enough how much we appreciate it.
I’m home today, spending quality time trying to unclutter the dreaded craft/sewing/yarn/material room. I must be suffering from a craft hoarding disease. All beside the point however, you know how much I like Locus magazine. So I was pleasantly surprised to find an interview with Mercedes Lackey in the last issue. 
As most of you surely know, she lives in Oklahoma, and writes great science fiction and fantasy. Go to her amazing bibliography. In this piece, she talks about meeting C. J. Cherryh and her early influence when she was beginning. I heard a rumor they had some kind of falling out and no longer collaborate. Whether they’re working together or not, Okies have been endowed with these two science fiction/fantasy world building giants.
Mercedes has worked with other sf greats, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Andre Norton, Piers Anthony and Steve Libbey. I love Mercedes adventures in podcasting, she’s always welcomed social networking. Saw an article somewhere about her willingness for fans to share pieces of her work on the internet as she felt it built a fan base. (I need to find the complete article and hope I’m not misstating). She comments on Creative Commons is this piece.
Role playing games seem like a perfect venue for fantasy writers to work out their creative muscles. Looks like Mercedes is big into ”City of Heroes”.
But all this extracurricular activity isn’t keeping her from writing,Intrigues just came out, book two in the Collegium Chronicles.
This post is about Mostly Monsterly. Mostly.
Blogging is a funny business. For example, I started this post this way:
Halloween is just around the corner, so it’s time to recommend an appropriate holiday book for the youngsters in your life. How about Mostly Monsterly by Oklahoma’s own Tammi Sauer? Yes! Definitely Mostly Monsterly! Personally, I can’t wait to get a signed copy for my grand niece, Brooklyn.
Then I went here…
Many children’s books are about kids accepting themselves just as they are—a so very important lesson for young people since they will meet a diversity of human beings as they grow up and move through life. If they can accept their own quirks and idiosyncrasies, isn’t it easier for them to accept the oddness of others? It’s a great lesson for our young ones, and Sauer does it so well.
And since I’m a Tammi Sauer fan, and I’m obviously indoctrinating the kids in my family, I told you this:
Just last weekend, my sister read Sauer’s Cowboy Camp to my grandnephew, Tyler. It’s all about Cowboy Avery, the most unlikely cowboy in the world, who saves his fellow campers from the meanest cowboy in the world; and he does it just by being himself. Brooklyn is already a fan of Sauer’s award-winning Chicken Dance, which is about hens Lola and Marge, and how they reach their dream, just by being themselves.
And then I had a Eureka! moment:
But where Cowboy Avery inadvertently succeeds by being himself, and Lola and Marge must make a conscience decision to be themselves (because they have no other choice), the protagonist of Mostly Monsterly has to work to fit in with her monster friends without compromising her personality and unique self.
Mostly Monsterly is the story of Bernadette, a little monster who has the unfortunate quality of being… sweet. She likes kittens and flowers and loves to bake. Her monster friends are appalled by Bernadette’s goodness, and our little monster must find a way to fit in with her antagonistic buddies, and still be true to herself. The solution Bernadette comes up with is the punch line, the guffaw, the laugh-out-loud part of the book. But beyond the entertainment lies a theme that author Sauer has been playing with and expanding upon during the course of her career. What we have here, folks, is the third book in a great little trilogy about acceptance and self worth.
And then I added these distracting bold lead-ins and changed the post title before closing:
Get a behind-the-scenes look at creating Mostly Monsterly on the Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast blog. And then go immediately to your bookstore or library and get you and your young one some Tammi Sauer reading!
Where and What is Oklahoma?
Kitty and I had a great time at the Oklahoma Celebration of Books in Tulsa last Friday and Saturday. We promoted the Oklahoma Center for the Book; talked with authors, readers and aspiring writers; and caught up with some of our librarian colleagues. Like Kitty, I was quite taken with the presentation by authors Sue Monk Kidd and Michael Cunningham.
I’m going to share another highlight of the event for me: the panel on Oklahoma Landscapes which was moderated by William Hagen. Panelists were writers Jim Barnes, Rilla Askew and Hannibal Johnson. The session focused on the importance of “place” in literature; or as Oklahoma Poet Laureate Barnes noted, a story without place is lacking soul. Every Okie knows that we, outselves—indeed, all Americans— have a problem determing if Oklahoma is southern, midwestern, southwestern, or part of the great west. (Just look at the comments on Steve Lackmeyer’s post on his OKC Central blog).
Certainly the diversity of the state’s landscape plays a role in this. Angie Debo noted that taking the shape of our state and placing it anywhere else on a map of the U.S. would not result in a greater diversity of terrain. Debo’s observations, it turns out, were right on: the EPA says Oklahoma is one of only four states with more than 10 Eco-Regions, and that it has the most Eco-Regions by mile than any other state.
Although the panel discussed Oklahoma’s diverse terrain and its influence on the feeling of place, a main theme of the session was on Oklahoma’s unique “place” in American history and culture. It is the place, Johnson said, where three races—European American, Native American, and African American—came together under extraordinary circumstances. All came to this land, Johnson said, for different reasons, but all came because of a great promise; and it was the breaching of this promise for two of the races that frame a unique narrative of Oklahoma history. This theme is echoed in Askew’s short stories and novels as well.
During the course of the panel, Askew’s essay Most American came up. This essay has been published in both Nimrod and in the book Voices from the Heartland, a collection of writings by Oklahoma women. The essay is an eloquent and provocative piece of writing that speaks to the soul and heart of our state and its people. It’s as good an answer to who, what and where we are as anything ever written about our strangely wonderful home.
Most American by Rilla Askew on Google Books.
Okie Bookshelf
New from the Okie Bookshelf.
War Party in Blue: Pawnee Scouts in the U.S. Army by Mark van de Logt.
Facts: Published by the University of Oklahoma Press : 2010.
Hardcover ISBN: 9780806141398.
368 pages
A history of the Pawnee Scouts, from their perspective Between 1864 and 1877, during the height of the Plains Indian wars, Pawnee Indian scouts rendered invaluable service to the United States Army. They led missions deep into contested territory, tracked resisting bands, spearheaded attacks against enemy camps, and on more than one occasion saved American troops from disaster on the field of battle. In War Party in Blue, Mark van de Logt tells the story of the Pawnee scouts from their perspective, detailing the battles in which they served and recounting hitherto neglected episodes.
Employing military records, archival sources, and contemporary interviews with current Pawnee tribal members—some of them descendants of the scouts—Van de Logt presents the Pawnee scouts as central players in some of the army’s most notable campaigns. He argues that military service allowed the Pawnees to fight their tribal enemies with weapons furnished by the United States as well as to resist pressures from the federal government to assimilate them into white society.
According to the author, it was the tribe’s martial traditions, deeply embedded in their culture, that made them successful and allowed them to retain these time-honored traditions. The Pawnee style of warfare, based on stealth and surprise, was so effective that the scouts’ commanding officers did little to discourage their methods. Although the scouts proudly wore the blue uniform of the U.S. Cavalry, they never ceased to be Pawnees. The Pawnee Battalion was truly a war party in blue. —Excerpted from the University of Oklahoma Press website.
Power Thoughts by Joyce Meyer. 
Facts: Pub. Date: September 2010
Publisher: FaithWords. Format: Hardcover, 272p.
- ISBN-13: 9780446580366
- ISBN: 0446580368
From Publishers’ Weekly :
Bestselling author and TV preacher Meyer takes a step beyond her bestseller Battlefield of the Mind. She offers a 12-step program to help readers conquer the negativity that naturally plagues the mind, leaving readers free to enjoy life and pursue their goals. Using themes from other books in her ample catalogue–worry, perseverance, managing emotions–Meyer breaks her suggestions into several digestible lists, backed by a “Power Pack” of Bible verses at the end of each chapter. She offers enthusiastic encouragement, but also requires action, here in the form of practice, discipline, and continual meditation on the 12 motivational thoughts. Critics of the positive thinking movement (Meyer obliquely acknowledges a debt to the pioneering Norman Vincent Peale) will continue to find downsides in this book, among them failure to sufficiently acknowledge the pain of suffering and an ignorance of intractable mental illness. Critics of Meyer will say she sounds like an infomercial (“You will see amazing results”). Yet her many fans will continue to appreciate her upbeat attitude and her ability to offer practical tips on the toughest topics. (Sept.)
The Echo of Violence by Jordan Dane.
Facts:
ISBN: 9780061474149; ISBN10: 0061474142; Publisher: Avon ;
Format: Mass Market PB; Pages: 384; $7.99
Inside the book it says the fourth in the Sweet Justice series, but I think it is the third, with the fourth one, Reckoning for the Dead not out yet.
The man she’d trust with her heart could sabotage everything…
When terrorists attack a Haitian missionary school, brutally killing their hostages and posting videos of the senseless murders online, time is running out. Sentinels’ agent Alexa Marlowe is forced into an unlikely alliance with a relentless mercenary. But he is no stranger.
Jackson Kinkaid witnessed the raid, and only he can track the killers to their mountain stronghold. Guarding a dark secret, rumored to sell his services to the highest bidder, Jackson is not the same man Alexa once knew. And although he can lead her to the terrorist leader she’s been ordered to take alive, how can she be sure he won’t sabotage her mission to save the one person who got him through the worst nightmare of his life?
—-excerpted from the Jordan Dane website.
Comment: She’s a good author to read for suspense with a romantic twist.
