soup of the day: up close: harper lee by kerry madden!

March 19, 2009July 25, 2011 ~ jama ~ 19 Comments

graphics by goldtrout

Break out the ham, grits, and pecan pie.

Don your prettiest orange and white.

It’s time to waltz around the Tennessee ballroom, because THE book I’ve been dying to read ever since I first heard about it back in 2007, is finally out today!! Let’s hear it for our favorite Knoxville girl, Kerry Madden, on the official release of Harper Lee (Up Close) (Viking, 2009)!!

          HARPER LEE (UP CLOSE) by Kerry Madden,
          (Viking, 2009), Ages 12+, 224 pp.

*cartwheels* *backflips* *wild cheering and moonpie munching*

I absolutely adore Kerry’s writing. You probably know her Maggie Valley trilogy: Gentle’s Holler, Louisiana’s Song, and Jessie’s Mountain — all written in beautiful, lyrical prose that sings of family life in the hills of Appalachia with so much heart and passion. Now she’s written a biography of Harper Lee, whose book, To Kill a Mockingbird, is probably my favorite novel of all time. *swoons*

As Kerry mentions in her book’s Foreword, Harper Lee (who goes by her first name, "Nelle"), is a fiercely private individual, who doesn’t believe in biographies of those still living. Her sometimes reply to interview requests is, "Hell no." Undaunted, Kerry respectfully undertook the challenge of unearthing details about Nelle’s life by visiting Monroeville, Alabama, several times to dig through courthouse archives and interview friends, colleagues, and town residents.

Aside from its powerful and enduring message of truth, justice and tolerance, To Kill a Mockingbird has always resonated with Kerry on a very personal level. Growing up as the daughter of a football coach in the South and Midwest meant that she often moved from place to place. "Each time I reread the book or showed my own children the film, I found home all over again. I could roam the streets of Harper Lee’s ‘Maycomb’ and hear the voices of Jem and Scout and Dill calling to each other. I had a cousin just like sniveling cousin Francis. I beat up a boy like Cecil Jacobs."

So far, it looks like Kerry’s created a real winner — Harper Lee (Up Close) recently received a starred review from Kirkus:

A narrative both well paced and richly detailed-even reproducing two of Lee’s stories for her college literary magazine and excerpting a recent letter to O magazine, not included in Charles Shields’s excellent I Am Scout (2008)-this biography will appeal to fans of the novel and to newcomers. Readers will find a fascinating portrait of an independent young woman stubbornly going her own way to become the one thing she wanted to be: a writer. Extensive source notes and an excellent bibliography round out this superb biography, one of the best in the Up Close series.

To Kill a Mockingbird has sold over 30 million copies to date, and is standard reading in English classes across the country. A biography written especially for young people about the woman who wrote this beloved classic will prove invaluable in countless ways. Thank you, Kerry, for all your work in completing this book. Today, we congratulate you on a stunning accomplishment. Bravo!!

Before I run out to purchase my copy (as you should, too), let’s slurp deep (with great feeling and gusto), some of this celebration soup prepared especially in Kerry’s honor:

Today’s Special: Nelle Harper Lee Green Pea (one bowl to last a lifetime).

And, there’s nothing like a little MoonPie ala Madden:

photo by lla

For more about Kerry and her books, visit her official website and Live Journal blog, Mountain Mist.

She posted the book’s Foreword on her blog recently, and it can be found here, along with this post and this one, detailing more about her research trips to Monroeville, Alabama.

Check out this review by Julie M. Prince at YA (and Kids) Book Central.

Okay now, run out to your local indie, or click through to your fave online bookseller and order Harper Lee (Up Close)!!

make some whoopie neath the moon in June

June 19, 2008 ~ jama ~ 4 Comments

Hey there! You’re just in time to take a bite of the moon.

Pie Month here at alphabet soup just wouldn’t be complete without serving the one and only MoonPie — not really a pie, not quite a cookie, and a little like a cake.

Since 1917, the famous Chattanooga Bakery in Tennessee has been baking baking baking these iconic treats nonstop. According to the official Moonpie website, these graham cracker, marshmallow filled, chocolate dipped goodies were first conceived by Earl Mitchell, Sr., who was trying to come up with a suitable lunch pail snack for coal miners in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia. They became so popular, that in the 1950’s the bakery began to devote itself solely to their production.

I didn’t know anything about MoonPies until high school. I certainly hadn’t seen them in any of our local grocery stores and no one in Hawai’i ever talked about them. But one day in the school cafeteria I saw some kids, army brats from Schofield Barracks, devouring these chocolatey things like there was no tomorrow. I was so jealous! Where did they get them? At the base commissary? Or did family from back home on the Mainland send them a lifetime supply? To me, a MoonPie was positively exotic.

More important, Kerry Madden, one of my favorite authors who wrote the Maggie Valley Trilogy (Gentle’s Holler, Louisiana’s Song, and Jessie’s Mountain), talked about MoonPies on her blog recently. She ordered them special from the Chattanooga Bakery just for her Jessie’s Mountain launch party! She said they’d be just the kind of thing the Weems family would eat. Nuff said!

Now, those of you up north might call these little rascals Scooter Pies, and if you’re from New England, you have your Whoopie
Pies — similar in concept, but instead of two graham cracker cookies, you like two little round chocolate cakes filled with a fluffy sweet icing instead of marshmallow creme. Go ahead, be independent!

whoop, whoop, whoopie!

And if you’re inclined to think of this topic as mere fluff, consider the literary contribution by Tony DiTerlizzi, a picture book called Jimmy Zangwow’s Out-of-This-World MoonPie Adventure (Simon and Schuster, 2000).

   JIMMY ZANGWOW’S OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD MOONPIE ADVENTURE
   by Tony DiTerlizzi (Simon and Schuster, 2000), ages 4-8, 40 pp.

In this zany action-filled fantasy decked out in 50’s retro paintings, Jimmy wants a MoonPie, but his mom says it’s too close to dinner time. What’s a boy to do? Make a wish and hold on tight as his junk jumbilee jalopy rockets up to the moon! After a funny verbal spar with Mr. Moon, Jimmy receives a whole year’s supply of Moonpies, but wishes he had some milk to go with them. So it’s off to the Milky Way where he finds "gallons and quarts and pints of milk." He meets 999 Mars Men and a giant Grimble Grinder, who hankers for a Moonpie of his own. You’ll have to read the book to find out how Jimmy gets home in time for dinner.

So, are you hungry for a Moonpie right about now? Check out the MoonPie website for retail stores in your area that carry them, or you can order them online. They now come in other flavors besides chocolate — vanilla, strawberry, banana, lemon and orange, and they also come in double decker and mini!

The Chattanooga Bakery MoonPie recipe is still under wraps, naturally, but if you’re feeling ambitious over the weekend, you can make your own Whoopie Pies. Knock yourself out. Croon neath the moon in June . . .

soup of the day: jessie’s mountain by kerry madden

February 14, 2008 ~ jama ~ 4 Comments

Happy Day!

I know most of you are probably focussed on chocolate today, but here is some soup you simply must taste — this big bowl
of Congratulations for Kerry Madden. Her middle grade novel, Jessie’s Mountain (Viking, 2008), is officially out today!

I’m beyond excited because I’ve been anxiously waiting for this book, the third in Kerry’s Maggie Valley trilogy, featuring aspiring songwriter, Livy Two. This time, Livy ventures to Nashville to make her dreams come true. Will she succeed? I know it’s going to be a great read, judging from the first two books, Gentle’s Holler (Viking, 2005) and Louisiana’s Song (Viking, 2007).

                     JESSIE’S MOUTAIN by Kerry Madden
                        (Viking, 2008), ages 9-12

Take out your big spoons for this one, folks. One little taste, and you’ll be ravenous for more.


                                             Two hearts in honor of Livy Two!

Thank you for writing such heartwarming, lyrical books that shine the light of family, Kerry!

P.S. In case you haven’t heard, Kerry is running a contest until February 18th, where she’ll give away 3 signed copies of this book! Get all the details here.

wednesday snack: a real pip!

October 10, 2007 ~ jama ~ 2 Comments

GENTLE’S HOLLER by Kerry Madden
Ages 9-12, (Viking, 2005)

From one of the most heartwarming, lyrical books I’ve read recently, here’s a passage where the main character, Livy Two (12), a talkative aspiring songwriter who loves e.e. cummings (as I do), visits the bookmobile:

"I put my books on the return shelf, and Miss Attickson smiles at us from behind her desk, her short black hair tucked behind her ears. ‘Well, I was hoping I’d see y’all today, the venerable Weems tribe. I was lucky to get to make two trips to Maggie Valley in a week. That doesn’t happen near enough as far as I’m concerned. Now listen, who needs apples? I have a fine sack of apples under this desk . . . Miss Attickson continues, ‘Well, y’all children know what I say, don’t you? Books and apples go together. One of my very favorite things in this world is to curl up with a good book and a crisp juicy apple on a lazy summer afternoon. You children make that a lifelong habit, and you will fill many a lonely hour. Books and apples. Small miracles, but miracles just the same.’"

Make GENTLE’S HOLLER your next apple adventure. It will fill you up with the tender, happy, poignant music of a large North Carolina family.

And when you’re ready for more, reach for a big second helping of Kerry Madden’s next book in the Weems family trilogy, LOUISIANA’S SONG, published just this past spring:

LOUISIANA’S SONG by Kerry Madden
Ages 12 and up (Viking, 2007)