First Lines From the 2015 Cybils Plus . . .

This is supposed to be first lines from the 2015 Cybil Awards and wouldn't you know, the first book had no lines. This would seem to be a good year for wordless picture books. I don't love all of these first paragraphs. Why should I? We all have very different ideas of what we want to read. What's the best first line or paragraph you've read this year?

Fiction Picture Books

Sidewalk Flowersby JonArno Lawson
Groundwood Books
Nominated by: Hannah DeCamp

A distracted dad and his daughter take a walk home in this beautifully illustrated, wordless picture book. The story unfolds through a unique combination of graphic novel style format and traditional full-bleed or framed art. While the city seems drab and dark in the beginning, the little girl finds beauty around every corner. Details invite the reader to linger and pause over the pages, discovering along with the girl on her walk through the neighborhood. As she matter-of-factly shares her appreciation for things around her, color begins to spread beyond just the people and places where she distributes her finds.  Readers young and old alike will be charmed by this story of a little girl’s ability to stop and notice the weeds and her natural willingness to spread kindness in a busy, fast-paced world. The wordless aspect of the book makes it accessible to everyone, no matter what language they read or speak. 

Easy Readers

Ling & Ting: Twice as Silly (Passport to Reading, Level 3: Ling & Ting)by Grace Lin
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Nominated by: Heidi G.

Story 1 The Garden

Ting is in the garden. "

What are you doing?" Ling asks.

"I am planting cupcakes," Ting  says.

'Ting!"  Ling says. "You cannot plant cupcakes."

Early Chapter Books

Dory and the Real True Friend (Dory Fantasmagory)by Abby Hanlon
Dial Books
Nominated by: Sara Ralph

My name is Dory, but everyone calls me Rascal. This is my family. I have a mom, dad, big brother, and big sister who are just regular people. I also have a monster and fairy godmother who are not regular because only I can see them,

Elementary/Middle Grade

Fiction

The Blackthorn Keyby Kevin Sands
Aladdin
Nominated by: Melissa Fox

I found it.

Master Benedict says he wasn't the least bit surprised According to him, there were several times over the past three years when he was sure I'd finally discovered it. Yet it wasn't until the day before my fourteenth birthday that it came to be so clearly, I thought God Himself had whispered in my ear.

Speculative Fiction

The Fog Diverby Joel Ross
HarperCollins
Nominated by: PLCarpenter

After a long morning searching the woods, I spotted a school bus through the Fog. The broke windows looked like rotten teeth as I edged closer, hoping to salvage hubcaps or engine parts.

 

Young Adult 

Fiction

Every Last Wordby Tamara Ireland Stone
Disney-Hyperion
Nominated by: Jennifer Donovan

Lane three. It's always lane number three. My coaches think it's funny. Quirky/ A thing, like not washing your lucky socks or growing a rally beard. And that's perfect/ That's all I want them to know.

Speculative Fiction

The Walls Around Usby Nova Ren Suma
Algonquin Young Readers
Nominated by: Esther Braithwaite

Amber

WE WENT WILD

We wen wild that hot night. We howled, we raged, we screamed. We were girls - some of us fourteen and fifteen; some sixteen and seventeen - but when the locks came undone, the doors of our cells gaping open and no one to shove us back in, we made the noise of savage animals, of men.

Non-Fiction

Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam Warby Steve Sheinkin
Roaring Brook Press
Nominated by: Benji Martin

Cold Warrior

What could Daniel Ellsberg possibly have done to provoke such wrath - to be seen as such a threat? The story begins twenty-six years earlier, as World War II came to an end and the Cold War began. Ellsberg was just starting ninth grade at a prep school near Detroit, Michigan.

Sheinkin does it again. He's also the 2016 YALSA award winner. I read his book Bomb. The Race to Build and Steal the World's Most Dangerous Weapon and adored it.

I still didn't have a picture book first line for this post. When I checked out the ALA Awards page, I fell in love with a title.  It won the Mildred L. Batchelder Award (best translation from another language.)
The Wonderful Fluffy Little Squishy (2015)

By Alemagna, Beatrice

I loved the title and the description and I went to LAPL tonight and placed a hold on it. (Why is my computer suddenly putting everything in title caps? I wish I could do that on purpose.)

Since I still didn't have a picture book first line from the Cybils. I am including one from the last picture book I read. A delightful read.

Han and the Mysterious Pearl by Barbara Bockman, illustrated by Carl Kocich.
Long ago in the part of China where giant finger mountains rise above the morning mist, a boy named Han lived with his mother in a little house beside the Li River. 

I am also interested in your favorite title of the year. Please feel free to comment. Write on!

First Lines from the 2015 Crystal Kite Awards Part One

By Susan J Berger

I love first lines and first paragraphs. I learn so much from them. The annual Crystal Kite Award is a peer-given award to recognize great books from 15 SCBWI regional divisions around the world.  The Crystal Kite is a rather odd award in that there are no Categories. Therefore a picture book may be competing against a young adult novel. This year I am posting the winners.

 Part one: First eight regions. (If you can't stand the suspense, all the winners are posted on the SCBWI website.)

Atlantic (Pennsylvania/Delaware/New Jersey/Wash DC/Virginia/West Virginia/Maryland)

 Pandemic  by Yvonne Ventresca

Chapter 1
As with many serious contagious illnesses, it wasn't immediately apparent what we were dealing with.
 -Blue Flu interview, anonymous US government official
I stood on the smoking corner behind the school reveling in my aloneness.

 

Australia /New Zealand

Karen Blair and Raewyn Caisley - Hello From Nowhere
First line not available.

Eve thought that living in the middle of nowhere was better than living anywhere else in the world . . . Only one thing made Eve sad. She hadn't seen Nan since they left the city long ago. Eve lives in a roadhouse in the middle of the Nullarbor and when her Nan visits one day, Eve shows her all the things that are special about where she lives. A moving celebration of the Australian outback and the special connection between grandparent and grandchild.

California/Hawaii
 

Connie Goldsmith - Bombs Over Bikini: The World’s First Nuclear Disaster

Toxic Snowfall As soon as the war ended, we located the one spot on Earth that hadn't been touched by war and blew it to hell. BOB HOPE, US COMEDIAN, ACTOR AN AUTHOR -1947

March 1, 1954 was not a normal day on Rongelap Atoll in the Marshall Islands of the Pacific Ocean. That morning the US Military exploded the world's first hydrogen bomb -Bravo -on Nam, part of the Bikini Atoll about 75 miles (120 kilometers) away from Rongelap. I want to read this!

Canada
Bog by Karen Krossing –
1
Stone
Bog smelled the humans from across the lake. The stench floated high on the breeze, infecting the stars themselves, and then settled among the branches of the birch trees. What were humans doing on their hunting grounds?

International Other

  A Dance Like Starlight: One Ballerina’s Dream

 by  Kristy Dempsey, illustrated by Floyd Cooper

Stars hardly shine in the New York City sky, with the factories spilling out pillars of smoke and streetlights spreading bright halos round their pin-top faces,
It makes it hard to find a star.
This one is on my MUST READ list. The illustrations are amazing.

Mid-South (Kansas/Louisiana/Arkansas/Tennessee/Kentucky/Missouri/Mississippi)
   

 Faking Normal by Courtney Stevens

Black funeral dress. Black heels. Black headband in my hair. Death has a style all its own. I'm glad I don't have to wear it very often.
I think I want to read this.

Mid-South (Kansas/Louisiana/Arkansas/Tennessee/Kentucky/Missouri/Mississippi)

     Hurricane Boy by  Laura Roach Dragon


Hollis Williams scowled as he stumbled on the same hump of buckled sidewalk he's climbed over almost all eleven years of his life. This time one of the broken sections tilted under his feet. His angry looked snapped into one of wide-eyed surprise, and his arms pinwheeled as he lurched of the chunk into the grass. He kicked the loose slab.

Middle East/India/Asia

Petu Pumpkin: Tooth Troubles by  Arundhati Venkatesh 

The Gap Club
Pushkin looked up from his snack box. He saw his friends huddled together in the corner of the art room. Kiran, Jatin, Sachin and Nitin were all there. Every thirty seconds, Jatin peeped into Kiran's book and copied something down. Pushkin moved closer and peered over Jatin's shoulder to see what he was writing,

I'll post the last seven in three weeks. I hope you found a book really want to read. I found more than one. Write on.

25 Picture Book First Lines

This week the SCBWI San Fernando Valley Schmooze is focusing on picture books and first lines. I grabbed some favorites from my first line posts and I divided them between prose and rhyming Picture Books. The titles are linked to the books. I have fiddled with the spacing and font and today is one of those times Blogger hates me. So I apologize for the non-uniform look of the titles and links and fonts/. Think of it as Blogger's creativity shining through.
Please tell me your favorite. Want to share your best first line from your own work? Comments welcomed. Happy reading and writing.

Prose first lines

1. Everything was just dandy till that Emily Post book showed up.
Thanks a LOT, Emily Post! by Jennifer Larue Huget, Illustrated by Alexandra Boiger (First book)

2.  TUESDAY EVENING, AROUND EIGHT.

Tuesday written and illustrated by David Weisner

3.  In the biggest, brownest muddiest river in all Africa, two crocodiles lay with their heads just above the water. One of the crocodiles was enormous. The other was not so big.

The Enormous Crocodile. Roald Dahl Illustrated by Quentin Blake.

4.  In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines lived twelve little girls in two straight lines 

Madeline  written and illustrated by Ludwig Bemelmans

 5.  Out in the hottest, dustiest part of town is an orphanage run by a female person nasty enough to scare night into day.

Saving Sweetness by Diane Stanley Illustrated by G. Brian Karas 

 

6.  Five little puppies dug a hole under the fence and went for a walk in the wide, wide world. 

The Poky Little Puppy by Janette Sebring Lowrey - Illustrated by Gustaf Tenggren

 7.  My friend Lincoln says you have two dads. That’s right poppa and daddy.

A Tale of Two Daddies by Vanita Oelschlager Iluustated by Kristin Blackwood and Mike Blane

9.  Mama love to sing. Her singing was always a happy part of everyday life. But everything changed the day after my seventh birthday.

Floating on Mama’s Song by Laura Lacamara, Illustrated by Yuyi Morales(First book)

 10. I took the moon for a walk last night.

I took the Moon for a walk by Carolyn Curtis, illustrated by Allison Jay.(First book)

11.  Once upon a time Chicken Licken was standing around when a piece of something fell on her head.
 

The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka, Iluustrated by Lane Smith. (As best as I can determine, this was his first book. Wow!)
 

On a cold afternoon, in a cold little town, where everywhere you looked was either the white of snow or the black of soot from chimneys, Annabelle found a box filled with yarn of every color.

ExtraYarn by Mac Barnette. Illustrated by Jon Klassen Extra Yarn is a also Caldecott Honors Book for 2012

 

12. Everyone was perfectly fine with the way things were. Everyone but Mr. Tiger.

Mr. Tiger Goes Wild written and illustrated by Peter Brown  2014 Cybil winner.

 

13.  Whenever the wind lifted off the river, and sent the trees to dancing, I itched to fly a kite.

I’d race to the great Niagara, plumes of mist rising from plunging waters, wind licking at my face.

 A boy like me knew, just knew which day would be perfect for flying kites.

The Kite That Bridged Two Nations by Alexis O'Neil, Illustrated by Terry Widener 2014 Crystal Kite Winner

14.  The Lion is known throughout the animal kingdom as the “King of Beasts.” 
The Great White Shark is the most feared predator in the ocean. 
And the Timberwolf’s howl strikes terror into the hearts of fuzzy woodland creatures everywhere. 
But even SAVAGE CARNIVORES get their feelings hurt.

Carnivores by Aaron Reynolds, Illustrated by Dan Santat  

15.  Peter snuggled into Uncle's lap as the carriage clattered through the valleys of Switzerland. Baby Annette slept in Mother's arms, a small pink blossom against a wall of black.

The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus, illustrated by Melissa Sweet, written by Jen Bryant. 2015 Caldcott Honor Book

16.  He was born on an island far away where imaginary friends were created."

The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend, Written and Illustrated by Dan Santat

 

 Picture Books that Rhyme

1.  Not last night but the night before, three black cats came knocking at the door.

Not Last Night But The Night Before by Colin McNaughton, Illus by Emma Chichester Clark

 

2.  One morning at the breakfast table, when I read the juice box label, (thinking it was tightly closed), my daddy’s pants got orange-hosed. 

 

I Always ALWAYS Get My Way by Thad Kranesky, Illus by David Parkins (Thad is a first time picture book author. It was published in 2009) 

When I grow up, I'll live in a tree.
Just my cats, Quentin, Quigley and me.
 

Growing Up Dreams by Susan J. Berger, Illus by Samantha Bell

 

4.   Beep Beep. Sheep in a jeep on a hill that’s steep

Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw, Illustrated by Margaret Apple (First Book)

 

5.  In a House on a hill there’s a wild little child not ready to close her eyes.

She burrows in blankets and talks to her toys and listens to lullabies.

 

Hillside Lullaby by Hope Vestergaard Illustrated by Margie Moore

 

6.  Many places make a home – a heap of twigs, a honeycomb.

A castle with a tower or two, an aerie with a birds-eye view.

 

 Castles Caves and Honeycombs by Linda Ashman Illustrated by Lauren Stringer
 

 

7.  See the piggy, see the puddle, see the piggy in the middle of the muddy little puddle.

See her dwaddle, see Her diddle, in the muddy muddy middle.

See her waddle, plump and little, in the very merry middle.

 

The Piggy in the Puddle by Charlotte Pomerantz Illustrated by James Marshall
 

 

 8.  In a wee little house in a wee little hole, lived a wee little mouse and a wee little mole.

 

One Dark Night by Lisa Wheeler Illustrated by Ivan Bated.(This was Lisa Wheeler’s first book. She has written many wonderful books. I wanted to blog the first line of the first one.)


9. Dusk creeps in and day is done.
The last few rays of stubborn sun
Cling to the hilltop, tree and town.
We wish that we could push it down.

 Bats at the Ballgame Written and illustrated by Brian Lies  

First Lines from the Encino Charter School Book Fair

By Susan. J Berger

I participated in the Encino Charter School Book Fair. LOTS of local authors, and a Pancake breakfast. Jason Preston did a wonderful job of organizing the event and I got to talk to lots of readers and authors.

Between sales and reading of my own books, Jamie's Dream and Earthquake, (I forgot to get anyone to take a picture of me with my book covers.)
I wandered the room picking up first lines. Because I REALLY love first lines. There were lots more authors here. Illustrators too.  I wish I could have gotten to all of them.

 All of these books are available both as eBooks and print books.

Something was eating my socks.

The Monster That Ate My Socks by A.J. Cosmo

I loved this story,. It has over 667 customer reviews.

Visit A.J. Cosmo's Website

He has self published over forty books and has no second job. Imagine that? He makes his living as a writer/illustrator. (my dream.

It is difficult to describe the depths of my despondency that late  October afternoon of October 1861 as the open air carriage carried Poppa and me through the wrought-iron gates of White Magnolias and up the gravel drive toward the main house.

Anni's Attic by Anne Loader McGee

This looks like a fun read. I enjoyed Anne's The Mystery of Marlatt Manor ad so I put this one on my TBR list.

The boy opened his eyes Tia sky the color of melted butter and a sense of inexplicable terror.

The Lost Planet by Rachel Searles.

That is an AWESOME first line!

Do you ever wonder what animals do

when they gather in groups of more than two?

An Ambush of Tigers: A Wild Gathering of Collective Nouns   by Betsy R Rosenthal

Thus is Betsy's latest book which isn't out in hardback till April 1st. She has lots of others.I love this book because it reminds me of An Exaltation of Larks.

           

England 1348

Once upon a time in a cozy wooded town,

Lived a little boy whose mother was buried in the ground.

Fiddler In the Darkness by David Gutterman. Illustrated by Elwira Pawlikowska-Modzelewska.

Beautifully illustrated PB about love and loss.

My Grandma is not your average Grandma. Sure she has white hair, violet framed glasses, comfy square shoes and bakes spectacular chocolate chip cookies. But don't let that fool you. My Grandma has SECRETS.

Grambo by Beth Navarro. Illustrated by Betsy Hamilton.

I Pre-ordered Grambo and I loved it. Lupe  interviewed Beth Navarro before Grambo came out.

"Penny for your thoughts." Casey Grant asked. Normally I would be nervous talking to the prettiest girl at Jackson Middle School and I'm not just talking about sixth graders, either. But I was too distracted. I was standing by my locker and couldn't remember my combination. I tried to read my own mind, but that doesn't ever seem to work.

ESPete Sixth Grade Sense by Arnold Rudnick.

I am a sucker for ESP. When I was younger, my ambitions were to be rich, thin and telepathic.

I had a fantasy girlfriend I met in a dream. She had orange hair and dark skin.

The Abduction of Joshua Bloom by Michael L. Thal.

This looks like a great book. The first line doesn't let you know that this is Sci Fi Suspense for teens or late mid grade, so I thought I would tell you.

My lucky sneeze

Come to think of it, the day my brother tried to eat his first-grade teacher turned out. To be the same day that my dad brought me home a very, very strange cat.

The Witchy Worries of Abbie Adams by Rhonda Hayter.

I handed Rhonda cash for the book on the basis of that line. I have a stack of TBR's right now, and I can't wait to get to this one.

Justin and his mother were on their way to a party. I the back seat, Justin carefully held a big plate of cookies as they passed the bike store and some people waiting for the bus.

The Smile that Went Around the World.

by Patrice Karst. Illustrated by Jana Christy.

This book is truly delightful. 

I hope you find one that catches your fancy. Happy Reading.

2014 Crystal Kite Finalists Australia/New Zealand and "Other International"

By Susan J. Berger

 

At last. The sixth Crystal Kite Post covers the finalists and winners in the final two regions: Australia, New Zealand and Other International. Several of these has no first lines available.

I linked to the publisher when I could not find a US link.

 

Again: The annual Crystal Kite Award is a peer-given award to recognize great books from 15 SCBWI regional divisions around the world. It is a rather odd award in that there are no Categories. Therefore a picture books compete against chapter books and young adult novels.

Australia, New Zealand 

Ali Berber and the Forty Grains of Salt by Sheryl Gwyther  

Ali Berber is a young merchant, keen to impress the King of Alhambra with the amazing flavour his salt brings to food. The king is impressed – until Ali’s forty grains of salt disappear. Now, instead of being rewarded, Ali is in danger of being beheaded! Can he solve the mystery of the disappearing salt before it is too late?
This is an early reader only available in Australia/New Zealand from Pearson.

 

Big Red Kangaroo by Claire Saxby

Far inland, the sun floats on the waves of a bake-earth day. Big Red and his mob of kangaroos wait for night-time when they can search for food. Young male kangaroos wait too - ready to challenge Red and take his place as leader. 

This is in their True Nature Story series

Granny Grommet and Me by Dianne Wolfer, Illustrated by Karen Blair

My granny and her friends go to the beach, and I go too. When they hit the surf, they duck and dive and twist and turn. It looks like lots of fun. But I don t want to go in the water. There are strange things under the waves
This was based on real surfing Grannies. Go to Diane Wolfer’s Website to read about it.

 

 The Boy on the Page Written and Illustrated by Peter Carnavas

One quiet morning, a small boy landed on the page. At first, there was nothing else.
Then very slowly, a world began to appear.
New life emerged. Things started to grow…and so did the boy.

I would love to read this. I wish it was available in the US

The Wishbird Written and Illustrated by Gabrielle Wang
Prologue
In the ancient Banyan tree the Wishbird lay still and silent. His breath was thin, the thread between the Kind and himself growing ever weaker. Soon it would break and when that time came, both would die, and so would the city, for its heart would be lost forever.
But death did not worry the Wishbird. He had lived for a thousand years and more. And he would go on living, in another shape, another form –in the clouds in the earth, in the lakes and seas.
What did worry him was Oriole. Sweet Oriole.

 

 

Welcome Home Written and Illustrated by Christina Booth

Welcome Home is the story of a young boy and a whale as she swims into the river harbour seeking safety and a resolution to the violent past relationship between whales and man. This prosaic journey, accompanied with soft, sketchy watercolour imagoes, reveals how the past can impact our future. Can the boy make amends for the past? Can the whale forgive and return to what was once her ancestors' home

Welcome Home won the 2014 Environment Award for Children’s Literature. You can visit Christine at http://christinabooth.weebly.com/

 

 

Winner

Zac and Mia by AJ Betts

A newbie arrives next door. From this side if the was I hear the shuffle of feet, unsure of where to stand. I hear Nina going through the arrival instructions in that buoyant air hostesss way, as if theis “flight” will go smoothly, no need to pull the emergency exit lever. Just relax and enjoy the service. Nina has the kind of voice you believe.

I kept reading. It starts out in a cancer treatment center and Wow! I’m going to see if I can get hold of this.

Other International

Blossoms of Scarlet Illustrated by Marjorie van Heerden

Blossoms of Scarlet is an exciting love story from a new voice in teenage fiction. This fantasy is packed with action and emotion and will transport its readers on a dramatic trip into another world.

I took this from Marjorie’s website
“My gaze fell upon the family coat of arms on the carriage floor. It was dark purple, with snakes of the same colour winding around the edges. Unbidden, cold fear gripped me. What if this was to be the year that the Great Prophecy came true? I feared I would not be strong enough for the fight it would bring. But most of all, was afraid to have my people suffer under my reign.”

The Oracle has warned that the land of Orenda will be attacked by a powerful warrior, who is yet to be born. It is the duty of the beautiful young queen, Karalina, to lead the fight against this evil and vanquish the threat.

 

The Lost (And Found) Balloon Celeste Jenkins Illustrated by Maria Bogade

Molly O’Doon ties a note to her red balloon, lets it loose, and off it goes on a buoyant adventure. Who will answer Molly’s letter? Someone in a different state or a faraway country? Or maybe, a new friend much closer than she could ever imagine.  

The Lost (and Found) Balloon is the winner of the 5th annual Cheerios® New Author Contest. Selected from more than 8,000 entries by a team of editors, teachers, librarians, and General Mills staff, The Lost (and Found) Balloon will also appear in a bilingual (English/Spanish) mini-paperback edition in 1.5 million specially marked boxes of Cheerios.

Dragon Fire by Dina von Lowenkraft

Chapter 1
The Circle Tightens
The candle flickered in the subzero wind but Anna made no move to protect it. She stopped on the hill in front of Tromso's three-year high school and watched the water of the fjord shimmer below. Even though it was mid-afternoon there was no sun, just the luminous reflection of the moon.  The procession of students continues on without her, leaving only the fading sound of crunching snow in their wake.
This isn't a world I know. I read on and I do want to read this one.

Winner

Chick-o-Saurus Rex by Lenore Appelhans, Illustrated by Daniel Jennewein
The humorous story of a little chick who proves his mettle to the farm's big bullies when he discovers he has a very mighty lineage. Writing as Lenore Jennewein.
I couldn’t find a preview copy of this book, but I did find the author’s website and the book trailer.

I hope you found a book you want to pursue. If you haven't read them, here are the other 2014 Crystal Kite Posts:Crystal Kites Atlantic, Mid South and Southeast
California Hawaii and the West
Southwest and Midwest  New England, New York and Texas/Oklahoma  UK/Ireland, Middle East/India/Asia and Canada

Happy Reading