Answers to Last Group of First Line/Paragraphs

by Susan Berger

These are the answers to the last group of first line/paragraphs. Eight of them are first books. (I thought it was nine, but I got fooled by the N.E. Bode bio)

1 Fern Drudger knew her parents were dull. Ridiculously dull. Incredibly, tragically dull. 

The Anybodies by N.E. Bode Illustrated by Peter Ferguson
(First book in the series. Pen name for Juliana Baggott) 

2. October 19th 1998 3:30PM
A dripping faucet.
Crumbs and a pink stain on the counter.
Half of a skin black banana that smells as old as it looks.
If I look at these things and at nothing else, concentrate on them and stay still, and don’t make any noise, this will be over soon and I can go home without Cameron’s dad ever knowing I’m here.
Sweethearts by Sara Zarr
(This book was a Cybil finalist. Sara was the Keynote speaker at the SCBWI winter Conference this year.) 

3. We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck. 

Feed by M.T. Anderson
(First book National Book Award finalist.) 

4. Crooked Creek Middle School Morning Announcement request
Feb 2
Mr. Cooper Please announce that today’s scheduled meeting of the American Society of Fun Facts has been cancelled because the club’s president is stuck in In-School Suspension . (thanks a lot)
The Defense of Thaddeus A Ledbetter by John Gosselink 

(First book)

5. 

The School of Fear 

The wilderness outside Farmington Massachusetts 

(exact location withheld for security purposes) 

Direct All correspondence to PO Box 333 

Farmington, MA 01201 

Dear Applicant,
I am pleased to inform you of your acceptance to the summer course at the School of Fear.
School of Fear by Gitty Daneshvari
(This is a second book. Her first was The Makedown. I used a line from that in my last post. School of Fear will now be a four book series and a movie)

These next five are Cybil Finalists for mid grade fiction. I searched their list for first books. (Not easy.) There were more, but I couldn’t look inside the on Amazon 

6. I’d just been busted for giving the chimpanzees water balloons when I first heard something was wrong at Hippo River. 

(First book)
Belly Up by Stuart Gibbs 

7. Fiona Finkelstein had a bad feeling. It was the kind of bad feeling she got when she just knew Mrs. Miltenberger has packed a corned beef sandwich in her lunchbox, even thought she’s told her a gazillion times that she HATES corned beef more than she HATES anything else. Especially after learning that there was actually no corn in it. If there was one thing Fiona flat-out could not stand, it was food that lies. 

Fiona Finkelstein Meets Her Match by Shawn K. Stout.
(This is a second book) 

8. The first day of summer vacation is important because what you do that day sets the tone for the whole summer. That’s why my best friend Elliot Berger is coming over to watch the Daily Show episodes I’ve recorded. Mom and I used to watch them together. She always said that the host, Jon Stewart, stood up for the little guy, which is funny because Jon Stewart is a little guy-five feet seven inches. According to Wikipedia, the average height for men in the United States is five feet nine and a half inches. Let’s just say I can totally relate to Jon’s height issue.

How to Survive Middle School by Donna Gephart
(I think this is a first book.) 

9. You wake up and you’re fourteen. The world is your supersized soda waiting to be guzzled, right? Wrong. My birthday tasted more like Coke that went flat. 

Kimchi & Calimari by Rose Kent.
(First book. Nominated for several awards. Her second book was nominated for a Cybil) 

10. It’s a perfect night to run away, thought Fadi, casting a brooding look at the bright sheen of the moon through the cracked backseat window. It reminded him of the book From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler. 

Shooting Kabul by N.H. Senzai.
(First book. I would look this one up on Amazon and read the whole first page. It’s excellent.) 

Jan. 15, 2010

Dec. 5, 2009

Here some links to older first line posts. 

I think I will search the Cybils for YA for the next one.

Write on!

New First lines and/or Paragraphs

by Susan Berger
Here are some new First lines for your reading pleasure.
Sometimes, for me, the first line doesn't cut it. In that case, since I know the book was sold to an editor, I use the first paragraph.

1. Fern Drudger knew her parents were dull. Ridiculously dull. Incredibly, tragically dull.

2. October 19th 1998 3:30PM
A dripping faucet.
Crumbs and a pink stain on the counter.
Half of a skin black banana that smells as old as it looks.
If I look at these things and at nothing else, concentrate on them and stay still, and don’t make any noise, this will be over soon and I can go home without Cameron’s dad ever knowing I’m here.

3. We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck.

4. Crooked Creek Middle School Morning Announcement request Feb 2
Mr. Cooper Please announce that today’s scheduled meeting of the American Society of Fun Facts has been cancelled because the club’s president is stuck in In-School Suspension . (thanks a lot)

5.

The School of Fear

The wilderness outside Farmington Massachusetts

(exact location withheld for security purposes)

Direct All correspondence to PO Box 333

Farmington, MA 01201

Dear Applicant,
I am pleased to inform you of your acceptance to the summer course at the School of Fear.

These next five are Cybil Finalists for mid grade fiction. I searched their list for books by first time authors. (Not easy.) There were more, but I only chose the ones where I could find the first line on Amazon.

6. I’d just been busted for giving the chimpanzees water balloons when I first heard something was wrong at Hippo River.

7. Fiona Finkelstein had a bad feeling. It was the kind of bad feeling she got when she just knew Mrs. Miltenberger has packed a corned beef sandwich in her lunchbox, even thought she’s told her a gazillion times that she HATES corned beef more than she HATES anything else. Especially after learning that there was actually no corn in it. If there was one thing Fiona flat-out could not stand, it was food that lies.

8. The first day of summer vacation is important because what you do that day sets the tone for the whole summer. That’s why my best friend Elliot Berger is coming over to watch the Daily Show episodes I’ve recorded. Mom and I used to watch them together. She always said that the host, Jon Stewart, stood up for the little guy, which is funny because Jon Stewart is a little guy-five feet seven inches. According to Wikipedia, the average height for men in the United States is five feet nine and a half inches. Let’s just say I can totally relate to Jon’s height issue.

9. You wake up and you’re fourteen. The world is your super sized soda waiting to be guzzled, right? Wrong. My birthday tasted more like Coke that went flat.

10. It’s a perfect night to run away, thought Fadi, casting a brooding look at the bright sheen of the moon through the cracked backseat window. It reminded him of the book From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler. (Interesting. This book by a first time author is nominated and it just broke a rule by mentioning another authors work in the first paragraph. Just shows you. Rules were made to be broken.)
The answers will be in my next post.

Happy reading and writing!

Here are links some older First Line posts


These lines came from Writers Day and were posted 5/2/10



Answers posted 5/31/10

 

There are the answers to

May 2nd post, posted 5/10/10 

 

Answers: First lines from First Picture Books

by Susan Berger

These are the answers from the last first line post in December 2010. I was looking for first books. I wanted to see the first lines that attracted the editor to a new author.

1. Nestled in the soft earth beside the path you see a yellow spider.

Dreamweaver by Jonathan London, Illustrated by Rocco Baviera

2. 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)

 

3. The jungle was quiet.

Suraj, the tiger cub wondered why.

Then Rassi arrived and gave him the news.

Suraj, the Tiger Cub: by Farida Mirza. Not yet published

4. 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

5. Everyone told Lily Hippo she was too loud.

Too Loud Lily by Sofie Laguna, Illustrated by Kerry Argent

6. 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)

7. 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)

8. Pitter, patter

Plam, plam

On my window pane

The Way the Storm Stops by Michelle Meadow, illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger (First book) 

9. 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)

 

10. 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!)




I will be posting new first lines soon They will include some Cybil nominees. In the meantime, here are links to the older First Line posts. Lots of good first lines in them there posts.

  

This was the first of the
First line posts  Nov 3, 2009

 

2nd first lines post Nov 9,2009.
(Oddly enough, I don't think I ever
posted an answer for these first lines.)

 





 

Dec 9. 2010 First Lines

December 15 2010 First lines

Happy Reading and Writing

First Line Answers

by Susan Berger

Here are the answers to the first lines I posted on December 9, 2010.

1. “NO WAY,” I hissed through the slatted dressing room door, “I am not coming out.”

Models Don’t Eat Chocolate Cookies by Erin Dionne. (First book)

2. Fox Street was a dead end. In Mo Wren’s opinion, this was only one of many wonderful distinguishing thinks about it.

What Happened on Fox Street by Tricia Springstubb (First book published 2010)

3. I was born into the sovereignty of nerds from which few have escaped and of which even fewer have had sex. For thirteen harrowing years nerdiness reigned supreme, leaving me unattractive and socially awkward with little more than a stellar report card to call a friend.

The Makedown by Gitty Daneshvari (first book)

4. Frannie Lawrence believed in secrets. The Things you didn’t talk about the way words said out loud could. Words made the bad things too real sometimes. Beter to keep silent with the hurt locked safely away.

Things I Want To Say by Cindi Myers

5. I HAVE A PERFECT MOUTH. That is, at least according to my dentist, AKA my dad, AKA Dr. Dad.

Cursed by Karol Ruth Silverstein BTW.

6. It all started with Aldwyn’s whiskers beginning to tingle- the way they always did when he was hungry. Food had been getting hard to come by these last few months.

The Familiars by Adam J Epstein and Andrew Jacobson (first book)

7. My earliest memory is fuzzy. Not because of time but because I’m looking out of a full body jumper. It’s sea foam green. My mom has cinched the head so tight that my vision is a fleecy porthole.

The Kid Table by Andrea Seigel

8. I pulled up on the front of my pink leotard and turned to the mirror to look at my large behind. No change there. I stretched the fabric tightly across my chest and frowned. Almost a sophomore and still no need of a bra. So much for cutting all those carbs. The calories would always hit us black girls in the wrong places.

Sell-Out by Ebony Joy Wilkins

9. “Hey, chubbo quit hogging the sidewalk!” Kenny Thompson yanked the front of his bike off the ground, circled around eight-year-old Macy Carver, and stuck out his tongue.

Tiny Angel by Nancy Carty Lepri (first book)

10. The sign in front of St Barnaby’s Home for the Hopeless, Abandoned, Forgotten and Lost read CRUSHINNG THE SPIRIT OF CHLDHOOD SINCE 1898.

Jack Blank and the Imagine Nation by Matt Myklusch

(First book. This is going to be a trilogy. The second book will be out in August, 2011)

These ten new lines are all from picture books. Seven are from first books. One is from a book that has now yet been published.

1. Nestled in the soft earth beside the path you see a yellow spider.

2. Everything was just dandy till that Emily Post book showed up.

3. The jungle was quiet.
Suraj, the tiger cub wondered why.
Then Rassi arrived and gave him the news.

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

5. Everyone told Lily Hippo she was too loud.

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

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

8. Pitter, patter
Plam, plam
On my window pane

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

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

I really wanted to post the first line from When the Wind Blew which is Margaret Wise Brown’s first book. Margret wrote Good Night Moon and I thought it would be fun to see the first line from the first book she sold. But I couldn’t find it. If anyone has a copy, I would love to know the first line.

Time for another first lines post

by Susan Berger

These lines are from middle grade and YA. Seven of them are first books. One has not yet been published, but I am sure it is going to be a first book. If you know any of these books, please leave a comment. If you have a favorite first line, please send it to me. (Even if it is from your book that had not yet be accepted for publication.)

My next post will be the answers, plus ten more lines.

1. "NO WAY,” I hissed through the slatted dressing room door, “I am not coming out.”

2. Fox Street was a dead end. In Mo Wren’s opinion, this was only one of many wonderful distinguishing thinks about it.

3. I was born into the sovereignty of nerds from which few have escaped and of which even fewer have had sex. For thirteen harrowing years nerdiness reigned supreme, leaving me unattractive and socially awkward with little more than a stellar report card to call a friend.

4. Frannie Lawrence believed in secrets. The Things you didn’t talk about the way words said out loud could. Words made the bad things too real sometimes. Better to keep silent with the hurt locked safely away.

5. I HAVE A PERFECT MOUTH. That is, at least according to my dentist, AKA my dad, AKA Dr. Dad.

6. It all started with Aldwyn’s whiskers beginning to tingle- the way they always did when he was hungry. Food had been getting hard to come by these last few months.

7. My earliest memory is fuzzy. Not because of time but because I’m looking out of a full body jumper. It’s sea foam green. My mom has cinched the head so tight that my vision is a fleecy porthole.

8. I pulled up on the front of my pink leotard and turned to the mirror to look at my large behind. No change there. I stretched the fabric tightly across my chest and frowned. Almost a sophomore and still no need of a bra. So much for cutting all those carbs. The calories would always hit us black girls in the wrong places.

9. “Hey, chubbo quit hogging the sidewalk!” Kenny Thompson yanked the front of his bike off the ground, circled around eight-year-old Macy Carver, and stuck out his tongue.

10. The sign in front of St Barnaby’s Home for the Hopeless, Abandoned, Forgotten and Lost read CRUSHINNG THE SPIRIT OF CHLDHOOD SINCE 1898.

Answers to The Last Ten First Lines and Ten New Ones

by Susan Berger

1. Every smiley moon without fail Claire dreamed of her childhood.
Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
(This is a first book. Sarah has written two more –The Sugar Queen and The Girl Who Chased the Moon. I treasure all three.)

2. “Go away!” Brianna yelled. “No! I wanna play too!” Julianne cried.
The Sister Exchange by Kevin McNamee Illustrated by Kit Grady

3. It’s not so bad being dead. People generally tend to ignore you.

St. Michael’s Scales by Neil Connelly

(This is a first book. I plan to read it )

4. Do you know what it says on a tube of toothpaste? In small print? You have to read the small print because they never tell you anything scary in large print. Large print is what they want you to see.

Frannie in Pieces by Delia Ephron

(I took this out of the library after reading the first line. I loved it.)

5. In the middle of nowhere along a quiet stretch of road the diner dreamt of the hungry dead.

Gil’s All Fright Diner by A Lee Martinez

(I took this out of the library after reading the first line. Did not love this one, I am not sure why it is listed as a children’s book. YA maybe. Children – not so much)

6. The principal crooked his finger at me. “Come to my office,” he said. I almost choked. Please let it be something horrendous I’ve done, I prayed Just don’t let it be…But deep inside I already knew. It was my mom. She’d done it again.

Lifting the Sky by Mackie d’Arge

(another first novel)

7. When we were little, My best friend Jake and I saw eye to eye. Then I grew and he didn’t.

The Height, the Depths and Everything in Between by Sally Nemeth

(I think this is a first novel. Sally is a playwright.)

8. My so-called parents hate my boyfriend Shrimp.

Gingerbread by Rachel Cohn

9. When Bee woke up, there was a girl standing in her room. “you are me,” the girl said. Then she was gone.

The Waters and the Wild by Francesca Lia Block
(after reading this, I checked out the book. It as short, odd and interesting)

10. Olivia Kidney’s new home was an apartment building made of maroon and yellow bricks on New York City’s Upper West Side. It was twenty stories high and it contained some of the most awful people you’d ever want to meet.

Olivia Kidney by Ellen Potter. Art by Peter H. Reynolds (Another first novel)

This hunt for new lines is getting harder. Books seem to remain on the NY Times best seller list for many weeks so that is not a great hunting ground.

Do you have a favorite first line? Please leave it in the comment section and I will use it.

Here is the next set of new lines.

1. They say that just before you die you whole life flashes before your eyes, but that’s not how it happen for me.

2. So mom got a postcard today. It says Congratulations in big curly letters and at the very top is the address of Studio TV-15 on West 58th Street. After three years of trying, she has actually made it. She is going to be a contestant on the 20,000 Pyramid which is hosted by Dick Clark.

3. First catch your dragon

4. It was my aunt who decided to give me to the Dragon. Not that she was evil or didn’t care for me. It’s just that we were very poor and she was, as we said in those parts, dumber than two turnips in a rain barrel.

5. It’s my first morning of high school. I have seven new notebooks, a skirt I hate, and a stomachache.

6. The first thing I notice as the plane lands at LAX is that it is cloudy and pouring rain. So much for the myth that it’s always sunny in Los Angeles.

7. Since I’ve been pretty much treading water all day, the marquee of the Rialto Theatre looks like the prow of a ship coming to save me.

8. “Little Man would you come on? You keep it up and you’re gonna make us late.”
My younger brother paid no attention to me. Grasping more firmly his newspaper-wrapped notebook and his tin-can lunch of cornbread an oil sausages, he continued to concentrate on the dusty road.

9. When I got off the bus that crisp January morning and stepped on to the parking lot, the only thing I could see was a crowd of students gathered near the east wall of our school. It looked like some sort of outdoor rock concert, except instead of holding up lights and swaying to a heavy guitar ballad, people were raising their cell phones to snap pictures and inching forward amid the rumbling.

10. Everyone knows I’m perfect. My life is perfect. My clothes are perfect. And although it’s a complete lie, I’ve worked my butt off to keep up the appearance that I have it all. The truth, if it were to come out, would destroy my entire picture-perfect image.

Ten First Lines

by Susan Berger

These first lines come from the SCBWI Writer’s Day held on Saturday April 10, 2010. Some are examples given by the speakers. Some were available to sale and/or perusal at the event.

1. The morning after the noted child prodigy Colin Singleton graduated from high school and got dumped for the nineteenth time by a girl named Katherine, he took a bath.

2. I sold my cell phone to the devil. In my defense it had been a really crappy day.
(I immediately went to the library and checked out this book.)

3. “Where oh where…”wondered Ophie Peeler, looking around her big almost empty bedroom, “did mom

4. JUNE 21, 1895 Bombay, India. “Please tell me that’s not going to be part of my birthday dinner this evening.” I am staring into the hissing face of a cobra. A surprisingly pink tongue slithers in and out of a cruel mouth while an Indian man whose eyes are the blue of blindness inclines his head toward my mother and explains in Hindi that cobras make very good eating.

5. Miguelito wiggled and jiggled his loose tooth until one night it fell out. “Yay! Mi dente my tooth,” he said and put it under his pillow. Soon Miguelito fell asleep.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

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

10. In a tree, in a nest, on a gusty spring morn, a speckled egg cracked, and a small bird was born.