Cover Reveal of MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD: Rebels, Reformers, and Revolutionaries Who Changed the World Through Writing

In a December post I reviewed a nonfiction book that extended the picture book format by compiling multiple biographic profiles (and supplemental content), all related to a single theme. In it, Vivian Kirkfield turned a spotlight on nine lesser-known inventors and innovators in transportation. Her superbly researched and written text was enhanced by full color illustrations to extend understanding. If you missed it, check out the post HERE. 

Today,  I'm excited and honored to share the COVER REVEAL for an upcoming nonfiction book that adopts this approach and runs with it. 

MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD: Rebels, Reformers, and Revolutionaries Who Changed the World Through Writing is written by Rochelle Melander and illustrated by Melina Ontiveros. 

DRUM ROLL, PLEASE...   TA-DA!

Beaming Books. July, 2021

I've been anxiously awaiting this book, since I first heard about it. The author is someone I deeply admire. I've known her as an award-winning blogger who offers writing and life coaching services, whose books have helped me build my own writing skill and craft. She lifts others up at every opportunity. That's why it is a particular honor for me to be the first to introduce the cover of Rochelle Melander's latest book here, and to interview her about this project.

SB: Welcome, Rochelle, and thank you for allowing me to participate in this early and exciting news about your upcoming book. You’ve published eleven books for adults. Can you tell us about the shift to writing for children?

RM: Most people don’t know that I’ve been writing for children for a long time, publishing articles in Highlights and other places. Because of my work as a professional coach, I’ve mostly written books for adults, including Write-a-Thon: Write Your Book in 26 Days (And Live to Tell About It) (Writer’s Digest Books). But through it all, I’ve been writing for kids. I have stacks of novels and picture books hiding in my closet and on my hard drive.

 

SB:  So how did Mightier than the Sword come about?

RM: When my son started kindergarten, I began volunteering at my children’s schools and taught writing for them a few times a year. I loved it. I took the National Writing Project’s Summer Institute to learn more about how to teach children. In 2005, I founded Dream Keepers Writing Workshop, a program to bring creative writing to children in the schools and libraries. I regularly brought in the work of authors and musicians to inspire us to write. One week we read, “Howl” by Nikki Giovanni and then listened to Nina Simone’s “Young, Gifted, and Black.” They created poems in response to the work. The rhythm of those early meetings inspired the format of the book—a story about a writer and their work coupled with writing exercises.

 

SB: Does that mean this book has been in the works since 2005?

RM: Yes and no. In my 2009 proposal for Write-A-Thon, I included a version of this book in my “follow-up” books section. Later, I played around with writing a picture book version of these stories. Then, in 2018, I took Middle Grade Mastery with the Children’s Book Academy. For one of the exercises, we wrote a book pitch that agents would look at. I wrote one for Mightier, and an agent requested it. There was only one catch: I hadn’t written the proposal yet. 

 

So, I cranked out a proposal in a month. The agent ultimately passed on the project—but gave me helpful feedback. I revised the proposal and submitted it to several agents. I got a R&R * from an agent I liked, so I rewrote the proposal again. Finally, in the fall of 2019, I participated in PitMad*, and three editors favored the pitch. I eventually sold the book to Beaming Books—and here we are.

***Note:  "R&R" is a wonderful thing to receive, in the writers' world of submissions and countless rejections. It means the editor or agent likes the work enough to send some notes and invite you to revise and resubmit to be considered again. There is no promise attached, but it is very encouraging!

***Note: PitMad is one of several Twitter events throughout  the year in which authors and illustrators post their pitches for current work, while agents and editors monitor the tagged Tweets, looking for ideas that feel like a good match to their current needs. To have THREE favored responses is unusually successful!

SB: I'm so pleased that you shared the details of this book's journey, and of your persistence. With the release only a few months away, what can you tell us about Mightier Than the Sword?

RM: The book tells the inspiring stories of people throughout history who have used writing to change their lives and communities. Each chapter also features interactive writing exercises so that children can use writing to change their own neighborhoods, schools, and communities. The book features people who wrote in many different disciplines, including medicine, astronomy, biology, and sports. 

Interior: MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD. Beaming Books, 2021

SB: Were there research discoveries that particularly surprised you?

RM: One of my favorite chapters tells the story of Anne Frank, who kept a journal while in hiding from the Nazi’s. What kids may not know is that while she was in hiding, she was revising her diary in hopes of publishing it after the war. At one of the concentration camps she was taken to, she shared her plan with a friend. (When I read that, the story just gave me chills. Anne remained so hopeful even then.)

 

SB: Anne Frank's story always gives me chills. Many young people know about her diary and may have read the book, but there are so many other details that bring her to life. She and her sister Margot died in the concentration camp of Typhus, not the gas chambers, only weeks before the camp was liberated. It's wonderful that her diary was later found and published, and that you are bringing her life to the page with the intention to inspire other young writers.

Interior: MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD. Beaming Books, 2021

SB: What are your hopes for the book?

RM: I hope stories like Anne Frank’s will inspire children to write. I’m hoping it will reach kids who love to write and need to be reminded that their voice matters. I also hope it reaches reluctant writers, like many of the children I work with through Dream Keepers. Some love science more than stories. Others feel more confident drawing pictures than scribbling words. But once they learned that there were many kinds of stories to tell and many ways to tell a story, they were hooked. This book is for kids like them, too. Children may not realize it, but their letters, poems, and graphic stories can make a big difference in their community and the world.

 

SB: Thank you, Rochelle, for your commitment to this project, for believing in and inspiring young writers, and for sharing your good news with us. I particularly appreciate the depth of research that is your foundation for the range and reach of individuals you included, across time, geography, circumstances, gender, and fame (or lack of it). Every reader will  be able to find connections among the many examples your include. I look forward to writing a full review when it is available. Blog readers, if this sounds as appealing to you as it does to me, it is available for preorder from Amazon, HERE. You might also support your local independent bookseller by asking them to pre-order for you.

Rochelle Melander is a teaching artist, professional certified coach, and the author of eleven books for adults including Level Up: Quests to Master Mindset, Overcome Procrastination and Increase Productivity.

 

Rochelle is the founder of Dream Keepers, a writing workshop that teaches young people how they can change their lives and communities through writing. Rochelle believes that you can find the answer to your questions and the questions that deserve answers in a book or at the tip of your pen. She writes books, blog posts, journal entries, shopping lists and the occasional poem and owns enough books to start her own library. Even so, she reached the library’s lending limit many times while writing Mightier than The Sword.

 

She lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with her husband, children, and two goofy rescue dogs. Rochelle blogs at writenowcoach.com.

 

Mightier Than the Sword:

Rebels, Reformers, and Revolutionaries Who Changed the World through Writing

ISBN-10 : 1506466400

ISBN-13 : 978-1506466408

rochelle@writenowcoach.com

writenowcoach.com

Twitter: @WriteNowCoach

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WriteNowCoach/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/writenowcoach/

 

 

Rochelle and I will both be visiting classrooms today, virtually,  to celebrate WORLD READ ALOUD DAY.  I feel the same about this event as I do about THEME MONTHS- important literary activities. topics, and collections should be shared ALL YEAR LONG. That includes reading aloud from multiple sources  and genre, EVERY DAY, including nonfiction. The short chapters in Rochelle's book are ideal for use during writing sessions. If you missed out on connecting your kiddos with an author/reader today, click on the WRAD link to find suggestions and resources for use all year around. 

 

Refugees on STORMY SEAS: A Never-Ending Story

The surface of our planet is more than 70% water, so it is no surprise that a major method of transportation, throughout history, has been by boat. Whether water travel is viewed as luxurious, adventurous, necessary, worrisome, or terrifying depends largely on a person's options and reasons for travel. Certainly the vast majority of those onboard the Titanic, even the seasick, employees, and immigrants (unlikely to ever see native lands again) began their journey with the reasonable expectation of arriving safely at a US port in a matter of days. At worst, it was a temporary discomfort undertaken for a valued purpose. At best, it was a glorious adventure and a status symbol, even for those whose status was in no need of bolstering.

Certainly, none of those boarding could have imagined that an iceberg would change their perceptions and their fates in a matter of hours. 

On the other hand, a boat trip as a refugee is only undertaken with the reasonable expectation of death. Empathy alone doesn't allow us to put ourselves in the desperate-but-hopeful mindset of refugees boarding objects that bear less resemblance to boats than do the crayon sketches of toddlers. 
Refugees are people fleeing fates more horrid than we can possibly imagine. Sadly, they are real and very conceivable to the refugees themselves. That's been true throughout the plight of "boat people" spanning millennia, hemispheres, and ethnicities.

Annick Press, April, 2017

STORMY SEAS: STORIES OF YOUNG BOAT PEOPLE addresses that long history of refugees. Written by Mary Beth Leatherdale and illustrated by Eleanor Shakespeare, this picture book aimed at middle grade readers opens with a timeline of "boat people" that precedes the Mayflower. Five true stories from refugee history on the water are humanized through the eyes of actual young people:
Ruth and her family escaping Nazism; Phu fleeing war-torn Vietnam; Jose  escaping Cuba; Najeeba leaving Afghanistan and the Taliban; Mohamed, an orphan, runs from his village on the Ivory Coast. 

I agree entirely with the synopsis from Indiebound.org: 
"...Stormy Seas combines a contemporary collage-based design, sidebars, fact boxes, timeline and further reading to produce a book that is ideal for both reading and research. Readers will gain new insights into a situation that has constantly been making the headlines."
I'll go so far as to call this an extraordinary resource, compelling in content and useful as a resource to launch research. From the introductory timeline of  "boat people" who have attempted escapes through to the more recent examples, these stories all depict refugees pursuing an opportunity to make new homes in an area of North America that eventually becomes the United States. Naturally, our current global refugee crisis is dealt with at the conclusion.
My only caution is to include additional books and information in refugee discussions to balance the "America-centric" approach. There are stories of refugees with other destinations throughout the world, and of other countries who are facing the moral decicion of extending a welcoming hand or slamming shut their ports of entry.

Certainly safety and reasonable screening are necessary considerations for any nation. But our neighbor to the north, Canada, has dealt with those issues of national concern while still finding ways to offer refugees new opportunities and safe places to live. I posted a review about another recent picture book, STEPPING STONES: A REFUGEE FAMILY'S JOURNEY (here), and an extensive interview with its Canadian author, Margriet Ruers, here. If you missed those posts, I urge you to read them.

I endorse and am inspired by Anne Frank's memorable quote:

This positive view of human nature leads me forward, but history insists that human nature and nature itself are capable of unleashing devastating circumstances. These include conditions that force people to set foot aboard frighteningly fragile boats, literally and figuratively. Even the most optimistic among us must be realistic. We know that the specifics may change but  "refugee crisis" will repeat and repeat in the millennia ahead. The question should be asked of readers, while they are young, to consider fully what our response can and should be. Books like these allow them to research, debate, analyze, and empathize.

After the devastating earthquake in Haiti in 2010, conditions were so unlivable that thousands of Haitians were evacuated with special longterm visas to live in the USA.Those visas are currently under review, with their termination becoming a real possibility. This return of Haitian natives to a fragile homeland comes at the very time when conditions in Haiti are deteriorating to such a degree that residents are resorting to the high-risk boat route to reach the unwelcoming shores of our country. NPR's Weekend Edition aired a brief but very informative description of this here.

Women (and Girls) and Glass Ceilings: Awesome Icons

Alfred A. Knoopf, 2016

When it comes to icons, perhaps no young girl has inspired as many people as Anne Frank. At a time when many people are Clinging to hope that these challenging, even threatening times will ever improve, we can turn to Anne as an example of hope in the face of hardship. 
Author Jeff Gottesfeld has explored Anne's source of inspiration and hope in 
THE TREE IN THE COURTYARD: Looking Through Anne Frank's Window. 
The focus is on the glorious and stoic chestnut tree outside the annex building in which Anne and her family hid before their eventual capture. Visible day after day, month after month, through the only window was that tree. Throughout their long exile in that hidden space, throughout seasons of change and  increasing threats, the tree's view of events is personified by the author. From the point of view of the tree the author emphasizes the universal humanity of Anne and her family by referring to them as "the girl", "the father", a "woman helper", and "men in gray uniforms". 
The chestnut tree's life eventually ends, but not without a concerted effort to support, sustain, and rescue the tree from eventual death. Lines like this are powerful without being maudlin:

"The tree recalled how few had tried to save the girl."

Both the girl and the tree passed on, and both live on. Anne's story is universally known, but this book shares the less-well-known story of Anne's inspiring chestnut tree's legacy. Seeds and saplings now grow in New York City where the Twin Towers once stood, and other chestnut tree offspring grow in significant memorial spaces around the world, along with this excerpt from Anne's diary: 

"The two of us looked out at the blue sky, the bare chestnut tree glistening with dew....

and we were so moved and entranced that we couldn't speak."

Illustrator Peter McCarty enhances this portrayal of Anne's family as representing universal humanity with muted details and facial features, minimal backgrounds, and grainy sepia monochrome on off-white pages.

* * *

Simon & Schuster BYR, 2016

While Anne Frank was hiding, then losing her life in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, another young Jewish girl was growing up in Brooklyn, New York.  Ruth Bader, daughter of a Russian immigrant, was raised among a city of immigrants with vastly different cultures, but a common understanding:  Boys could do anything, but girls got married. 

That, her mother believed, was foolish. Ruth's childhood was filled with contradictions: books about inspiring female leaders and signs like "No Dogs or Jews Allowed". 

Following her mother's example, Ruth disagreed, spoke out, dissented, and argued when confronted with injustice- toward her, her gender, her religion, or anyone else's, for that matter.

I DISSENT: Ruth Bader Ginsberg Makes Her Mark is a biography that humanizes the iconic side of Ginsberg while presenting her childhood story as one kids today can emulate. 
Author Debbie Levy's narrative is as straightforward and energetic as her subject, enhanced by colorful and dramatic book design that expands and magnifies repeated key words. The narrative reveals the heartfelt core to Ginsberg's  will of iron. 
Elizabeth Baddeley's illustrations play a significant role in allowing young readers of either gender to recognize and respect that Ruth Bader Ginsberg confronted challenges, even welcomed them, despite her very human fears and heartbreak. 

In the midst of uncertain and even frightening times for many young people (and others!) these are stories worthy of reading and rereading, inviting discussion and questions. During any year I'd recommend both titles, but this year they feel especially deserving of our attention.