Author Spotlight & GIVEAWAY — Darlene Beck Jacobson
I’m delighted to host middle-grade author, Darlene Beck Jacobson, on the Book Burrow blog! We met through 50 Precious Words. Darlene writes books for upper-elementary kids, and I really enjoyed her book, Wishes, Dares, and How to Stand Up to a Bully. It’s a historical-fantasy about a boy missing his father in war, who encounters a magical wish-granting fish, a new friend, and a bully.
Thank you, Darlene, for joining us today! I’m excited for us to learn about your experience as a writer and your reading advice for families.
Want a FREE copy of Wishes, Dares, and How to Stand Up to a Bully? Comment at the bottom of this post & subscribe to my blog. I’ll draw one winner at random on July 13th.
Welcome, Darlene! What has your journey to becoming an author been like?
My journey has been gratifying as well as a learning experience. Completing a manuscript is only one part of a long and involved process that requires a lot of patience, editing, persistence, and a sense of humor. So many things are out of an author's control. Things like trends in publishing and what editors are looking for change constantly. All a person can do is write what is in your heart and make the story the best it can be and then send it out, hoping someone connects with it. I have been lucky to find a great editor at Creston Books - Mariss Moss - who loves historical fiction and has championed both my books.
What are your books about? What age do you write for?
I write for a middle-grade audience. Both my books are historical fiction. The first one, WHEELS OF CHANGE (2014) is about a 12 year old girl named Emily Soper, growing up in Washington DC in 1908. He papa owns a carriage making business at a time when automobiles are on the horizon. Women are demonstrating for a right to vote, and Pap's hired an African-American blacksmith in a segregated city, causing neighbors to be upset and looking for trouble. Emily longs to be a blacksmith. She'd rather hang out in the carriage barn and spend time with her best friend Charlie than learn what it means to be a proper lady. So many changes on the horizon. Emily needs to decide which ones matter.
My second book WISHES, DARES, AND HOW TO STAND UP TO A BULLY (2020) is a novel in verse set in the 1960's. 11 year-old Jack is missing his dad who is MIA in Vietnam. He, his sister Katie, and Mom are spending the summer with dad's parents. Jack meets a girl named Jill whose brother is a bully who terrorizes Jill and interferes with their summer. When Jack and Jill catch a fish that grants wishes, their summer is turned upside down as they learn the consequences for wishes gone wrong and how to fix the messes they create. Themes of bullying, friendship, missing a parent, and doing the right thing instead of the easy thing are explored in poems instead of chapters, making the book easy for reluctant readers to connect with.
What does novel-in-verse mean?
As I mentioned above, a verse novel has poems insted of traditional chapters written in prose. Each poem cuts to the heart of what Jack is feeling and how he views the world around him. Background and setting are integrated into Jack's thoughts rather than "told" by the narrator. Verse novels cut to the heart of what the characters are feeling and what is important to them.
Can kids write to you if they want to? In general, how would you recommend writing to an author?
I love it when kids write to me!! I've received letters from students in a classroom when the book has been shared as part of a class reading, where the teacher collects student letters and mails them to me in a packet.
Kids can also connect with me by writing an email using the email address from my website www.darlenebeckjacobson.com.
What advice would you give kids who want to be an author one day, too?
I often tell aspiring writers to keep a notebook of ideas, places, things they think about as well as names they might use for a character. Any idea they come up with or a funny/interesting thing that happens can become a story. Saving these ideas and writing down things they like or find interesting can be used to create or enrich stories. Keep writing and improving what you write. Everyone has a unique story to tell. Only you can tell your own story. Do it!
What advice would you give parents who want to help their children become life-long readers?
First, parents need to set an example by modeling reading for their kids. Reading children stories from an early age, surrounding them with books and making reading time a part of every day reinforces the value of books. When kids see their parents reading, they understand that this is something of importance. Let kids choose the books/topics that appeal to them within their age range and ability to understand. Let children have their own library cards to take out books on their own. Display books in a place of honor in the house, to be seen, read, and used on a daily basis.
Thank you, Kendra, for having me on your blog.
Thank you, Darlene!
Headshot, Darlene Beck Jacobson
Darlene Beck Jacobson is a former teacher and speech therapist who has loved writing since she was a girl. She is the author of the middle grade historical novel WHEELS OF CHANGE (Creston 2014) which is a 2015 Notable Social-Studies Trade Book from the Children’s Book Council (CBC), A 2015 Mighty Girl Pick, and The Grateful American Book Prize Honorable mention for 2015. Her middle grade novel-in-verse WISHES, DARES, AND HOW TO STAND UP TO A BULLY (Creston 2020) is a Notable Verse Novel for 2021 from the CBC.
Darlene lives and writes her stories in New Jersey. When she’s not writing , she enjoys baking and eating pies, dancing to the oldies in the supermarket, and discovering new things. She’s caught many fish, but never asked one to grant her a wish. She’s a firm believer in wishes coming true, so she tries to be careful what she wishes for.
Her blog features recipes, activities, crafts, articles on nature, book reviews, and interviews with children’s book authors and illustrators.
Twitter: @DBeckJacobson
My Review of Wishes, Dares, and How to Stand Up to a Bully
In a media age where kids are bombarded with the next loudest, fastest, brightest thing — this book stands apart. It gently invites the reader into a child’s inner world. It gives space for loss, doesn’t try to hide it or wish it away. It also shows how lost things (or in the main character Jack’s case, a missing father in war), aren’t the end. Sometimes, feeling lost inside leads you to new friendships, adventures, and even magical wishes.
And speaking of getting lost, I enjoyed escaping to the 1960s. Although I was born in the 90s, it evoked my own childhood memories of riding books, camping in a big tent without parents, and most of all — of a time when part of me wasn’t ready to grow up. Part of me still wanted to believe that magic was real.
I hope you’ll make space in your heart for this book — whether you are grown up already or still growing. I believe children’s inner worlds are more complex, insightful, and honest than us adults often remember. If the eleven-year-old version of me read this book, I’d probably relate a lot with Jack. Life feels complicated, but you don’t have to do it alone.
Through Jack, kids can learn …
how our choices have unexpected, significant consequences.
that we can do the right thing, not the easy thing.
how friendship and family can help a heart heal.
that there is more to a bully than meets the eye, and everyone deserves a second chance.
Comment below & subscribe to my blog to enter the raffle for a FREE copy of Wishes, Dares, and How to Stand Up to a Bully! The winner will be announced Thursday, July 13th.
*please note: we can only mail this book to US residents
