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Lisa Yee's Fabu Blog-o-Rama

Lisa Yee

Lisa Yee


Last Updated: 11/18/2009

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Gender: Female
Sign: Virgo

City: SOUTH PASADENA
State: CALIFORNIA
Country: US
Signup Date: 3/29/2006

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Sunday, November 22, 2009 
I love teachers. My parents were teachers. And I especially love English teachers. They were the ones who nurtured and encouraged my writing. So, it was my honor to attend the NCTE in Philadelphia. Imagine, thousands of English teachers together in one (humongous) building. Yes, some students' nightmare was my dream come true. I arrived on Friday night, just in time for the Scholastic Family Dinner. This was an excuse for Scholastic authors and staff to hang out, eat too much food, and have fun. Of course, for Peepy, it was a chance for her to pitch her epic memoir/fashion tips narrative fiction novelette. Here, she's telling Caldecott winner Brian Selznick (left) and amazing author Jordan Sonneblick about her book . . . Brian immediately told author/editor David Levithan about Peepy's idea(s) . . . Emboldened, Peeps then asked authors Francisco Stork, Jane Yolan and Patrick Carman for book blurbs . . . However, when she approached Gordon Korman they got in an argument--although they later made up. (Gordon told Peeps that before she gets blurbs, she needs to write to book) . . . Soon it was time for dinner at a fancy schmanzy Capital Grille . . . After too many desserts, Peeps marched up to Dick Robinson, CEO, Chairman and President of Scholastic and insisted he publish her book. He too encouraged her to write it first . . . Saddened that she still does not have a contract, Peepy was consoled by the beautiful view from our room . . . Next Blog: Our first day at the convention.
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Thursday, November 19, 2009 
So, while the rest of us were galavanting around town with our dear friends . . . Our Celebrity Judges have been hard at work . . . Oops. I meant THESE judges: Elizabeth Bluemle and Josie Levitt of The Flying Pig Bookstore in Vermont . . . And, Vroman's Children's Book Department Manager Kris Vreeland . . . It was soooooo hard to select the best out of (practically) four million entries, but YES! we have a WINNER for Lisa Yee's 42nd Annual Bodacious Book Contest!!!! But first, let's review the fine prizes . . . (Disclaimer: Peep not included.) And up close . . . And really, really up close, here's perhaps the most coveted of the prizes, a lovely petrified orange that sat on my desk for who-knows-how-long . . . So, now . . . the Grand Prize winner is . . . Oh wait. Before we get to that, I want to do some special shout outs! Hubby, Teen, Son and I made our own selections. The authors of these entries can bask in the knowledge that they have been laughed at, and I mean that in the nicest possible way . . . The Teen and Son selection is . . . Book: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie Summary by Really Ginny: Don't give a mouse a cookie (Note: Couldn't find my copy of IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE, so I put an Edward Gorey title in its place) The Hubby (he's the one on the left) call out goes to . . . Book: The Hobbit Summary by Shannon Brewer: Previously unadventurous halfling battles dragon, wins. And my personal favorite was . . . I'll tell you later. But first, the Celebrity Judges Honorable Mentions . . . Book: Good Night Moon Summary by Kelly Fineman: Good night, I said good night Book: I'll Love You Forever Summary by Alex Flinn: Mom's at the window. Help! Police Book: Are You There God, It's Me Margaret? Summary by Jo Whittemore: The book ends with a period. Summary by Really Ginny: Are You There God….Dear Margaret. Leave a message. God. Book: Hunger Games Summary by Jet Harrington: Make friends. Influence people. Escape Death Book: The Graveyard Book Summary by Paul Acampora: No body loved Nobody. Somebody lived. Book: All of a Kind Family Summary by Jeanne K: Pack of roving sisters terrorize Manhattan. And now the FIRST RUNNER UP and winner of some prizes, and person to take over the Grand Prize winner's spot if the pressure of being a winner is too much for said Grand Prize Winner . . . Book: Harold & the Purple Crayon Summary by Mike Jung: Boy with crayon experiences intense hallucinations DRUMROLL PLEASE . . . the judges' unanimous pick (and my personal favorite) and winner of the GRAND PRIZE, including the petrified orange . . . Book: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Summary by Karen B. Schwartz: Five kids get their just desserts. CONGRATULATIONS KAREN!!!! (Karen and Mike, please email me via my website so I can send you your fabulous prizes.) Thank you to all who entered the contest. Your summaries were magnificent and so are you! And for anyone attending the NCTE Convention (National Convention of Teachers of English) in Philadelphia this weekend, here's my schedule . . . SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21 12:30-2:30pm Books for Children Luncheon - featuring Brian Selznick 2:00-3:00pm Scholastic Signing—Booth #618 with Patrick Carman 4:15-5:30pm Authors' Blogs: Connections, Collaboration, and Creativity with with Laurie Halse Anderson, Barbara O'Connor, Maureen Johnson and Justine Larbalestier - Convention Center-Room 103A 5:45-7:45pm 77th Annual M.R. Robinson Reception & Dinner - Marriott, Grand Ballroom 8:00pm Night Cap Social with the Alliance for Young Artists, the National Writing Project, with Alice Quinn, the Executive Director of the Poetry Society of America - Marriott—Salon B SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22 10:00-11:30am Scholastic Literary Brunch . . .
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Monday, November 16, 2009 
I am soooooo sorry! I know I said we'd announce the winner of the Bodacious Book Contest. However, the entries were so great that the judges are still deliberating. Soon! Soon! We will crown our winner!!! In the meantime, recently Peepy and I were lucky enough to see our friend David Levithan at Vroman's. David, who is also VP/Editorial Director at Scholastic, was on tour for his latest novel, LOVE IS THE HIGHER LAW. Yes, he is an overachiever and we wish he would stop. (He makes us look like slackers.) Anyway, before David's event, we bumped into authors Cecil Castellucci and Blake Nelson. They were browsing . . . Here's David from where we were sitting . . . And here he is, up close and personal . . . A raffle was held for an ARC (advanced readers copy) of David's upcoming blockbuster bestseller, WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON, hence to be known as WG2. He wrote it with uber author John Green. Here's John with WG2 editor Julie Strauss-Gabel . . . Guess who won???? Teen was with us, so I had David sign the book to . . . ME! (He signed LOVE IS THE HIGHER LAW for her.) Not to rub it in, but . . . hahahahaha!!! The book doesn't come out until April 2010 and I've already read it, and loved it!!! I asked John Green about the title and main characters' names. Why not call it, "JOHN GREEN, JOHN GREEN" or "DAVID LEVITHAN, DAVID LEVITHAN"? And he said, "We chose the name in advance--it was one of the few things picked at the outset. David chose the Will and I chose the Grayson." Then he added, "We wanted to call it PEEPY, PEEPY, but her lawyers wouldn't let us." (Okay, maybe he didn't say that last sentence--but he probably thought it.) In other news . . . YES! I just finished the line-edits of BOBBY VS. GIRLS (ACCIDENTALLY), the second book in the Bobby Ellis-Chan series. I was having problems with the endings and kept scribbling notes . . . I even wrote the perfect last line in my sleep. But in the morning, when I looked at the paper I wrote it on, MY PEN HAD GONE DRY. That's okay. I came up with a better line when I was awake. And now it's done! I've sent off the manuscript to these fine editors in NYC . . . (That would be Cheryl Klein, on left, Moi in the middle, and Arthur Levine.) And finally, fashion tip of the week. Don't iron. Use this . . . It's what busy authors and others everywhere use to get rid of wrinkles! Sadly, it only works on clothes. Alrighty. Getting ready to rumble with Laurie Halse Anderson, Barbara O'Connor, Maureen Johnson and Justine Larbalestier at the NCTE Convention in Philadelphia. We're all on a panel together. The topic is one of the following: Dentistry Blogging Quick 'n' Easy Crock Pot Recipes
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Wednesday, November 11, 2009 
Earlier this week, Dan Santat and I journeyed a couple miles down the road to Carver Elementary School in San Marino, CA. We were there to talk about BOBBY VS. GIRLS (ACCIDENTALLY) . . . BTW, we got some great news about BOBBY. The New York Public Library named it one of the 100 BEST BOOKS FOR CHILDREN and adults and animals!!!!! (I may have added that last part.) Photobucket (A tragedy involving Peepy once occurred at the NYPL, but it ended well.) And here's NYPL's own Betsy Bird's review of BOBBY for School Library Journal! Okay, so back to Carver. We spoke to the fourth and fifth grades . . . (If you take out your magnifying glass, you'll see that I'm in the first photo and Dan's in the second one.) It was soooooo cool because the fifth graders made posters announcing our event . . . We didn't have room for all of them, but here are a few selected at random . . . Everyone was wonderful and we had a greatfabuloustotallycool time!!! For those of you holding your breath(s) to hear about the Bodacious Book Contest winners, they will be announced in my next blog!!!!! (We had practically sort of a million entries, and we don't want to rush to judgement.)
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Sunday, November 08, 2009 

 . . . are still hard at work pouring over the (practically) millions of contest entries for the Bodacious Book Contest.

So, Peepy and I decided that while they were working, we'd have some fun!


Yes! We went to see NPR's Wait, Wait . . . Don't Tell Me! live at the Pasadena Civic Center . . .
 

We got there early so Peepy could chat with some of her friends. Then we found our seats . . .
 

The panelists were these funny people . . . 

Here's the crew setting up . . .

Then the show began! The guest star who played "Not My Job" was . . . squint and see if you can tell . . .

Yes! It was George Takei, a.k.a. Sulu. Peepy was thrilled that she got to meet him in person . . .
(Okay, so maybe she didn't actually meet him in person. But don't tell her that.)

It was so cool because we are fans and there's even a Star Trek geek featured one of my upcoming books!

The show was amazing and funny. It was called an "evergreen" because they're not sure when it's going to air--but it will be repeated several times, as needed or when the staff goes on vacation. 

In the meantime, here's Tony Hawk  on Saturday's show. And here's Tony Hawk /signing Son's skateboard deck . . .

Oops! Back to the show!!!

Afterward, the audience rushed the stage. It was exactly like a U2 concert!!!! Almost.
  

It was all so fun that as soon as we got home, Peeps told Chekov all about meeting Sulu and told him that she now wants her own radio show . . .

BTW, if you're a grandparent, have a grandparent, or know a grandparent, CHECK THIS OUT. Yes! AARP likes Bobby!!!
(Above: Me and my grandmother at my uncle's wedding.)

Also, I thought this was totally cool. CLICK HERE 
to find out about the fork in the road.

And in honor of Tony Hawk, there's this . . .


Thursday, November 05, 2009 
Yep. The Lisa Yee's 42nd Annual Bodacious Book Contest is now closed. You can check out the hilarious entries by CLICKING HERE and picking your favorites. As you are reading this, our Celebrity Judges are pouring over the entries and making their decisions. In the meantime, I thought I'd pass along some sage advice . . . When you travel, do not put your vitamins, like Omega 3 fish oil, in the same bag as your candy, like Hot Tamales. Yeah. Recently, on a plane trip I accidentally bit into a fish oil capsule. Ewwww. On a happier note: Winnie-the-Pooh. There's been a lot of fuss about the authorized sequel to A.A. Milne's classic Winnie-the-Pooh stories. I'm in the camp of Good-For-You-Who-Put-Out-The-New-Book-However-I-Think-I-Will-Pass. As some of you know, I have the second largest collection of Winnie-the-Pooh stuff in America. Here's what happened. I started collecting when I was seven and Santa brought me my first Pooh bear . . . . . . and it didn't stop collecting until May 12, 2003 . . . That's because, on that day I shipped off over EIGHTY BOXES of my Poohs to the White River Heritage/Pooh Museum in Canada . . . My collection had gotten too big, and my Pooh-addiction had gotten out of hand . . . My family was moving from Orlando, Florida to South Pasadena, CA, and our new house was much smaller. (L.A. prices will do that to you.) So I decided to send them to White River in Ontario Canada, the home of the bear Winnie is named after. White River was in the process of building a Pooh Museum and I thought it would better for everyone to enjoy the collection than for it to sit in storage. It took a lot of doing, including making up a list for customs. For an entire week, I prepped the big handoff. I'd put my Poohs on a white sheet and photograph them, then list their value (and wish each and every one a sad good-bye) . . . Then, after about four days of this, I realized . . . DUH!!! I don't need to put them on the sheet . . . I can just take photos of each shelf . . . Oh well. Yes, I do miss my Winnie-the-Poohs. Although I have kept over 100 or so. Plus, there are the memories of them. In addition writing Pooh articles for magazines, every year the pre-schoolers of Park Lake in Orlando would visit my collection. I don't know who had more fun, me or the kids!!!
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Monday, November 02, 2009 

What do these people have in common, besides their obvious beauty? Photobucket Yes! All (or most) have been esteemed celebrity judges for my past Book Contests!!! They include: Sid Fleischman, National Treasure and Newbery Winner Arthur Levine, Scholastic Vice President/Publisher of Arthur A. Levine Books, editor of the Harry Potter series, and the man who rescued me from the slush pile Bruce Coville, bestselling author and Full Cast Audio President Jodi Reamer, Writers House agent to that Twilight author and Moi Cheryl Klein, AAL Books senior editor and fabulous blogger Betsy Bird, prolific blogger, librarian and Newbery Judge KT Horning, Newbery Judge and director of the CCBC Carla Kozak, librarian, coffee drinker and Newbery Judge Michael Stearns, Peep critiquer and literary agent Mark Teague, author and New York Times Bestselling illustrator Adam Rex, author/illustrator and New York Times Bestselling Guy David Lubar, Rotten author with over 2,000,000 books in print Linda Sue Park, maggot mess survivor and Newbery Winner And now . . . this year's good-looking, talented, smart, witty, celebrity judges are all independent booksellers! They include, Elizabeth Bluemle and Josie Levitt of The Flying Pig Bookstore in Vermont . . . Here's Josie (left) and Elizabeth holding their Lucile Micheels Pannel Award, which celebrates bookstores "that excel at inspiring the interest of young people in books and reading." (As if running a bookstore isn't time-consuming enough, overachievers that they are, Elizabeth is also an author and Josie is also an avid blogger!) Our other judge hails from Pasadena . . . Vroman's Children's Book Department Manager Kris Vreeland . . . Vroman's is my local independent bookstore and the Book Launch Party for BOBBY VS. GIRLS (ACCIDENTALLY) was held there . . . Plus, Vroman's was named a Publisher's Weekly Bookstore of the Year. Okay, so remember CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE CONTEST or to read the hilarious entries and laugh so hard that your beverage of choice will come out your nose!!! THE CONTEST WILL CLOSE ON WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4th at 7:57 p.m. West Coast Time. *If I missed any judges, please speak up. I am brain farting right now.
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Thursday, October 29, 2009 

While you are busy thinking up those glorious contest entries for the Lisa Yee 42nd Annual Bodacious Book Contest, we've been busy, too. YES! YES! It's another PEEPY HALLOWEEN!!!! Here's last year's chaos. In the past we've also done this sort of thing. This year, we thought . . . hmmmm . . . wooden spikes . . . through a Krispy Kreme Donut . . . That was okay, but then Son thought . . . hmmmm . . . taping a Peep to a plate . . . All this really disturbed Peepy. (For the record, she is a non-edible Plush Peep, not a marshallow.) So she said . . . hmmm . . . look! Leftover Peeps from Easter. Try making something pretty! (For the record, she is in her taco costume.) So we did . . . That was soooo fun!!! Except for clean up . . . For more Peep fun and an interview with Moi (that would be me) on Wired GeekDad blog, CLICK HERE and find out how this whole Peep explosion thing began . . . Okay, now back to Lisa Yee's 67th or 42nd Bodacious Book Contest. CLICK HERE to enter or to read the hilarious entries!!!
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Sunday, October 25, 2009 

Yes! Yes! It's that time o' year again . . . LISA YEE'S 32nd ANNUAL BODACIOUS BOOK CONTEST!!!! In the past, we rhymed words to make a new title. Out of the zillions of entries this was the winner . . . Photobucket THE FIREPOWER OF LUCKY Confused by what she overhears at AA meetings, and frustrated by controversy surrounding the ALA, a little girl seeks comfort in the NRA. We've changed a single letter to make something new. Out of the ravillion entries the judges picked . . . Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting BILLY'S PURPLE PLASTIC PURSE When Billy brings his latest fashion accessory to school, Mr Slinger helps the kindergarten class understand that it's okay for Billy to march to the beat of a different drummer. This year we're up to something different . . . book SUMMARIES . . . in Six Words!!! (I was inspired by SIX WORD MEMOIRS where people pen their life story in six words.) Only, here's our version and your assignment . . . 1. Select a children's/young adult book that most people are familiar with (it's okay if someone else has selected the same book) 2. Think, think, think . . . then in SIX WORDS sum up the ENTIRE STORY or convey the ESSENCE of the story. 3. Submit the title and your summary to this LIVE JOURNAL blog under COMMENTS (if are not registered to Live Journal, that's okay -- just include your name) Examples: Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket Book: Old Yeller Summary: Good dog. Bad dog. Dead dog. Book: The Giving Tree Summary: Boy abuses tree for personal gain. Book: Twilight Summary: All because she smelled really good. Who will be the judge of your work? Past celebrity judges have included Newbery Award judges, high powered literary agents, Newbery winners, NY Times Bestselling illustrators, and more. This year's judges will be revealed on a later blog. And as always, we have FABULOUS prizes, which will include, but are not limited to and may change, an autographed copy of BOBBY VS. GIRLS (ACCIDENTALLY), an autographed copy of ABSOLUTELY MAYBE, a nice collection of ostrich egg jelly beans, an orange that sat in my office for so long it petrified, some pom poms, and a plastic frog. (Disclaimer: Peep not included. Objects are bigger than they appear.) The contest will run about a week or maybe a little more. Ready . . . set . . . go . . . !!!! (**Facebook people, MySpace people and Red Room people, others, PLEASE POST ALL ENTRIES ON THE http://lisayee.livejournal.com/119322.html. Only LiveJournal entries will be considered.)
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Thursday, October 22, 2009 
Whew!!! It was a wild and woolly and wacky and wonderful time at the International World Premiere Really Great BOBBY VS. GIRLS (ACCIDENTALLY) Book Launch Party . . . It was so fun that thousands of party-goers spontaneously posed in front of the BOBBY poster . . . We had so much fun at the party, that Dan and I figured we'd better hurry up and finish BOBBY THE BRAVE (SOMETIMES), the next in the Bobby Ellis-Chan series . . . . . . cause we want to have another party! Next Blog: Sharpen your pencils . . . Lisa Yee's 147th Annual Bodacious Book Contest Begins!!!!
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