Karen Cushman - Karen Cushman

Congratulations, Late Bloomer!

October 7, 2023September 1, 2015 by Karen Cushman

JC Kato has won the 2015 Cushman Late Bloomer Award with her manuscript for Finding Moon Rabbit, the incredible story of Koko Hayashi, a ten-year-old girl who doesn’t follow rules, but must survive with her mother and sister in a Wyoming internment camp. JC said she’s been wanting to write this story ever since she married into the Kato family, and now she has. I chose Finding Moon Rabbit because the writing is strong and authentic, Koko is an intriguing and original character, and the subject matter is compelling and important. Well done, JC. I look forward to reading the finished book.

So all you over-fifties, think about applying. Next year I could be congratulating you.

Favorite Books about Museums II

September 1, 2021May 14, 2015 by Karen Cushman

Earlier I noted my favorite books about museums for adult readers. For young readers, I particularly enjoy Masterpiece by Elise Broach, in which James and a beetle named Marvin prevent a crime at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and, of course, everyone’s favorite museum novel, E.L Konigsburg’s From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler, also set at the Met.

Books set in California

September 1, 2021April 2, 2015 by Karen Cushman

Question: You grew up in California and two of your books are set there, The Ballad of Lucy Whipple and The Loud Silence of Francine Green. Do you have favorite books written about the state?

Answer:
A Room Made of Windows, Eleanor Cameron—part of a series about Julia Redfern who lives in Berkeley in the 1920s.

We Were Here, Matt de la Pena—YA that “follows a journey of self-discovery by a boy who is trying to forgive himself in an unforgiving world.”

The Al Capone books by Gennifer Choldenko

Island of the Blue Dolphins, Scott O’Dell

Listening to their stories

August 31, 2021March 17, 2015 by Karen Cushman

Q: What drew you to working in museums?

A: I loved the idea of learning from objects and listening to their stories. Who made this? Why? How was it used? Why did someone make this? What is the story behind it? What does it say about the people who made and used it or the world they lived in?

Louvre Palace and Pyramid, Paris, France (Wikimedia Commons)

In 2013 (most recent figures), more than 128 million people visited the top 20 museums in North America, Europe, and Asia.

The top five museums in the world, according to attendance figures, are:

Louvre, Paris, France 9,334,000 (paid admissions)
National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, 8,000,000 (free)
National Museum of China, Beijing, China, 7,450,000 (free)
National Air and Space Museum, Washington, DC, 6,970,000 (free)
British Museum, London, UK, 6,701,000 (free)

(Report from AECOM, www.aecom.com)

What’s your favorite museum?

The Polish word for family

August 31, 2021March 12, 2015 by Karen Cushman

Q: Choosing names. Is there a story behind the names you’ve chosen for your characters? (e.g., Brat becomes Beetle becomes Alyce)

A: There is no good answer to this question. Names just pop into my head, often before the story does. But there is a story behind Rodzina: When I was ten, my Grandma Lipski took me to the Polish cemetery in Chicago to show me her mother’s grave. In front of a gravestone marked Rodzina Czerwinski, she sat and cried. Many years later when I was writing a book about a Polish girl from Chicago, I decided to call her Rodzina after my great-grandmother. I checked with my father to make sure I had the spelling correct, and he told me that rodzina was not her first name but was the Polish word for family. The gravestone marked the resting place of the rodzins Czerwinski, or Czerwinski family. The book Rodzina is all about the search for family, so I decided that while Rodzina was not my great- grandmother’s name, it was the perfect name for the girl in my story. And so she is Rodzina.

Writing Stories from Real Life

August 31, 2021March 10, 2015 by Karen Cushman

How do stories spring from real-life events? You can see some examples from the 20 authors (including me) who are part of this collection, Been There, Done That: Writing Stories from Real Life, which looks at the process of taking our experiences and turning them into works of engaging fiction. I had a great time writing my pieces—so much easier than a novel. Look for the book in November from Grosset & Dunlap, and let me know what you think of “Millie McGonigal.”

It’s Thanksgiving!

August 31, 2021November 27, 2014 by Karen Cushman

Ah, Thanksgiving, a holiday all about family and food and being grateful. No wonder it’s my favorite of the holidays.

Except for Thanksgiving, 1952. We had recently moved from Chicago to Los Angeles. Thanksgiving Day dawned bright and sunny and 80 degrees. My parents were thrilled and set up the picnic table in the backyard. We ate in our shorts and flip flops.

I was devastated—Thanksgiving meant frost on the pumpkins and long cold walks after dinner and “over the river and through the woods,” not picking oranges in the yard and sunglasses. Those of you who have read The Ballad of Lucy Whipple will have a clue to how I felt about the move.

Here in the Pacific Northwest I have the Thanksgiving I always wanted, except that we make heaps of turkey thighs instead of a whole bird because my loved ones and I are all dark-meat eaters. I hope your Thanksgiving is just the way you want, filled with light and love and gratitude.

Thank you for all your support. I couldn’t do it without you.

Anniversary!

August 31, 2021September 6, 2014 by Karen Cushman

Karen and Philip Cushman: 45 years and counting!

We went to the Zoo

August 31, 2021September 2, 2014 by Karen Cushman

In San Diego for a memorial for Frances Cushman, Philip, Leah, and I hung out with the other wild animals at the San Diego Zoo. If you ever get a chance to go, go!

It was very hot and most of the animals were asleep or finding shade, but here are some favorites. First up, koalas!