So, here's the thing: I have an extra copy of this beautiful hardcover edition of The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin that I will gladly give to one lucky winner (note, I said "extra" copy). Josh will even send along o
ne of his super-cool signed bookplates.I just finished reading it and I can tell you it is so original and funny and well paced. Will Halpin is a deaf teen who decides to take a risk and leave behind deaf culture and his old high school for a mainstream education. Now, that would be book enough for anyone. I would totally read that. But Mr. Berk does not stop there. Without giving too much away...there's a mystery suddenly, and a ghost and a unused coal mine! Berk showed amazing restraint in pulling back before the Scooby-esque runaway-coal-cars chase scene. I don't know if a lesser writer could have stopped himself! I loved this book from the layout, illustration and gorgeous blue of the cover, to Berk's hilarious bio, and well, every page in between. Oh, and look who agrees with me...
"This witty tale of mainstreaming, misfits and murder glitters like the 'Future Diamonds' that coal-mine souvenirs promise to someday become..."
— Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2009
"A genre-bending breakthrough that teens are going to love."
— Starred Review, School Library Journal, January 2010
So we have established that you WANT this future classic. Here's what you'll do.
— Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2009
"A genre-bending breakthrough that teens are going to love."
— Starred Review, School Library Journal, January 2010
So we have established that you WANT this future classic. Here's what you'll do.
1. Write a limerick
I'm a poetical heretical theoretical kinda gal, and though I write in open form in my novel, I enjoy reading poetry in form (check out Helen Frost, please, she's so inventive, and Marilyn Nelson---I can't even explain what she does in A Wreath for Emmett Till).
Now a limerick, if you're a little rusty, is five lines with the first, second and fifth rhyming. The third and fourth shorter lines also rhyme. They are typically baudy in nature, which is fine, but keep in mind, this is the blog of a children's book author.
2. Post your limerick in the comments by March 26
3. Watch for A Very Special Edition of MasterBerk Theatre
Berk will perform a dramatic reading of the limericks, complete with sound effects, silly pipe and cravat. If you're not familiar with MasterBerk Theatre, here's a sample of him reading Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves.
4. Vote on your favorite limerick
Vote and invite your friends to vote in the comments. The prize will go to the poet who gets the most love.
Get started on your limericks! MasterBerk and Hamburger Halpin are waiting!
11 comments:
there once was a dude named josh berky
he wrote a book eating beef jerky
he took it to town
and sat his ass down
and refused to show up at his worky.
There once was a book about Will
who's world was both silent and still.
He tried a new school
for he was no fool.
The wonderful character Will!
There once was a book I did covet.
Kirkus said "Dude, you will love it!"
Berk's prose is sublime
so I've written this rhyme
and all other entrants can shove it.
This is a really fun book. I enjoyed it very much and recommend it heartily. I will work on a limerick for later.
I hope this doesn't give away too much of the story...
There once was a boy named Will
Of deaf politics he had his fill.
And among the hearing
He found his bearing
Friends and new family fit the bill.
(If I write a better one, I'll submit that as well)
There once was a writer in PA
Posing as a librarian by day
But his ideas he did chronicle
(When not polishing his monocle)
And lo! A Dewey Decimal he has today…
There once was a man named Josh...
Who lived in a library quite posh.
He awoke one day
to find Isaac Slade from The Fray.
Said Slade, "Without Berk, the band's now a wash!"
Because it's hard to rhyme "Devon":
There once was a boy named Smiley
Who thought of Will Halprin highly.
He learned how to sign
And was at the mine
Where a jock did die most vilely.
Some bonus haikus:
Snarky, deaf Halprin
Transfers to mainstream high school
And solves a murder.
HamburgerHalprin
Is Chet to Smiley_Man's Frank -
Too much Hardy Boys.
Ebony, a fan
Of Nancy Drew Mysteries,
Her code name - Black Rose.
Will "Dummy" Halprin
Might have escaped the cave-in.
Purple Phimmul's kin.
You'd think there would be more entries since I mentioned this contest on a facebook group for YA readers days ago...
Thanks for the mention Sheree! Maybe not everyone is confident about their limerick-ing skills...but they should still enjoy Josh's video and vote for their favorite. Thanks for playing along.
And thank you to all the limerick writers so far! It's been so fun reading them all.
Should that second line have read:
"Who of Will Halprin thought highly"?
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