Ailie Mooney's History Blog

CM Magazine recommends Midnight-Blue Marble

2010-11-08T11:51:00.000-08:00

As Cole Porter said, "Make 'em laugh, make 'em laugh. Don't you know all the world needs a laugh?"

Well, CM Magazine got lots of yuks over my adventures in Midnight-Blue Marble. The result: a solid CM recommendation! As Marie Antoinette would say, a thumbs-up is way better than a heads-down.

Not sure what the reviewer means by calling me "scatterbrained," though. I don't think I am. Well ... okay. Let's just say I'm open to many different ideas at once. And there's nothing wrong with that.

Here's an excerpt from the review:

"This engagingly silly mystery pits a scatterbrained, impulsive heroine and her longsuffering friend, Feezer, against a strict aunt, a perfectly accomplished cousin, an assortment of nasty villains and a puzzle hidden in a pack of letters. ... the farcical action and slapstick humour make for a light, easy read, with a few facts about Marie Antoinette and the French Revolution thrown in for good measure ... Jackson uses real historical events (there was a scandal involving the French queen and a necklace, though Jackson modifies it considerably) but tells them in a chatty first-person voice ...

"This is just a fun ride, and, if the reader comes away with a few facts about the French Revolution, she probably won’t even notice!"

Oh, Marie: answers to some Midnight-Blue queries

2010-06-17T14:18:00.001-07:00

Bright, inquisitive young readers plied Melanie with questions about glamorous, doomed Marie Antoinette (1755-93) the other night during her visit to Christianne Hayward's Lyceum. Having studied The Midnight-Blue Marble as part of their Chronicle Crusaders activities, the kids were fascinated by the tragic French Queen who lost her head to the sharp caress of Madame Guillotine in the French Revolution. The Crusaders wanted to know: How did Melanie become interested in Marie Antoinette? Answer: the mystery of the extravagant diamond necklace. No one has ever figured out just who craftily disguised herself as the Queen and stole the necklace from two Parisian jewelers. In MBM, Melanie postulates her own theory.

Another question: was Louis XVI really fascinated with clocks, as Melanie depicted him in MBM? Answer: mais oui. Louis adored taking clocks apart and putting them back together again. A pity he didn't notice that his country was falling apart around him!

Now, for some Crusader comments on MBM: "Best book that we've read in Chronicle Crusaders." "Totally awesome." "Really scary." This last one from a reader who ran off and hid when we discussed the guillotine. So ... we'll chop this post off now.

Thanks to Dr. Christianne Hayward for deeming MBM worthy of Lyceum study, and for inviting Melanie! As for the French Queen, what can one do but throw up one's hands and exclaim, "Oh, Marie!"

Peeling the crust off the story of Little Jack Horner's pie

2010-05-13T14:30:00.000-07:00

Anne Boleyn notwithstanding, some people enraged Henry VIII and got away with it.

This week my author, Melanie Jackson, talked with students at Vancouver's Wilfred Laurier Elementary about the chilling history of the mystery. Nursery rhymes, a key part of my presentation, are quite inappropriate for the nursery, Melanie explained to my increasingly avid listeners. (Amazing how the more bloodthirsty a topic is, the more it happily resonates with audiences.) I've already gleefully described Mary, Queen of Scots, so I won't go into Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary -- about Mary's none-too-subtle bombing of her husband's house.

Instead, let's pull up a chair and join Little Jack Horner as he delves into his Christmas pie. Here's the story behind that particular ditty:

It seems a businessman eager to please Henry VIII followed the custom of placing a boon, or gift, inside a pie. Enter his courier company, i.e., Jack Horner. Crafty Jack removed the treasure before delivering the pie. Jack fled, probably changing his name, and set up a prosperous living in another city. Henry, meanwhile, was furious to peel back the crust and find -- only plums. And we need not ax how Henry dealt with those who incurred his displeasure.

Growing ideas, imagination at Christianne's Lyceum

2010-04-20T14:53:00.000-07:00

If you're a kid of any age, and you're into reading, painting, history and that ultra-fab country called Imagi Nation, you should visit Christianne's Lyceum of Literature and Art. Maybe you'll sign up for a class! They're fun, and lots of new ideas and knowledge sprout in your noggin. My author, Melanie Jackson, will be guest author on June 13. The topic: The Midnight-Blue Marble. Being MBM's protagonist, I'll naturally be right in on the action.

So, I suppose, will my cousin. She's preening already. Hey, watch that hairspray, Katie -- yeowch, right in the eye!

While I go off to bathe my injured eyeball in water, here's the Lyceum philosophy.

"As a result of globalization and educational research, the "image of a child" has changed from that of an empty vessel or thirsty sponge to that of a "competent and unique individual" bringing her own strengths and learning competencies to the table. This in turn has brought about a shift from theories of learning that support the top-down transfer of select information to theories that support the co-construction of knowledge in the classroom and beyond.

"This shift is reflected in the philosophical base of all programs offered at the Lyceum.

"At the Lyceum we choose to concentrate on the perceptual dimension of learning in an effort to challenge binary thinking and encourage exploration of "possibilities." Nurturing a lens through which to view personal, local, and global interactions helps children develop guiding principles when approaching problematic situations inherent in a diverse society."

The Lyceum's run by one of my fave people, Dr. Christianne Hayward.

The three motives, including Mary's

2010-04-06T14:06:00.000-07:00

In every mystery, true or fictional, the villain has a MOTIVE, or reason, for committing a crime. The great English mystery writer PD James says there are three types of motive:

1. Profit, e.g., the bank robber steals money so he can live in a nice Riviera villa!

2. Power, e.g., Macbeth kills the king of Scotland so he can become king instead. Or, my favourite Stupid Crime of History: Mary, Queen of Scots (pictured) bombing her husband Lord Darnley's house so she could marry her lover Lord Bothwell. Subtlety was not Mary's strong point.

3. Passion, e.g., Othello kills his wife Desdemona because he thinks she is fooling around on him.

In The Midnight-Blue Marble, the motive is sparklingly clear: profit ... with a chilling dose of revenge ...

Out, out, damned frog!

2010-03-16T12:57:00.001-07:00

Here's a guest post from Cyd, the costar of Dead Frog on the Porch, by Jan Markley.

My twin sister Jane and I solve mysteries. We’ve already tackled scientists creating giant frogs. Let's just say those scientists are now simmering in a giant flask of you-won’t-get-out-of-jail-soon juice.

Our parents are scientists. Did you know that we share 60 per cent of our genes with bananas?! That was last night’s dinnertime science talk. Gee, maybe that’s why I like banana bread so much. So, to keep out of science camp each summer we snoop out a mystery to solve. Like the one we’re embroiled in now. You’ll be able to clamp your eyes on it in the fall.

It all started when Jane’s cat Yin dragged a Dead Bird through the Cat Door. That led us to discover that the director of the bird sanctuary, Aviary Finch, was stealing cats to kill birds. Dead birds? Stolen cats? C’est what? When Yin gets kidnapped, it gets personal. We’re up to our bird beaks in intrigue cracking the latest Megabyte Mystery. We’ve got a new sidekick Todd, but whose side is he on?

We use the latest technology (and I’m not talking about the gramophone, or the fax machine – that’s so last century). You know Shakespeare? It turns out that his character Macbeth helps solve the mystery.

Will Jane and I be able to save the sanctuary, free the birds, and return the cats to their natural habitat of their owners’ laps? It’s predator eats predator when evil meets crazy! Then there's website meets blog, i.e., our author Jan Markley.

A gem of a review for The Midnight-Blue Marble

2010-02-08T15:23:00.000-08:00

This is from a student of our BCLCIRA friend Meredyth Grace Kezar:

The Midnight-Blue Marble Author: Melanie Jackson
Summary: Ailie and her identical looking cousin are completely different personality-wise, Katie is perfect in almost every way. But when a mysterious and drab lady tells Ailie her uncle Claude has died, and she hands over a bag of his mementos that leads to the central stone of a necklace worth as much as the French treasury! But people who see the diamond are pulled in, and become greedy. And is it possible a ghost is after the diamond? Ailie, Katie and their friend Feezer will have to find out!
Reaction: This is a good mystery novel, as it litters a trail of clues through the book that are hidden in plain sight. This book is also very "real" too, it doesn't make the characters do things that aren't possible for them. This book uses previous elements from the book and uses them at later times too. Plus, the cliffhanger ending makes me want to read more.

And here's a review from a Calgary reader, T.S.Y.: "I LOVED YOUR BOOK!!!!!!!" Well, that's putting it succinctly. Thanks to both readers. May sinister shadows NOT dog your footsteps.

It's definitely a story with legs

2010-02-05T12:01:00.000-08:00

Be sure to crunch your attention on to Jan Markley's Dead Frog on the Porch, wherein sisters Cyd and Jane tackle a wacky mystery involving oversized ribbit-ers. it's a problem that, like Marie Antoinette's favorite cuisses de grenouille (pictured above), is worth chewing on.

Also check out Jan's blog, Three Dead Moths in My Mailbox, where I recently guest-posted!

Out walkin' after midnight

2009-12-28T13:42:00.000-08:00

With apologies to Patsy Cline, Ailie's out walkin', and in dead of the Yukon winter, it's midnight-dark, at any rate. What's Up, Yukon has the goods on our girl, who's hanging out these days in the Baked Café. Hmm. Maybe Ailie's researching her next adventure, The Gold Miner's Ghost ...

And heeeeere's Patsy.

Meet my 24-carat illustrator, Eleanor Rosenberg

2009-12-08T15:40:00.000-08:00

Prepare to be dazzled by my illustrator, Eleanor Rosenberg, whose inspired brilliance graces my first adventure with Gumboot Books, The Midnight-Blue Marble. I've always wondered how illustrators proceed, after beaming up text, Scotty-like, into their minds. How do they then interpret the words into illustration? Now Eleanor shares the process in an interview with the Aasman blog. I like the part where Eleanor talks about a penchant for gore, i.e., the lopping off of Queen Marie Antoinette's blonde, slightly scattered head. Though my friend Feezer and I do pretty much conclude that Marie Antoinette was unfairly maligned by the French revolutionaries. Why, she --

What, Katie? I'm trying to blog!

-- Sorry, everyone. My prim, so-perfect cousin Katie doesn't approve of my bloodthirsty taste in history. Fine, Kates. Maybe there are some, let's see, old economic treaties we can pore over. Fun.

To unbury Caesar, not to praise him

2009-11-30T13:18:00.000-08:00

Great Caesar’s ghost! French archeologists have discovered a marble bust of the Roman Emperor in Arles. That’s the city Julius Caesar used as a base when battling his rival Pompey to become emperor. Now I’m into history, but these archeologist types really get down and dirty about it. Diving into the mucky Rhône River, they pushed through rusted cars, rot-softened tires and 20 centuries’ worth of silt to drag out a white marble likeness of Caesar. So what did the great Caesar look like? Balding and wrinkled, with a giant Adam’s apple.

Almost from the second the bust surfaced above the polluted Rhône, other archeologists pooh-poohed the idea that it was Caesar. Squabbles broke out. Sounds like a day in the Mooney family, with me and my so-perfect cousin Katie! However, the guys who found the bust pointed out that it resembles the profile of Caesar on ancient Roman coins. In other words, nah-nah-nah-nah-nah. Of course Caesar knew all about squabblers: he was used to dealing with the Roman senate.

Too bad there wasn’t conflict resolution back then. If there had been, on March 15, 44 BC, when Brutus and co. approached the Emperor on the senate steps, they might’ve offered him a Caesar salad – instead of the final course …

A gold mine of resources on Canada's history

2009-11-24T14:25:00.000-08:00

There are strange things done in the midnight sun: By the men who moil for gold ...
– Robert Service

Now how could a country with a blood-curdling poem like that written about its history be dull? Enterprising teachers in Chilliwack think Canada is so interesting that it should be celebrated, not just on Canada Day, but year-round. Realizing that students at Greendale Elementary didn't know a whole lot about their country, the teachers founded Club Canada, Eh!, a series of monthly K-12 activities to increase understanding. The activities fit into many areas, especially in Language Arts and Social Studies. Let your schools know about this valuable resource! For more information, contact Greendale Principal Deneen Scott.

Oh, and speaking of moiling (i.e., working hard) for gold, prepare for lots of surprises when Gumboot Books unearths my next mystery, The Gold Miner's Ghost.

Just why Alfred was Great

2009-11-18T16:07:00.001-08:00

Before 2009 trickles down and out, let’s hear it for Alfred the Great, whose 1,250th birthday it would be this year. After years of Viking plunder, the Anglo-Saxons finally got a crafty strategist with Alfred – a nice change from his older brother Ethelred, who simply turned and ran when he glimpsed the invaders’ horned helmets glinting in the sun. Ethelred might have reconsidered his cowardice had he known the nickname history would ever after stick him with: Ethelred the Unready.

At first Alfred paid the Vikings blood money to leave his kingdom, Wessex, alone. But then Alfred decided enough was enough. He founded a regular army, as opposed to hailing farmers in whatever field he happened to be near whenever he needed soldiers. He outmanoeuvred the Viking commanders on the battlefield; once he even snuck into an enemy camp in disguise to eavesdrop on their plans. Finally, at the battle of Ethandun in 878, he routed a particularly pesky army of Danes for good. Danish commander (and king), Guthrum, was so repentant, he converted to Christianity. Alfred even accepted Guthrum as his godson! After that, everyone settled down and got along. (Well, until someone named William of Orange came along, but that’s another matter.)

But Alfred wasn’t only great because he stood down the invaders. He was also the first English ruler to establish precepts of law, and encourage people to get an education.

If you look at his statue, he also appears to have been quite a hunk.

Yours respectfully,

Ailie Mooney

The Midnight-Blue Marble's sparkling debut

2009-11-08T20:07:00.000-08:00

My first adventure, The Midnight-Blue Marble, got off to a cosy, friendly debut at Once Upon A Huckleberry Bush, the children's bookstore at 4387 Main Street in Vancouver. Melanie read from the blood-splattered beginning of the book -- murder as aperitif, anyone? -- and challenged her audience with a Marble maze, word search and crossword. (My formidable Aunt Colleen gives me cross words all the time, but not the same type.) To receive any of these games, contact Melanie.

The Midnight-Blue Marble is a beautiful, what my snobby cousin Katie would call "elegant," book, published by Gumboot Books, and illustrated by Eleanor Rosenberg. Okay, okay. I'd call it elegant, too.

The central point of editing

2008-09-30T13:57:00.000-07:00

Sharpen those pencils! According to my author, Melanie Jackson, editing brings out the color in your story. With your first draft, you may think you have a great yarn – but by pruning words here, rewording words there, even – gasp! – slashing words somewhere else, the true brilliance of your story will shine through.

Melanie’s proud to be a copy editor with the dynamic new Vancouver-based publisher, Gumboot Books. The manuscripts she reads from Gumboot have already been beautifully edited by their writers: it’s Melanie’s job to check for those wayward commas, gremlin typos, etc. that somehow sneak into even the cleanest copy. One of her bosses, waaaay back, called Melanie the “Eagle eye.” (Wait … was he saying she was a birdbrain?)

Melanie is also a copy editor with Make It Business, the feisty Vancouver journal that inspires small businesses to think big. She got her Master’s in Journalism at the University of Western Ontario. Then, starting with the Toronto Star, she wrote and edited for publications from Chatelaine to Toronto Life to Vancouver magazine to the Vancouver Sun to educational journals, and – well, since Melanie’s been around since the Pleistocene era, you can imagine that there are lots more.

There's gotta be a better way to capture reluctant readers ...

2008-09-11T15:29:00.001-07:00

And there is -- check out Melanie's September 8 article in the Vancouver Sun, "Why so many are reluctant readers, and what to do about it."

Here's how the article begins:

When Bobby O. stood up to read aloud, we all groaned. The next minutes, as Bobby stumbled painfully over texts by Sir Charles G.D. Roberts or some other venerable Canadian writer, were agony. We were supposed to read along silently, so our eyes would be trapped on every syllable that Bobby mangled. Unsure of what he was reading, Bobby kept his voice to a dull, ambiguous monotone. Eventually the teacher would cut short Bobby’s turn at reading aloud, and pass with ill-concealed relief to the next student.

Bobby, everyone shrugged, was just not a natural reader. Educators would invent the term “reluctant reader” to define kids who reached the intermediate grades and floundered over texts their classmates absorbed with ease. In recent years, however, educators have reconsidered the case of the reluctant reader.

Maybe it’s not that these kids don’t take to reading. Maybe the way reading is taught doesn’t take to them.

Come to The World of Stories launch ... if you dare

2008-08-31T12:28:00.000-07:00

Don't miss the West Vancouver launch of The World of Stories, with all proceeds going to community literacy efforts, September 9. As a special ghoulish added attraction, hear my author, Melanie Jackson, read the bloodthirsty opening of my upcoming adventure, The Midnight-Blue Marble. It's a real killer.

My illustrator, Eleanor Rosenberg, will be unfolding her amazing Ailie art. Eleanor's brill. She understands me to a T (for trouble, of course)!

2008-06-01T19:34:00.000-07:00

Napoleon's march on Russia was nothing ...
compared to my struggle to solve the mystery, Napoleon Is Winking, just one of the exciting stories in Gumboot Books' fundraiser for literacy, World of Stories. Melanie and other authors/illustrators donated their work to this thrilling book packed with adventurous stories -- that will raise money for community literacy! How to order? As the great Emperor might say, Regardez ici!

Oh, the fab film-noirish art? That's by Eleanor Rosenberg!

The Midnight-Blue Marble

2008-01-14T12:38:00.000-08:00

Some marble! In 1784, two jewellers offered Queen Marie-Antoinette a gorgeous, blue-tinted diamond necklace for a whopping 2 million livres. No one had ever paid that high a price for jewelry! Whether Marie-Antoinette bought the necklace or not is one of the great mysteries of history. Her enemies claimed she did, thereby emptying the French treasury and pushing her poverty-stricken country into revolution.

In The Midnight-Blue Marble (Gumboot Books, fall 2009), I discover not only the secret of who bought the necklace, but also the whereabouts of its infamous, gigantic center stone, a.k.a., "the midnight-blue marble." Oh, I don't quite solve the mystery on my own. I have help from my almost-identical, all-too-perfect cousin Katie, and my guitar-strumming, songwriting buddy Feezer LaRoue. Stay tuned ... this is a case with real sparkle to it.