We’re on day 8 of the Blog Tour for Two Truths and a Lie. Thanks
for dropping by to play…
by Laurie Ann Thompson and Ammi-Joan Paquette
176 pages; ages 8-12
Walden Pond Press, 2017
When a nonfiction book begins with a warning that some of
the stories included are not true – you know it’s going to be a wild read. The
thing is, the authors point out, there are lies all around us. Truths, too. Anyone
trying to keep up with political news knows that sorting fact from fiction is
really important.
But lies aren’t partial to politics; you’ll find plenty of
shady stories masquerading as scientific truths. Like stories about a fungus that
infects insects and takes over their brains, creating bug zombies. Oops – t
hat IS a true story.
What Laurie and Ammi-Joan (who likes to go by Joan) do in
their book is play a game with readers. They present three wacky science stories
and challenge you to figure out which one is fake. For example, one group of three
animal stories features a chicken who lived without its head – and performed in
a circus sideshow, a cave-dwelling salamander that looks like a dragon, and a
tree-dwelling octopod that lives in rainforests.
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| Laurie Ann Thompson |
Which two are true? Which is the lie? They tell you at the
back, and give lots of source notes for the stories so you can do your own
research. They also include a few words about how to tell truth from lie when
reading articles online and in the paper. It’s like a guide to finding facts in
the news world:
- Stick to facts from well-known and respected sources, such
as an established newspaper, museum website.
- When perusing Wikipedia, remember to look at the reference
section for citation of sources.
- Train yourself to be skeptical when you read something that
is surprising or hard to believe.
- And use your common sense. Ask yourself who gains from this
story? How does it fit with what you already know about the world? Have you seen it on more than one news site?
Keep those tips in mind because in a minute we’re going to
play an interview game called “Two Truths and a Lie” with authors Laurie and
Joan. The rules are simple: I’ll ask three questions. They will each give two
true answers and one lie. See if you can determine which ones are the lies
(answers at bottom of post).
But first, an introduction.
Archimedes: Hi Laurie. Hi Joan. I gotta know, do you listen
to the NPR show, “Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me”? It’s a bit like your book, but in
that show the panelists present 2 lies and a truth.
Laurie: Neither of us had heard “Wait, Wait” before we
started working on this book, but now it's one of our favorite podcasts! Yes,
it was partially because there is so much really weird but totally true stuff
out there, and partially because of all the fake but believable stuff we were
seeing, too.
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| Ammi-Joan Paquette |
Joan: That’s right! The true stuff we were seeing was so
unbelievable that it seemed like a ready-made challenge in believability. Would
people be able to tell the difference?
Archimedes: Okay, let’s get started. Remember, readers: each
author will give one fake answer and your job is to figure out which one it is.
Question 1: While working on this book, what is the most
interesting researching experience you had, the weirdest interview, or most
bizarre way you discovered a fact?
Laurie: There were so many, but one of my favorites is when
I was looking for a specific article from Life magazine in 1945. I had scoured
all of the online databases and couldn't find it. I was working from home,
still in my pajamas, and decided to email the reference librarian at my local
library to see if they had the issue I needed. Within five minutes I received a
reply that they did have it... and an offer to photocopy the article I needed
and send it to me! I told her what pages I needed, and within 10 minutes I had
a PDF of the full article in my inbox. I hadn't even left the couch, and a
thorny research problem was solved for me in 15 minutes. I LOVE librarians, and
I LOVE King County Library System!
Joan: One of the most out-there interviews I had was with a
curator at the Boston Atheneum. I was researching books bound in human skin and
the Atheneum holds one in their collection. In the end, we decided to cut this
article from the final book—since we are pointing students to online research,
this was not a topic we wanted to spotlight!—but that interview certainly was
fascinating and revelatory.
Question 2: Tell me about your daily writing routine.
Laurie: I'm not a morning person, so contrary to popular
advice I tackle all of the distracting, smaller jobs first (with coffee!).
Then, I take a short lunch break (usually a caprese salad). Finally, I'm ready
to dive into an afternoon of focused writing time.
Joan: Most people might not know this, but I’m actually a
highly advanced android—I know I look like a regular human, but in reality I
don’t need to sleep, ever! (Or eat, but of course I do that anyway. Food,
amirite??) For this reason, I can work equally well at any time of the day or
night. For that reason, my routine can be a bit boring—but there’s lots of time
for researching fun facts!
Question 3. Tell about how you came to be a writer - or at least
think of yourself as a writer - and why nonfiction?
Laurie: I was a
software engineer until I had kids, then I decided I wanted to stay home with
them. In my spare time while they were napping, I wrote a program that would
read to them so my husband and I wouldn't have to read the same book 42 times
in one day. Once that was up and running, I decided to see if I could build on
what I had to make it write, too. It took awhile, but eventually it worked!
Computers are very logical and like information, so getting them to write
nonfiction wasn't too difficult. I haven't quite worked out the kinks with
fiction yet, though. It still feels a bit too... robotic. Stay tuned!
Joan: I actually am a fiction writer—originally, the idea of
writing non-fiction intimidated me. We had first thought that I would write the
fiction stories and Laurie the non-fiction ones. Once we got started, though,
we both found we enjoyed writing the opposite of what we were used to. For
myself, the amazing and unbelievable non-fiction stories were the ones which
had first sparked the idea for the book—and those have been by far the more
enjoyable to write.
Today we're joining the STEM Friday roundup. Drop by
STEM Friday blog for more science books and resources.
Review ARC from
publisher
Joan’s answer to question #2 is fake
Laurie’s answer to question #3 is an outright lie
Stops on the Blog Tour:
June 16 – here at Archimedes Notebook
