No Map, Great Trip: A Young Writer's Road to Page One

Newbery Medalist Paul Fleischman reflects on his childhood with his award-winning father, Sid Fleischman, and details his own path to becoming a writer in this memorable book that is part memoir, part travelogue, and part reflection on craft and creativity.

No Map, Great Trip is an excellent choice for aspiring authors, language arts classrooms, and fans of Gail Carson Levine’s Writing Magic.

Acclaimed author Paul Fleischman considers how growing up with a father who was an award-winning author helped to shape and inspire his own career. Paul and Sid Fleischman are the only father-son Newbery Medalists in history, and life in the Fleischman home was extraordinary. Readers will feel like part of the family in this humorous and aspirational chronicle.

Paul Fleischman is the author of the Newbery Award-winning Joyful Noise and the classroom classic Seedfolks, as well as many other acclaimed and beloved titles. His books are taught and performed in classrooms across the country.

Part memoir, part travelogue (young Paul travels from California to New Hampshire by himself), part writing book, and part reflection on art and creativity, this inspirational book includes black-and-white photographs, as well as writing tips and prompts just right for budding authors. No Map, Great Trip is a great gift for young writers, language arts teachers, and fans of Jack Prelutsky’s Pizza, Pigs, and Poetry and Ralph Fletcher’s A Writer’s Notebook.

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No Map, Great Trip: A Young Writer's Road to Page One

No Map, Great Trip is an excellent choice for aspiring authors, language arts classrooms, and fans of Gail Carson Levine’s Writing Magic.

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No Map, Great Trip: A Young Writer's Road to Page One

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No Map, Great Trip: A Young Writer's Road to Page One

Audio CD(Library ed.)

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Audio CD(Library ed.)
$59.99

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No Map, Great Trip is an excellent choice for aspiring authors, language arts classrooms, and fans of Gail Carson Levine’s Writing Magic.

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About the Author

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781094079295
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	10/08/2019
Edition description:	Library ed.
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 6.10(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Paul Fleischman's novels, poetry, picture books, and nonfiction are known for innovation and multiple viewpoints. He received the Newbery Medal for Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices and a Newbery Honor for Graven Images, and he was a National Book Award finalist for Breakout. His books bridging the page and stage include Bull Run, Seek, and Mind's Eye. For the body of his work, he's been the United States nominee for the international Hans Christian Andersen Award. He lives in California. www.paulfleischman.net.

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Editorial Reviews

07/29/2019
In this combination memoir and writing handbook, Newbery Medalist Fleischman (Joyful Noise) writes with humor and frankness about growing up in Santa Monica, Calif., in the 1960s. With supportive parents who encouraged inventiveness and exploration, Fleischman developed both an insatiable curiosity and wanderlust at a young age. From building a shortwave radio at age 10, to creating his own satirical news pamphlet in high school, to traversing the country with little more than the clothes on his back, he details how early experiences provided inspiration for his characters and stories. His amusing anecdotes also lead nicely into the “Writing Know-How” tips he sprinkles throughout the book. Though his stories are easy to read and engaging, Fleischman’s advice for writers—asking questions, drawing from your own experiences, and keeping a notebook handy to jot down observations and thoughts—is fairly standard, and may even get lost amid the volume’s memoir components. Still, the book serves as an inspiring look at how an award-winning author eventually found his voice, and may prompt a budding young writer to find the courage to put pen to paper. Ages 8–12. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Legendary author and Newbery medalist Fleischman combines an easygoing memoir with a friendly writing guide . . . An inviting memoir with smooth and engaging storytelling.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“A humorous, thoughtful demonstration that the path to writing isn't always a straight line.” — Kirkus Reviews
“An inspiring look at how an award-winning author eventually found his voice.” — Publishers Weekly
“A lively memoir-guidebook.” — Booklist

From the Publisher

A lively memoir-guidebook.”

Booklist

Legendary author and Newbery medalist Fleischman combines an easygoing memoir with a friendly writing guide . . . An inviting memoir with smooth and engaging storytelling.”

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Legendary author and Newbery medalist Fleischman combines an easygoing memoir with a friendly writing guide . . . An inviting memoir with smooth and engaging storytelling.”

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

A lively memoir-guidebook.”

Booklist

Legendary author and Newbery medalist Fleischman combines an easygoing memoir with a friendly writing guide . . . An inviting memoir with smooth and engaging storytelling.”

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

11/01/2019
Gr 4–8—Newbery Award–winning author Fleischman uses moments in his life to explain his literary path and show how anyone can create stories. The book begins in 1962, when Fleischman, 10, had just received a shortwave radio, which sparked his interest in stories and words. Readers will also learn about his family's printing press; his "illegal" student newspaper; his love of travel, including some long bike trips; and his willingness to live outside his comfort zone. "Writing Know-How" sections following most chapters provide useful tips but interrupt the flow of the narrative. Also, while the book is geared toward a younger audience, a lot of the references may need more context. Back matter includes Fleischman's books and awards. VERDICT A well-written and engaging work that will inspire young readers and writers, although a straightforward memoir might have been even more appealing.—Kristyn Dorfman, The Nightingale-Bamford School, New York City

School Library Journal

Listeners will enjoy being taken along for the ride as Newbery-winning children’s author Paul Fleischman delivers reminiscences of his youth, especially of people and events that contributed to his becoming a writer. Also included are helpful writing prompts. Andrew Eiden’s narration portrays young Paul as he describes traversing the U.S. by bicycle and reflects on what his trip taught him, complete with humorous interjections. In addition, Eiden capably imparts the advice passed on by Fleischman’s father, Sid—who, remarkably, was also a Newbery-winning children’s author. This is a notable work for any audience of potential writers. Eiden even manages to make Fleischman sound as if he ages as he gains knowledge and confidence, visits new places, tries new things, and reports that reading and research offer much in the way of inspiration. E.J.F. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

DECEMBER 2019 - AudioFile

Listeners will enjoy being taken along for the ride as Newbery-winning children’s author Paul Fleischman delivers reminiscences of his youth, especially of people and events that contributed to his becoming a writer. Also included are helpful writing prompts. Andrew Eiden’s narration portrays young Paul as he describes traversing the U.S. by bicycle and reflects on what his trip taught him, complete with humorous interjections. In addition, Eiden capably imparts the advice passed on by Fleischman’s father, Sid—who, remarkably, was also a Newbery-winning children’s author. This is a notable work for any audience of potential writers. Eiden even manages to make Fleischman sound as if he ages as he gains knowledge and confidence, visits new places, tries new things, and reports that reading and research offer much in the way of inspiration. E.J.F. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

DECEMBER 2019 - AudioFile

2019-06-10
The Newbery medalist offers a combination memoir and guide for aspiring writers.
As a young boy in 1962, Paul Fleischman, son of children's author Sid Fleischman, is introduced to a larger world of storytelling with his shortwave radio. Listening to broadcasts from around the world opens him up to cultures beyond white suburban Santa Monica. As part of his father's research for a book, the family purchases a printing press to be assembled at home, an experience that is an early influence on Paul's road to becoming an author himself. One of his first experiments as a writer is an outlandish, rogue newspaper he and his fellow classmates produce and distribute under the radar of high school administrators. High school is followed by a spell of wanderlust, including a short stint at UC Berkeley and a bike ride up the West Coast to Vancouver that capriciously lands him first in New England and ultimately in Albuquerque. Vignettes with writing advice, sometimes only tangentially connected to the adjoining chapters, appear sporadically and jar the narrative. Fleischman's story reads as a remarkably engaging memoir but less successfully as a writing tutorial. At times, cultural references may be lost on younger readers, such as roller derby, Shirley Temple, and Marxism, and they may wish for more context.
Overall, a humorous, thoughtful demonstration that the path to writing isn't always a straight line. (Memoir. 11-13)

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