Melanie visits Crumbly – I mean, Carnegie – Hall


My dream is to sing one day at New York City’s legendary Carnegie Hall, or “Crumbly” Hall, as I called it when I was a mere kidlet. Recently my author, Melanie Jackson, stopped by Carnegie Hall – can I be far behind? Not according to a mysterious, if slightly scattered, fortune teller named Madame Sosistris, who in Queen of Disguises definitely sees the famous performance venue in Dinah’s future.

Millionaire philanthropist Andrew Carnegie – Scottish-born, BTW, like Melanie – donated $2 million for the concert hall’s construction, finished in May 1891. Famous for its rich, precise acoustics, Carnegie Hall seats 3,000. Its début concert was conducted in part by none other than Russian composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, also a noted swan enthusiast. But the Carnegie Hall performance I like to hear about – and listen to – is Judy Garland’s, from 1961, called “the greatest night in show business history.”

A review as rich as chocolate
Darlene Petty, librarian at Ontario's Woodstock Public Library, hits the high notes for me with a reference to one of my favorite foods: Fudgee O's! Check out her review of Queen of Disguises.

"Melanie Jackson's newest mystery featuring 12 year old amateur sleuth, Dinah Galloway, is full of mystery, action and humour. In Queen of Disguises, Dinah is a finalist in a competition to sing in commercials promoting British Columbia and the 2010 Olympics. That would be enough to keep a 12 year old busy, but now she finds herself being pursued by someone she sent to jail, former actress and escaped prisoner, Violet Bridey. And then to top it off, the organizers of the contest decide the finalists need to embody the image of the Olympics and send the finalists to a health spa to slim down and get fit, not exactly how Fudgee-Os loving Dinah expected to spend her summer. This novel will have kids laughing on the edge of their seats!"

The Queen Mary gets launched all the time ...

So why not the Queen of Disguises? Okay, so we're talking book launch as opposed to the cruise-ship kind. But what you lose in ocean breezes you'll make up for in good company, as you meet my author, Melanie Jackson, as well as other Orca authors launching their brand-new books. Hope you can dock in at this launch: Vancouver KidsBooks, April 16, 7 pm. There'll be food, author signings, speeches ... did I mention food?

Escaped con Beak-Nose Bridey sure looks cross behind her mask, but ...

... unlike the scrawny, costume-adept villain of Queen of Disguises, we're delighted. My latest adventure got a great review by Wendy Williams in CM Magazine! Wendy writes, in part, "Followers of this lively series set in British Columbia will be in for a treat as they re-connect to the liveliest 12-year-old on the west coast."

Uh-oh. I think Beak-Nose, a vengeful convict who just escaped prison, is prowling after me yet AGAIN. Like, doesn't the woman have any hobbies? Gotta run ...

Written in the stars, but sung from the heart

Melanie's and my good friend, Gianna Dassios of the Ontario Library Association, is even more talented than we thought. As well as being very literary and speaking several languages, she's a chanter of magic spells! Along with her mother Silvana, Gianna intones a traditional Italian spell in the background of Rita Di Ghent’s song Incanto, on Rita’s latest album, Sprawl Indigo: More Tales of the Inner City. Gianna says, “In the recording you actually hear my mother and I actually recite this spell in ‘Furlan,’ the spoken dialect of the Friuli Region in Northeastern Italy, north of Venezia.”

And what’s the spell for? Love. Wouldn’t you know? These women! Me, I’d prefer one that allowed me to fly or become invisible. Or win a free hour at Purdy’s Chocolates (swoon). Or else escape from the chilling Queen of Disguises (shudder).

Anyhow, here’s what Gianna and her mom are chanting:

Grande Diana, regina del cielo e della terra, io ti chiamo
E con il mio potere ti scongiuro di guarantirmi i favori che ti imploro

Translation:
Great Diana, queen of the sky and the earth, I call you
And with my power I charm you to guarantee me the favour I beg of you.