Look for Story of a Girl by debut YA novelist Sara Zarr (Little Brown, 2007). This is another fabulous book for which I had the honor of offering a blurb.

I also met Sara in person this past fall at NCTE/ALAN, and she’s not only a talented author, but also the kind of newcomer we all really want to cheer–smart, sweet, funny, and a book person through and through.

Sara says: “As I got older, I never lost my love for YA, and every story that emerged from my own mind featured characters in that strange place that adolescence is. Someone (I can’t remember who) has said that childhood is like living in occupied territory. Adolescence is when you start to grope and grasp for your own piece of land outside of that, and the issues of identity that surround that are just ripe for stories.” Read a Cynsations interview with Sara.

Read also a more recent interview with Sara from Debbi Michiko Florence at One Writer’s Journey.

More News & Links

Are you an author or illustrator published by a Children’s Book Council member publisher? If so, you may request a link on the CBC website.

“Don’t Get Slighted” by Jan Fields from the Institute of Children’s Literature. “Learn how conflict and theme work together to help you avoid ‘slight’ writing.”

Congratulations to Jennifer Lynn Barnes, author of Tattoo (Delacorte, 2007); Alma Fullerton, author of Walking on Glass (HarperCollins, 2007); Brent Hartinger, author of Split Screen: Attack of the Soul-Sucking Zombies/Bride of the Soul Sucking Zombies (HarperCollins, 2007) (author interview) on their January releases.