When I was developing the protagonist for my middle-grade novel Small Persons With Wings (Dial, 2011), I was charmed to discover that she was from a family with a history of alcoholism.
Oh, good, I thought. This’ll be interesting.
Then Mellie (that’s her name) turned out to be overweight.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Ellen Booraem on When Issues Become Side Issues »
Sarah Jamila Stevenson is the first-time author of The Latte Rebellion (Flux, 2011)(author blog). From the promotional copy:
Our philosophy is simple: Promote a latte-colored world! —from the Latte Rebellion Manifesto
When high school senior Asha Jamison gets called a “towel head” at a pool party,
Continue Reading New Voice: Sarah Jamila Stevenson on The Latte Rebellion »
Mark Dahlby was a psychotherapist in private practice when he started Writers on the Net/writers.com in 1995. The two are somehow related. Earlier in life he was a carpenter, a mortgage broker, and a graduate student. He edited two books for Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche on Tibetan Bon Buddhism and has written many convoluted essays, a collection of bad poems,
Canadian Library Association Announces 2011 Book of the Year For Children Award Shortlist from the CLA. Peek: “This notable award recognizes a Canadian author of an outstanding book published in Canada in 2010, which appeals to children up to and including age 12. The winner of the award, and the Honour Books, will be announced prior to the National Canadian Library Association Conference and Trade Show.
By Andrea White
As a young girl, I read constantly. I don’t understand why, but I loved intertwining someone else’s world with my life. I enjoy learning from characters in books, whether they provide negative lessons or positive ones. Sometimes, I think this trait is a strength and sometimes a weakness. But I can get as absorbed in a character’s life as I am in my own.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Andrea White on Her Writing Journey »
Celebrate Read Across America Day from National Public Radio. First Lady Michelle Obama today lent her support to a national campaign to encourage reading among American children.
As part of “Read Across America Day,” Mrs. Obama volunteered to read the Doctor Seuss classic, “Green Eggs and Ham” to elementary school students at the Library of Congress in Washington,
Continue Reading Celebrate “Read Across America Day” with Former ALA President Loriene Roy on NPR »
Not long ago I talked with a writer friend about the difficulty of dialogue. I was working on The Hive Detectives (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010) and having a heck of a time threading quoted material into the text.
I knew that including quotes presented an opportunity to reveal my story’s characters,
Continue Reading Guest Post: Loree Griffin Burns on Identifying Nonfiction Genres »
Ashley Hope Pérez is the first-time author of What Can’t Wait (Carolrhoda Lab, 2011). From the promotional copy:
Seventeen-year-old Marisa Moreno has smarts and plenty of promise, but she’s marooned in a broken-down Houston neighborhood—and in a Mexican immigrant family where making ends meet matters more than making it to college.
When her home life becomes unbearable,
Continue Reading New Voice: Ashley Hope Pérez on What Can’t Wait »
By Lisa Yee, author of the American Girl Doll of the Year 2011 Books
It started with a phone call from American Girl editor Jennifer Hirsch. “Would you consider writing the American Girl ‘2011 Girl of the Year’ books?” she asked. “Most likely they will be set in Hawaii.”
It took me less than a nanosecond to say “yes.”
I worked with Jennifer on the American Girl historical novel Good Luck,
Continue Reading Guest Post: American Girl Author Lisa Yee on Aloha, Kanani & Good Job, Kanani »
About thirty children’s-YA writers/illustrators gathered last week to celebrate Meredith Davis completing her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Meredith (center, front) poses with Kathi Appelt (front, side), Debbie Gonzales (middle, left), Jeanette Larson (middle, right), and Anne Bustard (back).
