Tracy Trivas is the first-time children’s author of The Wish Stealers (Simon & Schuster, 2010). From the promotional copy:
Griffin Penshine is always making wishes. But when a sinister old woman tricks her into accepting a box of eleven shiny Indian Head pennies from 1897, Griffin soon learns these are no ordinary pennies,
Continue Reading New Voice: Tracy Trivas on The Wish Stealers »
Children’s Literature from India and the Indian Diaspora from PaperTigers. Features include:
an interview with author Kashmira Sheth by Aline Pereira (“Your most recent book, Boys Without Names (Balzer & Bray/HarperCollins, 2010), is the moving story of Gopal, a teenager who, in an attempt to help his family financially, finds himself trapped in a sweatshop job.”);
By Tammi Sauer
When writing picture books, I strive to tell as much as possible in as little as possible.
This helps me to leave plenty of room for the illustrator to do half the storytelling through the art.
One of my key jobs is to use great words. Each word must count.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Tammi Sauer on Word Choice in Picture Books »
Mindi Scott is the first-time author of Freefall (Simon Pulse, 2010). From the promotional copy:
How do you come back from the point of no return?
Seth McCoy was the last person to see his best friend Isaac alive, and the first to find him dead. It was just another night,
By Doris Fisher
What’s the difference between a picture book and a children’s magazine article?
At first glance the two texts look similar. They are geared to a particular age group and deal with subjects children love.
However, there are plenty of differences for a writer to keep in mind.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Doris Fisher on Picture Books Versus Children’s Magazine Articles »
Learn about Nancy Garden.
What first inspired you to write across forms in children’s-YA literature?
I’m not sure anything in particular did. I think the ideas came first, and they dictated the form and the age level.
I don’t think I ever sat down and said, “Now I’m going to write a mystery,”
Matthew J. Kirby is the first-time author of The Clockwork Three (Scholastic, 2010). From the promotional copy:
Three ordinary children are brought together by extraordinary events. . .
Giuseppe is an orphaned street musician from Italy, who was sold by his uncle to work as a slave for an evil padrone in the U.S.
Continue Reading New Voice: Matthew J. Kirby on The Clockwork Three »
Jacqueline West is the first-time author of The Books of Elsewhere, Volume One: The Shadows (Dial, 2010). From the promotional copy:
Old Ms. McMartin is definitely dead. Now her crumbling Victorian mansion lies vacant.
When eleven-year-old Olive and her dippy mathematician parents move in, she knows there’s something odd about the place–not least the walls covered in strange antique paintings.
Continue Reading New Voice: Jacqueline West on The Books of Elsewhere, Volume One: The Shadows »
As a child, I loved warm, windy weather, just before a big rain. You could smell the moisture in the air. The trees would bend and wave their branches as if saying, “Come on!”
With the wind blowing across my face, it felt like just a little bit of speed would lift me into the air.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Jacqueline Jules on What If You Had a Superpower? »
Enter to win a copy of The Wish Stealers by Tracy Trivas (Aladdin, 2010)! From the promotional copy:
Griffin Penshine is always making wishes. But when a sinister old woman tricks her into accepting a box of eleven shiny Indian Head pennies from 1897, Griffin soon learns these are no ordinary pennies,
