Esmé Raji Codell is an award-winning author, a legendary teacher, a premier literacy and literature ambassador, a show-stopping speaker, the queen of Planet Esmé, and quite possibly the greatest force for good in children’s literature. Everything she does is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Read a previous interview with Esmé on Sahara Special (Hyperion, 2003).
We last spoke in conjunction with the release of your debut novel,
Nothing But the Truth (and a few white lies) by Justina Chen Headley (Little Brown, 2006)(read excerpt)(author photo). From the promotional copy: “Hapa (half Asian and half white) Patty Ho has never felt completely at home in her skin. Life at House Ho is tough enough between her ultra-strict Taiwanese mom (epic-length lectures and all) and her Harvard-bound big brother.
Next week I’ll be leaving Austin for Montpeiler, Vermont for several days to teach in conjunction with the winter residency of the M.F.A. in Writing for Children and Young Adults program from Vermont College/Union Institute & University. At the moment, I’m in packing and preparation mode!
I’ll be sure to update my blog readers on my academic adventures on Spookycyn as well as offering what I can on Cynsations.
Westlake (Ohio) Porter Public Library’s
GOT BOOKS 2006
Summer Reading Program
From Kate Tuthill of the Youth Services Staff, Got Books 2006:
Kathleen.Tuthill@westlakelibrary.org
www.westlakelibrary.org
“We’re looking for Authors and Illustrators!
“We’re patterning our 2006 summer reading program after the Got Milk campaign and are collecting digital pictures,
Continue Reading GOT BOOKS 2006: Attention Authors and Illustrators »
Happy New Year, and much joy and success to all of my Cynsational Readers in 2006! For a report on my New Year’s Eve celebrating, surf over to Spookcyn.
Author Interview: Ellen Jackson by Sue Reichard from suite101.com. She talks about journaling, science writing, writing full time, favorite books from childhood, and more.
Ellen Wittlinger wrote poetry and plays before settling on writing fiction for teenagers. She’s published ten novels, one of which, Hard Love (Simon & Schuster, 1999), won a Michael L. Printz honor award and a Lambda Literary Award. Many of her books are on the ALA Best Books lists. Her most recent novel is Sandpiper (Simon and Schuster,
Favorites of 2005–Older Readers: year-end picks from author Greg Leitich Smith. Greg is the author of Ninjas, Piranhas, and Galileo (Little Brown, 2003) and Tofu and T. rex (Little Brown, 2005).
The Goddess of YA Literature blogs of late about Double Identity by Margaret Peterson Haddix (Simon &
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (Hyperion, 2005). From the promo copy: “What if the gods of Olympus were alive in the 21rst Century? What if they still fell in love with mortals and had children who might become great heroes — like Theseus, Jason and Hercules? What if you were one of those children? Such is the discovery that launches twelve-year-old Percy Jackson on the most dangerous quest of his life.
Continue Reading Author Interview: Rick Riordan on The Lightning Thief »
This past week most of my Web site visitors were from California and Virginia, so here’s a special howdy to them! The top search phrases (with links to related pages) were: young adult novels; Indian Shoes; writing for children; children’s book illustrators; young adult books;
Many blessings of the holiday season to all my Cynsational readers!
My husband, Greg Leitich Smith, and I plan to stay in Austin and have a quiet holiday at home. We’re having chicken-and-lobster cooked together for dinner on Christmas Eve and turkey on Christmas Day. Our guests this coming week include my cousin Elizabeth, who’ll be arriving from New York City where she works as a teacher.