Guest Post: Laurie Morrison on Creating Balanced, Flexible Teacher Guides for Her Books

Photo Credit: Laura Billingham

By Laurie Morrison

Before my first middle-grade novel with Cordelia Jensen, Every Shiny Thing (Amulet, 2018), was published, I taught middle school for ten years, and those two identities—author and teacher—still feel intertwined. I’d never tried to write fiction until I became a teacher and got inspired by my students and the books I read alongside them.

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Author & Illustrator Interview: Kavita Ramchandran & Srividhya Venkat talk on Dancing in Thatha’s Footsteps

By Suma Subramaniam

We are pleased to welcome the author-illustrator team of Dancing in Thatha’s Footsteps (Yali Books, June 2021) to Cynsations!

Written by Srividhya Venkat and illustrated by Kavita Ramchandran, Dancing in Thatha’s Footsteps (Yali Books, June 2021) is a story about staying true to yourself and following your heart.

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Guest Post: Holly Green & Emma Kress Talk About Writing Fierce Girls in YA Fiction

By Holly Green and Emma Kress

Cynsational Note: Today we are honored to welcome two YA debut authors, Holly Green and Emma Kress, who talk about their debut year and the importance of writing strong, fierce female characters.

Emma: Hi, Holly! I’m so excited we get to chat about our books together for Cynsations!

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Interview: Sylvia Vardell on the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY)

By Elisabeth Norton

Many of you might know the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) best as that organization that awards the Hans Christian Andersen Award biennially to an author and an illustrator whose complete works have made a lasting contribution to children’s literature. But there is so much more to the organization.

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