Author & Editor Interview: Jessica Lee Anderson, Madeline Smoot on Uncertain Summer

Author & Editor Interview: Jessica Lee Anderson, Madeline Smoot on Uncertain Summer

By Gayleen Rabakukk

I’ve always had a fascination with Bigfoot; the idea that an ape/human creature could be secretly living in the woods both intrigued and terrified me as a child.

So when I got the opportunity to chat with the author and editor of Uncertain Summer by Jessica Lee Anderson (CBAY,

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New Voice: Lisa Bunker on Felix Yz

New Voice: Lisa Bunker on Felix Yz

By Gayleen Rabakukk

Lisa Bunker is the debut author of Felix Yz (Viking, 2017). From the promotional copy:

“If it wasn’t for the fused-with-Zyx thing, I suppose I would just be normal—whatever that means.”

When Felix Yz was three years old, a hyperintelligent fourth-dimensional being became fused inside him after one of his father’s science experiments went terribly wrong. 

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Guest Post: Beth Bacon on Honoring Reluctant Readers with Author & Illustrator Charles Johnson

Guest Post: Beth Bacon on Honoring Reluctant Readers with Author & Illustrator Charles Johnson

By Beth Bacon

This post is the first in a series honoring reluctant readers.

Reading is the closest thing we have to magic in the real world.

Is there any other explanation for the way those small, squiggly symbols on the page transform into meaning in our minds?

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Author Interview: Cynthia Levinson on Fault Lines in the Constitution

Author Interview: Cynthia Levinson on Fault Lines in the Constitution

By Gayleen Rabakukk

Cynthia Levinson is co-author of Fault Lines in the Constitution: The Framers, Their Fights, And the Flaws That Affect Us Today, also by Sanford Levinson (Peachtree, 2017). From the promotional copy: 

Many of the political issues we struggle with today have their roots in the US Constitution. Continue Reading Author Interview: Cynthia Levinson on Fault Lines in the Constitution »

Book Trailer: Spirit Hunters by Ellen Oh

Book Trailer: Spirit Hunters by Ellen Oh

By Cynthia Leitich Smith

Check out the book trailer for Spirit Hunters by Ellen Oh (HarperChildren’s, 2017). From the promotional copy:

We Need Diverse Books founder Ellen Oh returns with Spirit Hunters, a high-stakes middle grade mystery series about Harper Raine, the new seventh grader in town who must face down the dangerous ghosts haunting her younger brother. 

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Guest Post: Tara Dairman on Making Connections in a New State

Guest Post: Tara Dairman on Making Connections in a New State

By Tara Dairman

Moving 1,000 miles was not the way I anticipated kicking off 2017, but hey, not much about the last year has been predictable. So when my husband received a new job offer in January, we found ourselves relocating from Colorado to Austin, Texas, in a few short weeks.

Austin has a well-established kidlit community,

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Guest Post: Yolanda Ridge on Writing Across Gender & Inside Hudson Pickle

Guest Post: Yolanda Ridge on Writing Across Gender & Inside Hudson Pickle

Yolanda Ridge and her sons

By Yolanda Ridge 

When my stepdad finished reading my debut novel, Trouble in the Trees (Orca Book Publishers, 2011), he told me he enjoyed learning about my childhood.

(He also proudly proclaimed to have read it in two straight hours – a compliment that missed the mark since it had taken me over a year to write the book – but that’s a different post.)

The main character is nothing like me,

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New Voice: Leah Henderson on One Shadow On the Wall

New Voice: Leah Henderson on One Shadow On the Wall

By Gayleen Rabakukk

Leah Henderson is the debut author of One Shadow On the Wall (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, June 6, 2017). From the promotional copy:

An orphaned boy in contemporary Senegal must decide between doing what is right and what is easy as he struggles to keep a promise he made to his dying father in this captivating debut novel laced with magical realism.

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