When I first read Katherine Applegate’s The One and Only Ivan (HarperCollins, 2012), I remember being completely amazed.
A brown bear or a pigeon narrating a picture book are one thing, but a gorilla narrating a meaningful middle grade novel? This was something else entirely. Applegate’s brilliance took my breath away. The spare yet powerful writing as well as the non-human voice was absolutely perfect.
Welcome to Day 3 of my Cynsations Spooky Middle Grade Takeover!
Today’s post is an author interview with fellow spooky middle grade writer, Adrianna Cuevas. Adrianna’s debut novel, The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez (FSG), comes out May 12. It’s now available for preorder. I’m so happy she agreed to geek out with me over our mutual love of spooky stories.
Continue Reading Guest Interview: Adrianna Cuevas on Spooky Stories Inspired by Folklore »
It’s Day 2 of my Cynsations spooky middle grade takeover!
Today’s post is an interview with Jane Pica, the illustrator for The Second Best Haunted Hotel on Mercer Street (Amulet, Aug. 18, 2020). She is responsible for the gorgeous cover and the interior illustrations.
This is the first book I’ve ever done that was partially illustrated–having an illustrator on the team was an amazing experience.
Continue Reading Guest Interview: Illustrator Jane Pica on Drawing Spooky Stories »
My next book, The Second Best Haunted Hotel on Mercer Street, is coming out from Abrams/Amulet on Aug. 18 and is now available for preorder. To celebrate, I’m taking over Cynsations this week to talk about spooky middle grade!
Today’s post is on craft. I reflect on where I got the initial idea for the The Second Best Haunted Hotel on Mercer Street and the long road to actually writing it.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Cory Putman Oakes on Writing Spooky Middle Grade Books »
As an author, poet, and chronicler—and clinical social worker—my writing tends to explore social-emotional learning (SEL). While I deeply value the STEM and STEAM frameworks (and poetry and stories!) my own commitment and abilities lean toward creating work that handles issues that promote and build on SEL, without which STEM and STEAM learning cannot thrive.
I love exploring writers’ and illustrators’ inner lives—what builds and maintains emotional resilience?
Continue Reading Heart and Spirit: An Interview with Lisa Jenn Bigelow »
Laura Ruby is a successful author with a long, distinguished career.
In children’s-YA writing, maintaining an active publishing career is arguably an even bigger challenge than breaking into the field.
Reflecting on your personal journey (creatively, career-wise, and your writer’s heart), what bumps did you encounter and how have you managed to defy the odds to achieve continued success?
My first book—a middle grade ghost story—was sold all the way back in 2001 and was released in 2003,
By Kim Rogers
I had the pleasure of interviewing Christine Day (Upper Skagit) for Cynsations. Her debut middle grade novel, I Can Make This Promise (HarperCollins 2019), was inspired by her own family history and tells the story of twelve-year-old old Edie who discovers her family secrets and finds her own Native American identity.
What were the challenges (literary, research, psychological, logistical) in bringing I Can Make This Promise to life?
Continue Reading Native Voices: Christine Day on I Can Make This Promise »
On the flight home after a recent conference, I read Cynthia Leitich Smith’s Hearts Unbroken (Candlewick, 2018). It struck a chord in part because, although I was elated that so many people had read advanced reader copies (ARCs) of my novel The Bridge Home (Nancy Paulsen Books, 2019) and loved it, I also realized I’d been suppressing a sense of hurt as a result of unintentional microaggressions I’d witnessed.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Padma Venkatraman on Golden Silence, Gilded Words »
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