When you look back at your childhood, is there a particular summer that stands out from the rest? A summer of adventure that is especially vivid and meaningful? There is often an unforgettable year that bridges the end of our “childhood” and the beginning of something else.
Finding Fortune, by Delia Ray is a story […]
Talk about a beloved children’s story! This one’s a classic…
When a well-loved book wears out at the library, providing it still enjoys frequent circulation, it gets reordered—and for a time it enjoys “New Book” status. I frequent the “New Books” shelf in the children’s section looking for fresh yummy books to recommend to you. […]
Today’s book recommendation, The Cat Who Came In Off the Roof is a translated classic. Here’s a snippet from the About the Author blurb:
Annie M. G. Schmidt, (1911-1995) was regarded as the Queen of Dutch Children’s Literature and her books have been an essential part of every Dutch childhood for the last […]
Today’s book recommendation uses intense emotion masterfully to gain and keep a reader’s attention. I’ve been bringing you books illustrating different ways authors manage this feat over the space of an entire story—of course the best writers do it in many ways at once.
“Emotional stakes” is a term used often in the acting world; […]
Today I bring you My Diary from the Edge of the World, by Jodi Lynn Anderson. It’s a story about trying to protect those you love at all costs. It’s a perilous journey mapping where love can take you, for better and for worse, when faced with the threat of loss.
Here’s the summary:
Here’s yet another way authors can grab and hold a reader’s attention throughout a book: passion and peril. By “passion,” in this case I mean gripping excitement and intensity. Peril, of course, is the intense danger just about to happen that keeps you from turning out the light while reading at bedtime!
Today’s book recommendation […]
In saying weirdos unite, I’m pointing out that when we become friends with another outsider, those parts of ourselves that are ostracized, can become a source of bonding.
One of the strong themes in my books is friendship and its transformational power. Friendship adds to an individual’s life in at least two […]
I’ve been exploring the different ways authors create suspense; ways they grab a reader’s attention and hold it throughout the telling of their tale. So far I’ve brought you examples of action and adventure, mystique and intrigue—today I’ve got a beautiful example of connection and conflict.
In this case, connection and conflict […]
Boy, do I have a treat for you! The Merry Band poster, the one of all the girls, is here and it’s yours for free! I love all the character posters, but it gives me special delight to give you this one.
Creative collaboration is one on my favorite things. Some creative endeavors are […]
One of the details of my real life that influences my storytelling is a history of moving a lot as a child, and an exposure to cultures other than my own. I attended first grade at an American school in Kabul, Afghanistan (during a peaceful era), and I spent my senior year in high school […]
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