September 15, 2020
Since March, when we had to all retreat to our homes and could no longer meet in person, the wonderful Laura Backes Bard and Jon Bard of the Children’s Book Insider have been hosting weekly online meetups for writers and illustrators called KidLit Distancing Socials. Each week at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, 5 p.m. Pacific, Laura and Jon host a Zoom mini-webinar featuring a different special kidlit guest, and…
April 24, 2020
I want to alert everyone to the fabulous event coming up ONLINE on May 1 and 2 — it’s free, and features amazing book people — authors and illustrators of picture books, middle grade novels, and young adult novels. It’s just what we need in this time when we’re all staying home, staying safe, but wanting connection, learning, and FUN. The EVERYWHERE BOOK FEST is going to be an amazing…
December 20, 2018
Woohooooooo! Julie Hedlund has just announced the 2018 edition of her fabulous 12 Days of Christmas for Writers. If you read my post on Monday, you’ll know I’ve been pacing around with my fingers crossed, eagerly awaiting this announcement. To find out more and to sign up, go to this link: 12 Days of Christmas for Writers 2018. I recommend this experience very highly for all writers, no matter what…
December 10, 2018
As promised last week, my fave Middle Grade and Young Adult reads of the past year. (There won’t be as many MG and YA as there were picture books.) As I said last week, please note that not all these books were published this year. I chose from what appealed to me, as well as what I hadn’t yet read, and so those choices spanned many years. I rely solely…
November 26, 2018
Title: Hearts Unbroken Author: Cynthia Leitich Smith Publisher: Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press, 2018 Genre: YA Fiction, #ownvoices Audience Age: 14 to 18 years Themes/Topics: Friendship, romance, Native American history and issues, racism Synopsis: Lou (short for Louise), is a high school junior in current-day Kansas. By the time the book ends, she is a senior. She and her family moved fairly recently from Texas. She’s a member of the Muskogee…
November 5, 2018
I shared this post on my other blog a couple of weeks ago, but its message is so important that I wanted to share it here, today, as well. Music can truly be like a candle lighting the darkness, whatever darkness might surround a person. This post will show how music created light in one young person’s life. Back in February of 2017, on my blog The Starborn Revue, I…
October 8, 2018
Today is Thanksgiving in Canada. Usually I would write a post about some of the things I am grateful for, and in a way, this post is about gratitude, for gratitude is important. But it’s a different kind of gratitude than the sort we usually think about on Thanksgiving. As you know, I write for kids (and adults) and I’m working toward being published one day. There are many of…
September 24, 2018
Title: Amina’s Voice Author: Hena Khan Publisher: New York: Salaam Reads/Simon & Schuster Children’s, 2017 Genre: Middle Grade Fiction Audience Age: 9 to 12 Themes/Topics: empowerment, racism, feeling comfortable with who you are, lifting up your voice Opening Sentences: Something sharp pokes me in the rib. “You should totally sign up for a solo,” Soojin whispers from the seat behind me in music class. I shake my head. The mere…