I'm happy to have Elliott Kurta back for another book review. Since he's enjoying the opportunity to read and review a variety of books, you can look forward to more of his reviews in the future.REVIEW I Escaped North Korea is an informative book about the struggles North Koreans faced during 2007. Dae-hyun, the protagonist, is only fourteen… Continue reading I ESCAPED NORTH KOREA: A Review by Guest Blogger, Elliott Kurta
Elliott Kurta, who reviewed Under The Tangerine Tree on my last post, decided to follow up with an interview with the author, Esther Bandy. Take it away, Elliott and Esther!INTERVIEWELLIOTT: What inspired you to write Under the Tangerine Tree? Was it a single moment, conversation, or photo, or did it take a larger experience for the ideas… Continue reading UNDER THE TANGERINE TREE: Author Interview with Esther Bandy
If you're a writer, then someone has probably said to you: "So, are you done with your book yet?" If the person who you are talking to loves you then he may say, "How's the book coming along?" Which is a softer, kinder way of saying the same thing. Either way, most people who are not… Continue reading Revision Revisited
Congratulations to Danielle Hammelef who won THE SUMMER OF THE TREE ARMY from last week's blog. ****Some people read a book which they really like and rush through it to get to the end. Not me. When I find a book that… Continue reading EQUAL by Joyce Moyer Hostetter: A Review, An Autographed Giveaway, and a Bonus Giveaway!
Congratulations to Barbara Younger who won Acoustic Rooster's Barnyard Boogie from last week's blog.**** In the last few weeks, I've featured picture books for young readers. Today, I'm happy to help launch Jolene Gutierrez's debut middle-grade nonfiction book, Bionic Beasts (Lerner Books, 2020) Since it's full of photographs, it's technically a picture book too--but this isn't a book… Continue reading Bionic Beasts by Jolene Gutiérrez: A Giveaway and A Mini-Author Interview
Congratulations to Gwen Porter who won the second copy of The Teachers March! from the bonus blog.*****Welcome back to my second conversation with Cat Michaels and Rosie Russell on their co-authoring journey. (If you missed the first post when they gave tips for successful collaboration, you'll find it here.) Today we'll talk about some of… Continue reading Bumps In the Road and Writing Roles: Part II of Co-Authoring Dialogue with Cat Michaels and Rosie Russell
Congratulations to Clara Gillow Clark and Dorothy Price who won the downloadable version of Eyes on the Prize from last week's blog. The night that I stayed up late to finish reading Joyce Hostetter's fourth book in the Bakers Mountain Stories series, DRIVE (Calkins Creek, 2018), I texted Joyce: "This is going to be a hard book to… Continue reading DRIVE: A Review and Two Giveaways!
Congratulations to Connie Saunders and Jennifer Ervin for winning FIRST TIMES from last week's blog. As promised last week, Alan Gratz has returned to share some of the intricate process of writing his middle grade novel, REFUGEE. Alan autographing a copy of REFUGEE for the Cousins Club. INTERVIEW CAROL: How much time did you spend researching REFUGEE? Was that… Continue reading Behind the Scenes of REFUGEE: An Interview with Alan Gratz and Giveaway-Part II
Congratulations to Connie Saunders who won Sheri Levy's Starting Over ARC. ******** Teresa Fannin and Bonnie Adamson, the SCBWI-Carolinas Regional Advisors, co-ordinated another great annual conference. For those of you who were unable to attend, here are some of my takeaways: From two time Newberry Honor award winner Gary Schmidt's breakout session on Narrator and POV: Make… Continue reading TAKEAWAYS from SCBWI-CAROLINAS 2017
Congratulations to Sandra Warren for winning Augusta Scattergood's book, MAKING FRIENDS WITH BILLY WONG. ****** Here's the question: On a multiple choice test, which would you choose? a. Kirby Larson's newest book, Audacity Jones Steals the Show (Scholastic, 2017), is about an eleven-year-old girl ("Audie to her friends") who makes an elephant disappear. b. Audacity Jones is about Cypher,… Continue reading Audacity Jones Steals the Show: Review, ARC Giveaway, and a Mini-Lesson on POV