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It seems I am incapable of writing a conventional book review. Feel free to pelt me with marshmallows. We’ll make s’mores. (Or we’ll do this.) Case in point: this month for Barrie Summy’s Book Review Club, not only am I breaking form by focusing on the reason for my selections, I am a). abandoning the… Continue reading Serious Laughs

An author writes a highly popular book. It’s a stand-alone; not part of a series. Years later, however, for whatever reason, it happens that a second in that unplanned series hits bookstore shelves. It even happened to me. But this year, it happened to the wonderful Wendy Mass and her book, The Candymakers. I bought… Continue reading One Tempting Word After the Next: A Review

I’ve been thinking about how we come to books in different ways. I’ve picked up books for their covers and bought them (or checked them out from the library) because of their flap copy. There have been days when I’ve needed something to read fast and have opened whatever happened to by lying around the… Continue reading A Pondering and an Edge-of-Your-Seat Recommendation

A Non-Preachy Post “Sometimes,” I say to kids when I’m speaking at their schools, “if you turn a question on its head, you find answers.” Today, I found answers. For years now—not consistently; actually way more off than on and nearly always when I’m between writing projects—I’ve flirted with finally doing justice to a story… Continue reading When You Practice What You Preach

Before I got immersed in the kidlit world, I loved to read popular fiction, especially mysteries, intrigue, and thrillers. It had been a while since I picked one up, but things happen. My dad, who also loved to read, found his eyesight suddenly not cooperating. I bought him a Kindle so he could enlarge the… Continue reading Sort of a Book Review

In other words, willkommen, bienvenue, welcome! I almost said (sorry Rolling Stones): Meet the new site; same as the old site … but it’s not. The total look of my website may have changed, but the favorite parts, except maybe the photo of my actual bookcase, are all still here. (Memo to self: Post that… Continue reading Hola! Ciao! Shalom! Konnichiwa! Salut! Ni hao! Hujambo! (And Win!)

… to an engaging book. Take two curious, likable characters–-one boy and one girl—and throw them into an exciting, sometimes harrowing mystery, then shake in lots of personality and personalities, intriguing settings, and questionable villains. Shake and serve to 2nd-5th graders. It’s what Eric Luper has done in The Mysterious Moonstone, the first book in… Continue reading Here’s the Key…

You can’t see me. I’m on the other side of the camera. About two hours after I took this shot of Bob Gibson, I was behind the wheel, driving him to his hotel. For those of you who don’t have any clue what a big deal this is, Hall of Famer Bob Gibson is ranked… Continue reading Driving Mr. Gibson

Last month, I found myself in the fortunate situation of attending the annual Society of Children’s Bookwriters and Illustrators (SCBWI) conference in Los Angeles. I also had the more fortunate opportunity, in a post-conference workshop, to find myself sitting next to Newbery Award-winner Susan Patron. When such an author (who’s also an esteemed librarian) highly… Continue reading Review: Dime by E.R. Frank

When I was a kid, I fell somewhere between tomboy and Barbie, but rarely hit either of the extremes. I loved watching weekend wrestling and football and playing street games, but dolls? Not for me. When it came to comic books, though, I usually grabbed Archie over Superman, but regardless of which, I loved them.