Category: Author of the Month

Fractured fairy tales? How about fractured mythology? Just in time for National Poetry Month, David Elliott gives us a modern take on Theseus and the Minotaur. Contemporary mythology in verse, you ask? Trust me when I say your high school students will love it, just as you’ll love its cucumber-washing, popsicle stick-making author.

 

This graphic pretty much sums up David Elliott’s latest novel, Bull. Perhaps it’s his love of opera that’s behind his ability to successfully combine verse and drama or maybe that has nothing to do with it and he’s just channeling his inner child’s love of Scrooge McDuck’s “The Golden Fleecing.” Whatever his inspiration, this unique retelling of Theseus and the Minotaur made us want to learn more about the author and we know you do too, so keep reading. Continue reading “April Author of the Month David Elliott”

It is quite likely that when a student asks you for a book about the impact of war on real people, you will recommend a title by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch. When our reviewers gave highly recommended ratings to two of her new titles, Making Bombs for Hitler and Adrift at Sea, we decided it was time to learn more about Skrypuch herself.

Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch’s books have received numerous awards and honors—and for good reason. Skrypuch can take a subject like famine (Enough, a picture book about the Ukranian famine), genocide (Armenian Genocide Trilogy), refugees (Adrift at Sea, Last Airlift, and One Step at a Time, about Vietnamese refugees), or war (World War II Trilogy and others), and turn it into something that is not just suitable for children but, perhaps more importantly, that children can relate to also. With protagonists who are children themselves, her books invite young readers to place themselves in these circumstances and think about how they might have responded to the same situation. But enough of that for now; you’ve read her books, you already know all of this. It’s time for us to get to know a little bit more about Marsha herself.

When did you know you wanted to become a children’s book author?

I wanted to write books ever since I began reading at age nine. I write the stories that burn in my heart – the stories that if I don’t write I won’t be able to sleep at night.

Writing specifically for children wasn’t a conscious decision until much later.

Why do you think it is important to write books for children that deal with such tragic events (refugees, war, genocide)?

We need to be respectful of children’s intelligence. I will never write a book that appeals to the lowest common denominator. Young people deserve nuanced, tough, and interesting stories about real life and real history. Letting kids chew on gritty stories about real history is just as important as giving them good food. Reading about what other young people had to go through in different times and places gives a child the strength and context to deal with their own challenges.

I want to give children a safe way to feel what it’s like to live in the midst of war and what it’s like to have to make impossible choices. But most importantly, when you live inside a character that you’ve grown to love, the whole concept of “us” versus “them” falls away.  Literature set during tragic times is one of the best ways to help a reader develop empathy. Continue reading “March Author of the Month Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch”

Whimsical. That’s a word that should pop into your mind when you hear the name Kyo Maclear. It’s a word that describes so many of her children’s books—The Wish Tree, Virginia Wolf, Mr. Flux, and more. So when you see those children who could use a little whimsy in their lives, do them a favor and introduce them to Kyo Maclear.

Be sure to look for our review of her new book, The Wish Tree, which received a highly recommended rating in the November-December issue of School Library Connection. Subscribers can see our complete archive of reviews at reVIEWS+.

Once upon a time there was a Japanese-British-Jewish-Canadian couple who were anxiously awaiting the birth of their first child. Wanting “to celebrate that multiplicity,” novelist (and soon-to-be new mother) Kyo Maclear decided to write her first children’s book, and so was born Spork—the name of the book, not the baby. Fast forward to today and we find that her children are still a source of inspiration for Maclear; she also draws inspiration “from walking in the city and eavesdropping, from art and artists around me, from my own feelings and memories of being small in the world.”

Maclear writes “eccentric and fanciful stories,” she tells us, “to invite big and little readers to see the world less rigidly.” Books like The Wish Tree demonstrate that Maclear is “big on kindness and community.” According to Maclear, “If there is one theme that runs through most of my books, it’s the idea that we should be hospitable to the small, the seemingly strange, the wild (including wild, wolfish humans), and the unexpected.” Continue reading “December Author of the Month Kyo Maclear”

John Coy tells us that he decided to become an author after, on a whim, he typed his name into the library catalog and got zero results. “That,” he explains, “is when I realized that if I wanted something to come up, I needed to write.” Today, his fans are certainly glad for those zero results.

Be sure to look for our review of his new book, Gap Life, which received a highly recommended rating in the November-December issue of School Library Connection. Subscribers can see our complete archive of reviews on reVIEWS+.

John Coy loves writing, and sharing that process with students is one of the things he loves the most about school visits. “It’s so different compared with what many of them imagine, with lots of false starts, mistakes, and rejection,” he tells us. “It’s an amazing process to start with nothing other than an idea and turn it into a book. I love inspiring students to see reading and writing in new ways.”

He also encourages teachers and librarians to try their hand at writing: “Many teachers and librarians enjoyed writing when they were younger but don’t get many opportunities to write for pleasure now. I’ve been in schools lately where teachers and librarians have set up writing groups where they write together and read their writing to each other. These groups have many benefits including giving instructors a stronger sense of what students are struggling with as well as students being able to see their instructors as writers. With writing, we’re all in it together, all of us trying to become better.” Continue reading “November Author of the Month John Coy”