February 16, 2013

Interview: Lesléa Newman Discusses her Novel in Verse About the Death of Matthew Shepard, ‘October Mourning’

newman

Author Lesléa Newman has always felt an obligation to help the world remember Matthew Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming who was brutally beaten and left to die in October 1998. Shepard’s death brought national attention to the issue of homophobic bullying and helped galvanize anti-bullying awareness nationwide. With October Mourning, a novel in verse, Newman explores Shepard’s death in 68 poems. SLJ talked with Newman about how she came to write October Mourning, her use of poetic forms, and the challenges of writing about this painful topic.

SLJ Talks to Legendary Book Editor Frances Foster

Frances Foster accepting her Carle Honor. Photo by Johnny Wolf.

School Library Journal sat down with renowned children’s book editor Frances Foster to discuss her long, illustrious career working with children’s book stars like Roald Dahl and Peter Sís, her experiences coming across the manuscripts of a fourteen-year-old Polly Horvath, and how it felt editing the Newbery-award winner Holes.

The Debut: The Yellow Birds, Kevin Powers

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In his debut novel, The Yellow Birds, Kevin Powers draws on his own experience of combat in Iraq to tell the story of Private John Bartle and his attempts to honor a promise to bring his friend Murph home safely from the war. Told in chapters which alternate between a brief two-month stretch of the war, and the much longer period of Bartle’s homecoming and adjustment to civilian life, The Yellow Birds is a rich, powerfully felt addition to the ranks of American war literature. Powers’s novel was recently named a National Book Award finalist.

Interview: Jacqueline Woodson Talks About Her Picture Book ‘Each Kindness’

Jacqueline Woodson 
Photo: Marty Umans

SLJ catches up with Margaret A. Edwards Award-winner Jacqueline Woodson to talk about her latest picture book, Each Kindness (Penguin, 2012), which deals with empathy, the difficulty of human relationships, and regret.

A Child’s Eye-View of China | Interview

Little White Duck (Martinez, Liu)
by Martinez

Na Liu was born in a suburb of Wuhan, China, in 1973. She became a scientific researcher and physician, and moved to America to work at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Austin, TX. There she met her husband, the artist Andrés Vera Martínez.

Touched by an Angel: Martine Leavitt’s ‘My Book of Life by Angel’ Is a Harrowing Tale of Redemption

Martine Leavitt

Your latest novel is a dark and disturbing story about a 16-year-old named Angel who moves in with a guy she meets at the mall and is lured into a life of drugs, violence, and prostitution. It must have been tough to write.

I tried to put it off as long as I could. I wrote Heck Superhero and Tom Finder—both about homeless boys—and I knew that someday I was going to have to write a book about a [...]

An Interview with Jerry McGill, the author of Dear Marcus

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On a recent trip to Portland, OR, I made sure to leave time to meet Jerry McGill, the author of Dear Marcus: A Letter to the Man Who Shot Me (iUniverse.com, 2009). I discovered this memoir a few years ago while browsing iUniverse, and now it’s a contender for the Alex Award, which honors books that have been written for adults but also have teen appeal. McGill was only 13 when he was shot in the back while walking home on New Year’s Eve, and the attack left him a quadriplegic. On a gorgeous late-summer day, much to my surprise, he rolled up to our meeting place under his own power, and joined me to talk about his book.

Interview: ALA’s Carrie Russell Talks About Copyright in the Classroom

Carrie Russell

SLJ talks to Carrie Russell, director of the American Library Association’s Program on Public Access to Information, about her book Complete Copyright for K–12 Librarians and Educators, a useful tool to help school librarians and teachers better understand copyright law.

SLJTeen Talks to Shannon Hale

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Shannon Hale’s follow-up to Princess Academy, Palace of Stone picks up the story of Miri, a girl whose smarts and sense of fairness have just brought a new age of prosperity to Mount Eskel, a remote area of Danland. She’s also destined to serve the princess-in-waiting and her dear friend, Britta, who has recently sent for her to come to the royal city of Asland. I’m delighted that Shannon Hale will be visiting with her fans via a free live-stream event on October 1, sponsored by Bloomsbury Children’s Books (register here!), and that she took time to answer a few questions about her latest book.

Interview: Dav Pilkey on Captain Underpants #9

Dav Pilkey
Photo: Karyn Carpenter

SLJ talks to Dav Pilkey about the creative process behind his books, working with DreamWorks to turn Captain Underpants into a 3-D animated movie, and, of course, Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers (Scholastic)—the ninth installment of his sublimely silly novels.

Steve Sheinkin Writes a Thriller

Bomb

On the eve of WWII, a German chemist, Otto Hahn, discovered fission. The scientific and political ramifications of this discovery were not lost on the world’s top physicists, but it took time—and a letter from Albert Einstein—for U. S. political leaders and military to understand its significance. Once they did, the Manhattan Project was established, bringing scientists—including many recent arrivals from Europe—to Los Alamos, NM, to design a weapon capable of unleashing a force greater than the world had ever witnessed. Despite being shrouded in secrecy, news of the Manhattan Project spread. In ‘Bomb,’ Steve Sheinkin’s exciting new title, the author chronicles ‘The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon.’

The Debut: Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

The Debut: Tell the Wolves I’m Home

In her first novel, Carol Rifka Brunt tells a story of love and loss, sibling rivalry, secrets, and jealousy. June Elbus is 14 when she finds out that her uncle Finn, the one person in the world who seems to understand her, is dying of AIDS. June is devastated when he dies, and wary when she’s approached by Finn’s longtime partner, Toby.

Interview: Coville, Levy on Co-Writing New “Amber Brown’

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SLJ talks to writers Bruce Coville and Elizabeth Levy, coauthors of Amber Brown Is Tickled Pink (Putnam, 2012), a tribute to their dear friend and “Amber Brown” creator, Paula Danziger, who passed away in 2004.