I’ll be at The Bookstore Plus in Lake Placid this Saturday (7/16), visiting with readers and signing books from 3-5pm. If the weather’s good (fingers crossed!) the store plans to set up a table right on Main Street. If you’re in the area, please stop by to say hi – and if you tell me the name of a book you’ve read lately and loved, I’ll give you a bookmark. Deal? Deal! And then next week, I’ll share a list of all the books that were recommended here on the blog, so we can all add to our summer reading lists.
The Bookstore Plus tells me they’ll have all of my books on hand for Saturday’s event. If you can’t make it to the Adirondacks this weekend you can still order personalized, signed copies of any of these…
SEA MONSTER’S FIRST DAY is my new picture book about a sea monster’s first day in a new school…of fish! Illustrated by Andy Rash & just released from Chronicle Books last month, this is one that lots of parents & grandparents are buying for kids just about to start school.
MARTY MCGUIRE, the first in my new chapter book series from Scholastic, is about a third grader who would rather be a scientist than a floofy ballerina, so she’s horrified (and hijinks ensue!) when she’s forced to be the princess in the school play. This one’s best for kids who are starting to read short chapter books on their own, fans of Junie B. Jones, Judy Moody, & Clementine – or as a read-aloud for younger kids.
SUGAR AND ICE and THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z. are my novels for readers in grades 4-8. SUGAR AND ICE is about a figure skater from a small-town maple farm who earns a scholarship to train with the elite in Lake Placid and finds herself plunged into a world of mean girls on ice, and discovers that her sweet dream come true has some sharp edges. And THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z. is about a 7th grader who leaves her school leaf project to the last minute and has one week to collect and identify 25 different kinds of leaves. This one won the 2010 E.B. White Read Aloud Award, so I hear from lots of families, book clubs, and teachers sharing it aloud.
And finally, REAL REVISION is my book for teachers and writers, just out from Stenhouse Publishers. It demystifies the revision process and includes not only a window into my classroom and writing life but also interviews with more than forty published children’s authors about the nitty gritty strategies they revise their work and how writers of all ages can make use of those same tips & tricks. This one is for both writers and teachers, so it would make a great teacher gift. (I can say this because I’m a teacher, too – and I love getting books!)