ISSUE 9, 2024
The new issue’s line-up includes interviews with Maureen Johnson, James Canty III, Anne Lacourrege, Charlie Grandy, Betty Jean Craige, Jamar Nicholas, William Bee, and Laura Purdie Salas! Conrad Storad comes out of his shell, Judy Newman talks about Back-to-School reads, and Nick Spake reviews Transformers One.
And be sure to check out our newest book reviews and fall reading list. It's all inside!
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FEATURES
photo by Angela AltuIs
From the Mysterious Mind of
Maureen Johnson
by Raven Howell
Comes a new stand-alone YA about a teen who uncovers a mystery while working as a tour guide on an island and must solve it before history repeats itself. With her house-sitting career up in flames, it seems the universe owes Marlowe a new summer job, and that’s how she ends up at Morning House, a mansion built on an island in the 1920s and abandoned shortly thereafter. It’s easy enough, giving tours. Low risk of fire. High chance of getting bored talking about stained glass and nut cutlets and Prohibition.
Oh, and the deaths. Did anyone mention the deaths? We had to get to the bottom of this, so we went straight to the source.…
Tell us a bit about your background/life growing up.
I’m from Philadelphia, which I use as an explanation for about 50 percent of the things I say and do. I was a non-Catholic who went to a Catholic girls’ school. That’s my explanation for the other 50 percent.
Tell us about your career and where you worked before you became a writer. What inspired those career choices? We heard that you worked in a haunted house-themed restaurant. That must have been fun!
Like a lot of writers, I had dozens of jobs to pay my way through school and to survive before I was published. Restaurant jobs. Temp jobs. Editorial and writing jobs. Working in a haunted house-themed restaurant with talking skeletons was probably the most sensible of them all.
What inspired you to become a writer?
It’s all I ever really wanted to be, and I have no other marketable skills by design.
Tell us about Death at Morning House! What inspired the book?
Checkmate.
by Raven Howell
“I have worked with kid students for many years now. Even when I was a kid, I was teaching kids to play chess—and play better chess!” chuckles professional chess player and author of Become a Chess Champion, James Canty III. “Therefore, writing a children’s book was super easy and right up my alley. I knew so much about coaching all kinds and levels of players, from young kids to adults. I wanted to write a book to teach kids how to start and play a game of chess successfully, from young kids to the adult kids at heart. And that’s a huge win for me.”
James was only eight years of age when his father taught him the rules of the game. Today, at 32, he’s a chess coach, commentator, and content creator for Chess.com. He’s also a popular chess streamer and YouTuber. Fans love to watch James play, analyze the game, and study.
“I grew up in Detroit, Michigan, in a middle-class area, with my mom and dad, married 32 years now. I have three siblings I grew up with, two little sisters, and a younger brother. Childhood was great, to be honest, lots of love and support from my family. My dad taught me how to play, and I loved the game, so it was easy for me to study and train by myself, which is what it takes to get very good at chess,” he says.
James was young when he met Harold Steen, a Detroit City chess club Hall of Famer who significantly influenced his life. “Harold Steen was such a great coach. He taught me a chess opening, The French Defense, that I still like to play today. Every time I play it, I think about him. He saw that I had a lot of potential and talent at a young age, passing his level while I was in middle school. With his tutelage, working with my dad, and consistently playing and studying on my own, I got much better at chess very fast.”
Anne Lacourrege
Offers Young Readers a Literary Treasure
by Raven Howell
A lonely child lives in a house by the banks of the Mississippi River. The house is mysterious with a closed door between two apartments. The child hears a voice encouraging her to open the door, but it is locked. Finally, the key is found. The child is scared to open the door, but at the same time, her curiosity is piqued. What is trapped behind the door? We wanted to find out, too, so we asked author Anne Lacourrege to tell us more!
Tell us about The Greatest Treasure! Is the book based on your own experiences?
The Greatest Treasure story is about a little girl who is very curious about a door that is forever locked. No one can tell her what is on the other side of that door. Truthfully, that was me as a child, which sparked all kinds of dreams about possible things behind the door. As I grew up, I put all that behind me. However, when my dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, I started to remember all the fun my dad and I had when I was little in that house. My dad was always the happy-go-lucky Irishman who always had a smile and high hopes. One night I sketched out the story, but put it away for 20 years until Hurricane Katrina hit. I showed it to my husband, and he was the one who encouraged me to publish it. It really is a tribute not only to my parents but also to New Orleans. It was written from the heart rather than literary art.
Tell us a bit about your background/life growing up.
I was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. Originally from the lower ninth ward of the city, which was really devastated during Hurricane Katrina. I was an only child in an elderly area so I was very lonely sometimes. The house in the story is about the one that I grew up in. We could go up the levee in front of our house and see all the tug boats going through the locks at the St. Claude Avenue Bridge. There was one parade that actually went across the bridge when I was growing up. It was the Arabi parade. It was so cool to just walk out of the house and go to a parade right on the bridge. I was very close to my parents, both of whom were deaf. They really were my inspiration for everything that I did.
photo by Robin Aronson
Charlie Grandy
New Book Has Flown the Coop
You might think talking like a chicken is all clucking and bawking and flapping your arms, but according to Charlie Grandy, it’s actually far more complicated than that. Like all languages, it has many intricacies. For example, chickens also peep and ruffle their feathers. Very complex. We asked Charlie to tell us more (in chicken speak, of course).
As an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning television writer and producer for shows such as Saturday Night Live, The Office, and The Mindy Project, what made you decide to write children’s books?
During the pandemic when Hollywood shut down, I had a lot of spare time on my hands and my wife’s cousin who is in publishing suggested I try writing a funny children’s book. I’m friends with B.J. Novak who wrote The Book with No Pictures and he’d actually workshopped it on my kids before publishing it (they loved it, of course!), so that was my jumping-off point as I started to think about the kind of book I’d want to write.
What’s so fun and different about writing children’s books as opposed to scripts is that the writing goes much more quickly. I can sit down and write a full draft in a day, so if it stinks, it’s not as hard to throw it out and start over. Also, in my experience, book editors are nicer and way more relaxed than TV executives.
Betty Jean Craige
Offers a Bird’s Eye View of Her New YA Mystery
by Raven Howell
Dr. Betty Jean Craige has written a story of kidnapping, parrot trafficking, cocaine trafficking, and murder—and the rescue of the wild-caught parrots transported in burlap sacks, crates, and tiny cages from Honduras through Mexico to north Georgia. In the course of events, readers meet Scarlet macaws, Hyacinth Macaws, Blue and Gold Macaws, an Indigo Macaw, and a Yellow-headed Amazon—all highly intelligent, and all in need of sanctuary at Zoo Arroyo. We wanted to learn more about this whodunit for young adult readers!
Tell us about Parrot Sanctuary: A Witherston Murder Mystery!
I loved writing Parrot Sanctuary! And that’s because I love parrots and hate the “business” of parrot trafficking (smuggling wild-caught parrots across the Mexican border). The avian stars of the mystery are Scarlet Macaws poached in Honduras, transported in burlap sacks, crates, and tiny cages from Honduras through Mexico to north Georgia, and sold to unscrupulous dealers in the Southeastern United States.
In a nutshell, Parrot Sanctuary is the story of kidnapping, parrot trafficking, cocaine trafficking, and murder—and the rescue of those unfortunate wild-caught parrots. The sleuth is a handsome 15-year-old Mexican American boy with curly black hair, black eyes, and brown skin who travels to the border town of Matamoros, Mexico, to solve the mystery.
Tell us a bit about your background/life growing up.
I grew up in El Paso, Texas, then went to Pomona College in Claremont, California, for my B.A. in Spanish literature, and the University of Washington for my PhD in Comparative Literature.
In 1972, while in graduate school at the University of Washington, I sold the car my parents had given me for my birthday and bought an airline ticket to Madrid, Spain. I spent 364 days in Spain, giving English lessons to businessmen, preparing for my PhD prelims, becoming fluent in Spanish, traveling throughout the country, and learning as much as I could about the country. My year in Spain was a pivotal experience in my life. It gave me two worlds to live in: my English-speaking world, and my Spanish-speaking world. It affected the art I collected, the style of my cooking, my travels, and my understanding of the world.
Jamar Nicholas
Inspires Kids to Find Their Superpowers
by Julianne Black DiBlasi
“Knowing that there are kids out there who may make better decisions after reading my books … that means the world to me,” says Philadelphia-based artist, author, and educator, Jamar Nicholas.
Jamar has been a professional cartoonist for over 25 years. “My biggest career breakthrough may have been when I was tapped to adapt educator and activist Geoffrey Canada’s memoir, Fist Stick Knife Gun, into a graphic novel. This was some time ago when there weren’t a lot of them in the mainstream consciousness. It opened a new generation of readers up to different ways of storytelling that approach difficult topics. Since I can remember, I wanted to be a cartoonist, and I’m fortunate to have followed my goals to where I am today.”
Partnering with Scholastic Graphix, Jamar’s current graphic novel series, Leon the Extraordinary and the new follow-up, Leon: Worst Friends Forever, promotes friendships, kindness, and good common sense powered by visual narrative. “I’ve been excited by the kids and families who have picked up Leon the Extraordinary and fallen in love with the book and its characters, along with the world I’m creating within. Worst Friends Forever brings us right back for more as we dig deeper into Leon’s wants and needs—and what happens when Leon gets what he wanted in the last book, he may be surprised to find out what he’ll get in this new one!” Jamar says enthusiastically.
Jamar was inspired to write about Leon because he wanted to see a hero who overcame adversity by using his smarts and not his fists. Leon, considered “ordinary” compared to many of his classmates, uses courage and good judgment to solve dilemmas. Standing up to bullies and knowing when to walk away is one of Leon’s superhero traits. And it’s Leon’s hard-working single mother who encourages him to be heroic by being himself.
Q&A with
William Bee
by Raven Howell
The Stanley series continues to be a huge hit in the land of picture books. With an almost yearly new release, these imaginative and visually engaging editions by author and artist William Bee cover various occupations and activities, engaging young minds with the details and intricacies of each topic presented. If you aren’t already familiar with the adorable Stanley the Hamster character, Stanley’s Boat, Stanley’s Park, Stanley’s Library, and the over two dozen other Stanley picture books, the titles are available in English and Spanish from Peachtree Publishing.
The reason kids love these books is easy to understand. The quiet and static visuals keep new concepts from overwhelming the reader while delivering ideas as easily digestible bites, and vibrant primary color choices paired with two-dimensional shapes help to reiterate the message as it moves along. Each page has the perfect balance of detail without clutter and involvement without distraction.
The happy and straightforward narrative style is fabulously accessible to a wide age group and helps give the viewer positive, clear-cut direction throughout each new scene. Stanley is calm, helpful, and capable as he works, enabling the viewer to feel a similar emotional investment in the activity. Kids get to participate in the excitement of the task without the wild ride first-day scenario, which can cause anxiety.
Today, we are talking with William Bee about the latest installment, Stanley the Baker, which came out to rave reviews in May of this year. Going in-depth again into the equipment, tools, ingredients, and processes involved with baked goods, and ending with Stanley’s famous dinner and bath routine, making these books a favorite for parents at bedtime!
The Book Bug
Laura Purdie Salas
by Raven Howell
“Picture books are the bomb!” exclaims seasoned children’s writer and poet Laura Purdie Salas. “They’re a time-space warp that draws a reader into a new world in just a few minutes. They’re also a beautiful portal into other people’s lives and even into a reader’s own heart. And that doesn’t even begin to cover the reading, writing, and thinking skills kids gain from having picture books read to them.”
Laura is now adding the inspirational new book, Line Leads the Way, to her bountiful catalog. A former teacher, her publications have covered various genres including fiction, informational fiction, STEM, poetry, SEL, and nonfiction. She estimates, “I’m up to around 138 books now, I think. Many of those, though, are nonfiction series written for educational publishers. They choose the topic, plan, etc., and hire me to write them.” A moment later, she exclaims, “Oh! I’ve done eight more of those recently, so I guess I’m up to around 146 total. Of those 146-ish books, 20 of them are the books of my heart. The ones I conceptualized and poured myself into. Those are the ones that count, even though I enjoy some of my series nonfiction too.”
“I love to share Finding Family: the Duckling Raised by Loons,” she says, noting a favorite as an example. “This lyrical nonfiction book tells the true story of a family created by two waterbird species that usually don’t get along. The duckling learns amazing behaviors that scientists thought a mallard shouldn’t really (anatomically speaking) be able to do. That is such an inspiring thing! And it also emphasizes how many mysteries there still are in the world. I wrote it during lockdown in 2020. I didn’t realize it then, but I was reassuring myself. Telling myself that we can find joy and meaning every day, even when we don’t know what’s going to happen next. Just like the duckling and two loons did. I’m thrilled that this book has received some lovely honors, including a Charlotte Zolotow Honor, CCBC Best Books, Junior Library Guild selection, a CRA Eureka! Gold Medal, and a Minnesota Star of the North nomination.”
Additionally, Laura has garnered the Bank Street Best Books Award, NCTE Notable, starred Booklist and Kirkus reviews, as well as others. Still, she confides, “Book sales are down, and making a living as a writer is really hard. When readers, kids or adults, or awards committees respond to your book in some beautiful way, that can power another month of writing!”
MONTHLY COLUMNS
-
Monsters at the Movies
Transformers One
by Nick Spake -
Life of a Reader
School’s In!
by Judy Newman -
Conrad‘s Classroom
Is a Tortoise a Turtle
or Is a Turtle a Tortoise?
by Conrad J. Storad -
Liv On Life
ChatGPT: Is it Valuable or Not?
by Olivia Amiri -
Kids Corner
Writing Prompts
Laura Purdie Salas
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