How to use this Page

Reading books together is an incredibly easy and, not to mention, enjoyable way to be present and engaged with kids.

We’ve collected the books debuting on Indiebound’s Indie Bestseller List for the week ending Dec. 06, 2015–a sneak peek at the books everybody will be talking about next month.

(Debuted at #10 in Young Adult) The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz: “Fourteen-year-old Joan Skraggs, just like the heroines in her beloved novels, yearns for real life and true love. But what hope is there for adventure, beauty, or art on a hardscrabble farm in Pennsylvania where the work never ends? Over the summer of 1911, Joan pours her heart out into her diary as she seeks a new, better life for herself—because maybe, just maybe, a hired girl cleaning and cooking for six dollars a week can become what a farm girl could only dream of—a woman with a future.” (Sept. 2015)

(Debuted at #11 in Paperback Fiction) Descent by Tim Johnston: “The Rocky Mountains have cast their spell over the Courtlands, a young family from the plains taking a last summer vacation before their daughter begins college. For eighteen-year-old Caitlin, the mountains loom as the ultimate test of her runner’s heart, while her parents hope that so much beauty, so much grandeur, will somehow repair a damaged marriage. But when Caitlin and her younger brother, Sean, go out for an early morning run and only Sean returns, the mountains become as terrifying as they are majestic, as suddenly this family find themselves living the kind of nightmare they’ve only read about in headlines or seen on TV.” (Dec. 2015)

(Debuted at #15 in Children’s Illustrated) How to Catch Santa written by Jean Reagan and illustrated by Lee Wildish: “Two sibling narrators give clever tips for ‘catching’ Santa (be crafty! be clever! be gentle!) on Christmas Eve. Filled with humor and holiday warmth, this is a jolly read-aloud for the whole family to enjoy!” (Oct. 2015)

We’ve collected the books debuting on Indiebound’s Indie Bestseller List for the week ending May 04, 2014–a sneak peek at the books everybody will be talking about next month.

(Debuted at #5 in Hardcover Fiction) Natchez Burning by Greg Iles: “Growing up in the rural Southern hamlet of Natchez, Mississippi, Penn Cage learned everything he knows about honor and duty from his father, Tom Cage. But now the beloved family doctor and pillar of the community is accused of murdering Violet Turner, the beautiful nurse with whom he worked in the dark days of the early 1960s. A fighter who has always stood for justice, Penn is determined to save his father, even though Tom, stubbornly evoking doctor-patient privilege, refuses to speak up in his own defense.” (April 2014)

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Lots of things are happening, and I haven’t updated this site in a while. So . . .

First, THUNDER-BOOMER! has garnered three starred reviews so far. (Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, and Horn Book Magazine) YAY! The reviewers are blown away by Carol Thompson’s amazing art-and so am I. (Pun intended.)

Second, A FAMILY FOR OLD MILL FARM (Clarion, 2007) was chosen to represent my native state of Kentucky at the National Book Festival in Washington, D. C. this fall. Each state picks one title to represent it at the festival, and I am so pleased that a book of mine will have that honor. Yay, Kentucky!

Third, I’ve been busy working on edits for THOMAS AND THE DRAGON QUEEN, which will be out next summer. (Knopf) Here is an early peek at the cover done by artist Lee Wildish . . . don’t ya just love it? I am always so awestruck by the talent of the wonderful illustrators working in children’s books today. 

Finally, thinking about illustrators, etc. I do have news that David Catrow will be illustrating an upcoming book of mine for Clarion (HMH). I don’t have a pub date yet. The tentative title is: DOZENS OF COUSINS: A  Beastie Holler Reunion.  You can tell by the subtitle that there will be lots of mayhem present–just like there always was when my siblings and I got together with my cousins at our family reunions in Kentucky. YAY! (again) for the sheer pleasure of it, and for the joy of getting to work with some of the  best illustrators in the business. Could there ever be a better job?

Here are some of my favorite books illustrated by David Catrow.

I hope all of your news will be happy news! Enjoy the summer, a good time to spend curled up with a favorite book, or two, or three . . .

Ciao!

Shutta