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Today, Publishers Weekly’s Children’s Bookshelf had two articles article discussing places to get a MFA in writing for young people, here, and here. These articles highlight three universities but here is a list of thirteen universities offering MFAs in writing for young people.
As we get into the holiday season, there will be fewer author/illustrator events, and today I only have one to share with you.
Meanwhile, the late winter/early spring conference info is rolling in. So if you are looking for an agent, take a peek at what’s lined up for spring so far in Conferences: Agents, or if you’re interested in meeting editors, hop over to Conferences: Editors. Most of the new entries on Conferences: Indies/SP are save-the-date, but the details should be coming soon. Organizations are quickly adding their information now, so I will be updating all of these pages daily, along with the Conferences: Illustrators page and the Workshops/Retreats page. Check back often!
This week:
November 24, Monday, 4:00 – 6:00 PM 
River Oaks Barnes & Noble
Dee Leone, PB Author
Picture Book Author Dee Leone will be signing her book BIZZ & BUZZ MAKE HONEY BUNS (Penguin Young Readers Group) during the Wharton Dual Language Academy book fair. Dee will be there from 4:00 to 6:00, but the book fair lasts all day, and the schools will get credit for books bought that day that are turned in with a slip.
Bizz and Buzz are two bees who want to make honey buns. So, they ask their friend Bear for his recipe. Although the directions seem simple, Bizz and Buzz make mistake after mistake, like finding a little flower instead of adding a little flour. What will bee-come of the honey buns?
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I hope everyone enjoyed celebrating our Independence Day. My family had a great time in Fredericksburg at the National Museum of the Pacific War. Although I expected it to be there, it was still a thrill to see Sherry Garland and Layne Johnson’s gorgeous book VOICES OF PEARL HARBOR prominently displayed in the children’s book section.
Here’s what’s going on this week:
July 8, Tuesday, 7:00 p.m.
Murder By The Book
John Sandford and Michelle Cook, YA Authors
John Sandford and Michelle Cook will sign and discuss UNCAGED (Knopf for Young Readers) the first book in their new Singular Menace series. In UNCAGED, Shay Remby arrives in Hollywood with $58 and a handmade knife, searching for her brother, Odin. Odin’s a brilliant hacker but a bit of a loose cannon. He and a group of radical animal-rights activists hit a Singular Corp. research lab in Eugene, Oregon. The raid was a disaster, but Odin escaped with a set of highly encrypted flash drives and a post-surgical dog.
When Shay gets a frantic 3 a.m. phone call from Odin—talking about evidence of unspeakable experiments, and a ruthless corporation, and how he must hide—she’s concerned. When she gets a menacing visit from Singular’s security team, she knows: her brother’s a dead man walking.
What Singular doesn’t know—yet—is that 16-year-old Shay is every bit as ruthless as their security force, and she “will” burn Singular to the ground, if that’s what it takes to save her brother.
Sneak a preview peek here!
July 9, Wednesday, 10:00 a.m.
Katy Budget Books
Dee Leone, PB Author
Local author Dee Leone will visit KBB for a special story time with her new book BIZZ AND BUZZ MAKE HONEY BUNS (Grosset & Dunlap). Bizz and Buzz are two bees who want to make honey buns. So, they ask their friend Bear for his recipe. Although the directions seem simple, Bizz and Buzz make mistake after mistake, like finding a little “flower “instead of adding a little “flour.” What will “bee”-come of the honey buns?
July 12, Saturday, 2:00 p.m. 
Blue Willow Bookshop
Debra Winegarten, MG Nonfiction Author
Join author Debra Winegarten for a discussion of her new biography OVETA CULP HOBBY: COLONEL, CABINET MEMBER, PHILANTHROPIST. Oveta Culp Hobby (1905-1995) had a lifetime of stellar achievement. During World War II, she was asked to build a women’s army from scratch – and did. Hobby became Director of the Women’s Army Corps and the first Army woman to earn the rank of colonel. President Eisenhower chose her as Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, making her the second woman in history to be appointed to a president’s cabinet. When she wasn’t serving in the government, Hobby worked with her husband, former Texas governor William P. Hobby, to lead a media empire that included the Houston Post newspaper and radio and TV stations. She also supported the Houston community in many ways, from advocating for civil rights for African Americans to donating generously to the Houston Symphony and the Museum of Fine Arts.
This first biography of a remarkable woman has been written for middle school readers. It traces her life from her childhood in Killeen to her remarkable achievements in Washington, DC, and Houston. Debra Winegarten provides the background to help young adult readers understand the times in which Hobby lived and the challenges she faced as a woman in nontraditional jobs. She shows how Hobby opened doors for women to serve in the military and in other professions that still benefit women today. Most of all, Oveta Culp Hobby will inspire young adults to follow their own dreams and turn them into tangible reality.
July 13, Sunday 2:00 p.m. 
Barnes & Noble, The Woodlands
Ricci Casserly, Children’s Author
Join Ricci Casserly as she signs KATHY’S ADVENTURES (Tate) the story of a little girl named Ricci and her favorite doll, Kathy. Ricci and Kathy are the best of friends, and Ricci will do anything to care for Kathy. But as time passes, Ricci plays with Kathy less and less. One day when Ricci goes to her grandmother’s house to see Kathy, Kathy is gone. Come along with Ricci as she learns never to give up hope and follows her dreams of reuniting with her best friend.
Book Release Day!
Sometimes a lucky ritual becomes a curse.
Seventh-grader Martin Cruz hates his rotten new town, Lower Brynwood, but with his mom fighting a war in Afghanistan, he has no choice but to live with his crazy aunt. Then he gets a message from a tree telling him it’s cursed—and so is he.
It’s not just any tree either, it’s the Spirit Tree, an ancient beech the football team carves for good luck before the season opener. But every year they lose. Now the Spirit Tree is dying, and the other trees in the park are toppling around it like dominoes. The town is plagued with unexplainable accidents and people begin to fade, drained of life.
Martin must team up with a know-it-all soccer star, Hannah Vaughan, if he has any chance of breaking the curse. If they fail to save the Spirit Tree, it could mean the destruction of Lower Brynwood and a permanent case of bad luck.
June 26, Thursday, 10:00 a.m.
Blue Willow Bookshop
Dee Leone, PB Author
Join author Dee Leone for a special story time/book launch for BIZZ AND BUZZ MAKE HONEY BUNS! Bizz and Buzz are two bees who want to make honey buns. So, they ask their friend Bear for his recipe. Although the directions seem simple, Bizz and Buzz make mistake after mistake, like finding a little “flower “instead of adding a little “flour.” What will “bee”-come of the honey buns?
