Linda Jackson's Blog

Hi there! Visit me at my new site:www.lindawilliamsjackso...

Hi there! Visit me at my new site:www.lindawilliamsjackson.com 



Good Housekeeping Magazine RecommendsThe Lucky Ones! Good Housekeeping Magazine's 50 Books All Kids Should Read

Kate DiCamillo Recommends The Lucky Ones! Kate DiCamillo's Top Five Book Recommendations for Children and Adults
Kate DiCamillo's Read Brave Reading Challenge  Recommendations


THE LUCKY ONESAWARDS, NOMINATIONS, & RECOMMENDED LISTS2023Mississippi institute of Arts and Letters Youth Award Winner 2022 New-York Historical Society Children's History Book Prize Finalist Read Interview Here
2022 Foreword Reviews Indies Book of the Year Award Winner

One of Kate DiCamillo’s Top Five Recommended Books for Children Common Sense Media Best Six Kids’ Books 2022

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/videos/6-best-kids-books-of-2022The Week Junior Magazine Top Seven Kids’ Books of 2022

Cooperative Children’s Book Center Best Books of 2022 (University of Wisconsin)

Bank Street College of Education Best Books of 2022 Pennsylvania School Librarians Association Best Books of 2022 Magnolia Book Award Nominee 2024 (Mississippi) Beehive Book Award Nominee 2024 (Utah) Great Stone Face Book Award Nominee 2023/24 (New Hampshire) Quahog Reading Awards Nominee 2023 (Mattapoisett Public Library, Massachusetts) Beacon Heights Elementary School Battle of the Books 2023/2024 (Salt Lake City, Utah) Beacon Heights Elementary School Battle of the Books 2023/2024 (Salt Lake City, Utah)

Born and raised in a small town called Rosedale, Linda Wi...

Born and raised in a small town called Rosedale, Linda Williams Jackson is the author of award-winning, Mississippi-based historical novels Midnight Without a Moon, A Sky Full of Stars, and The Lucky Ones. Southern by birth... a Southern writer by the grace of God, Linda is plum-picking proud to still call Mississippi home. 



Kate DiCamillo Recommends The Lucky Ones!
Kate DiCamillo's Recommended Reading List 2023
Kate DiCamillo's Read Brave Reading Challenge
THE LUCKY ONESAWARDS, NOMINATIONS, & RECOMMENDED LISTS2023Mississippi institute of Arts and Letters Youth Award Winner 2022 Foreword Reviews Indies Book of the Year AwardFinalist

2022 New York HistoricalSociety Children's History Book Prize Finalist

Kate DiCamillo’s Top Five Recommended Books for Kids Cooperative Children’s Book Center Best Books of 2022 (University of Wisconsin)

Bank Street College of Education Best Books of 2022 Common Sense Media Best Six Kids’ Books 2022

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/videos/6-best-kids-books-of-2022
The Week Junior Magazine Top Seven Kids’ Books of 2022

Great Stone Face Book Award Nominee 2023/24
Quahog Reading Awards Nominee 2023
Beacon Heights Elementary School Battle of the Books 2023/2024

Welcome to the website of Linda Williams JacksonAuthor of...

Welcome to the website of Linda Williams Jackson

Author of critically acclaimed, Mississippi-based historical novels Midnight Without a Moon, A Sky Full of Stars, and The Lucky Ones (April 12, 2022)
Southern by birth... a Southern writer by the grace of God, Linda is plum-picking proud to still call Mississippi home.

Browse the site to find out more about Linda, her books, her hometown, and her inspiration. While you're at it, feel free to click on a link to order a book or two.

Oh, and y'all come back now, ya' hear?

Welcome to the website of Linda Williams Jackson! Souther...

Welcome to the website of Linda Williams Jackson!

Southern by birth. A Southern writer by the grace of God!

Author of the critically acclaimed, Mississippi-based historical novels, Midnight Without a Moon, and the sequel, A Sky Full of Stars, Linda is plum-picking pleased to still call Mississippi "home."

Browse the site to find out more about Linda, her books, her hometown, and her inspiration. While you're at it, feel free to click on a link to order a book or two.

Oh, and y'all come back now, ya' hear?

My Book Went On a Voyage!

In May 2016, seven months before Midnight Without a Moon was released into the world as a hardcover book, several teachers contacted me and asked if I would be interested in sending an advanced reader copy (ARC) of the book on a tour. These tours are known by various hashtags on Twitter: #bookjourney, #bookvoyage, #bookrelay, etc.

During the first week of June 2016, Midnight Without a Moon was mailed out to Mrs. Emily Montjoy, a teacher in South Carolina. On Saturday, March 24, 2018--nearly two years later--the book was returned to me by Mrs. Denise Golden, a teacher in Arkansas. Midnight Without a Moon had completed her #BookVoyage.

 The book was as worn out as it should be after 9 readers!
Below are some of the comments made by the teachers who participated in my book's voyage.



























Thank you for your love and care of Midnight Without a Moon during this fantastic voyage, Emily Montjoy, Jessica Samuel, Rebecca Webster, Julie Kirchner, Cassie Knight, Corrina Allen, Alison Gettler, Sandy O'Brien, and Denise Golden!

Welcome to the website of Linda Williams Jackson!Author o...

Welcome to the website of Linda Williams Jackson!

Author of the critically acclaimed, Mississippi-based historical novels, Midnight Without a Moon, and the sequel, A Sky Full of Stars, Linda is plum-picking pleased to still call Mississippi "home."

Browse the site to find out more about Linda, her books, her hometown, and her inspiration. While you're at it, feel free to click on a link to order a book or two.

Oh, and y'all come back now, ya' hear?

MIDNIGHT WITHOUT A MOON: The Emmett Till Murder Through the Eyes of a Teenage Girl

Washington Post  2017 KidsPost Summer Book Club SelectionAn Amazon Best Children's Books of 2017 (Jan-Jun)An Amazon Top 20 Children's Books of 2017 (Jan-Jun)An ALA Notable Book Nominee (Jan-Jun)   Purchase MIDNIGHT WITHOUT A MOON
Amazon      B&N    IndieBound     HMHCo
 Download Discussion GuideIt’s Mississippi in the summer of 1955, and Rose Lee Carter can’t wait to move north. But for now, she’s living with her sharecropper grandparents on a white man’s cotton plantation.

Then, one town over, an African American boy, Emmett Till, is killed for allegedly whistling at a white woman. When Till’s murderers are unjustly acquitted, Rose realizes that the South needs a change . . . and that she should be part of the movement. 
Recommended By: Mississippi Library CommissionNew York Public LibrarySan Francisco Public LibraryEisenhower Public LibraryElmhurst Public LibraryMissouri River Regional Public LibraryArapahoe Libraries
Kent Library DistrictHoover Public LibraryRockford Public LibraryBoca Raton Public LibraryParnassus BooksNorthtown BooksBrazos Bookstore
Book RiotCommon Sense MediaCreative Kids MediaImagination Soup
 COMING JANUARY 2, 2018!
A SKY FULL OF STARS: The Aftermath of the Emmett Till Murder Through the Eyes of a Teenage Girl

Pre-order A SKY FULL OF STARSAmazon      B&N    IndieBound     HMHCo In the sequel to the powerful MIDNIGHT WITHOUT A MOON, readers will again be transported to the 1950s in this captivating novel that seamlessly blends a fictional portrait of the life of an African-American girl and factual events from a pivotal era in American history.
 


Washington Post 2017 KidsPost Summer Book Club Sele...

Washington Post  2017 KidsPost Summer Book Club SelectionAn Amazon Best Children's Books of 2017 (Jan-Jun)An Amazon Top 20 Children's Books of 2017 (Jan-Jun)An ALA Notable Book Nominee (Jan-Jun)  Purchase MIDNIGHT WITHOUT A MOONAmazon      B&N    IndieBound     HMHCo
It’s Mississippi in the summer of 1955, and Rose Lee Carter can’t wait to move north. But for now, she’s living with her sharecropper grandparents on a white man’s cotton plantation.

Then, one town over, an African American boy, Emmett Till, is killed for allegedly whistling at a white woman. When Till’s murderers are unjustly acquitted, Rose realizes that the South needs a change . . . and that she should be part of the movement.   Recommended By: Mississippi Library CommissionNew York Public LibrarySan Francisco Public LibraryEisenhower Public LibraryElmhurst Public LibraryMissouri River Regional Public LibraryArapahoe LibrariesHoover Public LibraryRockford Public LibraryBoca Raton Public LibraryParnassus BooksNorthtown BooksBrazos BookstoreCommon Sense MediaCreative Kids MediaImagination Soup
 COMING JANUARY 2, 2018! 
In the sequel to the powerful MIDNIGHT WITHOUT A MOON, readers will again be transported to the 1950s in this captivating novel that seamlessly blends a fictional portrait of the life of an African-American girl and factual events from a pivotal era in American history.
Pre-order A SKY FULL OF STARSAmazon      B&N    IndieBound     HMHCo


Hi there! Welcome to my spot on the Web! Thank you for vi...

Hi there!

Welcome to my spot on the Web! Thank you for visiting!

I'm Linda Williams Jackson, the author of Midnight Without a Moon, a historical middle grade novel set in 1955 Mississippi. Please take a moment to browse my site and check out the novel. While you're at it, click on a link to buy a copy (or a few copies!). I sure would appreciate it!

I also write true, inspirational stories. These stories can be found in the following Chicken Soup for the Soul books--Just for Teenagers, Here Comes the Bride, The Power of Positive, Dreams and Premonitions, and Simply Happy.

After finding out more about me, I hope you'll want to connect with me via social media. And if you are a teacher or librarian, I would love to chat with you regarding school visits. Oh, and bookstore owners, let's chat about carrying my book in your store and possibly doing a signing.

Happy reading!

My Word for 2016

So, it's February, and I have decided to reveal my word for 2016. (I've also decided to start blogging, but we'll pretend I have always been here...blogging. Okay?)
My word for 2016 is...
FEARLESS
I've been fearful of so many things ALL my life. Slowly, over the years, I have faced some of those fears and let them go. But now...NOW...I want to go beyond just facing some fears and letting them go. I no longer want to simply fear, less. I want to become

FEARLESS.  I want to be fearless in my faith...fearless in my finances...fearless in my relationships...fearless in my writing...fearless in every aspect of my life....
So how did I do in January? Pretty good actually. I won't go into details about the fears I faced because they are a bit too personal. But each time I was apprehensive about a situation, I simply asked myself, "Why are you so afraid?" Then I reminded myself of my aspiration to be FEARLESS, after which I made the move...
I faced the fear...
I took the plunge...
I dove straight in.  And you know what? I survived. And so will you! For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.~2 Timothy 1:7  So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
 ~Hebrews 13:6

Think about what you fear. Think about why you fear it. Then face it and let it go.