Cynthia Leitich Smith's Blog, page 109

Cynsational News & Giveaways

By Cynthia Leitich Smith
for Cynsations

Shadra Strickland and Sally Derby Discuss Their New Book & Diversity in Publishing from Lee & Low. Peek: "I know many people think no one should write outside their own culture. But I think I have the right to write any way I want about anything I want. After I’ve written it, if I didn’t get the voice 'right,' people are free to say so and explain what is lacking or wrong."

Characters Who Surprise by Brian Yansky from Brian's Blog: Writer Talk. Pee...

Book Trailer: Uh-Oh! by Shutta Crum, illustrated by Patrice Barton

From the team behind Mine! (Knopf, 2011)By Cynthia Leitich Smith
for Cynsations

Check out the book trailer for Uh-Oh! by Shutta Crum, illustrated by Patrice Barton (Knopf, 2015). From the promotional copy:

A charming summer story that's just right for toddlers, from the team behind the critically acclaimed picture book "Mine."

What does a toddler say when she drops her sunglasses in the sand? "Uh-Oh."

What does she say when a seagull lands on her sandcastle? "Uh-Oh."

What does she say when she find...

Guest Interview: Mina Witteman on Talking Books, Ghosts, Writing & Teaching

By Angela Cerrito
for Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations

Mina Witteman is a published author, writing in Dutch and English. She has four adventurous middle grade novels, over 40 short stories, and a Little Golden Book out in the Netherlands.

The first volume of a middle grade series, Boreas and the Seven Seas, came out in June 2015. The second book is scheduled for early spring 2016.

Mina is the Regional Advisor for SCBWI The Netherlands and Chairman of the Working Group Children’s Books of the D...

Guest Post & Giveaway: Meg Wiviott on Telling the Toughest Stories & Paper Hearts

Interview with Meg Wiviott.By Meg Wiviott
for Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations

History is filled with horrible, frightening events. Still, history needs to be taught. Finding a gentle way to tell a tragic, truthful story is something for which I seem to have a knack.

Kristallnacht, Auschwitz, and death marches are not the usual stuff of books for young readers. Finding an age appropriate manner to tell the story is a trick.

Honesty is the only way to tell any story, but especially an historical...

Book Trailer: Counting Crows by Kathi Appelt, illustrated by Rob Dunlavey

By Cynthia Leitich Smith
for Cynsations

Check out the book trailer for Counting Crows by Kathi Appelt, illustrated by Rob Dunlavey (Atheneum, 2015). From the promotional copy: Counting has never been this much fun or this jazzy!

Count along with the cool crows in this book trailer sung by Laurel Kathleen with music by Cooper Appelt.

Evolt Sale: Feral Curse & Diabolical for $1.99

By Cynthia Leitich Smith
for Cynsations

Spooky fantastic news! E-book editions of Diabolical and Feral Curse (both Candlewick) are on sale this monthly only; see E-volt for more information.

Diabolical

When "slipped" angel Zachary and his werewolf pal, Kieren, are summoned under suspicious circumstances to a mysterious New England boarding school, they quickly find themselves in a hellish lockdown with an intriguing assortment of secretive, hand-picked "students."

Plagued by demon dogs, hallucina...

Cynsational News & Giveaways

By Cynthia Leitich Smith
for Cynsations

Congratulations to Cindy Pon on the release of Serpentine (Month9Books), "a sweeping fantasy set in the ancient Kingdom of Xia and inspired by the rich history of Chinese mythology." From the promotional copy:

"Lush with details from Chinese folklore, Serpentine tells the coming of age story of Skybright, a young girl who worries about her growing otherness. As she turns sixteen, Skybright notices troubling changes. By day, she is a companion and handmaid...

Cover Reveal: Heather's Crush Catastrophe (Confidentially Yours, Book 3) by Jo Whittemore

By Cynthia Leitich Smith
for Cynsations

Check out the newly announced cover art for Heather's Crush Catastrophe (Confidentially Yours, Book 3) by Jo Whittemore (HarperCollins, 2016)!

To celebrate, you can enter to win one of two signed ARCs of Brooke's Not-So-Perfect Plan (Confidentially Yours, Book 1) and Vanessa's Fashion Face-Off (Confidentially Yours, Book 2)(both HarperCollins, 2016). These first two ARCs are combined into one flip-format book.

Author sponsored. Eligibility: U.S. only.

See al...

Guest Post: Christopher Cheng on Australia's 2015 Children's Book of the Year Awards

By Christopher Cheng
for Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations

The 2015 Children's Book of the Year awards were announced Aug. 21. The theme this year was "Books Light Up Our World," and there were many lights shining this year in schools, homes and bookshops all over Australia.

We have awards in five categories: Picture Book of the Year; Younger Readers. Early Childhood; Older Readers; and Eve Pownall Award for nonfiction.

Author Libby Gleeson won two of those categories, Younger Readers and Early...

Guest Post: William Alexander on Alien Astronauts & Nomad

By William Alexander
for Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations

"In Teothuacan, artists made masks with no breathing places, forms, neither practical nor descriptive, yet exciting to behold. And the architects took up the building of the great form that does not exist in nature, the pyramid. They invented the order of cities, always mind-made, not following the existing course of a river or a rut. In Teotihuacan the architecture and urban design were as devoted to form as the mathematical depiction...