Cynthia Leitich Smith's Blog, page 138
February 23, 2014
Video: Gugor Interviews Robert Paul Weston about The Creature Department
Compiled by Cynthia Leitich Smith for Cynsations
Check out this video interview with Robert Paul Weston about The Creature Department (Razorbill, 2013) by Gugor from Penguin Young Readers. From the promotional copy:
It's a tentacled, inventive, gooey, world in there. . . .
Elliot Von Doppler and his friend Leslie think nothing ever happens in Bickleburgh, except inside the gleaming headquarters of DENKi-3000—the world's eighth-largest electronics factory.
Beneath the glass towers and glittering s...
February 22, 2014
Book Trailer & Author Video: The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson
By Cynthia Leitich Smith for Cynsations
Check out the book trailer for The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson (Penguin, 2014) From the promotional copy:
For the past five years, Hayley Kincaid and her father, Andy, have been on the road, never staying long in one place as he struggles to escape the demons that have tortured him since his return from Iraq. Now they are back in the town where he grew up so Hayley can attend school. Perhaps, for the first time, Hayley can have a n...
February 20, 2014
Cynsational News & Giveaways
By Cynthia Leitich Smith for Cynsations
Beyond Bollywood: South Asian American Middle Grade Fiction from From the Mixed-Up Files of Middle Grade Authors. Peek: "Our stories are funny, tragic, brave, silly, and, most importantly, varied." See also Diversity in YALSA's Best Fiction for Young Adults by Malinda Lo from Diversity in YA.
A Valentine from the Teacher by Louise Hawes from Write at Your Own Risk. Peek: "Thank you for your grace under fire, your courage, your resilience, your can do/won’...
New Voice: Melanie Bishop on My So-Called Ruined Life
By Cynthia Leitich Smith for Cynsations
Melanie Bishop is the first-time author of My So-Called Ruined Life (Torrey House, 2014). From the promotional copy:
Tate McCoy has not spoken to her alcoholic mother in two years, and then her mom is murdered and her father is the prime suspect.
Convinced of his innocence, Tate takes up swimming and finds solace in her best friend Kale, volunteer work, the great outdoors, and a new crush.
But after discovering a horrible secret, Tate questions...
February 19, 2014
Writing, Tonto & The Wise-Cracking Minority Sidekick Who Is the First to Die
What images do you recall from childhood?By Cynthia Leitich Smith for Cynsations
When I think of the quintessential American Indian sidekick in mainstream media, the name that first springs to mind is "Tonto."
Sorry,
When I was a kid in the 1970s and '80s, there were only three national telev...
February 18, 2014
Guest Post: Kristen Simmons on The Toddler-hood of Publishing
Kristen writing in her son's fortBy Kristen Simmonsfor Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations
My third book comes out this February – the last book in the Article 5 series – and though I feel fortunate to have additional stand alone titles to follow it in the coming years, I can’t help but feel like a very important part of my life is coming to a close.
My first series will be done, which still blows me away when I think of how I waited ten years to see my first book on a shelf.
I have held my work...
February 17, 2014
Guest Post: Lesléa Newman on In Writing I Trust
By Lesléa Newmanfor Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations
Sometimes a book is years in the making. And the writer doesn’t even know that it is gestating.
Such is the case with my book, October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard (Candlewick, 2012). Unbeknownst to me, I started writing the book on October 12, 1998.
On that Monday morning, I flew to Denver, Colorado, where I was met by a University of Wyoming student who would be taking me to Laramie. The student and I didn’t talk much. She looked t...
February 16, 2014
In Memory: Maxine Kumin
By Cynthia Leitich Smith for Cynsations
Maxine Kumin in The New Yorker by Paul Muldoon from The New Yorker. Peek: "Her poems...have the virtue of being meticulously observed and of dealing plainly with the things of the world." Note: article includes audio of Maxine reading.
Maxine Kumin, Pulitzer-Winning Poet With a Naturalist’s Precision, Dies at 88 by Margalit Fox from The New York Times. Peek: "The author of essays, novels, short stories and children’s books as well as poetry, Ms. Kumin...w...
February 15, 2014
In Memory: Erik Blegvad
By Cynthia Leitich Smith for Cynsations
Obituary: Erik Blegvad from Publishers Weekly. Peek: "Acclaimed illustrator Erik Blegvad, whose artwork appeared in more than 100 children’s books, several of them by his wife, Lenore Blegvad (1926-2008), died on January 14 at the age of 90. Born in Copenhagen in 1923, Blegvad worked as an artist or illustrator from the earliest days of his career, in his hometown as well as in London and Paris."
Children's Illustrator Erik Blegvad Dies from Contact Music...
February 14, 2014
Cynsational News & Giveaways
By Cynthia Leitich Smith for Cynsations
Congratulations to Jill Santopolo on the debut of the Sparkle Spa series (Simon & Schuster, 2014). From the promotional copy:
Sisters Aly and Brooke love spending time at their mom’s popular and successful nail salon—it’s their “home away from home.” At the end of another incredibly busy day, Mom complains she is completely overwhelmed at work, even more so by all the kids who come to have manis and pedis.
That’s when the sisters have a brilliant...
