Jaye Robin Brown's Blog, page 9

A Conversation with Sara Larson, author of DEFY

Today’s author conversation is with none other than Sara B. Larson, author of the soon-to-be-released (this winter, mark your calendars!), DEFY. Sara hangs out with me over at the YA Valentines blog and I was a lucky girl because I’ve read the ARC of her girl power fantasy. So I decided we were long overdue for a chat! Click here for a link to Sara's pre-order Thank you giveaway!

Hi, Sara! Thanks a million for stopping by! I loved your debut novel, DEFY, and am so excited for it to be out in th...

KEEPER OF WONDER LIBRARIAN TOP FIVE BOOK LIST, Picture Books and Middle Grade - July-November

I've had a bit of a lull in finding librarians to interview or who have gotten their interviews back, so it seemed a perfect time to do a little recap of their picks in the top five category. For convenience, I've divided by age genre and linked each to Goodreads. Just in time for holiday book buying! Stop back next week for young adult and adult fiction picks!

Picture Book

I WANT MY HAT BACK by Jon Klassen A bear almost gives up his search for his missing hat until he remembers something...

Children's Poetry Blog Hop

I've been picked by Jessica Stork (one of my awesome Keeper of Wonder interviewees, as well as a writer) to participate in a Blog Hop about Children's Poetry. Like Jess, I'm going to go with a poem I wrote back in middle school. I fancied myself quite the wordsmith back then.

So here goes. Jro circa eighth grade.

The Night Stalker

Night is a silent time
When animals are sleeping.
Nor crickets with their chime
Scarcely a bird is peeping

But there is one
Who is still stalking the night
'Tis the wild, ro...

A Conversation with Anne Blankman, Author of PRISONER OF NIGHT AND FOG

Anne Blankman - Author of PRISONER OF NIGHT AND FOGHi, Anne! I'm so glad you agreed to join me in a conversation. Your book, The Prisoner of Night & Fog is about a girl whose family is close to Adolf Hitler. What made you choose to write your book from this perspective?
Gorgeous cover, right?
I've been fascinated by World War Two since I read Anne Frank's diary in seventh grade. I loved Anne like a friend, and when I got to the last page and found out what happened to her, I was heartbroken...

A Conversation with Bethany Crandell, author of SUMMER ON THE SHORT BUS

Bethany Crandell, author of SUMMER ON THE SHORT BUS

Hi Bethany! I'm so glad you agreed to a chat today. Hey JRo! Thanks for having me.  Your book, Summer on the Short Bus, has intrigued me since I first read your title and description. Aw, yay! It sounds like a perfect mix of irreverence and heartfelt fun. It is! But it’s also very honest. To the point where one reader told me she felt uncomfortable at times because she was laughing along with the story but wasn’t sure she should be. Ha!...

KEEPER OF WONDER: An interview with Amanda-Jane McFadden

Totally adorable photo!
Today I'm happy to welcome another New Zealand librarian, Amanda-Jane McFadden. I stalked Amanda-Jane on Twitter (@amandajanemcf) and fortunately didn't freak her out too terribly bad. Because she agreed to an interview! I can already tell this is going to be great judging by that big red dog hanging out with her on a park bench.

Tell us about your library? (Where, what, anything quirky or cool?) What's your job title and description?
My role is as a Children’s and Teenag...

A Conversation with Jen McConnel, author of Daughter of Chaos

Hi Jen! I'm so happy to have you here for a conversation about books and writing. Your upcoming debut, Daughter of Chaos (Month 9 Books), is about a rather witchy girl. Of course, as you know, I'm lucky enough to have read your book, but for the readers out there, tell us, what three words would you use to describe Darlena. Of course, since you're a writer, feel free to expound on why you chose those words. :0) Darlena is definitely a Red Witch in this photo!

Thanks for having me, Jaye! I'...

KEEPER OF WONDER: An Interview with Bookmobile Librarian, Sylvia Archer

Today's interview is a bit different than usual. For one, I'm IN REAL LIFE friends with the librarian, Sylvia Archer. I've know Sylvia since I taught her son in fourth grade (he's great, too!) and at the time, she was working for good friends of mine helping in their stained glass studio. Sylvia looked around for what to do and decided to get her degree in library science. Now she's our Bookmobile driver! She's not on Twitter but the Bookmobile has a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.c...

A Conversation with Sara Raasch, author of SNOW LIKE ASHES - And the Start of our Exquisite Corpse

Yep, that crazy JRo's been at again. I've had a blast meeting all kinds of cool librarians but I also want my author friends to have a forum. So I decided to start the conversation series, and rather than a standard set of questions, these are organic conversations that develop over a series of e-mails. I'm super excited about this set of interviews as well. The ones in process are already fabulous! And what's more, we're writing one huge crazy story in the form of an "add-a-line" exquisite c...

KEEPER OF WONDER: An Interview with Tammy Langeberg

Today's fabulous Keeper of Wonder is Tammy Langeberg, aka School Teacher Librarian Dragon, also known on Twitter as @SchoolTLDragon! She's an active force there, always talking about books and from her photo you can tell that's NO JOKE! So without further ado:


Tell us about your library?

My lovely library, Semper Elementary, is located in Westminster, Colorado near the beautiful Rocky Mountains. Our library is in the center of the building with vaulted ceilings and lots of windows. It is as big...