Good News from the Online Author Visits Team!

Martha Brockenbrough reports that BACK TO SCHOOL WITH BIGFOOT is out this month. Kirkus said it “will have readers in stitches.

ALEXANDER HAMILTON, REVOLUTIONARY comes out in September and received a starred review from School Library Journal, which called the book “highly enjoyable” and “well researched.”

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Trudi Trudi joins the faculty of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association Conference in Sea Tac, WA this summer. On Saturday, July 22, she’ll be teaching a conference workshop on how to infuse your children’s manuscript with engaging, inspirational, and unforgettable characters. The conference runs from July 20 – 23 and features more than 30 agents and editors, along with 75 workshops on everything from the craft of writing to marketing your work. To learn more or to register go to www.pnwa.org

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Dana Sullivan had a fantastic visit to Horance Mann Elementary, in Redmond, WA last week. Librarian Shannon Leonard had painted a huge welcome poster for him, including a rendering of the title page from Kay Kay’s Alphabet Safari! The first assembly was for the younger kids, who were so well behaved and attentive, listening to Kay Kay and its inspiration (www.starofhopecentre.org). For some reason, they got a big kick out of Dana ripping the paper off the flip chart he was drawing on. Big laughs. Next up was the graphic novel workshop with the older kids, where they drew along, making facial expressions and body language and then drawing their own stories and superpowers. Dana told them how much the little kids liked it when he ripped the flip chart, so they started giving him raucus applause every time, too. Dana says he wishes he’d known about this cheap trick for getting applause long ago! He’s ending all his presentations with a paper rip from now on.

 

Dana and Horace Mann librarian, Shannon Leonard, with the poster she painted

Dana draws “ANGRY!” while the kids draw along. (Note the new bunny slippers)

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Charles Martin Smith, director of the hit kid’s movie Dolphin Tale, has signed on to direct the screen adaptation of Patrick Jennings‘s 1996 novel, Faith and the Electric Dogs. The film will be produced by Kaleidoscope Media.

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Dori Hillestad Butler has a story about her dog in CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL: THE DOG REALLY DID THAT? 101 STORIES OF MIRACLES, MISCHIEF AND MAGICAL MOMENTS, which will be released on August 8.

If you’re at ALA in Chicago on Saturday, June 24, visit Dori at the Baker & Taylor booth at 9:30am, the Peachtree booth at 10:00am and the Grosset & Dunlap booth at 4:00. She will be signing copies of her King & Kayla books and her Haunted Library books.

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Suzanne Williams had a great Skype visit with fourth graders at Edinboro Elementary in Edinboro, PA on May 31st. Although she was in Oslo, Norway at the time, visiting her daughter and granddaughter, the magic of the internet (and, luckily, a good connection), made the distance unimportant. The students had terrific questions, and librarian Michelle Androstic did a fantastic job of moderating and keeping things moving along. Such fun!

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It’s been a busy time for Laurie Ann Thompson: She just finished two fulls days of school visits doing assemblies and writing workshops for grades K-5, the completed and revised manuscript for the second book in the Two Truths and a Lie series was just delivered to the publisher, and the promotion for the first book in the series (which releases on June 27th) has kicked into high gear! The blog tour officially started on June 5th at Librarian’s Quest and will continue right up until the launch with all kinds of fun interviews, reviews, and giveaways.

In other good news, Emmanuel’s Dream was nominated for Arizona’s 2018 Grand Canyon Reader Award. The book appears (in alphabetical order) right after The Cart That Carried Martin by Eve Bunting, who is one of Laurie’s all-time favorite authors, so it literally took her breath away when she first saw the list.

Clare Hodgson Meeker, Author of the Month: Born to Love Animals

A few months ago, I wrote a guest post for Newbery Honor-winning author Kirby Larson’s Friend Friday blog about my latest book, Rhino Rescue!, and the amazing and risky work that animal-care specialists do to help endangered animals survive.

Shortly after the article was published, Dereck and Beverly Joubert, two National Geographic Explorers-in-Residence I interviewed for the book, had a close brush with death when a buffalo attacked Beverly near their camp one evening in the Okavango Delta. Beverly was speared by the animal’s horns, causing her serious injuries. Dereck was injured, too, but not as badly, and was able to rescue her. They then spent a long, perilous night waiting to be airlifted to a hospital.

Four surgeries later, Beverly has made a miraculous recovery and the couple was able to leave the hospital together earlier this month. Dereck’s comment on their Facebook page this week shows the true grit these Rhino rescuers possess as they look forward to getting back to work with Rhinos Without Borders airlifting these endangered animals to a safer home:

“You can anticipate more fire in our veins for this cause we appear to have been born to.”