SURPRISING MYSELF

One of three excellent new titles in the "Meet the Author" series, written at about the second-grade level and focusing on experiences related to the author's writing career. Each is in a fresh, uncondescending, informal style reminiscent of a good author visit; the books, profusely illustrated with color photos plus illustrations from the authors' work, are as individual as the authors themselves. In her usual forthright style, Fritz characterizes herself as an explorer—of places, of books ("I may look as if I'm reading, but I'm really dashing through history, exploring!")—who's inspired when "a person from long ago steps out from a page and speaks to me." She offers telling glimpses of traveling for her research and of the writing process; leaving a manuscript-in-progress in the refrigerator when she goes on vacation ("I...take time just to dream") adds a delicious comic touch. Also available: Verna Aardema's A Bookworm Who Hatched (ISBN: 1-878450-39-5) and Lee Bennett Hopkins's The Writing Bug (ISBN: 1-878450-38-7). (Autobiography. 5-9)