Similar in format to the Talking with Artists books, this is a welcome addition to the field of author biography. Marcus (Dear Genius,not reviewed, etc.) has produced a fascinating compilation of 15 interviews with some of today’s most successful authors of children’s books. Beginning each six- or seven-page segment with a brief but meaty biography, he includes contemporary and childhood photographs of his subjects, question-and-answer interviews, and selected bibliographies—the “Bruce Brooks Reader,” for example. One perceptive photograph in each profile pictures a manuscript page marked up with editorial comments and author revisions, something most children will find similar to their own schoolwork. Also fun is a chance to see the studio or office where each author works. In the interview sections, Marcus’s well-chosen and insightful questions elicit sensitive and sometimes very personal replies. Many of his questions are those that kids would have asked, such as “What’s the best part of being a writer for you?” To which Ann M. Martin replies, “. . .mostly it feels exciting, especially when I’m involved with the characters or the scene. I can feel the excitement in my stomach. It’s almost like being at the circus.” In answer to “How do you know when a book is done?” Russell Freedman says, “A book is never really finished. At some point you just have to say to yourself, I’ve done as well as I can do.” Among those interviewed are Judy Blume, Karen Cushman, Lois Lowry, and Jon Scieszka. Children receive not only a glimpse of their favorite writers’ lives, but also advice and inspiration for their own work. (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-689-81383-X
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2000
A world-class charmer, Clements (The Janitor’s Boy, 2000, etc.) woos aspiring young authors—as well as grown up publishers, editors, agents, parents, teachers, and even reviewers—with this tongue-in-cheek tale of a 12-year-old novelist’s triumphant debut. Sparked by a chance comment of her mother’s, a harried assistant editor for a (surely fictional) children’s imprint, Natalie draws on deep reserves of feeling and writing talent to create a moving story about a troubled schoolgirl and her father. First, it moves her pushy friend Zoe, who decides that it has to be published; then it moves a timorous, second-year English teacher into helping Zoe set up a virtual literary agency; then, submitted pseudonymously, it moves Natalie’s unsuspecting mother into peddling it to her waspish editor-in-chief. Depicting the world of children’s publishing as a delicious mix of idealism and office politics, Clements squires the manuscript past slush pile and contract, the editing process, and initial buzz (“The Cheater grabs hold of your heart and never lets go,” gushes Kirkus). Finally, in a tearful, joyous scene—carefully staged by Zoe, who turns out to be perfect agent material: cunning, loyal, devious, manipulative, utterly shameless—at the publication party, Natalie’s identity is revealed as news cameras roll. Selznick’s gnomic, realistic portraits at once reflect the tale’s droll undertone and deftly capture each character’s distinct personality. Terrific for flourishing school writing projects, this is practical as well as poignant. Indeed, it “grabs hold of yourheart and never lets go.” (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: June 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-82594-3
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2001
“Hear, and listen well, my friends, and I will tell you a tale that has been told for a thousand years and more.” It’s not exactly a rarely told tale, either, though this complete rendition is distinguished by both handsome packaging and a prose narrative that artfully mixes alliterative language reminiscent of the original, with currently topical references to, for instance, Grendel’s “endless terror raids,” and the “holocaust at Heorot.” Along with being printed on heavy stock and surrounded by braided borders, the text is paired to colorful scenes featuring a small human warrior squaring off with a succession of grimacing but not very frightening monsters in battles marked by but a few discreet splashes of blood. Morpurgo puts his finger on the story’s enduring appeal—“we still fear the evil that stalks out there in the darkness . . . ”—but offers a version unlikely to trouble the sleep of more sensitive readers or listeners. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-7636-3206-6
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2006
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