The Cover for Mamba Point is Here!

Designed by the Sarah H. at Knopf, who also designed the cover to Mudville (which itself got great reviews), here is the gorgeous cover to Mamba Point.

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Banned Books Week: An Endeavor

I’m as much against banning books as anyone, but to be honest, I get a little bit jealous when I scan those lists of books. They have an air of importance about them. There are books on there like Beloved and Diary of a Young Girl and To Kill a Mockingbird. You get banned, you [...]

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Conferences are for the birds

Two weeks ago I went to the Minnesota Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators conference, and saw a wild turkey on the side of the road. A wild turkey is probably not that peculiar a sight, but not one you expect to see driving from Minneapolis to St Paul. This weekend I went to [...]

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CLN Trivia for September 25, 2009

What kind of hero in young adult literature is typified by Dick Hunter, bootblack, and Luke Walton, newsboy?

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You Got a Problem With That?

I’ve gotten into two discussions recently — one real, one virtual — where people discussed and mostly disparaged the “problem novel.” What’s a problem novel? Answer: nobody really agrees. I mean, it’s hard to find a novel without a problem, right? But the term was indistinguishable from young adult fiction when I was a teenager. [...]

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A snake and a baseball in the grass

Check out my awesome new banner, courtesy of author/illustrator/teacher/crit group pal Jonathan Roth. If you’re aggregating this feed, you need to click on over to my actual website. There are more in the works. Stay tuned.

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CLN Trivia for September 18, 2009

What British literary figure who truly had a word for everything was born 300 years ago today, on September 18, 1709? (Enter Here)

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Knock Knock Joke

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CLN Trivia Answer… Eponymy

I asked people to name three Newbery Award winners had the first and last name of a main character in their titles. There are several, but it gets a bit complicated. I try to keep the questions short and sweet, and this one could have had a bunch of asterisks. For example, do initials count? [...]

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Novels and Elephants

“You know, Tom, I have occasionally toyed with the notion that an elephant is somewhat like a novel.” I try to think how an elephant could possibly, in any form, resemble a novel. “Those ears — those legs — the trunk — she is such an irrational beast! She is a collection of improbabilities!” – [...]

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