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Fall 2024 Children’s Flying Starts: Tigest Girma
Tigest Girma is good at keeping secrets. After all, it’s how the author of ‘Immortal Dark’ started her writing career, quietly typing dystopian stories influenced by Suzanne Collins’s ‘The Hunger Games’ and Veronica Roth’s ‘Divergent’ on Wattpad during her teenage years.
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Fall 2024 Flying Starts
We spotlight the authors of six of the season’s most promising children’s book debuts.
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Q & A with Shannon Messenger
Shannon Messenger takes a detour in 'Unraveled', book 9.5 in her bestselling Keeper of the Lost Cities middle grade series. The first book to be narrated from an entirely new POV and the second .5 installment following 'Unlocked' (book 8.5), 'Unraveled' centers on elven teenager Keefe Sencen after he split off from Sophie Foster in 'Stellarlune'.
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Q & A with Deborah Farmer Kris
Deborah Farmer Kris spoke with us about how she grew into her roles as a parent educator and writer, and where she goes when she’s in need of parenting advice of her own.
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Q & A with Marisha Pessl
Adult author Marisha Pessl follows her YA debut 'Neverworld Wake' with suspense thriller 'Darkly.'
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2024 Native American Heritage Month: Q & As with Creators for Young Readers
In honor of Native American Heritage Month, we spoke with the creators of several children’s books out this year highlighting different aspects of Indigenous culture and life in their works.
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In Conversation: Leslé Honoré and Cozbi A. Cabrera
We asked author Leslé Honoré and illustrator Cozbi A. Cabrera to discuss their new picture book, 'Brown Girl, Brown Girl,' based on Honoré's viral poem inspired by the historic election of Vice President Kamala Harris.
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Q & A with Katharine McGee
Katharine McGee, the bestselling author of the American Royals series, turns back the clock to 19th-century Europe in her new YA historical romance novel 'A Queen’s Game,' the first book in a planned duology inspired by true events.
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Q & A with Philip Reeve
Philip Reeve returns to the world of Mortal Engines in YA steampunk novel 'Thunder City,' an all-new adventure set between the Fever Crumb prequel series and the original saga.
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Q & A with Jeff Drew
Long-time commercial illustrator Jeff Drew’s debut picture book, 'Alfie Explores A to Z,' is a seek-and-find marvel, containing hundreds of humorous photo-realistic depictions of animals, food, clothing, and more to discover.
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Q & A with William Joyce
William Joyce figures that 'Rocket Puppies' is his 53rd book—although don't hold him to that. What’s clear is that this picture book about a team of interstellar, incredibly cute puppies who save the Earth from despair has a particularly profound backstory.
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Q & A with Beth Reekles
Reekles spoke with us about her new rom-com, 'Love & Lattes'; how her experience on Wattpad shaped her writing; and what brings her back to the YA genre.
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Q & A with Bruce Hale
Prolific children's book creator Bruce Hale's new series of illustrated chapter books—the Outer Space Mystery Pizza Club, illustrated by Luke Séguin-Magee—begins with intergalactic space adventure 'Elvis Is Missing.'
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Q & A with Christopher Denise
Sometimes, really annoying friends turn out to have hidden virtues. That’s the discovery Knight Owl makes in 'Knight Owl and Early Bird,' the sequel to Christopher Denise’s solo debut 'Knight Owl,' which won a 2023 Caldecott Honor.
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In Conversation with Mel Hammond, Teghan Hammond, and Magdalene Visaggio
Sisters/collaborators Mel Hammond and Teghan Hammond and author Magdalene Visaggio discussed writing about navigating girlhood, their shared experiences of online hate, and the importance of portraying trans girls for young people today.
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Q & A with Ryan Seacrest and Meredith Seacrest Leach
Television host Ryan Seacrest and his sister Meredith Seacrest Leach discussed their new picture book, 'The Make-Believers,' illustrated by Bonnie Lui, and the power of one's imagination.
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Four Questions for Jill Tew
Can the chase for productivity ever go too far? Afronauts podcast host and debut author Jill Tew explores an inescapable work culture in her dystopian sci-fi debut 'The Dividing Sky'. We spoke with Tew about becoming the first Black sci-fi author to be published under the Joy Revolution imprint, and about exploring the pressures of productivity.
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Reflections on Boyhood and a Shark Named 'Jaws'
In his new middle-grade graphic memoir, 'Boy vs. Shark,' cartoonist Gilligan recalls the summer of 1975, when the Steven Spielberg blockbuster 'Jaws' made waves, and how it shaped his early conception of masculinity.
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Try a Little Tenderness: PW Talks with Jason Reynolds
We spoke with Jason Reynolds, former National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and a 2024 recipient of the MacArthur Foundation fellowship, about his latest YA novel, 'Twenty-Four Seconds from Now…,' and the importance of centering tenderness in romance for young people.
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Four Questions for Robin Benway
Robin Benway, author of the National Book Award-winning YA novel Far from the Tree, makes her first foray into middle grade with 'The Girls of Skylark Lane'.
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