I had no idea that Duke would launch a series. It turns out if you put a dog in a book, kids will gobble it up, even [supposedly hard to sell] historical fiction! In a few short days, Code Word Courage (Scholastic), the fourth and final… Read more »
This regular blog feature is celebrating readers, instead of writers, most of this month (check back on December 30 for an amazing post from Nikki Grimes)! I hope you read last week’s post about a Duke reader who inspired me to be more open-hearted and brave. This week I am inspired by amazing librarian, Jennifer… Read more »
Today is the book birthday for Liberty — hooray! Writing Liberty was like wrassling alligators in a vat of gumbo. My creative process is always messy but it was downright discouraging as I struggled to reel in the heart of this story. It wasn’t until I gave a young German POW his own space on the page that the… Read more »
My newest book, Liberty (it publishes in a few short days, on October 11), is set in New Orleans during WWII. I adore this city, which has the kindest citizens in the world. But in the 1940s, New Orleans shared similarities with other southern cities. My main character, Fish Elliott, has a pesky neighbor named… Read more »
On one of my trips to New Orleans, after Hurricane Katrina, I stumbled on an art collective displaying the work of local artists. One piece I fell in love with was, fortunately, affordable so it found its way into my suitcase. Beside the fact of being a sucker for anything with words, when I learned… Read more »
The newest book in the WWII Dog series that I’m writing for Scholastic is Liberty (due out October 11) , which features Fish Elliott who had been stricken by polio at about age five. In 1952, one of the worst years for polio here in the states, nearly 58,000 people were afflicted. Sadly, Salk’s polio vaccine… Read more »
I may look sweet and innocent but I have an evil plan: I want to turn kids into ravenous readers of historical fiction. And, serendipitously, I’ve discovered one way to be successful in this scheme. Write about dogs! On October 11, the third book in the World War Two Dogs series (Scholastic) will be published. Liberty… Read more »