Book Review: The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser
*Please note: This post contains affiliate links. During the holiday season, I find myself so thankful for family—in every sense of the word. I’m thankful for my family and my husband’s family. I’m thankful for friends and a community who have become family. I’m...
Great Stories and Great Messages: An Interview with Allie Slocum
*Please note, this post contains affiliate links. I love making new writing friends, and when I met Allie Slocum at an online writers’ conference this summer, I couldn’t believe how much we had in common. We both write middle grade, we both teach, and we both create...
Book Review: Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
*Please note: This post contains affiliate links. My favorite book as a child is still at the top of my list today. I mean, who can resist a cast of characters that includes a dog with a sense of humor, a local librarian who once fought off a bear, an ex-con, and...
The Power of Stories: An Interview with Tim Shoemaker
*Please note, this post contains affiliate links. I’ve attended several virtual writers conferences this year, and at one of them, I got to hear from author Tim Shoemaker. Among his vast speaking and writing experience, he writes contemporary adventure and suspense...
All God’s Creatures: An Interview with Rachel Pellegrino
Last year, I had the joy of interviewing Rachel Pellegrino, founder and publisher of Little Lamb Books, an award-winning independent publisher of faith-based children’s books. (You can read her previous interview here.) A few weeks ago, Rachel reached out to me with...
Not Too Ordinary to Make a Difference: An Interview with R.J. Anderson
*Please note, this post contains affiliate links. I have a lot of problems with social media, but one thing I do love is the way it’s helped me connect with other writers. One of those authors is R.J. (Rebecca) Anderson, who writes fantasy and science fiction for...
Seeing the World in a New Way: An Interview with Tara K. Ross
*Please note, this post contains affiliate links. One of my favorite podcasts is The Hope Prose Podcast with Tara K. Ross and Rebekah Black, a show dedicated to hope-filled YA and MG books. Tara is a YA author herself, and her debut novel Fade to White is definitely...
Book Review: The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
*Please note: This post contains affiliate links. As we grow older, we tend to deepen our roots into reality. We lose our imaginary friends, our ability to create something from nothing, and our desire to make every moment a chance to play. And so, the imaginations of...
Stories with Hope and a Future: An Interview with Lisa Lewis Tyre
*Please note, this post contains affiliate links. You know those stories where the characters don’t feel like characters at all, but like real people we know and love? That’s how I feel about Wavie, the protagonist in Hope in the Holler by Lisa Lewis Tyre. This story...
Stories of Redemption: An Interview with Claire Swinarski
*Please note, this post contains affiliate links. I love podcasts that follow a journey or a story. So when I found Claire Swinarski’s Making a Middle Grade podcast, which follows the journey of a story, I couldn’t stop listening. In Making a Middle Grade, Claire...
Book Review: Wonder by R.J. Palacio
*Please note: This post contains affiliate links. Wonder by R.J. Palacio will always be one of my favorite books. Wonder is the fictional story of August Pullman, a ten-year-old boy born with a severe facial difference. But Auggie’s world is about to change… he’s...
Storytelling to Reflect God’s Glory: An Interview with Hannah Kaye
*Please note, this post contains affiliate links. I’m not a big fan of social media, but I am thankful for the writer friends it has helped me find. And I’m very thankful that Instagram connected me with one of my favorite critique partners, Hannah Kaye. Hannah...
