This week we’re featuring two authors. Jill Vanderwood’s newest book, What’s It Like, Living Green? Kids Teaching Kids, by the Way They Live, just won a National Best Books 2009 award, its third national award this year. And noted Young Adult author Maggie Stiefvater’s newest book, Ballad, has just been released.
Also, please add this to Jill’s bio: Jill recently sky-dived at 13,000 feet as part of a fundraiser for literacy in Salt Lake City. She says, “I hope to travel around the state teaching children simple ways they can help the environment.”
JILL VANDERWOOD
WHAT’S IT LIKE, LIVING GREEN? KIDS TEACHING KIDS, BY THE WAY THEY LIVE
These days, there’s a lot of talk about living green, but does anyone actually do it?
In WHAT’S IT LIKE, LIVING GREEN? KIDS TEACHING KIDS, BY THE WAY THEY LIVE, you’ll learn about families who live green, kids who are making a difference for the planet and tips as simple as putting on a sweater rather than turning up the heat.
This book is the winner of three National Book Awards-
*The National Indie Excellence Award
*The Teen Development Award
*Best Books of 2009 Award from USA Book News
BIO: Jill Ammon Vanderwood is the mother of four grown children and the grandmother of six. She makes her home in Utah with her husband Bill.
Jill enjoys traveling, camping, quilting and going on adventures with her grandchildren. She even spent the night with two granddaughters at the Museum of Ancient History, right under the bones of a huge dinosaur.
Noted for her published work, service to the community and her writers group, she was awarded the 2008 Writer of the Year from League of Utah Writers.
Other books by Jill Ammon Vanderwood:
Through the Rug
Through the Rug 2: Follow that Dog (middle grade fiction)
Stowaway: The San Francisco Adventures of Sara the Pineapple Cat (fiction: picture book)
What’s It Like, Living Green? Kids Teaching Kids, by the Way They Live
BookSurge Publishers
March, 2009
Children’s Nonfiction/Environment
148 pages-includes photos and black and white illustrations
Recommended for ages 9 and up but can be read to younger children
$14.99
For news and to look inside the book visit Jill’s book page on Amazon.com
http://www.jillvanderwood.com/
MAGGIE STIEFVATER
BALLAD
James Morgan has an almost unearthly gift for music. And it has attracted Nuala, a soul-snatching faerie muse who fosters and then feeds on the creative energies of exceptional humans until they die. James has plenty of reasons to fear the faeries, but as he and Nuala collaborate on an achingly beautiful musical composition, James finds his feelings towards Nuala deepening. But the rest of the fairies are not as harmless. As Halloween-the day of the dead-draws near, James will have to battle the Faerie Queen and the horned king of the dead to save Nuala’s life and his soul.
BALLAD is the companion book to LAMENT, which received three starred reviews and was selected as a Best Book for Young Adults and Popular Paperback by the ALA. NYT Bestselling author Tamora Pierce called it “giddy, intoxicating, and threatening all at once… a sheer edge read.” My other novel, SHIVER, has been on the NYT Bestseller list since it debuted on August 1st, and the film rights have been optioned by Unique Features/ Warner Bros.
BALLAD appeals to both boys and girls, with James providing snarky narration. There’s a bit of love story in there as well as plenty of homicidal faeries and action, so reluctant readers 13 and up might find it a good pick, especially if they enjoyed books by Holly Black, Melissa Marr, or Cassandra Clare.
Publisher: Flux (Llewellyn Worldwide)
October, 2009
360 pages
Recommended ages: 13-up
$9.95
About Maggie: All of my life decisions have been based around my inability to be gainfully employed. Talking to yourself, staring into space, and coming to work in your pajamas are frowned upon when you’re a waitress, calligraphy instructor, or technical editor (all of which I’ve tried), but are highly prized traits in novelists, musicians, and artists (I’ve made my living as one of these since I was 22).
I now live an eccentric life in the middle of nowhere, Virginia, with my charmingly straight-laced husband, two small kids, two neurotic dogs, one criminally insane cat, and a 1973 Camaro named Loki.
I’m an avid reader, an award-winning colored pencil artist, and play several musical instruments, including the Celtic harp, the piano, and the bagpipes. I also make great cocktail party conversation.
For more information, please see www.maggiestiefvater.com. To watch the book trailer, please see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ooq9ioOgcmY
JIM WHITING