Blogger: Etta Wilson
Location: Books & Such Nashville Office
Weather: Low 40s and Rain
I’m still thinking about all those junior high students in the “Letters to Authors” contest I was judging last week –I’ve blogged a bit about their responses on gender…
By Etta Wilson on Jan 28, 2010 in Blog, Children's books, Life | 8 Comments
Blogger: Etta Wilson
Location: Books & Such Nashville Office
Weather: Cold and Wet
In Monday’s post on judging the “Letters to Authors” written by junior high students, a couple of other items caught my attention. One of those was the large number of…
By Etta Wilson on Jan 27, 2010 in Blog, Children's books, Reading, Writing Life | 8 Comments
Blogger: Etta Wilson
Location: Books & Such Nashville Office
Weather: 42 and dreary
Another impression from my recent foray into judging the writing of junior highers is the diminished racial identity and perception among young readers. Several entries were in response to Warriors…
By Etta Wilson on Jan 26, 2010 in Blog, Children's books, Reading, Writing Life | 9 Comments
Blogger: Etta Wilson
Location: Books & Such Nashville Office
Weather: Cold and wet
Wow, what good news to start a new year—adult fiction had positive sales last year. That’s according to Nielsen’s BookScan, which reports on 75% of the market. And it warms…
By Etta Wilson on Jan 25, 2010 in Children's books, Reading | 4 Comments
Blogger: Michelle Ule
Location: Books & Such Main Office, Santa Rosa, Calif.
I reread teenage comfort novels over the Christmas season: Lenora Mattingly Weber’s Beany Malone series of some dozen books.
Originally published in the 1950s, Weber’s books told the story of a middle-class high…
By Michelle Ule on Jan 11, 2010 in Blog, Children's books, Fiction, Life, Teen books | 15 Comments
Blogger: Wendy Lawton
Location: Books & Such Central Valley, California Office
I returned from vacation only twenty hours ago and I’ve decided to extend my holiday frame of mind this week by talking about my favorite kind of travel — the literary…
By Wendy Lawton on Dec 17, 2009 in Authors, Blog, Children's books, Fiction, Life, Reading, Writing Life | 36 Comments
Blogger: Wendy Lawton
Location: Books & Such Central Valley Office, CA
What a fun week. There’s nothing like talking about all the things that could kill a writing career. Cheery little series, right? Okay, I’ll admit it, I employed a bit of…
By Wendy Lawton on Dec 16, 2009 in Authors, Children's books, Fiction, Marketing & Publicity, Nonfiction, Productivity | 42 Comments
Blogger: Etta Wilson
Location: Books & Such Nashville Office
Weather: Mid-60s and Rainy
I’ve been searching children’s books for idioms and trying to discover at what age kids begin to understand that symbolic phrases can add to or give the meaning of concrete…
By Etta Wilson on Oct 28, 2009 in Blog, Children's books | 11 Comments
Blogger: Etta Wilson
Location: Books & Such, Nashville Office
Weather: Clearing and 60s
One culture I’ve overlooked in thinking about idiom and simile is the Native American. Sharon Creech’s 1995 Newbery Medal winner, Walk Two Moons, is built on the Native America use…
By Etta Wilson on Oct 27, 2009 in Blog, Children's books, Fiction, Nonfiction, Writing Life | 1 Comment
Blogger: Wendy Lawton
Location: Books & Such Central Valley, California Office
Weather: Still drippy but a little warmer
Sometimes our literary pilgrimages will offer new insight into the milieu of the writer. Such was the case with our most extensive literary jaunt. The…
By Wendy Lawton on Oct 14, 2009 in Authors, Blog, Children's books, Fiction, Life, Reading, Writing Life | 7 Comments
