Just wanted to take a moment to thank the Oregon SCBWI for putting on a great retreat this weekend. A great balance of inspiring talks, time to work, and time to just hang out and talk with fellow writers and artists. I’ve been working like a fiend all summer long so it was great to have one weekend to recharge my creative energy. And views like this were icing on the cake.
Saving the best for last, the League will take a look at how you can use poetic devises to make your stories sing and your poetry pop. Gretchen McLellan the author of Mrs. McBee Leaves Room 3, will be our guide for the last League meeting of the year.
The League of Exceptional Writers is a free mentoring program sponsored by the Oregon Society of Children’s book Writers and Illustrators and hosted by the Cedar Hills Powell’s Bookstore. We meet every second Saturday at 2pm from October to May. Avid readers and writers ages 8 to 18 are welcome. Please share the poster below with your friends, your school and your library.
Mark Fearing is the wizard of funny stories from Chicken Story Time to Great! Now we have Barbarians he knows how to find the hilarious and hone it to perfection all while facing down a deadline. He is our League mentor for April. See you on Saturday the 14 for a late April Fools writing workshop
The League of Exceptional Writers is a free mentoring program sponsored by the Oregon Society of Children’s book Writers and Illustrators and hosted by the Cedar Hills Powell’s Bookstore. We meet every second Saturday at 2pm from October to May. Avid readers and writers ages 8 to 18 are welcome. Please share the poster below with your friends, your school and your library.
le
I am thrilled to announce that I have two new books in the works both to be published in the spring of 2019. Here’s the announcement for The Last of the Name from Publishers Weekly
Amy Fitzgerald at Carolrhoda has acquired Rosanne Parry’s middle grade novel, Last of the Name. Twelve-year-old Danny O’Carolan, a poor Irish immigrant, arrives in New York City at the height of the Civil War, just before racial and class tensions trigger the infamous New York draft riots. Publication is slated for spring 2019; Fiona Kenshole at Transatlantic Literary Agency did the deal for North American rights.
And appearing in the UK in BookBrunch was the announcement for A Wolf Called Wander.
21st-century White Fang’
Chloe Sackur, commissioning editor for fiction at Andersen Press, has signed A Wolf Called Wander, a middle grade novel by Rosanne Parry. Andersen has world rights through Fiona Kenshole at Transatlantic Agency, and will be selling the novel at the Bologna Book Fair this week. The publisher has commissioned illustrations from Spanish illustrator and animation artist Monica Armino. Publication, in a large format hardback, will be in spring 2019.
A Wolf Called Wander is the story of Swift, a wild wolf in the mountains of Oregon, who must make a dangerous journey to find a new home after his pack is attacked by other wolves. The novel is inspired by a real-life wolf, named “OR 7” by researchers, who undertook a 1,000-mile journey and was the first wild wolf to be seen in California for 90 years.
Sackur said: “A Wolf Called Wander is the 21st-century White Fang… It will appeal to children who love animals and adventure, and speak to all those who care about our impact on the environment. In pairing Rosanne’s story with Monica’s beautiful art, we hope to create an illustrated book that is as enduring as Patrick Ness and Jim Kay’s A Monster Calls, or Sara Pennypacker and Jon Klassen’s Pax.”
Kenshole said: “Rosanne Parry has won over 20 awards for her previous middle-grade books, combining excellent, passionate writing with detailed facts. Now she has turned to animals, and we are truly thrilled that the wonderful Andersen Press will be bringing her to a whole new international audience.”
Parry’s most recent book is The Turn of the Tide (Random House Children’s).
On this day when I’m celebrating a new book deal, I just wanted to take a moment of gratitude for the youth leaders of Saturday’s March For Our Lives. Of course I’m very proud of the young leaders from Parkland, Florida–as proud as I have been of the young leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement for many a long year. But today I wanted to express my particular gratitude for youth leaders in the small towns of the American west. They organized marches too. They marched in towns who have voted republican for decades and where gun owners count for 90% of the community. It takes particular courage to stand up in that environment without the presence of national media or the outpouring of community and celebrity support.
I just want to say to those youth who organized marches whose numbers were counted not in thousands but in dozens–I hear you. The youth literature community hears you. And we are right beside you, as close as your school or public library. I want you to know that you can be true to the values your communities hold dear and still stand up for your rights. You can be good sons and daughters and also good citizens. If your town doesn’t understand or appreciate you now, don’t give up. You are not alone. A principled life courageously lived is powerful witness. And you have more allies than you may realize in this moment. And if you’re discouraged, reach out to your favorite author, whoever it is. We’re here for you. And most of all, thank you! Thank you for your courage, and your vision of a better, safer, kinder future.