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Author Interviews

Ice Cycle: An Interview with Author Maria Gianferrari
Author Interviews

Ice Cycle: An Interview with Author Maria Gianferrari

Pancake ice, floebergs, glaciers, icicles . . . cold temperatures create an astonishing variety of ice forms! Welcome winter with a poetic exploration of ice on land and at sea in Ice Cycle: Poems about the Life of Ice by Maria Gianferrari and Jieting Chen.

Please help us in welcoming author Maria Gianferrari to the Lerner blog to share her adventures and research writing this evocative and atmospheric picture book. Don’t forget to download the free activity guide!

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A Long Way from Home: An Interview with Author Laura Schaefer
Author Interviews

A Long Way from Home: An Interview with Author Laura Schaefer

There’s a lot to worry about in the current day, and twelve-year-old Abby holds it all in her head. In A Long Way from Home, Abby meets two boys from the future who need her help, so she decides to escape the depressing present by traveling to their time with them. But that’s not as simple as it seems.

Today author Laura Schaefer joins us to reveal her inspiration and how she explored her own style while writing the book. Read on to download the free educator resources!

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Yuck, You Suck!: An Interview with Authors Heidi E. Y. Stemple and Jane Yolen
Author Interviews

Yuck, You Suck!: An Interview with Authors Heidi E. Y. Stemple and Jane Yolen

Prepare to get sucked into a hilarious poetry collection in Yuck, You Suck!: Poems about Animals That Sip, Slurp, Suck. Sixteen slurpy poems introduce a suction-filled selection of animals, and spectacularly sticky illustrations from Eugenia Nobati spotlight these stupendous suckers.

Today we’re joined by the incredible author team Jane Yolen and Heidi E.Y. Stemple to hear about their writing journey! Read on to read about their experience and watch a fun read aloud video.

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The Lady and the Octopus: An Interview with Author Danna Staaf
Author Interviews

The Lady and the Octopus: An Interview with Author Danna Staaf

Jeanne Villepreux-Power was never expected to be a scientist. In the early 1800s she took up natural history and solved the two-thousand-year-old mystery of how of the argonaut octopus gets its shell. Follow her story in the new nonfiction The Lady and the Octopus: How Jeanne Villepreux-Power Invented Aquariums and Revolutionized Marine Biology.

Today author and marine biologist Danna Staaf joins us to share her journey writing this inspiring title. Read on to hear about her research and to watch an introductory video!

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Funeral Girl: An Interview with Author Emma K. Ohland
Author Interviews

Funeral Girl: An Interview with Author Emma K. Ohland

Sixteen-year-old Georgia Richter feels conflicted about the funeral home her parents run—especially because she has the ability to summon ghosts. Funeral Girl follows Georgia as she reckons with her relationship to grief and mortality.

Today author Emma K. Ohland joins us on the blog to answer some questions about her writing process and her hopes for the book. Don’t forget to download the free discussion guide!

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Hear Me: An Interview with Author Kerry O’Malley Cerra
Author Interviews

Hear Me: An Interview with Author Kerry O’Malley Cerra

The new middle-grade novel Hear Me is a sensitive and authentic portrayal of a girl experiencing progressive hearing loss written by Kerry O’Malley Cerra who has also experienced progressive hearing loss. The story follows Rayne, who resists her parents’ efforts to “fix” her and rethinks her own assumptions about what her condition means for her.

Today Kerry joins us to share some of her inspiration for the book and her personal connections to the story. Don’t forget to download the free discussion guide and watch the official book trailer!

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A River’s Gifts: An Interview with Author Patricia Newman
Author Interviews

A River’s Gifts: An Interview with Author Patricia Newman

The story of the Elwha River in Washington State is one of both environmental harm and restoration involving advocacy, persistence, cooperation, and hope. Author Patricia Newman and illustrator Natasha Donovan tell this story in the new nonfiction picture book A River’s Gifts: The Mighty Elwha River Reborn.

Patricia Newman joins us today to share how she discovered the Elwha River Restoration Project, her research process, and her hopes for young readers. Read on to download the free teaching guide.

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Unretouchable: An Interview with Author Sofia Szamosi
Author Interviews

Unretouchable: An Interview with Author Sofia Szamosi

In the new YA graphic novel by debut author Sofia Szamosi, readers follow Olive as she spends the summer before art school at a coveted internship helping one of the fashion industry’s elite digital-imaging specialists. After a glamourous New York photoshoot, she learns that taking pictures is only the first step andis thrown into the world of image retouching software. Soon she is fixating on her own appearance and pondering the ethics of her work behind the scenes. Unretouchable is a window into a hugely influential world of fashion photography and a tribute to self-acceptance.

Today we welcome author and illustrator Sofia Szamosi as she shares her greatest influences, the themes of the book, and what she thinks of the current fashion industry.

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Big Bear and Little Fish: An Interview with Author Sandra Nickel
Author Interviews

Big Bear and Little Fish: An Interview with Author Sandra Nickel

Big Bear and Little Fish is a sweet story of unexpected friendship between Bear (who is very big!) and Fish (who is very little!), told in accessible prose that’s just right for beginning readers.

Today on the Lerner blog, author Sandra Nickel joins us to discuss influential books, the emotive illustrations, and who she relates to the most: Bear or Fish! Read on to find the official book trailer, a free discussion guide, and more.

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