The author was repeatedly told that no one wanted to read fun books with disabled heroes. Now she has won the £5,000 Waterstones children’s book prize for her debut, A Kind of SparkWhen Scottish author Elle McNicoll was first trying to enter the publishing world, she was repeatedly told that people didn’t want to read about an autistic heroine. “In job interviews, I was saying that I wanted to see more books with disabled characters in them that were not traumatic, boring or educational, but fun and full of life. A lot of the reactions were, ‘Waterstones don’t like books like that’,” she says.Now McNicoll’s debut novel A Kind of Spark has won the Waterstones children’s book prize. Published by tiny independent Knights Of, it follows Addie, an 11-year-old autistic girl, as she campaigns for a memorial to the witch trials that took place in her Scottish village. The novel has been praised by Waterstones’ booksellers as “eye opening, heart-wrenching, sad [and] inspiring”. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2021-07-01 05:01:05 UTC ]
This week on The Maris Review, Rita Chang-Eppig joins Maris Kreizman to discuss Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea, out May 30 from Bloomsbury. Subscribe and download the episode, wherever you get your podcasts. * Maris Kreizman: Rita, your debut novel is not the typical debut novel that I usually... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-05-25 12:53:16 UTC ]
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Park Row bets on a debut novel about love and death, actor Ione Skye sells a memoir to Gallery, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-05-19 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Jenny Fran Davis’ debut novel Dykette is indisputably, vibrantly, hilariously queer. Dykette follows three couples (and a charismatic pug) on a ten day, pressure-cooker trip to Hudson, New York. The oldest of the couple, Jules Todd (a news anchor who reads like a fictional Rachel Maddow) and her... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2023-05-18 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Kirk Cameron has had a tough year, not unlike poor, pregnant Mary. “We tried to go to libraries across the country and we’ve been turned away,” he told a church gathering this week in Charlotte, N.C., of touring his conservative children’s book As You Grow, about a tree SYMBOLIZING FAITH getting... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-05-17 13:22:18 UTC ]
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On May 10, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark stood on the floor of the House of Representatives and read aloud from a children's book to members of Congress. "The end of the day was also my own," she read. "Bled out on the floor and never got home." These chilling words tell the story of Joaquin... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2023-05-15 06:00:00 UTC ]
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Children’s illustrator whose picture books with his wife, Elizabeth, and authors such as Ted Hughes, are enjoyed worldwideThe illustrator Gerald Rose, who has died aged 87, was the youngest winner of the Kate Greenaway medal for children’s book illustration, in 1960. Then still in his mid-20s... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-05-12 17:25:36 UTC ]
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In her debut novel A History of Burning, Janika Oza gives us the story of a family, one migration journey at a time. Beginning with indentured labor that leads the first member of the family, Pirbhai, from his home in India to East Africa, we follow four generations across several continents and... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2023-05-12 11:00:00 UTC ]
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“How’d you become a children’s book author?” The answer for Kouri Richins, a Utah mom of three who wrote Are You With Me?, a children’s book about coping with grief, is that she allegedly poisoned her husband, then wrote a book about loss. The Associated Press reports that Utah police arrested... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-05-09 14:02:02 UTC ]
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When we were but children in a distant former colony, we had a set of cardboard coronation crowns upholstered poorly in imitation velvet so we could play kings and queens. The Queen was on our money, and her portrait hung in our primary school. Now we are on the eve of the next coronation, and […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-05-05 13:32:01 UTC ]
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Professional seaweed harvester and marine biologist Amanda Swinimer has published a children’s book highlighting how important seaweed is for nutrition and for protecting the planet against climate change. Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2023-05-05 04:24:48 UTC ]
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Authors like Louisa May Alcott and A.A. Milne learned their success in children's literature didn't translate to respect for their art. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-04-27 10:33:00 UTC ]
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The award, championing small presses with fewer than five staff, was won by The Doloriad – an audaciously original novel set in a post-apocalyptic dystopiaDead Ink Books has won the Republic of Consciousness prize for small presses for Missouri Williams’s “astonishing” debut novel The Doloriad.... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-04-26 08:35:38 UTC ]
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From Chicka Chicka Boom Boom to Bunnicula, these earrings for children's book lovers are a delight. - Kelly Jensen Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-04-24 10:32:00 UTC ]
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The actor, director, and author-illustrator will give the closing keynote presentation at the U.S. Book Show children’s book program on May 24. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-04-18 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Kate Morton’s seventh novel, Homecoming, lands at #2 on our hardcover fiction list. Plus children’s book juggernaut Mo Willems makes his adult debut, and a pair of new books on our hardcover nonfiction list encourage readers to get physical. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-04-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
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With a £2,000 purse for the winner, four shortlistees are named by the regionally specific Highland Book Prize. The post Scotland’s Highland Book Prize Names Its Shortlist appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-04-12 19:07:00 UTC ]
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Groundbreaking kids’ series A Kind of Spark is staffed by neurodivergent talent and treats its lead character like almost no other on TV. It’s cool, fun and powerfulNever before has there been a cool, edgy kids TV series that can attest to hiring neurodivergent actors, performing a script... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-04-11 15:12:44 UTC ]
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Jeff Boyd’s searching debut novel portrays a Black musician alienated from his city, his faith and his past. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-04-10 09:00:16 UTC ]
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Actor Millie Bobby Brown sells a debut novel to William Morrow, and S&S buys a memoir from Sheila Johnson, cofounder of BET. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-04-07 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Another day, another piece of horrifying anti-trans news in the book world. Even by recent standards, though, this one seems particularly fucked-up. An Alaska-based children’s book illustrator has been dropped by his publisher after making terroristic threats against transgender people. Mitchell... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-04-06 18:26:08 UTC ]
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