Young Adult and Children’s Literature
The Power of Butterflies ~NEW~
Middle Grade Fiction
by Kristin Lenz
Softly, I began to hum the wedding march. “Da, da, ta-da. Da, da, ta-da.”
I stepped to the rhythm, my red velvet skirt swishing around my ankles. I smiled and held my head high like a professional dancer on stage. I glanced to the side and spied my parents. They grinned and joined my humming, their voices a little louder. Other voices joined the chorus. Louder and louder, the notes rose up and around the church. “Da,da, ta-da. Da, da, ta-da.”
The Heart is a Muse ~NEW~
Nine Things My Last Book Taught Me
by Cathy Ostlere
But what to do next? Perhaps something lighter than a tragedy about a boat that goes missing. What about a love story for teenagers—how hard could that be? I followed the advice Arthur Slade gave at a workshop and searched through the labyrinth of my computer files for writing that had begun with promise but had long been abandoned. I discovered a Word document called “India”: 30,000 words of stream-of-consciousness prose written after a six-month trip through Asia in 1984…
Writing with Embargo ~NEW~
This Writer’s Life
by Sherry Shahan
It was a Friday in February, noonish and sweltering. I swapped a clean t-shirt for the one I’d worn during a four-hour class in Afro-Cuban dance at Escuela Nacional de Artes in Havana. The studio lacked air conditioning, not even a swamp cooler. No mirrors; walls bare except for a termite-riddled piano in the corner and a boom-box on a leaning table.
I had traveled to Cuba under a General License (“Full-time professional research conducted by professionals in their professional areas”) to study Cuban customs for a children’s picture book…
Applewhites at Wit’s End ~NEW~
Sneak Peek
by Stephanie S. Tolan
It was a dark and stormy night when Randolph Applewhite arrived home from New York to announce the end of the world. The whole family plus Jake Semple, the extra student at their home school, the Creative Academy, were gathered at the time around the fireplace in the living room of the main house at Wit’s End, while a wind howled and snow swirled against the windows…
Slipping Skins
What My Last Book Taught Me
by Laurel Snyder
When I began to write my last book, I only knew it was going to be a book about stealing. The premise was this: What if a kid found a magic box that gave her whatever she wished for, but then she realized that the things in it had been stolen from other people? A magical romp with a side of wish fulfillment and an ethical twist. Pretty nifty, huh?
From Urban Legend to the Boy in the Tuxedo: Uncovering Character Identity
Feature
by Toni Buzzeo
Yes, that one! That’s an idea worth pursuing.
For me, each of my 19 picture books began that way. Not a voice whispering in my ear, not a character sprung to life fully formed, but a concept. A 53-second video clip about a baby washing ashore in a sea chest on a lighthouse island. A line of fuzzy ducklings paddling along a tranquil Maine shoreline behind their mama. The haunting cry of a loon across a cold mountain lake…
The Popinjays Die Lightly
Young Adult Fiction
by Caroline Misner
Three days. It’s been three days now and people are starting to ask questions. David Jones is no longer a name on an attendance sheet; he’s no longer a member of the computer club; he’s no longer one of the blank-faced rabble that pass through the corridors of Hederton High in preparation for a lifetime of obscurity. David has risen above all that. He is now officially “the boy who went missing.”
Alien on a Rampage
Sneak Peek
by Clete Barrett Smith
When the taxi pulled up to Grandma’s place, I opened my door before the driver had even come to a complete stop. “Whoa, buddy, take it easy,” he said. “You’ll get there on time —it’s not going anywhere.”
Then he stopped at the curb and got a good look at The Intergalactic Bed & Breakfast. His mouth dropped open, forming a circle that matched his wide eyes. I guess some people just aren’t used to seeing a huge Victorian-style house covered in a mural of swirling galaxies, with silver spaceship sculptures jutting up all over the front yard. Especially at the edge of a forested wilderness on the outskirts of a tiny Pacific Northwest town\
Three Poems
When the Rain Stops
Scarecrow Song
Cloudbursting
by Sarah Stanton
The White House
Fiction
by Jennifer Wolf Kam
Then, she remembered the letter. She reached under her coat and pulled out the change purse from her dress pocket. She carefully removed the letter, holding it between her thumb and forefinger.
“You strange little thing,” she said. “You did bite me, didn’t you?” She studied the fancy print again. “I don’t care who sent you. I won’t tolerate biting. And to invite someone to a place they can’t even find is rather rude, don’t you think?” The letter didn’t answer, of course, only sat there quietly in her palm…
Who Is Cayla Kluver?
Flipside
by Cayla Kluver
I’m a self-published author. I’m a breakout author whose novel became the launch book for AmazonEncore, Amazon.com’s initial foray into conventional publishing. And I’m a traditionally published author through Harlequin TEEN. (Interestingly enough, all of this occurred in the span of three years, and all with my first book, Legacy.) I’m a 19-year-old college student; I’m a sister, a daughter, and a friend; I’m a kid who questions herself every five minutes; and I’m an adult who knows what she’s doing. Long story short? There are a lot of Caylas hanging around, and sometimes it’s hard to tell them apart…
Diving into the Wave of the Future
Flipside
by P.J. Hoover
My world used to be simple. My goal was to be a traditionally published author of high-quality books for kids. I wanted an agent; I wanted an editor; I wanted librarians and readers alike to love me. It was a perfect plan with little room for deviation, and whenever the topic of self-publishing came up, I explained my plan, stating it as the reason I chose not to self-publish, with chose being the key word. It was my choice…
The Rivals
an excerpt from Karna: A Re-Imagining of the Indian Epic The Mahabharata
by Sayantani DasGupta
The teacher took a few minutes to set up various natural targets around the grove—a stick, a leafy palm frond, and, I noticed with disgust, an overripe mango. Just like the sages and warriors to waste perfectly good food while people went hungry.
Then the teacher did the most remarkable thing. Taking a thin piece of silk out of his waistband, he bound it around Arjun’s eyes….
Welcome to the Identity Issue
Welcome from the editor
Welcome to the Magic & Mystery of Identity issue. Whether we’re unlocking the secret that illuminates a character’s hidden identity, allowing our secondary characters to try on roles and fall into “types,” or re-layering to play against type, the magic and mystery of who we are—our characters and ourselves— gives us much to explore…. (keep reading for more about this issue, and a call for submissions for our next issue)
Who Are You, Really?
Feature
by Cynthia Levinson
Confessions don’t usually come this easily. Earl blurted his out shortly after I got in his car. “Everyone thought we were in the Klan,” he said. “We could put anybody in jail.”
Story Water: The Cultural Wellsprings of Storytelling
Feature
by Sayantani DasGupta
It is a familiar scene. The storyteller is a village elder, or a grandmother, or a wandering minstrel. The passel of eager-eyed children, and perhaps some adults, sit close. It is the still evening, under the fluttering mosquito-net; or perhaps mid-day, in the shade of an old acacia tree; or a darkening and cold afternoon, by the light of a roaring fire.
Letter, Koan
Poetry
by Sarah Stanton
Dear you,
This is a test; everything in life is a test. Read these instructions in
full before beginning.
