Kid Lit Bits Blog

The Underneath by Kathi Appelt



Loved this book -- lyrical, touching, mystifying with truths so clearly stated.

Jody Feldman March 22



Come Meet author Jody Feldman

She is the author of the popular & award winning Middle Grade novel

The Gollywhopper Games 

winner of the 2011 Georgia Children’s Book Award.


She’ll share her work, her world as a writer of children’s books, and her path to becoming an author.  She’ll also answer your questions.

Jody is the recipient of the 2011 Grand Canyon Readers Award, and mentioned on 14 other state lists.

Her first book received the Kids Wings Award for Excellence in Children’s Literature and the 2008 Midwest Booksellers Choice Awards Honor for Children’s Literature.

Her second, The Seventh Level (both books from HarperCollins/Greenwillow) debuted on the Summer 2010 Indie Next List and received the 2011 Missouri Writers Guild Show Me Best Book Award.


    Thursday, March 22, N.E. Spruill OaksLibrary


Moon Over Manifest

Can’t recommend this book enough. Works on so many levels, from the story telling, to the history to the compelling characters.

Best Selling Author Karen White Visits NESOL



THE TIME BETWEEN: 
Penguin/New American Library
ISBN 978-0-451-23986-0

On Sale June 4, 2013

From New York Times Bestselling author Karen White, a stunning new novel about two generations of sisters who must learn to live with their darkest secrets...

Thirty-four-year-olf Eleanor Murray is consumed by guilt for causing the accident that paralyzed her sister--and for falling in love with her sister's husband. But when her boss offers her a part-time job caring for his elderly aunt, Helena, Eleanor accepts, hoping this good deed will help atone for her mistakes.

Meet her in person at the Northeast Spruill Oaks Library

Donna Jo Nappoli - WIK Keynote Speaker

Donna Jo Nappoli  & I

Reading Donna Jo’s many books is a great way to study the craft of writing.

She is the author of numerous award winning children’s and young adult books as well as a linguist. Plus she has a B.A. in mathematics and a PhD.

She is a former member of the editorial board of the premiere journal Language. Napoli has won numerous awards for her work, including the Golden Kite Award given by the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (for Stones in Water, and honor book Breath), the Sydney Taylor Award given by the Association of Jewish Libraries (for Stones in Water, and, honor book, The King of Mulberry Street and the Parents' Choice Gold Award (for Alligator Bayou and Silver awards for North and The King of Mulberry Street).

Carolyn Wall featured at Roswell Reads

Exceptional “first time” author of Sweeping Up Glass, winner of the Oklahoma Book Award, shown here sharing her expertise at Roswell Reads, an annual event at Roswell, Georgia, when talented authors books are chosen for the entire city to read.

Watch for her next book, Playing with Matches available soon.

How to on Writing


If you want a quick read (less than 25,000 words) and a basic how-to on writing, this book --This Year You Write Your Novel, by Walter Mosley, is for you.

My favorite part was on dialogue and how it is meant to work overtime. That means every time a characters speaks they should be: “(1) telling us something about themselves; (2) conveying information that may well advance the plot (3) adding to the music or the mood of the scene; (giving us a scene from a different POV especially if the character who is speaking is not connected directly to the narrative voice); and/or (give the novel a pedestrian feel.” The trick is to have at least three or more of these elements in every dialogue exchange.

Further he notes that the reader is always looking for two things in a novel: themselves and transcendence.

As important, there must be a rhythm to your characters, “a unique cadence to the way each one speaks,” which translates to an “identifiable cacophony to the world they inhabit.”

Want more, check it out at your library.

stephanie@moodyviews.com       © Stephanie Moody 2011