The Weekly 411 (1/14/22)

Jan. 14, 2022 vol. 2

The Weekly 411 gathers all the links added to Kidlit411 each week. To receive this post by email, sign up for our email updates. Are you on Facebook? Join our Kidlit411 group for conversations & camaraderie. This week's illustration is by Ioana Hobai.

Author Spotlights

We are excited to feature author Heather Clark and her debut middle grade novel, Lemon Drop Falls (Jolly Fish Press), coming out on Feb. 15. Enter to win a copy! (also check out the swag you can get if you pre-order her book)

cover illustration by dirclumsey, design by Jake Slavik

We are excited to feature author Becky Scharnhorst and her picture book, My School Stinks, illustrated by Julia Patton (Philomel Books 2021) and This Field Trip Stinks – also illustrated by Julia Patton – Flamingo Books (August 2022) Enter to win a copy of THIS SCHOOL STINKS! Also, check out the cover reveal for This Field Trip Stinks!

MIDDLE GRADE GIVEAWAY

We are pleased to host a giveaway of the middle grade book, SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS, by Joanne Levy (Orca Book Publishing, 2021). Enter to win a copy via the Rafflecopter below!

cover design by Rachel Paige

About the Book: Evie Walman is not obsessed with death. She does think about it a lot, though, but only because her family runs a Jewish funeral home. At twelve, Evie already knows she’s going to be a funeral director when she grows up. So what if the kids at school call her “corpse girl” and say she smells like death? They’re just mean and don’t get how important it is to have someone take care of things when your world is falling apart. Evie loves dusting caskets, polishing pews, and vacuuming the chapel―and on funeral days, she dresses up and hands out tissues and offers her condolences to mourners. She doesn’t normally help her parents with the grieving families directly, until one day when they ask her to help with Oren, a boy who was in a horrific car accident that killed both his parents. Oren refuses to speak and Evie, who is nursing her own private grief, is determined to find a way to help him deal with his loss.

About the Author: Since she left the corporate world in 2013, Joanne Levy makes up stuff for a living. She also spends her non-writing working hours helping other authors with their administrative needs as a virtual author assistant. In her spare time (ha!) Joanne stabs wool with special needles to make fun and weird creatures. Joanne lives in rural Ontario, Canada with her husband and kids of the furred and feathered variety. Contact her through her website: joannelevy.com

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For Writers

Story Theory and the Quest for Meaning

Critique Groups

How to Avoid Overcorrecting After Receiving Feedback

Young Adult

YA is Leading the Way

Conferences, Workshops, and Retreats

May 20-22 Big Sur Children's Writer's Workshop at Cape Cod Join small, intensive writing workshops with two industry professionals organized by Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Larger panel discussions with agents and editors also included. (Cape Cod, MA)

May 22-28 Master Skills Workshop with Esteemed Editor Patti Gauch and Noted Author Gary D. Schmidt. Join other children’s literature authors for a week designed to help you dive deep into your craft and take your writing to the next level. The week includes four master lectures, four writing prompt sessions, four one-on-one meetings with the instructors, critiques, and more. In person session is full, online registration available.