Interviews
YA best-selling novelist Sarah Dessen is back with a new book and a Netflix deal
June 2, 2019(published in the News and Observer, June 2, 2019 https://www.newsobserver.com/entertainment/article230901539.html) Over 23 years, Chapel Hill author Sarah Dessen has published 14 novels for young adults. As her books have become best-sellers, she has become a teen icon in the literary read more »
Talking with Bill Konigsberg
May 16, 2019(published in AudioFile Magazine, April, 2019–note images are linked to Indiebound Books–please support them!) Bill Konigsberg is a YA novelist who has “a tendency to speak out.” He attributes this to his mother. “For better or worse, she taught me read more »
YA author draws upon adventurous spirit in writing her new novel
September 17, 2018Author Makiia Lucier recently moved to the Triangle from Idaho, and she may be one of the few who loves North Carolina’s characteristically humid summers. “It reminds me of Guam where I grew up,” said Lucier, who has settled in read more »
Former teacher hit success with his first novel, ‘Nyxia.’ Then came the sophomore challenge.
July 20, 2018(published in the News and Observer, July 15, 2018) (https://www.newsobserver.com/living/article214735875.html) Ten months ago, Scott Reintgen published “Nyxia,” launching a YA science-fiction trilogy that netted him a mid-six figure advance and a lot of buzz. His second book, “Nyxia Unleashed,” read more »
Award-winning author wants to add more diverse voices to children’s literature
April 28, 2018(Published in the News and Observer, April 22, 2018) http://www.newsobserver.com/entertainment/books/article209168304.html I last spoke to Kwame Alexander in 2014, months before his book “The Crossover,” won the prestigious Newbery Award for his contributions to children’s literature. The novel read more »
Talking with Jason Reynolds
April 27, 2018(published in AudioFile April-May 2018) https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/authors/jason-reynolds/ Jason Reynolds is a bestselling author whose novels for middle schoolers and teens have been honored by the National Book Awards, the NAACP Image Awards, and the American Library Association. But perhaps his greatest read more »
Author strives to show a different face of homelessness: ‘She’s more than this one issue
February 26, 2018In the acknowledgments for Brenda Rufener’s debut novel, “Where I Live,” the Durham author speaks of “writing from the heart.” She does just that in telling the story of teenager Linden Rose, whose intelligence and wit make her successful in read more »
In the Black Lives Matter era, the literary world has faced a ‘wake-up call’; Interview with Nic Stone
January 21, 2018Atlanta author Nic Stone’s son was only 5 months old when Jordan Davis, an African-American teen, was fatally shot at a gas station in Florida after an argument about the volume of his music. It occurred to Stone that one read more »
Talking with Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
December 18, 2017(Interview published in Audiofile Magazine December, 2017) Those who listen to Kimberly Brubaker Bradley’s THE WAR I FINALLY WON may be surprised to find they love it even more than her award-winning first book, THE WAR THAT SAVED MY read more »
Meet ‘Nyxia,’ the debut novel from a former Wake teacher–He’s signing tonight!
September 27, 2017Interview Published in the Raleigh News and Observer September 10, 2017 You won’t find Apex author Scott Reintgen in a high school classroom this year. Instead, he’s working hard to finish his trilogy of young adult novels that read more »
