2017 Kids' Lit Fest Author Tiffany Schmidt

Meet Tiffany Schmidt

Tiffany Schmidt is the author of Send Me a Sign, Bright Before Sunrise, and Hold Me Like a Breath. She’s found her happily ever after in Pennsylvania with her saintly husband, impish twin boys, and a pair of mischievous puggles.

You can find out more about her and her books at: TiffanySchmidt.com, TiffanySchmidtWrites.tumblr.com, or by following her on Twitter @TiffanySchmidt.

Meet Tiffany Schmidt's Books

Hold Me Like a Breath

The reviewers say:

 School Library Journal - “A crime narrative that satisfies a craving for suspenseful romance, entertaining adventure, and edge-of-your-seat survival drama.”

USA Today - “Pretty dang awesome modern fairy tale. Add this to your must-read pile!”

Bustle –“an organ trafficking fairy tale for the ages.”

Paste – “a badass way to revamp a classic story.”

In Penelope Landlow's world, almost anything can be bought or sold. She's the daughter of one of the three crime families
controlling the black market for organ transplants. Because of an autoimmune disorder that causes her to bruise easily, Penny is considered too "delicate" to handle the family business, or even to step foot outside their estate.

All Penelope has ever wanted is independence--until she's suddenly thrust into the dangerous world all alone, forced to stay one step ahead of her family's enemies. As she struggles to survive the power plays of rival crime families, she learns dreams come with casualties, betrayal hurts worse than bruises, and there's nothing she won't risk for the people she loves.

Perfect for fans of Holly Black and Kimberly Derting, this first book in the stunning new Once Upon a Crime Family series from acclaimed author Tiffany Schmidt will leave readers breathless.

2017 Kids' Lit Fest Author Victoria Scott

Meet Victoria Scott

Victoria Scott is the author of eight novels including Titans, Fire & Flood, Salt & Stone, the Dante Walker trilogy, Hear the Wolves (March 2017), and Violet Grenade (May 2017). She is published by Scholastic and Entangled Teen, and is represented by Sara Crowe of Pippin Properties.

Victoria’s latest novel, Titans, received two starred reviews, and Fire & Flood has been selected as a 2017 Spirit of Texas Reading Program book. Victoria’s novels have been bought and translated in fourteen foreign markets. The author currently resides in Philadelphia, and loves hearing from her readers.

Here are a few things about Victoria you may want to know:

1. She is deathly afraid of monkeys. No animal should look that much like a human.
2. She has a fiery passion for cotton candy. Her husband once drove herto seven different stores looking for the stuff. We they found it, she bought 12 bags.

3. She likes old, creepy-looking trees so much that she actually house-hunted by scouting streets with the best ones.
4. Music. If it’s not loud and angry, she wants no part of it.
5. She was a cheerleader in high school. Like a hard-core competitive cheerleader you see on ESPN(2).
6. It upsets her when YA books feature mean cheerleaders.
7. Her favorite color is yellow. She doesn't feel like it gets near enough street-cred.
8. She can twirl a baton like nobody’s business.
9. Movies with giant, robotic aliens scare her to her core. It could happen. She just knows it.

Meet Victoria Scott's Books

Hear the Wolves

Sloan is a hunter.

So she shouldn't be afraid of anything. But ever since her mom left the family and she lost hearing in one ear in a blizzard, it's been hard to talk to people, and near-impossible to go anywhere or do anything without her dad or big sister within eyesight - it makes her too scared to be on her own.

When they leave her home alone for what should only be two nights, she's already panicked. Then the snow starts falling and doesn't stop. One of her neighbors is hurt in an accident. And the few people still left in Rusic need to make it to the river and the boat that's tied there - their only way to get to a doctor from their isolated Alaska town.

But the woods are icy cold, and the wolves are hungry. Sloan and her group are running out of food, out of energy, and out of time. That's when the wolves start hunting them. . .

Titans

Ever since the Titans appeared in her Detroit neighborhood, Astrid Sullivan's world has revolved around the mechanical horses. It's not just the thrill of the race. It's the engineering of the horses themselves and the way they're programmed to seem so lifelike. The Titans are everything that fascinates Astrid, and nothing she'll ever touch.

She hates them a little, too. Her dad lost everything betting on the Titans. And the races are a reminder of the gap between the rich jockeys who can afford the expensive machines and the working class friends and neighbors of Astrid's who wager on them.

But when Astrid's offered a chance to enter an early model Titan in this year's derby, well, she decides to risk it all. Because for a girl from the wrong side of the tracks, it's more than a chance at fame or money. Betting on herself is the only way she can see to hang on to everyone in the world she cares about.

2017 Kids' Lit Fest Author Justina Ireland

Meet Justina Ireland

Justina Ireland enjoys dark chocolate, dark humor, and is not too proud to admit that she’s still afraid of the dark. She lives with her husband, kid, and dog in Pennsylvania. She is the author of Vengeance Bound and Promise of Shadows. Visit her at JustinaIreland.com.

Justina has a blog in which she posts anonymous reviews of YA books - anonymous because authors can suffer very real blow-back for calling out racist and other stereotypes in YA books. All of the reviews are deeply thoughtful, and raise important questions. Intrigued? Start with these:
Writing is Hard: Redemption Arcs for Racist Characters
Mulan as an important cultural narrative

Meet Justina Ireland's Book

Adjectives most often used in reviews: snarky, sly, darkly funny, ominous, dynamic, tantalizing, diverse

 A teen who is half-god, half-human must own her power whether she likes it or not in this snappy, Kirkus Reviews calls “a dark, slyly funny read.”

Zephyr Mourning has never been very good at being a Harpy. She’d rather watch reality TV than learn forty-seven ways to kill a man, and she pretty much sucks at wielding magic. Zephyr was ready for a future pretending to be a normal human instead of a half-god assassin. But all that changed when her sister was murdered—and Zephyr used a forbidden dark power to save herself from the same fate.

On the run from a punishment worse than death, an unexpected reunion with a childhood friend upends Zephyr’s world—and not only because her old friend has grown surprisingly, extremely hot. It seems that Zephyr might just be the Nyx, a dark goddess that is prophesied to shift the power balance: for hundreds of years the half-gods have lived in fear, and Zephyr is supposed to change that.

But how is she supposed to save everyone else when she can barely take care of herself?
snarky novel with a serving of smoldering romance that

2017 Kids' Lit Fest Author Sonia Belasco

Meet Sonia Belasco

I have spent much of my professional life working with teenagers as a mentor, tutor and therapist, and I'm often inspired by their passion, creativity and strength. I write because I love stories and I love sharing them. Truly great stories transport you to other places, let you live other lives and be a part of worlds only limited by the scope of your imagination. It's the most affordable way to travel.

Other things I love: TV shows about high school, baking, travel, mysteries where everyone is very British. Hip-hop of all types and flavors (ask me about Tupac vs. Biggie and be prepared to hang out for a while). Attempting cooking experiments. Analyzing pop culture. Photography. Going to live theater. Putting on a show.

Notable accomplishments include: I think I've probably seen every contemporary movie that involves dance battles or superheroes. My cat Moo Cow, a sassy Maine Coon/Angora mix from the mean streets of West Philly,  has an Instagram. I once spent way too much time cataloging my personal library on LibraryThing. I make a killer mix tape, and everything I write has a soundtrack.

I'm a native of Washington, D.C., and I currently live in Philadelphia, PA, where I keep (valiantly!) trying to acquire a taste for cheesesteaks.

Meet Sonia's Highly Anticipated First Book

Highly? Who's been anticipating it? Teen Vogue, Bustle, HerCampus, Bookpage, School Library Journal, Girls' Life

Melanie and Damon are both living in the shadow of loss. For Melanie, it's the loss of her larger-than-life artist mother, taken by cancer well before her time. For Damon, it’s the loss of his best friend, Carlos, who took his own life.

As they struggle to fill the empty spaces their loved ones left behind, fate conspires to bring them together. Damon takes pictures with Carlos’s camera to try to understand his choices, and Melanie begins painting as a way of feeling closer to her mother. But when the two join their school’s production of Othello, the play they both hoped would be a distraction becomes a test of who they truly are, both together and on their own. And more than anything else, they discover that it just might be possible to live their lives without completely letting go of their sadness.

2017 Kids' Lit Fest Author Margo Rabb

Meet Margo Rabb 

Margo Rabb is the author of the novels Kissing in America and Cures for Heartbreak. Her essays, journalism, book reviews, and short stories have been published in The New York Times, The New York Times Book Review, The Atlantic, Slate, The Rumpus, Zoetrope: All-Story, Seventeen, Best New American Voices, New Stories from the South, One Story, and elsewhere, and have been broadcast on NPR. She received the grand prize in the Zoetrope short story contest, first prize in the Atlantic fiction contest, first prize in the American Fiction contest, and a PEN Syndicated Fiction Project Award. Margo grew up in Queens, New York, and has lived in Texas, Arizona, and the Midwest; she now lives in the Philadelphia area with her husband and children. Visit her online at www.margorabb.com

 Meet Margo Rabb's Books

Acclaimed writer Margo Rabb’s Kissing in America is “a wonderful novel about friendship, love, travel, life, hope, poetry, intelligence, and the inner lives of girls,” raves internationally bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love). 

 In the two years since her father died, sixteen-year-old Eva has found comfort in reading romance novels—118 of them, to be exact—to dull the pain of her loss that’s still so present. Her romantic fantasies become a reality when she meets Will, who can relate to Eva’s grief. Unfortunately, after Eva falls head-over-heels for him, he picks up and moves to California with barely any warning. Not wanting to lose the only person who has been able to pull her out of sadness—and, perhaps, her first shot at real love—Eva and her best friend, Annie, concoct a plan to travel to the west coast. As they road trip across America, Eva and Annie confront the complex truth about love. 

Cures for Heartbreak

 A heartfelt novel that Michael Chabon called “sad, funny, smart, and endlessly poignant.” 

Less than two weeks after fifteen-year-old Mia Pearlman’s mother is diagnosed with cancer, she dies, leaving Mia, her older sister, and their father to face this sudden and unfathomable loss. As Mia struggles to navigate her grief, she’s also forced to examine the truth about her parents’ rocky marriage, her unexpected feelings for a guy with leukemia, and the nagging health phobias that plague her on a daily basis. Ultimately, her journey down this road slowly paves the way for hope amid immeasurable loss.

2017 Kids's Lit Fest Author Amy Ignatow

Meet Amy Ignatow

Amy Ignatow is an illustrator and teacher who has also been a farmer, a florist, a short-order vegan cook, a dancing chicken, an SAT prep instructor, a telefundraiser, a wedding singer, a ghost-writer for internet personal ads, a reporter, and an air-brush face and body painter working under the name "Ooga". She graduated from Moore College of Art and Design and lives in Philadelphia with her husband Mark and their cat, Mathilda, whom they believe to be well-meaning despite all evidence to the contrary.  Her first series of books, The Popularity Papers, is a Big Blue Marble bestseller, with legions of middle-grade fans.

 Meet Amy's New Series!

 The Mighty Odds is The Breakfast Club for a new generation.
 
From the renowned author/illustrator of the Popularity Papers series, Amy Ignatow, comes the first installment in a new series about a diverse crew of middle school kids who develop very limited superhero powers after a strange accident and manage to become unlikely friends on the adventure of a lifetime.

When a sweet nerd, an artsy cartoonist, a social outcast, and the most popular girl in school are involved in a mysterious bus accident, this seemingly random group of kids starts to notice some very strange abilities they did not have before. Artsy Martina can change her eye color. Nerdy Nick can teleport . . . four inches to the left. Outcast Farshad develops super strength, but only in his thumbs. And Cookie, the It Girl of school’s most popular clique, has suddenly developed the ability to read minds . . . when those minds are thinking about directions. They are oddly mighty—especially together.

This group—who would never hang out under normal circumstances—must now combine all of their strengths to figure out what happened during the bus accident. With alternating narratives from each of the heroes, including illustrated pieces from Martina, and featuring bold female superheroes and a multicultural cast, The Mighty Odds is The Breakfast Club for a new generation.

2017 Kids' Lit Fest Author Julie Fortenberry

Meet Julie Fortenberry

a portrait of Julie by her husband Don

I'm part of a family of artists. My husband is a painter. My son is also an artist, and my daughter is a choreographer and dancer.

I have an MFA in painting from Hunter College. My abstract artwork has been exhibited in solo and group shows in galleries including White Columns and the Whitney Museum of American Art. 

For information on how I work, please see my conversation with Julie Danielson at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast. To read my essay on the value of public libraries, please visit the Children's Book Council.

Meet Julie's Book

Lily's Cat Mask

 Armed with a vivid imagination and her trusty cat mask, Lily can take on anything--even a new school...

But when her teacher tells her no masks allowed in class, Lily worries, can she make friends without it?

Anyone who has been daunted by a new experience, or struggled to put on a good face, will relate to Lily. Whimsical art brings Lily, her father, and her new classmates to life, with text that begs to be read aloud. Perfect for Father's Day, back to school, and even Halloween--Lily and her grinning cat mask are sure to make you smile back.

 

2017 Kids' Lit Fest Author Sandy Asher

Meet Sandy Asher

One of my happiest childhood memories is of the many hours I spent in the children’s reading room of the Free Library at Logan Square in Philadelphia, PA, where I grew up. Way back then, I thought there could be nothing more wonderful than to write a book someone would love as much as I loved my favorites. I still think so.

And I still love to visit libraries.

I began creating plays in second grade at James G. Blaine Elementary School.  That was my idea of “let’s pretend” — making up stories to be acted out, telling my friends where to stand, what to say, and when to say it.  I guess they enjoyed it as much as I did, because we rehearsed a lot and performed for our class and, eventually, the entire school.   My teachers were always encouraging, even those I lampooned mercilessly in my script for the senior class play, “My Fair Bear,” at Germantown High.  They let me graduate anyway.

Sandy's cat Friday

My professional writing career began with the publication of poems in literary journals and stories, poems, and articles in children’s magazines, including Highlights for Children, Humpty Dumpty’s Magazine, and Weekly Reader.  The playwriting continued, too, with several plays in Plays Magazine.  My first book for young readers, SUMMER BEGINS, was published in 1980. Since then, I’ve written 25 more — YA novels, chapter books for middle schoolers, and picture books for the very young.

Meet Sandy's Books

Chicken Story Time

Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to story time at the library, of course!  The children like the chicken, the chicken likes the children, and everyone loves story time. So it’s no surprise that more children (and more chickens!) get in on the fun until there are more kids and critters than the librarian knows what to do with. Luckily, she comes up with a creative solution and manages to find little R & R for herself.

Too Many Frogs

Rabbit lives alone. He cooks for himself, cleans up for himself, and at the end of the day, reads himself a story. It's a simple life, and he likes it. But one evening, Froggie shows up at his door. He wants to listen to Rabbit's story, too. While eating a snack-or three. While lounging on a pillow-or ten. And bringing over his family-dozens and dozens of frogs! Rabbit has finally had enough; Froggie will have to go! But when he sits down alone to read himself a story, Rabbit realizes something is missing: someone to listen; someone to share a wonderful story.

2017 Kids' Lit Fest Author Mônica Carnesi

Meet Mônica Carnesi

Mônica grew up in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She has always loved drawing and painting, and everything related to illustration: paint, brushes, pencils, color pencils, blank notebooks, art supply stores, libraries, bookstores, picture books, you get the idea.

Her love of illustration and of books led her to another career: she's a librarian at The Free Library of Philadelphia.  A perfect fit for her interests!

She loves dogs too. Growing up, her first dog was a little mutt named Snoopy. Now she and her husband have a silly little terrier mix name Giovanni

Curious about how to pronounce her name?  Click here.

Meet Mônica's Books

 

Sleepover with Beatrice & Bear

When Bear sits on Beatrice's carrots while beehive watching, he doesn't make a very good first impression. However, despite a rocky beginning, the bear and the bunny become great friends sharing adventures all through the spring, summer, and fall. Then one day Beatrice can't find her pal, and Squirrel informs her that he's hibernating—a long winter sleep. Beatrice loves the idea and soon joins Bear. "Really? Bunnies hibernate too?" "Definitely!" said Beatrice. "Bunnies are GREAT hibernators." 

But as Bear drops off to sleep, poor Beatrice can only toss and turn. Finally giving up, she leaves the den declaring, "Winter is ruined!" But with the help of Squirrel, Beatrice puts her friendless time to good use, and when Bear awakens, she greets him with a scrapbook of the season. This wonderful book is filled with pictures, drawings, and notes that they can read together again and again. - School Library Journal

Little Dog Lost: The True Story of a Brave Dog Named Baltic

 

This dramatized version of a true story involves a little brown dog that was spotted in 2010 floating on a chunk of iceberg down Poland’s Vistula River toward the Baltic Sea. Children summon firefighters, and a human chain is made to try to save the animal, but the current pulls too quickly. Night comes but yet the mutt survives: “Dog’s thick fur keeps him warm. But Dog is wet and tired and hungry. And he is scared. Don’t be scared, Dog!” Finally a research vessel spots the dog and, despite a tense moment when Dog slips into the water, succeeds in bringing him aboard, where, to this day, he remains a happy crew member. 

 Though delivered simply, this tale is intrinsically powerful—kids know how slippery ice can be, and Dog’s loneliness and helplessness is similarly relatable. Carnesi’s soft, comforting watercolors make great use of wide tableaux of tiny Dog almost lost among the huge sea of blue water and white icebergs. A short but informative author’s note closes out this inspirational, heart-tugging offering. - Booklist

 

2017 Kids' Lit Fest Author Judy Schachner

Meet Judy Schachner

 Judy Schachner was born into an Irish Catholic working class family from New England. Money was as tight as their apartment was tiny and though she may not have had the easiest of childhoods, she credits her imagination with helping her survive it.

She can’t ever remember a time when she was not drawing and like most budding artists she doodled on everything, including her father’s bald head. She drew herself into stories where she was the smartest in her class and into a family where mothers lived to be a ripe old age. In many ways, Judy feels that her own life has resembled the fairy tales she loved reading as a child, complete with a happy ending. And the best part of this author/illustrator’s story? She married a prince of a guy and they had two beautiful daughters and just like the mothers in her earliest tales, she plans on living to a ripe old age.

Described by the New York Times as “…something like the James Joyce for the elementary school – set…”, Judy Schachner is the #1 NY Times Best Selling Author/Illustrator of over 23 books for children including Bits & Pieces, the Skippyjon Jones series, Yo Vikings, The Grannyman and Willy and May. She has won many awards including the first E. B. White Read Aloud Award.

Meet Judy's Books 

Skippyjon Jones! Need we say more? Who would have guessed books about a Siamese kitten who dreams he is a crime-fighting Chihuahua could have won over a generation of parents and kids?

Whenever Judy visits the store her young fans come out in droves, so come early on the 20th to meet her and get your signed books!

Between now and then, you can feed your Skippyjon frenzy with these great webcasts of his adventures.

The Grannyman

The Grannyman is one of Event Coordinator Elliott's favorite picture books ever  - that story of Simon, a very old cat who's just about ready to give up after a long and fulfilling life. But his family has a creative solution to get rid of Simon's doldrums: a new kitten! The unexpected companion lifts Simon's spirits and gives him lots to do and lots to look forward to. Simon's caring ways with the kitten earn him a nickname, and a place in the hearts of readers of all ages.

As much as she loves the book,though, Elliott does advise that getting her 16 year old cat a kitten did NOT create the inspiration for a sweet children's story.

2017 Kids' Lit Fest Author Ame Dyckman

Meet Ame Dyckman

 

Ame Dyckman is short, loud, mischievous, and often dresses like her book characters. (SEE?!) She’s also the award-winning, internationally-translated author of the fantastically illustrated (THANKS, illustrators!) picture books BOY + BOT, TEA PARTY RULES, the New York Times bestselling WOLFIE THE BUNNY, HORRIBLE BEAR!, YOU DON’T WANT A UNICORN! (on sale February 14, 2017!), and more picture books and board books in the works! 

According to Dyckman, she was the type of child who always had her nose in a book. “And Band-Aids on my knees, ’cause when your nose is always in a book, you run into a lot of stuff,” she adds. Her favorite books from her childhood include Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, the  Frog & Toad stories by Arnold Lobel, and the George and Martha stories by James Marshall. 

“Something about highly-emotional characters and friendships despite differences appealed  to me even when I was little,” she says. Although Dyckman was always interested in becoming a children’s author, it wasn’t the first profession she tried. “I had a bunch of pre-author jobs ranging from serious assistant at a world-famous institute of higher education to not-so-serious costumed character,” she says. “I rocked Daffy Duck!" 

Ame lives in central New Jersey with her family, ridiculously big-eared cat, book collection, closet full of hair dye colors, and of course, the characters from her stories. (For reals! She’s currently building a homemade swimming pool for the protagonist of her upcoming series, MISUNDERSTOOD SHARK—mostly so she can have her bathtub back.)

Meet Ame's Books

 

You Don't Want a Unicorn

Watch the hilarious trailer!

"Climo's rainbow-bright illustrations take Dyckman's silly premise to a whole new level of absurdity.... This is a crowd-pleaser, complete with cupcake poops and rainbow burps, and...a welcoming and unobtrusive gender-nonconforming vibe."

―Horn Book

When a little boy throws a coin in a well asking for a pet unicorn, he has no idea what kind of trouble he's in for. Unbeknownst to him, unicorns make the absolutely worst pets: they shed, they poke holes in your ceiling, and they make a big mess. With a knowing wink from Ame Dyckman, creator of Wolfie the Bunny and cheerful illustrations from Rory the Dinosaur creator and Tumblr star Liz Climo, this rollicking story shares all of the ways a pet unicorn can ruin your life, and is sure to have readers in stitches.

Wolfie the Bunny

When the Bunny family finds a little bundle of joy—that happens to be a wolf—on their doorstep, they are smitten. Well, except for little Dot, who exclaims repeatedly, "He's going to eat us all up!!" Even her friends agree, but Dot's parents are captivated by the adorable baby—he's a good eater, sleeper, and drooler, they note. As Wolfie grows, Dot's worry is compounded with annoyance as he follows her everywhere in typical little brother-style. Having to go to the store for more carrots with Wolfie (who ate them all up!) makes Dot less than pleased, and she is on guard lest he tries to eat her. The fact that Wolfie is wearing an endearing bunny outfit does not make her feel better, but it does make the bear at the market think that Wolfie would make a yummy meal. Rather than run for safety, Dot terrifies the bear with tough talk of eating him up and saves Wolfie, who thanks her by pouncing on her with a big hug. The now-bonded siblings walk home hand in hand. The text is seamlessly integrated with the illustrations and uses various fonts to good effect. OHora's acrylic paintings are the heart of this tale. They clearly show everyone's feelings from fear to sadness to joy to anger to love and everything in between, and there are brilliant bits of humor and whimsy added to the mix. VERDICT A great book for one-on-one sharing that's also sure to be a storytime hit.— School Library Journal, Catherine Callegari, Gay-Kimball Library, Troy, NH

 

A Bank Street College Best Children's Book of 2016

Parents Magazine Best Fictional Picture Book 2015

ASLC Notable Book for Children

SLJ Best of the Year

NYPL 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing

The Huffington Post Best Picture Books 2015

Wilde Award Best Picture Books Ages 4-8