The Whole Megillah- Author’s Notebook | The Dressmakers of Prospect Heights by Kitty ZeldisZeldis, Kitty. The Dressmakers of Prospect Heights. New York: HarperCollins, 2022. 345 pages. Writing the Past (WTP): What motivated you to write Dressmakers of Prospect Heights?Kitty Zeldis (KZ): I had long been interested in New Orleans, a place that figures importantly in … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Mid-Week Field Notes–February 1, 2023Some very quick things: Have a good week!Barbara Krasner
- Mid-Week Field Notes–January 25, 2023Some very quick things: Have a good week!Barbara Krasner
- Mid-Week Field Notes–January 18, 2023Some very quick things: Have a good week!Barbara Krasner
- Mid-Week Field Notes–January 11, 2023Happy 2023! Some very quick things: What 2023 writing goals have you set for yourself?Barbara Krasner
- Author’s Notebook | My Name Is Hamburger by Jacqueline JulesJacqueline Jules, My Name Is Hamburger. Kar-Ben, 2022, 240 pp. The Whole Megillah (TWM): What motivated you to write this story? Why verse?Jacqueline Jules (JJ): I love writing in verse. Before I ever wrote anything in prose, I wrote poems. … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Mid-Week Field Notes–January 4, 2023Happy 2023! Some very quick things: What 2023 writing goals have you set for yourself?Barbara Krasner
- #52snapshots 2022 | Week 52–Your Town’s Famous Residents, Ghosts, and LegendsThe final prompt of this blog series asks us to write about famous residents, ghosts, and/or legends from our hometown or current town. I actually wrote a book about this, Legendary Locals of Kearny, New Jersey (Arcadia, 2015). I wrote … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Mid-Week Field Notes–December 28, 2022Some very quick things: Happy New Year! Here’s to a great 2023 for writing!Barbara Krasner
- #52snapshots 2022 | Week 51–The Color WheelThe prompt this week asks us to focus on colors: Choose a color, make a list of objects with that color, choose one object to write about. I choose green–and blue–and wrote a poem that involved another person who shares … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Author’s Notebook | The Dressmakers of Prospect Heights by Kitty Zeldis
Category Archives: Authors
Author’s Notebook | The Tower of Life by Chana Stiefel
Stiefel, Chana. The Tower of Life: How Yaffa Eliach Rebuilt Her Town in Stories and Photographs. Illustr. by Susan Gal. Scholastic Press, 2022. The Whole Megillah (TWM): What motivated you to write this story?Chana Stiefel (CS): I first learned about … Continue reading
Author’s Notebook | The Boston Chocolate Party by Tami Lehman Wilzig and Rabbi Deborah R. Prinz
Lehman-Wilzig, Tami, and Rabbi Deborah R. Prinz. The Boston Chocolate Party. Illustr. by Fede Combi. Apples & Honey Press, 2022. The Whole Megillah (TWM): What led you to write about colonial chocolate?Tami Lehman-Wilzig (TLW): It’s a quirky answer. I’m an … Continue reading
Two-in-One Author’s Notebook | A Visit to Moscow with Author Anna Olswanger and Illustrator Yevgenia Nayberg
Olswanger, Anna. A Visit to Moscow. Illustrated by Yevgenia Nayberg. Berkeley, CA: WestMargin Press, 2022, 72 pp. The Whole Megillah (TWM): What prompted the form of a graphic novel for you? Anna Olswanger (AO): As soon as I entered grade … Continue reading
Author’s Notebook | I Will Protect You by Eva Mozes Kor with Danica Davidson
Kor, Eva Mozes, with Danica Davidson. I Will Protect You: A True Story of Twins Who Survived Auschwitz. New York and Boston: Little Brown, 2022. 226 pp. $17.99 The Whole Megillah (TWM): How did this project come about? Danica Davidson … Continue reading
2022 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour | Final Stop
You’ve now come to the final stop along the 2022 Sydney Taylor Book Award blog tour, the culmination of a full week of insightful and inspiring award-winning author and illustrator interviews. Read about the blog tour and all 2022 Sydney … Continue reading
Posted in Authors, Contests, Uncategorized
Tagged 2022 Sydney Taylor Book Awards, Aden Polydoros, dear mr dickens, E Lockhart, Eugene Yelchin, Hannah Reynolds, How to Find What You're Not Looking For, Jeff Gottesfeld, Leah Scheier, nancy churnin, Nicky & Vera, Peter Sis, The Christmas Mitzvah, The City Beautiful, The Genius Under the Table, The Last Words We Said, The Summer of Lost Letters, Veera Hiranandani
2 Comments
Two-in-One Author’s Notebook | Hannah G. Solomon Dared to Make a Difference with Author Bonnie Lindauer and Illustrator Sofia Moore
Lindauer, Bonnie. Hannah G. Solomon Dared to Make a Difference. Illustrated by Sofia Moore. Minneapolis: Kar-Ben, 2021. The Whole Megillah (TWM): Welcome, Bonnie Lindauer and Sofia Moore! Bonnie, let’s start with you. What inspired you to write about Hannah G. … Continue reading
Posted in Authors, Two-in-One
Tagged Bonnie Lindauer, Hannah G Solomon, Joni Sussman, Kar-Ben, Sofia Moore
4 Comments
Author’s Notebook | Eva and Eve by Julie Metz
Metz, Julie. Eva and Eve: A Search for My Mother’s Lost Childhood and What a War Left Behind. Atria/Simon & Schuster, 2021, 314 pp. The Whole Megillah (TWM): What inspired you to write this memoir?Julie Metz (JM): Shortly after my … Continue reading
Author’s Notebook | The Singer and the Scientist by Lisa Rose
Rose, Lisa. The Singer and the Scientist. Illustr. Isabel Muñoz. Kar-Ben, April 2021, 32 pp. The Whole Megillah (TWM): I’m going to start with a set of bundled questions: How did you find this story about Marian’s performance at McCarter … Continue reading
Posted in Authors
Tagged Albert Einstein, Isabel Munoz, Kar-Ben, Lisa Rose, Marian Anderson, The Singer and the Scientist
3 Comments
Author’s Notebook | The Woodcarver’s Daughter by Yona Zeldis McDonough
McDonough, Yona Zeldis. The Woodcarver’s Daughter. Kar-Ben, April 2021, 128 pp. The Whole Megillah (TWM): What inspired you to write The Woodcarver’s Daughter?Yona Zeldis McDonough (YZM): I had gone to the Museum of American Folk Art to see a show … Continue reading
Posted in Authors
Tagged Kar-Ben, Susanna Einstein, The Woodcarver's Daughter, Yona Zeldis McDonough
1 Comment
Author’s Notebook | Jumping Over Shadows: A Memoir by Annette Gendler
“The true story of a German-Jewish love that overcame the burdens of the past.” Gendler, Annette. Jumping Over Shadows: A Memoir. Berkeley, CA: She Writes Press, 2017. 233 pages, $16.95 list, paperback. The Whole Megillah (TWM): What prompted you to … Continue reading
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