Below are some of the authors and illustrators that will be featured in upcoming volumes of SATA. These include new entries on the swiftly rising stars of the field, as well as completely revised and updated entries (indicated with *) on some of the most notable and best-loved creators of books for children.
Frank Cotrell Boyce
Familiar to British television audiences for his work on the long-running program Coronation Street, Boyce moved into fiction with his highly praised debut novel. Also adapted as a feature film, Millions finds eleven-year-old Damien faced with a quandary many people would probably find tantalizing: What do you do when you find a bank-robber's stash of cash? Even more of a problem for Damien: What choices do you make when you have to spend it right away?
Esmé Raji Codell
In Educating Esmé: Diary of a Teacher's First Year, an inspirational yet realistic account of her experiences teaching in an Chicago elementary school, Codell shows the hard work, frustrations, and numerous satisfactions of her job. In addition to channeling her optimistic take on life into fiction such as Diary of a Fairy Godmother, Codell has authored nonfiction works for parents and children, and produces an entertaining AND educational Web site, PlanetEsme.com.
Olivier Dunrea
A nature lover who makes his home in the Catskill Mountain region of upstate New York, artist and author Dunrea spins magical tales grounded in his equally strong affection for the history and culture of the ancient British Isles. Several of Dunrea's picture books are set a Celtic-inspired land of his own creation called "Moel Eyris," while others, such as the lighthearted "Gossie" series, focus on a tiny Gosling whose big red boots mark her as a free spirit. Dunrea shares his home and studio with several other artists, as well as a troupe of beloved hounds.
*Patricia Reilly Giff
With multiple Newbery Honor awards to her credit, Giff is well known as a compelling writer whose books for children include the "Polk Street School" series as well historical novels such as Nory Ryan's Song, about the Irish potato famine. Among her work for older readers, Giff's award-winning novel Lily's Crossing reflects the author's own experiences in its evocative story about the importance of life on the home front, and about the bravery and endurance of those who were left behind.
Mary Hooper
A prolific author for young people since the late 1970s, Hooper became well known to British teen readers after leaving her job as a secretary to write full time. In 2003 her books In the House of the Sugared Plum and Petals in the Ashes made their way across the Atlantic, winning over legions of new fans. Part of an intended trilogy, the novels draw readers back in time as sisters Hannah and Sarah fight to survive in late seventeenth-century London, an era in which the Black Plague sweeps Europe and promises only chaos and an uncertain fate.
*Diana Wynne Jones
Winner of many of the top awards bestowed on writers of young-adult fantasy, Jones is a British author of prodigious talents who combines her wry humor and love of ancient British history and lore to spin colorful coming-of-age tales with a fantastic twist. Her novels, which feature likeable teen protagonists who navigate a world wherein the powers of good and evil take on fantastic shapes, include the "Crestomanci" and "Dalemark" series. She has also penned a number of stand-alone novels, such as the popular novel The Homeward Bounders, which finds young Jamie, an uncooperative and now discarded pawn, in a game between all-powerful beings known as the "Them." In Wild Robert, another tale characteristic of Jones' imaginative work, a young girl is faced with an unusual problem when she reconstitutes a centuries' old wizard with designs on revenge.
Anna Myers
Her native state of Oklahoma serves as the backdrop for Myers' award-winning historical novels for middle-grade readers. In Tulsa Burning she draws readers back to the state's infamous 1921 race riot through a story of two boys—one black, one white—whose friendship bridges their families' racial divide. In the Depression-era novel Red-Dirt Jessie a young girl attempts to relieve her father's grief over the death of her younger sister with the help of an abandoned dog.
*Andrea Davis Pinkney
In addition to her job at a New York publishing company where she has promoted the work of writers such as Julius Lester, Toni Morrison, and Veronica Chambers, Pinkney celebrates the African-American heritage through picture books such as Mimi's Christmas Jam, and biographies for young people. In addition to Pinkney's highly praised prose, her book also benefits from the creative contributions of Pinkney's husband, Caldecott Medal-winning illustrator Brian Pinkney.
Marcus Sedgwick
British author Sedgwick has become well known for the dark themes in his young-adult fantasy novels, which include Floodland, Witch Hill, and The Book of Dead Days. Its sequel, The Dark Flight Down, The Book of Dead Days takes place in a harsh world similar to eighteenth-century Europe and follows a pair of orphans who help a magician break his pact with a terrifying demon.
*Tasha Tudor
Tudor has worked for over half a century producing a vast body of work that reflects her nostalgia for a quieter, simpler, and more loving age. The child of artists, Tudor has created a storybook life in her New England home, relying on the technology and work ethic of an earlier time to garden and farm. Now in her nineties, supported by her close-knit family, she continues to produce the finely detailed pen-and-ink and watercolor drawings that are beloved by generations of Americans.
Lisa Yee
Califronia-based Yee began her career by channeling her creative energy into work as a marketing consultant. In 2003 Yee introduced one of the most unusual protagonists of middle-grade fiction in her award-winning, first publication, Millicent Min, Girl Genius. Fortunately for fans of Yee's brainy but slightly off-track heroine, the author has continued to tap her humorous and high-energy view of teen life in a story of Millicent's almost-as-brainy arch nemesis in Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time.
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