BEING HOME, by Traci Sorell and Michaela Goade, Kokila, May 7, 2024, Hardcover, $18.99 (ages 4-8)

Follow a Native American family as they move back to their ancestral land in Being Home, written Traci Sorell and illustrated by Michaela Goade.

Today is a day of excitement—it’s time to move! As a young Cherokee girl says goodbye to the swing, the house, and the city she’s called home her whole life, she readies herself for the upcoming road trip. While her mother drives, the girl draws the changing landscape outside her window. She looks forward to the end of the journey, where she’ll eat the feast her family has prepared, play in the creek with her cousins, and settle into the new rhythm of home. —Synopsis provided by Kokila

Being Home celebrates family, nature, change, and moving a slower pace. Author Traci Sorell’s simple text has a lovely lyrical quality to it, making it a joy to read aloud. And Michaela Goade’s warm illustrations are full of love and exuberance. It’s a delightful read.

Author Traci Sorell will be at The King’s English Bookshop (1511 S. 1500 East, Salt Lake City) TODAY (Thursday, May 9), at 4 p.m. to celebrate the release of the book with a storytime.

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Even though city COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted to allow in-person shopping, the size and layout of the bookshop makes it impossible to social distance.

Since the beginning of the pandemic (and before), The King’s English has been taking online and phone orders, but those orders have dropped significantly, and the bookshop has worked through the PPP money it received in June.

The bookshop is now at its breaking point. To stay in business through the end of the year, the store must increase sales this month (September) equal to half of what it makes in a typical December.

In hopes of keeping the doors open, the owners — Betsy Burton and Ann Holman — and their booksellers have come up with a two-pronged plan:

Become A Friend of King’s English Membership

For $100 a month you can become a supporter of the bookshop. If you sign up, the shop will charge your credit card on the 5th of each month.

Christmas in September

Get all your holiday shopping done early and help save the bookshop at the same time.

Starting Sept. 1, in addition to the booksellers answering the phones Monday through Saturday 10-6 (Mountain Time), experienced but at-risk booksellers, will be safely quarantined in the back reaches of TKE taking shifts in order to handle the calls of those who want assistance with personal holiday shopping.

Call the store (801-484-9100) any time during regular hours for help with your lists, or to make an appointment for a specific time to meet with a bookseller over the phone.

Order Online

The King’s English is open for online orders 24/7.

*Editor’s Note: The King’s English Bookshop holds a special place in my heart. It has hosted hundreds of authors over the years, and because of that, I have had some life-changing experiences. The bookshop is a community staple, and its owners — you can read my interview with Betsy Burton here — and booksellers are among the best people you’ll ever meet. It’s always been my dream to work there. If you’re in the market for books, please help them out. 

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Each year, the Children’s Book Council enlists beloved children’s literature illustrators to design the commemorative Children’s Book Week Poster and Bookmark. Download the 2016 Book Week bookmark by Cece Bell and order your 2016 Poster by Brian Won.

About Children’s Book Week

In 1913, Franklin K. Matthiews, the librarian of the Boy Scouts of America, began touring the country to promote higher standards in children’s books. He proposed creating a Children’s Book Week, which would be supported by all interested groups: publishers, booksellers and librarians.

In 1916, the American Booksellers Association and the American Library Association sponsored a Good Book Week with the Boy Scouts of America. It became Children’s Book Week in 1919. In 1944, the newly-established Children’s Book Council assumed responsibility for administering Children’s Book Week. In 2008, Children’s Book Week moved from November to May. At that time, administration of Children’s Book Week, including planning official events and creating original materials, was transferred to Every Child a Reader and the Children’s Book Council became a CBW anchor sponsor.

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“SUMMERLOST,” by Ally Condie, Dutton Books for Young Readers, March 29, 2016, Hardcover, $17.99 (ages 10 and up)

Sometimes you have to get away to find yourself.

Cedar’s family has been through the ringer. Last summer, her father and brother Ben were killed in a car accident. This summer, Cedar, her mom, and little brother, Miles, are moving to the town of Iron Creek without them.

Just as her family is getting settled into their new summer home, Cedar notices a boy dressed in costume riding down the street. Like clockwork, he passes every day. When Cedar can’t contain her curiosity any longer, she follows him, and her life changes forever.

Leo works at Summerlost theatre festival (think Shakespearean festival), and he quickly befriends Cedar and gets her a job working concessions. Soon, Cedar has a purpose. Part of the magic of Summerlost is tied up in the mysterious and tragic, too-short life of the Hollywood actress who once graced the stage. Her death has always been surrounded by mystery, and Leo needs Cedar’s help solving — and exploiting — it. Beyond that, strange gifts keep appearing on Cedar’s window; gifts that only her late-brother Ben would leave. Cedar’s not sure to believe, but for the first time in a long time, she feels hope.

I’ve been a fan of Ally’s for a long time. In 2010, while I was still working as a newspaper book critic, I interviewed Ally for her then-upcoming “Being Sixteen.” Published by Deseret Book, “Being Sixteen” has Mormon undertones, but it also explores what life is like for teenagers and delves into eating disorders and the effect they have on families.

Ally followed up that novel with the dystopian Matched trilogy and the standalone “Atlania.” While I enjoyed these books immensely, I’m glad to see her return to contemporary fiction.

Ally has a way of developing characters you immediately care about. It only takes a few pages and then, wham, you have to keep reading. I find that to be even more the case with “Summerlost.”

When we meet Cedar, her grief is still very real and very much a part of her daily life. Cedar is strong for her mother and brother, but needs the strength that only comes with true friendship. That she finds in Leo. Cedar isn’t the only one who needs a friend. Leo is the odd-man-out in his own home. Cedar comes into their relationship without any outside prejudices. All this comes together to make a compelling and heartfelt novel.

“Summerlost” is quiet and tender. You never feel rushed nor do you feel a lack of purpose. Ally has created a story of friendship and family that rings true whether you have experienced loss or not.

“SUMMERLOST” LAUNCH PARTY

Ally Condie will be at the Provo Library, 550 N University Ave., Tuesday, March 29, at 7 p.m. for the launch of “Summerlost.” Free tickets for this event will be available online and at the library’s reference desks.  Books will be provided by the King’s English Bookshop — you can pre-order a signed copy of “Summerlost” by  calling the store at 801-484-9100 or ordering online.

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Writing is the way Lindsay Eagar processes the world around her. “And, oh, what a magical world it is! … Things around me and things far away (or things that are completely impossible!) inspire me to weave stories. There’s never a shortage of beautiful and terrible things to draw from, and to write feels like a celebration of the beautiful and the terrible, every time I sit down to write.”

Lindsay has been “stringing words into stories” since she was very young, and she says the more she writes, the harder it gets. “It gets harder because I get better, and the stories I choose to write become more and more personal and important to me. I write because I have something to say. I write, even if it’s just an echo back to myself.”

Over time, Lindsay decided to focus her writing toward young readers. It’s a decision she re-evaluates almost every time she sits down to write because, she says, it is a great privilege and responsibility. “I used to think, ‘I only write the stories I want to write, and the industry decides where the books are shelved,’ but it’s a much more deliberate choice than that,” Lindsay told Cracking the Cover.

“Writing for children allows me to tear down walls between the real and the fantastical, and I can do it without any justification or explanation necessary. I can entertain. I can joke. I can write about the saddest, darkest moments of life without cynicism or sentimentality. I can write about unicorns and Bigfoot and bullies at school and have it all blend into something very grounded, very real.”

Lindsay’s debut novel, “Hour of the Bees,” follows 12-year-old Carol as she spends her summer on her grandfather’s ranch in the middle of the New Mexico desert. As Carol helps her family prepare the property for sale, she finds herself drawn to Serge, who is slowly progressing into dementia. Serge tells Carol stories about a healing tree and bees that will bring back the rain and end a 100 years of drought. The stories almost seem real, but they couldn’t be, could they?

Every novel must begin somewhere, and “Hour of the Bees” is no different. Except, perhaps, that it began with a title. “My plan was to write something new and different, as quickly as possible, so as to stop the suffering caused by my previous manuscript, which was a completely failure,” Lindsay said. “I had been working on a different middle grade book, and despite rewrite after rewrite, it wasn’t working. I knew it was time to trunk it and start fresh — a blank page, a blank mind.”

With nothing but a new notebook and the phrase of words, “hour of the bees,” Lindsay started writing. She was a single mother of a rambunctious 3-year-old, and for 10 days they walked to the park where Lindsay camped out in the shade of a tree and wrote. “The story poured out of me like it already existed somewhere else, and I was just its receptacle. Ten days later, I finished it.”

“Hour of the Bees” is told from Carol’s perspective with her grandfather’s stories weaved throughout. “It was very seamless to write, because the two pieces of the story — Carol’s and her grandfather’s — connect so organically,” Lindsay said. “There were times in the revision process when I felt the stories about the tree and the lake (the grandfather’s viewpoints) were shinier and more entertaining to read than Carol’s, and other times when the opposite was true. I worked hard to make sure they were balanced, and that readers weren’t dragging through one of the narratives to get to the parts they liked.”

And it’s the bees that tie the two narratives together. Because the title came first, Lindsay knew she would incorporate bees into her story somehow. The question was whether to add the literally or metaphorically. She ended up doing both. “The bees literally begin pestering my protagonist, Carol, as soon as she reaches her grandfather’s ranch, and she soon learns about Serge’s history with bees,” Lindsay said. “But they also serve as a metaphorical counterbalance for the dry desert — amid such bleak conditions, the bees are the source of life. They pollinate, they make flowers bloom, and in my book, they are the bringers of water.”

At one point in “Hour of the Bees” Serge asks Carol how she measures time. Time and the way it’s measured are key themes throughout the novel. And it’s something Lindsay has become aware of in her own life.

“Before I became a mother, I did not appreciate time,” she said. “I let it just trickle away, minute by minute. This isn’t saying that all parents measure time with appreciation and all childless people do not; simply that it took my daughter to help me appreciate what eight hours is (a luxurious night’s sleep), or what five minutes is (a decent shower) or what one minute is (long enough to read a page or two) or what one second is (feels like an hour, if your daughter is falling off the pirate ship playground while you helplessly watch from the sidelines).”

Practically speaking, Lindsay’s gauge for measuring time also changed after finishing her novel, “because time measurement in publishing is the industry’s greatest joke. Publishing is 99 percent waiting. Radio silence. A ne’er-budging inbox. But when things do happen, I feel like I can live inside of those moments for days.”

With “Hour of the Bees” under her belt, Lindsay has returned to the middle-grade novel she trunked earlier. “Race to the Bottom of the Sea — about the daughter of famous marine biologists who is kidnapped by a vicious pirate to retrieve his sunken treasure from the ocean floor — will be her second book with Candlewick, and it’s slated for release in 2017. “If ‘Hour of the Bees’ was the book of my soul, ‘Race to the Bottom of the Sea’ is the book of my heart,” Lindsay said. “It’s exactly what 10-year-old Lindsay would have wanted to find on the shelves — colorful, romantic and extremely nerdy.”

*Learn more about Lindsay by reading the complete transcript of her interview with Cracking the Cover.

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Jan Brett travels like a rock star — a rock star with a bunny, husband, an easel, two bus drivers and hundreds of posters in tow. The author/illustrator is currently on a 23-city tour for her latest book, “The Animal’s Santa.”

This isn’t the first time Jan has taken animals on tour. It started last year with “Cinders,” Jan’s take on the Cinderella story featuring chickens and set in Russia.

“So I brought 3 chickens,” Jan told Cracking the Cover during phone interview from her Massachusetts studio. “They came with me on the bus and the drivers are really nice, and (this time) it’s the same ones as last year, so I guess that means they thought the chickens were OK.”

Jan’s tour bus — the largest allowed on U.S. roads — is fully outfitted and wrapped from front to back with images from Jan’s book. The road trip lasts 2 ½ weeks, and Jan and her husband, Joe, sleep on the bus.

“This enables us to do the signings in the evenings sometimes, which is really great because it will free up a lot of people that wouldn’t be able to come when they have their jobs,” Jan said. “It works out really well. I just feel like I’m able to do more for the kids and librarians and teachers that make the big effort to come.”

For Jan, touring is more than selling books; it’s about connecting with children. It’s meeting that one child who looks at her and says he knows exactly what she’s doing because he does it, too. “It’s not that they don’t get support, Jan says, “but I think we have that little moment of recognition. A lot of times they’ve never met someone whose job is to be an artist. So the best part is when they bring their artwork.”

Meeting young fans makes encourages Jan. It makes her optimistic about the future. “I meet these kids who love their books and creativity just bubbles forth. They love to get their crayons out and get that tactile feeling of drawing pictures and they will always ask me questions about their characters. It’s wonderful.”

Jan has written and illustrated more than 30 books over a period of more than 30 years, and she plans to keep going until it’s no longer an option. She’s always working — though she wouldn’t really call it work. “It’s so much a part of me and how I exist in the world, if I don’t do some kind of drawing, I feel worthless and mentally flabby.

“Ever since I was in kindergarten, that’s what I would do for hours a day. There may have been times in my life when it was less important, but now, I just can’t imagine my life if I didn’t have my studio to go to every day and to work on my artwork. I have thought, ‘What if there’s no market for books?’ I’d still do them and keep them in a drawer someplace.

Despite her prolific career, Jan is just like other author/illustrators who have had projects never pan out, although she prefers to say “there’s no failed attempt, it’s just pending.” Some ideas are just waiting for a plot, and others morph into something else. That’s what happened with “The Hat.” Originally, “The Hat” was set in Greece, but Jan couldn’t get the plot to work. Finally, she moved the setting and changed things around; the completed book is set in Denmark and features a hedgehog. For some reason “it just clicked,” Jan said.

Over the past 30-plus years, Jan has witnessed a lot of changes, but the way books are created, at least from her vantage point, remain mostly the same. “I go about it the way I always have,” she said. “Even though I think the Kindle versions are great, especially if the grandkids are going on an airplane trip or something, I don’t really think that books will be replaced. There will always be a place for them. There’s something about a book — the smell of it, you open it up and the pages get sort of soft on the edges. I have some of my books from when I was little, and I know my daughter has books from when she was little. I think that tradition will keep going.”

Read my previous interview with Jan for “The Three Little Dassies.“

Jan will be at the Provo Library, 550 North University Avenue, in Provo Utah this Wednesday, Dec. 10, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The event is being held in conjunction with The King’s English Bookshop. THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT. Stand-by tickets will be available on a first come, first serve basis on the evening of the event.

Visit Jan’s website for other tour locations and dates.

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“The Princess in Black,” 

Once upon a time there was a princess named Magnolia who was prim and perfect and hiding a huge secret. Magnolia wasn’t just a princess; she was the Princess in Black — a secret superhero who sent monsters packing back through the hole to Monster Land.

The idea for “The Princess in Black” came to Shannon Hale (“Goose Girl,” “Princess Academy”) after her daughter told her that pink, purple and yellow were girl colors, but not black. So, of course, Shannon Hale being Shannon Hale, began thinking about a princess who did wear black.

“The Princess in Black” is one of those books you know you’re going to like from the start. Magnolia is smart and independent, and she is presented in a snappy, fresh light that young readers will immediately be drawn to. LeUyen Pham’s accompanying illustrations build on Shannon and husband Dean’s text. She gives Magnolia just a hint of sass and a lot of spunk.

It’s great to find another strong female character for young girls. There’s definitely room for this to grow into a large series, with some minor characters possibly taking on stronger roles. If you’re looking for a break from the world of Disney’s “Frozen,” make sure to grab “The Princess in Black.” It’s a great addition to your library.

Shannon and Dean will be at The King’s English Bookshop (1511 South 1500 East in Salt Lake City) Wednesday, Oct. 29, at 6:30 p.m. They will be reading and signing “The Princess in Black.” Fans are encouraged to wear their Halloween costumes.

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“BLACKMOORE: A PROPER ROMANCE,” by Julianne Donaldson, Shadow Mountain, Sept. 9, 2013, softcover, $15.99 (young adult)

A year ago, Julianne Donaldson introduced the world to a young woman who ends up in the middle of an unexpected adventure. “Edenbrooke” quickly became a must-read romance as fans of the Regency period rejoiced for something clean and new. Now, Julianne is back with another period piece, “Blackmoore,” that also celebrates a strong female lead and an unexpected romance.

Kate Worthington is 18, single, somewhat accomplished and in no mood to get married. All Kate wants to do is join her spinster aunt on her travels to exotic India — not exactly what Kate’s mother has in mind.

Kate isn’t about to give up on her dreams, though, and when given the opportunity to get out of marriage, Kate jumps at the chance. All she has to do is join her wealthy friends, Sylvia and Henry Delafield, at their Blackmoore estate for the summer and secure — and reject — three marriage proposals.

The deal is more than Kate could ever hope for, but it doesn’t come without its challenges. Sylvia has changed, and Henry is all but engaged himself. It will take all of Kate’s charms, luck and a little help from a friend if she’s ever to make her way to India.

“Blackmoore” is everything I would expect from Julianne. Like “Edenbrooke,” it’s a good, light read that you can easily lose yourself in on more than one occasion.

Going into “Blackmoore,” I was afraid it would feel too much like Julianne’s previous book. It’s an easy trap to fall into, and better-known authors have made the mistake multiple times. That doesn’t appear to be the case here, though. Yes, “Blackmoore” is a Regency romance, and so it includes all the elements you would expect in any book set in the 19^th century. But as she has done in the past, Julianne takes her story beyond the typical conventions and builds on her characters, making them the centerpiece.

“Blackmoore” is the type of book I would have read as a teenager, even though it’s not technically being marketed to teens. It’s clean and fast-paced with interesting plot turns and players you both love and hate. It’s a fine sophomore novel for Julianne, and I look forward to reading more from her in the future.

*The launch party for “Blackmoore” will be tomorrow, Tuesday, Sept. 10, at 7 p.m. at the King’s English Bookshop in Salt Lake City (511 S. 1500 East). Julianne will read from and sign copies of “Blackmoore.” The event goes through 9 p.m. You can also pre-order a signed copy of “Blackmoore,” by either calling the King’s English at 801-484-9100 or ordering it online.

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That’s why she writes for young adults — that and the focus of YA on the evolution of one single character. Claudia finds the defining moments and choices that shape these characters’ futures “endlessly fascinating both to write and to read.”

Claudia has written more than 10 books for young readers, both anthologies and complete novels. Among her most popular books are the Evernight series and “Fateful.” Her latest read, “Spellcaster,” came out yesterday.

“Spellcaster” is Nadia’s story. Nadia is a descendent of witches. When she moves to a new town with her father and brother, she instantly knows a dark spell has been cast over the entire area. Mateo, a town native who is waiting for his family curse to overtake him, befriends Nadia even though he fears the future he sees with her. Together they must work together to break Mateo’s curse keep the town from crumbling.

“There are a lot of paranormal/supernatural stories out right now where a young person discovers her (or his) powers, some great destiny, etc,” Claudia told Cracking the Cover. “Don’t get me wrong — I love these stories and have written a couple of them myself! But I wanted to tell a story about a heroine who already knows her place in the supernatural world and who has worked really hard for all the magic she knows. I liked the idea of showing that kind of depth to the magic and the discipline it would take to wield those powers.”

Witches are fascinating because they have THE POWER, Claudia says. “Yeah, we all love vampires, we all love werewolves — but there are such limitations on such creatures, always, whether in traditional or new mythologies, and part of the romance there is that they don’t have control over their supernatural natures. That lack of control is really the whole point. Vampires are sexy and eternally young and immortal … but they must have blood, must shun sunlight, so on and so forth.”

Witches on the other hand, are the masters of their own fates, Claudia explained. “They get to choose what spells to use, who will know about their magic and who won’t. They can go anywhere and do anything. Surely we’re all slightly drawn to the idea of having that kind of power. … Yet we also like to believe these powers might come at a price. Stories about witchcraft let you play with all the tangled feelings we have about power, especially female power.”

Claudia did very little research leading up to “Spellcaster.” She wants to be very clear that the book is only about a fantasy form of witchcraft — neither the historical versions, nor the demonic practices suggested in (invented for) the “Malleus Maleficarum,” nor the modern religion of Wicca. “Virtually all of it came from my imagination,” Claudia said. “And oh, I had so much fun coming up with a whole system of magic.”

It took “Spellcaster” a number of years to come to fruition — Claudia got the idea, wrote the core and outline and then had to put it aside so she could finish other books. Now that it’s completed, Claudia says it turned out much the way she outlined it, though a few surprises cropped up.

“The system of magic was something I worked out as I wrote, and it wound up not only being enjoyable but also a way to delve deeper into the characters,” Claudia said. “Verlaine, who was created to be the trusty ‘best friend,’ wound up being such a distinctive voice — and having such a fascinating backstory — that she almost becomes a co-lead in the later novels of the trilogy. And the villain creeped me out more than I’d anticipated!”

Claudia is currently finishing up revisions to “Steadfast,” the second book in the Spellcaster trilogy. After her tour to promote “Spellcaster” (she’ll be at the Provo, Utah, library tonight), Claudia will start work on “Can’t Get Next To You”, the first novel in an upcoming science-fiction trilogy (the Firebird series) coming from Harper starting autumn 2014. The new series which is more “new adult” than YA features Marguerite, the daughter of two famous scientists — who pursues her father’s murderer through parallel dimensions, through all the different lives she might have led.

Lauren Oliver — “Requiem”
Debra Driza — “Mila 2.0”
Claudia Gray — “Spellcaster”
Dan Wells — “Fragments”
Kiersten White — “Mind Games”
Guest appearance by Brodi Ashton — “Everbound“

Wednesday, March 6, at 7 p.m.
Provo Library
550 N. University Ave., Provo, Utah

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With those books in her arsenal, it makes sense why she writes for young readers. She’s the author of the insanely popular Delirium trilogy — “Delirium,” “Pandemonium” and “Requiem” — and the standalone novel “Before I fall” for young adults, and she’s penned two middle-grade books: “Liesl and Po” and “The Spindlers.”

“I think I’m drawn to writing young adult books because the themes of many coming-of-age stories — identity, first loves, self-definition strongly appeal to me,” Lauren told Cracking the Cover. “And I love writing middle-grade books because the first books I ever loved, the first books that ever inspired me, were written for that age group (‘The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe’; ‘Matilda’; the Redwall series). But I have an ‘adult’ novel coming out in 2014 and I think I’ll probably continue writing for all ages.”

Writing was always a part of Lauren’s life. She and her sister received lots of encouragement from their parents to live imaginatively. “We were constantly playing make-believe, scribbling down stories, inventing worlds of our own and, of course, reading,” Lauren said. “I’m not sure I always knew I’d be able to write for a living, though — for a long time, I wanted to be a ballet dancer!”

Becoming a ballerina may have not worked out for Lauren, but writing certainly did. The final book in the Delirium trilogy, “Requiem,” comes out today. And Lauren is getting ready to go on the road — she’ll be in Utah tomorrow as part of HarperCollins’ Pitch Black: Dark Days Tour (see below).

The Delirium trilogy is set in a dystopian world where love is declared a disease. The only hope is a radical cure that removes emotions. Lena is 95 days away from getting her cure when she does the unthinkable. She falls in love.

Lauren wanted to write about love — not just romantic love but love between siblings and family members and friends. “At the time, the country was in the middle of a panic about bird flu (or maybe swine flu — I always get them mixed up),” Lauren explained. “The epidemic never materialized, thankfully, and I started thinking about how easily people could be driven into a panic over fears of contagion. Then I started thinking about the fact that love bears many ‘symptoms’ in common with certain psychiatric disorders. And the idea was born.”

Lena, the series main character, just kind of came to Lauren while certain writing elements, like plotting, were carefully organized. “I have to think and plan very carefully,” Lauren said. “But other elements seem more like alchemy. Characters step onto the stage of my mind and just introduce themselves.”

Completing the trilogy has been bittersweet for Lauren. She’s lived with the same set of characters and dilemmas for more than four years. “It’s sad to leave them behind — like moving to a different state and having to make a whole new set of friends,” she said. “At the same time, there’s a relief to it. I brought the series to a conclusion, and I’m satisfied with it.”

*Read a complete transcript of Cracking the Cover’s interview with Lauren Oliver.

Lauren Oliver  — “Requiem”
Debra Driza  — “Mila 2.0”
Claudia Gray — “Spellcaster”
Dan Wells — “Fragments”
Kiersten White — “Mind Games”
Guest appearance by Brodi Ashton — “Everbound“

Wednesday, March 6, at 7 p.m.
Provo Library
550 N. University Ave., Provo, Utah

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