Welcome Deborah Underwood!

Deborah was the SCBWI Crystal Kite Winner for California/Hawaii.

Deborah Underwood worked as a street musician, puzzle writer, jewelry maker, and administrative assistant before embarking upon her career as a children’s author. Her books include The Quiet Book, A Balloon for Isabel, Granny Gomez & Jigsaw, and the easy reader Pirate Mom. She co-writes the Sugar Plum Ballerina chapter book series with Whoopi Goldberg, and has written over 25 nonfiction books on topics ranging from smallpox to ballroom dancing.

The Quiet Book, illustrated by Renata Liwska (Houghton Mifflin, 2010) catalogues the various types of quiets that fill a child’s day: everything from first one awake quiet to thinking of a good reason you were drawing on the wall quiet. A companion volume, The Loud Book, was published in 2011.

Website: DeborahUnderwoodBooks.com

Twitter: underwoodwriter

Facebook: facebook.com/deborahunderwood

Mailing list: http://bit.ly/feaNLL

Welcome Tammi Sauer!

Tammi won the 2011 SCBWI Crystal Kite for Texas/Oklahoma.

Children's book author Tammi Sauer has sold nine picture books to a number of major publishing houses: Bloomsbury, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Simon & Schuster, and Sterling.

Bernadette was mostly monsterly. But underneath the fangs and fur she had a deep...dark...secret. She has (gasp!) a sweet side.

Mostly Monsterly won the 2011 SCBWI Crystal Kite Award and the 2011 Oklahoma Book Award. It has also been named a 2010 Scholastic Parent & Child Best Book of the Year.

In addition to writing, Tammi loves to visit schools, read, ski, spend time with family and friends, go to the movies, and eat out as often as possible. What is more, she is hopelessly addicted to checking her email. Tammi and her family live in Edmond, Oklahoma, with way too many pets. To learn more about Tammi, please visit www.tammisauer.com.

Welcome Kathryn Erskine!

Kathryn was the Crystal Kite winner for Pennysylvania/Delaware/New Jersey/Wash DC/Virginia/West Virginia/ Maryland for her novel Mockingbird



Kathryn Erskine, a lawyer-turned-author, grew up in six countries, an experience that helps her view life, and her writing, from different perspectives. While covering weighty topics, her books have warmth and humor, making difficult issues approachable. Her novel, MOCKINGBIRD (Philomel 2010), won the (U.S.) 2010 National Book Award, the 2011 International Reading Association's Award for Middle Grade Fiction, the 2011 Crystal Kite Award, and other honors. Her latest novel, THE ABSOLUTE VALUE OF MIKE (Philomel, June 2011) is a Junior Library Guild selection and ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults nominee. QUAKING (Philomel 2007) was a 2008 Bank Street Best Book of the Year and a 2008 American Library Association Top Ten Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers. She is a writing instructor and frequent workshop presenter. And she eats way too much chocolate.

MOCKINGBIRD is the story of tolerance and healing as Caitlin, a girl with Asperger's, comes to terms with the death of her beloved older brother after a school shooting.

You can learn more about Kathryn at her website, blog, Facebook and Twitter

Welcome Marsha!

Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch's novel Stolen Child is the Crystal Kite Winner for the Americas, which encompasses Canada, Mexico, Central and South America.


She has received numerous awards and honours for her dozen-plus children's books.

In addition to receiving the Crystal Kite, Stolen Child was shortlisted for the Canadian Children's Book of the Year, it is a starred CCBC selection, has been nominated for three provincial readers' choice awards, and was named a best book of the year by both Resource Links and the Ontario Library Association.

Surprisingly, up until the fourth grade, Marsha did not know how to read! She says that after she failed a provincial test, she taught herself how to read with Oliver Twist– a large novel that took her a year to complete. Ever since, Marsha read as many books as she could get her hands on, and had a new dream of becoming an author. After completing an English and Library Science degree, backpacking across Europe, and working for an industrial sales company, Marsha eventually focused on writing. After a hundred rejections, her first book was published in 1996.

about the book:

Nadia arrives in Canada after the end of World War II, from the Displaced Persons’ camp where she has spent the last five years. But troubling memories and dreams begin to haunt her. Who is she really? She sees images of another family, Nazi uniforms, Hitler . . . but can she believe what her dreams are telling her?

Links:
www.calla.com
http://marsha-s.livejournal.com/
http://twitter.com/marshaskrypuch

Welcome Ann Angel

Crystal Kite Winner for Minnesota/Iowa/Nebraska/Wisconsin/Illinois/Michigan/Indiana/Ohio

Ann Angel believes it was amazing fortune that brought Janis Joplin’s music and style into her life when, as a teen, she preferred writing bad poetry and drawing to Janis’s songs over following along with the popular girls. It was that same influence that encouraged Ann to live her own life without compromise.

Since then, Ann has written many young adult biographies. She served as contributing editor for the highly acclaimed Such a Pretty Face, Short Stories About Beauty and is working on young adult fiction. In addition to winning an SCBWI Crystal Kite Award and this year’s Kingery/Derleth Award for Book-length Nonfiction from the Council for Wisconsin Writers, Janis Joplin: Rise Up Singing has received the ALA’s 2011 YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award as well as starred reviews and many other awards. A graduate of Vermont College’s MFA in writing for children and young adults, Ann lives in Wisconsin with her family and teaches writing at Mount Mary College in Milwaukee. She’s working on both fiction and biography these days. You can contact Ann through her web site: www.annangelwriter.com

Crystal Kite sticker

The Crystal Kite Award that There Was an Old Sailor won recently has it's own shiny sticker, in silver and blue. Blends beautifully with Cassandra's colour palette!


And this is what it looks like in situ.

The SCBWI is pleased to announce the winners of the inaugural 2011 Crystal Kite Member Choice Awards.

The Crystal Kite Awards are given by the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators to recognize great books from the 70 SCBWI regions around the world. Along with the SCBWI Golden Kite Awards, the Crystal Kite Awards are chosen by other children’s book writers and illustrators, making them the only peer-given awards in publishing for young readers.

Why am I posting this?
Guess who was the winner for the Australia/New Zealand region?


Yup. There Was An Old Sailor! It's been a good week.