​We're so thrilled for this next interview with Jerry Mahoney, the author of the incredible book My Rotten Stepbrother! Before reading the interview, here are a few things about Jerry Mahoney:

Jerry Mahoney is the author of the middle grade series MY ROTTEN STEPBROTHER RUINED FAIRY TALES (Capstone, August 2017), in which an obnoxious boy points out the plot holes in his stepsister’s favorite stories and the two of them are forced to travel into the tales to fix them and restore their Happily Ever Afters. The series includes four books centering around CINDERELLA, BEAUTY & THE BEAST, ALADDIN and SNOW WHITE. Jerry has also written the middle grade novel BUTTHEADS FROM OUTER SPACE, which will be published in Spring 2018 by Sky Pony Press.
Jerry’s parenting memoir, MOMMY MAN, was published by Taylor Trade and named INDIEFAB’s silver award winner for Family & Relationships in 2014. Publishers Weekly called it an “uproarious look at the world of surrogacy.” Jerry’s parenting writing also won him the Gold Medal in personal essays from the Parenting Media Association and got him invited to conferences in Portland, San Francisco and Alexandria, Virginia. He was named one of Babble’s Top 10 humor bloggers of 2013.
Jerry has also been an active producer and story editor for reality television and game shows. His work includes Let’s Ask America (syndicated), World’s Most Amazing Videos (FOX), Most Daring (TruTV), Beauty & the Geek (The CW), Manswers (Spike), Next (MTV) and many more.
In 2009, Jerry won the grand prize in the Bluecat Screenplay Competition for his script Gladly McGee. Jerry is a graduate of Columbia University, where he won the Bennett Cerf writing prize, and of the USC Graduate Screenwriting Program, where he won the Jack Oakie Comedy Writing Award.

We couldn't be more excited to share our latest interview with you. Lately, Melody J. Bremen has become one of our favorite authors, so we were thrilled when she agreed to let us interview her. Before we start, here's a little bit about her from her website:

Melody J. Bremen spent most of her childhood in her imagination. She began writing when she was young and just never stopped. Her first novel, written at age 11, was about a cowboy who was bad and then became good.
Now she writes novels for middle-grade and young adult readers. She loves to write fantasy, mostly because you don’t have to do any research - those are the stories she finds in her mind. She also writes contemporary novels with imperfect protagonists who do big things.
Melody lives on a distant planet where all they do is write and read books. (Sometimes they eat jelly beans.) Oh, you want the truth. Well, then. She lives with her family in New Jersey, where people do normal people things. She has a faithful computer named Oswald. Other than that, she does not have any pets. She used to have a neurotic hamster named Puff, but she died. (As in, the hamster died.)

We're so thrilled for this next interview with DG Driver, the author of the incredible book NO ONE NEEDED TO KNOW! Before reading the interview, here are a few things about DG Driver:

I love to write for young adults and middle grade readers. I love to write book with diverse characters and that cover difficult topics like caring for the environment or people with special needs. Cry of the Sea, Whisper of the Woods, and Passing Notes are my contemporary fantasy novels published by Fire and Ice Young Adult Books. I also have a Middle Grade book about bully and Autism Awareness, No One Needed to Know. My first adult romance story is in Second Chance for Love (Satin Romance Books), and I have fantasy stories in the books Fantastic Creatures, Tomato Slices, and A Tall Ship, a Star, and Plunder. I love to read too - fantasy and adventure being my favorite kinds of books. 

After reading THE UGLY TEAPOT, we were eager to do an interview with Fred Holmes, the author of this spectacular book. Before we begin, here's a little bit about Mr. Holmes:

"THE UGLY TEAPOT is Fred Holmes’s first fiction novel, having previously ghost written a nonfiction book, LETTERS FROM DAD, published by Thomas Nelson. He is known primarily as a writer and director of films and television, working primarily in family films and children’s television. His work can be seen on Mary Lou Retton’s FLIP FLOP SHOP, BARNEY & FRIENDS, WISHBONE, HORSELAND, IN SEARCH OF THE HEROES, and many other shows, for which he has won two Emmys and three CINE Golden Eagles, among numerous other awards. He has also directed three feature films, including DAKOTA, starring Lou Diamond Phillips, distributed by Miramax, and HEART LAND, a Bollywood feature film shot on location in India. He lives with his wife and son in the southwest United States." (Goodreads)

One of our favorite times of the month is when we do our monthly author interviews. This month, we're thrilled to have Wendy Mass as our interviewee!

​Before the interview, here's some info about her from her website:

Wendy Mass is the New York Times bestselling author of eighteen novels for young people (which have been translated into 20 languages and nominated for 76 state book awards), including A Mango-Shaped Space (which was awarded the Schneider Family Book Award by the American Library Association), Leap Day, the Twice Upon a Time fairy tale series, Every Soul a Star, 11 Birthdays, Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall, Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, and Finally, The Candymakers, and 13 Gifts. Her latest books are The Last Present, Pi in the Sky, and a new early reader series called Space Taxi. Wendy wrote the storyline for an episode of the television show Monk, entitled “Mr. Monk Goes to the Theatre,” which aired during the show’s second season. She tells people her hobbies are hiking and photography, but really they’re collecting candy bar wrappers and searching for buried treasure with her metal detector. She lives with her family in New Jersey.

We are thrilled about this month's interviewee! We recently reviewed Be Light Like a Bird for Monika Shröder, and we loved it so much, we asked to do an interview with her. We are ecstatic that she was kind enough to say yes! Before we start the interview, here is a little bit about Monika from her Amazon bio:

"Monika Schröder grew up in Germany. She has worked as elementary school teacher and librarian in international schools in Egypt, Chile, the Sultanate of Oman, and India. She currently lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina with her husband and dog."

(KBR= Kid Book Reviewer, MS=Monika Shröder)

Hi everyone! This month, we are thrilled to announce that our interviewee is Sandy Brehl, author of Odin's Promise and Bjorn's Gift (releases October 5th, 2016). We are also doing a fantastic giveaway with Ms. Brehl - the winner receives a copy of both Odin's Promise and Bjorn's Gift, both signed by the author! 

Before we begin the interview, here are a few things about Ms. Brehl:
"Sandy Brehl is a retired educator and active member of SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators). When she's not reading and writing, she enjoys gardening. She lives in the Milwaukee area and invites you to visit her website (www.SandyBrehl.com) to learn more about ODIN'S PROMISE and BJORN'S GIFT. "


(NOTE: KBR=Kid Book Reviewers, SB=Sandy Brehl)

Atlantis Rising recently became one of my brother and my favorite books - ever. So you'd understand our excitement when we discovered Gloria Craw would be our next Author Interview. Before we begin, here is a little bit about her from her website:

1. My favorite TV show is Grimm (I ship Nick and Adalind).
2. I love McDonalds French Fries dipped in ranch dressing.
3. I generally write while sitting on the sofa or on my bed (I have desk-a-phobia).
4. Growing up, I loved Mystery novels.
5. I’ve always kind of wanted to work for the FBI.
6. I haven’t been to Italy but I really want to go.
7. My guilty pleasure is watching Olicity and Nadalind fan videos on youtube.
8. I have a dog named Timber.
9. I like Justin Bieber as much as my daughters do.
10. When no one is around, I like to drive too fast.

We both could not be more ecstatic about our next author interview - this time, with one of our more recent favorites: Michael J. Rosen, the author of the Tale of Rescue, an amazingly well-written, beautifully-illustrated, sweet tale of a cattle dog saving a family lost in a blizzard (inspired by his own dog, Chant, shown left).  We originally discovered this book through the Sweet Sixteen of Books, initiated by Olivia's teacher (her teacher selected sixteen books, which she paired up in "competitions." The books "play" against each other, the students vote for their favorite one, and then the winning book moves on to the Elite Eight, and so on). We both read it and loved it, and knew we just had to ask about the process behind this incredible book. 

Before the interview, here are a few things about Michael J. Rosen:

[Note: this biography is from Amazon.com. We have decided to only include the children's books section of his biography, because that is the most relevant :)].

For a while now, we've been reading Jacqueline Kelly's incredible books about Calpurnia Tate (Evolution of Calpurnia Tate and Curious World of Calpurnia Tate). We are ecstatic to have her as our next interview.

Before reading, here is her biography from her website:
​Jacqueline Kelly was born in New Zealand and moved with her parents to western Canada at an early age. She grew up in the dense rain forests of Vancouver Island, so you can imagine her shock some years later when her family moved to the desert of El Paso, Texas. She attended university in El Paso and medical school in Galveston (lovingly known as “Galvatraz” among the inmates). She practiced medicine for many years and then attended the University of Texas School of Law. She practiced law for several more years before realizing that what would really make her happy is to write fiction. Her first published short story appeared in 2001 in the Mississippi Review (one of her proudest accomplishments). Her debut novel, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, was released by Henry Holt on May 12, 2009 (another one of her proudest accomplishments). Her second novel, Return to the Willows, a sequel to The Wind in the Willows was released on October 30, 2012.

[KBR: Kid Book Reviewers, JK: Jacqueline Kelly. Please note that Ms. Kelly asked us to shorten the interview to four questions, instead of ten. Thanks!]