Alan Gratz | Chapter 16

Anything So Dangerous and Painful as Hope

Alan Gratz’s Ground Zero contrasts the terrors of 9/11 with a day in war-torn Afghanistan

By Tina Chambers | February 2, 2021

In Ground Zero, possibly his most heart-wrenching middle-grade book yet, Knoxville native Alan Gratz weaves the terror of 9/11 and the pain of the ongoing war in Afghanistan into a story whose relentless pace and nonstop suspense ensure readers feel every bit of it. Gratz will discuss Ground Zero at a virtual event hosted by Parnassus Books in Nashville on February 12.

To Every Reader Her Book

In Ban This Book by Alan Gratz, a timid bookworm comes out of her shell

By Kathryn Justice Leache | November 1, 2017

Alan Gratz’s new middle-grade novel, Ban This Book, is a powerful primer on the dangers of censorship and a heartwarming tribute to libraries and intellectual freedom, all in a fun-to-read package.

See Us. Hear Us. Help Us.

In his new middle-grade novel, Alan Gratz illuminates the universal plight of refugees

By Tina Chambers | August 8, 2017

Alan Gratz has distilled the horrors of Nazi Germany, Castro’s Cuba, and the Syrian refugee crisis into a beautifully written, heart-wrenching balancing act between three pre-teen protagonists separated by decades but united by courage. Gratz will discuss Refugee at the Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 13-15.

I Gotta Sing!

By Alice Faye Duncan
WaterBrook
40 pages
$14.99

“A whole barnyard makes noise ‘in the Spirit of joy’ throughout this raucous picture book, a sweetly heartwarming sing-along by Duncan. Kellam conveys comfort and happiness as the loved ones reflect sunny enthusiasm in this gladdening rendition of the Black American religious folk song ‘I’m Goin’a Sing When the Spirit Says Sing.’”

~Publishers Weekly