Children & YA | Chapter 16

Sepetys's Golden Kite

Nashvillian Ruta Sepetys has won the Golden Kite Award for Fiction, another prestigious honor for her acclaimed debut young-adult novel, Between Shades of Gray

By Serenity Gerbman | March 9, 2012

March 9, 2012 Nashvillian Ruta Sepetys has won the Golden Kite Award for Fiction from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Ilustrators (SCBWI), another prestigious honor for her acclaimed debut young-adult novel Between Shades of Gray. Sepetys will be given the award, along with a $2,500 cash prize, at the organization’s annual meeting in August.

What a Poem Leaves Out

Marvin Bell talks with Chapter 16 about what makes poetry different from prose

By Pablo Tanguay | February 15, 2012

February 15, 2012 Marvin Bell has written twenty-three books of poems and taught for more than forty years at The Iowa Writers’ Workshop, but he is hardly slowing down. In 2011 alone, he published a new book of poems (Vertigo: The Living Dead Man Poems), a children’s book (A Primer about the Flag), and a collaboration with the photographer Nathan Lyons (Whiteout). He also frequently performs his poems with musicians, including jazz bassist Glen Moore and his own son, the Tennessee-based singer/songwriter Nathan Bell. Marvin Bell will read from his work on February 20 at 4:30 p.m. in the Tom Jackson Building on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro. The event is free and open to the public.

Our Own True Selves

In a novel for middle-grade readers, Silas House and Neela Vaswani invent a pair of pen pals whose letters bridge their cultural divide

By Tina LoTufo | February 9, 2012

February 9, 2012 Same Sun Here, a new middle-grade novel by Silas House and Neela Vaswani, examines what happens when people find a way to overcome social barriers and make a real connection to another person—no matter how “other” the other may seem. In the process, the authors suggest, they might find that the things which unite them—love for family, dreams for the future, and a belief in the necessity of justice and compassion for all—are greater than the circumstances which separate them.

"A Refreshingly Honest Story"

Buzz is building for a new children’s book by Silas House and Neela Vaswani

By Margaret Renkl | January 5, 2012

January 5, 2012 Former Harrogate poet and novelist Silas House tends to be published by small literary presses without a huge budget for marketing, but his books always seem to find their way into the national spotlight anyway. Consider what Publisher’s Weekly has to say–in a starred review, no less–about Same Sun Here, the new middle-grade novel by House and his coauthor, Neela Vaswani:

“Heartbreaking, Searing, and Lyrically Written”

Nashville novelist Ruta Sepetys has had the kind of year every debut novelist dreams of

By Fernanda Moore | December 13, 2011

December 13, 2011 “I felt a weighty responsibility to get this story right—for history, for my heritage, and for these survivors—especially the survivors,” Ruta Sepetys told Publisher’s Weekly before her debut novel was released. “Because this chapter of history remained secret, no one had ever celebrated their bravery or consoled their regrets.” As a raft of awards and stellar notices has since attested, Sepetys’s message has come through loud and clear. Chapter 16 looks back on a year of raves for Between Shades of Gray.

No Sophomore Slump

With an international prize and a new six-figure book deal, the good news just keeps coming for Ruta Sepetys

By Fernanda Moore | November 30, 2011

November 30, 2011 Published in twenty-nine countries to rave reviews around the world, Between Shades of Gray, the bestselling debut novel by Ruta Sepetys, is a writer’s wildest dream come true. Now the Nashville author has signed a six-figure book deal and become the first American to win the prestigious Prix RTL-Lire, a French prize for the best novel for young people published in the last year. Fresh from the gala at the Petit Palais in Paris, Sepetys answered questions from Chapter 16 about her literary influences, the connections she’s forged with the descendants of Baltic refugees or deportees, and the much-discussed “darkness” of literature pitched to an adolescent audience.

Camilla and the Caterpillars

By Frances Figart, illustrated by Matt Brass
Smokies Life
68 pages
$14.95

A young girl’s encounter with an extraordinary caterpillar in the Great Smoky Mountains leads her and her family on a quest to plant a national park right in their own backyard.

This environmentally themed chapter book for ages 6 through 11 introduces young readers to important ecological concepts including habitat loss and the interdependence of native species and offers a compelling grassroots solution through native-plant gardening that invites anyone to take part in addressing the growing biodiversity crisis.

~the publisher