Middle Grade Greats: Alice Hoffman, Jeanne Birdsall, R.J. Palacio, Bruce Coville, Rebecca Stead

Join five brilliant middle-grade writers at the Cambridge Public Library.

Alice Hoffman (Nightbird) is the bestselling author of nearly twenty acclaimed novels beloved by teens and adults, including Aquamarine and Practical Magic, both made into major motion pictures, as well as The Foretelling, Green Angel, The Ice Queen, and Here on Earth (an Oprah Book Club selection). She has also written the highly praised story collections Local Girls and Blackbird House.

Jeanne Birdsall (The Penderwicks in Spring) is the National Book Award-winning author of The Penderwicks and its sequel, The Penderwicks on Gardam Street, both of which were also New York Times bestsellers. She lives in Northampton, Massachusetts with her husband, three insane cats, and a stubborn Boston terrier named Cagney. Visit her website at www.jeannebirdsall.com.

R.J. Palacio (Auggie & Me) lives in New York City with her husband, two sons, and two dogs. For more than twenty years, she was an editorial director, an art director, and a graphic designer working on books for other people while waiting for the perfect time in her life to start writing her own novel. But one day several years ago, a chance encounter with an extraordinary child in front of an ice cream store made R.J. realize that the perfect time to write that book had finally come. Learn more about the author at RJPalacio.com.

Bruce Coville (Diary of a Mad Brownie) grew up around the corner from his grandparents' dairy farm, where he spent a great deal of time dodging cows (and chores) and reading voraciously. He has been a toymaker, a gravedigger, a cookware salesman, an assembly line worker, a magazine editor, and an elementary school teacher. Bruce's books have appeared in more than a dozen countries and have sold more than sixteen million copies. Among his most popular titles are My Teacher Is an Alien; Into the Land of Unicorns; and Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher. He is also the founder of Full Cast Audio, an award-winning audio book company specializing in family listening (www.fullcastaudio.com).

Rebecca Stead (Goodbye Stranger) went to the kind of elementary school where a person could sit on a windowsill or even under a table to read a book, and no one told you to come out and be serious. After trying to be serious as a lawyer for a while, she decided to be a full-time writer. Her book When You Reach Me was awarded the Newbery Medal in 2010 and was a New York Times bestseller. She lives in New York City with her family.

Event date: 

Monday, September 28, 2015 - 6:00pm

Event address: 

Cambridge Public Library
449 Broadway
Cambridge, MA 02138
The Penderwicks in Spring By Jeanne Birdsall Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9780375870774
Availability: Available to Order from Supplier: Arrives at Store in a Week(ish)
Published: Knopf Books for Young Readers - March 24th, 2015

Auggie & Me: Three Wonder Stories By R. J. Palacio Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9781101934852
Availability: Available to Order from Supplier: Arrives at Store in a Week(ish)
Published: Knopf Books for Young Readers - August 18th, 2015

The Enchanted Files: Diary of a Mad Brownie By Bruce Coville Cover Image
$16.99
It's Complicated--Contact Us for More Information
ISBN: 9780385392471
Published: Random House Books for Young Readers - June 30th, 2015

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Goodbye Stranger By Rebecca Stead Cover Image
$16.99
It's Complicated--Contact Us for More Information
ISBN: 9780385743174
Published: Wendy Lamb Books - August 4th, 2015