We sit down with two local authors who publish fiction for young adults.
Charles Benoit is the author of Snow Job. Does who you are in high school brand you for life? Nick sure hopes not. It's senior year, and he has decided that his loser friends may be going nowhere fast, but he "isn't." Instead, Nick has created the perfect list of rules for remaking his life. But meeting dark-eyed Dawn and hanging out with teen thug Zod are nowhere on that list. And making illegal deliveries "definitely" isn't on it. So why is Nick caught up with these people and their dangerous schemes? Will Nick's list help him to be a hero or turn him into a fall guy? Benoit's teen novels include Cold Calls, Snow Job, Fall from Grace and You, an American Library Association Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. A former high school teacher, Charles is also the Edgar-nominated author of three adult mysteries. He lives in Rochester, New York.
Linda Sue Park is the author of Forest of Wonders and Yaks Yak.
Forest of Wonders is a captivating fantasy-adventure about a boy, a bat, and an amazing transformation. Raffa Santana has always loved the mysterious Forest of Wonders. For a gifted young apothecary like him, every leaf could unleash a kind of magic. When an injured bat crashes into his life, Raffa invents a cure from a rare crimson vine that he finds deep in the Forest. His remedy saves the animal but also transforms it into something much more than an ordinary bat, with far-reaching consequences. Raffa's experiments lead him away from home to the forbidding city of Gilden, where troubling discoveries make him question whether exciting botanical inventions including his own might actually threaten the very creatures of the Forest he wants to protect. The first book in an enchanting trilogy, Forest of Wonders richly explores the links between magic and botany, family and duty, environment and home.
Yaks Yak presents animals acting out the verbs made from their names. Illustrations rich in comic details show hogs hogging, slugs slugging, and other spirited creatures demonstrating homographs, words with different meanings that are spelled and pronounced the same. A chart listing the words, their meanings, and their history is included. Ideal for sharing, this book offers a sprightly and fanciful introduction to a fun form of wordplay. Born in Illinois, Ms. Park has also lived in California, England, and Ireland. She and her husband, a journalist, now live in Rochester, New York, and have two grown children.
