Author Biography | Interview | Books by this Author | Readalikes
Clare Vanderpool lives in Wichita, Kansas, about four blocks from where she grew up, in an old neighborhood called College Hill. She grew up reading many wonderful books, with favorites including Harold and the Purple Crayon, Anne of Green Gables, and Island of the Blue Dolphins. She has a college degree in English and Elementary Education, but says that her "best education has come from reading, listening to family stories, looking out the car window on road trips, pretending to be pirates with my brother, and just plain imagining."
About This Biography
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In two separate interviews Clare Vanderpool explains how her schooling at Blessed Sacrament Elementary School in Wichita influenced her 2010 Newberry Award-winning novel, Moon Over Manifest and the challenges of writing her second novel, Navigating Early
A Conversation with Clare Vanderpool about Navigating Early
Congratulations on winning the Newbery Medal
for Moon Over Manifest. What was it like writing
your next book, Navigating Early, after winning
this prestigious award?
It was challenging. Fortunately, I was well into the
story before the Newbery was announced. Part of the
challenge, even before the Newbery, was just getting
acquainted with and really falling in love with these
new characters and spending time figuring out the
story they have to tell. Of course, winning a Newbery
on a first book does come with a certain amount of
pressure. I knew the next book would be ripe for
comparison. I really had to work at setting aside
thoughts of expectations and comparisons and just
let the story take its course. Jack and Early are fairly
assertive characters and, once I could let go a little,
they were more than willing to take the lead.
Where do ...
Gennifer Choldenko's first novel, Notes from a Liar and Her Dog, was a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year and a California Book Award winner. Her second novel, Al Capone Does My Shirts, was a Newbery Honor Book and ... (more)
If you enjoyed:
Navigating Early
Try:
Al Capone Shines My Shoes
by Gennifer Choldenko
Christopher Paul Curtis is the author of five books for children, including The Watsons Go to Birmingham- 1963, Mr. Chickee’s Messy Mission, and Bud, Not Buddy, which was the first book ever to receive book the Newbery ... (more)
If you enjoyed:
Navigating Early
Try:
Bud, Not Buddy
by Christopher Paul Curtis
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