Author+Spotlight

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=Gregory Maguire=

How Early Library Experiences Helped a Young Reader Become a Successful Writer
Author Gregory Maguire Photo by Andy Newman = = Gregory Maguire, author of the bestseller //Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West// (inspiration for the Tony-awarding musical, //Wicked//) as well as many other acclaimed books for children, young adults, and adults, credits the Pruyn Library in Albany, New York, with nurturing a love of reading and a desire to express his unique imagination through writing.
 * By Karen Balkin, **** JLG Columnist (This article appears in the Junior Library Guild Newsletter for the month of October 2011) **

Maguire comes from a family of writers: his father was a journalist, his stepmother a poet, and several of his siblings are writers, as well. It’s no surprise that he wrote in //Something about the Author Autobiography Series// (SAAS), “Our parents shared a love of reading and the written and spoken word, and the ceremony of a young Maguire getting his or her first library card was treated with as much solemn joy as a First Communion or a birthday.”

As a child just beginning to discover books and the treasures of the library, fairy tales and fantasy stories were his favorites. Maguire spent hours in various branches of the Albany Public Library immersed in wonderful books, absorbing their magic. Favorites included novels by Edward Eager, Madeleine L’Engle, Jane Langton, E. B. White. In the library, he could follow his imagination wherever it led him. In fact, he said in an interview in the Online Computer Library Center, Inc., (OCLC) quarterly publication, //Next Space//, that he considers libraries “the ultimate in hypermedia—a library is a maze that delivers you where you didn’t know you wanted to be.”

Another favorite novel of his—perhaps of most writers of his age!—was //Harriet the Spy//, Learning from that master writer-apprentice, he kept a journal as a child and spied on other library patrons. How proud, and a little worried, he was to see his own youngest child deep in //Harriet the Spy// this past summer.

Maguire began writing his own stories when he was 7 years old and created over a hundred—including novels—by the time he was seventeen. He has published nearly two dozen books for children—JLG selections among them—and seven novels for adults. The most recent, //Out of Oz//, is brought out in November, and completes the story cycle begun with //Wicked//.

Now, at 57, he continues to write and remains a staunch advocate for children’s literacy and libraries. For a quarter century he was codirector and founding board member of a nonprofit educational charity, Children’s Literature New England (CLNE), which promotes “an awareness of the significance of literature in the lives of children.” He has also worked with OCLC in Columbus, OH, to raise awareness of critical library issues, help create more informed dialog, and help libraries demonstrate their value.

Maguire has lived abroad in England and Ireland, and now divides his time between homes in France and in New England where, with his family, including three school-aged children, he shares his love of reading, writing, and libraries.

This time I’m not going to really tell you anything about our spotlight author. I’m going to send you on a journey of discovery! To whet your appetite for his books, I am going to send you to a couple of web sites.

Start checking out his web page at fallsapart.com. While you are there, I think you’d really like the video posted in the WATCH! section.

After you’ve checked out his site, go to teensreadtoo.com and read the review posted there by a teen reviewer of the book chosen for this year’s Adams County Reads One Book, Sherman Alexie’s //The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian.//

Check out some youtube.com footage as well

Sherman Alexie on His Love of Hoops

Reading "My Sharona"

Sherman Alexie speaking on a television show in Los Angeles. Personal reflections where you really see his humor!



Laurie Halse Anderson is an award winning author of books for young adults. Her best known novel, //Speak,// won the Michael Printz Award. It has remained one of the most popular YA novels since its release over ten years ago. Because it deals with a sensitive topic, this novel has also been the target of would-be censors. One teacher who had to defend the book's use in her school contacted Ms. Anderson prompting a national movement called "Speak Up" that works to defend our 1st Amendment Rights. Find a great reading by Anderson of a poem she wrote based on the letters she has received from teens who read //Speak// and were moved to write to her by going to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic1c_MaAMOI



Anderson's newest novel is //Wintergirls,// a novel that is a moving story of a girl with anorexia. Watch a trailer created for this book by following the link below:

You can check out Laurie Halse Anderson further by reading:



or by going to:

Her website at http://madwomanintheforest.com/

Her Twitter feed at http://twitter.com/halseanderson

Her Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/writerlady

Her blog at http://halseanderson.livejournal.com/

Her author page at goodreads.com http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/10003.Laurie_Halse_Anderson