Karen Cushman
Newbery award-winning children’s book author
The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators congratulates Jennifer Sommer of Kettering, Ohio, as the award winner for authors over the age of fifty who have not been traditionally published in the children’s literature field. Jennifer received an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Hamline University and has worked as a children’s librarian for twenty years.
For years I have said that Catherine, Called Birdy is the love child of Rosemary Sutcliffe and Adrian Mole. Now Adrian is getting his own musical. I suggest you read or reread the book and then lobby to bring the show here. We could get Adrian Mole T-shirts! “Next year the Curve Theatre in Leicester will premiere The Secret Diary of
Is a novel set in 1988 a historical novel? I’m sure every ten-year-old would say yes although I think of 1988 as just yesterday. Megan Jean Sovern’sThe Meaning of Maggie is set in 1988. I didn’t even think of it as historical until days later. I just thought it a terrific book, charming and touching. Smart, funny, stubborn Maggie deals
Curses and Smoke by Vicky Alvear Schecter introduces us to Lucia, the daughter of the owner of a gladiatorial school in Pompeii, and her childhood friend, Tag, a slave who tends to the wounds of injured gladiators. Lucia is unwillingly betrothed to an older man who will invest in her father’s school, and Tag hopes to become a gladiator and
Catherine, Called Birdy blew my mind. It might have been the first time it occurred to me that history was stories and not just dates and proper names. That story wedged its way into my subconscious and I am sure had no small role to play when I set out to write my first story based on history. Karen Cushman showed
The first time I read Catherine, Called Birdy wasn’t all that long ago, only about six years ago. But the first time I heard about it was in January of 1995, at ALA Midwinter. This was my first time attending ALA, so I was thrilled just to be there and not sure what to expect. I’ll admit to being a little
Catherine, Called Birdy is one of my favorite books to recommend. I know the reader will have an amazing journey through history with a strong, tenacious, witty, imaginative character. So often, once they have read Catherine, they come back for more of Karen’s books. Congratulation, Karen your books are so essential for our Kids. Thank you, Nancy Katica Vashon Bookshop
Professor Nancy Roser, of the University of Texas at Austin, shaped a poem from her children’s literature seminar students’ resonant phrases after they read Catherine, Called Birdy. Prof. Rosen framed the poem with a page from the original manuscript, which she studied at the Kerlan Collection of the University of Minnesota, where my working materials are housed. Thank you to
When I first came across Karen Cushman’s books, it was the ‘90s. Back then, I was a mess (and that’s putting it nicely). I was a graduate school drop-out who wanted to write fiction. Unfortunately, every time I put pen to paper (or more accurately, fingers to keyboard) I felt physically nauseous. I had a bad case of writer’s block, something
It’s hard to believe it’s been twenty years since Birdy burst upon the scene, tangling her yarn and scaring off suitors, bringing the fleas and rats and dirt of the 14th century into the family rooms of the 20th century, enchanting us with her indomitable spirit and making room in our hearts, as Karen Cushman says in her author’s note,
