Author: Rebecca J. Allen

REBECCA J. ALLEN (she/her) writes middle grade stories that blend mystery and adventure & young adult stories with kick-butt heroines. Her latest stories areMy Cat Can't Tell Time (But I Can) + 3 other books in the Math All Around series. When not writing, she likes to hike, bike, watch spy thrillers, and grow yummy things in her garden. You can find her at rebeccajallen.com.
Book Recommendations, Young Adult

Recommended: HULLMETAL GIRLS by Emily Skrutskie

Publisher’s Description Aisha Un-Haad would do anything for her family. When her brother contracts a plague, she knows her janitor’s salary isn’t enough to fund his treatment. So she volunteers to become a Scela, a mechanically enhanced soldier sworn to protect and serve the governing body of the Fleet, the collective of starships they call home. If Aisha can survive the harrowing modifications and earn … Continue reading Recommended: HULLMETAL GIRLS by Emily Skrutskie

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Author, Book Recommendations, Interviews, Young Adult

Launch of BRAVE NEW GIRLS: TALES OF HEROINES WHO HACK and Interview with Contributor, Halli Gomez

We Pennies are very excited about the Brave New Girls anthology because one of our own, Halli Gomez, contributed a short story to this year’s edition. Halli’s here to talk about the anthology and her story today! Publisher’s Description Welcome to the sci-fi worlds of brainy teen heroines who hack not just computers, but whatever puzzles come their way. A scrappy mechanic on an oppressed … Continue reading Launch of BRAVE NEW GIRLS: TALES OF HEROINES WHO HACK and Interview with Contributor, Halli Gomez

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Author, Conferences & writing retreats, Interviews, Publishing & Promotion

Writer’s Digest Annual Conference Success Story: YA Thriller Author, Tiffany D. Jackson

Writer’s Digest Annual Conference asked us to be their promotional partner this year. We love writers’ conferences—for inspirations, to improve our craft, and to meet and network with other writers, agents and editors, so we were happy to say yes! To announce this partnership, we invited Writer’s Digest to share a guest post highlighting the success story of Tiffany Jackson, author of the YA thriller … Continue reading Writer’s Digest Annual Conference Success Story: YA Thriller Author, Tiffany D. Jackson

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News, Writer's Life

A New Look and More – The Content You Need Is Now Easier to Find on the New Winged Pen Website

The Winged Pen is 2 ¼ years old! We may not have served a cake with two lit candles when the big day came around, but we did make a wish. We wanted a new website. After publishing 2-4 posts a week every week for two years, we realized we had a lot of info in our archives that new readers never saw. Since I … Continue reading A New Look and More – The Content You Need Is Now Easier to Find on the New Winged Pen Website

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Book Recommendations, Young Adult

Recommended: LIFEL1K3 by Jay Kristoff

Publisher’s Description On an island junkyard beneath a sky that glows with radiation, a deadly secret lies buried in the scrap. Seventeen-year-old Eve isn’t looking for trouble–she’s too busy looking over her shoulder. The robot gladiator she spent months building has been reduced to a smoking wreck, she’s on the local gangster’s wanted list, and the only thing keeping her grandpa alive is the money … Continue reading Recommended: LIFEL1K3 by Jay Kristoff

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Book Recommendations, Young Adult

Recommended: BLOOD WILL OUT by Jo Treggiari

Publisher’s Description Ari Sullivan is alive–for now. She wakes at the bottom of a cistern, confused, injured and alone, with only the shadowy recollection of a low-pitched voice and a gloved hand. No one can hear her screams. And the person who put her there is coming back. The killer is planning a gruesome masterpiece, a fairytale tableau of innocence and blood, meticulously designed. Until … Continue reading Recommended: BLOOD WILL OUT by Jo Treggiari

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Book Recommendations, Windows & Mirrors, Young Adult

Recommended: ALLEGEDLY by Tiffany Jackson

Publisher’s Description Orange Is the New Black meets Walter Dean Myer’s Monster in this gritty, twisty, and haunting debut by Tiffany D. Jackson about a girl convicted of murder seeking the truth while surviving life in a group home. Mary B. Addison killed a baby. Allegedly. She didn’t say much in that first interview with detectives, and the media filled in the only blanks that … Continue reading Recommended: ALLEGEDLY by Tiffany Jackson

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Author, Book Recommendations, Interviews, Middle Grade

Recommended: BOY BITES BUG by Rebecca Petruck

Publisher’s Description Will didn’t plan to eat a stinkbug. But when his friend Darryl called new kid Eloy Herrera a racial slur, Will did it as a diversion. Now Will is Bug Boy, and everyone is cracking up inventing insect meals for him, like French flies and maggot-aroni and fleas. Turns out eating bugs for food is a real thing, called entomophagy. Deciding that means … Continue reading Recommended: BOY BITES BUG by Rebecca Petruck

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Book Recommendations, Writer's Life, Young Adult

Fangirl Report: LOVE, SIMON

Several Winged Pen members loved Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli. A couple of us saw the movie adaptation last weekend. We’ve been fangirling behind the scenes and thought it would be fun to chat about the book/movie here and to invite our readers to join the conversation. We’ve never tried a post like this, but we thought we’d give it a … Continue reading Fangirl Report: LOVE, SIMON

Rebecca J. Allen5 Comments
Author, Conferences & writing retreats, Interviews, Writer's Life

Behinds the Scenes with Sera Rivers – Co-Director of the New England SCBWI Conference

Today I’m excited to talk with Sera Rivers. Sera is Co-Director of the 2018 New England SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) Conference, along with Loretta Kapinos. The New England conference is the largest regional SCBWI conference with over 650 attendees annually. Sera’s also an editor and YA author, and winner of the 2016 PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Children’s Book Discovery … Continue reading Behinds the Scenes with Sera Rivers – Co-Director of the New England SCBWI Conference

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Book Recommendations, Nonfiction, Windows & Mirrors, Young Adult

Windows & Mirrors: HIDDEN FIGURES by Margot Lee Shetterly

Welcome to Windows & Mirrors where we feature books that provide us windows to lives outside our own and mirrors to our shared common human experiences. March is Women’s History Month, so today we are featuring Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly. Hidden Figures is the untold story of the black women mathematicians who helped win the space race. My daughter and I saw Hidden Figures … Continue reading Windows & Mirrors: HIDDEN FIGURES by Margot Lee Shetterly

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young adult books, book review
Book Recommendations, Young Adult

Recommended: Unearthed by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

Publisher’s Description When Earth intercepts a message from a long-extinct alien race, it seems like the solution humanity has been waiting for. The Undying’s advanced technology has the potential to undo environmental damage and turn lives around, and their message leads to the planet Gaia, a treasure trove waiting to be explored. For Jules Addison and his fellow scholars, the discovery of an ancient alien … Continue reading Recommended: Unearthed by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

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