This story is as beautiful as it’s cover. It sends the reader soaring through the clouds, takes us back down to Earth, and through the trauma of heartache. It is as much a love story about flying as it is about relationships. Grace Lafferty only feels alive when she’s dangling 500 feet above ground. As a post-World War I wing walker, Grace is determined to … Continue reading Book Recommendation: Nothing But Sky
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. Today we’re featuring Me, Frida, and the Secret of the Peacock Ring by Angela Cervantes. Before we get into this fun and wonderful story, I have to give a shout out about the cover, designed by award-winning artist Rafael … Continue reading Windows & Mirrors: Me, Frida, and the Secret of the Peacock Ring
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. Today we’re featuring The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X. R. Pan. When fifteen-year-old Leigh’s Taiwanese mother commits suicide, she is visited by a great red bird who delivers a package to her from her mother with a … Continue reading Windows & Mirrors: The Astonishing Color of After
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. Today we’re featuring The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo. Fifteen-year-old Xiomara longs for the simple relationship she had with her mother before she became a curvy Afro-Latina, turning neighborhood boys’ heads despite wanting to be invisible to them. … Continue reading Windows & Mirrors: The Poet X
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
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
It’s here! The cover of the third BRAVE NEW GIRLS anthology. The newest edition, titled BRAVE NEW GIRLS: TALES OF HEROINES WHO HACK!, is a collection of twenty-three short stories featuring teen girls who hack not only computers, but any puzzle they encounter. And I’m fortunate to have one of my stories included: The Experiment Called Life. These anthologies, created and edited by sci-fi authors … Continue reading Cover Reveal! BRAVE NEW GIRLS
Welcome to a special Love Letters edition of Windows & Mirrors where we feature books that provide us windows to lives outside our own and mirrors to our shared common human experiences. A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to hear Angie Thomas, author of the National Book Award-nominated, NYT best-selling The Hate U Give, speak in New York City. I loved putting a face … Continue reading A Windows & Mirrors Love Letter – The Hate U Give
The winners of the Cybils Awards have been announced! If you haven’t heard yet, you must still be busy celebrating Valentine’s Day. The winner for the 2017 Middle Grade Speculative Fiction Category is … WAIT! First, what are the Cybils Awards? They are awards that recognize children’s and young adult authors and illustrators whose books combine the highest literary merit and popular appeal. Second, I had the pleasure of … Continue reading Cybils Awards: MG Speculative Fiction
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. Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King award winner Rita Williams Garcia’s Clayton Byrd Goes Underground is one of my favorite recent middle grade reads. Full of voice, the musicality and raw emotion of the blues, and complex family relationships, … Continue reading Windows & Mirrors: Clayton Byrd Goes Underground
Happy Valentine’s Day! The true origins of Valentine’s Day are unknown – in 496, it signified the start of spring. It was also believed Valentine was a person who gave love to the world. Similar to what we now know as Cupid? Whichever story is true, both represent joy and happiness. At The Winged Pen, we help spread happiness by talking about our love of … Continue reading The Literary Couples We Love
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. Today we’re featuring Grandma’s Purse authored and illustrated by the amazing Vanessa Brantley-Newton. I fell in love with Vanessa Brantley-Newton’s art the first time I laid eyes on it. Her illustrations are always bustling with energy and … Continue reading Windows & Mirrors: Grandma’s Purse
