Windows and Mirrors: ONE TRUE WAY
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. I’m happy to be able to talk about ONE TRUE WAY by Shannon Hitchcock. This is the story of Allie Drake, a middle school girl figuring out how she fits into the world. Welcome to Daniel Boone Middle School … Continue reading Windows and Mirrors: ONE TRUE WAY
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
Windows & Mirrors: AMAL UNBOUND
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 are featuring Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed. Amal lives in a quiet, ordinary Pakistani village. An excellent student who dreams of being a teacher one day, she loves school and hanging out with her family and friends. But … Continue reading Windows & Mirrors: AMAL UNBOUND
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
June Four on 400 Feedback
Thank you to all the brave souls who entered this month’s Four on 400 contest! Sharing your writing takes courage, and we appreciate your enthusiasm for our contest.Below, we’ve posted the first 400 words from this month’s winner, along with feedback from at least four of our members. We also encourage our readers to share their (constructive) suggestions and encouragement in the comments section below. Young Adult: … Continue reading June Four on 400 Feedback
Interview with Kate Hillyer: Raised by Unicorns: Stories from People with LGBTQ+ Parents
I’m thrilled to announce a new anthology available today: RAISED BY UNICORNS: STORIES FROM PEOPLE WITH LBGTQ+ PARENTS. And even more excited that our own Kate Hillyer has an essay featured inside. In recent years, the world has been saturated by endless blogs, articles, and books devoted to the subject of LGBTQ+ parenting. On the flip side, finding stories written by the children of LGBTQ+ … Continue reading Interview with Kate Hillyer: Raised by Unicorns: Stories from People with LGBTQ+ Parents
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
THE FRAME-UP with Wendy McLeod MacKnight
You might remember Wendy from an interview last year when her debut IT’S A MYSTERY PIGFACE! hit the shelves. Well, she’s at it again with book two, THE FRAME-UP. How did you know that the idea for THE FRAME-UP was your next book and how did it all come about? I struggled a bit to decide what I would write next, and one night, … Continue reading THE FRAME-UP with Wendy McLeod MacKnight
June Four on 400 Contest!
Q: What is Four on 400? A monthly contest that provides ONE LUCKY MG or YA WRITER with feedback on their opening 400 WORDS! As part of our ongoing mission to support writers, we’ll give a MG or YA writer feedback on their work from four of The Winged Pen’s contributors. Q: Sounds exciting! How do I enter? To enter, simply comment at the bottom of this post! At 4pm (EST) … Continue reading June Four on 400 Contest!
Book Recommendation: The Heart and Mind of Frances Pauley
Today we’re featuring The Heart and Mind of Frances Pauley by April Stevens This novel does so many things well (see reviews below), and there are many layers to explore, but a particularly wonderful one is what it’s like to have an extra-inquisitive, quirky mind. I taught in a classroom for highly gifted children, as well as a regular education room, and the label “gifted” … Continue reading Book Recommendation: The Heart and Mind of Frances Pauley
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
Windows & Mirrors: Kelly Yang’s FRONT DESK
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 Front Desk by Kelly Yang! Fifth-grader and immigrant Mia lives with her Chinese parents in a small room at the Calivista Hotel. When they arrived in America, they expected to work hard but they had … Continue reading Windows & Mirrors: Kelly Yang’s FRONT DESK