Podcast appearances and mentions of anne ursu

Minnesota has a rich literary scene and one way to find books by local authors is to check out the annual list of finalists for the Minnesota Book Awards. For the first time since 2006, anthologies are a category on that list. These are collections of stories, poems, and even visual art that are organized around a theme. The stories in one of the finalist works this year may be familiar to anyone who's stumbled into a deep conversation in a bathroom or on a bus. In fact, the idea for “Locker Room Talk: Women in Private Spaces” came to co-editor Michelle Filkins after she witnessed one of those moments. She joins MPR News host Nina Moini along with New York Times bestselling author Alison McGhee, who is one of the writers featured in the anthology.MPR News has spoken with a number of writers on the list of 2025 Minnesota Book Award finalists, including Louise Erdrich, Mubanga Kalimamukwento, and Anne Ursu, as well as Graywolf Press, which is nominated for its 50th anniversary poetry collection.

Host Jo Reed and AudioFile's Emily Connelly discuss a middle-grade novel that is perfect for heading back to school — and is a little bit haunted. Eva Kaminsky depicts Violet, who is nervous about moving into the strange attic bedroom of her family's new home and worried about starting 6th grade. Kaminsky reflects the uncertainty that creeps into Violet's voice when she feels betrayed by her two best friends' cruelty at a sleepover. Then she gets sick and doesn't get better, spending more time in her room with its creepy yellow wallpaper. Violet's fear becomes palpable as her weakness and fatigue intensify, and she starts to hear a terrifying voice from within the wallpaper. Read the full review of the audiobook on AudioFile's website. Published by Harper Audio. Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile's website. Today's podcast is brought to you by the audiobook edition of CONNIE, read by Connie Chung, on sale this September 17th from Hachette Audio. Find out more at Hachette Audio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Minneapolis writer Anne Ursu has made her name writing fantasy books for middle-grade readers, but in her new novel, “Not Quite a Ghost,” she side-steps into a different genre: horror. MPR News reporter Emily Bright sat down with Ursu to talk about what she hoped to accomplish with her new novel.

If you haven't read The Verdigris Pawn, by Alysa Wishingrad, you'll want to after listening to this interview! "Time distorts all truths." The Verdigris PawnIn both her book and this podcast, Alysa Wishingrad addresses this central theme—balancing our knowledge by searching for and understanding various perspectives on history. She graciously shares her knowledge about the writing and publishing process, and offers inside info on the creation of her debut middle grade novel, The Verdigris Pawn. Author bio: Alysa Wishingrad once had a whole different career working in theater, tv, and film, but nothing could be better or more exciting than writing stories and crafting worlds for middle-grade readers. 8-12 year-olds are truly some of the smartest, most open, and inquisitive people around, and Alysa is dedicated to helping them hold onto that magic as they grow up.When she's not writing she's probably out walking her two very demanding rescue dogs, who came all the way from Alexandria, Egypt to share their shedding fur and love. Or she might be trying to figure out what to make for dinner - again! - for her family. But, if she's very lucky, she's out at the theater getting lost in a wonderful story.Her debut, THE VERDIGRIS PAWN, was published by Harper Collins in July of 2021.Some of her writing influences mentioned in the podcast are:Francis Hardinge (The Lie Tree), Charles Dickens, Anne Ursu, Brian Selsnick (The Marvels, The Invention of Hugo Cabret), and Franny Billingsly.As always, please feel free to connect with Heather and  Cheryl in the following places:www.CherylCaldwellAuthor.comwww.HeatherClarkBooks.comwww.MGBookParty.comOrder LEMON DROP FALLS by Heather Clark here.Twitter: @CherylCaldwell, @HClarkWrites, @MGBookPartyInstagram: @SaltyQuills, @HeatherClarkBooks, @MGBookPartyClubhouse: @CherylCaldwell, @HClarkWritesOr Join MGBookParty on Clubhouse here.

Children's literature offers a rehearsal for the real world. A safe place for young readers to practice seeing beyond the easy narratives that are handed to them by their communities or that they might see in the media or even that they are taught in schools. It is the foundation for critical thinking. Children come to books already having a deep and wide emotional landscape they will use to navigate the world. Books can pull back the curtain on how things work and give kids a head start on making their corner of the world a little brighter. In this episode, Karina Yan Glaser and Anne Ursu reflect on the influence of Lois Lowry's powerful Newbery award-winning, The Giver, and explain how their books disclose the injustices of patriarchy, power, and pallidity on society. Lois shares her personal experience of having her books banned and ponders the future of children who have not been exposed or provoked through literature. To learn more about Lois Lowry's, Karina Yan Glaser's, or Anne Ursu's books, visit harpercollins.com/blogs/authors/lois-lowry harpercollins.com/blogs/authors/karina-yan-glaser harpercollins.com/blogs/authors/anne-ursu Do you have a story about how a classic book changed your life? Tweet @readingpod or email us at readingpod@harpercollins.com. Learn more at rememberreading.com. And, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. [5:50] Lois, Karina, and Anne recount the purposeful words used to describe the nefarious conditions in The Giver. [12:46] The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy was, in part, a response to Anne Ursu's rage after witnessing the patriarchal narrative during the Brett Kavanaugh hearings. [16:32] Karina shares the principal theme of her book, A Duet for Home. [22:34] Characters who challenge misinformation is a theme that runs through The Giver, A Duet for Home, and The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy. [25:33] Anne contends that by banning books and taking away history our ability to empathize will also be eliminated. [26:26] Lois' book, Number the Stars, has also been added to a few banned book lists. [29:11] Lois' advice for authors who find themselves on a banned book list. Continue Your Journey: Lois Lowry Karina Yan Glaser Anne Ursu HarperCollins Remember Reading Podcast @ReadingPod on Twitter

We begin our month discussing The Snow Queen with middle-grade novel Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu. This book's protagonist is Hazel, a fifth-grader who is having a tough time in her life at the moment. This is exacerbated when her best friend, Jack, suddenly changes... and then disappears. Hazel embarks a complicated journey through an enchanted forest to rescue Jack from the Snow Queen - and comes across a few other Hans Christian Andersen stories along the way. We discuss the book's title, the decisions to change Gerda and Kai's names to Hazel and Jack, the inclusion of a different Kai, the many pop culture references, Hazel's experiences with the other Andersen stories, and even have some realizations along the way!Music: Through The Woods by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Welcome to Prophecy Radio, a Percy Jackson podcast dedicated to all of Rick Riordan's past, present, and future projects! Co-hosts Karen Rought and Kristen Kranz talk about what's new in the Percy Jackson fandom, pitch each other their ideas for standalone novels set in the Camp Half-Blood Chronicles universe (aside from Nico di Angelo, of course), and analyze chapters 10 and 11 of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. New episodes of Prophecy Radio will air weekly, and all ages are welcome to tune in. News and Updates (00:01:16) Roseanne A. Brown's A Psalm of Storms and Silence is out now! Becky suggests you read Anne Ursu's Cronus Chronicles. Hoyeon Jung from Squid Game loves Percy Jackson. Make sure you read up on the Nautilus! And don't forget about the Cursed Carnival excerpt for “My Life as a Child Outlaw.” Standalone novel ideas (00:07:23) We're definitely getting a Nico di Angelo book, but what other characters do we want standalone novels for? Karen wrote an article about this earlier this year on Hypable. Did you guess which character people most want a book about, besides Nico? Karen's first suggestion is Mr. D—it's a strange one, but bear with her. Kristen likes the idea of his curse being lifted for 24 hours. Do we know how long he's been at camp so far? The end of Tower of Nero has a perfect jumping off point, too. Kristen's first choice if Frank because he's her favorite out of all the Camp Jupiter kids. He has such a rich family lineage, this could make for a really cool story. Everyone loves a good family heirloom. Should this be with or without Hazel? Next up, Karen makes her argument for a book based on Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Can she give herself a prophecy? Once again, Tower of Nero provides the perfect segue into a book. Kristen's rounding out her main picks with Leo Valdez. Everyone loves a good festival! You break it, you fix it. It's okay if Calypso isn't involved, but Karen really loves these two together. We say he's immature a lot, but we really do love him. Long live Festus! Karen's runner-up is none other than Thalia Grace (and maybe a little Reyna, too). There are a million ideas here for a Hunters of Artemis book. Kristen talked about her a little earlier, but her runner-up idea is for Hazel Levesque. This would also be a perfect follow-up to Nico's story. And maybe it could be a little bit spooky. Chapter Reviews (01:10:22) Kristen leads us through The Lightning Thief chapters 11 and 12. Thank goodness SOME of their stuff survived. It's nice Annabeth has some doubts. What exactly was going on with Percy? Should we recognize any of the statues? It was important to get the Percy-Medusa fight out of the way early. Is Medusa really a monster? Kristen has a question, but— It's answered at the beginning of the next chapter. The next chapter is super short, but it's jam-packed. Of course Grover is an environmentalist! There are some weird things going on… The Lightning Thief musical did things a little differently. We're officially halfway through the book! Thanks for listening, and be sure to tune in next week for episode 7, which will discuss the Rick Riordan Presents authors' other series. This episode's hosts are: Karen Rought and Kristen Kranz. Each episode, our Prophecy Radio hosts and their guests will keep you up to date on the latest information coming out of Camp Half-Blood, including upcoming books and adaptation news, discuss a topic of choice, and do a chapter by chapter reread of the Percy Jackson series. Follow Us: Twitter // Instagram // Facebook // Tumblr Listen and Subscribe: Audioboom // Apple // Spotify Feel free to leave us your questions or comments through any of these mediums! You can also email us at prophecyradiopodcast@gmail.com or visit our homepage for archives and more information about our show. Prophecy Radio is a Subjectify Media podcast production. Visit Subjectify Media for more shows, including Not Another Teen Wolf Podcast, ReWatchable, and Not About The Weather, and for all our latest articles about the stories we're passionate about.

In this twelfth episode, I review and recommend Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu and Alice in Borderland. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Wherein your host Bethany talks about underrated science fiction and fantasy with YouTubers Adri from Perpetual Pages and Jocelyn from Yogi With a Book. For exclusive bonus content and early access to episodes, consider joining the Chapter 3 Podcast Patreon !   Looking for a book mentioned in the episode? Check here! *Note that all links are affiliate links from which we earn a commission to support the podcast Books from On My Radar segment: Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert: https://amzn.to/3aNE8DE We Shall Sing a Song into the Deep by Andrew Kelly Stewart: https://amzn.to/3aMmsbJ A Queen of Gilded Horns by Amanda Joy: https://amzn.to/3pQhDCe That Way Madness Lies Ed. Dahlia Adler: https://amzn.to/3bwKVAH Fragile Remedy by Maria Ingrande Mora: https://amzn.to/37Ge9Mi   Other Books Mentioned Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Thomas: https://amzn.to/3ki2hp4 Djeliya by Juni Ba: https://amzn.to/3snZ9ei Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston:https://amzn.to/3dG0Z5O The Year I Flew Away by Marie Arnold: https://amzn.to/3qMtm6k The Forgotten Girl by India Hill Brown: https://amzn.to/2P7IflF Love, Sugar, Magic by Anna Meriano: https://amzn.to/3byUzml The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste: https://amzn.to/3aNz2Yg The Real Boy by Anne Ursu: https://amzn.to/37INizn Nocturna by Maya Motayne: https://amzn.to/37GjUcS Occulta by Maya Motayne: https://amzn.to/3aNA0nm The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi: https://amzn.to/37EJtv0 Nine Fox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee: https://amzn.to/3qN6HXj Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee: https://amzn.to/2NBK0qG Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee: https://amzn.to/2NvTOCA The Broken Earth Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin: https://amzn.to/2ZIzvV5 Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi: https://amzn.to/3uBfnCG Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James: https://amzn.to/3dCnEA8 The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh: https://amzn.to/3aMKEdN Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell: https://amzn.to/3qQm29D In The Vanishers Palace by Aliette de Bodard: https://amzn.to/3sKYtiW The Tensorate Series by Neon Yang: https://amzn.to/3smFTO5 Beyond the Black Door by A.M. Strickland: https://amzn.to/3uogYeN Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger: https://amzn.to/3kgPuDi Ace by Angela Chen: https://amzn.to/2ZJTlzu Furthermore by Tahera Mafi: https://amzn.to/3bwOYNF Whichwood by Tahera Mafi: https://amzn.to/3aOwNUy The Long Way to A Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers: https://amzn.to/3keV7lx The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson: https://amzn.to/3sq5Xbh Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri: https://amzn.to/3smGEGV   Follow us on Instagram and Twitter @Chapter3Podcast and you can also find Bethany talking about books on YouTube @BeautifullyBookishBethany. Interested in early access to episodes, private Discord channels and other perks? Consider joining the Chapter 3 Patreon! Or join our public Discord. A new episode will be available to download in two weeks!  This episode was recorded using a Blue Yeti USB condenser microphone kit: https://amzn.to/342dnqx

Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen", Breadcrumbs follows Hazel in her quest to save her best friend who disappeared into the woods with a mysterious woman made of ice. This title is intended for tweens and is suitable for most audiences. Recorded with permission of HarperCollins. Click here to see this title in the Houston Public Library catalog.

Twins Iris and Lark are very different: Iris is confident and rational, while Lark is creative and brilliant. They have always been together, that is until 5th Grade begins and they are separated into different classrooms. Suddenly everything feels different - Iris feels unsure of herself and Lark becomes withdrawn. Added to the struggle, things around town are going missing at an alarming rate. What is happening and how can the girls stop it? This title is intended for tweens and is suitable for most audiences. Recording made with permission of Walden Pond Press, an imprint of HarperCollins. Click here to see this title in our catalog.

Jordan Brown is Executive Editor, Walden Pond Press & Balzer + Bray, at HarperCollins Children’s Books. He has worked with such esteemed authors and illustrators as Jon Scieszka, Anne Ursu, Gris Grimly, Steve Brezenoff, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Chris Rylander, Erin McGuire, and Laura Ruby. In this podcast Jordan discusses diversity, the state of publishing, and his road to publishing.Support the show (http://scbwi.org/join-scbwi/)

Jessica Lawson and I chat about writing and the strange quirks of being a writer. We discuss each of her books, where she gets her ideas, and her best writing practices. She doesn't sing a song about lost socks, alas, but she does talk about her editorial process and her best tips for successful school visits. Jessica and I have been online friends for years and it was a pleasure to finally have a conversation in person. I learned a lot and you will as well. Jessica Lawson enjoys living in Pennsylvania, where she and her family spend weekend hours hanging at the local orchard, pretending to be on Top Chef Junior, building with magnet blocks, making up new holidays, and reading plenty of books. She likes pizza. A lot. She is the author of The Actual and Truthful Adventures of Becky Thatcher, a book that Publishers Weekly called “a delightfully clever debut” in a starred review, and Nooks and Crannies, a Junior Library Guild Selection and recipient of three starred reviews. Her 3rd book, Waiting for Augusta, won the Colorado Book Award for Juvenile Fiction, and was also a Junior Library Guild Selection. Of her latest book, Under the Bottle Bridge, School Library Journal says: "Beautifully written, with vivid characters, this exploration of family and friendship shines from the first page." She fell in love with storytelling at an early age, and is a sucker for Roald Dahl, Maurice Sendak, Linda Sue Park, RL LaFevers, Charles Dickens, Karen Cushman, Barbara Park, Amy Tan, Maryrose Wood, Barbara Cooney, Anne Ursu, Christopher Paul Curtis, Gail Carson Levine, Rita Williams-Garcia, Arnold Lobel, Isabel Allende, Sharon Creech, Eva Ibbotson, Shannon Hale, Maeve Binchy and many, many, many other wonderful authors and illustrators. She writes middle grade fiction, lots of to-do lists, and songs about lost socks. MiddleGradeNinja.com JessicaLawsonBooks.com

Intro Hi everyone and welcome to Books Between -  a podcast for teachers, parents, librarians, and anyone who wants to connect kids between 8-12 to books they’ll love. I’m your host, Corrina Allen - 5th grade teacher currently enjoying Spring Break, a mom of two tween daughters, and part of the MGBookVillage team.  And MGBookVillage.org where you can find transcripts and interview outlines of all of our episodes and links to every book and topic we mention today. This is episode #72 and oday’s show features three novels that will get your students talking, and a conversation with Mae Respicio - author of The House That Lou Built. Book Talk In this segment, I share with you three books and discuss three things to love about each. All three books today have a couple things in common - questions of identity and an element of mystery.  Two involve recovered memories, two of them have a bit of magic, and two of them include rather helpful birds. The three books featured this week are Restart by Gordan Korman, The Lost Girl by Anne Ursu, and The Boy, the Boat, and the Beast by Samantha Clark. Restart Let’s start with Restart.  This novel, by Gordon Korman, was one that people kept pushing me to read. Teachers, students, librarians - everyone kept saying, “But have you read Restart yet??”  So how can you say no to that kind of pressure? And - they were right! First of all the premise is incredible - the school bully (Chase Ambrose) falls off his roof, gets amnesia, and forgets everything about his previous life. And doesn’t get why certain kids are terrified of him, why others treat him like some big hero, and others, well… do things like dump a cup of frozen yogurt over his head. Plus, it’s not just told from Chase’s point of view - we get to hear from lots of the other kids as Chase’s past (and present) are slowly revealed. Restart is incredibly crafted. Aside from how well this novel is paced and pieced together, here are three other things I really loved about Restart:   Brendan Espinoza’s videos! Like lots of kids we know, he loves YouTube! Brendan is one of the first kids in the school to - if not accept the “new Chase” - at least offer him a little empathy. And that’s a powerful thing to do considering that Brendan was one of Chase’s biggest targets. He’s one of the video club kids and desperately wants one of his YouTube videos to go viral. So of course, he stages these increasingly over-the-top stunts to film.  It’s hard to describe a funny video in a way that also makes you, the reader, laugh and cringe - but Gordon Korman pulls it off! And I’ll never go through a car-wash again without thinking of Brendan…. Mr. Solway! He’s this crotchety, hilarious, Medal-of-Honor-winning veteran living at the nursing home where Chase and his crew are serving out their community service.  And somehow he is the spark, the center, the fulcrum of the story. That it works really powerfully as a read-aloud with tons of big ideas to discuss. Restart was our most recent bedtime book for my family, and whoa did we have a ton of deep conversations. Like…. When should you forgive someone?  Is it possible to make amends for your past bad actions? And the whole situation with Joel and the video club and Shoshanna and Chase’s dad and football!   If you are looking for a great book club novel, one that will offer a lot of fodder for discussion, then Restart is a fantastic option. It’s both hilarious and deep. Which to me, is that hard-to-achieve but perfect when it happens combination.     The Lost Girl Next up is The Lost Girl by Anne Ursu. A story about inseparable twins Iris and Lark. Well, inseparable until 5th grade when they are each placed into different classes with teachers who might not be the best fit for their distinctive personalities. Iris is analytical, outspoken, conscientious - a girl who always knows when her library books are due.  Lark is sensitive, brilliantly creative, dreamy - a girl who always knows what library books she wants to check out next. If Iris is Hermione then Lark is more Luna. But the winds of change are in the air - new school arrangements, new after-school clubs, and a new shop opening up that might not be what it seems. Here are three reasons to love The Lost Girl:   The Treasure Hunters antique shop that suddenly opens up in their Minneapolis neighborhood with the slogan We Can Find Anything. Run by mysterious mashed-potato faced man, the shop is soon frequented by one of the twins. For what purpose and why I will leave you to discover.  But the shop reminded me a bit of the Stephen King novel Needful Needs. I just couldn’t get enough of the fairy tale motif of this story - from the first pages when Lark is described as knowing all the consequences for stealing in various fairy tales, to the recurring comparisons of threats as monsters and ogres, to one of my favorite scenes. It’s when Iris is attending Camp Awesome - one those Girl Power-type camps and the counselor, Abigail, has asked them all which fairy-tale character they identify with.  And it goes on, and other positive points are made about women in fairy tales, but I loved that conversation so so much. I love how for most of the book I thought I knew which girl the title was referring to. But now I am not so sure…. and I think that would make a really fabulous conversation.   Anne Ursu’s The Lost Girl is an incredible novel that is utterly deserving of all the hype that it’s received.  If you have a kid who enjoys realistic fiction with a bit of magical adventure than slide this book their way.   The Boy, the Boat, and the Beast And the third book on my mind this week is  The Boy, the Boat, and the Beast by debut author Samantha Clark.  This novel starts with a mysterious boy washed up on a beach. Where he is, why he’s on this beach, and even who he is are all questions the boy can’t answer. And so he sets off to find to find answers and discover who he is.  My husband, who is a book critic, like to say that every book is really a “journey of self-discovery” but this novel is exactly that. And brilliantly done. As the boy ventures beyond the beach, snippets of his memories return and slowly weave together a picture of what happened. It’s fantastic - and here are three reasons why: Breath-taking to read. Samantha Clark is the Picasso of personification. I got chills reading this novel!  Let me read you a few lines: The leaves in the trees purred in the slight breeze. Greedy waves tugged at his ankles. The sun squatted in the sky. The second thing that this book does so well is to capture that inner, critical, self-bullying voice that well have to overcome.  Throughout the the story, the boy is confronted by this voice that is less-than-encouraging. He can run away from some threats, but he can’t run away from this, so how he confronts it is a powerful moment in the book. The third aspect of this reading experience that made it so good was that your understanding of the three words in the title (boy, beast, boat) change over the course of the novel. And I won’t say more but…..ahhh!!   This novel reminded me of Orphan Island, and one other book that I love. But - if I tell you what book that is - it’s going to give away a big plot twist. But if you’d read this book, message me!   Mae Respicio - Interview Outline This week’s interview is featuring debut author Mae Respicio! Julie Artz and I hopped on Skype to chat with her about tiny houses, her writing life and of course - her debut novel The House That Lou Built. Take a listen. The House That Lou Built For our listeners who haven’t yet read The House That Lou Built, what is this story about?   What inspired you to write about a tool-toting middle schooler?   What sort of research did you do to write this book?  Did you visit Tiny Houses?   Your Writing Life What was Hedgebrook like?   What are you working on now?   Your Reading Life One of the goals of this podcast is to help educators and librarians inspire kids to read more and connect them with amazing books.  Did you have a special teacher or librarian in your life who helped you grow into a reader?   What are you reading now? **BONUS SPOILER SECTION: We discuss the ending of the novel, and if you’d like to hear that conversation, I moved that part of the recording to after the end credits of today’s episode at the 35:04 mark. Thank You!   Links: Mae’s website - https://www.maerespicio.com Mae on Twitter - @maerespicio Mae on Instagram - @maerespiciobooks Hedgebrook   Books & Authors We Chatted About: Harry Potter series Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (Robert C. O’Brien) Self-Help (Lorrie Moore)   Closing Thank you so much for joining me this week.  You can find an outline of interviews and a full transcript of all the other parts of our show at MGBookVillage.org.   And, if you have an extra minute this week, reviews on iTunes or Stitcher are much appreciated. Books Between is a proud member of the Lady Pod Squad and the Education Podcast Network. This network features podcasts for educators, created by educators. For more great content visit edupodcastnetwork.com Talk with you soon!  Bye!  

Episode 10: #MeToo Movement in Children’s Literature with Anne Ursu & Martha Brockenbrough and Melanie Koss In this episode of the STEM Read Podcast we sit down with two major voices in the children's literature #MeToo movement, Anne Ursu and Martha Brockenbrough, as well as NIU Professor and Literary scholar Melanie Koss. Northern Illinois University’s STEM Read is part of the NIU STEAM family of programs that explore science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math. Find more great books, lesson plans, and resources at stemread.com . The STEM Read Podcast is produced in collaboration with WNIJ . Notes & External Links · Read Anne Ursu’s original article here · Donald Trump Unpresidented by Martha Brockenbrough · The Real Boy, Breadcrumbs, the Cronus Chronicles by Anne Ursu · Learn more about Melanie Koss’ Research here · Learn more about NIU’s College of Education · Diversify Your Library · Learn more about #WeNeedDiverseBooks · What is consent? · Ashfall by Mike Mullin ·

Author Anne Ursu talks about her book The Real Boy.

Aug. 30, 2014. Anne Ursu appears at the 2014 Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. Speaker Biography: Anne Ursu has written several fantasy books for young readers, including "The Shadow of Thieves," "The Siren Song," "The Immortal Fire" and "Breadcrumbs." Her work "Breadcrumbs," a contemporary spin on the classic fairy tale "The Snow Queen," was named one of the best books of 2011 by Publishers Weekly, Amazon.com, School Library Journal, Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books and the Chicago Public Library. It was also recognized on the IndieBound Next List and was featured on NPR's Backseat Book Club. Her latest book "The Real Boy" tells the story of Oscar, a shop boy for the most powerful magician in the village, whose simple world changes when children in the city start to fall ill and something sinister lurks in the forest. This story of magic, faith and friendship has earned the Horace Mann Upstanders Award, in addition to being recognized as an Indie Next pick and on the longlist for the 2013 National Book Award. Ursu is the 2013 recipient of the McKnight Fellowship in Children's Literature. She teaches at Hamline University's MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults. For transcript, captions, and more information, visit http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=6501