DuEwaWorld News! by DuEwa Frazier

Author Feature: Danette Vigilante The Trouble with Half a Moon by Danette Vigilante DF: Your first book about a teen girl named Dellie titled The Trouble with Half a Moon , has received great reviews. What inspired you to write this story? What has been the response from your teen readers? DV: As a kid, my heart had been broken by a little boy who was very similar to Corey, the neglected boy from Trouble. I carried that little boy around with me all these years and though I didn’t know exactly what I was writing when I finally sat down to write The Trouble with Half a Moon , I knew I wanted to give that little boy a chance for a good life. I realized right away that I needed someone brave enough to step up and help Corey and that’s where Dellie came in. Not only is she courageous but she was able to reach beyond her own hard times in order to help save him. The response from my teen readers has been goose bump inducing! The greatest thing I’ve heard from several students was

ALA 2011: Victoria Bond and T.R. Simon, authors of Zora and Me with Editor Mary Lee Donovan Zora and Me , the young adult book written by Victoria Bond and T.R. Simon received the 2011 Coretta Scott King-John Steptoe New Talent award.  Congratulations to the authors!  Check out my earlier blog post on this wonderful book .  Zora and Me by Victoria Bond & T.R. Simon I'm a huge fan of Zora Neale Hurston and I applaud the authors on their research and re-imagining Hurston's life as a young girl.   The authors attended the 2011 ALA Conference where they received the King-Steptoe honor.  The late John Steptoe was a brilliant and award winning illustrator of children's books.  His son, Javaka Steptoe continues his legacy as an illustrator. ALA 2011: Editor Andrea Davis Pinkney and Drawing from Memory author Allen Say ALA is one of the esteemed literary events where authors, educators, librarians, editors and other publishing professionals come together to cel