Children’s Book Recommendation

A Whale of the Wild by Roseanne Parry

This middle-grade story is beautifully told through the point of view of two young orca whales that are part of the Southern Resident Whale pod in the Salish Sea near the San Juan Islands. After a double-tragedy strikes their pod, Vega and her younger brother, Deneb, are separated from their family. Vega must keep her brother safe on their perilous journey as they search for much-needed food and their kin. I loved the descriptions from the whales’ point of view and felt totally immersed in their underwater world. There are some tough themes in this book, which may be better-suited for older middle-grade readers.

Adult Book Recommendation

The Mountain Story by Lori Lansens

Wolf Truly, an experienced hiker, heads up a mountain outside of Palm Springs with no food or water and no intention of returning home. Three women also go up the mountain that day, and through a series of missteps the four of them get stranded in the wilderness. As days pass without rescue, they are bonded together and forced to push themselves beyond limits they never dreamed possible. This story has so many things I love in a book—mountain adventure, intricate and surprising characters and relationships and beautiful descriptions of the setting.

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Behind the Scenes

Slug Days

I originally wrote Slug Days as a picture book manuscript many years ago when I was teaching a student with autism. I didn’t feel I was being the best teacher I could be and I wanted to explore what a day might be like from her point of view. Even though I was only imagining her experience, I think writing the book made me a better teacher—especially after my critique group members told me the teacher in the book seemed awfully mean!

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Professional Resource

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Publishing Children’s Books by Harold D. Underdown and Lynne Rominger

This is a great primer on the children’s book industry. It breaks down the different types of children’s books and publishers and walks the reader through the steps to submitting. My edition came out pre-internet, but even if the newer edition doesn’t talk about electronic submissions it would still be worth reading.

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