When I heard my local author friend, Monica Acker, had not one but two books releasing this year, I knew it was time to bring The Backstory back from hiatus to share the scoop on these wonderful title...

Bored (Neal Porter Books) by author/illustrator Felicita Sala is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. It is beautifully illustrated, honestly written, contains moments of giggles, and is…

Before we close the book on 2025, I welcome you to peruse my annual Writers’ Rumpus Year in Review. As with my first review post back in 2017, my goal for 2025 is to showcase the breadth and …

Liesl in the Sound of Music; Beth in Little Women; Helena Landless in The Mystery of Edwin Drood. This seemingly random string of characters are some of the roles I had the privilege to bring to li…

Alt: a cartoon of snoopy typing and then holding a piece of paper

These titles help young readers process big emotions through stories.

Hello readers! The dog days of summer are winding down. It’s in the 60’s in New England as I write this! I love summer sunshine, but I love the change of seasons even more. I’m ready to…

Hello again, readers. It is my great pleasure to share an interview with Phaea Crede. Unlike an elusive bigfoot, Phaea spottings have been logged all over New England and beyond – the not so camouf…

An editor’s interested in your book and is running a Profit & Loss Analysis? Hooray! Wait! What does that mean? What kind of publishing alchemy is being performed to decide if your book is the right i...

An emergency rally has been called for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Powder House Square in Somerville to protest a Tufts international graduate student being taken into custody Tuesday by federal authoritie...