It’s been a week since I first posted about the Kid Lit Mentorship Project and the response so far has been fantastic. All the parents, teachers, and librarians I’ve heard from or spoken to about it have been as excited as I am, and the applications I’ve been getting from kids are just incredible. So incredible, in fact, that I was seriously nervous I’d never be able to pick just one kid from among the many who have already applied and will continue applying. Lucky for me, I no longer have to. Instead, I’ll be able to pick FOUR kids — and I’ll have some help picking, too.
That’s right: THREE additional authors have joined the Kid Lit Mentorship Project. And these aren’t just any old authors. These are three of Middle Grade literature’s absolute finest, and every one of them wants to find a young writer to mentor. They are looking to critique that writer’s work, and to offer the advice, guidance, and encouragement needed in order to bring a large-scale project to completion.
But I know you really just want me to hurry up and tell you who these three other authors are. So, without further ado, joining me as mentors for the Kid Lit Mentorship Project are . . .
Jenny Lundquist
Jenny is the author of six novels, most recently The Wondrous World of Violet Barnaby, the follow-up to 2016’s The Charming Life of Izzy Malone, which Publisher’s Weekly called “a heartwarming coming-of-age journey [in which] Lundquist deftly portrays the pain of being odd girl out, both at school and at home.”
Jenny was born and raised in Huntington Beach, CA, the original “Surf City USA.” She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Intercultural Studies with a minor in TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages) at Biola University. Her favorite part of college was spending one semester living in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, where she drank lots of tea, met some really interesting people, and honed her Yahtzee skills. She’s painted an orphanage in Mexico, taught English at a university in Russia, and hopes to one day to kiss her husband at a café in Paris. She lives in northern California with her husband Ryan, their two sons, and Rambo, the world’s whiniest cat.
You can learn more about Jenny online at www.jennylundquist.com or follow her on Twitter at @Jenny_Lundquist.
Next up:
Jenn Bishop
Jenn is the author of The Distance to Home, which Booklist praised for its “vivid writing and compassionate touch,” and 14 Hollow Road, a “gorgeous summer tale” (Erin E. Moulton) in which she “nails the tween voice” (Booklist).
Jenn grew up in a small town in Central Massachusetts. A lifelong reader, she was formerly a youth services and teen librarian. She is a graduate of the University of Chicago, where she studied English, and Vermont College of Fine Arts, where she received her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults. Along with her husband and cat, Jenn lives in Cincinnati, where she roots long-distance for the Red Sox.
You can learn more about Jenn online at www.jennbishop.com or follow her on Twitter at @buffalojenn.
And finally:
Brooks Benjamin
Brooks is the author of My Seventh-Grade Life in Tights, which Booklist called “a fresh and winning debut about the power of self-expression” and Kirkus praised as “an earnest first novel with a solid message about finding out who you are on your own terms.”
In sixth grade, Brooks formed a New Kids on the Block tribute dance crew called the New Kidz. He wasn’t that good at dancing back then. But now he’s got a new crew—his wife and their dog. They live in Tennessee, where he teaches reading and writing and occasionally busts out a few dance moves. He’s still not that good at it.
You can learn more about Brooks online at www.brooksbenjamin.com or follow him on Twitter at @brooksbenjamin.
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Keep those applications coming! I’ve already received a ton of great ones, and am so glad that, thanks to the generosity of the authors above, FOUR young writers will get to take part in this exciting project. You can find the KLMP application here, and can link to it from anywhere on my site using the menu at the top of the page. Questions? Send me a note using the form on my Contact page.
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