FEBRUARY 2010 - SUMMER OF SILKMOTHS HAS RECEIVED AN HONOR AWARD FROM THE GREEN EARTH BOOK AWARDS. THESE NATIONAL AWARDS RECOGNIZE BOOKS THAT PROMOTE APPRECIATION FOR THE NATURAL WORLD AND ENCOURAGE ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP AMONG CHILDREN.
For the past decade, I wrote and rewrote A Summer of Silk Moths, hoping that it would eventually become my re-entry into the genre of young adult fiction, which is where I first began publishing, back in the early eighties. My earlier novels for teenagers include The Bigger Book of Lydia (Harper and Row 1981), an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, and Facing the Music (Delacorte 1998), an ALA Quick Pick. A Summer of Silk Moths is a tribute to a novel I loved as a girl--A Girl of the Limberlost, by Gene Stratton Porter. Both stories feature a fatherless but fearless girl and a moth collection. Stratton's classic novel is set in the Limberlost swamps of Indiana. My novel unfolds on the banks of the St. Joseph River in Buchanan, Michigan.
Like Limberlost, my novel showcases the great North American Silk Moths. They are presented as symbols of creativity, mystery, dream life, and regeneration. My novel also reflects my long-standing belief that damaged children can find emotional healing in the natural world.
A Cecropia Silk Moth
For thirty years, I have written in many different genres, enjoying them all equally. My current work reflects this. Most recently, I have published the picture book The 3 Bears and Goldilocks (Atheneum 2008), illustrated by Heather Solomon. With this book, my love affair with folktales and fairy tales continues...
SLJ starred review CCBC Choices Award
Earlier in the decade, I wrote 3 folktales for children, all of which featured the character Beatrice, a very brave and very clever girl from the north woods. Clever Beatrice, illustrated by the amazing Heather Solomon, was awarded the 2002 Charlotte Zolotow Award. To discover a website designed for my youngest readers, visit
Clever Beatrice.
Clever Beatrice
My Inner Beatrice
