Linda M. Castellitto
Content by Linda M. Castellitto
-
There's a major shift in the way businesses offer their products to the public, according to Wired editor-in-chief Chris Anderson.
Read more »
-
Cynthia Kadohata's last two books 2005 Newbery Award-winner <i>Kira-Kira</i> and <i>Weedflower</i> explore the experiences of Japanese families trying to build happy lives i
Read more »
-
<b>A boomer's frothy ode to Starbucks</b> Michael Gates Gill was accustomed to things going his way.
Read more »
-
Florence Broadhurst was a glamorous wallpaper designer born in Queensland, Australia, in 1899.
Read more »
-
<B>A children's author with a magical touch</B>"My greatest fear is to bore a child," says Sid Fleischman, Newbery Medal winner and author of the swashbuckling new novel <B>Th
Read more »
-
Gloria Whelan—winner of the National Book Award, poet and author of numerous books for children and young adults—has with Chu Ju's House created an engrossing, well
Read more »
-
Fluke features a cast of eccentric and endearing characters, an exotic setting (the whaling town of Lahaina, Hawaii) and a story that is hilarious, educational and original.
Read more »
-
There are many reasons an author might have a tough time meeting a deadline, from writers’ block to family drama to, say, a hurricane hitting her house even though she lives hundreds of miles inland.
Read more »
-
For Jacqueline Woodson, hope is an essential component of a good story.
Read more »
-
What happens to a mother when her husband, her children's father, dies? In Designated Daughter: The Bonus Years with Mom, D.G.
Read more »
-
The Center of Everything is an engaging, intelligent first novel, written in forthright prose studded with moments of poetry.
Read more »
-
It's not every day that one begins the afternoon attending a fencing match and, by evening, is engaged in full-on conflict with shape-shifters, goblins and dwarves.
Read more »
-
Much of the time, Sarah Weeks feels like she’s still in middle school. As the author of some 50 books for kids, that’s a very good—almost essential—thing. “I remember what it feels like to make believe,” Weeks explains during a call to her home in Nyack, New York. It’s an attitude that has stood her in good stead over the last 20 years, during which she has written picture books and middle-grade novels, including the award-winner So B. It and her new novel, Pie.
Read more »
-
Catherine Gilbert Murdock considers herself a failed screenwriterbut she's quite happy with the course of her career.
Read more »
-
It would be completely understandable to discover, upon meeting John Green, that he’s tired and hoarse and must sleep with his hands elevated on the softest of pillows every night.
Read more »
-
<B>A small-town girl's big-city dreams</B>To 12-year-old Pattie Mae Sheals, Uncle Buddy Bush is a man worthy of adoration: he's clever and handsome and not interested in the country w
Read more »
-
Sports and musical theater may seem like an unusual pairing, but not in the hands of children's author Deborah Wiles.
Read more »
-
Julie Anne Peters' newest novel, Luna, is a wonderfully crafted story about a young girl named Regan and her brother, Liam.
Read more »
-
For Kathryn Erskine, art imitates life—deliberately. “I love reading and learning things from fiction,” she says, “and I figured others would, too.” They certainly do: Her third novel, the 2010 National Book Award winner Mockingbird, features a fifth grader named Caitlin, who was inspired by Erskine’s daughter; both have Asperger’s syndrome.
Read more »
-
Top-selling author Louise Rennison has once again captured the more hilarious elements of the teen experience with Away Laughing on a Fast Camel: Even More Confessions of Georgia Nicolson.
Read more »
-
A prolific author of innovative fiction for middle readers and young adults, Janet Taylor Lisle returns with The Crying Rocks, a book that skillfully weaves history, mystery and humor into a s
Read more »
-
You don’t need a big travel budget to have adventures—just ask Ingrid Law.
Read more »
-
Reading Mary F.
Read more »
-
If you're looking for tips on packing the perfect picnic basket or a refresher on how to play croquet, you're in luck. Need to repair wicker furniture or perhaps build a lean-to?
Read more »
-
The folks at Phaidon have come up with a subversive approach to art history: Rather than examining a particular country or era, they've decided to explore what was happening around the world at
Read more »
-
Beatrix Potter's characters have been loved by generations of children and adults since the early 1900s, but, as former professor Linda Lear reveals in her new biography Beatrix Potter: A Life
Read more »
-
Black, with a dash of red
Read more »
-
Jeff Smith recently returned from a world tour, an endeavor most often associated with religious leaders or rock stars.
Read more »
-
When she began to write her eighth novel, Rita Williams-Garcia decided to try something different.
Read more »
-
Best-selling author Jacquelyn Mitchard turns her attention to the fascinating world of mice in Starring Prima!
Read more »
-
Bill Tancer loves data, and he's not ashamed to say so.
Read more »
-
Kristina Springer is unequivocal and unabashed about her love of coffee. She drinks it often, her kitchen is espresso-themed and she’s a devoted customer of her local Starbucks.
Read more »
-
Readers who appreciate the singular allure of a chaise longue or the architectural lines of a 1950s ranch home will savor the eye candy in Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams' Let's Get Comfortable
Read more »
-
Donna Jo Napoli tried hard to avoid becoming a writer. After growing up in a poor family, she resolved to enter a practical, financially secure profession.
Read more »
-
Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain aren't fazed by blood the fake stuff, anyway.
Read more »
-
Literary legend has it that Mary Shelley's tortured Frankenstein monster came to her in a dream that inspired the classic horror tale.
Read more »
-
We’ve heard of suffering for your art, but writer Hillary Jordan took things to a new level while researching her latest novel—she almost got herself arrested by suspicious border guard
Read more »
-
Eileen Spinelli is not afraid of commitment. She has belonged to the same Wednesday-morning book group for 20 years.
Read more »
-
Rick Riordan’s writing space is not decorated with images of mythical creatures or epic battle scenes—what one might expect from a teller of fantastical, dramatic tales like The Kane Ch
Read more »
-
Entering midlife is often associated with trying something new, from skydiving to a new hair color to the ever-popular sports car. For debut novelist Edward Kelsey Moore—already an accomplished professional cellist and college professor—writing was that something new.
Read more »
-
Housecleaning often results in unpleasant surprises—astonishingly large dust bunnies, lower back pain and the like.
Read more »
-
Meg Cabot is an excellent example of the wisdom of hanging on to childhood diaries.
Read more »
-
To mark the 40th anniversary of the groundbreaking, beloved children's television show, "Sesame Street," Michael Davis has crafted a richly detailed history that includes behind-the-scene
Read more »
-
Issue:
Being 17 and in love can be glorious, but what if the object of your affection is a fallen angel? And you’re both beset by an ancient curse?
Read more »
-
Enter the world of Avalon: a wondrous land where all manner of creatures coexist around a great tree.
Read more »
-
Felicia Sullivan grew up in 1980s Brooklyn, in the un-hip section where poverty, drugs and crime are facts of life.
Read more »
-
Unlike many of his fellow authors, John Green always intended to write books for young adults.
Read more »
-
Although he's now a popular and prolific children's author, Dan Gutman says his own love for reading and writing was slow in coming.
Read more »
-
In the hands of Australian writer Markus Zusak, Death is a surprisingly enjoyable omniscient narrator. Sure, Death does his job, and unapologetically so: "I can be amiable. Agreeable.
Read more »
-
When it comes to creating a true teen voice, author Carolyn Mackler has it down.
Read more »
-
A survey of Mary E. Pearson’s seven novels to date reveals an interesting trend. Namely, all of her protagonists are the same age: 17. “That’s true! You’re the only one who’s noticed that and asked about it,” Pearson says in a call from her home in Carlsbad, California.
Read more »
-
It’s safe to say that readers of all ages would benefit from pondering the big-picture questions Sara Zarr explores in The Lucy Variations: Are you obligated to “use” your talent, or is it all right to simply enjoy it? And what do you do when someone you love makes decisions you abhor?
Read more »
-
Eight-year-olds should not be underestimated.
Read more »
-
“A world drowning in objects,” the title of the introduction to Deyan Sudjic’s The Language of Things: Understanding the World of Desirable Objects, is an apt des
Read more »
-
Paula Jolin wrote her richly detailed teen novel, In the Name of God, over the course of 10 weeks.
Read more »
-
Many a fiction writer will demur when asked if their work is autobiographical.
Read more »
-
For National Book Award-winning author Pete Hautman, the experience of writing his latest young adult novel, Invisible, was an intense and unusually speedy one.
Read more »
-
Sharon Hanby-Robie, QVC's home decor expert and frequent on-air personality, shares her 30 years of interior design expertise in Decorating Without Fear: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating the H
Read more »
-
Ah, the New York City Marathon - it's the stuff of legend, from the sight of thousands upon thousands of people piling on to the Verrazano - Narrows Bridge to the personal dramas played out on
Read more »
-
You may recognize JoAnne (JoJo) Liebeler's name she's hosted and/or produced several home-centric shows, such as HGTV's Room for Change and TLC's Home Savvy.
Read more »
-
As the title promises, 52 Weekend Makeovers: Easy Projects to Transform Your Home Inside and Out is a DIYer's delight.
Read more »
-
Art, American style
Read more »
-
As in his earlier works (including the National Book Award nominee The Diagnosis,), MIT professor Alan Lightman explores the intersection of science and poetry, memory and reality in his new n
Read more »
-
<B>Robbins' latest is another wild romp</B>I can safely say I'd given the sex life of badgers nary a thought until I read the first sentence of Tom Robbins' latest wacky whirlwind of a
Read more »
-
For nearly 30 years, Cynthia Rylant has been telling stories for children via more than 100 much-lauded books: novels, poetry, short stories, nonfiction and picture books, two of which she illustra
Read more »
-
Charise Mericle Harper’s new book, Just Grace Goes Green, is printed on 100-percent recycled paper—perfect for a story about a girl whose teacher announces that her thi
Read more »
-
Dean Karnazes loves to run . . . and run . . . and run.
Read more »
-
Nancy Farmer never intended to be a writer. Rather, the award-winning childen's author says, "I wanted to be an explorer . . .
Read more »
-
Timothy Ferriss published his first book, The 4-Hour Workweek, in 2007, and in a self-promotion tour de force, went from a little-known investor and business advisor to a best-selling author
Read more »
-
When imagining an act of heroism, a toilet typically doesn't come to mind. However, in a Carl Hiaasen story, when commodes help save the day, it makes perfect and hilarious sense.
Read more »
-
The writing and artwork in Lynne Rae Perkins’ books spring from her ever-creative, Renaissance-woman brain—but her family has played a role in many of her works, too, from 2006 Newbery
Read more »
-
Time magazine called billionaire T. Boone Pickens a real-life J.R. Ewing.
Read more »
-
Publishing phenom Jessica Khoury has had a busy couple of years: In 2010, she graduated from college and got married. In 2011, she wrote a book (in about a month) that was snapped up by Penguin’s Razorbill imprint. This year, she finished revising the book, appeared at book and library conventions and traveled to the jungle for the first time.
Read more »
-
In both of Clare Vanderpool’s artfully written novels, the young protagonists’ fathers yank them out of the lives they’ve known and deposit them in unfamiliar surroundings, where they must make sense of the past and find their way in a strange new present.
Read more »
-
If you’ve ever wondered—or tried to explain—what birds are saying as they flit about in trees or preen on their perches, help is here: Lita Judge’s new book, Bird Talk: What Birds Are Saying and Why, is a wonderfully illustrated compendium of bird behavior and communication for young readers.
Read more »
-
Rick Smolan and Jennifer Erwitt have created coffee-table books that resonate with Americans, from A Day in the Life of America to Passage to Vietnam.
Read more »
-
There’s a slip of paper, pulled from a fortune cookie, taped to Cynthia Lord’s computer monitor.
Read more »
-
Issue:
Maile Meloy’s middle grade books mix adventure with historical fiction, scientific curiosity and a hefty dose of thrilling, mysterious magic. They also feature extensive artwork that helps to tell the story, so Meloy’s fans won’t be surprised to learn that she considers herself a visual thinker.
Read more »
-
The intrepid editors of LIFE magazine apparently aren’t easily satisfied; rather than stop at Seven Wonders of the World, in LIFE Wonders of the World they explore 50 of them, f
Read more »
-
When Chris Anderson wrote his first book, 2006’s The Long Tail, he made some of his research, ideas and conclusions available free to readers of his blog.
Read more »