Linda M. Castellitto
Content by Linda M. Castellitto
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There's a major shift in the way businesses offer their products to the public, according to Wired editor-in-chief Chris Anderson.
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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
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<b>A boomer's frothy ode to Starbucks</b> Michael Gates Gill was accustomed to things going his way.
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Florence Broadhurst was a glamorous wallpaper designer born in Queensland, Australia, in 1899.
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<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
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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
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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.
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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.
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For Jacqueline Woodson, hope is an essential component of a good story.
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What happens to a mother when her husband, her children's father, dies? In Designated Daughter: The Bonus Years with Mom, D.G.
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The Center of Everything is an engaging, intelligent first novel, written in forthright prose studded with moments of poetry.
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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.
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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.
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Catherine Gilbert Murdock considers herself a failed screenwriter—but she's quite happy with the course of her career.
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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.
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<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
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Sports and musical theater may seem like an unusual pairing, but not in the hands of children's author Deborah Wiles.
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Julie Anne Peters' newest novel, Luna, is a wonderfully crafted story about a young girl named Regan and her brother, Liam.
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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.
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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.
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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
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You don’t need a big travel budget to have adventures—just ask Ingrid Law.
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Reading Mary F.
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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?
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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
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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
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Black, with a dash of red
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Jeff Smith recently returned from a world tour, an endeavor most often associated with religious leaders or rock stars.
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When she began to write her eighth novel, Rita Williams-Garcia decided to try something different.
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Best-selling author Jacquelyn Mitchard turns her attention to the fascinating world of mice in Starring Prima!
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Bill Tancer loves data, and he's not ashamed to say so.
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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.
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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
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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.
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Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain aren't fazed by blood the fake stuff, anyway.
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Literary legend has it that Mary Shelley's tortured Frankenstein monster came to her in a dream that inspired the classic horror tale.
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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
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Eileen Spinelli is not afraid of commitment. She has belonged to the same Wednesday-morning book group for 20 years.
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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
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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.
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Housecleaning often results in unpleasant surprises—astonishingly large dust bunnies, lower back pain and the like.
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Meg Cabot is an excellent example of the wisdom of hanging on to childhood diaries.
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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
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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?
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Enter the world of Avalon: a wondrous land where all manner of creatures coexist around a great tree.
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Felicia Sullivan grew up in 1980s Brooklyn, in the un-hip section where poverty, drugs and crime are facts of life.
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Unlike many of his fellow authors, John Green always intended to write books for young adults.
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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.
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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.
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When it comes to creating a true teen voice, author Carolyn Mackler has it down.
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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.
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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?
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Eight-year-olds should not be underestimated.
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“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
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Paula Jolin wrote her richly detailed teen novel, In the Name of God, over the course of 10 weeks.
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Many a fiction writer will demur when asked if their work is autobiographical.
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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.
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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
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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
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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.
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As the title promises, 52 Weekend Makeovers: Easy Projects to Transform Your Home Inside and Out is a DIYer's delight.
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Art, American style
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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
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<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
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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
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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
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Dean Karnazes loves to run . . . and run . . . and run.
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Nancy Farmer never intended to be a writer. Rather, the award-winning childen's author says, "I wanted to be an explorer . . .
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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
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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.
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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
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Time magazine called billionaire T. Boone Pickens a real-life J.R. Ewing.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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There’s a slip of paper, pulled from a fortune cookie, taped to Cynthia Lord’s computer monitor.
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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.
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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
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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.
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