Why I Write What I Write
Recently I received an interesting review of my Barbary Chronicles, sparking new thoughts into why I write what I write. It gave me pause. While they recommended the book, they included a note advising reader discretion. Because there’s a death and description of wounds, and sensitive readers might object. I had not received such warnings – from the same organization, no less, albeit a different reviewer -- in my previous middle grade titles. One targeted the deadliest battle of the Civil War, The Girls of Gettysburg (Holiday House, 2014). The other depicted one of the deadliest natural disasters when an earthquake triggered the Mississippi River to turn backward, Big River’s Daughter (Holiday House, 2013). In fact, this new book is quite calm when compared to these previous titles. Certainly, it is not an invalid concern. Not every book is for every child. But it is also very true that every book has a child that needs it. This is why librarians are su...
