Local Author Rebecca O'Connell

We're proud of our local authors!

Pittsburgher Rebecca O'Connell is Storypockets' Miss Rebecca -- me!

And I'm proud to tell you about my new book.

In Penina Levine Is a Potato Pancake, sixth-grader Penina is having the worst Hanukkah ever. Her beloved teacher is abandoning her. Her best friend is deserting her, and her little sister is hogging all the Hanukkah candles. Can Penina turn this holiday around? She's going to try, with a zillion zillion hand-cut snowflakes, a game of chance, and a plate of delicious potato pancakes.

You're invited to the Launch Party for Penina Levine Is a Potato Pancake on Saturday, December 6, 1:00-3:00 at the Lawrenceville Branch Library. Enjoy some cookies and cider and get your own signed copy of the book. I'd love to see you there!

Click here to request Penina Levine Is a Potato Pancake.

Click here to visit my website.

Local Author Sydelle Pearl

We're proud of our local authors.

Pittsbugher Sydelle Pearl wrote Books for the World, The Story of Jella Lepman.

After World War Two, the children of Germany were cold, and homeless, and starving, but they were also hungry for books.

Sydelle Pearl's book tells the true story of how Jella Lepman, a German Jew who escaped the Nazis, brought books to the children who needed them.

"If one is to believe in peaceful coexistence, the first messangers of that peace will be these children's books," Jella explains.

Books for Children of the World brings Jella's words--and her work--to life.

Click here for your copy of Books for Children of the World.

Clilck here to visit Sydelle Pearl's webiste.

She Touched the World

She Touched The World: Laura Bridgman, Deaf-Blind Pioneer by local authors Sally Alexander and Robert Alexander has been selected for the New York Public Library's list: Children's Books 2008--100 Titles for Reading and Sharing.

Congratulations, Sally and Robert. Our Pittsburgh authors make us proud!

Local Author Jonah Winter

We're proud of our local authors!

Pittsburgher Jonah Winter has a new book out.

"In Steel Town, it's always dark

and the street-lamps are always lit."

Does that sound like anyplace you know? It's the Pittsburgh of our grandparents or great-grandparents, lovingly and lyrically re-created in Steel Town.

Steel Town takes us into iron mill and the steel mill, where we're on the job with the Hot Blast Operator, the Monkey Boss, the Crane Man.

We see the imposing Hot Blast Furnace, and watch a river of hot pig iron gush down a gutter in the floor. Terry Widener's illustrations show us the power of molten metal flowing into the Open Hearth Furnace and the peace of a whispered prayer in an onion-domed church.

Click here to request a copy of Steel Town.

Local Author Rita M. Bergstein

We're so proud of our local authors!

Local author Rita M. Bergstein has a new book out.

Your Own Big Bed shows how a little boy grows from a tiny baby into a big kid--big enough for his own big bed.

Bergstein's gentle, encouraging words compare the growing boy to other growing babies in the natural world. Onomatopoetic words make this book a joy to read aloud, and the exquisite illustrations by Susan Kathleen Hartung invite us to pour over the pictures again and again. This is a perfect sleeptime book for little ones in the crib, in the bed, or making the transition in between.

Click here to request a copy of Your Own Big Bed.

Local Author and Illustrator Carol Baicker-McKee

We're so proud of our local authors!

Pittsburgher Carol Baicker-McKee has a new book out.

Mimi is an exhuberant little-girl-piggy with a curly pink tail, a tiaria, and a pet roly-poly bug named Frank. Every morning, Mimi gives Frank his breakfast--a smige of banana. But one morning, Frank isn't there. Mimi nevertheless carries on. She even visits the library!

It's not just Mimi's personality that makes this piggy pop off the page. Carol Baker-McKee's 3-D illustrations make Mimi (and everything around her) bright and playful and irresistable. Carol explains here how she created Mimi.

Click here to request your copy of Mimi.

Local Author Many Ly

We're so proud of our local authors!



Pittsburgher Many Ly has a new book out.



Roots and Wings is the story of fourteen-year-old Grace. Grace has always longed to visit the Cambodian community in St. Petersburg, FL where her mother grew up. Now she is flying in an airplane with her grandmother's ashes in her lap. Grace and her mom are traveling from Pennsylvania to Florida so that they can give Grace's grandmother a proper Cambodian funeral.



This trip gives Grace the chance to get to know the people who meant so much to her mother and grandmother--friends who were so close they were more like family. But even as Grace is welcomed into the community, she learns some harsh truths about her own family history. Along with Grace, we grieve for her grandmother and feel hopeful for the possibility of renewing family ties. Loving descriptions of Camboidan food and ceremonies add to the appeal of this moving and meaningful book.



Click here to request a copy of Roots and Wings.



Click here to visit Many Ly's website.

Local authors Karen Lynn Williams and Khadra Mohammed

We're proud of our local authors!

Pittsburghers Karen Lynn Williams and Khadra Mohammed have a new book out.

In Four Feet, Two Sandals, ten-year-old Lina has not worn shoes in two years. Clothing and shoes are in short supply at the refugee camp where she lives. When relief workers bring a truck of clothing, Lina finds a sandal that fits her just right. Then she finds the other sandal, and it is on the foot of Feroza, whose feet are cracked and swollen from her long trek to the refugee camp. "What good is one sandal for two feet?" asks Feroza in the story. Read this book to find out.

Click here to request your copy of Four Feet, Two Sandals.

Local Author Arlene Morris-Lipsman

We're proud of our local authors!

Pittsburgher Arlene Morris-Lipsman has a new book out.

Presidential Races: The Battle for Power in the United States brings history to life. In the early days of the United States, active campaigning by a presidential candidate was thought to be undignified. Candidates' friends and supporters gave speeches and wrote testimonials, but the candidates themselves did not campaign. How things have changed! Arlene Morris-Lipsman takes us through the ups and downs of historical presidential races. She lets us get to know the candidates and their running mates. She shows us what was behind political slogans and campaign strategies. Perfect reading for this election year.

Click here to request a copy of Presidential Races: The Battle for Power in the United States.

Children's Librarians & Children's Authors: Megan McDonald

Storypockets looks at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s rich tradition of author-librarians. Our previous installments featured Sorche Nic Leodhas, Laura Cathon, Margaret Hodges, Elva S. Smith, and Elizabeth Sechrist. This week we focus on Megan McDonald.

Megan McDonald was a children's librarian in the Children's Department of Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh from 1986 to 1990. Her first book, Is this a House for Hermit Crab, grew from a tale she created for her storytime audiences.

Pittsburgh history is a theme of several of Megan's books, including The Bridge to Nowhere, and The Potato Man.

Megan's books have won numerous awards, including Carolyn W. Field Award, 1993, for The Great Pumpkin Switch.

Children's Librarians and Children's Authors: Elizabeth Sechrist

Storypockets looks at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s rich tradition of author-librarians. Our previous installments featured Sorche Nic Leodhas, Laura Cathon, Margaret Hodges, and Elva S. Smith. This week, we focus on Elizabeth Sechrist.

Elizabeth Sechrist (1903-1991) was assistant children’s librarian at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in the mid-1920s. She wrote fiction and nonfiction for adults and children. She was also an editor, compiling collections of poems and folktales.

Next week, Storypockets features author-librarian Megan McDonald.

Author Rebecca O'Connell reads "Penina Levine is a Potato Pancake"

It's a very special preview and it is almost as good as being at the library! I can't believe how lucky we are to have Rebecca O'Connell working here at our library. She's not just a great librarian, but she's an author, too! A published author writing for babies and school age kids and teens and we have every single one of her books! Well, almost! We don't have Penina Levine is a Potato Pancake. Nobody does! It will be published this Fall.

But what we do have (and just us! Nobody else has it!) is video of Rebecca reading from her new-not-even-published-yet book. I love to hear and see authors reading their own works! You get even more of a feeling for the characters and the situations and I find it captivating.

You'll notice that she does have a book in her hand, and it looks quite different from the first Penina Levine book. That's because it is an Advance Reader's Copy, or ARC. It's also known as a galley and it's how publishers get copies to reviewers before they're available in bookstores and libraries. It's almost like a dress rehearsal in book form - the ARCs make sure that everything is ready for the audience!

Rebecca will also be one of the featured speakers at the 12th Annual Children's Literature Conference at the University of Pittsburgh, Greensburg on Friday, May 2, 2008.