Five Author Questions (5AQ)

S2, E6 - Hena Khan

October 11, 2022 18:00 - 23 minutes - 16 MB

Hena Khan is an award-winning author of picture books and middle grade fiction. Her middle grade novel Amina’s Voice launched Simon & Schuster’s groundbreaking Salaam Reads imprint and was named a Best Book of 2017 by the Washington Post, NPR, Kirkus Reviews, and others. The sequel, Amina’s Song, won the 2021 Asian/Pacific Award for Children’s Literature. Hena wrote the popular Zayd Saleem Chasing the Dream series, and More to the Story, a novel inspired by her all-time favorite book, Little...

S2, E5 - Jen White

April 08, 2022 13:00 - 25 minutes - 17.3 MB

Jen White is the author of Survival Strategies of the Almost Brave and A Thousand Minutes to Sunlight. She holds an M.F.A. in writing for children and young adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She lives in San Clemente, California, with her family. Jen has a degree in English teaching and also earned her MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts in writing for children and young adults. Jen currently lives with her family and the cutest mini-aussiedoodle puppy you've ever seen. For more ...

S2, E4 - Samira Ahmed

March 09, 2022 21:00 - 28 minutes - 19.9 MB

Samira Ahmed is the bestselling author of Love, Hate & Other Filters, Internment, Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know, and Amira & Hamza: The War to Save the Worlds, as well as a Ms. Marvel comic book mini-series. Her poetry, essays, and short stories have appeared in numerous publications and anthologies including the New York Times, Take the Mic, Color Outside the Lines, Vampires Never Get Old and A Universe of Wishes. She was born in Bombay, India, and grew up in Batavia, Illinois, in a house...

S2, E4 - Samira Ahmed

March 09, 2022 21:00 - 28 minutes - 19.9 MB

Samira Ahmed is the bestselling author of Love, Hate & Other Filters, Internment, Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know, and Amira & Hamza: The War to Save the Worlds, as well as a Ms. Marvel comic book mini-series. Her poetry, essays, and short stories have appeared in numerous publications and anthologies including the New York Times, Take the Mic, Color Outside the Lines, Vampires Never Get Old and A Universe of Wishes. She was born in Bombay, India, and grew up in Batavia, Illinois, in a house...

S2, E3 - Travis Jonker

February 10, 2022 17:00 - 26 minutes - 18.2 MB

Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian. Author of the picture books The Very Last Castle (illustrated by Mark Pett), and Blue Floats Away (illustrated by Grant Snider). I write about children's books at 100scopenotes.com, and co-host a podcast about children's books called The Yarn. For more info on Travis visit www.travisjonkerbooks.com. This episode was recorded on May 21, 2021. Follow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @5AQpod Email 5AQ - [email protected]...

S2, E2 - Sonya Bernard-Hollins

January 31, 2022 19:00 - 17 minutes - 12.2 MB

Sonya Bernard-Hollins is the founder and CEO of Season Press LLC. The media consulting firm was founded in 2010 after the acquisition of Community Voices, a bi-weekly community newspaper founded by Arlene and James Washington. The company has grown from providing a quarterly print and online magazine into a self-publishing company that has helped nearly 200 area authors see their dreams come true. Today, Bernard-Hollins has also published 7 of her own works that include historical children a...

S2, E2 - Sonya Bernard-Hollins

January 31, 2022 19:00 - 17 minutes - 12.2 MB

Sonya Bernard-Hollins is the founder and CEO of Season Press LLC. The media consulting firm was founded in 2010 after the acquisition of Community Voices, a bi-weekly community newspaper founded by Arlene and James Washington. The company has grown from providing a quarterly print and online magazine into a self-publishing company that has helped nearly 200 area authors see their dreams come true. Today, Bernard-Hollins has also published 7 of her own works that include historical children a...

S2, E1 - Peter Mulvey

January 12, 2022 18:00 - 19 minutes - 13.2 MB

Peter Mulvey has been a songwriter, road-dog, raconteur and almost-poet since before he can remember. Nineteen records, an illustrated book, thousands of live performances, a TEDx talk, a decades-long association with the National Youth Science Camp, opening for luminaries such as Ani DiFranco, Emmylou Harris, and Chuck Prophet, appearances on NPR, an annual autumn tour by bicycle, emceeing festivals, hosting his own boutique festival (the Lamplighter Sessions, in Boston and Wisconsin)… Mulv...

S1, E30 - Betsy Bird

October 22, 2021 16:00 - 15 minutes - 11 MB

Betsy Bird (@FuseEight) is the Collection Development Manager of Evanston Public Library. In addition to running the School Library Journal blog about children's literature A Fuse #8 Production, Betsy reviews for Kirkus and has two podcasts about kids books. Betsy is the author of the picture books Giant Dance Party and The Great Santa Stakeout, editor of the middle grade Funny Girl, and her debut middle grade novel Long Way to the Circus illustrated by David Small is out this fall. www.bets...

S1, E29 - Caitlin Horrocks

October 18, 2021 14:00 - 23 minutes - 16.3 MB

Caitlin Horrocks is author of the story collections Life Among the Terranauts and This Is Not Your City, both New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice selections. Her novel The Vexations was named one of the Ten Best Books of 2019 by the Wall Street Journal. Her stories and essays appear in The New Yorker, The Best American Short Stories, The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories, The Pushcart Prize, The Paris Review, Tin House, and One Story, as well as other journals and anthologies. Her awards inc...

S1, E28 - Kat Williams

September 30, 2021 19:00 - 30 minutes - 20.8 MB

Dr. Kat Williams is a Professor of Women’s Sport History at Marshall University, and is author of The All-American Girls After the AAGPBL: How Playing Pro Ball Shaped Their Lives, and Isabel Lefty Alvarez: The Improbable Life of a Cuban American Baseball Star. Through her teaching, scholarship and advocacy Kat has dedicated many years to the preservation of girls' and women’s baseball history. She continues that work as president and a founding member of the International Women’s Baseball Ce...

S1, E27 - Katie Zhao

September 17, 2021 15:00 - 22 minutes - 15.2 MB

Katie Zhao is a 2017 graduate of the University of Michigan with a B.A. in English and Political Science, and a 2018 Masters of Accounting at the same university. She is the author of THE DRAGON WARRIOR series (Bloomsbury Kids), HOW WE FALL APART (Bloomsbury Kids), forthcoming LAST GAMER STANDING (Scholastic), and forthcoming WINNIE ZENG series (Random House Children’s Books). She is represented by Penny Moore of Aevitas Creative Management. She’s a passionate advocate for representation in ...

S1, E26 - M.J. Kuhn

September 03, 2021 15:00 - 24 minutes - 16.7 MB

M.J. will be appearing at KPL on September 28, 6:00 pm!! M. J. Kuhn is a fantasy writer by night and a mild-mannered office worker by day. She lives in the Midwest with her husband and a very spoiled cat named Thorin Oakenshield. Less than a year into her life as a full-time office-worker she began using her nights and lunch breaks to work on her first novel, and she hasn’t looked back since. When she isn’t reading or writing you can find her playing the piano, weightlifting, or anxiously...

S1, E25 - Sonja Cherry-Paul

August 18, 2021 16:00 - 27 minutes - 18.7 MB

Dr. Sonja Cherry-Paul has adapted Stamped (For Kids), the #1 New York Times best selling children's book. She is an educator, author, and the co-founder of the Institute for Racial Equity in Literacy. Sonja is the Director of Diversity and Equity at the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University and the host of The Black Creators Series. She develops curricula that centers the work of racial literacy in K-12 schools. Sonja leads presentations at educational conferenc...

S1, E24 - Arnie Johnston and Deborah Percy

August 04, 2021 16:00 - 22 minutes - 15.2 MB

Married writers Deborah Ann Percy (Johnston) and Arnold Johnston live in Kalamazoo and South Haven, MI. Their individually and collaboratively written plays have won over 300 productions and readings on stage, screen, and radio, as well as numerous awards and publications across the country and internationally; and they’ve written, co-written, edited, or translated some twenty books. Their award-winning poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and translations have appeared widely in literary journals...

S1, E23 - Emmy Kastner

August 02, 2021 19:00 - 24 minutes - 16.7 MB

Emmy is an author and illustrator of children’s books. Her first book series, Nerdy Babies, is a primer for curious babies and young readers exploring an exciting range of topics, from SPACE to DINOSAURS. A former high school teacher, Emmy taught English and science in San Francisco, CA. Moving back to Michigan, she co-founded Read and Write Kalamazoo (RAWK), a youth writing center devoted to celebrating and amplifying youth voices. Emmy lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan with her husband and th...

S1, E22 - Megan Giddings

July 22, 2021 16:00 - 17 minutes - 11.8 MB

Megan Giddings' debut novel, Lakewood, was published by Amistad in 2020. It is a Michigan Notable book for 2021, was nominated for two NAACP Images Awards, was an NPR best book of 2020, a New York Magazine Best Book of 2020, and is nominated for an LA Times Book Prize. Megan is currently an assistant professor at Michigan State University and visiting faculty at Antioch University. Her next novel, The Women Could Fly, will be published by Amistad in August 2022. More about her can be found a...

S1, E21 - Kristin Kobes Du Mez

July 14, 2021 16:00 - 21 minutes - 15.1 MB

Kristin Kobes Du Mez is Professor of History and Gender Studies at Calvin University. She holds a PhD from the University of Notre Dame and her research focuses on the intersection of gender, religion, and politics. She has written for the Washington Post, NBC News, Religion News Service, Christianity Today, and The Daily Beast, and has been interviewed on NPR, CBS, and the BBC, among other outlets. Her most recent book is Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fr...

S1, E20 - Luke Epplin

July 07, 2021 16:00 - 22 minutes - 15.8 MB

Luke Epplin’s writing has appeared online in The Atlantic, The New Yorker, GQ, Slate, Salon, The Daily Beast, and The Paris Review Daily. Born and raised in rural Illinois, Luke now lives in New York City. You can purchase a signed copy of Our Team by clicking this LINK. Follow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @5AQpod Email 5AQ - [email protected] 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin K...

S1, E19 - Liz Braswell

June 30, 2021 16:00 - 21 minutes - 14.7 MB

Liz Braswell spent her childhood reading fairy tales, catching frogs, and going on adventures in the woods with her stuffed animals. She has a degree in Egyptology from Brown University (and yes, she can write your name in hieroglyphs). After making video games for ten years Liz now writes full-time and plays video games for fun. She has written Snow, Rx, The Nine Lives of Chloe King, and several books in the best-selling Twisted Tales series, including Part of Your World and As Old as Time....

S1, E18 - Wade Rouse

June 23, 2021 16:00 - 22 minutes - 15.7 MB

Wade Rouse is the internationally bestselling author of 11 books, including four memoirs and five novels, which have been translated into 20 languages and sold over a million copies worldwide. His books have been selected multiple times as Must-Reads by NBC’s Today show, featured in USA Today, The Washington Post and Chelsea Lately and chosen three times as Indie Next Picks by the nation’s independent booksellers. Wade is the noted humorist of four critically acclaimed memoirs. He was a fina...

S1, E17 - Michelle Nijuhuis

June 16, 2021 16:00 - 19 minutes - 13.5 MB

Michelle Nijhuis is the author of Beloved Beasts: Fighting For Life in the Age of Extinction. She is a project editor at the Atlantic and a longtime contributing editor of High Country News. Her reporting has appeared in National Geographic, The New York Times Magazine, and elsewhere, and she lives in White Salmon, Washington. For more about Michelle got to michellenijhuis.com. You can purchase a copy of the book HERE. Follow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @5AQpo...

S1, E16 - Lydia Millet @ 2021 Edelweiss Bookfest!

June 11, 2021 14:00 - 21 minutes - 14.7 MB

Episode 16 was recorded at the 2021 Edelweiss Bookfest on June 8. Over 100 attendees watched the interview via Zoom. Lydia Millet has written more than a dozen novels and story collections, often about the ties between people and other animals and the crisis of extinction. She has won awards from PEN Center USA and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and her books have been finalists for the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Los ...

S1, E15 - Margo Rabb

June 09, 2021 16:00 - 24 minutes - 17 MB

Margo Rabb is the author of the novels Lucy Clark Will Not Apologize, Kissing in America, and Cures for Heartbreak; her novels have been named to multiple best-of-the-year lists, including the Amelia Bloomer Project’s List of Recommended Feminist Literature. Margo’s essays and short stories have been published in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Slate, and elsewhere, and have been broadcast on NPR. She grew up in Queens, New York, and now lives in the Philadelphia area with her family. Visi...

S1, E14 - Tanuja Desai Hidier

June 03, 2021 13:00 - 33 minutes - 23.2 MB

TANUJA DESAI HIDIER (thisistanuja.com) is an author/singer-songwriter and innovator of the ‘booktrack’, and was selected this year to be a Good Morning America Inspiration List headliner for ABC’s network-wide project for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2021. Her pioneering debut BORN CONFUSED, considered to be the first South Asian American YA novel, was named an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults and was hailed by Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Ston...

S1, E13 - Paula Yoo

May 28, 2021 16:00 - 28 minutes - 19.3 MB

Paula Yoo is an author, screenwriter, and musician. Her latest YA non-fiction book, From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry: The Killing of Vincent Chin and the Trial that Galvanized the Asian American Movement (Norton Young Readers/W.W. Norton & Co. Publication Date: April 20, 2021), is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. Her other books include the YA novel Good Enough (HarperCollins 2008), an Asian/Pacific American Award for Youth Literature honor book, and the IRA Notable picture bo...

S1, E12 - Wesley Stace

May 26, 2021 16:00 - 29 minutes - 20.4 MB

Wesley Stace has published four novels, including the international bestseller Misfortune, and recently co-wrote Mark Morris’ memoir Out Loud. Since 1988, he has released many albums under the name John Wesley Harding - his most recent, 2018’s Wesley Stace’s John Wesley Harding, with the Jayhawks as his backing band - and recorded duets with, among others, Bruce Springsteen, Lou Reed and Rosanne Cash. He also created Cabinet of Wonders, a monthly show that plays at New York City’s City Winer...

S1, E11 - Jill Santopolo

May 19, 2021 16:00 - 16 minutes - 11.5 MB

Jill Santopolo is the internationally bestselling author of Everything After, More Than Words, and The Light We Lost, which was a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick. Her books have been translated into more than 36 languages and have been named the New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Apple, and Indiebound bestseller lists. She has also written three children's book series and edits for Penguin Young Readers. If you would like to purchase any of Jill's books, you can go to her webs...

S1, E10 - Ty McCormick

May 12, 2021 16:00 - 19 minutes - 13.5 MB

TY McCORMICK is an editor at Foreign Affairs, the magazine published by the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. A former foreign correspondent in Nairobi and before that in Cairo, he has reported from more than a dozen countries in Africa and the Middle East. From 2015 to 2018, he served as Africa editor of Foreign Policy magazine, where he led a team of reporters that won a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for a series on African migration. He has also written for The New York Times...

S1, E9 - Walter Mayes

May 05, 2021 15:00 - 21 minutes - 15 MB

Walter M. Mayes is the librarian at The Girls' Middle School in Palo Alto, CA, where he has spent the last two decades sharing his lifelong passion for books. A noted expert on literature for children and teens, Walter has presented all over the country, as well as serving as a judge for numerous literary awards and prizes, among them the LA Times Book Prize, the Odyssey Award, and the Michael L. Printz Award. He is the author of WALTER THE GIANT STORYTELLER'S GIANT BOOK OF GIANT STORIES and...

S1, E8 - Libby Copeland

April 28, 2021 18:00 - 25 minutes - 17.9 MB

Libby Copeland is an award-winning journalist who has written for the Washington Post, New York magazine, the New York Times, the Atlantic, and many other publications. She specializes in the intersection of science and culture. Copeland was a reporter and editor at the Post for eleven years has been a media fellow and guest lecturer and has made numerous appearances on television and radio. The Lost Family explores the rapidly evolving phenomenon of home DNA testing, its implications for h...

S1, E7 - Anton Treuer

April 21, 2021 15:00 - 21 minutes - 14.9 MB

Anton Treuer (pronounced troy-er) is Professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji State University and author of many books. His equity, education, and cultural work has put him on a path of service around the region, the nation, and the world. https://antontreuer.com Young Reader edition of Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask was released on April 6, 2021. Click this link for more info and how to purchase. Follow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @A...

S1, E6 - Gail Griffin

April 14, 2021 16:00 - 18 minutes - 12.8 MB

Gail Griffin was born in Detroit and raised in its suburbs and in Ann Arbor, where she reveled in literature and rock music. One of her proudest claims to fame is having seen the Beatles in concert in Detroit in 1964. She went away to school and came back to take a teaching position at Kalamazoo College, where she taught literature, writing, and women's studies for 36 years. There she won awards fo teaching and for creative/scholarly work, and she was chosen Michigan Professor of the Year in...

S1, E6 - Gail Griffin

April 14, 2021 16:00 - 18 minutes - 12.8 MB

Gail Griffin was born in Detroit and raised in its suburbs and in Ann Arbor, where she reveled in literature and rock music. One of her proudest claims to fame is having seen the Beatles in concert in Detroit in 1964. She went away to school and came back to take a teaching position at Kalamazoo College, where she taught literature, writing, and women's studies for 36 years. There she won awards fo teaching and for creative/scholarly work, and she was chosen Michigan Professor of the Year in...

S1, E5 - Cesar Brioso

April 08, 2021 12:00 - 30 minutes - 21 MB

Cesar Brioso is a digital producer and former baseball editor for USA Today Sports. Aside from Havana Hardball, he is the author Last Seasons in Havana: The Castro Revolution and the End of Professional Baseball in Cuba, winner of the 2020 SABR Baseball Research Award. Follow 5AQ on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Email 5AQ - [email protected] 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

S1, E4 - Natalie Standiford

March 31, 2021 20:00 - 20 minutes - 13.9 MB

Natalie Standiford was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, and studied Russian language and literature at Brown University and in the former Soviet Union. She has written many books for children and teens, including How to Say Goodbye in Robot; The Secret Tree; and Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters. Her book reviews and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Review of Books. She lives with her husband in New York City, where she occasionall...

S1, E4 - Natalie Standiford

March 31, 2021 20:00 - 20 minutes - 13.9 MB

Natalie Standiford was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, and studied Russian language and literature at Brown University and in the former Soviet Union. She has written many books for children and teens, including How to Say Goodbye in Robot; The Secret Tree; and Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters. Her book reviews and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Review of Books. She lives with her husband in New York City, where she occasionall...

S1, E3 - Jerry Craft

March 24, 2021 20:00 - 29 minutes - 20.5 MB

Jerry Craft is the New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of the graphic novels New Kid and Class Act. New Kid was the winner of the 2020 John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature. In addition, New Kid was awarded the Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature. He is also the recipient of the Coretta Scott King Author Award for the most outstanding work by an African American writer. For all things Jerry, please visit - www.jerrycraft.com....

S1, E2 - David Levithan

March 17, 2021 20:00 - 15 minutes - 10.7 MB

David Levithan is the author and co-author of over twenty books including the critically acclaimed and bestselling, Boy Meets Boy, Every Day, Nick & Nora’s Infinite Playlist, and Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares (now a Netflix Series). In 2016, David won ALA’s Margaret A. Edwards Award for his significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature. David is also the only author who was picketed by an angry mob of three while visiting KPL. His newest book, The Mysterious Disappearance of A...

S1, E1 - Jacqueline Woodson

March 01, 2021 21:00 - 19 minutes - 13.6 MB

Jacqueline Woodson is the author of more than two dozen award-winning books for young adults, middle graders, children, and now adults. Woodson was the 2020 recipient of the Hans Christian Andersen Award and is a 2020 MacArthur Fellow. Among her many other accolades, she is a four-time Newbery Honor winner, a three-time National Book Award finalist, and a three-time Coretta Scott King Award winner. She was named Young People’s Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation in 2015 and was also named...

Five Author Questions (5AQ)

Episodes