HCSCS Author Advisors
New Releases
Dear Mr. Dickens
By Nancy Churnin
In Eliza Davis's day, Charles Dickens was the most celebrated living writer in England. But some of his books reflected a prejudice that was all too common at the time: prejudice against Jewish people. Eliza was Jewish, and her heart hurt to see a Jewish character in Oliver Twist portrayed as ugly and selfish. She wanted to speak out about how unfair that was, even if it meant speaking out against the great man himself. So she wrote a letter to Charles Dickens. What happened next is history. A featured book at The Charles Dickens Museum in London.
Coming October 1, 2021.
Out of the Blue
By Elizabeth Shreeve
Where did the first animals come from? How and why did they emerge from ocean onto land? Young readers will find answers in this lively and accessible look into the prehistoric past that boils a complex subject down to its lyrical essence.
**School Library Journal and Kirkus starred reviews**
A Free Woman on God's Earth
By Jana Laiz
"A Free Woman On God's Earth" is a juvenile biography for ages 8 and up containing over 40 illustrations. It is the story of Elizabeth “Mumbet” Freeman, the enslaved African woman who had the courage and conviction to speak what was in her heart, suing for her freedom in a Massachusetts court of law. An engaging history that fulfils the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks for third, fourth and fifth grades in the categories of Local Biography, Local History, Revolutionary War Heroes.
Now Being Adapted into a Feature Film!
Monument Maker: Daniel Chester French and the Lincoln Memorial
By Linda Booth Sweeney
This is the story of how a farmboy became America’s foremost sculptor. After failing at academics, Dan was working the family farm when he idly carved a turnip into a frog and discovered what he was meant to do. Sweeney’s swift prose and Fields’s evocative illustrations capture the single-minded determination with which Dan taught himself to sculpt and launched his career with the famous Minuteman Statue in his hometown of Concord, Massachusetts.
20th Annual Massachusetts Book Awards “Must Reads”: A Must-Read Picture Book
Halo-Halo
By Justine Ramos
Halo-Halo is filled with fiery, whip-smart, slam-style poetry and is a fascinating portal into the Pilipinx identity and the collective experiences of immigrants and communities of color. Ramos takes readers through the experience of navigating Pilipino history and culture and thus rediscovering and reclaiming her identity as a Pilipinx-American.
The Great Explosion: A Powder Mill Chronicle
By Ilona Holland
Fire, falling timbers, and flying debris test the courage of the du Pont children as they race from their home to escape an explosion at their family's powder mill. Share the children's adventure as they make their way to safety. Based on true events, this book combines fact with fiction to provide an exciting glimpse into life at Eleuthjerian Mills in 1818.
Recipient of First Place for Children's Fiction Award given by the Delaware Press Association, 2021.
HCSCS Author Advisors
Nancy Churnin
current cohort
Nancy Churnin is the award-winning author of ten picture books about people who persevered to achieve their dreams and make the world a better place. Among her awards: a Junior Library Guild selection, multiple National Council for the Social Studies Notables, multiple Silver Eureka Awards, multiple inclusions on A Mighty Girl list, Sydney Taylor Notable, Towner Award nominee, Sakura Medal finalist, Notable Book for a Global Society, Anne Izard Storytellers Choice Award and the South Asia Book Award.. DEAR MR. DICKENS and A QUEEN TO THE RESCUE, THE STORY OF Henrietta Szold, FOUNDER OF HADASSAH, will be out in October 2021. A Harvard alumna with a masters from Columbia, Nancy lives in North Texas with her husband, a dog named Dog and two cantankerous cats.
website: https://www.nancychurnin.com/
Ilona Holland
current cohort
Ilona Holland retired from the faculty of Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2016 to write children’s books. Since then, she partnered with the National Park Trust and National Geographic Kids to publish BUDDY BISON’S YELLOWSTONE ADVENTURE. This book was featured by Hoda Kobt of the Today Show as one of her favorite things and was selected for inclusion in United Through Reading, a program serving over 100,000 families in which deployed military parents read to their children over distance. Holland’s other books are both historical fiction. Her latest is THE GREAT EXPLOSION which is based on the true story of the du Pont children’s escape from the explosion of their family powder mill in 1818. THE LOST LOCKET OF LEWES, a time travel book, won first place for children’s fiction given by the National Federation of Press Women. Dr. Holland earned her Ed.D. from HGSE in 1991 and loves to speak to school children whenever she has a chance.
website: www.ilonaeholland.com
Jana Laiz
current cohort
Jana Laiz, is a writer and educator living in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts. She is the author of the award-winning novels Weeping Under This Same Moon (in development for film), The Twelfth Stone and Billy Budd in the Breadbox, The Story of Herman Melville & Eleanor. She is the co-author of A Free Woman On God’s Earth” The Story of Elizabeth Mumbet Freeman (in development for film), Blanket of Stars, Simon Says and Thirty-Five Days To Baltimore/35 Días De Camino A Baltimore. Jana is a writer with a purpose, believing that honoring diversity and teaching stewardship for the planet can change the world. She is Writer-In-Residence Emeritus at Herman Melville's Arrowhead home and the Education Coordinator at Berkshire County Historical Society.
Visit her at janalaiz.com.
Justine Ramos
current cohort
Justine Ramos (she/hers) is a Pilipinx immigrant, slam poet, published author, UCLA Alumna, and Doctorate of Occupational Therapy Candidate at Tufts University. She released her first collection of poetry, Halo-Halo: A poetic mix of culture, history, revelation, and revolution on May 2021 which is available now in physical and online bookstores! Ramos is most interested in the intersection of creativity and rehabilitation medicine and plans to use creative writing as a means of healing in her career as an Occupational Therapist.
website: @halohalo.poetry - Instagram
email: halohalo.poetry@gmail.com
Elizabeth Shreeve
current cohort
Elizabeth Shreeve grew up in a family of writers and scientists who taught her to pay attention to horseshoe crabs, songbirds, and other wonderful creatures of the Atlantic coastline. In addition to picture books and chapter books, Elizabeth’s nonfiction projects include OUT OF THE BLUE: HOW ANIMALS EVOLVED FROM PREHISTORIC SEAS (Candlewick, May 2021) and THE UPSIDE-DOWN BOOK OF SLOTHS (forthcoming from Norton Young Readers). Elizabeth studied geology and biology at Harvard College with scientists Stephen Jay Gould and E.O. Wilson and earned a Masters in Landscape Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. She is a Principal of SWA, an international design practice, and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family, including Hector the Dog.
website: www.elizabethshreeve.com
youtube: https://tinyurl.com/phcer2yv
Linda Sweeney
current cohort
I love the inspiration and mission of Story Wish and am honored to be a member of the mentor cohort. I am a children’s book author, systems educator, and part-time game maker. I write across the children’s book spectrum and especially enjoy writing systems fact and systems fiction (think Ms. Frizzle meets Arthur C. Clark). Some of my books have been translated into ten languages and my writing has appeared in Highlights Magazine for Children and on PBS Learning Media. In addition to two rhyming picture books (published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers), and Monument Maker: Daniel Chester French and the Lincoln Memorial (Cybil 2019 finalist, SLJ award- winner, 2020 Mass Book Award “Must Read), I am the author of The Systems Thinking Playbook, The Climate Change Playbook and When a Butterfly Sneezes: A guide for helping children explore interconnections in our world through favorite stories. I’m currently trying to learn how to turn my book of adapted folktales, Connected Wisdom: Living Stories about Living Systems, into an augmented reality app.
I hold a masters degree and doctorate from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education and I enjoy hiking, playing the ukulele and fixing up her 1974 Volkswagen, Thing.
Visit Linda online at lindaboothsweeney.com (children’s) lindaboothsweeney.net (complex systems) and virtual reality (https://togglelab.com/)
website: lindaboothsweeney.com (children's) and lindaboothsweeney.net (complex systems) and virtual reality (https://togglelab.com/)
Laurie Ann Thompson
current cohort
Laurie Ann Thompson grew up in the fields and forests of northern Wisconsin and now lives between the mountains and the sea in Washington State. A master naturalist and former software engineer, she writes to help her readers—and herself—better understand the world we all share. Laurie is the author of several award-winning nonfiction books, including BE A CHANGEMAKER: HOW TO START SOMETHING THAT MATTERS, an inspiring how-to guide for teens; the Two Truths and a Lie series for middle-grade readers (coauthored with Ammi-Joan Paquette); and EMMANUEL’S DREAM, a picture book biography about a man who changed his country’s perception of disability, which won the ALA Schneider Family Book Award and dozens of other accolades. Her newest titles include the Meet Your World series, available April 2023. Visit her online at www.lauriethompson.com.
Azadeh Westergaard
2020-21 cohort
Azadeh Westergaard (aa-zah-dé) is an Iranian-American writer and illustrator based in New York City. She received her BA from Harvard College in Visual & Environmental Studies and her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA).
She loves books and family in equal measure, which is why you’ll usually find her at home, happily surrounded by her beloved picture book collection, dashing husband, three delightful boys, and one extra-large golden doodle.
website: http://www.ahwestergaard.com/
twitter: @ahwestergaard
instagram: @ahwestergaard