YA / MG Read-A-Holics Not-So-Anonymous discussion

Who's your favorite author? Why? What books has your favorite author written that you really liked?

This is hard for me, but I'd have to say that my favorite author is Ann Rinaldi. She writes historical fiction, and her books have won lots of awards. She writes really accurately and her descriptions are wonderful. She also writes about real people in many of her books. Examples are Thomas Jefferson's children and Martha Washington's favorite slave. She also writes from many different perspectives on historical conflicts- for example, she has written Civil War books from the POVs of Northerners, Southerners, Neutral People, and Slaves. Also, she includes detailed historical notes where she sorts out fact from fiction. In many of her books, all of the main characters are real, and I love that! She is truly an amazing historical fiction writer!!!

I haven't read Ann Rinaldi but I admire that she includes notes separating facts from fiction. I once read a historical fiction book but didn't know it was fiction so sounded like an idiot for a month telling people, "did you know..."

My favorite author is Dr. Seuss. I love that he could take complex topics like equality and make them a magically fun story with a lesson at the end (Horton hears a Who). The breadth of his imagination is astounding and he creates an entirely new perspective on life!

Yes, I do appreciate that. And I do love Dr. Seuss as a children's author. He really does teach some valuable lessons. :)

My favorite MG author though is JK Rowling. I think she did an unbelievable job of capturing the toils and joys of passing through grade school within the fantasy landscape of Harry Potter. A number of authors have tried to replicate her with fairly high success by I give her credit for being the first to connect with the mainstream.