Want to spread the buzz about your book to teachers and librarians, who in turn will share it with their students? Ask Deborah Sloan (former director of marketing, promotion, advertising and publicity at Candlewick) if she'll feature it in The Picnic Basket. Here's the premise:
We send you free books. You tell us what you think! Welcome to The Picnic Basket, where school and library professionals taste new and forthcoming children's books with first-come, first-serve sample copies of books for kids of all ages. Read the books, then post your reviews here for your colleagues to read.Twenty-some educators thus far have submitted reviews of my SECRET KEEPER, and I'm refreshed by their honesty and encouragement:
A thought-provoking book and a good read. In the spunky and opinionated Asha, pre-teens and teens can find a role model in their search for individuality.Now that's praise from the praiseworthy, and well worth the investment.
I wept right in the middle of the mall as I read this book while waiting for my daughter to window shop with her friends. I couldn't put it down, or concentrate on anything else. I was a blubbering fool. I felt as if the author pulled up a stool and sat me right at Asha's family table.
This was a wonderfully written book, and I look forward to sharing it with my high school sophomores and juniors.
I’m going to warn you: I cried at the end of SECRET KEEPER. Don’t worry; I won’t give away too many secrets. Just one: I didn’t cry because of the sad ending. I cried because author Mitali Perkins resisted the urge to "go Disney," and I instantly loved her for it.
I just finished reading SECRET KEEPER. It is a fantastic story! My students can definitely relate to having to live with extended family members and having to obey others rules and not having any space/privacy of their own. They tell me this daily. They can also relate to the importance of keeping promises, even if they mean hurting yourself. And they definitely can relate to being poor and not having any money.