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Interview: Skylar James, author of Shadow of a Doubt

Apr 24, 2015

What happens to a kid who feeds horses carrots in Central Park and reads The Saddle Club series religiously in the back of a saddle store? She grows up to write a book about a girl, a horse, and their joint dream to race in the Kentucky Derby!

At least in the case of Skylar James, the author of SHADOW OF A DOUBT! Read our interview with Skylar below, where she talks about her favorite books as a kid, what it’s like to write animal characters and the next project she’s working on.

Editorial Content for Six

Book

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Rebecca Czochor

Parker Banks is the new kid in school and he's not having a very good time. His British accent makes him a target for bullies, he has no friends and his little sister, Emma, has adjusted seamlessly. To make matters worse, his scientist father has been working long hours every night because he is on the cusp of a technological breakthrough, and Parker hates living in the same place his mother died three years earlier. Read More

Teaser

 

Parker and his family share a secret: they can, with the help of advanced technology, communicate between themselves through their thoughts. And then Parker’s dad, on the cusp of a technological breakthrough, is kidnapped. Thanks to a message his dad sent via thoughts before the signal cut off, Parker is suddenly on a rescue mission. But all the signs point to one thing: the company his dad works for is up to something big. Huge. A perfectly sinister project that threatens far more than Parker’s family. A project called SIX.

Promo

Parker and his family share a secret: they can, with the help of advanced technology, communicate between themselves through their thoughts. And then Parker’s dad, on the cusp of a technological breakthrough, is kidnapped. Thanks to a message his dad sent via thoughts before the signal cut off, Parker is suddenly on a rescue mission. But all the signs point to one thing: the company his dad works for is up to something big. Huge. A perfectly sinister project that threatens far more than Parker’s family. A project called SIX.

About the Book

Parker and his family share a secret: they can, with the help of advanced technology, communicate between themselves through their thoughts.
 
When Parker, his dad and sister Emma move to New York three years after his mother’s death, Parker is having a hard time. He misses London and his friends, his father is distracted with his new job and Emma is looking out for him instead of the other way around.
 
And then Parker’s dad, on the cusp of a technological breakthrough, is kidnapped. Thanks to a message his dad sent via thoughts before the signal cut off, Parker is suddenly on a rescue mission. Now Parker and Emma, along with their friend Michael and Polly the pig, must find this person --- the only link to their father --- but the search asks more questions than it answers. But all the signs point to one thing: the company his dad works for is up to something big. Huge. A perfectly sinister project that threatens far more than Parker’s family. A project called SIX.

J.S. Farynski

Visitors should behave in such a way that the host and hostess feel at home.

Attribution

J.S. Farynski

I Will Always Write Back: How One Letter Changed Two Lives by Caitlin Alifirenka

April 2015

It started as an assignment. Everyone in Caitlin's class wrote to an unknown student somewhere in a distant place. Martin was lucky to even receive a pen-pal letter. There were only 10 letters, and 40 kids in his class. But he was the top student, so he got the first one. That letter was the beginning of a correspondence that spanned six years and changed two lives. In this dual memoir, Caitlin and Martin recount how they became best friends --- and better people --- through their long-distance exchange.

Black Dove, White Raven by Elizabeth Wein

April 2015

Emilia and Teo's lives changed in a fiery, terrifying instant when a bird strike brought down the plane their stunt pilot mothers were flying. Teo's mother died immediately, but Em has survived, determined to raise Teo according to his late mother's wishes --- in a place where he won't be discriminated against because of the color of his skin. But in 1930s America, a white woman raising a black adoptive son alongside a white daughter is too often seen as a threat.

Fig by Sarah Elizabeth Schantz

April 2015

Fig’s world lies somewhere between reality and fantasy. But as she watches Mama slowly come undone, it becomes hard to tell what is real and what is not, what is fun and what is frightening. To save Mama, Fig begins a fierce battle to bring her back. The problem is that in the process of a daily sacrifice, she begins to lose herself as well, increasingly isolating herself from her classmates and engaging in self-destructive behavior that only further sets her apart.

The Bullies of Wall Street: This Is How Greedy Adults Messed Up Our Economy by Sheila Bair

April 2015

In 2008, America went through a terrible financial crisis, and we are still suffering the consequences. As the former head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Sheila Bair worked to protect families during the crisis and keep their bank deposits safe. In THE BULLIES OF WALL STREET, she describes the many ways in which a broken system led families into financial trouble, and also explains the decisions being made at the time by the most powerful people in the country that led to the recession.

Do you typically feel the need to read books as soon as they are available?

April 23, 2015, 575 voters

Spring Cleaning Bookshelf (BRC)

The Scoundrel and the Debutante