Just posted! An interview with multiple award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Jacqueline West.
If the names Horatio, Leopold and Harvey (excuse me, Agent 1-800) elicit feelings of delight, and the name McMartin gives you shudders of fear, then you are already familiar with West’s acclaimed Books of Elsewhere series. If you have not read them, polish up your spectacles and get ready for an epic five book journey.
When that series concluded, West continued to write for middle grade readers with The Collectors, its sequel A Storm of Wishes, and The Story Pirates Presents: Digging Up Danger. She’s also authored two young adult novels – Dreamers Often Lie, and Last Things.
West’s most recent novel is Long Lost, a story within a story about two sets of sisters from different times, connected by a book that mysteriously writes itself, revealing a terrible secret about the small town of Lost Lake, and bringing the past back to life.
Jacqueline West is undeniably a master crafter of suspense, spookiness, intrigue, adventure, and unique forms of magic. Reading through her catalog of books in preparation for this interview, however, I realized that she is also the master of thresholds. Her characters constantly cross them, physically and mentally, alone or together, both in fantasy and reality. And it’s a testament to her incredible writing abilities that each crossing feels special, intimate, meaningful, and significant.
Follow this link to the BiblioFiles interview
Image courtesy of Jacqueline West
The snail part of this project is very simple. Decorate 2 poster board snail shells and attach them to both sides of a small box. To make the snail’s head and neck, round one end of an 8″ strip of poster board, then fold to create a head. Don’t forget the eye stalks! We also added a paper racing helmet, but that is optional. Tab the other end of the strip and attach it to the underside of the box.
Now to get your snail moving! We thought an RC snail rally would be super awesome, so I made a quick trip to Jazams, our local toy store. I found these RC trucks for $17.
One quick note: You’ll notice that the RC truck in the picture above has a nose that sticks out. There was another box, exact same recycling truck, except it had a flat front (see below). Turns out the truck with the flat front held the snail box MUCH better. So aim to find a flat front truck if at all possible!
I removed the green recycle section from the back of the truck, cut a hole in the bottom of each snail box, and then slid the snail onto the cab of the truck like so:
