and Jean Van Leeuwen from Chappaqua.
RONI
SCHOTTER is the author of 19 books (the latest being Missing Rabbit),
and she has three more due out this spring, including a new one in her
Captain Bob series. Her many awards include the Washington Irving Award
for F is For Freedom (about the Underground Railroad) and Nothing
Ever Happens on 90th Street and the National Jewish Book Award for
Hanukkah!. Her first book, the young adult novel A Matter of
Time, was made into an After School Special and won an Emmy. She says
her books are concerned with "imagination and its power, and the extraordinary
courage of children who think for themselves and 'dare to reach out to
the larger world." They are also often warm and whimsical.
"All
my books seem to have something in common: They are about families," says
JEAN VAN LEEUWEN. Even the little mouse gang that is featured in
The Great Summer Camp Catastrophe, The Great Christmas Kidnapping
Caper, and other books are a little family. "And again and
again I find that what I am writing about is courage: the courage to try,
the courage to face something scary, the courage to be yourself." Some
of her books focus on one of her favorite subjects, American history -
e.g Going West, Nothing Here But Trees, a novel Bound
for Oregon, and a Hannah trilogy set in Connecticut. Like Ms. Schotter,
she writes for all age levels and has won many honors including the William
Allen White Award, the South Carolina Children's Book Award, the Booklist
Editor's Choices, and the ALA Notable Children's Book.
This reading is a participating event in "Free Arts Day - A Gift Straight from the Art" organized by the Westchester Arts Council with support from Fleet Bank and AT&T. For detailed listings please visit www.westarts.com.
The readings at the HVWC are made possible in part by a grant from the Bydale Foundation; with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts; and by Westchester Arts Council with funds from Westchester County Government, corporations and individuals.