Spotlight on Alumae Authors
Megan McDonald

Megan graduated from Pitt's School of Library and Information Science (SLIS), which later became the School of Information Sciences, in 1986. Currently, she resides in Sebastopol, California with her husband, two dogs named Banjo and Fudgie, and "a flock of wild turkeys who land on the roof every morning and wake me up." She is the prolific author of the Judy Moody series, over a dozen picture books, and several young adult novels. Her titles (and accolades) include the following:

The Judy Moody Books:
Judy Moody, 2000 (Publisher's Weekly Best Book of the Year)
Judy Moody Gets Famous, 2001 (American Library Association Notable Children's Book)
Judy Moody Saves the World, 2002 (Chicago Public Library Best Books for Children)
Judy Moody Predicts the Future, 2003

Picture Books:
Is This a House for Hermit Crab?, 1996 (School Library Journal Year's Best Books Selection)
Tundra Mouse: A Storyknife Tale, 1997 (American Bookseller Kids' Pick of the Lists)
Baya, Baya, Lulla-by-a, 2003

Young Adult Novels:
The Bridge to Nowhere, 1993 (Judy Blume Contemporary Fiction Award)
Shadows in the Glasshouse, 2000
All the Stars in the Sky, 2003

Megan, now a full-time author, says of her job, "I have the best job in the world! I get to stay up late and go to work in my pajamas. And I get to live in my imagination." Here is what she had to say to Bibliofile:

What was your specialization within the MLIS program?
Children's Literature and Children's Services. I won the Elva Smith scholarship to study with Maggie Kimmel at the University of Pittsburgh, in my hometown (Pittsburgh!).

What was your first job after graduating?
My first job after graduating was working as a children's librarian at the Brookline Branch of the Carnegie, thanks to Amy Kellman (then Children's Coordinator) who convinced me to stay in Pittsburgh after graduating.

What is the one thing you wish you'd learned in library school that you didn't learn until your first post-library school job?
How to put out fires! Literally and figuratively! At the Brookline Branch, the kids set a fire in the children's room downstairs. As a librarian, I think there's a lot of troubleshooting (putting out fires) that they can't teach you in library school!

When did you publish your first children's or young adult book?
My first picture book, Is This a House for Hermit Crab?, was published in 1990. At SLIS, I took a storytelling class with Maggie Kimmel and Anne Pellowski. My first book was based on an oral story that I told aloud with kids at my preschool story-time at the Central Library Children's Department. Later, I met my editor, Richard Jackson, at the Carnegie's Fall Festival of Children's Books and he invited me to submit the Hermit Crab story as a book manuscript.

Of your own published titles, do you have a personal favorite?
My personal favorite is Judy Moody.

Do you have any new books in the works?
Next year, I'll be publishing a book about Judy Moody's little brother, Stink, called The Incredible Shrinking Stink.

Do you have any words of wisdom for current MLIS students who aspire to publish books for children or teens?
Write what you love. Don't give up. Believe in yourself and your story and it will find its way.
Library students are always looking for titles to add to their reading lists. Do you have any personal favorites that you consider to be "must-reads"?
• Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
• Any book by Katherine Paterson, especially The Great Gilly Hopkins
• Love That Dog by Sharon Creech
• Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes
• The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
• Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen
I could go on and on!

Visit Megan online at www.MeganMcDonald.net!

Rebecca O'Connell

Rebecca published her first book, a young adult novel entitled Myrtle of Willendorf, in 2000. The New York Public Library selected it as one of its Books for the Teen Age. Three years later Rebecca's picture book, The Baby Goes Beep (2003), was published. It is receiving recognition upon recognition, including being named a 2004 Charlotte Zolotow Honor book and a Beginning with Books Best Books for Babies.
Rebecca says about writing, "I love the idea of sharing something - this story - with someone out there I've never even met. I know the intense pleasure I get from reading a good story, and I love the possibility that my story could bring that feeling to someone reading it." Many Bibliofile readers can certainly relate ... Read on for more from an author who will surely continue to shine!

When did you graduate from Pitt's MLIS program?
1992

What was your specialization within the MLIS program?
Public Library Service to Children. I was on the Elva Smith scholarship for library service to children in public libraries.

What was your first job after graduating?
Children's Librarian at the Lawrenceville Branch of Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.

What is the one thing you wish you'd learned in library school that you didn't learn until your first post-library school job?
It no longer matters, but I wished I had learned how to get cards in and out of the card catalog. I didn't know how to move that metal thing that held them in.



When did you publish your first children's or young adult book?
My first book, Myrtle of Willendorf was a young adult book, published by Front Street Books in 2000. My second book, The Baby Goes Beep, a picture book illustrated by Ken Wilson-Max, was published by Roaring Brook Press in 2003.

Of your own published titles, do you have a personal favorite?
They're both my favorites!


Do you have any new books in the works?
Four Sides, Eight Nights: A New Spin on Hanukkah is forthcoming from Roaring Brook Press.

Do you have any words of wisdom for current MLIS students who aspire to publish books for children or teens?
Well, let's call it advice instead of words of wisdom. I'd say, read a lot and read widely. Having a writing group helps, too.

Library students are always looking for titles to add to their reading lists. Do you have any personal favorites that you consider to be "must-reads"?
It's a really long list! But, sticking to the theme of aspiring to write for children, I'll narrow it down to three:

Learn more about Rebecca and her work at "Authors Among Us" from Ravenstone Press, a site devoted to "librarians who are authors of children's and young adult literature": http://ravenstonepress.com/libwritr.html.