SATA
ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: All Cats Welcome
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://susinnielsen.com/
CITY: Vancouver
STATE:
COUNTRY: Canada
NATIONALITY: Canadian
LAST VOLUME: SATA 376
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Word-Nerd-Susin-Nielsen/9780887768750-item.html, http://www.robsonarms.com/key_crew.php
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born 1964; married Goran Fernlund; children: Oskar.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Producer, screenwriter, and author. Creator, with Cathy Moss, of television series Franny’s Feet and Robson Arms; worked as a writer on the television series Degrassi Junior High. Presenter at conferences.
AWARDS:Gemini Award; two Canadian Screenwriter awards; Mr. Christie’s Silver Medal, 2003, for Hank and Fergus; Young Readers’ Choice Awards, for Word Nerd; Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Award, for We Are All Made of Molecules; ForeWord magazine Gold Medal, Governor Generals Literary Award, Canadian Library Association Honor Book selection, and International White Raven Selection, all 2011, and Rocky Mountain Book Award, 2012, all for Dear George Clooney: Please Marry My Mom; Governor General’s Literary Award for Children’s Text, Children’s Book of the Year, Canadian Library Association, and U.K. Literacy Award, all 2012, all for The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen; Red Maple Award for Fiction, Ontario Library Association, 2014; Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People, 2019.
WRITINGS
Author of television scripts for series, including Degrassi Junior High, Ready or Not, The Adventures of Shirley Holmes, Madison, Edgement, Heartland, What about Mimi, and Braceface. Author of videoscript Monet: Shadow and Light, directed by David Devine, 1999. Adapter of television film Alice, I Think (based on the book by Susan Juby).
SIDELIGHTS
Although she originally hoped to be an actress, Susin Nielsen’s talent for writing led to her writing for the Canadian television show Degrassi Junior High when she was in her early twenties, and she is the author of four books in the series of the same name. Nielsen also has written for various other shows for teens and children. In addition to her work in television, she has written numerous illustrated children’s books and young-adult novels. Nielsen’s illustrated children’s books include Hank and Fergus, Mormor Moves In, The Magic Beads, and Princess Puffybottom … and Darryl. Her novels for young adults include Word Nerd, Dear George Clooney: Please Marry My Mom, The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen—winner of Canada’s prestigious Governor General’s Award–and Tremendous Things.
A teen named Violet is the protagonist of Dear George Clooney, released in the U.K. as My Messed Up Life. She lives with her mother, who has had a string of bad boyfriends since her dad left the family to be with an actress in a television show he was directing. Violet’s dad and the actress have two young children, and Violet is ambivalent about having a relationship with them. In one instance, she convinces them to eat cat poop in a sand pit. At school, Violet pals around with her best friend, Jean-Paul, and tries to avoid online bullies. When her mom starts dating a plumber named Dudley, who tells terrible jokes and has no fashion sense, Violet decides she has had enough. She writes a letter to the actor George Clooney, begging him to marry her mom. Writing about the book in School Librarian, Sophie Smiley remarked: “It’s a great story, warm, funny and highly engaging.”
Nielsen’s young-adult novel We Are All Made of Molecules revolves around thirteen-year-old Stewart, whose mother died two years before the novel begins. When Stewart moves with his father into his father’s new girlfriend’s house, Stewart is excited with the prospect of living with the woman’s fourteen-year-old daughter, Ashley, viewing her as a sister. “Stewart copes well … thanks to his … intelligence, precocious emotional maturity, math skills, and … calm outlook with which he assesses his successes and failures,” wrote a Kirkus Reviews contributor. Ashley, however, is less than thrilled by the prospect. Unlike Stewart, Ashley is popular and high up on the school’s social ladder. As a result, she is not too keen on Stewart. Ashley is also dealing with her own trauma, namely the fact that her father came out as gay and has moved into a tiny house on the same property. When Ashley becomes the girlfriend of the popular and handsome Jared, she is overjoyed. Stewart, however, is more than a little concerned because Jared is a bully.
We Are All Made of Molecules “is a modern tale accurately portraying the lives of teens in many American families today,” wrote Erin Segreto in Voice of Youth Advocates. School Librarian contributor Joy Court remarked: “There is actually an awful lot to appeal to both sexes in this warm yet unsentimental, witty and wonderful book.”
Nielsen’s next young-adult novel, Optimists Die First, finds young Petula suffering from a variety of fears. She is such a pessimist that she keeps a scrapbook of reports on unusual deaths. Her own fear of something bad happening limits Petula’s ability to behave normally in social situations. Petula, however, feels somewhat secure in her pessimism when she reads about research showing that optimists have a higher chance of dying ten years before pessimists.
Eventually, readers learn of the family tragedy that has led to Petula’s guilt and intense pessimism. Petula’s unusual outlook for such a young person and her strange behavior ends up leading her to be placed in a Youth Art Therapy program, where other young people with guilt feelings are also trying to overcome their neuroses. It is there that she meets Jacob, who lost his arm in a car accident that also killed his two best friends. It is Jacob who helps the class and especially Petula deal with their issues via videos he makes.
“Nielsen deals deftly with heavy teen issues, and does so with a lightly humorous touch,” wrote Patricia Jermey in Resource Links, adding: “Petula is a charmingly quirky character.” A Publishers Weekly contributor noted: “Readers will be riveted by Petula’s rocky attempts to repair damaged relationships.”
No Fixed Address focuses on a mixed-race twelve-year-old boy named Felix. He lives with his mother, Astrid, who maintains a tenuous hold on the van where they live by stealing and lying. Felix knows that the pair is close to homelessness and that the Canadian Ministry of Children and Family Development could remove him from his mother’s care at any moment. He keeps his family’s situation a secret from his close friends, Dylan and Winnie. Felix is thrilled when he has an opportunity to win thousands of dollars by appearing on a game show. He hopes that his winnings will help Felix and his mother to stay off the streets for good. In an interview with a contributor to the Watching Sparks Reviews website, Nielsen stated: “We have a huge, ever growing housing crisis in Vancouver, as do many world-class cities around the world. More and more ‘regular’ working people are being squeezed out of the city, and/or pushed to the brink of homelessness. I wanted to tell Felix’s story, and show how it could happen to pretty much anyone—it’s a slippery slope.”
Critics offered favorable assessments of the book. Kate Olson, reviewer in School Library Journal, described No Fixed Address as “a well-written work of realism that will be a mirror to some and a window for others.” A Kirkus Reviews critic called it “an outstanding addition to the inadequate-parent genre.” “This book is an exciting page-turner which will help young people reflect more deeply about the world in which we live,” asserted Rosemary Woodman in School Librarian. Writing in Booklist, Maggie Reagan suggested: “This is also a straightforward look at the circumstances that can lead to homelessness. Clear-eyed and heartfelt.” Carmelita Cechetto-Fixed, contributor to Resource Links, remarked: “Susin Nielsen has written another book on societal issues facing youth today, one that will touch the heart of every reader who opens the pages. No Fixed Address will make readers laugh, cry, and ask themselves: could this happen to me? No Fixed Address is a novel that belongs in every school, from elementary to secondary as well as public libraries.”
Nielsen’s young-adult novel Tremendous Things centers on fourteen-year-old Wilbur Alberto Nuñez-Knopf, whose middle-school experience was ruined when a classmate found a confessional letter intended for a time capsule and shared it on social media. The letter’s revelation about Wil’s lack of control over a certain organ, as well as his portly nature, led to the nickname “Wank” and constant shaming from the likes of bully Tyler, among others. His outlook starts to rise when a school-band exchange program brings a beautiful French girl, Charlie, to his house for a week—but he is left heartbroken upon encountering Charlie kissing Tyler, of all people. Despairing, Wil is ready to abort his planned trip to Paris, but a pair of gay friends, Alex and his boyfriend, and an elderly neighbor, Sal, step in to offer a “queer eye” to help him start exercising, stop compulsively texting, reboot his wardrobe, and hopefully impress Charlie after all. In terms of the cast’s diversity, one of Wil’s mothers is from Argentina, Alex is Iranian, and Sal is Jewish.
A Kirkus Reviews writer found that “Nielsen’s quirky portrayal of a sensitive male with a working-class, two-mom family is welcome, and the tone is mostly light and fun.” School Library Journal reviewer Monica Cabarcas feared that the focus on Wil’s anatomy might be excessive, but she appreciated how the novel sheds light on “the power of a peer support network in building self-esteem and one’s willingness to reach out for new opportunities.” She summed Tremendous Things up as offering “a realistic teen experience with raw emotions.”
The picture book Princess Puffybottom … and Darryl finds Nielsen telling the story of a spoiled and entitled cat named Princess Puffybottom, who must deal with a new addition to the household, a clumsy dog named Darryl. Though she initially tries to have Darryl banished, Princess Puffybottom eventually learns to like the dog. The book features illustrations by Olivia Chin Mueller. A Kirkus Reviews critic suggested: “The light touch of humor and twist at the end make this a must for storytime collections.” “The tale is warmly familiar … and it’s gently told, with fun nods to medieval language,” remarked Becca Worthington in Booklist.
[open new]Nielsen’s next picture book is All Cats Welcome, with illustrations by Vivian Mineker. Housecat Leonard tries to convince his owner to stay home instead of going to work, but in vain. When he notices a new cat in the neighborhood also looking lonely during the day, Leonard introduces himself. Mariposa only speaks Spanish, but she and Leonard manage to share adventures anyway. A crisis arises when Mariposa’s owner finds Leonard inside and shuts the window, trapping him, until Leonard’s owner can be found. As it turns out, this opens the door for the owners to become friends as well.
Appreciating the message that “we can meet others who are different from us and still become friends and have fun,” Cloud Lake Literary reviewer Kaylie Seed called All Cats Welcome a “great” story that celebrates “empathy, understanding, and acceptance.” YA Books Central reviewer Olivia Farr added that the “messages around friendship, companionship, and the magic of pets are ones that young readers can really enjoy,” making for a “charming story.”[close new]
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, September 1, 2010, Shelle Rosenfeld, review of Dear George Clooney: Please Marry My Mom, p. 104; April 1, 2015, Teri Lesesne, review of We Are All Made of Molecules, p. 71; December 1, 2016, Sarah Bean Thompson, review of Optimists Die First, p. 55; September 1, 2018, Maggie Reagan, review of No Fixed Address, p. 115; January 1, 2019, Becca Worthington, review of Princess Puffybottom … and Darryl, p. 94.
Canadian Review of Materials, September 5, 2003, Lynn McKechnie, review of Hank and Fergus; October 1, 2004, Liz Greenaway, review of Mormor Moves In; June 8, 2007, Carolyn Crippen, review of The Magic Beads.
Children’s Bookwatch, March, 2019, review of Princess Puffybottom … and Darryl.
Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2004, review of Mormor Moves In, p. 871; July 1, 2007, review of The Magic Beads; March 1, 2015, review of We Are All Made of Molecules; November 1, 2016, review of Optimists Die First; July 1, 2018, review of No Fixed Address; October 1, 2018, review of Princess Puffybottom … and Darryl; April 1, 2021, review of Tremendous Things.
Publishers Weekly, December 5, 2016, review of Optimists Die First, p. 74; March 4, 2019, review of Princess Puffybottom … and Darryl, p. 83.
Resource Links, October, 2007, Rachelle Gooden, review of The Magic Beads, p. 9; June, 2015, Lesley Little, review of We Are All Made of Molecules, p. 27; April, 2017, Patricia Jermey, review of Optimists Die First, p 31; October, 2018, Carmelita Cechetto-Fixed, review of No Fixed Address, p. 36.
School Librarian, summer, 2015, Joy Court, review of We Are All Made of Molecules, p. 120; winter, 2018, Rosemary Woodman, review of No Fixed Address, p. 253; winter, 2018, Sophie Smiley, review of My Messed Up Life, p. 253.
School Library Journal, September, 2010, Rhona Campbell, review of Dear George Clooney, p. 159; February 2015, Lauren Strohecker, review of We Are All Made of Molecules, p. 90; November 2016, Evelyn Khoo Schwartz, review of Optimists Die First, p. 103; June, 2018, Kate Olson, review of No Fixed Address, p. 78; May, 2021, Monica Cabarcas, review of Tremendous Things, p. 82.
Story Monsters Ink, March, 2019, Diana Fisher, review of Princess Puffybottom … and Darryl, p. 57.
Voice of Youth Advocates, April, 2015, Erin Segreto, review of We Are All Made of Molecules, p. 66.
ONLINE
Cloud Lake Literary website, https://www.cloudlakeliterary.ca/ (September 13, 2022), Kaylie Seed, review of All Cats Welcome.
Cracking the Cover, https://www.crackingthecover.com/ (March 6, 2017), Jessica On, “Optimists Die First Author Susin Nielsen Pulls from Memories of Youth,” author interview.
Open Book Toronto, http://www.openbooktoronto.com/ (November 1, 2008), “Ten Questions with Susin Nielsen.”
Susin Nielsen website, https://susinnielsen.com/ (June 11, 2023).
Tundra Books website, http://www.tundrabooks.com/ (November 1, 2008), “Susin Nielsen.”
Vancouver Writers Festival website, https://writersfest.bc.ca/ (August 7, 2019), author profile.
Watching Sparks Reviews, https://watchingsparksreviews.wordpress.com/ (October 4, 2018), author interview.
YA Books Central, https://www.yabookscentral.com/ (July 24, 2022), Olivia Farr, review of All Cats Welcome.
Susin Nielsen
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Susin Nielsen
Born 1964 (age 58–59)
Occupation Author
Nationality Canadian
Notable works The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen
Notable awards
Governor General's Award for English-language children's literature (2012)
Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award (2013)
Spouse Goran Fernlund
Children 1
Website
susinnielsen.com
Susin Nielsen (born 1964)[1] is a Canadian author for children, adolescent and young adults. She received the 2012 Governor General's Award for English-language children's literature[2] and the 2013 Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award[3] for her young adult novel The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen, which deals with the aftermath of a school shooting.
In 2019, she received won the Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People.[4]
Personal life
Nielsen was raised in London and Chatham-Kent, Ontario.[5]
She is married to Goran Fernlund and has one child: Oskar.[1]
Career
Nielsen began her writing career with the Degrassi franchise, writing scripts for the television shows as well as books for the series. Nielsen also played Louella Hawkins the Janitor in Degrassi Junior High. Following her work with Degrassi, Nielsen wrote for many other Canadian television series such as Heartland, What About Mimi?, and Braceface.[6] While working on these shows she produced three children's picture books: Hank and Fergus, Mormor Moves In, and The Magic Beads.
Her first independent novel, Word Nerd, deals with bullying, a theme she returns to in The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen. Her books often describe the effect of broken families on children.
Nielsen's 2015 book, We Are All Made of Molecules, about two step siblings trying to form a bond with each other, was shortlisted for the Governor General's Award.
Nielsen's books have been translated into Dutch, French, Portuguese, Italian, German and Polish (In the Polish language, not all of them have been translated).[6]
Nielsen's 2021 book, Tremendous Things, was nominated for the 2022 Ontario Library Association's Red Maple Award for Fiction.
Awards and honors
In 2019, Nielsen was honored with the Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People, which honors writers and illustrators whose body of work has been "inspirational to Canadian youth."[4][7][8]
Two of Nielsen's books are Junior Library Guild selections: No Fixed Address (2018)[9] and Tremendous Things (2021).[10]
In 2015, The Globe and Mail,[11] Kirkus Reviews,[12] Quill & Quire, and The Telegraph[13] included We Are All Made of Molecules on their list of the best young adult novels of the year.
Awards for Nielsen's writing
Year Title Award Result Ref.
2008 Word Nerd INDIES Award for Juvenile Fiction Silver [14]
2010 Forest of Reading Red Maple Award Winner [15]
Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Award Winner [16]
Dear George Clooney, Please Marry My Mom INDIES Award for Juvenile Fiction Winner [17]
2011 Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize Finalist [18]
Snow Willow Award Winner [19]
2012 Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Award Winner [20]
Rocky Mountain Book Award Winner [21]
The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen Governor General's Award for English-language children's literature Winner [2][22][23]
2013 Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award Winner [3]
Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Award Winner [24]
Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize Finalist [25]
2014 Forest of Reading Red Maple Award Winner [26]
2015 We Are All Made of Molecules Governor General's Award for English-language children's literature Finalist [27]
2016 Carnegie Medal Longlist [28][29]
Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Award Winner [30]
Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize Finalist
2018 Optimists Die First Carnegie Medal Nominee [31]
Federation of Children's Book Groups' Children's Book Award Finalist [32]
2019 No Fixed Address IODE Violet Downey Book Award Winner [33]
Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize Winner [34][35]
2020 Carnegie Medal Longlist [36]
Forest of Reading Red Maple Award Winner [37][38]
Princess Puffybottom . . . and Darryl Sheila Barry Best Canadian Picturebook of the Year Award Shortlist [39]
2022 Tremendous Things Carnegie Medal Nominee [40]
Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Award Shortlist [41]
Bibliography
Picture books
The Magic Beads, illustrated by Geneviève Côté (2007)
Princess Puffybottom . . . and Darryl , illustrated by Olivia Chin Mueller (2019)
All Cats Welcome, illustrated by Vivian Mineker (2022)
Middle grade and young adult books
Mormor Moves In (2004)
Hank and Fergus (2005)
Word Nerd (2008)
Dear George Clooney: Please Marry My Mom (2010) – also published as My Messed-Up Life
The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen (2012)
We Are All Made of Molecules (2015)
Optimists Die First (2017)
No Fixed Address (2018)
Tremendous Things (2021)
I’ve always wanted to be a writer. Well, aside from a few years when I wanted to be an actor. Specifically I wanted to play Anita in West Side Story. There were only three problems: I couldn’t sing; I couldn’t dance; and I could only passably act.
I turned my sights to TV and got my start feeding cast and crew muffins and bologna sandwiches on the award-winning television series, Degrassi Junior High. They hated my food (a fact that’s memorialized forever in a poem the cast wrote: “An ode to Susin, the Bran Muffin Queen, we eat them, we die, then we turn green”). But luckily for me, they saw a spark in a spec script I wrote, and I went on to pen 16 episodes of Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High. I also got my first crack at novel writing when I wrote Shane, Wheels, Snake and Melanie – four books in the Degrassi series. I vowed that one day I would write an original young adult novel; it just took me a really long time!
In the meantime, the TV world kept me busy. I’ve written for a lot of Canadian TV shows, and still do. If you’re curious, you can see my full list of TV credits on IMDB. And yes, I’ve met quite a few Canadian celebrities. But no, I have not met Drake.
Finally I got off my butt and wrote that young adult novel, Word Nerd. It was published in fall 2008 by Tundra Books. My second novel, Dear George Clooney: Please Marry My Mom was published by Tundra in fall 2010, and The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen was published in fall 2012. In spring of 2015 my novel, We Are All Made of Molecules, was published in Canada, the US and the UK, followed up by Optimists Die First, which was published in 2017. No Fixed Address came out in September, 2018.
My books have been translated into French (European and Quebec editions), German, Italian, Korean, Polish, Dutch, Portuguese, Norwegian, Swedish, Romanian, Turkish, Spanish, Japanese and Ukrainian. You can check out some of the foreign covers (including the wonderful UK covers) here.
I live in Vancouver, Canada, with my family and two destructive, naughty cats. When I’m not writing, I love to road bike, swim badly, be in the great outdoors, read and travel. And I’ve been known to laugh at my own jokes.
FAQ (aka Frequently Asked Questions)
Where do your ideas come from?
They come from all over the place. A writer’s mind is always working (so watch out what you do and say around us). 🙂 If you want to read about my specific inspiration for each book, go to the “Books” section.
When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?
I knew when I was very young. I even wrote that I was going to be a writer in the first diary I kept, when I was eleven years old.
Why did you become a writer?
The truth is, there were so many things I wasn’t good at. Writing seemed to be one area where I thrived. I remember starting at a new school in a new town in seventh grade, and failing some of my courses (the kids were quite a bit ahead of me). Then we had to write a murder mystery, a short story – and I got a great mark, and my teacher was very encouraging. I remember thinking, “Finally! Something I’m good at!” So I kept going.
Are your books autobiographical?
No. There are elements of who I was, or elements of other people I’ve met. But they are works of fiction.
Why are all of your books set in Vancouver?
Because I’ve lived here since 1995 and it’s the city I know and love. I need to be able to “see” my characters existing in the real world.
How do you deal with writer’s block?
Well this sounds odd, but I write! Even if I don’t know what I’m going to write, or I think it’s going to be garbage (and often it is), I force myself to sit down and write something on those bad days, even if it’s just a page. Because even if I throw it out the next day, it usually helps spark something better. I know writing sounds romantic, but for those of us who do it full-time it’s a job like any other; we can’t afford to get blocked for too long!
What advice do you have for an aspiring writer?
It’s really, deceptively simple: I say “Read. Write. Repeat.” But it’s true!! You must do both, and do them often and voraciously. It’s the only way to get better, and to develop your own voice.
10 random facts about me
shutterstock_1283682951. I am left-handed.
2. I am a cat person.
3. My first cat was named Mississippi. Actually, I named her Missippi, but all the adults would say, “You mean Mississippi,” and eventually I made the switch.
4. I was raised by my awesome single-parent mom.
5. I love to travel.
6. My favorite ice-cream flavor is cookie dough.
7. Once I tried to feather my bangs and dropped a hot curling iron on my leg. I still have the scar to prove it.
8. I know all the words to Bohemian Rhapsody.
9. I once owned a pair of “inside-out” pants, bought from the Sears catalogue, and nerdier than anything Ambrose from Word Nerd would ever wear.
10. I love a fart joke.
Optimists Q&A
(excerpted from an interview with “Adventures in YA Publishing”)
What is your favorite thing about OPTIMISTS DIE FIRST?
Well, from an author perspective I guess I’m glad I feel it holds together as a novel, if that makes sense. But just from a fun and joy perspective, it would definitely be the cats … and the unique ways in which they are utilized in the story. I’ve been a big fan of cat videos since Keyboard Cat Moon, which must be one of the first!
What was your inspiration for writing OPTIMISTS DIE FIRST?
I don’t know why I started toying with the ideas of guilt, and shame, and blame. I notice I like to sometimes dig into behavior and situations that I’ve tended to look at in a very black-and-white way, because of course nothing in life is ever black and white, and I think it’s a novelist’s job to explore the grays. Also, I wanted to try my hand at a novel with slightly older characters, and attempt a realistic portrayal of first love. I’ve never forgotten Judy Blume’s “Forever,” which did that really well. It was important for me to depict a positive and consensual first-sex experience too, because I’m not sure it happens very often in YA fiction, yet it’s a part of life for many young people.
What did this book teach you about writing or about yourself?
This was the hardest book I’ve written to date. I’m not sure why. It was the first time I’d written under a two-book deal, this one being the second “unwritten” project, and I felt the psychological pressure in ways I didn’t expect. I got a load of editorial feedback on my first sh*tty draft. I remember I immediately dove into the second draft with a vengeance, which on the one hand was a good thing – no rest for the weary – but I wrote it with this really angry attitude (not at anyone in particular, certainly not my editors! If I was angry with anyone, it was with myself). Like, “I’m gonna wrestle this effing thing to the ground.”
And you know what? That was not a good headspace from which to write. The book did get better … but for the third draft, I wrote with joy in my heart. I reminded myself every day how truly blessed I was to be able to do this, and get paid for it no less. And that joy shone through. I finally felt I’d truly cracked it. So I learned to try to always write with joy. (It does not work all the time!).
What advice would you pass on to other writers?
It’s been said before by many smarter writers, but I really do believe it: Put your bum in the seat. Treat it like a job (or a part-time job if you have another job to pay the bills!). Writing is not about waiting for the muse to strike. Also, read.
What are you working on now?
I’m just waiting for editorial notes on the first draft of a new middle-grade novel, the working title is No Fixed Address.
All Cats Welcome
Susin Nielsen, author
Vivian Mineker, illustrator
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
c/o Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
1230 Avenue of the Americas, 4th floor, New York, NY 10020
www.simonandschuster.com/kids
9781534476974, $18.99, HC, 40pp
https://www.amazon.com/All-Cats-Welcome-Susin-Nielsen/dp/1534476970
Synopsis: Leonard adores his human. "Stay! Let's play!" he says when it's time to leave for work. His human just hears "Meow." But sometimes Leonard gets lonely. So does Mariposa, who is new in town. Maybe they could keep each other company? "Hello," says Leonard. "Hola," says Mariposa. While the friends don't share a language, they do share adventures. And together they find a place where all cats (and their humans) are welcome.
Critique: Charmingly illustrated and gently entertaining, "All Cats Welcome" will have a very special appeal to young readers who have a feline companion of their own. While very highly recommended for family, daycare center, preschool, elementary school, and community library picture book collections for children ages 4-8, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "All Cats Welcome" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $10.99).
Editorial Note #1: Susin Nielsen is a critically acclaimed author of many children's books, ranging from picture books to young adult novels, including No Fixed Address and We Are All Made of Molecules. Nielsen also verges on being a cat lady. She has her own website at www.SusinNielsen.com
Editorial Note #2: Vivian Mineker is a Taiwanese American illustrator whose work derives from a love of nature and animals, as well as an appreciation of the world around her. She creates visuals that she hopes connect with her audience and evoke the profound feelings and emotions that we all experience as humans. She has illustrated a number of children's books, including The Road Not Taken, The Secret Life of Trees, and What a Ship Sees. She has a website at www.VivianMineker.com
Please Note: Illustration(s) are not available due to copyright restrictions.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com/cbw/index.htm
Source Citation
Source Citation
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"All Cats Welcome." Children's Bookwatch, July 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A714631259/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=dd270fca. Accessed 20 May 2023.
September 13, 2022
Book Review: All Cats Welcome by Susin Nielsen Illustrated by Vivian Mineker
Reviews
By Kaylie Seed
Susin Nielsen’s All Cats Welcome is a children’s story that will make readers young and old feel warm and fuzzy. Leonard the cat gets bored when his human has to leave during the day. One day, Leonard notices that there is a cat across the street who looks lonely too. When Leonard meets Mariposa they realize that even though they speak different languages they can still be good friends and go on exciting adventures together.
All Cats Welcome is meant to show young readers that we can meet others who are different from us and still become friends and have fun. This is a great book that teaches empathy, understanding, and acceptance. Nielsen has managed to bring forth these topics through simple sentences for young readers and the story is bound to touch the hearts of older readers as well.
Vivian Mineker’s illustrations are beautiful. Each page is full of colour, filled with Leonard’s adventures and different facial expressions. Older readers can have younger readers point out different emotions that they see throughout All Cats Welcome as well as describe what Leonard and Mariposa are doing. Children’s books don’t pull at my heartstrings often, but this one certainly did. All Cats Welcome is a reminder to accept those around us, be empathetic, and have fun!
Thank you to Simon and Schuster Canada for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.