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New for 2011
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An Unspeakable Crime - This young adult nonfiction book published by Carolrhoda tells the story of the murder of 13-year-old Mary Phagan in Atlanta in 1913. The teenager went to the pencil factory where she worked to pick up her week's pay, and was found dead the next morning. All Atlanta was horrified by the crime, and turned against the factory manager, Leo Frank, a Jewish Yankee who had come down from New York to manage the plant. Other teenage workers testified that Frank had made inappropriate advances to them, and the prosecution built a case of innuendo against Frank, culminating in a conviction that condemned him to be hanged for Mary's murder. This was overturned by the governor, and Atlanta errupted in riots, attacking Jewish businesses and homes, and the governor's mansion.
Nearly a century later, people are still trying to understand what really happened the day Mary went to get her pay - it has taken a lynching and a frightened witness who was 14 when Mary died, and 83 when he finally came forward, to tell the true story of this unspeakable crime.
An
Unspeakable Crime was chosen
as a Junior Library Guild Spring 2010 Selection. In 2011 it has
been named an Honor Book in the Social Studies - Grades 7-12 category
by the Society of School Librarians International, a National
Jewish Book Award finalist, a Sydney Taylor Notable Book, and
is a Cybils
Finalist in the Nonfiction Books (Middle Grade & Young
Adult) categor
y.
An Unspeakable Crime won the Carter G. Woodson Book Award presented by the National Council for the Social Studies. This award recognizes the most distinguished social science books for young readers that depict ethnicity in the United States.
Click here
for a discussion guide, publisher downloads, and a video of Elaine
Marie Alphin discussing how she came to write An
Unspeakable Crime.
New ebook release for 2011
Tournament of
Time, my ghost
mystery about the murder of the Princes in the Tower, has been
reseased in ebook format. Please click
here for more information
on how to get a copy for your ebook reader.
Do you have a Kindle? You can get your sample or your copy of Tournament of Time, for Kindle by clicking here.
Reissued
The Ghost Cadet - This award-winning ghost story about the battle of New Market has been re-released in paperback by Boxing Day Books.
Counterfeit Son - This Edgar-Award-winning mystery has been released in paperback by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Recently Published
Tales of the
Supernatural at iPulpFiction.com
Gatekeeper- This tale of the supernatural is for readers who surf the web. All Chris wants to do is paint pictures that will open people's eyes, but somehow he can't rediscover the joy and passion he used to feel drawing and painting as a kid. Then he begins to see children in his dorm hallway - children who seem to come from different places and different times - children that no one can see except him. Is he hallucinating? Or are the children there because they need him to show them something they can't find alone?
Digital Lifeline- This fantasy is my second tale of the supernatural for iPulp. After Mort's parents are killed in a tragic car wreck, he goes to live with his uncle and cousin. But the family turns out to have powers Mort never suspected. As he follows his digital lifeline and learns how he can change other people's lives, Mort begins to suspect that someone was to blame for his parents' deaths - and to wonder if there's any way he can change their fate.
Ghostwriters - In my first tale of the supernatural for iPulp, Zach (who plans to grow up to be a famous novelist) gets a C- on his creative writing assignment. At first he's stunned. Then Zach realizes the story his teacher graded isn't even the one he wrote. Someone substituted a lousy story for his great one! Who could be out to get him? At first he suspects his rival assistant editor, but when both the school computer and his computer at home start acting strange. Zach begins to suspect there's something more sinister going on.
The iPulp's Fiction.com NewsStand recently got an impressive makeover. Click here to visit the new site and read my Tales of Suspense, and other great stories for readers from 10 up through grownups.
Or click here to read them on your iPhone or iPod Touch.
Time Travel Trap - This mystery is now available in paperback, as well as e-book format for your computer and your Kindle! See how Ryan and Kelley team up to find out what's going on at the dinosaur dig they're supposed to be studying for a class project.
JELP - This chapter book for third graders is the story of two kids who get the worst spelling grades in their class, and despair of writing a book for their school's Young Authors' Contest. But perhaps by working together they can come up with a way to spell success.
Making the Leaves Talk - This chapter book for third graders is the story of Sequoya's struggle to invent a written Cherokee language. When he faces the great chiefs at the national council house with his Cherokee Syllabary, the only one who believes in him is his daughter, Ahyoka. In the end, it's up to her to convince the chiefs.
JELP and Making the Leaves Talk were released in 2008 as part of Wendy Pye's Award Reading Series.
Book Signings
Humboldt County Author Festival - The Festival will be held in Eureka, California from 19-22 October 2011. I will be speaking in Humboldt County schools on Thursday and Friday, then signing in the Public Library on Saturday, 20 October. I hope to see you there!
Conference Appearances
National Council for the Social Studies- The conference will be held in Denver, Colorado from 2-4 December 2011. I will be accepting the Carter G. Woodson Book Award for An Unspeakable Crime and speaking on a panel, then signing books. I'll post more detailed schedule information as I find it out. I hope to see you there!
Counterfeit Son Recognition
January 2002: The Society of School Librarians International named Counterfeit Son an Honor Book in the Language Arts, Grades 7-12 Novels category.
May 2001: At their 56th Annual Edgar Awards Banquet at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City, the Mystery Writers of America presented their 2001 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Young Adult Mystery to Counterfeit Son.
This YA novel published by Harcourt is the story of the son of a serial killer who poses as one of his father's victims, hoping to find a family and security at last. The novel poses the question: at what point do you stop caring only about your own survival, and accept responsibility for those around you?
ALA nomination for 2002 Best Books for Young Adults.
St. Louis Post Dispatch Best Children's Books of 2000
A 2001 YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
Optioned for an upcoming film!
