Illinois Authors

Holiday House 2016

An irrepressible ten-year-old must reconcile her fantasies with reality in this beautifully written novel about facing the future. Although eleven-year-old Kobi's parents sailed into a storm at sea five years ago, she knows they are alive. If she says "Avanti!" she can see them. Now that her wealthy Parisian Grandmama is sending Kobi and her sister away to live with Uncle Wim in Iowa, she will need the magic words her mother left her more than ever. To fit in at her new American school, Kobi tells lies that soon catch up with her and leans heavily on her magic. In a heart-wrenching climax, she must confront not only the untruths she has told others but the stories she has made herself believe. Only then will she be able to grieve for her parents and move on with her life.

Henry Holt and Co. New York : 2006

Anna loves math, and her boyfriend, Mike. Will she have to choose between them? Anna Conway sometimes wishes her relationships would come as easy to her as math does. A natural math talent, Anna is at odds with what's expected of her as a teenager in the 1950s. While Anna aspires to leave her small town for college to study mathematics, her parents want her to follow the more traditional path of getting married and starting a family. Anna's never really thought of dating before, but when she meets Mike, their relationship takes off and goes further than she'd ever expected. Now it's up to Anna to make her future happen. But how will she choose? In beautiful prose, Sharelle Byars Moranville explores the importance of believing in dreams in order to make a difference. A Higher Geometry is a 2007 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Holiday House 2024

Perfect for fans of Encanto and Turning Red, this intimate and heartfelt middle grade novel follows two siblings fighting to stay together amidst the ripple effects of addiction and generational trauma. Siblings Con and Sofie’s mom promised that nothing would ever come between them–but when she disappears without any warning, she becomes the one who’s tearing them apart. With no one else to rely on, inseparable siblings Con and Sofie must decide who they can trust, and whether or not it’s safe to share their hearts with family members who have the power to hurt them. Sofie has always turned to Con–and to books–during times of upheaval in their unstable lives. But as their mother is arrested and their guardianship becomes uncertain, Sofie will have to find hope in the most important story of all: her own. Moranville’s captivating and vulnerable prose explores the ways in which addiction’s ripple effects pass through generations and how familial bonds can remain unbreakable through the most difficult circumstances. Expertly grappling with difficult topics at an age-appropriate level, this novel is a sensitive, nuanced exploration of children’s enduring resilience and optimism. A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

Henry Holt and Co. New York : 2002

A young girl comes to terms with the father she thought didn’t love her. “Your daddy isn’t a bad man,” Aunty Rose said. “He just doesn’t have anything to do with us. So why do you keep asking?” It seems like everything eleven-year-old Willa Mae wants to know just isn’t proper material for her curiosity. But some mysteries have a way of unraveling on their own. When her long-absent father returns after the war and sets about laying claim, Willa Mae finds her quiet country life suddenly stirred into a mix of buried secrets. Why does Grandpa despise her daddy, and what does it have to do with Mama’s death? But before Willa Mae can find the answers to these questions, she is pulled away from her rural Illinois home to begin a new life with her father across the river in Oklahoma. As pleased as Willa Mae is to finally have her daddy back, she misses her home and wants desperately to return. Will she be forced to choose one side of the family over the other? In this beautifully written novel set in the late 1940s, Sharelle Byars Moranville explores a critical time in a young girl’s life, as Willa Mae comes to accept her parents, her sense of home, and especially what it means to be loved.

Holiday House 2019

Ten-year-old Rose's perfect life is upended when her long-absent disaster of a mother turns up. Can she hold her family together as everything unravels? Growing up on the farm it was always just Rose and grandma, working the land that had been in the Lovell family for generations. She doesn't miss her mother, Iris, a bit. In fact, when Iris shows up, Rose is furious. But when an ugly argument between her mother and grandmother reveals painful truths about their family history, Rose runs away. . . . And inadvertently discovers her secret little sister, Lily. Generations of whispered secrets and family dysfunction surface as Rose struggles to reconcile the home and life she loves with the history she never knew-- and to protect Lily at all costs. Even if it means letting Iris into her life. In alternating chapters, previous generations of Lovell women narrate their experiences on the farm, adding depth and context to this powerful story of complex families and unconditional love. Moranville's captivating prose will keep readers turning the pages as Rose grapples with her changing life and learns the truth about her family-- mothers, daughters, and women who weren't ready to be either.

Hyperion Books for Children New York : 2012

A small toad named Tad is in grave danger. Rumbler, a monstrous earth-eating machine, is poised to destroy his home, Toadville-by-Tumbledown. The green grass, the blue pond—everything Tad knows might disappear. It is foretold that one brave young toad can help—but at a terrible price. Only if a toad kisses a human girl will Toadville be saved. Tad is called to rise to the challenge, disgusting though it seems. In the company of his best friend Buuurk, he sets off into the unknown. Meanwhile, a girl named Taylor is determined to stop her grandmother’s pond from being turned into a strip mall. Perhaps, somewhere along the way, she will cross paths with a small, brave toad. Little does she know that his quest is the same as hers.

Henry Holt and Co. New York : 2003

The charming adventures of a mouse family—who take up residence in a most unlikely place! Wrapping one end of the purple ribbon around herself and her babies, Spring daydreamed. Someday she’d take her little ones home to live in the shade of the thorn tree. But, for now, they would be a family of car mice. Spring is a field mouse. She lives with her babies—Parsley Snowflake, Oak, Pebble, and little Jellybean—under the front seat of an old abandoned car. This is the story of their marvelous (and sometimes not so marvelous) adventures. It is also the story of a very special purple ribbon that keeps Spring and her mighty family safe and happy—and always together. Sharelle Byars Moranville has written a warmhearted tale that is ideal for reading aloud—for the whole family to enjoy together.

Henry Holt and Co. 2007

Sometimes, when you're sixteen, your concerns don't go beyond the parameters of your immediate world. It's 1931 in Jefferson, Iowa, and what's important to Jim Snow are the flavors served in the local ice-cream parlor, the location of the apostrophe key on his typewriter, and the girl he loves. But the ties of family bind him in a way that's beyond his control, shaping not only his life but the lives of future Snows. Jim, Cathy, Jill, and Mona Snow all come of age in different eras (1931, 1942, 1969, 2006), but for each of them, sixteen is a departure point--a time when they become aware of the complications that will alter the course of their lives.