How does life work?
Why do people do what they do?
How do people learn to think?
How does our view of the world affect our place in it?
Can stories help people find answers to life’s pressing questions?
I wish.
So I write stories.
My first published book, Danger: Long Division, is a novel about thinking starring a girl who does her best. When Becca Long, age 11, suddenly finds herself failing math, her whole world starts to crumble. Her dad’s in Iraq, her baby brother’s in the hospital and her mom’s too hassled to help her. Even her hair’s a mess. Somehow Becca has to solve her own problems and put the pieces of her life back together.
Next came Finch Goes Wild. Harmon Finch just doesn't fit in the horrible hole that is his middle school. But bad as school is, wouldn't home schooling be worse? His mother's constant yammering about dangers lurking in every corner of the universe might be totally nuts, but not even his dog can protect him from the thugs who live down the street. How can Harmon discover who he really is when everybody expects him to be what he’s not? Finch Goes Wild received the Afr'Am Literary Award for Best Young Adult Title of 2007.
For more about my novels and the My Adventure series of interactive books, visit www.janetgingold.com.
