Today I am joined by Connie Porter! Connie is the author of the Addy series, a series of historical children's novels from American Girl. Her first novel, All-Bright Court was named in 1991 as a Notable Book by the American Library Association, and by the New York Times as one of its "Best Books." Her essays have appeared in Glamour and Seventeen, and her book reviews in The Boston Globe and New York Times.

She is also the author of Imani All Mine which was named an Honor Book by the Black Caucus of the American Library Association, an Alex Award winner by the Young Adult Services Association of the American Library Association, as well as being chosen as one of the Best Books for Young Adults by the ALA. Book List also picked it as one of Editors’ Choice for Best Books For Young Adults.

In 2019, the Children’s Literature Association named Imani All Mine the winner of the Phoenix Award. The Phoenix Award “is given to the author, or the estate of the author, of a book for children first published twenty years earlier that did not win a major award at the time of its publication but which, from the perspective of time, is deemed worthy of special attention.

In this episode Connie and I talk about her career as a writer, how she got the opportunity to write the Addy series, what that process looked like, what she hopes readers take with them, and so much more!

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