"Hilarious . . . Readers with a finely tuned sense of the absurd are going to adore the Technicolor ride." —Booklist
"Fantasy done to a clever, grotesque, nonsensical turn." —Chicago Sun-Times
"A work of mischievous imagination and outrageous invention." —Time Out Chicago
"One of the more singular young adult fantasies—or fantasies, period—I've run across . . . Funny, bizarre, action-packed, and even thoughtful, and stocked with a gallery of larger-than-life characters." —Green Man Review
Friday, September 10, 2010
I'm a guest on Brian Costello and Abraham Levitan's Shame That Tune at the Hideout in Chicago. Details TBA.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Appearing at the 57th Street Children's Book Fair in Hyde Park in Chicago. The fair from is 1-6 pm. I am signing from 3:30-4:30 pm. The fair will be on 57th Street between Dorchester and Kimbark Avenues and on Kimbark Avenue between 57th and 56th. Kick-off begins with parade at 1 pm! Free.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Appearing at Literature, the Child, and the Teen program with David Lubar for the Michigan Library Association. Chelsea School District Washington Education Center - Senior Center, 500 Washington, Chelsea, MI 48118. 3:30 pm.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
I'm one of the featured authors at the Illinois Library Association's Author Cocktail Hour and Dinner. Presentation by Peter Sagal, host of National Public Radio's "Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me." Grand Ballroom at Navy Pier. 5 pm - 8 pm.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Teaching at Splash! Chicago, "a student organization at the University of Chicago that runs free after-school and weekend programs for high school students. Our goal is to introduce students from different walks of life to topics that aren’t approached in the traditional classroom— anything from pirate history and culture to tap dancing to religious cults— in a fun, collaborative setting. Our programs are open to all high school students — there’s no application, just a brief registration process, and there’s no charge." Details TBA.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Working with teen Story Troupe at Schaumburg Township District Library (130 South Roselle Road, Schaumburg, IL, (847) 985-4000). Free and open to all. Time TBA.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Working with teen Story Troupe at Schaumburg Township District Library (130 South Roselle Road, Schaumburg, IL, (847) 985-4000). Free and open to all. Time TBA.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Working with teen Story Troupe at Schaumburg Township District Library (130 South Roselle Road, Schaumburg, IL, (847) 985-4000). Free and open to all. Time TBA.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Speaking at Children's Literature Conference at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, IL. Some other speakers: Laurie Halse Anderson, Jon Scieszka, Mac Barnett, Sarah Prineas, Claire Zulkey! Breakout session from 1:00-1:45 and autographing reception from 3:30-4:30.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Speaking at Teen Book Festival in Rochester, New York. Details TBA.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Speaking at Illinois Young Authors Conference at Illinois State University in Normal, IL. Details TBA.
I am interviewed by the lovely Senfaye on A Maze Of Books. Read it if you’re curious as to why I chose to end the interview by saying “I hate you”—and why when Senfaye asked “What’s your favorite food?” I replied “Your skull.” It’s scandalous!
I am interviewed by Amy Alessio for the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). Read about my experiences as a junior high school science teacher—in particular, of how the entire faculty was mysteriously menaced by a obscene note-writing student known only as “The Foggy Wiener.” I also talk about my participation in Japan’s violent “Naked Man” Festival, and how I discovered the President of the ALA is a whimsical hobo.
Order of Odd-Fish Week on Murphblog. Check out Paul Michael Murphy's monster five-part interview with me! Part One, the road to publication; Part Two, on writing; Part Three, I reveal the thing I will always find funny; Part Four, the "lightning round"; Part Five, a Create-Your-Own-Odd-Fish-Specialty contest (entries are in the comments section); and I judge the winner of the contest.
It's a mixtape for The Order of Odd-Fish. Listen to a stream of the songs I chose for an imaginary "movie soundtrack" for Odd-Fish, and read why I chose them. Lots of different stuff: French ye-ye, Kinshasa street bands, pseudo-classical, puzzling blippity-bloopity music, and more.
The Brothers Delacorte. I team up with fellow charming and mysterious Delacorte authors Daniel Kraus and Adam Selzer to solve baffling international crimes and taste sophisticated titillatations.
“The Brothers Delacorte?” you howl. “What are you giving me now, Kennedy? This is sheer japery.”
Be still, butterfly. The story is this.
The Order of Odd-Fish is published by Random House’s Delacorte Press. Last year I discovered that two other Chicago YA authors, Daniel Kraus and Adam Selzer, are also on Delacorte. This coincidence was too good to pass up.
We decided to band together.
If you go to the Brothers Delacorte website you can read our manifesto, which has to do with encouraging boys’ literacy. But here I’d like to boast of my fellow brothers’ formidable talents.
Daniel Kraus is not only an author of the tense, harrowing The Monster Variations (for which our appearance at the Book Cellar is a release party), but also a filmmaker. Each film in his celebrated WORK documentary series chronicles the everyday life of someone in a particular job. So far he’s done a documentary for a Sherriff, a Musician, a Preacher, and a Professor. This is a project of—dare I invoke this sacred Chicago name?—Studs Turkel-ian proportions.
But there’s more to Daniel Kraus than a sober documentarian. In high school, he was a giddily inventive amateur filmmaker in the Ed Wood mold. At his blog Francis Ford Iowa you can see the films he made in high school, all of them gloriously bad, unintentionally hilarious, and occasionally genius. As Daniel himself describes it: “When I was growing up in Iowa, I made movies with my friends. Many of them were remakes of movies I liked, like MISERY or THE GODFATHER. Others were originals. All of them were awful . . . Now I’m blogging my old movies chronologically for your enjoyment. Let’s feel the pain together.”
Here’s a hilarious trailer that compiles the highlights, to give you a taste:
In any case, if you’re in Chicago, please come out to the Book Cellar in Lincoln Square at 7 pm for the very first Brothers Delacorte event. I’m proud to be sharing the stage with them.
