Meeting Shannon Hale and Dean Hale Book Share Wednesday

Me on the left with three of my fabulous colleagues surrounding Shannon and Dean Hale

I had the opportunity to attend the UCIRA conference over the last weekend.  It's the Utah chapters IRA conference.  I had the pleasure of meeting and hearing from Shannon Hale, a local author with a big reach.  Shannon lives in Utah and has written many books, including a few you might be very familiar with.  Her husband, Dean, has co-authored several books with her as well.  This is the case with her newest book to be released next week on October 14,The Princess in Black.  This is the book they presented to us on Friday.

From the excerpt they read to us, I can tell this is a darling book.  It's going to be perfect for the lower-mid grades of K-3.  I'm thinking my fifth graders will even find it comical and a fun read.  An easier read chapter book, The Princess in Black is all about the adventures that this young princess has.  No-one identifies her because "princesses don't wear black."  Shannon discussed the wide appeal her books have to both boys and girls, despite them often having female protagonists.  She expressed the importance of offering all books to all children without caveats like, "I know there's a princess on the cover, but I really think you'll like it."

Here are some of her books you might already be familiar with:

Her Newberry Honor Book Princess Academy, the first in a 3 book series.

This is the first in a 4 book series. 

This one is now a movie and more for you, the adult.

Reading to grab your reluctant readers, a twisted tale graphic novel. I picked a copy of this one up at the conference and got it signed by Shannon and Dean.

Have you read any of Shannon's books?  Share your experiences with her books in the comments below.  Have a post about a book you'd like to share?  Be sure to join our Book Share Wednesday link up below.  Just grab the image to add to your post and link it back to this post.  

*Note, I have previously make only my posts on the third Wednesday of the month links.  I thought I'd try making every Wednesday Book Share post a link up and see how it goes.