Projecting that 'What If?' factor

 

“I loved to read, and if I could've been a professional reader, that's probably what I would've wanted to be!“ – Kathryn Lasky

 

Perhaps best-known for her “Diaries” tales – where she builds a story around the diary of her protagonist – Lasky was born in Indiana on this date in 1944 and now makes her home in Massachusetts.  She is the recipient of numerous writing honors. including the Anne V. Zarrow Award for Young Readers' Literature and a Newbery Prize.  Her writing, she said, is often triggered by both current events and a “What if?” mentality.   The author of over one hundred books, her most notable series is Guardians of Ga’Hoole.

  

“When I was growing up I loved reading historical fiction, but too often it was about males; or, if it was about females, they were girls who were going to grow up to be famous like Betsy Ross, Clara Barton, or Harriet Tubman. No one ever wrote about plain, normal, everyday girls. I always wondered what it was like to be just a normal kid growing up in trying times or during a great moment in history.”  That "What If?" factor, if you will.

 

“Whether you are a 12-year-old princess or a 12-year-old regular kid, you need to know you are loved and respected.”