'Telling a good story'

 

“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.” – Kathryn Lasky

 

Born in Indianapolis on this date in 1944, Lasky was encouraged by her mother to become a writer “because of my vivid imagination.”  And while she didn’t start writing early, she started gravitating toward a writing career in her mid-20s while working in early childhood education – her love of kids and love of writing meshing nicely.  

 

To date, she has produced over 100 books, many of them written for children, including several “Dear America” books; The Royal Diaries books; and her 16-book Guardians of Ga’Hoole series, which has sold more than 8 million copies worldwide.  Among her numerous writing prizes is the prestigious Anne V. Zarrow Award for Young Readers' Literature.    

 

Also the author of books for Adults she said, “I can read a newspaper article, and it might trigger something else in my mind.  I often like to choose historical fiction things or subject matter I don't feel have been given a fair shake in history.”   Lasky’s most-recent bestseller is Night Witches, based on women pilots from the Soviet Union’s WWII 588^th Night Bomber Regiment.

 

“To me,” she said, “the most important thing is to tell a good story. If I can do that, I think that enlightenment, respect of nature, etc. follows.”