Author News & Interviews

Interview: Gene Luen Yang, author of Secret Coders

Jan 4, 2016

We were thrilled to hear that Gene Luen Yang --- award-winning author of graphic novels AMERICAN BORN CHINESE and BOXERS & SAINTS and the new Secret Coders series --- was named the fifth National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. Below, Gene talks about his platform "Reading Without Walls," how his experience teaching has influenced his writing and why he thinks graphic novels --- and reading as a whole --- is so important. 

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Interview: Jon Buller and Susan Schade, author of Scarlett: A Star on the Run

Nov 3, 2015

When you have a husband who loves to draw and a wife who loves to write, there’s only one thing for a couple to do --- work together, of course! And that’s exactly what Jon Buller and Susan Schade do --- work as a team to create graphic novels, picture books, early readers, chapter books and more. Their newest graphic novel/traditional novel hybrid, SCARLETT:  A Star on the Run, follows a talking cat and movie star as she runs away from her cruel producer. She meets a dog with a similar tale and is taken in by Mr. Bougnan, but her pursuers are drawing ever closer… yikes!

Read our interview with Jon, below, to learn how he and Susan work together, the inspiration behind their clever tale and their own menagerie of pets.

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Interview: Deb Lucke, author of The Lunch Witch

Mar 16, 2015

Witches come in all forms --- they can wear pointed hats and ride broomsticks across the night skies, cast spells from rickety shacks or imposing castles, or, in the case of Grunhilda from THE LUNCH WITCH, they can serve you food in the school cafeteria! Grunhilda befriends a bespectacled little girl named Madison, but when Madison needs her help, she has to decide what to do --- helping people isn't a very witchy activity, after all.

Interview: Scott McCloud, author of The Sculptor

Feb 3, 2015

Scott McCloud, comics' most eloquent and prolific theorist, is best known for his explications of the form: UNDERSTANDING COMICS and its follow-ups, REINVENTING COMICS and MAKING COMICS. But starting in the late 1980s --- even before he turned to non-fiction --- McCloud began his comics career with an American superhero manga series, Zot!. And this year, for the first time ever, McCloud puts his talents to an original graphic novel, the absolutely monumental THE SCULPTOR. Here, McCloud sits down with The Book Report Network staffer and GraphicNovelReporter site coordinator John Maher to discuss his newest work, his history in comics and why he prefers the pen to the hammer and chisel. Note: This interview is chock full of SPOILERS!

Interview: John Lewis, author of March: Book Two

Jan 14, 2015

Recently, John Maher of The Book Report Network interviewed Representative John Lewis, the author of the graphic memoir MARCH: Book Two, the second in a series about his experiences during the American Civil Rights Movement. The former chairman of the Student Nonviolence Coordinating Committee, Lewis was one of the leading voices for nonviolent protest and civil disobedience in the 1960s. He is the only living member of the "Big Six," and one of 10 activists to speak to the more than 250,000 Americans gathered at the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington in 1963. Lewis has served as the U.S. Representative for Georgia's 5th congressional district since 1987, and is a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.