VIVA, ROSE! (HOLIDAY HOUSE)
When Rose Solomon’s brother Abe left El Paso, he told the family he was heading to Brooklyn. But the newspaper at Pickens General Store features a front page photo captioned The Southwestern Scourge of 1915. Abe is in the image, alongside none other than Pancho Villa and his army! Rose is furious about his lie, fearful for his safety, and worried about her traditional parents, who do not deserve to have an outlaw for a son. Rose knows the only way to set things right is to get Abe home, but her clandestine plan to contact him goes awry when she is kidnapped by Villa’s revolutionaries and taken to his hideaway. Deep in the desert, amidst a richly rendered assortment of freedom-seekers that includes an impassioned young reporter, two sharp-shooting sisters with a secret past, and Dorotea, Villa’s tyrannical young charge, Rose learns to lie, hide, and ride like a bandit. But she also discovers the real meaning of freedom and what she’s willing to risk to get hers back.
To Purchase:
AWARDS:
National Jewish Book Award Debut Fiction Finalist
The Sydney Taylor Manuscript award
The Sydney Taylor silver medal
Western Writers of America Spur Award Finalist Award for Juvenile Fiction
A PJ Library Our Way selection
Texas SPOT list longlist
PRESS
Viva, Rose! was called “the middle grade book to read this year” by the New York Observer: http://observer.com/2017/01/jews-old-west-cowboys-viva-rose-886107/
I was interviewed about the Sydney Taylor manuscript award by librarian Heidi Rabinowitz for her Book of Life Podcast: http://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/
Profiled in Chronogram magazine:
http://www.chronogram.com/hudsonvalley/books-and-authors/Category?oid=2124691
Featured on author Uma Krishnaswami’s blog:
https://umakrishnaswami.org/2017/01/31/susan-krawitz-on-viva-rose-1-of-2/
Featured on author/book blogger Deborah Kalb’s blog:
http://deborahkalbbooks.blogspot.com/2017/05/q-wit-susan-krawitz.html
Reviewed by Publisher’s Weekly:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-8234-3756-6
Reviewed by Kirkus:
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/susan-krawitz/viva-rose/
Reviewed by School Library Journal:
http://www.slj.com/2017/04/reviews/books/middle-grade-an-immigrants-story-lucha-libre-and-more-may-2017-xpress-reviews/
Reviewed (and recorded!) by Reading In Action:
http://www.readinginaction.org/bookcast/viva-rose
Educator’s Guide to Viva, Rose!
https://www.holidayhouse.com/docs/VivaRose_REVISED.pdf
THE MERMAID STONES (CRICKET MEDIA INC.)
When Thady O’Dowd finds the magical cloak of a mermaid named Miranda, he knows she can only return to the sea with its help, and hides it away in the hope that she will marry him. After many years, Thady is forced to reveal the hidden cloak. Will Miranda be able to forgive him?
AWARDS, ARTICLES, AND ESSAYS
Writing awards include first place in the Highlights for Children Magazine’s annual fiction contest, second in San Francisco PenWomen’s Soul Making essay contest, winner of Just Effing Entertain Me screenplay competition’s Best 500 Word Essay contest, quarterfinalist in the Women’s More Magazine/Women in Film /Hollywood Reporter’s screenplay contest, quarterfinalist in the BlueCat screenplay contest. And way, way back when I was a teen, I won a much-prized national third place award for humor in Scholastic’s amazing Art & Writing awards, which offered the first money I ever earned for writing, and even better, a push to keep at it. It’s been my honor to serve as volunteer juror for this award since 2020.
As a journalist, I’ve interviewed a wide variety of incredible people, including actors and artists like Stanley Tucci, Melissa Leo, and Levon Helm, Olympic-level and amateur equestrians and a horse show entrepreneur, Green building experts, and a very large cohort of remarkable farmers. I also write essays, and have been a rural life columnist at a small, regional newspaper since 1997.
Here’s a sampling of articles and essays:
General articles:
https://www.chronogram.com/hudsonvalley/catskill-angling/Content?oid=2172412
Pilates for Riders – Equisearch.com
This Barn Went Co-op – Practical Horseman Magazine
Organic Apple Growing: Westwind Orchard – BlueStone Press
Essays:
Longreads: https://longreads.com/2020/03/26/finding-signs-of-hope-in-surprise-sugar-maples/
RewireMe: https://www.rewireme.com/author/susan-krawitz/
Beliefnet: https://www.beliefnet.com/inspiration/2000/10/first-frost.aspx
The Forward: https://forward.com/author/susan-krawitz/
Blogs:
Farm and Farmer profiles on ChefsConsortium.com
Children’s Book Academy: http://www.childrensbookacademy.com/blogateers/where-do-stories-come-from
Book reviews:
Chronogram Magazine
Profiles:
Actress Melissa Leo
Actress Denny Dillon: http://www.newyorkhousemagazine.com/view/full_story/1998634/article-Reuse–Restore–Repurpose
Actress Mary Louise Wilson
Equestrian Leanne Scherer
Equestrian Tom Struzzieri
Susan Krawitz 