(When asked for a comment, the boys admitted that they find Mom to be “a bit of a nag.” But Laurel is comfortable with that. She gardens badly, shelves books at the school library, and finds her sons to be a constant source of inspiration. These days, Laurel lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband, two boys, and several badly-behaved cats. She’s a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and she currently teaches in the MFAC program at Hamline University. They stood waiting like uneven fence posts.

Laurel grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, and went to college at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. Orphan Island by Laurel Snyder ( The Longest Night Bigger than a Bread Box Seven Stories Up) begins with the ringing of the bell that signals the 'Changing' ceremony: 'At the cove, they lined up, breathless and staring out to sea, to watch the boat come in against the sunset. Her books have won the Theodore Seuss Geisel Medal, the Sydney Taylor Medal, the Orbis Pictus Honor, the E.B White Readaloud Honor, the Parents Choice Silver, the Golden Kite Honor, and been long-listed for the National Book Award. Her newest offering is The Witch of Woodland, a magical modern-day story rooted in the Jewish faith and a strong belief in magic. Laurel is also the author of the Charlie & Mouse series for early readers, as well as numerous picture books including Endlessly Ever After, Hungry Jim, Swan, The Life and Dance of Anna Pavlova, The Forever Garden, and Baxter, the Pig Who Wanted to Be Kosher. Award-winning Atlanta-based author Laurel Snyder is known for her numerous picture books and novels for children, including Orphan Island, and My Jasper June. Laurel Snyder is the author of seven critically acclaimed novels for children including Orphan Island, My Jasper June, Penny Dreadful, Bigger than a Bread Box, Any Which Wall, Up and Down the Scratchy Mountains OR The Search for a Suitable Princess, and Seven Stories Up. Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson seriesIn the tradition of modern-day classics like Sara Pennypacker’s Pax and Lois Lowry’s The Giver comes a deep, compelling, heartbreaking, and completely one-of-a-kind novel about nine children who live on a mysterious island.On the island, everything is perfect.

Orphan island laurel snyder