Author: Rebecca Donnelly

Rebecca Donnelly is a children's librarian and a writer. She reviews nonfiction for School Library Journal; most of those books come through the mail and are sadly chainless.
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Total Garbage Doesn’t Stink!

Rebecca Donnelly

My first middle grade nonfiction book, Total Garbage: A Messy Dive into Trash, Waste, and Our World publishes next Tuesday, March 7! Kind of amazing. And reviewers have had some nice things to say about it:

“clear, engaging writing. . . [and] whimsical, informative, detailed teal-tone line drawings add to a captivating and important book. . . A fact-filled and fascinating dumpster dive of a book.” ―Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“this book makes garbage fun to read about and is a great choice for browsable nonfiction shelves and curricular tie-ins” ―School Library Journal

Available to pre-order at Bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon

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Total Garbage

Rebecca Donnelly

That’s not a judgment on anything, it’s the title of my first middle grade nonfiction book, about why we make so much trash, why it’s a problem, and how we can do better. I’m thrilled to have the supremely talented John Hendrix illustrating. Coming Fall 2022.

blog, Interviews

Cattitude Podcast

Rebecca Donnelly

When the publicist at Holt who’s working with Cats Are a Liquid mentioned that a pet podcast was interested in talking to me about the book, I realized that this was the power of writing about cats. You’re not just appealing to book people, you’re appealing to cat people, and cat people are everywhere.

I had a wonderful time chatting with Michelle Fern of Pet Life Radio’s Cattitude podcast about the book and the weird, liquidy behaviors of cats.

blog, Interviews

Podcast, Interview, and a Major Award

Rebecca Donnelly

This past week saw the publication of my first picture book, CATS ARE A LIQUID, illustrated by Misa Saburi and published by Henry Holt Books for Young Readers. Author Karlin Gray invited me to answer Five Favorites on her blog, and I spoke with Corrina Allen on the podcast All the Wonders about the book (and many other books).

I would also like to announce that CATS ARE A LIQUID has received a nomination for the prestigious Mewbery award (that’s right, Mewbery with an M). The Mewbery, begun as a Twitter jest by author Laurel Snyder and taken up by Booklist reviewer Ronny Khuri, honors picture books about cats, and this book certainly fits the criteria. Since the award itself doesn’t actually exist, it is, as they say, an honor just to be nominated.

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Nerdy Book Club Post, and YAYOMG!

Rebecca Donnelly

Today is the publication day of The Friendship Lie, my middle grade story of friendship gone wrong in a zero-waste world. (Maybe it’s not exactly zero waste, but the main character’s father wishes it was.) I’m so pleased to be able to share my first ever post for Nerdy Book Club on publication day! I give a little personal context for why I wanted to create a character who doesn’t try to cover up how crummy she feels a lot of the time.

You can also check out 5 Fun Facts about The Friendship Lie at YAYOMG!