Her popular titles include Dinosaur Disco (Random House), Me and You (Penguin) and the Ruby Wishfingers series (Wombat Books).
Deborah's recent release The Thing about Oliver
was listed as a CBCA Notable. Her new picture book Dugong
Magic (Hachette) is now available.
As well as writing for kids Deb
works in a bookstore, is a Role Model for Books in Homes and reviews children’s
books for Reading Time magazine.
Which children’s
book are you currently reading?
Can you tell us in two sentences what the book is about?
It’s a coming of age story about friendships, growing up and
staying true to yourself.
How much did you
enjoy/are enjoying this title?
I enjoyed this story a lot. It reminded me of the Judy Blume books
I loved growing up - enjoyable reads with subtle messages, featuring real kids
in real situations.
What made you
choose this title? Was it a review, advertising, the cover, the blurb, the
author/illustrator, or the subject/genre?
I saw it listed as a CBCA notable in the same category as my novel
The Thing about Oliver and it looked
interesting! I read a lot of middle grade because I want to write more of it.
And I have a twelve year old daughter who likes realistic middle grade fiction
as much as I do!
What other titles
are on your bedside table /To Read Pile?
There is a whole leaning tower of them! I have almost finished Songbird by Ingrid Laguna and How to Make a Movie in 12 Days by Fiona
Hardy (both CBCA Notable titles) is next. I also have some grown up books and a
collection of poetry.
How did you come by
these titles: personal choice/request, publisher’s review copy, or other?
Sometimes I get titles sent to me for reviewing by Reading Time
magazine, and other times I am lucky enough to pick up reading copies of the
latest books at the bookstore where I work. But most often I buy books because
I like the sound of them or because my kids might be interested in reading
them. We usually lend them to friends, too.
Do you have a
favourite genre? If so, what is it, and why do you prefer it?
At the moment I am interested in reading realistic middle grade
fiction because that’s what I want to write more of. I’m also starting to read
more realistic YA because that’s an age group I would like to write for
eventually.
Do you read from
printed books or some other medium? Please expand a little on the why of your
choice.
Printed! I think we all have too much screen
time as it is.
Most kids I know prefer looking at an
actual book, not a screen. This is especially true for toddlers and
pre-schoolers.
Being an author and working at a bookstore,
I want to support the industry, my fellow authors and my local bookstore as
much as I can by buying print books.
