Word Spelunking: 2nd Annual Authors Are Rockstars Tour: A.J. Paquette {Guest Post}

I'm so excited to be participating in the Annual Authors Are Rockstars event again! This event is organized and run by the splendiferious Fiktshun, Two Chicks on Books, and Magical Urban Fantasy Reads.

My rockstar author is....

A.J. is the author of several books and is here today with some of her top favorite quotes from all of her books! But first, let me tell you why I think A.J. Paquette is a rockstar author:

Why A.J. Paquette is a Rockstar Author

I think A.J. is a Rockstar Author because, not only does she write enthralling, highly entertaining, and thought-provoking books, she writes them for ALL kinds of young readers. From the littlest readers to readers young at heart, A.J. has a book for everyone. She writes fantastic picture books, middle-grade books that sparkle and shine, and smart, complexly crafted young adult books. But that's not all...A.J. isn't just an author, she's also a literary agent, which means she doesn't just write awesome books, she helps share other awesome books by other rockstar authors with the world!

A.J. Paquette's Favorite Quotes From Her Books

Author’s Note: Ask any parent to pick a favorite child, and I’m guessing that most will kindly demur. Now imagine having thousands upon thousands of paragraphs, er, children—not only do you have to choose between them, but you also have to remember each of them individually! Needless to say, not the easiest task to accomplish. Despite this, I was excited when assigned this blog post topic; it was immensely fun to dive into my projects old and new, poke around, and see which quotes caught my eye. From these I’ve pulled out a selection of the ones that did so: I will not say that these are my “Top Favorite Quotes,” but I will say that they are ones I like very much, and which I hope give a flavor for the stories from they are drawn. Maybe you will be inspired to pick up one or more of the full books and check them out for yourself? –AJP

I am alone. People around me talk, laugh, push, jostle. They speak into small mobile phones and they squawk at their children. They look coyly at boys or girls near them. They move fluidly through this dance of life without giving it a second thought. And here I stand, stuck on the side with my dancing shoes still in hand. It is not that I don’t know the right moves—I don’t even hear the same music.

--Luchi arrives in Bangkok, in NOWHERE GIRL (Walker/Bloomsbury, 2011)

The sun is shining, and we are in the mood for adventure. It’s a perfect day for tracking fairies! Let’s go look for clues. –The hunt begins, in THE TIPTOE GUIDE TO TRACKING FAIRIES (Tanglewood, 2011)

Dahlia was dead, but the sunflower was not. Not yet, anyway. It still looked shimmery and only half-visible, just like all other living things. But the stem was bent and broken, and drooped down from the rest of the plant. Soon it would expire—right into Dahlia’s waiting hands. Then she would carry the new ghost flower to her garden. –We are introduced to Dahlia, in RULES FOR GHOSTING (Walker/Bloosmbury, 2013)

Six months didn’t seem nearly long enough to inhabit a place like this. It was the kind of house you wanted to take your time to explore, savoring every room and introducing yourself to each doorframe and wall hanging. It was the kind of house you wanted to make friends with slowly, because you knew it would be a friendship worth keeping, one that could last a lifetime. –Oliver arrives at Silverton Manor, in RULES FOR GHOSTING (Walker/Bloomsbury, 2013)

“Cyclid-Bf appears to be in every way ideal for supporting human life,” said eminent astrophysicist Dr. Alan Bartleby. “Yet any humans actually trying to get there would perish long before arrival. Humanity may have just found its ultimate paradox.” –News article quoted in PARADOX (Random House, 2013)

Ana has no idea what kind of person she was, or is, but one thing she does know right now: Loneliness and self- pity are not only self-indulgent but dangerous. You have now arrived on Paradox. She’s maybe alone, definitely damaged, possibly deranged— but she’s here. On this alien planet. She has no one to rely on but herself. –Ana gets moving, in PARADOX (Random House, 2013)

Petey is enjoying a TRANQUIL afternoon: peace and quiet and some light gardening. Pru is feeling TRICKSY. She has a sneaky little plan. –PETEY AND PRU AND THE HULLABALOO (Clarion, 2013)

A.J. Paquette

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A.J. Paquette has been writing stories since early childhood. She and her sister would spend hours creating masterpieces of stapled paper and handwritten words, complete with pen-and-ink covers and boxed illustrations. The road to publication was long and winding, peppered with many small successes including: a variety of national magazine publications, being a 2005 PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award honoree, and receiving the 2008 SCBWI’s Susan Landers Glass Scholarship Award, for the book that would later become Nowhere Girl. Her first picture book, The Tiptoe Guide to Tracking Fairies, was published in 2009. She now lives with her husband and two daughters in the Boston area, where she continues to write books for children and young adults. She is also an agent with the Erin Murphy Literary Agency.

BOOKS BY A.J. PAQUETTE

(click on each book to learn more)

Picture Books