In fact, Wolk wrote Wolf Hollow for adults, and was surprised when her agent suggested a younger audience. While Wolk is a newcomer in the world of children’s publishing, she published an adult novel, Those Who Favor Fire, in 1999. But it’s hard to do a 60-hour-week job when you’re away for several days a month, so I’m finding my way slowly.” (In addition to being a wife and mother of two sons, she’s also an assemblage and mixed-media artist, as well as a poet.) “This place has my heart,” she says of the arts organization. Over the phone, Wolk sounds warm, friendly and organized.

Wolk is busier than ever, but she has taken time from her day job as associate director of the Cultural Center of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to speak about her new middle grade novel. “In a way it feels a little more like my own child than Wolf Hollow.” It’s funny: Just when you stop thinking maybe something big is going to come along, something big comes along!” “I’ve been a writer since the day I was born, plugging away, but all of a sudden, out of the blue, everything changes overnight. “It’s been very hard to imagine,” Wolk says of the accolades and awards bestowed upon Wolf Hollow, which has garnered comparisons to To Kill a Mockingbird. It’s been a whirlwind year for Lauren Wolk, whose debut children’s novel, Wolf Hollow, received a Newbery Honor, and whose second book, Beyond the Bright Sea, will capture even more readers’ hearts.

Lauren wolk books