Speaker change: Meet Bonnie J. Doerr!

Due to a family emergency, Kitty Keswick will not be able to participate in our conference session, "A Conversation with an Editor." Her co-presenter, editor/publisher Laurie Edwards of Leap Books, did not want to leave us in the lurch, however, and has arranged to sub in another of her authors, Bonnie J. Doerr. Bonnie will be flying to Allentown straight from the Virgina Festival of the Book—ask her about it! Here's a little more about Bonnie. There's even more at her blog.

Bonnie has always played with words, ideas, and nature. To be separated from nature—to be containerized—would slowly suck the breath from her. For years this therapeutic pursuit manifested itself in poetry. In recent years her play resulted in stories and novels for young adults. A lifetime educator, Bonnie J. Doerr has taught students from kindergarten to college in eight states. Degrees in reading education, combined with a brief post as a science teacher, led her to write ecological mysteries. Years of teaching and living in the Florida Keys provided irresistible material. Her novels celebrate caring, involved “green” teens who take action with attitude and a touch of romance. When not at home with her heart in the Florida Keys, she lives in a log cabin in North Carolina.

BOOK BLURB:

Kenzie didn’t expect her first summer in the Florida Keys to be murder. Cute guys, awesome boats, endangered species, gun-toting thugs...

When city girl Kenzie Ryan moves to a Florida wildlife refuge, she plunges straight into an eco-mystery. Kenzie trades New York streets for Keys pollution cleanup, and now, instead of hailing cabs, she’s tracking down a poacher of endangered Key deer. Her new home does have some benefits—mainly Angelo, an island native, who teams up with her to nab the culprit. But will they both survive when the killer turns from stalking deer to hunting humans?