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Upcoming Appearances

Saturday, November 15, 1:30-3:30PM

Signing, The Book House, Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany, NY

Sunday, December 7, 12:00-2:00PM

Signing, Page and Stage, New York State Theater Institute, Troy

See all appearances

 


Multimedia

Radio Interview from The College of St. Rose

<Right-click> to save as a Podcast

 

 

Reading is my favorite sport, but writing is my passion.  It is what I love to do."

An inspirational school and conference speaker whose debut novel The Wedding Planner’s Daughter bloomed into a series with ˝ million readers worldwide and has just been optioned for a movie, author Coleen Paratore lives in upstate New York.

My Books

  4 NEW BOOKS COMING IN 2009!!!!!........

Jan:  SUNNY HOLIDAY, Scholastic Press, ages 8-12, ISBN-13:978-0-545-07579-4.  Despite hardships, inner-city 4th-grader Sunny Holiday blooms where she is planted and sets out to create a national holiday for kids. J

 

June:  FORGET ME NOT, from the life of WILLA HAVISHAM, Scholastic Press, ISBN-13:978-0-545-09401-6.  The wedding planner’s daughter begins a Cape Cod summer filled with romance, fun, and surprise.

 

Aug:  Kip Campbell’s Gift, Simon & Schuster, 8-up. At the risk of becoming the school freak, Kip uses his secret talent to help save his family’s small-town funeral home.  (Sequel to The Funeral Director’s Son.)

 

Oct:  THE PRINCES AND PEARL, Dial. On a mist-shrouded Celtic island where princes come each summer to learn the charming arts, soon to be 16-year-old Gracepearl Cole must decide how to answer her calling.

 

The Funeral Director’s Son, Simon & Schuster, 8-up, ISBN 1-4169-3594-0.  At Campbell and Sons Funeral Home, everybody has a job.  Kip has the most important one.  He helps the dead rest in peace.  You’re going to love this family!  Sequel scheduled for 2009.

Read a review from teensreadtoo.com

Catching the Sun, illus. by Peter Catalanotto, Charlesbridge, all ages, ISBN 978-1-57091-2.  As the arrival of the new baby draws near, five-year-old Dylan and his Mom capture a “just-the-two-of-us” unforgettable memory one morning by the sea on Cape Cod.”     * “Warm and winning.” Kirkus Reviews

Willa by Heart, Simon & Schuster, ages 8-up, ISBN 1-4169-4076-6.  Willa and her Mom are back in the wedding-planning business and life is good in Bramble until a mysterious new girl threatens to steal Willa’s lead in Our Town and her boyfriend’s heart as well. (3rd in The Wedding Planner’s Daughter series)

 * “…sure to please bibliophiles, theatre lovers and anyone looking for a good story.” Kirkus Reviews

 

Mack McGinn’s Big Win, Simon & Schuster, 2007, ages 8-up, ISBN 1-4169-1613-X.  In a family of sports legends, 12-year-old Mack McGinn strives for one “big win” to make his father proud.

* “Paratore’s first foray into boy’s lit is a strong one.  Mack’s believable narration and ample sense of humor    make this sports story a cut above the rest.”  Kirkus Reviews  

* “It’s a terrific book, especially for boys ages 10-13.” Carol Chittenden, Eight Cousins Bookstore

*“I LOVED MACK. A true fun read. I didn’t want to come to the end.” Frank Hodge, HodgePodge Books

The Cupid Chronicles, Simon & Schuster, 2006, ages 8-up, ISBN 1-4169-0867-8.  High-school freshman Willa Havisham hosts fundraising dances at her family’s Cape Cod inn to help save the local library and hopefully date a certain fair-haired boy in this enchanting sequel to The Wedding Planner’s Daughter

* “…Willa’s spirit keeps it fun, but it’s her smarts that make her memorable.” Kirkus Reviews 

* “…a genuinely likeable protagonist; a sweet and satisfying read from cover to cover.” School Library Journal

*** Nominated for the New York State Reading Association’s 2008 Charlotte Award***

The Wedding Planner’s Daughter, Simon & Schuster, 2005, ages 8-up, ISBN 0-689-87340-9.  When 12-year-old Willa Havisham and her glamorous single mother, Stella, move to Cape Cod, Willa hopes her life-long wish for a father will finally come true.  1/2million copies sold, now a series, debuting world-wide, movie buzz!!

* “This smart and funny fairy tale stays hopeful and enchanting…. Romantic and real.”  Kirkus Reviews

* “This book is as sweet a confection as the cherry cordials its 12-year-old protagonist is so fond of eating.”  SLJ

* “The author laces her appealing tale with literary allusions… with happy endings galore.”  Publisher’s Weekly

26 BIG Things small Hands Do, illus. by Mike Reed, Free Spirit, 2004, ages 1-6, ISBN 1-57542-166-6.  “Your hands are small but they do BIG things that make this a wonderful world.” 

* Named an “Awesome ABC Book!”  Scholastic Instructor Magazine

* 2004 iParenting Media Award Winner     

* “Seal of Excellence” from Creative Child Magazine

 

How Prudence Proovit Proved the Truth about Fairy Tales, illus. by Tamara Petrosino, Simon & Schuster, 2004, ages 4-8, ISBN 0-689-86274-1.  “Wishing plus believing equals happily ever after.”

 

 

 

An author's beginning...

"When I was a little girl, every Saturday, my mother and I would take the city bus to the Troy Public Library. It was our favorite tradition. I'd stick my hand in the mouths of the stone lions, gaze up at the white marble facade, then pull hard to open that heavy wooden door. I felt like I was entering a castle in a fairy tale. Inside, I'd breathe in that familiar leather smell and begin collecting my book-treasures for the week.

It was then that I knew in my heart, I loved to read."

Want to learn more about Coleen?

 

Read this fascinating interview...

 

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