Loved to Pieces. . . with Elise Broach!

Welcome to the Cottage, ELISE BROACH!

Elise Broach is the New York Times bestselling author of The Miniature World of Marvin and James, Masterpiece, Shakespeare’s Secret, Desert Crossing, Missing on Superstition Mountain, Treasure on Superstition Mountain and Revenge of Superstition Mountain, as well as several picture books. Her books have been selected as ALA notable books, Junior Library Guild selections, a Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Book, a New York Public Library Best Book for the Teenage, an IRA Teacher’s Choice, Time magazine's #1 Children's Book of the Year, an E.B. White Read Aloud Award, and nominated for an Edgar Award, among other distinctions.

Elise, what favorite childhood book have you brought to share with us today?

"It is too hard to choose a favorite book!

I read constantly as a child; it was hands-down my favorite thing to do. But here are two much-loved books from my childhood that flood me with warm memories whenever I touch their tattered covers. The first is The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

See the inscription? From my Grandmamma and Granddaddy Broach when I was six years old, it reads: 'This is a book to keep for future enjoyment, while a little girl grows and grows till she is a big, big girl.'

The Secret Garden had everything I loved in a book: a bold, independent heroine, an exotic setting, high stakes, an engaging boy-girl friendship, and an incredibly satisfying, almost magical trajectory from dire straits to a happy ending. Truth be told, I liked A Little Princess even better, but The Secret Garden introduced me to the joys of reading Frances Hodgson Burnett. And the illustrations by Tasha Tudor were spectacular, every so often colonizing a page in gorgeous color.

The second book is Daphne Du Maurier's Frenchman's Creek, which I still consider one of my all-time favorite books. I remember the day I found it on a shelf in the deep, walk-in closet of my Grandma Lomont's farm house in Indiana. I started reading it, and when she saw how engrossed I was, she told me it was mine. This was what she wrote inside: 'To a sweet granddaughter - So glad to have you add this to your library - even tho it's 'old like me.' Frenchman's Creek swept me away.

A great book is like a long, deep, thoughtful conversation, not just with the author, but with yourself, and with the person who gave it to you. When I look at these books, I think of the people who wrote them, and who I was as a child, and my wonderful grandparents who gave them to me. That's what makes them cherished."

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ELISE BROACH is the author of 17 books for children, ranging from board books to young adult novels. Her middle-grade mystery, Masterpiece, was a New York Times bestseller and the winner of the E. B. White Read-Aloud Award of the Association of Booksellers for Children. Her picture book When Dinosaurs Came with Everything was named Time magazine's #1 Children's Book of the Year. Her newest books are the award-winning Superstition Mountain mystery trilogy, set in Arizona, and The Miniature World of Marvin and James, which is the first in an early chapter book series based on the Masterpiece characters.

To learn more about Elise's many award-winning books, visit her website.

Elise's most recently released titles include:

REVENGE OF SUPERSTITION MOUNTAIN
Superstition Mountain Mysteries (Book 3)
by Elise Broach
Henry Holt and Co (August 26, 2014)
ISBN: 978-0805089097

Praise for the series:
* “Broach builds on the daring escapades and eerie tension . . . in this stellar sequel. Readers will be eager for the next installment.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

* “Classic horror and thriller elements combine with modern touches in Broach’s page-turner, a very promising start to this series.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“[An] engrossing mystery. . .  Broach reserves plenty of suspicious characters, spooky landscapes and loose ends for the slated sequels, which both boys and girls will savor.” —Kirkus

THE MINIATURE WORLD OF MARVIN & JAMES

The Masterpiece Adventures (Book 1)

by Elise Broach

Illustrated by Kelly Murphy
Henry Holt and Co.  (February 4, 2014)
ISBN: 978-0805091908

"Page-turning adventure." —The Horn Book

"This winsome series debut is both a sweet story of cross-species friendship and a sobering new way to look at pencil sharpeners." —Kirkus Reviews

Praise for MASTERPIECE:
"Inventive . . . [Broach] packs this fast-moving story with perennially seductive themes: hidden lives and secret friendships, miniature worlds lost to disbelievers . . . Broach and Kelly show readers something new."―Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Delightful intricacies of beetle life . . . blend seamlessly with the suspenseful caper as well as the sentimental story of a complicated-but-rewarding friendship. . . . Murphy’s charming pen-and-ink drawings populate the short chapters of this funny, winsome novel."―Kirkus

* A New York Times bestseller

SPRINGTIME BABY
by Elise Broach
Illustrated by Cori Doerrfeld 

LB Kids (January 21, 2014)
ISBN: 978-0316235266

"Broach's tight-as-a-drum verse and Doerrfeld's cheerful artwork easily match the enthusiasm of their young backyard explorer." —Publishers Weekly

"[A] cheerful ode to the wonders of spring. . . . This joyful lift-the-flap adventure will inspire little ones to head outdoors to see if spring has sprung in their neck of the woods."—Kirkus