Nan Marino

Nan Marino is the author of Neil Armstrong Is My Uncle & Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me, which received a SCBWI Golden Kite Honor and was featured on the Bank Street Best Books and the New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing.

Her latest book is Hiding Out at the Pancake Palace.

From Marino's Q & A with Brittney Breakey at Author Turf:

How did you choose the genre you write in?

I’m not sure I write in any one genre. My first book was historical fiction. [Hiding Out at the Pancake Palace] is contemporary with a fantasy element. No matter what I write, my audience is always middle graders. I never intentionally set out to write children’s books, but every main character I think of happens to be between the ages of ten and fourteen. When I was in library school, I came across a table filled with children’s books. I picked up the book, Sarah Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan and that hooked me forever on middle grade literature.

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Is any material in your books based on real life experiences or purely imagination?

My first book Neil Armstrong is My Uncle and Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me took place in the town where I grew up. There were things in that book that I took straight from my childhood–a neighbor who sings, the family who had extravagant parties, the feeling of closeness in a neighborhood. My...[read on]

Learn more about the book and author at Nan Marino's website and blog.

See--Coffee with a Canine: Nan Marino & Tai Chi Marino.

My Book, The Movie: Neil Armstrong Is My Uncle & Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me.

--Marshal Zeringue