Orem Library

Every great author started out as a kid. Before the bestsellers, fan clubs, and beloved stories we know today, the world's most celebrated writers had regular-kid problems just like you. Sam Clemens (aka Mark Twain) loved to skip school and make mischief, with his best friend Tom of course! A young J. R. R. Tolkien was bitten by a huge tarantula -- or as he called it, "a spider as big as a dragon." Toddler Zora Neale Hurston took her first steps when...

A celebration of August Wilson's journey from a child in Pittsburgh to one of America's greatest playwrights

August Wilson (1945–2005) was a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright who had a particular talent for capturing the authentic, everyday voice of black Americans. As a child, he read off soup cans and cereal boxes, and when his mother brought him to the library, his whole world opened up. After facing intense prejudice

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The elusive author provides a glimpse into his mysterious and sometimes confusing life, using fanciful letters, diary entries, and other miscellaneous documents as well as photographs and illustrations.

The artist, ceramicist, writer, and storyteller describes his experiences growing up in a small village in Mali with his grandparents, and discusses how the memories have stayed with him his whole life.

"From the New York Times bestselling author and National Book Award finalist, a biography in verse and prose of science fiction visionary Octavia Butler. Acclaimed novelist Ibi Zoboi illuminates the young life of the visionary storyteller Octavia E. Butler in poems and prose. Born into the Space Race, the Red Scare, and the dawning Civil Rights Movement, Butler expereinced an American childhood that shaped her into the groundbreaking science-fiction...

An alphabetical compilation of facts about the life, books, family, and literary creations of the English children's author.

There's something scary about the typewriter wanna-be horror writer Zackie Beauchamp finds in a burned-down antiques store.

"Newbery Medalist Paul Fleischman reflects on growing up with his award-winning father, Sid Fleischman, and details his own path to becoming a writer"--

Details the fascinating, sometimes troubled, and ultimately uplifting story of James Baldwin, who devoted his life to writing and speaking out about race relations in America.

Twelve-year-old Steve is investigating a diamond heist but the case suddenly changes when the author of the Bailey Brothers detective novels writes him a letter to say that he fears for his life.