Jacqueline West is the author of the New York Times-bestselling middle grade series The Books of Elsewhere, the Schneider Family Honor-winning middle grade fantasy The Collectors, the middle grade mystery Digging Up Danger (written with the Story Pirates), and many other novels, poems, and short stories, most of them of the dark and twisty variety. She lives with her family in Minnesota.
Learn more about her work or contact her about school visits, writing workshops, and other events at http://www.jacquelinewest.com.
About The Books of Elsewhere:
Old Ms. McMartin is definitely dead, and her crumbling Victorian mansion lies vacant. When eleven-year-old Olive and her dippy mathematician parents move in, Olive is right to think there’s something odd about the place – not least the strange antique paintings hanging on its walls. But when she finds a pair of old glasses in a dusty drawer, Olive discovers the most peculiar thing yet: she can travel inside these paintings to Elsewhere, a place that’s strangely quiet…and eerily familiar. Olive soon finds herself ensnared in a plan darker and more dangerous than she could have imagined, confronting a power that wants to be rid of her by any means necessary. It’s up to her to save the house from the shadows, before the lights go out for good.
- 2010 CYBILS Award Winner (The Shadows)
- New York Times Bestseller (The Shadows)
- 2011 and 2012 Minnesota Book Award finalists (The Shadows and Spellbound)
- Publisher’s Weekly “Flying Start” (The Shadows)
- Junior Library Guild Selections (The Shadows and Spellbound)
- SIBA Bestseller (The Strangers)
- Silver Falchion Award for Best Middle Grade Mystery (Still Life)
- Indie Next List pick (The Shadows, The Second Spy, and Still Life)
* “The house is as much a character as are Olive, Morton, and her family, and a wicked sense of humor tempers the book’s creepiness. A suspenseful plot and insight into childhood loneliness – handily amplified by [Poly] Bernatene’s moody and dramatically lit b&w illustrations – will have readers anxiously awaiting the next book.”
– Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
* “West creates a delightful concoction of quirky humor blended with a rumbling ominous undertone…”
– Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, Starred Review
“Spooky and magical, this is a series debut that’s not to be missed.”
– A Mighty Girl
* “This final volume emphasizes the importance of friendship and support…Olive’s efforts bring great rewards for herself and her readers. Order the series.”
– VOYA (Starred Review)
About The Collectors:
Even the smallest wish can be dangerous.
Look closely. Do you see that marble in the grass? The tiny astronaut with one arm raised? The old-fashioned key in the gutter? Van sees them. Van notices all sorts of things. But usually no one notices Van. He’s small, and always the new kid, easy to overlook. But one day he watches a mysterious girl and a silver squirrel dive into a fountain to steal a coin. And—even more strange—they notice Van.
Suddenly, the world changes for Van. It becomes a place where wishes are real. A place where wishes can be collected, just like his little treasures. A place where wishes can come true. But that’s not always a good thing. Not all wishes are good, you see, and even good wishes can have unintended consequences. And Van is about to find out just how big those consequences can be.
– 2019 Schneider Family Honor Book
– Minnesota Book Award Finalist
“A fast-paced and engrossing tale… Readers may not wish to leave this magical world.”
– Kirkus
“A brilliant fantasy adventure exploring the consequences of getting what you wish for.”
– Booklist
About Digging Up Danger:
Eliza loves hunting ghosts–too bad she’s spending the summer helping her scientist mother study weird plants instead. But when a mysterious plant goes missing, things in the plant shop go from strange to downright spooky. Is Eliza digging in dangerous ground?
In this series, the Story Pirates have teamed up with New York Times bestselling authors to take real kids’ story ideas and turn them into middle grade novels that double as an introduction to writing a story, using a special Story Pirates-developed, kid- and teacher-approved creative writing guide called the Creation Zone.
– An Amazon Editors’ Best Book of the Month, January 2019
* “West’s tale, decorated with [Hatem] Aly’s eerie, cartoon art, is well worth reading on its own—the writing manual takes it to a whole other level.”
– Kirkus, starred review
Spooky Middle Grade 