Mary Casanova: Children's Book Author

In October, Mary Casanova came to my school for our book fair. When she came she talked about how she got ideas for her books. She said that it helps her to go to the place based on where her book is about. For example, for the Jess book, she actually went to Belize. She got to see fire ants and even got bitten by them!

Here are some of her writing ideas: If you can't think of anything to write, just start writing. It's a good idea to always have a quiet place to write.

We were able to order books signed by her, and we had a contest, too. Some of us entered our names and the winner got an American Girl Jess doll, that Mary Casanova actually signed on the foot!

It was very exciting to have her there, and I could tell that everyone was anxious to have her there.

Mary Casanova writes many different kinds of books. She has written four books for American Girl, including Jess, who was the American Girl of the Year for 2006. She also has a series of dog mysteries called Dog Watch. And she writes children's books about her native northern Minnesota.