Author of the Month -- Christopher Paul Curtis

Get to Know Christopher Paul Curtis

Photo by Lin Z. Jones, UM Photo Services

This month, Newbery and Coretta Scott King Medal winning author Christopher Paul Curtis introduces us to his new book The Mighty Miss Malone.

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The Mighty Miss Malone
Wendy Lamb, 2012 (Ages 9-12)
Miss Deza Malone, from Bud, Not Buddy and the smartest girl in her class, is “on a journey to a place called Wonderful” with her family during the difficult days of the Great Depression.
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Christopher Paul Curtis talks about growing up, becoming an author, and The Mighty Miss Malone. Courtesy of Random House Children's Books.

The Malone family lives very close to Chicago, in Gary, Indiana. Have you ever visited Gary? Do you know anyone who lives there or any famous people who are from Gary?
Deza is determined to read every book at the Gary Public Library. How many of the books in your neighborhood library have you read?
In Part Two, the family goes to Flint, Michigan.

“The best-laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men / Gang aft a-gley, / An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain, / For promis’d joy!” What do you think this means? Find out more about the famous poet who wrote it, Robert Burns.
Deza says she knows “just how Cinderella felt!” What do you think she means? Read some of the many versions of this tale and see if you can figure it out.
Do you like pie? Find out how to bake one for family (with help from an adult).

Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain, is one of Deza’s favorite books.
Find out more about the pivotal Joe Louis and Max Schmeling fight in A Nation's Hope, by Matt de la Peña and illustrated by Kadir Nelson.
Learn more about the Great Depression with these books:
- Children of the Great Depression by Russell Freedman
- Dust to Eat: Drought and Depression in the 1930's by Michael Cooper
- FDR's Alphabet Soup: New Deal America, 1932-1939 by Tonya Bolden
- The Great Depression by Elaine Landau

1929-1940: The Great Depression and the New Deal »
Events, topics, and key people in African American history during the Great Depression from Facts on File's History Online database.

1929-1945: Great Depression and World II »
Suggested African American Sites in the Digital Collection of the Library of Congress.

Librarian and Teacher guide »
Random House Children's Books resource for The Mighty Miss Malone.