Kid-Lit Superstar Comes to LI This Fall

Jennifer Holm is the featured author at Lit-Fest, a literature festival sponsored by the Nassau Library System (NLS) that will take place on October 14^th at Adelphi University. Jennifer Holm and her brother Matthew Holm are the creators of a new graphic novel series called Squish.

Don’t call Squish a blob: he’s an amoeba. And he’s into comics. When trouble brews in the pond, Squish is inspired to do the right thing by his favorite comic book hero, Super Amoeba.

Squish is NOT pink. Matthew Holm uses the perfect shade of green to create a cast of single-celled characters: Peggy, Pod, Principal Planaria and the wiser-than-he-seems Dad. In the first installment in the series, Super Amoeba, Squish has to deal with a bad-mannered bully who has the habit of absorbing smaller life forms into his body whenever he feels like it. In the second book, Brave New Pond, Squish is hoping the first day of school will give him a fresh start – no more detention! Brave New Pond hits the shelves in September, but the advanced reader’s copy is available to borrow from the SCLS Review Collection.

Jennifer Holm (who is pictured here with NLS Youth Services Manager and conference planner, Renee McGrath) will be speaking at Lit-Fest along with Megan Lambert, Instructor for The Center for the Study of Children’s Literature at Simmons College. Holm will also be presenting at a break-out session on the topic of creating comic books for kids. If you prefer discussion groups, try Middle Grade Discussion Group 4, which will celebrate Holm’s body of work including three Newbery Honor books and Babymouse #14 Mad Scientist, the volume that introduced Squish to young readers.

The Lit-Fest brochure is now available online.