The fifth installment in Wil’s new middle-grade supernatural series, ‘The Girl Who Grew Nasty Things,’ has been released. It was on NetGalley’s list of most-requested middle grade titles for more than three months! Here’s the publisher’s summary—

“Maddie Dragonette doesn’t like people. She prefers to be among the rare plants she grows in her greenhouse—which can be made to cause great pain to others. When Maddie doesn’t get a part in the school play, she turns to her beloved plants to seek her revenge. What happens when one young girl’s rage and hatred grow out of control?”

Review quotes from NetGalley and Goodreads—

“A brilliant cautionary tale!” –Mallory H.

“This was a fun and exciting book to read with young children.” –Jacyln D.

“Maddie Dragonette is one mean girl.” –Josephine S.

“If you have kids who love creepy stories, this is the one for them.” –Laurie E.

“It was just as expected: a twisted tale of discovery. Well done!” –Jaime F.

“It shows what rage, jealousy and resentment can do to you when you make them your top priority.” –Faiza N.

“Wil Mara has done a great job of bringing the character to life and setting her into a story that does not have a happy ending….” –Denice L.

The ‘Twisted’ stories have been rapidly growing in popularity among school and public librarians, due in part to the series’ appeal among reluctant readers. The second book in the group, ‘House of a Million Rooms’, was a featured pick of the Junior Library Guild less than two weeks after its publication. And in the wake of the success of the series, Wil was recently honored with the 2019 Literary Lion Award.

To read the first two chapters of ‘The Girl Who Grew Nasty Things’ now, click here—

http://www.wilmara.com/downloads/girlnastych1-2.pdf

To order from Amazon—

https://www.amazon.com/Girl-Grew-Nasty-Things-Twisted/dp/1538383616/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=wil+mara+girl+nasty&qid=1577973051&sr=8-1

To order any of the ‘Twisted’ books direct from the publisher—

http://www.enslow.com/series/twisted

Wil’s main site—

www.wilmara.com

For contact, please use general@wilmara.com. All emails are answered within 24 hours.

The fourth book in Wil’s new middle-grade series, ‘Twisted’, releases on Tuesday, October 1st. It’s called ‘Where Did My Family Go?’ and is every bit as creepy as the first three, per the publisher’s description—

“Michael Cooper wakes one morning to a horrifying reality…his family isn’t the same as when he went to sleep the night before. For that matter, neither is anything else. What’s worse, everyone thinks he’s lost his mind and that everything’s just fine.”

The first two chapters can be read here—

http://www.wilmara.com/downloads/wherefamilyfirsttwochapters.pdf

To order—

http://www.enslow.com/series/twisted

On Amazon—

https://www.amazon.com/Where-Did-My-Family-Twisted/dp/1538383608/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=wil+mara+where+family&qid=1569332908&sr=8-1

The New Jersey Association of School Librarians will be holding its fall conference on December 9th and 10th, and Wil is going to be one of several featured speakers. The topic of his talk will be ‘The Myth of the Reluctant Reader, Part IV: The Roots of the Problem.’ Wil has been researching the topic of reluctant readers for the better part of the last ten years and has presented on the subject at past NJASL conferences and elsewhere. Other speakers at this year’s conference include keynotes Jacqueline Woodson and John Schu. The conference will be held at the Hilton Hotel and Meeting Center in East Brunswick, NJ.

More details can be found here—

https://njasl19.weebly.com/

About NJASL—

https://www.njasl.org/

For contact, please use general@wilmara.com. All emails are answered within 24 hours.

On Wednesday, October 16, The College of New Jersey will host a very special event—Jacqueline Woodson, ‘New York Times’ bestselling author and the current Library of Congress National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, will be speaking to students both in person and via live webstream around the country. The focus of Jacqueline’s presentation will be her inspirational ‘Reading = HOPE x CHANGE’ program, and Wil is going to act as on-stage moderator. Wil has been the moderator and host at numerous literary events, including the annual ‘Letters About Literature’ award held by the New Jersey Center for the Book, as well the more than 200 school appearances as an author.

Along with her talk, Jacqueline will respond to questions both from attendees and those submitted via online forums. If you wish to participate in this wonderful event via livestream, please visit—

https://www.smore.com/bymr4-nj-celebrates-jacqueline-woodson

To learn more about Jacqueline, you can visit her site at—

https://www.jacquelinewoodson.com/