Kerry Madden's debut children's novel, Gentle's Holler, (Viking, 2005) was published as a Penguin Puffin paperback in 2007, and received starred reviews in both Kirkus and Publisher's Weekly. It is the first in a trilogy of Smoky Mountain novels. Gentle's Holler was a New York and Chicago Public Library Pick and received a Mark Twain Nomination from Missouri and was a 2006 PEN Award Finalist in Children's literature. Louisiana's Song (SCIBA and CYBILS Award Finalist) was published in 2007 and has been selected for the California Readers Collection for Middle Grade Fiction. Jessie's Mountain will be published in 2008 by Viking.

She is currently working on a biography of Harper Lee for teens for Viking's UpClose Series. She has been a writing mentor with PEN-in-the-classroom, Vromans Ed, 826LA, Alabama Voices, UCLA, and soon the Appalachian Service Project. She does writing workshops for children and teachers across the country. She is also the author of Offsides, a New York Public Library Pick for the Teen Age in 1997, and Writing Smarts, an American Girl Library Book. In 2006, she was a literary judge for both SCBWI's Golden Kite and for PEN-USA Award in Children's Literature. She is a regular columnist for A Good Blog Is Hard to Find and frequent contributor to the Los Angeles Times. She is also published in Salon, The Washington Post, LA Weekly, and Chicago Review Press.

Jessie's Mountain
Viking, 2008
ages 9 to 12, ISBN 978-0-670-06154-9

Can something that’s so awful wrong have shiny bright bits of right to it?

It’s slowly dawning on twelve-year-old Livy Two Weems that not every decision in life falls neatly into categories of right or wrong—and the harder the decision is the blurrier the lines get.

It’s winter 1963, and just about every member of the large Weems family has a decision to make. Should Livy Two run off to Nashville to audition for that music man? Is Daddy finally ready to play his banjo again? Should the kids be secretly reading Mama’s girlhood diary? And worst of all: will Mama make them move away from their beloved Maggie Valley home?

Louisiana's Song
Viking, 2007
ages 9 to 12, ISBN 978-0-670-06153-2

Livy Two is happy that Daddy is finally out of his coma, but the befuddled man who comes home is not the daddy the Weems family once knew. He forgets their names, he wanders off—he won’t even touch his beloved banjo. Set in Appalachia in 1963, this heartwarming, and heart-wrenching, follow-up to Gentle’s Holler is narrated by the irrepressible Livy Two, and traces the ups and downs of her large mountain family. Shy and awkward 11-year-old Louise (Louisiana) becomes the reluctant hero as she develops a talent for painting, takes care of Daddy, and shows a surprised Livy Two that sometimes the quietest sibling turns out to be the strongest.

Awards
SCIBA FINALIST, 2007; CYBILS FINALIST. 2008; SIBA Nominee, 2008; California Readers Collection, 2008; Bank Street College Books, Best of the Best, 2008

Gentle's Holler
Viking, 2005
ages 9 to 12, ISBN 978-0-14-240751-6

The sixties may have come to other parts of North Carolina, but with Mama pregnant again, Daddy struggling to find work, and nine siblings underfoot, nobody in the holler has much time for modern-day notions. Especially not twelve-year-old Livy Two, aspiring songwriter and self-appointed guardian of little sister Gentle, whose eyes “don’t work so good yet.” Even after a doctor confirms her fears, Livy Two is determined to make the best of Gentle’s situation and sets out to transform the family’s scrappy dachshund into a genuine Seeing Eye dog. But when tragedy strikes, can Livy Two continue to stay strong for her family?

Awards
Starred review, Kirkus; starred review, Publishers Weekly; New York Public Library’s 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing; Chicago Public Library "Best of the Best" Bibliography, 2005; Bank Street College Best Children’s Books of the Year, 2005; Maine Book Award Nomination, 2006; Schneider Award Nomination, ALA, 2005; Finalist, PEN USA in Children’s Literature, 2006; Mark Twain Nomination, MO Assn of School Librarians, 2005

Writing Smarts
illustrated by Tracy McGuinness
American Girl, 2002
ages 8 to 12, ISBN 978-1-58485-505-7 (paperback)

Get inspired to write! This book is filled with tips on creating great characters, making your words sing, breezing through book reports, and tackling research papers. Write-in pages give you plenty of room to practice. A special quick-reference grammar guide and pull-out idea cards are included, too!

Offsides
William Morrow, 1996
young adult, ISBN 978-0-688-14935-2

Offsides captures the bittersweet humor behind a girl's coming-of-age in a world of football, where last season's clothes are traded in for new ones in the latest team colors, where the "coacheswives" plan fashion shows to boost team spirit, and where the coaches—fathers and husbands—make only irregular appearances.