James Howe
Personal Information
Description
JAMES HOWE IS THE AUTHOR OF OVER NINETY BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS, INCLUDING THE MODERN CLASSICS BUNNICULA AND THE MISFITS AND BOTH BOOKS’ HIGHLY POPULAR SEQUELS. He wrote the award-winning bestseller Bunnicula with his late wife, Deborah Howe, in 1977. The couple went on to write one other children’s book, Teddy Bear’s Scrapbook, before Deborah’s untimely death from cancer in 1978. After Bunnicula’s publication in 1979, James Howe quit his job as a literary agent to pursue writing full-time. His many other popular books for children include the six sequels to Bunnicula; the Tales from the House of Bunnicula series; the Bunnicula and Friends Ready-to-Read series; the Pinky and Rex series; the Houndsley and Catina series; and such picture books as Horace and Morris but mostly Dolores, I Wish I Were a Butterfly, There's a Monster Under My Bed, Brontorina, and Otter and Odder. He is also the author of several acclaimed novels for older readers, including The Misfits and its companion novels: Totally Joe, Addie on the Inside, and Also Known as Elvis. Beloved by kids, teachers, and librarians, The Misfits inspired the national movement known as No Name-Calling Week, which is observed by thousands of middle and elementary schools each year. Howe has also written the teen novel, The Watcher, and is the editor of the anthologies The Color of Absence: 12 Stories About Loss and Hope and 13: Thirteen Stories That Capture the Agony and Ecstasy of Being Thirteen. Howe’s many books frequently deal with the acceptance of difference and being true to oneself. James Howe has a daughter, Zoey, who lives in Boston. The author lives in New York State with his husband, Mark Davis.
Books
A people who would not kneel
"A People Who Would Not Kneel taps an unusual wealth of historical documents and native testimony to tell the extraordinary story of the Kuna struggle against outside domination during the first quarter of this century. James Howe illuminates the triangular relationship among a weak Panamanian government intent on creating a homogenous Hispanic culture; an Indian people who used the political methods of a national society to resist; and the hemisphere's dominant nation, a colonial power that had supposedly renounced colonialism. Vividly portraying the tenacious, outspoken individuals caught up in this struggle, he chronicles Kuna confrontations with black frontiersmen, foreign corporations, and competing Catholic and Protestant missionaries. The Kuna also contended with official campaigns to suppress traditional noserings and mola blouses and to impose schools, dance clubs, and modernity. In 1924 they turned to Richard Marsh, a North American explorer in search of a mythical tribe of white Indians. Marsh helped lead an armed revolt against Panama, which led to intervention by the United States and ultimately to a shipboard peace agreement that guaranteed the Kuna much of what they had fought for."--BOOK JACKET.
When I Was Your Age, Volume One
A reflection of special childhood moments in ten writer's lives demonstrates the similar, different, and life-changing experiences of children during various time periods and includes individual explanations of how they discovered the path toward becoming writers.
The Misfits
Kids who get called the worst names oftentimes find each other. That's how it was with us. Skeezie Tookis and Addie Carle and Joe Bunch and me. We call ourselves the Gang of Five, but there are only four of us. We do it to keep people on their toes. Make 'em wonder. Or maybe we do it because we figure that there's one more kid out there who's going to need a gang to be a part of. A misfit, like us. Skeezie, Addie, Joe, and Bobby—they've been friends forever. They laugh together, have lunch together, and get together once a week at the Candy Kitchen to eat ice cream and talk about important issues. Life isn't always fair, but at least they have each other—and all they really want to do is survive the seventh grade. That turns out to be more of a challenge than any of them had anticipated. Starting with Addie's refusal to say the Pledge of Allegiance and her insistence on creating a new political party to run for student council, the Gang of Five is in for the ride of their lives. Along the way they will learn about politics and popularity, love and loss, and what it means to be a misfit. After years of getting by, they are given the chance to stand up and be seen—not as the one-word jokes their classmates have tried to reduce them to, but as the full, complicated human beings they are just beginning to discover they truly are.
Bunnicula
Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery is a children's novel written by Deborah Howe and James Howe, illustrated by Alan Daniel, and published by Atheneum Books in 1979. It inaugurated the Bunnicula series and Bunnicula universe. Based on a 2007 online poll, the National Education Association listed the novel as one of the "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children." The series chronicles the adventures of the Monroe family and their pets, Harold the dog, Chester the cat, and Bunnicula the rabbit. The novels are narrated by Harold the family dog.
Eat your poison dear
Young sleuth Sebastian and three friends probe the mystery of a poisoning in their school cafeteria.
Pinky and Rex and the Mean Old Witch
Pinky, Rex, and Amanda plot revenge on the bad-tempered old woman who lives across the street, until Pinky realizes that she is lonely and needs new friends.
Screaming Mummies of the Pharaoh's Tomb II
Howie the wirehaired dachshund and his friend Delilah collaborate on a novel, trying to win the coveted Newbony Award.
13
Sam must find the last 13 when he wakes from a nightmare where everybody dies when he clicks his fingers, only to find that it will come true. Sam is kidnapped and finds out his parents are not who he thought they were, shattering his life and causing him to fight to save the world.
Bud Barkin, Private Eye
Howie, the wirehaired dachshund, tries his paw at writing a new kind of novel, a mystery in which he imagines himself as a private investigator and Delilah as the "mysterious dame."
Stage Fright
The Celery Stalks at Midnight
HARE TODAY, GONE TOMORROW Bunnicula is missing! Chester is convinced all the world's vegetables are in danger of being drained of their life juices and turned into zombies. Soon he has Harold and Howie running around sticking toothpicks through hearts of lettuce and any other veggie in sight. Of course, Chester has been known to be wrong before...but you can never be too careful when there's a vampire bunny at large!
Also known as Elvis
Skeezie Tookis, also known as Elvis, isn’t looking forward to this summer in Paintbrush Falls. While his best friends Bobby, Joe, and Addie are off on exciting adventures, he’s stuck at home, taking care of his sisters and working five days a week to help out his mom. True, he gets to hang out at the Candy Kitchen with the awesome HellomynameisSteffi, but he also has to contend with Kevin Hennessey’s never-ending bullying. And then there’s the confusing world of girls, especially hot-and-cold Becca, his maybe-crush. And the dog that he misses terribly. And the dad who left two years before, whom Skeezie is convinced is the cause of all his troubles. In the words of the King, Skeezie Tookis is All Shook Up. Skeezie’s got the leather jacket of a tough guy, but a heart of gold—and his story, the fourth and final chapter of the beloved Misfits series, is brimming with life’s tough choices, love in all directions, and enough sweet potato fries to go around.
It's Heaven to Be Seven
Kaddish for Grandpa in Jesus' name, amen
Five-year-old Emily tries to understand her grandfather's death by exploring the Christian and Jewish rituals that her family practices during and after his funeral.
Dew drop dead
While setting up a homeless shelter at the church, Sebastian and his friends, Corrie and David, solve the mystery of a dead man found in an abandoned inn.
