about the book
Jackson likes facts, which is good because he wants to be an animal scientist when he grows up. His parents worry about his lack of imagination—especially since they’re artistically inclined—but figure he’ll grow one someday.
Too bad that didn’t happen before he exposed a fake Easter Bunny as a man while at a mall.
So, the fact that Jackson is seeing Crenshaw, a seven-foot talking cat, is all the more concerning to the boy. He thought he’d rid himself of his imaginary friend several years ago when his family was living out of their car.
But Crenshaw is back. Why? Is his family on the brink of losing everything again?
about the author
Whether you look for Katherine Alice Applegate, or A. K. Applegate or the pen name Katherine Kendall, you will find that this popular writer is very prolific. She has written more than 100 books, including the popular Animorphs series. She says if she could morph into any animal, it would be a dolphin!
Katherine graduated with honors from the University of Texas but she didn’t know what she wanted to do. She waited on tables, typed badly, and watered plants for a living. She wandered from Florida to California, from Minnesota to Italy. Tired of these boring jobs, she decided to become a famous writer. After all, it required no social skills or physical exertion and she could wear comfortable clothes!
Easily distracted, Katherine sets a strict writing schedule for herself. She also writes adult novels, but she is mainly interested in middle grade students. Katherine feels they are the most open-minded and imaginative and are the very best readers on the earth.
She was inspired to write The One and Only Ivan after learning about a real gorilla named Ivan. He was captured in the African Congo as an infant and ended up in an odd collection of animals housed at a circus-themed mall in Washington State. He spent 27 years isolated in a cage. When the pubic began to voice concerns about Ivan’s lonely state, he was eventually placed at the Atlanta Zoo, which has the largest group of western lowland gorillas in the nation. Living contentedly with the other gorillas, Ivan became a celebrity known for his paintings, which he signed with a thumbprint! Ivan died on August 20, 2012, at the age of 50. Katherine wanted to give Ivan his own voice to tell his story.
In her spare time, Katherine plays the cello, tends her ankle-biting cats, and travels with son Jake, adopted daughter Julia, and husband Michael. Michael is also a writer and co- authors some of Katherine’s books. Their home is in southern California.
Sources:
One and Only Ivan website
Author biography : Bookrags
Author biography : Simon & Schuster
Author interview : School Library Journal
Author video interview
Book trailer: Crenshaw
Also by Katherine Applegate:
Home of the Brave. Feiwel and Friends. 2007.
read more!
Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate
Kek, a Sudanese refugee sent to Minneapolis to live with his aunt and cousin, struggles to adjust to his new life as he mourns for what he has lost on his journey. He finally makes some friends and finds a job caring for an elderly woman’s cow. When he learns that the farm where he works is going to be sold, Kek must figure out a way to save the cow and himself.
The Imaginary by A.F. Harrold
No one else can see Amanda Shuffleup’s imaginary friend Rudger. Then Mr. Bunting comes to town, halting their adventures. Mr. Bunting hunts “Imaginaries” and soon Rudger is running for his imaginary life. Can Rudger find Amanda before he’s caught or Amanda forgets him?
Lilliput by Sam Gayton
When Lily was three moons old, she was kidnapped by Lemuel Gulliver. Her height—all three inches of it—would prove Gulliver’s travels were real. But Lily just wants to get home to Lilliput and will never stop trying to escape her birdcage until she succeeds. But once free, how will she navigate 18th century London and avoid being recaptured by either Gulliver or the evil clock maker who are hot on her trail?