Spotlight On... Patrick Jennings

--by Hanje Richards
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Patrick Jennings was born 1962 near Crown Point, Indiana. He earned his BFA at Arizona State University in 1985, where he studied writing, art, and education. He also attended San Francisco State University, where he studied cinema and early childhood education. He has worked as an English teacher, a preschool teacher, and a library assistant (that last right here at the Copper Queen Library* for a few years in the mid-1990s!). He currently writes full time in his home in Port Townsend, Washington.
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Jennings has published thirteen books of fiction for young readers. His books have earned starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Kirkus, and The Horn Book, and have been honored by the PEN Center USA, the Junior Library Guild, BookSense, the Chicago Public Library, the Texas Library Association, Smithsonian Magazine, and the Woman’s National Book Association. His book, Faith and the Electric Dogs, is currently being adapted for the screen. He has also published short stories for young readers, including “The Guinea Dog,” which won the 2006 Distinguished Achievement Award for Children’s Fiction from the Association of Educational Publishers.
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Beastly Arms - Eleven-year-old Nickel and his mother need to find a new apartment. When their search takes them to an unfamiliar part of the city, Nickel is drawn to a strange building at the end of an alley - a building called the Beastly Arms. Even though the rent in dirt cheap and the apartment is beautiful, Nickel's mom thinks the Beastly Arms is creepy. So does his best friend, Inez. Even his pet kangaroo rat, Miriam, seems worried. But Nickel, an avid photographer who has a gift for seeing what others don't, senses that the Beastly Arms houses a secret that only he can unearth...
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Bird Shadow: An Ike and Mem Story - Ike and his younger sister accept a dare to go to the spooky Hawkins place on the other side of town despite the sign warning, "Trespassers Beware." From a shed, they hear ghostly noises that turn out to be pigeons. Dave, the ringleader, believes that the birds are trapped in the coop and throws a rock through the window. After their vandalism, the children run away, but Ike and Mem return to see if the pigeons have flown away.
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Faith and the Electric Dogs - Edison is a Mexican street dog, but he's far from ordinary. He can speak Bowwow and can understand English, Spanish, and French. When a girl named Faith rescues him, he begins a fantastic and unforgettable journey.


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Faith and the Rocket Cat - Faith and her dog, Eddie, pack up their rocket, the Peahen, and move with the family from Mexico City to San Francisco. In an attempt to impress others, both the girl and her pet lure unsuspecting and unbelieving passengers into their rocket, the Peahen, which runs on pig fat and jalapeños.
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Putnam and Pennyroyal - When Cora Lee and her Uncle Frank go fishing, he tells her a story about Putnam, a sedate old grebe (a loon-like bird). Life was dull for Putnam -- until he met a spunky grebe named Pennyroyal. As this story unfolds, sideline conversations between Frank and Cora provide insights into their personalities and relationship. It also becomes evident that the story is Frank's somewhat clumsy attempt at explaining himself to his niece.
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Tornado Watches: An Ike and Mem Story - Ike lives where tornadoes are common, and one night a tornado warning causes the family to take shelter in the basement. When the warning is lifted, Ike worries they will miss the next alert, and so he secretly moves a TV into his bedroom and keeps it on all night. He falls asleep in class the next day -- and the next -- until his parents and teacher think he's sick. Finally, he wakes up one night to discover that he's in the basement -- his parents heard the warning sirens and carried him and his sister to safety in their basement shelter.
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Weeping Willow: An Ike and Mem Story - The weeping willow seems the perfect place for a tree house, and Ike and best friend, Buzzy, decide to build one, just for guys. However, all they do is argue, and soon they aren't playing together, let alone speaking. Frustrated and upset, Ike uses the tree-house materials to build little sister Mem a playhouse.
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Wish Riders - Fifteen-year-old Dusty, a ward of the state, is forced to work in a logging camp during the Depression. Despite the bleakness of her life, spirited Dusty dreams of escape. One day, a mysterious seagull delivers some unusual seeds to Dusty. Her whole life changes when she plants them. Perhaps it is the strength of her wishes, or the magic of the forest, but some unknown power transforms the tiny seeds into an astonishing creature -- and a possible means of deliverance. Now Dusty and her friends have a way to navigate the enchanted, though dangerous, forest, and escape the wretched existence they've been trapped in all their lives.
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Wolving Time - In France during a time of witch-hunts, in a village with a corrupt priest, thirteen-year-old Lazlo longs to be able to turn into a wolf as his parents can, but also desires the friendship of a village girl.

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(*This successful, published author had my job at the Copper Queen Library back in 1994. I think this bodes well for my future as a successful, published author!)