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Fran Cannon Slayton is a children's author, a wife, a mother, a daughter, a lawyer, and a person living with brain cancer. Don't let any of this scare you. She doesn't bite. At least, not very often:)
Fran is the author of Snowball Moon (Little Bee Books). When the Snowball Moon invites a diverse cast of neighborhood children to come out and play at night in the snow, the children find themselves at the center of an evening of good, old-fashioned, outdoor fun! If you are ready to celebrate winter or the holidays, SNOWBALL MOON is a great place to start. Ages 0-6.
Fran is also the author of the middle grade novel, WHEN THE WHISTLE BLOWS (Philomel). Described as "an unassuming masterpiece" by Kirkus, WHEN THE WHISTLE BLOW is a tribute to the relationship a boy and his father forge in an Appalachian railroad town in 1940s West Virginia. It's a coming of age story about brotherhood, love, death, the waning days of the steam engine, and what it means to be a part of something bigger than yourself. If you have a reluctant reader or a child who loves trains in your life, or if you yourself love books about World War II or stories about the railroad, this might be the perfect book for you. Ages 10 through adult.
As a kid, Fran spent her childhood growing up in Manassas and Haymarket, Virginia. She was a mean unicycle rider and pogo stick hopper, and prided herself as an all-around terror on the kickball field. Other favorite pastimes included exploding caps (with or without the use of a magnifying glass), catching salamanders with her bare hands, and using them as bait when she went fishing. She's also been known to dance under a Snowball Moon or two.
As a writer, Fran has lectured and taught academic writing as a faculty member on Semester at Sea, a floating college campus (an experience she highly recommends pursuing if you are a college student). While part of Semester at Sea, Fran and her family had the extraordinary opportunity to travel all over Europe and Scandinavia as well as Central and South America. Fran has also taught a course on the children's publishing industry at the University of Virginia, and has lectured on writing at other universities and writers conferences. In 2014, Fran was also awarded a Fellowship by Virginia Humanities, and she appreciates all this organization does to support authors, literature, and the arts in Virginia.
Fran is from the great state of Virginia and loves living there. But she also loves her West Virginia heritage, and frequently visits Rowlesburg, WV, which is her parents' hometown and the setting for WHEN THE WHISTLE BLOWS. It's also a very snowy place in the wintertime!
In January, 2016, Fran was unexpectedly diagnosed with brain cancer and had an awake craniotomy that February. Having cancer has been an unexpected and challenging journey as well as a real personal and spiritual adventure. It has definitely been hard at times, but it's also been an extraordinary experience in many, many ways. Many people have reached out in unimaginable, creative, and surprising ways, and Fran is extraordinarily grateful to know and be the recipient of so much genuine love and goodness.
Selling SNOWBALL MOON several months after cancer surgery was an amazing thing to happen, and has been a great source of joy as well as a future to "live into" for Fran. Happily, Fran's health has really improved in the last several years. If you want to check in on how Fran is doing, she blogs about her "unexpected journey" at FranCannonSlayton.com.
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