David Wilson – illustratör

For fans of Lunar New Year Love Story and Pumpkinheads, David Wilson’s author-illustrator graphic novel debut explores themes of life and death, the bittersweetness of first love, and the notion that perhaps your perfect soulmate is the one who helps you discover your true self. Kit is the golden boy of his small town. Captain of the football team, perfect grades, perfect relationship, perfect everything. But when his childhood best friend, Emma, mysteriously returns to town, Kit's life is thrown into turmoil. She's the only one who knows what happened that day he fell at the cliffs—and why he woke up alone on the shore. She's also the only one who may know the truth about the strange visions he's been having—and why the people he sees in them are turning up dead. As Kit and Emma reconnect and rekindle the past, Kit's forced to admit that things aren't as perfect as they seem. And Emma. . . well, she isn't what she seems either. Her family's been hiding a secret for generations and with Death looming over all of them, the truth can't stay buried forever.

A patriotic homage to the Fourth of July teaching children the reason behind the holiday’s booms and barbecues through a crash course in American history.The Fourth of July is a very special American holiday and celebration. Families and friends spend fun time together and at night, beautiful fireworks are displayed for everyone to enjoy. But what actually happened on that day that causes us to remember and celebrate it for many hundreds of years? This wonderfully illustrated children’s book explains what brave Americans did to declare their freedom and equality, and identifies who was the source of guidance through it all.

“Entertaining, informative, appealing, charming, and a thoroughly compelling read from first page to last . . . unreservedly recommended.” —Midwest Book Review   America’s first superheroes lived in the Midwest. There was Nanabozho, the Ojibway man-god who conquered the King of Fish, took control of the North Wind, and inspired Longfellow’s The Song of Hiawatha. Paul Bunyan, the larger-than-life North Woods lumberjack, created Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes with his giant footsteps. More recently, Pittsburgh steelworker Joe Magerac squeezed out rails between his fingers, and Rosie the Riveter churned out the planes that won the world's most terrible war. In Folktales and Legends of the Middle West, Edward McClelland collects these stories and more. Readers will learn the sea shanties of the Great Lakes sailors and the spirituals of the slaves following the North Star across the Ohio River, and be frightened by tales of the Lake Erie Monster and Wisconsin's dangerous Hodag. A history of the region as told through its folklore, music, and legends, this is a book every Midwestern family should own.   “Much of the pleasure in these tales might be called “truthful hyperbole” today. But instead of simply declaring feats of strength or eating to have been “the best,” the stories craft unforgettable images.” —St. Louis Post-Dispatch