Books for Children
MADDIE’S GHOST
Twelve-year-old Madeleine “Lainie” Stanton is about to make headlines. She was the first baby born at the new millennium, and a local TV station wants an interview. But when the reporter uncovers the dark history of Lainie’s great-grandmother Maddie, who was executed for murder, the interview takes a dangerous turn.
Determined to clear her ancestor's name, Lainie and her two best friends embark on a thrilling race against time. Weirdly, clues to Maddie’s innocence seem to be coming from the dead woman herself.
Winner, 2024 Midland Authors Award for Children’s Fiction
2025 Eric Hoffer Award Category Finalist
More Info, Discussion Questions, Resources
“An irresistible narrative, rich with exciting clues.”—Editor’s Pick, PW Booklife
“A fine mystery with winsome characters and a complicated old house.”—Kirkus Reviews
“An exciting exploration of history, justice, and the long-lasting impact of the past.”—Readers’ Favorite
EDDIE’S WAR
Eddie’s War is a lyrical collection of prose vignettes linking Eddie, his family, and a small-town cast of Ellisvillians.
Heart-tugging and funny, this World War II story tells how a distant war affects the life of one boy in the Heartland.
“A poignant look at boyhood... A quick, excellent read.”
Kirkus Reviews Best Children’s Books of 2011
“Beautifully phrased and vividly revealing of character . . . an authentic window into the past that recalls the narrative power of Karen Hesse’s verse and the moral debate in Mary Downing Hahn’s Stepping on the Cracks.” Horn Book
Website, Discussion Questions, Resources
THE BRIDGE DANCERS
Winner of the 1991 Carl Sandburg Award for Children’s Literature
“A complex picture book for readers young and old.”
School Library Journal
Maisie has never crossed the frightening old footbridge that separates her house from the nearest town. Then one night her sister Callie is badly injured, and Maisie must face her fear in order to fetch their mother, an herbal medicine healer.
Discovering that there is more than one way to cross a bridge is the focus of this heartwarming tale.
New!
THE TIME-JINX TWINS, BOOK 1
“An endearing and engaging middle-grade adventure.”
Kirkus Reviews
“A clever, captivating time-travel.”
Publishers Weekly Booklife
Twelve-year-old Ellie is bummed when her world-traveler father brings her identical twin sister Kat to Chicago to live with Ellie and their physicist mom. Ellie barely knows Kat! And she isn’t even sure she likes her. Ellie’s into fitness and gymnastics. Sophisticated Kat is into her phone.
But then the bickering twins trigger Mom’s not-quite-finished time machine and travel to 1970 Chicago.
Increasingly desperate to return home, the sisters resolve to think like scientists and figure it out. Ellie’s acrobatics and martial arts come in handy; Kat calls on her fact-checking and tech know-how as well as hidden talents for singing and improv.
In tricky situations, escapes, and sometimes just for fun, the sisters make the most of their identical twinness. If they aren’t careful, they just might become friends.
“The Time-Jinx Twins is smart, adventurous, and emotional. A winner! More, please!”
—Liesl Shurtliff, New York Times bestselling author of the Time Castaways trilogy
Join my email list at Substack for previews and news of the book launch.
(Also at Ingram)
GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER
Born a slave near the end of the Civil War, George Washington Carver was a small and sickly child. Too frail to work in the fields of the Missouri farm where he grew up, George did chores around the house. But when his work was done, he headed for the woods. There his lifelong love of nature was born. As a teacher and scientist at Alabama’s Tuskegee Institute in the 1900s, George Washington Carver became famous for his work helping farmers grow better crops while sharing with them his love of nature’s beauty.
A Notable Social Studies Trade Book, National Council for the Social Studies
Books for Adults
THE SUBVERSIVE COPY EDITOR
“Saller writes with wisdom and a great generosity of spirit. . . . An ideal complement to any style guide: practical, relentlessly supportive and full of ed-head laughs.” — Publishers Weekly | starred review
“An insider’s book to cure writers . . . while shoring up editors. . . . Good advice.” — William Safire | New York Times
“Carol Fisher Saller is the mentor that every copyeditor dreams of.” — Amy Einsohn | The Copyeditor’s Handbook
BUT CAN I START A SENTENCE WITH “BUT”?
Advice from the Chicago Style Q&A
By the University of Chicago Press Editorial Staff
With a Foreword by Carol Fisher Saller
“A wonderful blend of substance and snark—both a useful reference and a fun (yes, fun) read.” — Mignon Fogarty | Author of New York Times bestseller Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing
“What impresses more than the witty replies is the blessed saneness throughout the answers.” — John E. McIntyre | Baltimore Sun
Articles
- “8 Hard Truths about Self-Publishing Children's Books.” Prairie Wind, November 2024.
- “Urban Odyssey: Communing in Chicago’s Japanese Garden.” Newcity, June 19, 2019.
- “Stickling for Words.” Review of Lane Greene, Talk on the Wild Side. Times Literary Supplement, January 18, 2019.
- “The Substance of Style.” Research Information, July 30, 2018.
- “Toward Accuracy, Clarity, and Consistency.” In What Editors Do, ed. Peter Ginna. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2018.
- “The Correctors.” Creative Nonfiction 53 (Fall 2014).
Guest Blogging
- SCBWI-Illinois Prairie Wind. “Promoting Your Book: Is There Any Point?”
- Terry Farish, The Elephant Rag. “Braiding the Verse Novel: Carol Fisher Saller.”
- Nancy Bo Flood, The Pirate Tree: Social Justice and Children's Literature. Review and Interview.
- Chris Eboch, Write Like a Pro!. “Did I Really Write Eddie’s War?”
- Pam Torres, So I'm Fifty. Interview: “Only You Can Write Your Book.”
- Illinois SCBWI Prairie Wind. "The Character Who Got Away.”
- Cynthia Leitich Smith, Cynsations. “Details from a Diary: Mining a Family Treasure for Fiction.”
- L. L. Owens, Children's Writing. “Poetry Friday Q&A.”
- Darcy Pattison, Fiction Notes. “Shrunken Manuscript X-Treme: A Writing Trick.”
- Clara Gillow Clark. “Celebrating Eddie’s Launch on Publication Day.”