Dear Molly, Dear Olive: Olive Spins a Tale (and It’s a Doozy!)

When it comes to long-distance friendships, a delayed response or no response at all can lead to plenty of hurt feelings. Cross-country pen pals Molly and Olive find that out the hard way when an unanswered gift causes Olive to go a little crazy, spinning tales of trips to Paris and dinners with royalty in an effort to make Molly jealous. Readers can follow the wild ride themselves by reading the girls’ correspondence and listening to their alternating first- person points-of-view. AGES: 6-8 years AUTHOR: Megan Atwood has written over 35 children’s books and teaches creative writing at Hamline University. When she is not writing books or teaching, she is inflicting love and affection on her cats and dreaming up more characters to keep her company. She also is trying to find more time to write personal letters to her loved ones, much like Molly and Olive. ILLUSTRATOR: Lucy Fleming lives and works in a small town in England with an animator and a black cat. She has been an avid doodler and bookworm since early childhood, drawing every day, bringing characters and stories to life. She never dreamed that illustrating would be her job! When not at her desk, Lucy loves to be outdoors in the sunshine with a cup of hot tea - doodling, of course. SELLING POINTS:

Broad appeal: Multicultural main characters from different geographic areas and family structures

Follows trend of friendship chapter books for elementary school kids

1st-person narration alternates from chapter to chapter between Molly and Olive for a greater understanding of their characters