About the Book
An encouraging collection of short stories by bestselling middle-grade authors.
This one-of-a-kind treasury brings together the talents of nearly two dozen bestselling middle-grade authors including Shannon Hale, Brandon Mull, Ally Condie, and Jennifer A. Nielsen--who have created original short stories and modern-day fairy tales, based on the lives and dreams of children they have met who all have two things in common: they have very big hopes and dreams, and they are all cancer patients.
About the Author :
Jonathan Diaz is an attorney by day and a photographer by night. When he isn't taking photographs of mermaids, dragon riders, and fairies, he enjoys spending time with his wife and family.
Jonathan Diaz is an attorney by day and a photographer by night. When he isn't taking photographs of mermaids, dragon riders, and fairies, he enjoys spending time with his wife and family.
New York Times best-selling author Shannon Hale knew at age ten it was her destiny to become a writer. She has quested deep into fairytales in such enchanting books as The Goose Girl, Book of a Thousand Days, Rapunzel's Revenge, Newbery Honor winner Princess Academy and Ever After High: The Storybook of Legends. With the princely and valiant writer Dean Hale, Shannon co-authored four charming children, who are free to follow their own destinies. Just so long as they get to bed on time. Tyler Whitesides has always loved telling stories. Growing up, he was even willing to do extra housework if his mom let him type his stories on the computer. He has worked as a music teacher, taste tester, and janitor. He lives in Logan, Utah, with his wife Connie, who is a schoolteacher.
Jennifer A. Nielsen writes children's fiction and young adult fantasy novels in four series: the Underworld Chronicles, Ascendance, Mark of the Thief, and Traitor's Game. She has also written eleven stand-alone novels, of which Rescue was a finalist for the 2022 Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Fiction.
Sara B. Larson can't remember a time when she didn't write books, although she now uses a computer instead of a Little Mermaid notebook. She lives in Utah with her husband and their three children.
Kristyn Crow was born in Southern California, the eldest of seven children. She is the author of Skeleton Cat, Bedtime in the Swamp, and the Zombelina series.
Liesl Shurtliff is the author of Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin. A graduate of Brigham Young University, she now lives in Chicago with her husband and children.
Ilima Todd was born and raised on the north shore of Oahu and dives for octopus with her dad every time she visits--otherwise she's diving into books in the Rocky Mountains where she lives with her husband and four children. She graduated from BYU with a degree in physics and eats copious amounts of raw fish and avocados without regret. But mostly she loves being a wife and mama and wouldn't trade that job for anything in the world.
Clint Johnson has written a number of books on the Civil War, including the acclaimed Civil War Blunders. Originally from Florida, he counts Confederate soldiers from Florida, Georgia, and Alabama among his ancestors. He is active as a Civil War reenactor and has portrayed soldiers from both the South and the Union. A graduate of the University of Florida, Johnson lives in the mountains of North Carolina with his wife, Barbara.
Linda Gerber recently returned to life in the Midwest after four years in Japan, where she served as the Regional Advisor for the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. She currently lives and writes in Dublin, OH, blissfully ignoring her husband, four kids, and one very naughty puppy.
Brandon Mull is the author of the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling Beyonders and Fablehaven series, which have developed large followings. He resides in Utah with his wife and children.
Ally Condie is the author of the Matched trilogy, a #1 New York Times and international bestseller. Matched was chosen as one of YALSA's 2011 Teens' Top Ten as well as one of Publishers Weekly's Best Children's Books of 2010. She is a former high school English teacher who lives with her family outside of Salt Lake City, Utah.
Bobbie Pyron is a part-time librarian and enjoys sharing dog stories and books of all kinds with readers. She is also the author of The Ring, a teen novel about the world of competitive boxing. When she's not writing, working as a librarian, or volunteering with animal rescue organizations, she and her dogs Boo, Teddy, and Sherlock can often be found walking in the woods of Park City, Utah, with her husband, Todd.
Peggy Eddleman writes adventure books for middle grade readers. Besides writing, Peggy enjoys playing laser tag with her husband and their three kids, doing cartwheels in long hallways, trying new restaurants, and occasionally painting murals on walls.
Recently, J. Scott Savage took his family on a much-needed camping trip to an undisclosed forest. The trip must have been restful because he is now getting twice as much done. In an odd twist, he also now claims to have eight children: Good Erica, Evil Erica, Good Scott, Evil Scott, Good Jake, Evil Jake, Good Nick, and Evil Nick. His wife, Jennifer, was recently spotted at Disney World and Disneyland on the same day. And Pepper barks twice as much. This is the third volume in his Case File 13 series.
Chad Morris grew up wanting to become a professional basketball player or a rock star. Neither of those plans quite panned out, so he wrote and performed sketch comedy while going to college. Now he is a teacher and a writer.
Frank L. Cole is the author of several books and an active promoter of reading and using your imagination. His philosophy is, "With a good imagination you can solve any problem you ever come up against in life!" Cole lives with his wife and three children out West, and when he's not writing books, he enjoys going to the movies and traveling.
Andrew Eiden is an actor and winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award for narration. He has been acting since the age of four, working at regional theaters, in national commercials, and on numerous television shows.
Caitlin Davies is a New York City-based actor and audiobook narrator who studied acting at the Eugene O'Neill National Institute, the British American Drama Academy, and the Barrow Group. She specializes in audiobooks for teens and young adults.
Cassandra Campbell is a prolific audiobook narrator with more than 700 titles to her credit. A 2018 inductee in Audible's inaugural Narrator Hall of Fame, she has won four Audie Awards, has been nominated for a dozen more, and has consistently been an AudioFile Magazine Best Narrator as well as a Publisher's Weekly Best Narrator of the Year. She has also performed in and directed dozens of plays at theaters across the country. Derek Perkins is a professional narrator and voice actor. He has earned numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards and the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration, as well as numerous Society of Voice Arts nominations. AudioFile magazine named him a Best Voice consecutively in 2014, 2015, and 2016. Augmented by a knowledge of three foreign languages and a facility with accents, he has narrated numerous titles in a wide range of fiction and nonfiction genres.
Elijah Alexander has worked professionally as an actor for over fifteen years. He has worked and lived in New York, where he performed in numerous productions, including the Tony Award-winning play Metamorphoses. He worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company for two years and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for two seasons, as well as regionally at various other theaters. In Los Angeles, he has worked on critically acclaimed productions of Sleuth, produced by Garry Marshall, and other works. His film and television credits include Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Emily's Reasons Why Not, JAG, Summerland, So NoTORIous, and Guiding Light. He was the voice of Vayne Solidor in Final Fantasy XII and has done several commercial voiceovers. He is currently the voice of Kenmore and has narrated more than ten audiobooks, including James Jones' acclaimed novel From Here to Eternity.
Emily Woo Zeller is an Audie and Earphones Award-winning narrator, voice-over artist, actor, dancer, and choreographer. AudioFile magazine named her one of the Best Voices of 2013. Her voice-over career includes work in animated film and television in Southeast Asia.
Kirby Heyborne is a musician, actor, and professional narrator. Noted for his work in teen and juvenile audio, he has garnered over twenty Earphones Awards. His audiobook credits include Jesse Kellerman's The Genius, Cory Doctorow's Little Brother, and George R. R. Martin's Selections from Dreamsongs.
Kirsten Potter has won several awards, including more than a dozen AudioFile Earphones Awards and been a three-time finalist for the prestigious Audie Award for best narration. Her work has been recognized by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts and by AudioFile magazine, among many others. She graduated with highest honors from Boston University and has performed on stage and in film and television, including roles on Medium, Bones, and Judging Amy.
R. C. Bray is an award-winning audiobook narrator with over 180 titles to his credit. Besides winning five AudioFile Earphones Awards, he won the prestigious Audie Award in 2015 for Best Science Fiction Narration and has been an Audie Award finalist seven times. He has been a finalist for the Voice Arts Award, and in 2014, his narration earned a Publishers Weekly Listen-Up Award. He is also an accomplished producer and voice-over artist, and his voice can be heard in countless TV and radio commercials.
Saskia Maarleveld is an experienced voice-over actress and Earphones Award-winning narrator. Raised in New Zealand and France, she is highly skilled with accents and dialects, and many of her books have been narrated entirely in accents other than her own. In addition to audiobooks, her voice can be heard in animation, video games, and commercials.
Review :
"An inspiring anthology of well-told short stories."
-- "School Library Journal"
"For a child with cancer, feeling like a hero can be a healing prospect. Through the Anything Can Be Project, children with cancer are given individual stories that reflect their dreams for heroic adventure--with each story being written, on order, by a bestselling author. Here, twenty-one of those stories are given narrations as diverse as the narrators who deliver them. Each narrator provides a delivery crafted to enhance the featured hero's exploits: A mermaid accepts legs to bring her friends to safety, a youngster musters the courage to rescue her stuffed animal friends from a railroad track, and a would-be debutante fortuitously finds a note to a pirate crew. Listeners are also urged to take a look at the print book, which contains powerful photographs of real-life kids in the costumes of their heroes."
-- "AudioFile"
"The heroes of these tales are almost two dozen kids who are bravely battling cancer."
-- "Booklist"
"The...heroic adventures and profiles of the children who inspired them add up to a project that's inspiring and moving on multiple levels."
-- "Publishers Weekly"
"There's quality here...the worthy purpose shines through."
-- "Kirkus Reviews"
