S.A. Bodeen

S.A. Bodeen grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin. She graduated from UW-River Falls with a degree in Secondary Ed., then joined the Peace Corps with her husband and went to Tanzania, East Africa. Her first picture book, Elizabeti's Doll (written as Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen) was published in 1998, followed by six other picture books. Her first YA novel written as S.A. Bodeen, the award-winning The Compound, came out from Feiwel and Friends in 2008. Her new novel is The Tomb. She has lived in eight states, two African countries, and an insular possession. Currently, she lives in the Midwest with her husband and two daughters.

Recently I asked Bodeen about what she was reading. Her reply:

One of the most recent novels I read was The Echo Room by Parker Peevyhouse, which just released a few weeks ago. Claustrophobic and tense, the story kept me guessing for quite a while as to what was going on. The characters wake up and find themselves trapped in a building with no exit, then the time shifts and they wake up again...and repeat. A combination of Groundhog Day and Memento, it was impossible to put down because I found myself as desperate as the characters to find out what was going on.

Another recent read was by the master himself, Stephen King. I’ve been a huge King fan since I was 15 and got my hands on The Stand. I tend to set aside time to read his books, because I know that once I start, I will become immersed in the world and not be able to stop reading. The Outsider was no different. King is so brilliant at handing you a group of strangers who then become allies in the fight against evil, and he makes you fall in love with them, no matter their faults. The camaraderie in this book was second to none, and my heart got broken a couple of times, as always. But that never seems to keep me from reading his next one…

Visit S.A. Bodeen's website.

--Marshal Zeringue