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Gennifer Choldenko Biography, Books, and Similar Authors

Author Biography  | Interview  | Books by this Author  | Read-Alikes

Gennifer Choldenko

Gennifer Choldenko

Gennifer Choldenko Biography

Gennifer Choldenko's first novel, Notes from a Liar and Her Dog, was a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year and a California Book Award winner. Her second novel, Al Capone Does My Shirts, was a Newbery Honor Book and a School Library Journal, Kirkus, and Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year. Al Capone Does My Shirts has sold more than a million copies worldwide. It has been on the New York Times, Booksense, and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists. Her most recent picture book, A Giant Crush (illustrated by Melissa Sweet), was published in 2011. If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period, an ALA notable recording, just came out in paperback, and her novel Al Capone Shines My Shoes—a sequel to the beloved Al Capone Does My Shirts—is a Kirkus, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Chicago Public Library Best of the Best for 2009. Her first fantasy novel, No Passengers Beyond This Point was called "a fast-paced mind bender" and a "Wonderfully imagined adventure story." Her newest novel, Al Capone Does My Homework, the last book in the Al Capone trilogy, was available in stores starting August 2013. Gennifer's books have been translated into thirteen languages.

Gennifer Choldenko's website

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Interview

An interview with Gennifer Choldenko, author of If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period, for ages 12 and up.

Interview with Gennifer Choldenko, author of If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period

Why is Kirsten's best friend hanging around with the school's queen bee? Why are her parents fighting all the time? And, why does Walk's mom think he's going to mess up like his cousin? The answers to these questions—and many more—are answered in Gennifer Choldenko's new novel, If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period, a hilarious and honest story about what happens when two worlds collide.


In addition to being sisters, Kirsten and Kippy are good friends. As the youngest of four siblings, did you draw on any interactions within your own family to portray their relationship?

I don't think I drew on any family interactions directly. I wasn't the least bit like Kippy, neither of my sisters was like Kirsten, and my family was not at all like the McKenna family. On the other hand, not only was I the youngest of my siblings, I was the youngest of the neighborhood kids and all of my cousins as well. We spent so much time with two of my cousins, in particular, that to this day I consider them to be siblings, not cousins.

Come to think of it, my relationship with one of them, Jody, was a little bit like Kippy's ...

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Books by this Author

Books by Gennifer Choldenko at BookBrowse
Al Capone Does My Homework jacket Al Capone Shines My Shoes jacket If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period jacket Al Capone Does My Shirts jacket
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Read-Alikes

All the books below are recommended as read-alikes for Gennifer Choldenko but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. So look for the suggested read-alikes by title linked on the right.
How we choose read-alikes

We recommend 17 similar authors


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