Authors, Kai Strand & LA Dragoni

Hi everyone! Welcome to Building Character. I’d like to introduce you to Nick, the main character in I LIVE IN A DOGHOUSE by Beverly Stowe McClure. Nick, can you tell us a little about you, please? Hey, I’m Nick Cassidy, eleven-years-old. I used to live with my mom, just the two of us and we got along fine. Then she married Jake, and I now have a stepsister that loves to call me gross names and a half-sister that likes for me to take her for walks in the stroller, and my life will never be the same. What’s the biggest problem you’re facing? I’m living with a ten-year-old stepsister that hates me and an eighteen-month-old half-sister that loves me. Figure that one out. Family dynamics can be tough when you’ve grown up within them, but even tougher when you’re not used to them. Have you learned anything from this situation? One thing I’ve learned is that people are not always who we think they are and sometimes they’re a lot different than we remember them. Hope...

A big congratulations to wonderful author and my precious critique partner, Beverly Stowe McClure on the release of her newest middle grade book, I LIVE IN A DOGHOUSE. Eleven-year-old Nick Cassidy's stepsister delights in calling him gross names. His half-sister loves for Nick to push her in the stroller, to his embarrassment. What if the guys from school see him? All Nick wants is his father to come back and take him away from this crazy family. Is it any wonder he sometimes lives in the doghouse?   I LIVE IN A DOGHOUSE is the story of a boy's struggles to accept his new family while he longs for the old. When his father finally returns, will Nick's dreams come true? Or will he discover that memories sometimes are faulty, and it’s best to forget the past and treasure the present?   ###   Beverly, tell us what inspired I LIVE IN A DOGHOUSE.        One night when I was having trouble sleeping, a little voice whispered in my ear. T...