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Lynn Becker is the author of Monsters in the Briny, illustrated by Scott Brundage, and June Moon, illustrated by Nate Carvalho. When she's not writing picture books or children's book reviews for Shelf Awareness, you can find her hiking, gardening, or reading about monsters, witches, and ghosts (but not zombies). Ghost Town in the Mountains, illustrated by Roland Garrigue, was released by Sleeping Bear Press on June 15, 2026.
Handsell readers your book in 30 words or less:
A riff on "She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain" where two kids take a daring nighttime adventure into a Wild West ghost town and encounter spooky and hilarious surprises.
On your nightstand now:
All my Holly Black books live near my bedside table. I recently reread the Folk of the Air books and up soon are Book of Night and Thief of Night. I still need to read her Spiderwick Chronicles.
There's a heap that is Cinda Williams Chima's Shattered Realms series, Leigh Bardugo's The Familiar, and Travis Baldree's Brigands & Breadknives (Legends and Lattes #3). I just finished (but haven't reshelved) Oathbound by Tracy Deonn and The Secret of Lillian Velvet by Jaclyn Moriarty, and I'm in the middle of House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig.
Up next are A Scar Like a River by Lisa Graff and The Nine Moons of Han Yu and Luli by Karina Yan Glaser.
Favorite book when you were a child:
Only one? I have to go with my Grimms' Fairy Tales (Illustrated Junior Library) illustrated by Fritz Kredel--I spent so much time with this when I was a kid. It's probably where I got my love of magic and monsters.
Favorite book to read to a child:
Er, my own? I don't do much reading to kids anymore other than performing my own books at storytimes.
Your top five authors:
Holly Black--her take on Faerie is incredible; I'm so glad she's kept building on earlier works and expanding her kingdom.
Laini Taylor's writing is luminous! I got hooked with the Guardians of Dreamdark series, devoured Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and I'm a huge fan of her Strange the Dreamer duology.
Kristin Cashore for Graceling and the other books in that series.
Charlotte Brontë for Jane Eyre. What can I say?
Jane Austen (might be cliché but still true) for multiple essential works.
J.R.R. Tolkien!
Hmm, that's six.
Plus, I'm lucky enough to know and work closely with some truly wonderful picture book creators, like Karen Jameson and Dianne White, who first encouraged me to write in rhyme, and too many others to list!
Your top five illustrators:
Sophie Blackall, Faith Ringgold, Maurice Sendak, Matt James, and Felicita Sala
Book you've faked reading:
Ulysses by James Joyce. I had no context for this novel in college--it flummoxed me, seemed unfathomable, and marked the beginning of the end of my plan to major in English. I moved to the film department.
Book you're an evangelist for:
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. I love this book so much! It's smart, funny, and poignant. I've read it many times, own multiple copies, and whenever I see it at a book sale I buy it or recommend it to whoever's standing nearby.
Books you've bought for the cover:
I Know How to Draw an Owl by Hilary Horder Hippely and illustrated by Matt James; Sato the Rabbit: The Moon by Yuki Ainoya and translated by Michael Blaskowsky; and Ahoy! by Sophie Blackall.
Best book an adult handed to you when you were a child:
Stuart Little by E.B. White, illustrated by Garth Williams, was an early favorite for me. I got a copy that was much loved, then later got a second brand-new one for my birthday and was devastated when my mom gave the new one away--why shouldn't I have two?
Book that changed your life:
Gertie the Duck by Nicholas P. Georgiady and Louis G. Romano was the book I learned to read with, setting the course for my lifelong obsession with books.
Favorite line from a book:
I'm terrible at remembering quotes, also at finding the ones I've tried to save on sticky notes. The best I can do is, "In an old house in Paris that was covered in vines lived twelve little girls in two straight lines" from Ludwig Bemelmans's Madeline. My daughter requested this book so often that she memorized it. Me, too.
Five books you'll never part with:
I've read the original trade paperback of I Capture the Castle so many times.
Grimms' Fairy Tales (Illustrated Junior Library): my "go to" comfort read as a kid and a wealth of stories to explore even now.
The Lord of the Rings books--while I vastly prefer my three-volume set, I do have a paperback three-in-one so I'm sure this counts as one choice. Been on this Mount Doom quest many, MANY times.
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater--I have an advance reader copy and a hardcover and have also listened to the audio; I'll keep the ARC forever, what a great book!
My beautiful old copy of Japanese Fairy Tales by Lafcadio Hearn and others and illustrated by Ruth McCrea--completely worn but still magical.
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik and the audio is terrific, too.
I seriously cannot count, that's six again.
But whenever I've played this game before (as in "which books would you take to a desert island?"), I get 10 picks!
Book you most want to read again for the first time:
Honestly, it's Monsters in the Briny again--the thrill I got from seeing my very first picture book with Scott Brundage's incredible illustrations is indescribable.
Best baby shower gift you ever received:
Pish, Posh, Said Hieronymus Bosch written by Nancy Willard and illustrated by Diane Dillon and Leo Dillon. One of my friends was upset that the giver hadn't brought onesies or other "essential" baby gear, but those things are long gone and I still have the book, which was read many times to my kids. They're both avid readers now, perhaps thanks in part to that terrific baby shower gift!