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The Story Behind the Cover: A Conversation with Claire Datnow, Kristina Handler, and T. K. Thorne

Book covers are incredibly important. In fact, they draw many of us to the books we read. We don’t often get to hear the stories of how our favorite books arrive at their respective covers, but in this fascinating conversation with T. K. Thorne, Claire Datnow and Kristina Handler take us behind the scenes and allow us to see the process of developing the perfect cover for Claire’s latest novel Red Flag Warning: An Eco Adventure.


Claire Datnow was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, which ignited her love for the natural world and for diverse indigenous cultures around the globe. Claire taught creative writing to gifted and talented students in the Birmingham, Alabama Public Schools System. Her published works include a middle grade Eco mystery series, The Adventures of The Sizzling Six. She received numerous scholarships and awards, including, The Blanche Dean Award for Outstanding Nature Educator, the Alabama Writers Cooperative Middle Grade Award, and Monarch Mysteries (Book 6 eco mystery series) long listed for the Green Books Award. During her tenure as a teacher, Claire and her students developed a nature trail, recently named in her honor as the Alabama Audubon-Datnow Forest Preserve

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