"My name is India Opal Buloni, and last summer my daddy, the preacher, sent me to the store for a box of macaroni-and-cheese, some white rice, and two tomatoes and I came back with a dog." Thus begins Kate DiCamillo's 2001 Newbery Honor novel, Because of Winn-Dixie, the story of one momentous summer in the life of a ten-year-old Southern girl. "I wrote the story during the worst winter on record in Minnesota when I was missing Florida (where I grew up)," DiCamillo told Shannon Maughan on Kidsreads.com. "Also, my apartment building does not allow dogs. But imaginary dogs aren't against the rules. So I made one up to keep me . . . company."

DiCamillo hit the ground running with her debut title, winning awards and reaching best-seller lists. Her second novel, The Tiger Rising, was also well received and was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2001. With...