"It is easy to get seduced into a kind of formulaic creativity," author Kathryn Lasky said i a 1991 article in Horn Book. "If a book works once, it might work twice, and then thrice, and then forty times. . . . can't stand doing the same thing twice. I don't want to change just for the sake of change. But the whole point of being an artist is to be able to get up every morning and reinvent the world." That is just what Lasky has done in more than fifty books, most of which were written for young people. In the process, Lasky has won a wide readership and earned a reputation as a prolific and versatile author. While some reviewers have chided her for her "wordiness," most have praised her vivid imagery, readable style, and ability to deal with difficult topics in words that young readers can understand and...