Contact: treestreetkidsbooks@gmail.com
Official Tree Street Kids website: treestreetkids.com
Bio
Amanda Cleary Eastep is not related to Beverly Cleary but wishes she were. She is, however, a children’s author, and the Tree Street Kids is her middle grade series. Amanda knows kids because she’s still one at heart. When she is forced to act like an adult, she edits nonfiction books by grownup authors. Amanda lives and writes in the mountains of North Carolina but has spent most of her life in the suburbs of Chicago where her characters live.
Images
Sample Radio & Podcast Interviews
Chris Fabry LIVE — Fiction Friday: Youth Edition
Storyjumpers Podcast with Andrew Jackson — Excerpt from Lions to the Rescue! (book 3) & interview
Simply Stories podcast with Emily Humphries — Stories of Faith, Growing Up, and the Moral Imagination
Kurt and Kate Mornings, Moody Radio FL — Back to School interview
Ken and Deb Mornings, Moody Radio Quad Cities — Summer reading interview!
Taking the Leap with Rachel Scott, Family Edition — Taking the “shepherd’s leap” and writing for children
Isle of Misfits with Nancy Carmichael — Click here a fun discussion about kids’ books, ’90s sitcoms, literature analysis (no, really!), and how it all relates to God writing our stories.
Shepherd’s Pie with Antony Kolenc — Faith, Anxiety and Youth
Along Came a Writer with Linda Kozar — The Tree Street Kids books, “clean” fiction, tornados, and bullies
Sunday Night Live with Kim Weir — Click here to hear the interview
The Wednesday Bookmark with Care Baldwin, CHRI Radio, Ottawa — Click here to hear the interview
Awards
2023 Selah Award finalists, middle grade (8-12) category, Lions to the Rescue! and Mystery in Crooked Creek Woods
2023-24 Crown Award nominee, Jack vs. the Tornado
Good Book Mom, Special Book Award: Outstanding Faith-Based Realistic Fiction Series
Reviews
“It isn’t easy to find contemporary middle grade fiction about ordinary childhood that doesn’t sound like it was written to impress adults. Amanda Cleary Eastep, who writes from her own observations of her children’s experience and clearly enjoyed her research . . . nails it.”
“Beverly Cleary’s Ramona series and Paula Danziger’s Amber Brown books have long been favorites of mine, but it’s been a long time since I’ve read another children’s author whose writing style is just as charming – and I’ve found that in Amanda Cleary Eastep.”
“In this fast-paced, adventurous, and humorous novel for children ages 8-12, author Amanda Cleary Eastep effectively characterizes a young protagonist who is aware of God’s presence in his life, yet wonders why difficult things happen to him, as well as adults who are, refreshingly, nurturing and loving though flawed and imperfect.”
“This new series is especially and unreservedly recommended for family, elementary school, and community library collections for young readers.”
Amanda Cleary Eastep 