Rebecca Valley
writes poems & stories. Some of those stories are for children, though adults might like them, too.Her poetry chapbook The Salvageman was released in April 2022 from o-blek editions. Her middle-grade book Curious Cases: True Crime for Kids was released by Bloom Books for Young Readers in July 2022.She received a BA from The Evergreen State College and an MFA in Poetry from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She was the 2019 winner of the Academy of American Poets Prize at UMass Amherst and a finalist for the 2019 Daniel and Merrily Glosband Fellowship and the 2020 Karen Skolfield and Dennis Goeckel Award in Poetry. Her work has been supported by the Young Writer's Project, the Vermont Studio Center, the Bread Loaf Writer's Conference, and the Vermont Arts Council. She founded and served as the editor-in-chief of Drizzle Review, a book review site with a focus on marginalized authors, from 2016-2023. You can also find her writing prompts on Instagram.Rebecca lives in North Carolina.
the salvageman
is a long poem, a love poem, a daydream of a city. It’s a meditation on love, money, labor, and the insurmountable distance between two people. It asks what we can salvage of each other, and ourselves.
curious cases: true crime for kids
An airplane hijacker jumps off a plane somewhere between Seattle, Washington and Reno, Nevada, never to be seen again. Mysterious lights appear in the sky in the middle of the Arizona desert. Two girls convince a famous mystery novelist to believe in fairies. In this collection of true crime stories for kids, famous authors fake their own deaths, monsters walk the beaches of Florida, and million-dollar poodles are kidnapped at the dog salon.Introduce middle-grade readers to the intriguing and exciting capers, stories, and mysteries behind some of history's most mysterious unsolved crimes—from daring escapes to famous art heists—in this first-ever true crime book specifically for kids.
Praise for Curious Cases
"I would consider it a 5-star page-turner. My favorite part was about the sisters who were thought to be mediums, and how the ghost prank that they started went on for so long! I would definitely recommend this for all ages, but BE WARNED: you will want to do more research on all of the Curious Cases in this book by the time you are done with it."
"My 4th-grade son and I love Curious Cases: True Crime for Kids. I love all things mysteries/ true crime and to my surprise, my son quickly latched on as well. We are a homeschool family and this book starts off our mornings. It has led us down many rabbit holes and provides for rich conversations in our day."
Press
poems & other writing
I Wake Up - Bennington Review, Issue 13Opening Spaces: A Review of Prairie, Dresses, Art, Other by Danielle Dutton - PleiadesA Long Time Ago This Was a Rich Man's Backyard - Litmosphere - semi-finalist for the 2024 Lit/South Awards
& featured in the Verse & Image newsletter in July 2024Pictures from Space - Stirring: A Literary CollectionThe Earth is Round & Coffee Table Book - Biscuit HillStage Directions for a Stick in the Wind & The Word - Empty Room RadioDeer: A Pathology - PermafrostThree poems - Afternoon Visitor - Nominated for Best of the Net 2023Matins - Birdcoat QuarterlyMemory of Swimming - Bear ReviewThe Salvageman - The Seventh Wave - Nominated for Best New Poets 2021Red Geraniums and Scene - Tinderbox Poetry JournalMoon Landing - Up the Staircase QuarterlyTrick - Figure 1Lake Echo - Academy of American Poets - 2019 Joseph Langland Prize, selected by Rachel B. GlaserScenery in a dream - Glass: A Journal of PoetryThe 24 Hour Prayer Room - The SpectacleKitchen and Sugar Ants - Black Warrior ReviewThe Balcony Collapses and I Become a Bird - Rattle - Editor’s Choice for the Rattle Ekphrastic Contest