Author
Jay Slagle was raised by penguins until a Nebraska family found him hiding in a zoo exhibit. The family adopted Jay even though his only skills were diving for fish, flapping his arms and standing for days at a time. The Slagles eventually taught him how to speak, but let's face it, the whole being-raised-by-penguins thing was still a problem. So, at age twelve Jay received a brain transplant from his older brother, a two-headed monkey (to this day, Jay's parents continue to adopt things they find at the zoo). With his new brain, Jay became much more normal. He now spends his free time writing children's books and eating bugs that he finds on other animals. (In case you were wondering, Jay's now-one-headed-monkey brother, Frank, is a tax accountant in Dayton, Ohio.)
OK, OK, Jay doesn't have a monkey brain. Well, he doesn't have a brain from a monkey, but it's still possible that his brain isn't quite human. Anyway, Jay has a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a master’s degree in Health Services Administration from Creighton University. He was a nerd for much of his undergraduate career and belonged to the Dorks, Creighton’s coolest collection of nerds at the time. Jay began writing fiction in college but he didn't get serious about writing until his children were born.
Jay lives in Omaha, Nebraska, just a few blocks away from Warren Buffett, who was once one of the richest people in the world. That won’t impress any of the kids reading this, but their parents (if they’re lawyers or accountants) will be duly impressed. Omaha is famous for its zoo, the College World Series and being the home of Jay Slagle. Well, for sure it’s famous for the zoo and the College World Series.
Miracles happen every day in the world, which is probably the best explanation for why Jay has such a great wife and three wonderful kids (Jack, Greta and Henry). In fact, the kids are so cool that Jay decided to write two books about them. Jack and Noah's Big Day was published in October 2013, and Jack and Noah's Big Election was published in June 2016.
The Jack and Noah books are mostly true, except for the parts that aren’t. The friends in the book are real kids, but they’re definitely funnier, smarter and better looking in person. Of course, Jay started writing this book when Greta and Jack were 7 and 8, and now they’re 15 and 16. When kids become teenagers, they get kind of weird, so depending on when you read this, it’s possible that Jay doesn’t like Jack and Greta’s friends anymore. However, he probably does.
At this point you’re probably thinking, “Boy, this guy can ramble on about anything.” And yes, it’s true. Way back in the summer of 2008, Jay started writing a chapter each night to keep Jack and his best friend Noah interested in reading. They loved reading about themselves, so Jay kept writing. Of course, he took breaks. If a person writes non-stop, even on a computer, he eventually gets finger cramps. Boy, do those hurt!
It took Jay over five years to finish Big Day, but he finished Big Election in less than three years. If you buy enough copies of Big Election, he might write a third book, but only after his fingers stop cramping.
