How Colby Sharp, nErDcamp, and the Nerdy Book Club Inspired a Book by Melissa Stewart

July 30

Back in 2012, I was feeling frustrated. The manuscripts I was writing received good feedback from my critique group, but editors just weren’t interested. In an effort to better understand the wide world of nonfiction children’s books and determine what kinds of manuscripts publishers would be most likely to acquire, I began thinking about ways […]

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TOP TEN Ways NerdCampMI Saved Our Professional Careers by Jennifer Sniadecki, Melanie Roy, and Kelly Vorhis

July 20

NerdCampMI is an “ed camp” annual event where teachers from all over the country (and the world!) meet in Parma, Michigan to learn together with authors, illustrators, and other fabulous educators. We feel that the event is hands-down the best summer professional development out there. Nerd Camp Michigan started 5 years ago and has grown […]

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Top Ten Things from nErDcampMI We Want to Try in Our Work by Tammy Mulligan and Clare Landrigan

September 17

We attended nErDcampMI for the first time this summer.  It was not only our first time at nErDcampMI, it was our first edcamp.  Given that we are not only book nerds, but also PD nerds –we loved everything about it!!  We have been trying to capture what made this experience so powerful for us.  How […]

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10 Reasons Why You Should Come to nErDcamp

I (Colby Sharp) love the Nerdy Book Club for many reasons. One of the biggest reasons is that Nerdy Book Club members don’t look at the summer as a time to separate ourselves from our jobs. We look to the summer as a time to grow.   Do we relax? Sure. We sit by the […]

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Seeking the Story of Seeking Freedom by Selene Castrovilla

January 04

What up, my nerdy friends! I miss you! Thanks for this opportunity to celebrate my book launch with you for Seeking Freedom: The Untold Story of Fortress Monroe and the Ending of Slavery in America. More than five years ago (Wait! What? I don’t feel five years older!) I shared a post with you about […]

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Ten Ways to Make Storytimes Interactive by Abi Cushman

August 07

At nErDCampPA this year, I got together with fellow kidlit creators, Josh Funk, Valerie Bolling and Carol Gordon Ekster to chat about making storytimes interactive. How can we get kids actively involved and keep their interest piqued during the reading and even beyond? It was a great discussion with many educators chiming in with their […]

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The Pain of Returning by Lisabeth Posthuma

May 11

A few weeks ago, the last video store in my zip code closed for good. On one of its final days in operation, I visited for a last look around. There wasn’t much left—some candy, a few posters, DVDs of titles all easily accessible on streaming services. The merchandise that remained was shoved into one […]

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Top Ten Reasons to Shop at Independent Bookstores by Josh Funk

August 31

I’m very lucky. Tomorrow the fourth book in the Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast series, Short & Sweet comes out.     But that’s not why I’m lucky. I’m lucky because I live in a town with an independent bookstore. I wish everyone could live in a town with one. But whether there’s one […]

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“Don’t Exceptionalize Me” by Amy Watkins

August 16

“JASON REYNOLDS! is coming to NErDcamp! JASON REYNOLDS! is coming to NErDcamp, and I’m going!” is what I was hollering back in February when I registered for what I knew would be an amazing, teacher-soul sustaining, book laden professional development experience. For those of you who are not familiar with nErDcamp, it’s a two-day conference […]

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Five Reasons to Add Patron Saints of Nothing to Your High School Curriculum by Oona Marie Abrams

June 20

Last November, I had the opportunity to meet Randy Ribay at NCTE in Houston, where I received a signed copy of his novel After the Shot Drops. Ironically, I haven’t gotten my hands on the book for several months, because it is constantly checked out of my classroom library. Recently, though,  I received several advance […]

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