My main goal each year as a teacher is to turn my 8th grade students into readers. I am a matchmaker of twenty-first century minds that are more interested in connecting to a good hotspot over texts that could quite possibly influence their lives. So how does an educator compete with all of the technological […]
November
14
Five Ws About This Promise of Change by Debbie Levy and Jo Ann Allen Boyce
posted by CBethM
Sixty-three years ago, the nation’s newspapers were full of reports about a drama unfolding in a small southern town. Twelve students in Clinton, Tennessee were attempting to desegregate the only high school in their community. This was 1956, a year before Little Rock, and two years after the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of […]
November
13
Cover Reveal of Fighting Words by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
posted by CBethM
Newbery Honor-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author of THE WAR THAT SAVED MY LIFE, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, and her editor at Dial Books for Young Readers, Jessica Garrison, introduce Kimberly’s newest middle grade novel, FIGHTING WORDS, a candid and fierce story about sisterhood and sexual abuse. JG: Kim, it has been extraordinary working […]
November
12
The Uninvited by Lesléa Newman
posted by CBethM
I have been invited to hundreds of schools as a visiting author over the last several decades. And there are hundreds (thousands!) of schools who haven’t invited me. But I have never been uninvited to a school. Until now. Here’s what happened: my publisher set up several days worth of school visits at a […]
November
11
The Work by Abby Cooper
posted by CBethM
I have a confession to make: I’m an ELA teacher, and I am BEHIND. I know it’s only November, and this is probably pretty normal. I vaguely remember it from when I used to teach (first grade and K-8 library) before I became a full-time author. It’s good to be back in the classroom. I […]
The Character That Got Away, or A Requiem for the King of the Dudes by Christopher Healy
posted by CBethM
My middle-grade trilogy, A Perilous Journey of Danger & Mayhem, takes place in 1883 America. Okay, not exactly 1883 America, since the real 1883 America did not have robots, flying machines, and transforming motorized aqua-cars. But even with its Jules Verne-esque sci-fi elements, I knew that writing this saga was going to require a lot […]
November
05
Anxious Charlie to the Rescue by Terry Milne
posted by CBethM
My journey into book illustration began almost as soon as I could walk, when my grandmother put a pencil in my hand and encouraged me to draw. I have been drawing and daydreaming ever since. I remember poring over pictures wherever I found them; newspaper cartoons, vinyl record covers, book illustrations. I enjoyed a […]
November
04
Sharing the Inspiration Behind My Next Novel, BRAVE LIKE THAT (and the fantastic cover!) by Lindsey Stoddard
posted by CBethM
When I was ten I found a stray dog in the woods behind my house. She had no meat on her bones and no collar on her neck and she tucked her tail and took off when she saw me. I named her Jen and spent the afternoon calling for her as if she were […]
October
30
The Books My Students Are Reading by Colby Sharp
posted by Colby Sharp
Each month, when my kids head to lunch, I ask them to leave their independent reading book in a pile on one of our classroom desks. While the kids are away, I make a video sharing the titles they are currently reading. It if fun to make/share, but what I love about it the most […]
October
29
The Malamander, and How To Find It by Thomas Taylor
posted by CBethM
My earliest memory of becoming a reader is of finding books – finding them in cupboards, in boxes in attics, or on the shelves of other people’s bookcases. I was given books too, of course – picture books as a small child, and later on the giant tomes that adults feel are important – but […]
