Years ago, I volunteered to chop vegetables in the kitchen of the Kripalu Center for Yoga in the Berkshires of Massachusetts in return for all the yoga classes I could stand. This struck me as a pretty good deal. The best bit, though, was the badge I got to wear. “In Loving Silence,” it said. […]
December
13
READING IN SOVIET LINES by Eugene Yelchin and M.T. Anderson
posted by CBethM
Eugene Yelchin: A good third of our waking lives my family spent standing in lines. In the Soviet Union where we lived, the goods were scarce. We stood in lines for everything — food, clothing, furniture, light bulbs — you name it. Waiting took hours. Often, by switching shifts between my father and my mother, […]
December
11
Origins of The Poesy Ring by Bob Graham
posted by CBethM
As much as is possible I write my stories intuitively. I am now trusting myself to do this, and at the end of the process if more is needed I have helpful back up from my editor Lizzie and designer Deirdre at Walker Books. I don’t go looking for stories. More, I like to sit […]
December
06
Traditions by Creators IRL
posted by CBethM
In the midst of the holiday season, many of us are thinking about family, the traditions that we treasure and how they connect us to those we care about. Traditions are so universal that, even when different or unfamiliar, they can bring people together in profound ways. In this second video for Creators IRL, […]
December
04
Zen Origin Story by Lisa Bunker
posted by CBethM
Three threads of inspiration brought Zenobia July into being—one light, one dark, and the third, celebratory. The light thread was a decades-long itch to try my hand at the Sherlock Holmes trope. I love the idea of the quirky genius detective. But, I got to thinking, what if my detective works in cyberspace? And what […]
December
02
Our Seventh Nerdversary and the 8th Annual Nerdy Book Club Award Nominations
posted by donalynm
Colby Sharp and I met in person at the 2011 National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) conference in Chicago. We had been collaborating for several months online by then. Colby participated in my annual summer #bookaday reading challenge, then joined me to co-host my monthly Twitter chat, #titletalk in the fall. In spite […]
November
30
Books My Fifth Graders Are Reading by Colby Sharp
posted by Colby Sharp
I cannot believe we have already been in school for more than three months. It has been so much fun watching my students find new authors to love, series to devour, and genres to explore. I thought making a video sharing the books we are reading would be a fun way to share what we’re […]
November
29
The Last of the CODYs by Tricia Springstubb
posted by CBethM
In this life, many things are bittersweet: –the last day of school –growing out of your favorite PJs, so you get a fuzzy new pair, but you feel bad for your old favorites –publishing the final book in a series you’ve loved writing On a recent school visit, a student asked me why I began […]
November
28
Refugee by Alan Gratz – Review by Rebecca Karli
posted by CBethM
Why I picked it: Refugee first came on my radar this summer through the Global Read Aloud Program (go to the end of this post to read more about this initiative and how to participate). As an ESL teacher, I have taught many refugee students, so I’m always looking for books about and for them. […]
November
27
The Write Stuff: How to Turn Kids Who Aren’t Readers Into Writers by Katherine Marsh
posted by CBethM
It was a rainy September morning when I arrived at the small K-12 public school in rural Michigan. This visit was the culmination of a week-long author tour for my latest middle grade novel, Nowhere Boy, which had taken me to ten schools in three states. To say I was exhausted was an understatement; I […]
