I am a lifelong reader. I have always listed reading as a favorite hobby and would choose to sit with a good book over anything else. I was the kid who rode her bike in the summer to the library and sat in the aisles for hours. Once, in the third grade I saw my […]
Author Archives: CBethM
Top Ten Reasons School Counselors Want Students to Read: Social-Emotional Learning Opportunities! by Sarah Scheerger
posted by CBethM
Cultivating Empathy When we read, we climb into the minds and bodies of our characters. We feel with them and we feel for them. I explain empathy to students as follows: Empathy is the experience of walking in someone else’s shoes and imagining how you might feel if you were in a similar situation. This […]
February
15
Same Page, A Thousand Miles Apart by Brad McLelland & Louis Sylvester
posted by CBethM
Louis: Howdy, Brad! Welcome to our Nerdy Book Club post! I’m so happy we can take a few moments and chat about our series, Legends of the Lost Causes. Seems the only place we get to connect these days is Google Docs — and deadlines keep us hoppin’ in there — so I’m thankful to […]
February
13
COVER REVEAL: The Humiliations of Pipi McGee by Beth Vrabel
posted by CBethM
When I’m coming up with a new idea, I spend a lot of time thinking about do-overs. If I could go back to some of the trickiest, scariest, loneliest times in my life, what would I do differently? If I knew then what I do today, how would I have handled those moments where I […]
February
12
WHAT ABOUT THE GIRLS? by Anne Ursu
posted by CBethM
The first thing I wrote for The Lost Girl, back in 2015, was a scene about an identical twin named Iris who, when she was little, had had nightmares about the Pied Piper. Her father told her the fable as a bedtime story, thinking of it, as everyone does, as a fable about people who […]
Graphic Novels are Books, Too! by Stacey DeCotis
posted by CBethM
Oh if I could count the times I’ve heard adults say that graphic novels are “too easy” or “not challenging enough” or “they don’t count as books”… My 5th grade students this year are devouring graphic novels! Until I started reading them last year, I never understood why (I mean, yeah I got that there […]
February
10
Writing for the Middle by Laurel Snyder
posted by CBethM
When I was in the sixth grade, there was this girl—we’ll call her Liv—who “developed” earlier than I did. Liv was the sort of girl grownups refer to as “fast.” She wore skimpy clothes. She was loud and sometimes rude. She was also my friend. One night, during a sleepover at Liv’s house, we were […]
February
09
TOP 10 YOUNG ADULT NOVELS WITH MULTIPLE POINTS OF VIEW BY ELLA LEE
posted by CBethM
Many books are told through the eyes and mind of one person, whose opinions sway the storyline in to what the events and situations were like for them. But there is more than one side to every story. The following books are told by two or sometimes more perspectives. Each one of these books also […]
February
08
Children’s Book Creators Join Forces to Provide High Quality Books to Two Worthy Organizations by Lin Oliver
posted by CBethM
With over 25,000 members strong, SCBWI, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, is the largest professional organization of children’s book writers and illustrators. We have always cared about getting books into children’s hands because we know that books given to them can change their lives– allow them to see themselves, to feel empathy […]
February
07
The Wild in Us by Carrie Rodusky
posted by CBethM
“What is wild? And where can you find it?” These are the first two lines on the first page of this inspirational picture book written by Megan Wagner Lloyd with pictures by Abigail Halpin. As I read this story aloud to 3rd through 5th graders, I could literally feel my body relax and my breath […]
