Five Ws About This Promise of Change by Debbie Levy and Jo Ann Allen Boyce

November 14

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 […]

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Cover Reveal of Fighting Words by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

November 13

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 […]

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The Uninvited by Lesléa Newman

November 12

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 […]

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The Work by Abby Cooper

November 11

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 […]

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The Character That Got Away, or A Requiem for the King of the Dudes by Christopher Healy

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 […]

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Anxious Charlie to the Rescue by Terry Milne

November 05

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 […]

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Sharing the Inspiration Behind My Next Novel, BRAVE LIKE THAT (and the fantastic cover!) by Lindsey Stoddard

November 04

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 […]

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The Malamander, and How To Find It by Thomas Taylor

October 29

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 […]

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How Young Nonfiction Writers Can Dig Deep by Melissa Stewart

October 26

If your students’ nonfiction writing seems dull and lifeless, it’s probably because they aren’t personally invested.   If your students copy their research sources even though they know plagiarism is wrong and can have severe consequences, it’s probably because they haven’t taken the time to assimilate and synthesize their research, so they can make their […]

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Between the Pages: A Discovery of Magic by Anna James

October 24

Throughout my life, libraries have always been instrumental. Growing up, I was fortunate enough to have access to both public and school libraries. They may have been small but they were carefully tended, and most importantly, they let me explore a world far bigger than my own. That love for the potential and magic of […]

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