One of the first questions an author hears at school visits is, “Where do you get your ideas?” (followed by “Do you know J.K. Rowling?” and “Will you autograph my sneakers?”). My answers, for the record: —I just ask “What if?” and record what happens. —No, but if she wants me to stop by the castle […]
Author Archives: Colby Sharp
Exclusive Cover Reveal for Katherine Applegate’s Crenshaw + A Bonus Guest Post
posted by Colby Sharp
January
18
How Big Do You Draw? (#IDrawThisBig) by Colby Sharp
posted by Colby Sharp
I found out this week that Lauren Castillo draws small. Very small. In fact, when she sketches the characters are often 1.5 to 2 inches tall. I asked her to take a picture of one of her sketches with a quarter next to it. I loved seeing her little hedgehog chilling next to that quarter. It […]
January
01
2014 NERDY AWARDS FOR MIDDLE GRADE FICTION ANNOUNCED BY COLBY SHARP
posted by Colby Sharp
Chances are if you are anything like me the first thing you did when you opened this post was scroll down and look at the winners. I’m hoping that you saw some of your favorite 2014 books obelow, and that you maybe found a book or two to add to your to-read list. Thanks for […]
November
27
Raising Sharp Readers by Colby and Alaina Sharp
posted by Colby Sharp
7 years ago, we were elated and terrified to welcome the first of our three little readers into the world. As parents, we don’t do a lot of things right – Breslin’s gone to school with his pants on backwards enough times to verify that. But, we have managed to turn out three little people […]
October
16
Parma Third Graders Interview Oliver Jeffers
posted by Colby Sharp
My students love everything written by Oliver Jeffers. His new book, Once Upon An Alphabet is one of the hottest books in our third grade classroom. When I was given the opportunity to interview Mr. Jeffers for Nerdy Book Club, it seemed only fitting to have my third graders to conduct the interview instead. We hope […]
May
15
Nerd Camp Junior 1.0
posted by Colby Sharp
Last year Nerdy Book Club members threw the first annual Nerd Camp. Nerd Camp followed the Ed Camp unconference model. We just added a literacy twist. This year we are adding Nerd Camp Junior. Nerd Camp Junior is an opportunity for kids to spend an evening with 9 award winning authors and illustrators learning about […]
March
20
Lily’s Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff Reviewed By Suzanne Gibbs
posted by Colby Sharp
What an incredible story this is, written by Patricia Reilly Giff. Having seen a plethora of books written by her for younger readers, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. However, with that shiny sticker on it I was pretty sure it was safe! We get to know Lily initially as a spunky girl who […]
2014 Middle Grade Fiction Nerdies
posted by Colby Sharp
I am a lover of middle grade fiction. If you were to peek inside my house and classroom and see the piles of books in my to-read stacks you find that most of the books are middle grade fiction. 2013 was a wonderful year for middle grade fiction, and I’m excited to announce to the […]
A #Nerdution Christmas
posted by Colby Sharp
Regardless of what holiday, if any, you celebrate this time of year, I hope you are having a most excellent December 25th. As we head into resolution season I thought it would be fun and maybe a little uplifting to see some of your Nerdy friends working hard to accomplish their Nerdlutions. If you are […]
A Call For #Nerdlution Pictures
posted by Colby Sharp
On Thanksgiving evening, I joined a Twitter conversation with a few Nerdy Book Club members that ended up starting Nerdlution. If you don’t know what the heck I’m talking about, please check out Chris Lehman’s post. In the last 96 hours people have: started blogs, committed to working out, began a writing routine, and even […]
