One of my favorite new holiday traditions is getting an early peek at the Nerdy Book Award Winners and writing the post to announce the Early Readers and Chapter Books winners. Over the past five years, this is the one category of the Nerdy Book Awards that I have seen the biggest changes. Every […]
Author Archives: donalynm
December
27
The 2017 Nerdies: Early Readers and Chapter Books Announced by Alyson Beecher
posted by donalynm
December
01
Our 6th Nerdversary by Donalyn Miller
posted by donalynm
“If you give people a good book to talk about, you can build a community out of a diverse group. A common language grows out of it.” ― Nancy Pearl The Nerdy Book Club blog began on December 1, 2011 with this post announcing the First Annual Nerdy Book Club Awards. Now known as […]
October
15
On the Level by Donalyn Miller
posted by donalynm
While I was visiting an elementary school library in Chicago last spring, a group of third graders came into the library to return and check out books. The children wore index cards clipped to their shirts. On one side of the card was the child’s name. On the back, layers of sticky labels with […]
October
13
Cover Reveal: Takedown by Laura Shovan
posted by donalynm
I’m thrilled to be revealing the cover of my next middle grade novel at Nerdy Book Club today! Writing this book was a big stretch for me. My first book, The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary, was a verse novel. Not only is Takedown written in prose, it’s a sports story. My son had been wrestling […]
September
10
Cover Reveal: The King of Bees by Lester Laminack
posted by donalynm
Waiting on a new book is something like waiting for a baby to arrive. There is much excitement and great anticipation. Though you know both parents, you are eagerly waiting to see that new little face in the world. Getting that first glimpse of the cover (and all the illustrations on the interior) for The […]
August
27
Rituals by Donalyn Miller
posted by donalynm
This weekend, we moved our youngest daughter, Sarah, into her college dorm room. Moving someone’s belongings 170 miles carries built-in challenges, but the physical transition was relatively smooth. The past few weeks of planning, shopping, cleaning, and packing paid off. Sarah had almost everything she needed for her classes and her living space. We unpacked […]
July
23
Education Is a Political Act by Donalyn Miller
posted by donalynm
Nerd Camp Michigan (#nerdcampmi) kicks off with seven-minute Nerd Talks from a rotating group of speakers. This year’s speakers included Stacey Riedmiller, Chad Everett, Shannon Hale, Teri Lesesne, Tracey Baptiste, and me. This post includes the text of my speech. All Nerd Talk recordings will be featured on the Nerdy Book Cast this fall. […]
Fake News, George Washington, and the Plight of the Overworked History Educator by Ben Thompson
posted by donalynm
For any of you who have been unlucky enough to find yourselves unexpectedly tractor-beamed into the horrific quagmire of misery known as the Internet Political Comment Flame War, you’ve almost certainly encountered a particularly wide-ranging and equally-noxious sub-section of humanity that loves to spray the phrase “Fake News” around, repeatedly, in full-capslock, with all the […]
June
20
Fenway and Hattie Up to New Tricks – Cover Reveal By Victoria J. Coe and Olivia Van Ledtje
posted by donalynm
Do you judge a book by its cover? I do. And I wonder if kids do, too. Because they’re always asking me if the covers of the first two Fenway and Hattie books are real. As if Fenway is out living these stories somewhere and all the Penguin design team did was snap a picture. […]
June
19
How Does That Make You Feel? by James Ponti
posted by donalynm
One night, as my wife was about to fall asleep, I told her I was thinking of writing a novel. She looked up at me from her pillow and with surprising clarity said, “Shouldn’t you be able to read a book before you try writing one?” This is the danger of being married to a […]
