What school principal in her right mind brings a Shetland Pony to an assembly in the gymnasium? And what is to be done when there’s an unfortunate, odorous explosion all over the blue and white striped linoleum floor? When you’re trying to introduce an innovative curriculum to a suspicious faculty and restless student body? You […]
Category Archives: Author Posts
July
18
THE SUMMER OF OWEN TODD by Tony Abbott
posted by CBethM
Books come to their writers in different ways. You see a painting, overhear a conversation, stare at the sky, close your eyes, and suddenly—or not—there is a voice, speaking. The Summer of Owen Todd, due out in the Fall of 2017 from Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers, came to me from a […]
July
16
The Science of a Fiction Picture Book (#STEAM) by Leslie Helakoski
posted by CBethM
Even a fictional picture book can engage young minds in scientific thought. Comparing and contrasting are great tools for learning and what better way to explore this concept than a fun story? HOOT & HONK Just Can’t Sleep began as an exploration of a nocturnal owlet, sleeping during the day and active at night, […]
July
11
Two (or More) of Us: How Writing Communities Shaped the Authors We’ve Become by Jennifer Ziegler and Chris Barton
posted by CBethM
JENNIFER: Long before Chris and I got married, I used to double-date the Beatles. Well, not all the Beatles — only Paul and John. And they weren’t technically Beatles anymore, the band having broken up many years earlier. And these dates, if you must know, occurred only on paper — in sketch comedies that my […]
July
04
I’m a Gamer by Jaleigh Johnson
posted by CBethM
I had planned to take this opportunity doing a guest post to talk about the experience of writing a middle grade series of standalone books all set in the same world. I still plan to do that. But I realized I was typing this blog post, sipping coffee from a mug with ‘Gamer’ emblazoned on […]
July
02
My Reading Journey by A.F. Harrold
posted by CBethM
Jorge Luis Borges said, “I think of myself as being essentially a reader. As you are aware, I have ventured into writing; but I think that what I have read is far more important than what I have written. For one reads what one likes – yet one writes not what one would like to […]
June
30
Truths and Lies by Ammi-Joan Paquette and Laurie Ann Thompson
posted by CBethM
Many people have been surprised to learn that when we first conceived of the idea that eventually became Two Truths and a Lie: It’s Alive! in 2013, we weren’t thinking at all about information literacy. We just thought the world was an endlessly fascinating–and sometimes hard to believe–place. As we started collecting ideas for stories to include […]
June
28
Cover Reveal for BAT AND THE WAITING GAME by Elana K. Arnold
posted by CBethM
I wrote A BOY CALLED BAT for the same reason I write all my books: because I felt compelled to. He came to me one night as I was driving: a boy with autism, whose initials spell “Bat,” who loves animals and vanilla yogurt. I felt Bat as clearly as I felt my own babies […]
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
26
Dana Alison Levy and ‘This Would Make a Good Story Someday’ by Kate Hannigan
posted by CBethM
What I wouldn’t pay to be a fly on the wall at Dana Alison Levy’s house. Because clearly this author has witnessed some thrilling family dynamics in her day. Nobody does hilariously complicated home life for middle-graders better than Levy, author of The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher (Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 2014), a […]
