A few weeks before the publication of my latest book and just in time for my birthday, I got a bouquet of my favorite lilies, a spa gift certificate, various cat- and fox-themed T-shirts, an industrial-sized bag of Pirate’s Booty, and breast cancer. Well. This is already going off the rails. I’ve […]
Category Archives: Uncategorized
The Book Love Foundation Summer Book Club by Penny Kittle
posted by Colby Sharp for
Most of us wait all year for summer. Not to escape the students we’ve grown to love, but for the hours we’ll have to read without the incessant demands of school. We are in a distracted age. I’m sure you feel it. During the school year we all practice a fractured attention to hundreds of […]
May
23
Celebrate the Weird Stuff in Life by Tammi Sauer
posted by CBethM
For me, the hardest part about writing a picture book is coming up with an idea. I’m not talking about a regular idea. Nope. I’m talking about a good idea. A fresh idea. An irresistible-to-readers idea. Each year, I present at lots of schools and conferences. One thing I like to tell people is to celebrate the weird […]
May
11
Well, That Was Awkward by Rachel Vail – Review by Kari Riedel
posted by CBethM
Middle school. Just the words can evoke very specific images and feelings for many people. Laughter with BFFs. Drama with BFFs. Awkward first crushes. Burgeoning independence. Added responsibility. Homework. Stress. As the parent of a current middle schooler, I often wonder how middle school is different for kids today than it was for me. How […]
May
03
Cultivating a Reading Community Through Conferences by Stacey Riedmiller
posted by Colby Sharp for
On Sunday night, Stacey Riedmiller hosted a live Facebook event on the Nerdy Book Club Facebook page. We took that video and uploaded it to YouTube so that people that were not in attendance could check out what Stacey had to say. We hope this video brings you value. Stacey Riedmiller is a Floating 4t Teacher in […]
Make New Friends, but Keep the Old by Michelle Blanchard Ardillo
posted by CBethM
Over Christmas break, I gave my 7th and 8th grade students a one-sentence homework assignment: read a good book. I told them it didn’t matter if it was long or short, above or below grade level, fiction or non-fiction. Just read a good book. Upon their return to school, I asked them to write on […]
Liberation Literature by Tricia Springstubb
posted by CBethM
Back in the day when I was still a fledgling, I was thrilled to get a letter (a real one) telling me I’d won the Ohioana Book Award, something I didn’t even know existed. I wrote my little speech and nervously practiced it, trying hard to eradicate “umm” from my vocabulary. When the day came, […]
March
18
When Our Reading Lives Help Us Understand Our Life Situations by Megan Overman
posted by CBethM
“Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are.” –Mason Cooley Everyone knows that books can provide us with fantastic worlds full of magic, characters with powers we can only dream of, and lives that we wished we lived. Although books can provide us with a much-needed escape, what […]
March
11
Spontaneous Reading: 2016 and My Personal Literary Revolution by McKinsey Crozier
posted by CBethM
To say that I read constantly would be an understatement. Many of my childhood memories occurred while peering over the edges of a well-worn paperback (usually Harry Potter, let’s be honest). I love reading, so much so that my family has grown long-accustomed to and long-annoyed by the fact that I forget to engage in […]
March
02
On Doing the Thing You Shouldn’t Be Doing by Travis Jonker
posted by Colby Sharp for
For a long time whenever the urge to write a story hit, I did a pretty good job of stopping it. Why would I want to do the thing I shouldn’t be doing? It definitely felt like I shouldn’t be doing it. All the self-defeating stuff that comes with trying something new creatively (at least […]
