Ever since I was a child, nature has been a favorite place for me. I would daydream in the crooks of trees or hang out in the hayfields as the Timothy grass grew taller than me. As an adult nature was still the place where I found solace, even though sometimes I had to appreciate […]
August
23
The Allure of the TBC … by John David Anderson
posted by CBethM
Fun fact: I didn’t actually write the last three words of the final chapter of my novel Stowaway. My editor did. And I find them to be the three most ambiguous, frustrating and provocative words in the entire book. To be continued . . . Even now I can’t type them without also adding the ellipses, […]
August
22
Exploring real world injustices with a middle grade audience by Varsha Bajaj
posted by CBethM
One in ten people, or almost 800 million around the globe, do not have access to clean drinking water. When I learned this statistic, I was shocked. How could that be? Shouldn’t we be alarmed? Why weren’t we talking about it? Water after all is essential for life since we can only survive three-four days […]
August
05
Back-to-School Read Alouds by Melissa Stewart
posted by CBethM
Are you a member of the #classroombookaday Facebook group? If not, click the link and join right now. Seriously, do it. I’ll stop and wait until you’re done. Okay, now that you have access to an amazing resource that’s going to change the way you think about and share picture books with your students, check […]
July
22
From Stage to Page: How I Discovered the Healing Power of Fiction by Margot Harrison
posted by CBethM
A fourteen-year-old girl is taking a summer theater program at a local college. She dreams of seeing her name in lights. But right now, rehearsals aren’t going well, and the director is angry. He accuses the cast of not giving their all. He goes around the room and singles out one actor after another, asking […]
July
12
The Space Between: Why Humor Matters in the Dark by Dev Petty
posted by CBethM
Humor has gotten me out of some tough spots. Though I’m reluctant to ever say I’m funny (it’s not really for me to judge), humor is certainly a big way I approach the world and the people in that world. It’s sort of a passenger who helps me find the edges and articulate the shape […]
July
08
Telling Stories with Imagery and Words by Melissa Dassori
posted by CBethM
The idea for my middle grade debut emerged from a lesson in my own fourth grade class. My teacher, whom I’ll call Ms. K, had a large collection of New Yorker magazine covers that she handed out as inspiration for creative writing assignments. Each cover was its own work of art—illustrated and free of text—and […]
July
06
What Do You Know About The Black Panther Party? by Alex Harrison
posted by CBethM
As I become more intentional about reading literature centered around making education for Black students more purposeful, I have been fascinated with The Black Panther Party. Admittedly, I was only familiar with the organization based on what I had heard in the media about The Panthers being radical and wreaking havoc. Conversely, I arrived at […]
July
01
TEN SCIENCE FICTION BOOKS FOR ELEMENTARY KIDS by Dr. Emily Midkiff
posted by CBethM
There’s an old cliché that says that the age of twelve is the best time to start reading science fiction. However, science fiction is too important to wait until 7th grade! This genre can teach science-fictional ways of thinking, a mindset that helps us process new technology and think critically about science. Thanks to that […]
June
27
Why I Wrote ‘Twas The Night Before Pride by Joanna McClintick
posted by CBethM
My coming out began joyfully: I fell in love my sophomore year of college, it was springtime, and everything about it was warm and beautiful and thrilling. At long last I had what many of my straight peers had already begun, in some cases for many years: a relationship! But aside from the person I […]
Nerdy Book Club 