Do you have a fifth, sixth or seventh grade girl in your life who likes soccer? Well, here’s a spot of shameless self-promotion. I’m going to share a few reasons why you might consider getting a copy of DEFENDING IRENE as a Christmas present for a girl who loves to play soccer. Let me start with … More A Book for Girls Who Love Soccer
My friend and fellow writer Stephanie Bearce wrote in her blog about how she’s a fan of pairing fiction and nonfiction in the classroom: “It’s a great way to get students to try new genres of books. Those who believe nonfiction is “so boring” can learn just how exciting facts can be. And those children who … More Paired Texts
My librarian friend Sondy Eklund wrote a review for THE GRIFFIN AND THE DINOSAUR. Looks fascinating!
I’ve been neglecting this blog. I think one of the reasons for this is that I’ve moved twice in the past two and a half years. But more than that, I’ve been busy doing the YA Cha-Cha. What’s that? Well, the astonishing Conrad Wesselhoeft, author of DIRT BIKES, DRONES AND OTHER WAYS TO FLY and … More Doing the YA Cha-Cha
I’d like to thank Ann Finkelstein for asking me to participate in this blog hop. I’ve been neglecting my blog, and this gave me a reason to get back to it. Ann is a talented writer and photographer whose YA fantasy is now out on submission. You can read about her writing process here. I’m … More Blog Hop!
Once upon a time, I used to agree that picture book writers had to put much more time into selecting each individual word than novelists. After all, picture book writers can have anywhere from seven words to three thousand words to work with as they work to tell an entire story.* I can’t speak for every novelist, … More Opening Up
Here’s an excerpt from Sue Bradford Edward’s recent blog post at Women on Writing: For about two months, I’ve been playing around with a rewrite. I’ll work on it a bit and then set it aside because it hasn’t jelled. Every now and again, I figure out a problem and get some writing done, but after … More When Lack of Sympathy is a Good Thing
I got the news that my young adult mystery SUSPECT was on the top of the Society of School Librarians International best books for language arts (grades 7-12) last fall, but the official link never popped up for me until last week. Now I’m honored to share it, especially since I’m in such good company.
Some kids aren’t really sure whether or not they’d like to play a sport. If you know someone who’s thinking about trying soccer, strongly consider handing that person a copy of Ruth McNally Barshaw’s Ellie McDoodle: Most Valuable Player. This is the fourth book in Barshaw’s Ellie McDoodle series, a delightful collection of books for kids in … More Thinking About Soccer?
I”m looking forward to doing a day of writing workshops with students in Jefferson City, Missouri this Saturday. We’ll be looking at using specific detail and figurative language in the morning and examining the relationship between conflict and character in the afternoon.
Kristin Wolden Nitz 