Blog

A school canceled my virtual author visit because they didn’t want their fourth graders to know about my middle grade ...
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I had a school visit cancelled this week. No, not because of the novel coronavirus. The school would not allow ...
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My dad will never read my new middle grade novel, A High Five for Glenn Burke. Even if he does, ...
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Thank you, Andrew Clements. Like thousands of other classroom teachers over the past twenty plus years, I shared the novel ...
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Every student deserves to experience an author visit. It doesn’t matter if they attend a rural Title I school in ...
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This is a full-circle story, twenty years in the making. Back in 1997, I was teaching sixth grade in the ...
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As a children's book author, I'm really a small business owner. The idea that an author gets to spend hours ...
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On Thursday, July 28, my husband, Kevin and I were having an ordinary old-married-couple evening, the kind of evening you ...
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Last November, I traveled to Minneapolis for the NCTE annual conference in Minneapolis. It was one of the best conferences I ...
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For those of you that know me, you know Wonder by RJ Palacio is one of my favorite middle grade ...
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Earlier this spring, I was able to get my hands on an uncorrected proof of TWO NAOMIS, the middle grade ...
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Last year, when I first heard about Lisa Yee's new Super Hero High series, I could barely control my excitement ...
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Six weeks from today, ROOKIE OF THE YEAR, the next book in my Rip and Red middle grade series, hits ...
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Here’s Part II of the conversation with the #BookJourney Crew… But if you missed Rookie of the Year, A #BookJourney Adventure ...
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Later this summer, Barbara O'Connor's much anticipated new middle grade novel WISH hits shelves. Safe to say, you will not be ...
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In Rookie of the Year, the second book in my Rip and Red series, the new girl in class, Takara ...
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When we lived in Brooklyn, whenever we saw our friends, it was usually only for a quick bite or a ...
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If you've seen the book trailer for my middle grade novel, A WHOLE NEW BALLGAME, you know who Reece is. Well, ...
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A WHOLE NEW BALLGAME is for Erin. Erin is Erin Murphy. Erin's my agent. In the acknowledgments, I wrote: The words -- ...
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If you're looking to introduce my middle grade novel, A WHOLE NEW BALLGAME, to your students, I've created an under-two ...
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Boo-yah!! Hootie-Hooooo!! This week, I'll be at the National Council of Teachers of English Annual Convention in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I ...
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Last week, I went back to high school. When I visit schools these days, more often than not, I'm visiting ...
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On Friday, I received a pretty awesome piece of snail mail -- the certificate designating MARVELOUS CORNELIUS a Junior Library ...
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This is Kaylee. She's holding her new writer's notebook. During all my school visit presentations, I always hold up my ...
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MARVELOUS CORNELIUS is a modern day folktale. If you teach folktales in your classroom or library, please consider using this ...
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I believe in mentor texts. They are an invaluable teaching tool and an invaluable learning tool. When I visit schools, ...
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“I want to see more of you in this book.” That’s what my editor Wes said to me when we ...
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Several weeks back, we placed a difficult post on social media about our rescue dog Cleveland, who we had adopted ...
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Next week marks the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Next week, I'll be back in New Orleans for the first ...
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Today is a circle-the-calendar day, one of those days where you put multiple stars across the top of your journal ...
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