The Not-To-Miss Books, Great Gift Ideas, and Favorite Reads for Middle Graders I’m so excited to share some of my favorite reads to add to your Christmas list for boys and girls ages eight to thirteen years. One of my pet peeves is hearing parents at school say their kids don’t like to read. I think, really, they may just not have found their niche. My favorite ones are fantasy, comedy, mysteries, and historical fiction. I’ll highlight some series with new releases and favorites in this blog post so you can shop for your kids this holiday season. Ahoy, Pirates!…
How Huey Lewis Taught Me The Art Of Possibility
Recently I read that Huey Lewis, a great rock star with songs like “The Power of Love” from Back to the Future, “I Want A New Drug”, and “If This Is It” that were especially popular in the ‘80s, has suffered extensive hearing loss. I was remembering how he impacted my high school and early college years, hoping he recovers well. A dream come true When I was in high school, I wrote a letter thanking him for his great music and message (against drugs) and somehow, miraculously, it actually made it to him! I had seen him in town and…
Great Adventurous Reads For Middle Grade – 2017
Great adventurous holiday reads for stocking stuffers! Recently I was walking out of a school and I overheard some moms lamenting the fact that there’s “so little good fiction for middle grade.” I’ll bet my eyes bugged out a bit since I write upper middle grade fantasy and love to read super adventures. “All my son will read is about underpants or gross comedy.” They’re really missing out. Since I know of some wonderful books, and great authors, and perhaps you’re looking for a fun book to read or recommend to a friend who’s a tween or teen, here’s some…
When The Prodigal Son Visits with Author and Screenwriter Jennifer Dornbush
Jennifer Dornbush is a bit dazzling when you first meet her. Then you find out she’s a specialist in death. Whoa. And she knows how to investigate crime scenes and has consulted on TV and film dramas. When I met Jennifer, it was over breakfast at a conference far from home. All I knew at first was we were both Californians. Then I became fascinated at her specialty and have watched her career and books with great interest. As a resilience expert, I really connected with how she doesn’t back off from exploring challenging characters with tough circumstances in her…
How To Get Kids Interested In Writing and Reading
I’m often asked about how I helped my sons to love reading and how parents can encourage their kids to love writing. I personally think the two go hand in hand. As a corporate writer for many years, and now venturing into ideas for kids and nonfiction for adults, I’ve had exposure to some great resources I want to share with you today. In this post we’ll cover cultivating a love for reading, creative ways to use audible books, writing contests, and teen book festivals. Developing a love for reading In their younger years, I encouraged my kids to read…
Sherry Kyle and The Girl’s Guide to Life
When you were a tween, wouldn’t you have loved having a road map to help with the twists and turns of puberty? Sherry Kyle is a wonderful author I met at ACFW a couple of years ago. When I saw her new book called The Girl’s Guide to Life, I loved the cover and wanted to know more. The sage wisdom is presented effortlessly in a fun format for girls. Here’s an excerpt from our interview: What inspired you to begin to write and specifically about your most recent book, The Girl’s Guide to Life? When my kids were small,…
The Other Side of Unblemished with YA Author Sara Ella
My dear friend Young Adult Author Sara Ella shares all kinds of insights about her debut novel, Unblemished, which is launching October 11th, 2016. Scroll down to see the YouTube interview. As a resilience expert, I dig deeper into character insights and choices Sara made while developing the plot and character aspects. Sara shares interesting tidbits to watch for, like the influence of musical theater on the chapter titles, and even about a character that took over the whole story line. He just wouldn’t keep in check! Check out my review of her wonderful adventurous book and connect with Sara…
News And Class Awards!
Time for some fun updates before we launch into summer. And I mean launch! I’m working with the technical experts to assemble the last pieces for the new website. I’ll be sure to post about the transition as we get closer to launch. Awards announcement for my favorite classroom! I’ve been helping to teach a unit about the elements of fiction and got to work with wonderful tweens on their first stories. It’s been so rewarding and I love their enthusiasm and creativity! I especially loved seeing their progression to finish. Their teacher, Mrs. Root, is amazing too for taking…
Design Your Own Land
Recently my son had an interesting history assignment: Design your own land and put elements of it in a box to share with the class. The whole class considered all kinds of variables, like transportation, government, systems, food, fun, family activities and more. You were allowed to choose a favorite land and enhance it. My son Jonathan chose Tomorrowland, like in the Disney movie. But he stepped it up a notch. Junk food became healthy. People invented things for the betterment of everyone’s life, nothing bad happened. Music had lots of applications. It made me think, what if I could…
Wandering in Tomorrowland
We were walking through Disneyland and began to notice ladies and gentlemen dressed in period clothing. They looked very nice. Suddenly, I glanced all around and it was like being on the movie set for Tomorrowland with lots of hats, heels, and poofy skirts, too. We had inadvertently visited during Dapper Days and it was like taking a time-warp back to the 1950s or 60s. Here’s some of the best photos! By now we really felt immersed in a story, a new one melding Disney and a snapshot of time. It was beautiful! Now, there was a dark side….
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