:
Summer 2021, Online workshop for adults through the Highlights Foundation: Join me and my co-teacher, Erin Dionne for Getting Your Novel Unstuck, an online, go-at-your-own pace workshop that also includes monthly live-session office hours to discuss writing, where you’re stuck, and anything else that participants would like to cover.
May 2021: Guest post submitted by a young reader. This article, A Writer’s Guide to Healthy Wrists and Hands is a great reminder for those of us spend a lot of time keyboarding. Thanks, Hailey!
Kids/Teachers/Parents! Want to talk about my books? I am currently offering free 30-minute Skype/Zoom Q&A sessions for any at-home learners or classrooms who have read at least one of my books. Reach me from the contact page on this site to schedule a session, or to talk about my complete classroom offerings and school visits.
ALSO: Check out my YouTube channel for read-alouds and interactive writing workshop videos. I intend to add more as I can, so keep checking back — and feel free to submit requests, if there’s a topic you’d like to see me cover.
INTERVIEW, May 2021: I had a great time chatting with the hosts of the Book Cougars podcast. (My piece starts around the 48 minute mark.)
INTERVIEW, 2020: Check out my new interview with Write The Book’s Shelagh Shapiro… (warning: writerly geek-out ahead!)
NEW BOOK in 2020: MIDDLE SCHOOL: MASTER OF DISASTER is out February 17, 2020! Details HERE.
NEW BOOK in 2019: My solo YA debut, ME, MYSELF, AND HIM, is available at libraries, online, and everywhere books are sold. Details HERE. Online reviews are much appreciated…..thanks!
2020 EVENTS (all canceled due to COVID, but I’m leaving them here as a candle to the future events still to come sometime!)
AUTHOR FESTIVAL: March 21, 2020: I’m looking forward to being part of Cavalcade of Authors in eastern Washington state, including school visits, a book festival, and more.
CONFERENCE: March 25, 2020: I’ll be delivering a keynote and a couple of workshops at the 2020 CLiF (Children’s Literacy Foundation) Community Literacy Conference at Lake Morey Resort in Fairlee, Vermont. My focus for the day will be on bringing improvisation and play for young writers into the classroom.
TEEN LIT MOB: March 27, 2020: Teen Lit Mob is an all day event for teens who love books, reading, and writing. I’ll be one of six authors at U-32 in Montpelier, VT, talking about our work and offering workshops. Click the link for more info and advance registration.
CONFERENCE: May 1-3, 2020: I’ll be at the New England SCBWI Conference in Springfield, MA, offering two workshops this year: Self-Promotion in the Face of Shyness, Social Anxiety, and Impostor Syndrome … and … Getting Unstuck: Four Approaches for Moving That Manuscript Along, No Matter What. Hope to see you there!
WORKSHOP: May 17-21, 2020: Join me and the amazing Erin Dionne for Getting Your Middle Grade or YA Novel Unstuck at the Highlights Foundation in Honesdale, PA. This four-day workshop is aimed at anyone with a middle grade or young adult manuscript in progress–and if you’ve never visited Highlights before, do yourself a favor and check it out, even if it’s not for our event. Seriously, this place is magical, and they offer a year-round slate of classes, with something for everyone. Dates and more details coming soon.
PAST EVENTS:
– March 29, 2018: The MIDDLE SCHOOL series just hit 50 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Woot!
– October 7, 2016: Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life hits the big screen. See you at the movies!
– Summer 2015: STRANDED is part of the New York Public Library’s Summer Reading Challenge. Check it out! Get reading
-Spring 2015: Public School Superhero is named a Junior Library Guild selection.
– April 5: Public School Superhero jumps from #5 to #3 on the NY Times middle grade bestseller list!
– July 27, 2014: MIDDLE SCHOOL hits week #13 on the New York Times children’s series bestseller list. Thanks to all you readers out there! (You know who you are :-))
– December 10, 2013: Thank you, Barnes and Noble for naming Middle School: How I Survived Bullies, Broccoli, and Snake Hill one of the best kids’ books of 2013!
– April 18, 2013: Yay! Middle School, the Worst Years of My Life has won the Nene Award (aka, Hawaii Children’s Choice). I knew I loved Hawaii for a reason!
– February, 2013: Stranded debuts at #9 on the New York Times’ children’s middle grade bestseller list.
– Cool news — Middle School: Get Me Out of Here! was named to Barnes and Noble’s 2012 best books of the year list. (Thanks, B&N!)
– June 10, 2012: Middle School: Get Me Out of Here! jumps from #2 to #1 on the NYTimes bestseller list for Children’s Chapter Books!
– November 21, 2011: Listen to my interview on Vermont Public Radio’s “Vermont Edition.”
– July 10, 2011: Middle School, the Worst Years of My Life debuts at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list for Children’s Chapter Books!
– Also, check out the MIDDLE SCHOOL website
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Stuff (Links, Good Reads…etc.)
Links for Writers and Readers
The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators
www.scbwi.org
The Authors Guild
www.authorsguild.org
Children’s Book Council
www.cbcbooks.org
The Purple Crayon
www.underdown.org
Writing Careers (how-t0 article on becoming a published author)
https://www.zenbusiness.com/info/writing-careers/
Guys Read
www.guysread.com
Read, Kiddo, Read
www.readkiddoread.com
Kids Reads
www.kidsreads.com
Teen Reads
www.teenreads.com
Flying Pig Bookstore
www.flyingpigbooks.com
Brown Dog Books
www.browndogbooksandgifts.com
Good Reads – Some recent (and not so recent) favorite books for young readers:
Wonder, by R.J. Palacio
Holes, by Louis Sachar
Out of the Dust, by Karen Hesse
James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl
Masterpiece, by Elise Broach
Cosmic, by Cottrell Boyce
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, by Judy Blume
When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead
A Single Shard, by Linda Sue Park
Because of Winn Dixie, by Kate Dicamillo
The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick
Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbitt
The Game of Sunken Places, by M.T. Anderson
The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles, by Julie Edwards
The Big Joke Game, by Scott Corbett
Hoot, by Carl Hiaasen
The Giver, by Lois Lowry
The Willoughbys, by Lois Lowry
Homer Price, by Robert McCloskey
Ramona the Pest, by Beverly Cleary
Harriet the Spy, by Louise Fitzhugh
Books for teens and older readers:
Eleanor and Park, by Rainbow Rowell
Feed, by M.T. Anderson
Godless, by Pete Hautman
My Antonia, by Willa Cather
I Am The Messenger, by Markus Zusak
Rotten, by Michael Northrup
Looking for Alaska, by John Green
A Northern Light, by Jennifer Donnelly
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, by Mark Haddon
Luna, by Laurie Peters
How I Live Now, by Meg Rosoff
Dairy Queen, by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Dunk, by David Lubar
Shattering Glass, by Gail Giles
Double Helix, by Nancy Werlin
The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier