Letting Go of Attachments
I am an expert at cleaning out my closet. I have been pushed by circumstance to get rid of many of my possessions again and again. But when it comes to my words—I’m not as talented. I have been thinking…
Category: Children’s Books
Show Them the Nutcracker: On Getting to the Point
A few years back, my husband and I went to a Boston Ballet performance of The Nutcracker. Behind us sat a mother and her five-year-old son, who was deeply psyched to be there, wriggling and fidgeting with glee. As soon…
YA Wednesday: YA Books Ripe for TV Series, Connecting Young Women to Queen Victoria, The Lightning Thief Musical, Shortened Adult Classics for Kids?
I certainly love a good book and I love to read. But I also love movies and television. For me, well-told stories come in many forms. Why limit a good yarn to the page? Give me a well-written Hollywood movie…
What to Write in Troubled Times? Whatever You Want.
For the past two years, I’ve been steadily working on a middle grade novel about a lonely 12-year-old girl in small-town Wisconsin who meets four siblings with a dangerous fantasy world. While I was under no illusions that I was…
YA Wednesday: Embracing and Escaping Trump
Try as I might, I cannot stop thinking about the consequences of a Trump presidency. And clearly many of us are in the same boat, what with all the drum-beating, march-planning, and blooming activism in all corners of the country….
YA Wednesday: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, Family-Focused YA Reads for Your Thanksgiving Trip Home, 10 YA Books to Binge-Read This Thanksgiving, Memorable Food in YA Literature
I’m looking forward to getting together with family and stuffing myself on Thanksgiving but at the same I’m worried about political conversations and that this year I will say something I regret. I guess I’ll just hope for the best…