Squish: Game On! by Jennifer L. and Matthew Holm

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Squish: Game On!
Author: Jennifer L. Holm
Illustrator: Matthew Holm
Published May 1st, 2013 by Random House

Goodreads Summary: Beep! Beep! Squish can’t get enough of his awesome new video game Mitosis! (Mitosis is what happens when cells divide. Who says video games can’t be educational?) In fact, he may even be “obsessed”! He plays at home . . . at school. . . even in his sleep! Are video games taking over Squish’s life?! And can Squish’s favorite comic book hero, Super Amoeba, stop the Creeping Black Mold that’s taking over Small Pond? Find out in Squish #5: Game On–saving the world, one cell at a time!
Yowza! You can draw comics, too! Look in the back to find out how to draw one of the Squish characters! Also includes instructions for a sensational science experiment you can do at home! Shazam!

My Review: I love the Squish series. The series is so wonderful for many reasons, but I like them specifically because it balances humor, entertainment, and education. I also really like the characters, especially Squish, and one of the things I love about Squish is his love of comic books and his chosen hero, Super Amoeba. This book in the Squish series deals with a dilemma that many children face: books vs. video games and balancing time. Will Squish be able to fight the video game addiction?

Teacher’s Tools For Navigation: Students love Squish. This one will be no different. It has all of the humor yet education of the first 5 and continues to have situations that its readers will connect with.

Discussion Questions: How do you balance your time between reading and video games?; Have you ever found yourself being addicted to something? What did you do?

We Flagged:

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Visit Squish 5‘s Amazon page to “Click to Look Inside”

Read This If You Loved: Babymouse (series) by Jennifer and Matthew Holm, Squish (series) by Jennifer and Matthew Holm, Lunch Lady (series) by Jarrett Krosoczka

Recommended For: 

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ALAN 2013: Celebrating Strong Female Characters

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On Tuesday, November 26th, during the ALAN Workshop, I was lucky enough to be able to moderate a panel of the authors of the books above: Mariah Fredericks, Tupelo Hassman, Adele Griffin, and Paul Rudnick. The panel title was: “Celebrating Strong Female Characters Young Woman Take Center Stage: The Fight to Be Heard in a Testosterone World.”

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If you do not know these authors, let me introduce you: 

  • Mariah Fredericks grew up in New York City and uses her experiences in New York and an alternative school there in her books. She has had a lot of jobs and most of them involved books: she’s reviewed books, shelved books, and sold books. She now focuses her time on writing books and says it is the best job she’s had so far. Mariah is the author of 8 young adult novels including the In the Cards series, Crunch Time, and her newest, Season of the Witch.
  • Adele Griffin is a two-time National Book Award finalist and the highly acclaimed author of numerous books for young adult and middle grade readers. Her works include Where I Want to Be, the Vampire Island series, and her most recent thriller Loud Awake and Lost.
  • Tupelo Hassman’s work has appeared in a variety of journals, magazines, and newspapers such as The Boston Globe, Harper’s Bazaar, The Paris Review Daily, and The Portland Review Literary Journal. Tupelo is the first American ever to win London’s Literary Death Match. Her first novel, girl child, is a 2013 Alex Award winner.
  • Paul Rudnick. Paul is a frequent contributor to the NewYorker, Vanity Fair, and Entertainment Weekly. He is an Obie award winning-playwright and also was the screenwriter for such movies like Sister Act and Stepford Wives. Gorgeous is his first young adult novel.

Like their authors, the books the panel were discussing are equally as impressive (Goodreads summaries):

  • Season of the Witch (published October 8th, 2013 by Schwartz & Wade): Like Fredericks’s The Girl in the Park, here is a page-turner that perfectly captures the world of New York City private schools, as it explores the notion of power among teenage girls. Publisher’s Weekly, in a starred review, raves, “Fredericks again proves her gift for conveying the intensity of adolescence, while exploring the ways girls’ sexuality is used against them and asking why ‘we all have to be predators and prey.'”Queen Bee Chloe is going to make Toni suffer for whatever transpired between Toni and Chloe’s boyfriend, Oliver, over the summer. From day one of eleventh grade, she has Toni branded as a super slut, and it isn’t long before things get so ugly that Toni fears for her safety. What’s a scared, powerless, and fed-up teenager to do? Guided by Cassandra—a girl with some serious problems of her own—Toni decides to stop playing the victim and take control. Cassandra has been experimenting with witchcraft, and together they cast a spell on Chloe that may actually cause her death. Could Toni have really made such an awful thing happen?
  • girlchild (Published February 14th, 2012 by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux): Rory Hendrix is the least likely of Girl Scouts. She hasn’t got a troop or even a badge to call her own.  But she’s checked the Handbook out from the elementary school library so many times that her name fills all the lines on the card, and she pores over its surreal advice (Disposal of Outgrown Uniforms; The Right Use of Your Body; Finding Your Way When Lost) for tips to get off the Calle:  that is, Calle de los Flores, the Reno trailer park where she lives with her mother, Jo, the sweet-faced, hard-luck bartender at the Truck Stop.Rory’s been told she is “third generation in a line of apparent imbeciles, feeble-minded bastards surely on the road to whoredom.” But she’s determined to prove the County and her own family wrong. Brash, sassy, vulnerable, wise, and terrified, she struggles with her mother’s habit of trusting the wrong men, and the mixed blessing of being too smart for her own good. From diary entries, social worker’s reports, half-recalled memories, story problems, arrest records, family lore, Supreme Court opinions, and her grandmother’s letters, Rory crafts a devastating collage that shows us her world while she searches for the way out of it. Girlchildis a heart-stopping and original debut.
  • Loud Awake and Lost (Published November 12th, 2013 by Knopf Books for Young Readers): LOUD. There was an accident. Ember knows at least that much. She was driving. The car was totaled. She suffered back injuries and brain trauma. But she is alive. That’s the only thing left she can cling to.AWAKE. Eight months later, Ember feels broken. The pieces of her former self no longer fit together. She can’t even remember the six weeks of her life leading up to the accident. Where was she going? Who was she with? And what happened during those six weeks that her friends and family won’t talk about?LOST. One by one, Ember discovers the answers to these questions, like a twisted game of dominos. And little by little, the person she used to be slips further and further away.

    In the wake of her critically praised young adult psychological thrillers,Tighter and All You Never Wanted, National Book Award finalist Adele Griffin has created another triumph. Loud Awake & Lost is an unflinching story of loss and recovery.

  • Gorgeous (Published April 30th, 2013 by Scholastic Press): Inner beauty wants out…When eighteen-year-old Becky Randle’s mother dies, she’s summoned from her Missouri trailer park to meet Tom Kelly, the world’s top designer. He makes her an impossible offer: He’ll create three dresses to transform Becky from a nothing special girl into the most beautiful woman who ever lived.Becky thinks Tom is a lunatic, or that he’s producing a hidden camera show called World’s Most Gullible Poor People. But she accepts, and she’s remade as Rebecca. When Becky looks in the mirror, she sees herself – an awkward mess of split ends and cankles. But when anyone else looks at Becky, they see pure five-alarm hotness.Soon Rebecca is on the cover of Vogue, the new Hollywood darling, and dating celebrities. Then Becky meets Prince Gregory, heir to the British throne, and everything starts to crumble. Because Rebecca aside, Becky loves him. But to love her back, Gregory would have to look past the blinding Rebecca to see the real girl inside. And Becky knows there’s not enough magic in the world.

    A screamingly defiant, hugely naughty, and impossibly fun free fall past the cat walks, the red carpets, and even the halls of Buckingham Palace,Gorgeous does the impossible: It makes you see yourself clearly for the first time.

I am so lucky to have been able to moderate these amazing authors and talk about such an important topic as strong female protagonists. Each of these books will find a home in classroom and school libraries where readers will be inspired by their protagonists.

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Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (Ricki’s Review)

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Fangirl
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Published: September 10th, 2013 by St. Martin’s Griffin

GoodReads Summary: A coming-of-age tale of fan fiction, family and first love.

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan . . .

But for Cath, being a fan is her life — and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

Review: I can’t remember reading a book that felt so authentic to and aligned with my own experiences. I have this urge to buy hundreds of copies of this book and pass them out to college freshmen. Freshman year of college is an incredibly difficult time, and this book helped me remember it vividly. From Rowell’s descriptions of the domesticated squirrels to the awkwardness of roommate interactions to the feeling of entering the dining hall for the first time and not knowing where to go or where to sit (and feeling sure everyone is watching you), this book perfectly captures the minute details of college life–and all of the insecurities that come with it. I loved the parallels cast between Simon Snow’s story and Cather’s, and it inspired me to want to be a writer. This is a beautifully compelling story that will resonate with readers.

View Kellee’s review of Fangirl HERE.

Teacher’s Tools for Navigation: This would be a great book to teach along with a creative writing unit. It would inspire students to want to become stronger writers. Students could write their own fanfictions or alternate storytelling (like Nick and Cather did). Cather’s struggles as a writer are inspirational, and I am betting that most people, like me, close this book and want to get out their computers and start writing.

Very few authors are able to hone in on the minute details of humanity. I noticed Rowell’s incredible ability to do this in Eleanor & Park, and she certainly did not stop there. I would love to copy passages of this book for close readings. This would really help students understand good, powerful writing.

Discussion Questions: Cather finds it difficult to write about any world other than that of Simon Snow. Why do you think that might be?; How are Cather and Wren different? Do you think there are any underlying reasons for their differences?; What is Nick’s purpose in the novel? What does he show about Cather?

We Flagged:

“I feel sorry for you, and I’m going to be your friend.”
“I don’t want to be your friend,” Cath said as sternly as she could. “I like that we’re not friends.”
“Me, too. I’m sorry you ruined it by being so pathetic.”

“In new situations, all the trickiest rules are the ones nobody bothers to explain to you. (And the ones you can’t Google.)”

Read This If You Loved: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell, Looking for Alaska by John Green, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, Same Difference by Siobhan Vivian

Recommended For:

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Ye Olde Weird but True! by National Geographic Kids

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NF PB 2013

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday is hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy and was started to help promote the reading of nonfiction texts. Most Wednesdays, we will be participating and will review a nonfiction text (though it may not always be a picture book).
Be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy and see what other nonfiction books are shared this week!

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Ye Olde Weird but True!
Author: National Geographic Kids
Published October 8th, 2013 by National Geographic Children’s Books

Goodreads Summary: Nothing attracts young readers like the weird but true…especially when the weird truth is hundreds of years old. Ye Olde Weird But True, the newest addition to the blockbuster Weird But True series, is packed with 300 wacky facts for history lovers ages 6 and up.

In this latest addition to this phenomenal series, readers will have more zany fun, this time from the pages of history! Ye Olde Weird But True delivers 100 percent new content, with 500 more of the amazing facts and photos that kids just can’t get enough of.

My Review and Teacher’s Tools for Navigation: Students love these books (as do I)! They are fascinated with all of the facts and it causes such conversation in the classroom. What I would love to see done with them is take them beyond the just fun books that students read parts of and put aside. I can picture bringing out all of my Weird but True books and allowing students to choose a fact from them and researching the fact. They would then share their fact with the class—a little mini research project. I did this years ago with Sharks where I let them choose any facts or question about sharks, research, and share and it was a very successful project because everyone was so engaged. I could see the same thing happening with the Weird but True books because the students would be able to pick a topic that interests them. I can just picture one student researching using maggots to clean wounds in the 19th century while the student next to him researches Roy Chapman Andrews, the real Indiana Jones.

Discussion Questions: Find a Weird but True fact and research more information about it. After doing so, share with the class what you learned.

We Flagged: “The oldest known musical instrument is a 42,000-year-old flute made out of vulture bone.” (p. 38)
“One of the oldest maps in the world was drawn on a mammoth tusk.” (p. 110)
“French King Francis I once won a wrestling match against English King Henry VIII.” (p. 191)

Read This If You Loved: Any fact books, The Gruesome Truth About…. books

Recommended For: 

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Top Ten Tuesday: 2014 Releases We Are Dying to Read

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Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. The feature was created because The Broke and Bookish are particularly fond of lists (as are we!). Each week a new Top Ten list topic is given and bloggers can participate.

 Today’s Topic: Top Ten 2014 Releases We Are Dying To Read

We can’t wait to get our hands on these titles!

Ricki

1. Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith

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Shockingly grotesque coming-of-age story? Count me in. The plot description of this book looks awesome, and I love Andrew Smith’s writing.

2. The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson

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I will read any book written by this incredible woman. She only writes excellence. I will be pre-ordering this one.

3. Champion by Marie Lu

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I didn’t think Prodigy could live up to the greatness of Legend. But I might argue it was even better! I have high hopes for the third book in the series and can’t wait for its release.

4. The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey

I am very ready for the second book in The 5th Wave series. We don’t even have a cover yet, so I better be prepared to wait.

5. ___________ by John Green

Is this cheating? John Green, I am ready for your next book. Let’s do this, friend.

 Kellee

1. ________ by John Green

I’m cheating too!

2. Ashes (Seeds of America #3) by Laurie Halse Anderson

I’ve been waiting and waiting for this book and it is finally going to arrive in 2014!

3. Princess in Black by Shannon Hale

Love a good princess to kick butt heroine story!

4. Sisters (Smile #2) by Raina Telgemeier

I cannot wait to hear more about Raina’s life (and my students will be so excited as well!).

5. The Summer of Letting Go by Gae Polisner

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I’m a big fan of Gae, and the premise of this novel sounds very good.

Which 2014 releases are you most excited for?

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? 12/2/13

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA!

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. It is a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It’s also a great chance to see what others are reading right now…you just might discover the next “must-read” book!

Jen Vincent, of Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee decided to give It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children’s literature – picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit – join us! We love this meme and think you will, too.

We encourage everyone who participates to support the blogging community by visiting at least three of the other book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.

Last Week’s Posts

top ten tuesday thanks 15793231

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**Click on any picture to view the post**

 Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: Over the last two weeks, as predicted, I did not read as much as I normally would—NCTE and ALAN leaves no time for reading. I did, however, get a few books in. Before I left for NCTE, I finished the newest book in Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales series Donner Dinner Party and it was fascinating! I love all of the books in this series as they take historical events, add a bit of humor, put them in a graphic novel, and really make them accessible to anyone. At NCTE I was able to squeeze in a quick graphic novel, Squish: Game On! by Jennifer and Matthew Holm, and a picture book, This is the Rope by Jacqueline Woodson.  Since returning, I read Threatened by Eliot Schrefer. I cannot tell you much about it yet as it doesn’t come out for 3 months, but I will say you will want to read this one.

Ricki: Hi, this is Kellee again. I have exciting news: This past week Ricki gave birth to her son Henry!!!! Congratulations Ricki! This may mean that she is a bit MIA from IMWAYR posts for a while, but she hopes to be back in the swing of things soon. 

 This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: I have already started my next book, Fat Boy vs. The Cheerleaders by Geoff Herbach and am already loving the voice. After that I am not sure. I do have some graphic novels I want to read as well as all of the amazing novels I got at NCTE and ALAN. I also hope to start listening to audiobooks again as I have Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the World to listen to.

 Upcoming Week’s Posts

top ten tuesday yeolde fangirl

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 So, what are you reading?

Link up below and go check out what everyone else is reading. Please support other bloggers by viewing and commenting on at least 3 other blogs. If you tweet about your Monday post, tag the tweet with #IMWAYR!

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Kellee’s 2013 NCTE/ALAN Reflection

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NCTE was a different experience for me this year than in the past. It is usually a conference filled with me soaking in the knowledge of the brilliance around me. This year, I was lucky enough to be part of two different presentations and then I had some ALAN duties I had to fulfill. Because of this I was not able to attend as many sessions as normal or spend as much time in the exhibit hall as normal, but after leaving, I feel that I got as much out of the conference, just a different something than normal.

Thursday

Day 1 of the conference! I jumped right in by attending a very interesting session: “What Research Suggests About Videogames and the Future of Teaching English.” Like the title states, it was mostly about research and not about actually implementing this research in the classroom, but the research was fascinating (Over 97% of youth play video games; Video games are associated with critical thinking, motivation, gratification, social capital, and academic material; Video games include complex literacies) and I took some emails so I could learn more about implementing. Following the session, I went to the “Elementary Level Get Together” where I ran into some Nerdy friends.

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Yes, I know I am not elementary, but Jarrett Krosoczka was speaking at this get together and I wanted to hear him and I am so glad that I did! He was engaging yet thought provoking. He shared with us his reading journey which led to his writing journey (Jarrett shared a similar talk at TED which you can view: here).

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Thursday my roommate Mindi also arrived and it was so nice to have some company! She took such good care of me while we were in Boston (being pregnant and gallivanting around can be very tiring). 

Friday

Friday was by far my busiest day! I was so exhausted by the end. First, I attended “Building Trust: Communication and the Teacher/Literacy Coach Relationship” to help with the transition into my new position. The speakers had had great success with coaching at their institutions, so I was happy to be able to hear some of the strategies that they employed.  Directly following this presentation it was time for my presentations (back-to-back!). First was “Rethinking Picture Books: Harnessing the Power of Nonfiction for Older Students” with the amazing Beth Shaum, Jen Vincent, and author Audrey Vernick.

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The room was packed, which was so nice to see!

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We all had such a great time sharing our experiences with using picture books with older students. You can view our presentation here.  Then I transferred my stuff to a room down the hall for the Nerdy round table session “Relevance, Relationships, and Reading Lives: Fostering Students’ Reading Engagement.” This session was also packed (nervous again!).

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My round table presentation was titled “Helping Struggling Readers Find Their Inner Reader” and focused on strategies that can be used to help struggling readers find joy in reading. This presentation can be viewed here and I shared some other resources on my slideshare account.

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I need to stop here just to say that I am so thankful for being able to be part of these presentations and for anyone who wants to hear what I have to say. Teaching is my passion and my heart and I am constantly trying to be the best teacher I can be. In these presentations I shared some of my teaching journey and I am so honored that there are educators who want to hear what I have to say. Thank you to anyone who was there or anyone who views the slideshares. I am just happy that I have you on this journey with me. After the presentations I needed a bit of relaxation so I went and visited the exhibit hall which is always filled with so much book love! Then later that night was the Nerdy Round Up! Although I spent only 30 minutes there (so tired!), it was so wonderful to see so many of my friends! My #ncte13 regret is not taking enough pictures of these great people.

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Saturday 

Saturday started out with a bang: the ALAN breakfast! At the ALAN breakfast, Judy Blume received the ALAN award and then Walter Dean Myers was our speaker—who could have asked for a better set of speakers?! They were so inspiring!

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At the breakfast it was so nice to see many of my friends as well including Ricki (before she left!), the Walden committee, and Gae Polisner.

Following the breakfast, I tried to attend Chris Lehman’s closer reading or the rock star packed Skill and Will session, but both were too full, so I lived vicariously through Twitter (search #skillandwill or @ichrislehman on 11/23 for some of the goodies). Then I had some ALAN duties which packed my afteroon, but I was able to go to one more session that night: “Sifting Through Technology: Choosing the Best Tools.” I was happy to realize that my school is already using most of the tools they mentioned, but I did learn about Little Bird Tales for digital storytelling, Mindomo for mind maps, We Video to make and share videos, Make Beliefs Comix to create comics, and Voice Thread for sharing presentations—all which I can bring back to school. That night, following a lovely dessert with Jillian Heise, Sarah Anderson, Brian Wyzlic, and Mindi Rench, we attended Catching Fire hosted by Scholastic. MAN! What a movie! A nice end to Saturday. 

Sunday

Sunday started with visiting the exhibit hall quickly (needed to touch base with some publishers also didn’t want to be there during the CRAZINESS that happens on the last day) and I had to make sure to see Kate Messner (and I am so sad I missed Jo Knowles!).

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Then the Scholastic Literary Brunch. This brunch is always one of the highlights for me as it was the first publisher anything I was ever invited to and it has become a yearly event. At the brunch, authors do readers theater presentations from their books—just a pleasant way to start a Sunday.

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Following the brunch, I had some more ALAN duties that went all the way to the ALAN Cocktail Reception. If you have never attended an ALAN workshop, the ALAN cocktail hour is really the red carpet time. Authors and publishers join us teachers and librarians for 90 minutes of mingling, food, and drinks. This is definitely the time that you can be a fangirl/guy and just go from author to author and chat and take photos. It is such a surreal experience! This year, I mostly just talked to Eliot Schrefer and my friends. 

mindi and me cocktail

Following the reception, I was lucky enough to be asked to attend the Random House Dinner (two of the authors on my ALAN panel are Random House authors). The dinner was phenomenal and I truly enjoyed getting to know Mariah Fredericks and Adele Griffin who are such delights. At the dinner, I even got to introduce myself to Judy Blume and we took a fantastic photo together. What a day!

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The ALAN workshop is such a special thing to attend! ALAN is the only organization that focuses completely on literature for adolescents and these two days celebrate that.  It is such a fantastic experience.

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Yesterday, Mindi and I shared our ALAN joy on the Nerdy Book Club blog by sharing the top 10 authors we were most excited to see at ALAN. I think this post really captures the essence of ALAN, so check it out.

Between the Nerdy post and my planned post on Thursday at my wonderful panel on Tuesday, I do not have much to add though I will share some of my highlights from each day:

Monday

1. Jack Gantos (see Nerdy post)
2. The “Celebrating Humor” panel: David Macginnis Gill was the moderator and he asked the most hilarious questions!
3. The “Celebrating Dystopia” panel: Although none of these authors (Neal Shusterman, Cristin Terrill, Jeff Hirsch, Kristen Simmons) ended up on our Nerdy post, they were definitely in the debate. Here are some quotes from their presentation:

  • Books that influenced them: How I Live Now, The Giver, House of The Scorpions, 1984
  • Shusterman influenced (for Unwind) by the idea that soon they will be able to use 100% of our body for transplants.
  • Hirsch was influenced by watching the news and getting more and more angry.
  • This isn’t a perfect world. The problem is a those who think it is. -Shusterman
  • The process starts with the concept, but what becomes most important are the characters. They have to be real. -Neal Shusterman
  • Cristin Terrill re-imagined the Terminator as the good guy–and a high school girl.
  • Dysopian novels are ultimately about hope. Characters are empowered to change the world. -Shusterman
  • Teenagers feel oppressed, so they connect to dystopian characters who survive and thrive and become a hero helps then through their own tough times. -Kristen Simmons

4. Chris Crutcher (see Nerdy post)
20131125_132123 [standing ovation!]
7. Walden Panel with honorees Benjamin Alire Saenz, A.S. King, and Eliot Schrefer (see Nerdy post)

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Tuesday

1. Laurie Halse Anderson (see Nerdy post)
20131126_081525 [standing ovation!]
2. The “Celebrating Science Fiction” panel: The authors on this panel (Alexander Gordon Smith, Michael Grant, Anna Jarzab, Tom Leveen) were just very interesting.

  • Wrote horror to deal with the bad. Horror teaches us to survive. -Gordon Smith
  • Students: read whatever the hell you want to read. -Michael Grant

3. The “Celebrating Horror and Supernatural” panel: Another panel with a very clever moderator who asked questions like, “What was the recipe for your novel?”
4. The “Celebrating International Voices” panel: Always interesting to learn about the world
5. The “Celebrating LBGTQ” panel: A) Nancy Gardner, B) All of the other books sound fascinating! (If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan, The Summer I Wasn’t Me by Jessica Verdi, Branded by the Pink Triangle by Ken Setterington)
6. Ellen Hopkins: Always a great advocate for writing/reading about the hard stuff.
7. MY PANEL!!! “Celebrating Strong Females” with Mariah Fredericks, Tupelo Hassman, Paul Rudnick, Adele Griffin: My post on Thursday will go into more depth about these novels and authors

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These 6 days are always a highlight of my year and this year, although different, is no exception!
I hope you can join us in 2014 in DC!!

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