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Author Guest Post: “Four Ways to Help Reluctant Readers” by Fleur Bradley, Author of Midnight at the Barclay Hotel

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“Four Ways to Help Reluctant Readers”

School is about to start back up—in fact, if you live in my neck of the woods in Colorado, school is already up and running again. Online or in-person remains to be seen for some, and some may prefer to homeschool. Which means as parents, we’re thrust into the role of educators.

It’s challenging, to say the least. After my youngest daughter struggled with reading, I decided to homeschool to help her, and discovered she has a reading disability. Where we lived at the time, there was no help in the way of special education—bottom line, I was on my own.

The upside: you know your kid best. The downside: because you’re the parent, your child is less likely to listen to you. I had to become an expert on reluctant readers, learning disabilities, and ways to ensure my daughter would read.

Here are four things that worked for me:

Start with choice

Okay, so there may be certain books that are part of classroom reading. But whenever possible, make what your kid reads a choice—even if (s)he picks the easiest book with the thinnest spine there is. Graphic novels, manga, comics, non-fiction (yes, even those Ripley’s Believe It or Not books) all count. In fact, if there’s a topic your child is interested in (say, sports, bugs, drawing), non-fiction is a great way to connect reading with what (s)he thinks is fun.

Use stepping stones

If you have a kid who really, really doesn’t want to read, and perhaps is reading below their grade level, you’ll need stepping stones. You can’t start with, say, The Bridge to Terabithia out the gate. Using choice where possible, start with a book that’s at a comfortable reading level for your child—it doesn’t matter where that is. Look for illustrated books, graphic novels, and high-interest books with possible pop-culture tie-ins (like books featuring favorite TV characters, comics, or non-fiction with photos).

Audiobooks are great, because your child will be able to hear someone else read the text while reading along themselves. It increases vocabulary, and helps with pronunciation as well.

Once you feel like your kid is improving, try introducing books that are just a level up from where they’re reading currently.

Oh, and as an added note: graphic novels are perfectly fine reading, no matter the reading level! I talk to parents and educators all the time who think that because of the heavily illustrated nature, graphic novels are lesser reading somehow. Here’s the truth: all reading will help your child get ahead—and in all other classes, too.

Read along

It may seem obvious (and you teachers will already be doing this) but for parents at home: try reading along with your child. Not only do you get to read some great books (children’s literature is booming, and has some amazing books), you also get to make an invaluable connection. When my husband was deployed in the military, my daughter and he read the same book, and would talk every few days about what they read. Not only did it allow them to stay close, my daughter’s reading (and math and science) improved exponentially because they were reading together. If you are a grandparent, this is also a great way to stay close to (perhaps far away) grandchildren.

Celebrate progress

You’ve given your child the choice, watched her or him improve… Now find a way to celebrate this progress! Particularly for a kid who has trouble reading, or started below grade level, it’s hard work to move from milestone to milestone. Imagine getting fit, and charting your progress as you walk longer on the treadmill—it’s like that. So celebrate! Try to make the celebration an experience rather than money or a gift when possible: maybe a movie night at home (you can pick one that was made after a book), a day outside, a picnic or other celebration. Your child worked hard—this deserves celebrating. And maybe, now (s)he’ll have a reason to aim for the next milestone…

My daughter is now grown, and has already finished college. I certainly helped her, but in the end, it was her hard work that got her there.

I now do librarian and educator talks on reaching reluctant readers, and like to end each session with why it’s so important to keep kids reading, by the numbers. So here goes, for my fellow statistics people:

  • Kids who read proficiently are five times more likely to graduate high school;
  • Twenty minutes of reading a day can get your childto their grade level;
  • Strong readers answer 66 percent more math questions correctly…*

I could go on a while, but I’ll simply say this in closing: that hard work to reach your reluctant reader? It’s worth it.

*Source: Renaissance (blog series, struggling readers)

Publishes August 25th, 2020 from Viking Books for Young Readers

About the Book: Hunting ghosts and solving the case before checkout? All in a weekend’s work.

When JJ Jacobson convinced his mom to accept a surprise invitation to an all-expenses-paid weekend getaway at the illustrious Barclay Hotel, he never imagined that he’d find himself in the midst of a murder mystery. He thought he was in for a run-of-the-mill weekend ghost hunting at the most haunted spot in town, but when he arrives at the Barclay Hotel and his mother is blamed for the hotel owner’s death, he realizes his weekend is going to be anything but ordinary.

Now, with the help of his new friends, Penny and Emma, JJ has to track down a killer, clear his mother’s name, and maybe even meet a ghost or two along the way.

About the Author: Fleur Bradley is the author of many middle-grade books aimed at reluctant readers, including the (spooky) mystery Midnight at the Barclay Hotel. Fleur is passionate about two things: mysteries and getting kids to read, and she regularly speaks at librarian and educator conferences on reaching reluctant readers. Originally from the Netherlands, Fleur now lives in Colorado Springs with her husband and two daughters, and entirely too many cats.

For more information on Fleur and her books, visit www.ftbradley.com, and on Twitter @FTBradleyAuthor.

Thank you, Fleur, for sharing your experience and advice with us and our readers!

Author Guest Post: “Why Reread?” by Dorothy A. Winsor, Author of The Wysman

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“Why Reread?”

Recently, someone on Twitter asked if people ever read a book more than once. The answer for me is, of course! But not all books. There are books I read only once and books I reread, often more than once. Thinking about that twitter question, I tried to look at books I reread and see if they have anything in common. I wanted to know what made me, at least, reread a book.

So I pulled three books off my shelf, almost at random. These days, if I have a book in physical form, it’s because I want to reread it. Otherwise I buy a less expensive and more easily stored e-book. The three books now on my desk are Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Lois McMaster Bujold’s Warrior’s Apprentice, and Megan Whalen Turner’s The Thief. So what common threads can I find in these very different books?

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I’ve loved Jane Austen since I was in the seventh grade, and it’s a love that’s aged well. I still love Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. They feel real to me, and I see the shaping of their personal lives as something worth caring about. Critics are wrong to dismiss a finely wrought portrayal of domestic life as somehow trivial. Family and romantic relationships affect how happy any of us is.

Additionally, Austen valued character development in the moral sense. That is, her books make a claim that we are obligated to figure out what it means to be a good person and try to live up to that standard. Would we care for a sister, as Elizabeth cares for Jane? Can we exercise self control as Lydia does not? Can we overcome our pride and our prejudices to avoid harming other people and our own happiness?

Those things matter in Austen’s book, and they matter to me.

Warrior’s Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold

I’m making a big leap from a realistic novel published in 1813 to a piece of contemporary science fiction in The Warrior’s Apprentice. So let’s see if the qualities that make a book rereadable transcend era and genre.

For me, the major attraction of Warrior’s Apprentice isn’t the space battles; it’s the central character, Miles Vorkorsigan. Miles was born with a deformed body in a world where less than perfect infants were exposed and left die in the recent past. He compensates for his physical limitations with his considerable (and slightly twisted) cleverness.

Because Miles has to go about his military career in unexpected ways, he often surprises me, which I like. He also makes me laugh, and not always with him. He’s one of those people who gets things rolling and then finds himself chasing events that have spiraled out of control. Hence the title of the book, deliberately patterned after Goethe’s “Sorcerer’s Apprentice.”

The reason I can reread this book, and the others in this series, is that Miles continues to be interesting. I care about his struggles against a world where he doesn’t fit in.

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

Again, I’m jumping genres but only slightly. The Thief is a fantasy set in a quasi-Greek world that was originally published as a middle-grade novel, i.e. a book intended for readers 10 and up. Currently, it’s sold on young adult shelves, i.e. as a book intended for teen readers. Really, it’s unclassifiable. Every Megan Whalen Turner fan I know is an adult.

The Thief rewards rereading more than any other book I know. The first time I read it, I thought its central character, Gen, violated the principle that the protagonist must protag. That is, the central character must drive events. Gen seemed to be being dragged along by other people, and yet I was engaged anyway.

The second time I read the book, I read almost every incident differently than I had the first time. The book includes a big twist near the end, and often twisty books don’t work well on rereading because the twist doesn’t surprise the reader the second time. But I’ve never felt that way about this book, because that twist completely changed everything else about the story. It continues to surprise and delight me. Megan Whalen Turner is a magician of a writer.

Generalizations?

First, I assume different readers respond to different books, so my rereadable qualities may not be the same as someone else’s.

So am I able to draw any generalizations from this? Well, I repeatedly mention loving the characters. I’d guess that for most people, a plot draws them through the book the first time, but a book’s characters are what make them love the book and reread it.

I also seem to value clever characters and those who struggle to do something hard, whether that’s win a battle or sacrifice their own desires for the sake of someone else. I believe in the value of stories and what they have to tell us about the human condition and the human heart, and these books answer that belief.

Austen has a young woman as the central character, and the other two books have young men. I’ve heard other people say they only read books with either male or female protagonists, but that doesn’t seem to matter to me. I notice, though, that all the books I chose are by women. I have books by men on my reread shelf, but there are more by women. Is that a coincidence? I’m honestly not sure.

So what books do you reread? Why? What are the qualities that matter to you? Are they the same as mine? What books do you come back to again and again?

Publishing June 27th, 2020 from Inspired Quill Publising

“The Grabber is just a fright tale.”

Former street kid Jarka was born with a crooked foot and uses a crutch, but that no longer matters now that he’s an apprentice Wysman, training to advise the king. When poor kids start to go missing from the city’s streets, though, Jarka suspects that whatever’s causing the disappearances comes from the castle.

Now he needs to watch his step or risk losing the position he fought so hard to win… but when someone close to him becomes the latest victim, Jarka knows he’s running out of time.

His search takes him from diving into ancient history, to standing up to those who want to beat or bleed the magic out of him.

Will Jarka succeed in uncovering an evil long-hidden, or will he see friends and family vanish into the darkness?

About the Author:Dorothy A. Winsor writes young adult and middle grade fantasy. Her novels include Finders Keepers (Zharmae, 2015), Deep as a Tomb (Loose Leave Publishing, 2016), The Wind Reader (Inspired Quill, 2018), and The Wysman (June, 2020). At one time, Winsor taught technical writing at Iowa State University and GMI Engineering & Management Institute (now Kettering). She then discovered that writing fiction is much more fun and has never looked back. She lives in Chicagoland.

Thank you, Dorothy, at this look at rereading and its powers!
What books do you all love to reread?

Author Guest Post: “Opening the Door” by Marjorie Maddox, Author of Inside Out: Poems on Writing and Reading Poems with Insider Exercises

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“Opening the Door: How Stepping Inside the Poem Can Help Your Students—Even Those Who Hate Writing— Read, Understand, Create, and Enjoy Poetry”

Let’s face it: Some students LOVE poetry. It’s their secret passion, guarded closely. They scribble it in notebooks. They sneak-read it between classes.

For others, it’s a public proclamation. They sing poetry, dance it, prance with it around the classroom while reciting it. They raise their hands and volunteer their favorite authors.

However, for many students, well, there’s not so much love. For them, poetry resides in a decrepit, old, locked house AND someone has thrown away the key. No way are they even walking up the front path.

If any of this sounds familiar, read on. Based on my thirty years of teaching poetry at the primary, secondary, and university levels, Inside Out: Poems on Writing and Reading Poems with Insider Exercises brings together the eye-rollers, the proud enthusiasts, and the quiet creators. How? By inviting them all inside the poem.

First, unlock the door, then throw away the keys: Not the keys to fun and understanding (we’ll keep those), but the keys that say here’s a list of jargon to memorize, or here are the only subjects that poetry can be about, or here are been-there-done-that worksheets, or here’s a book with dry, lengthy explanations of those terms and exercises.

I’ll bet that most of you have already done just that. But now what?

Why not first approach poems with, well, an approachable poem?  Poems, of course, are not the enemy, but some students feel that way. Here’s a helpful—and fun—way for students to “get to know” a poem.

Befriending a Poem

Invite him home for dinner,
but don’t insist on rhyme;

he may be as tired and as overworked
as his distant cousin Cliché.

Best to offer intriguing conversation
that’s light on analysis.

Allow for silences and spontaneity.
Most importantly, like any good friend,

be faithful and patient;
remember to listen.

Sometimes he’s shy
and just needs a little time and coaxing.

Much of what he has to say
lies between the lines.

Students can choose a poem they’d like to get to know, then take that poem somewhere they themselves like being (the mall? a skateboard park? a soccer field? a cabin? a concert?). Next, interact. Try having them start with one of these titles: “Inviting a Poem to My House,” “A Poem Texts Me and Says,” “Talking Back to a Poem.” You try it, too!

Next, open the door—wide!  Getting to know (and write) a poem is a hands-on experience. I like to start with Inside Out poems “How to See a Poem,” “How to Hear a Poem,” “How to Taste a Poem,” “How to Smell a Poem,” and “How to Touch a Poem.” Students then write their own versions. What fragrance does a poem have? What color is a favorite poem? What does a poem taste like?

How to Smell a Poem

First, inhale deeply and equally.
Your nose, noble and brave,
knows how to adjust to each form
of aroma. Still, when you dive
into scent and swim about
until you’re wet with the whiff
of each syllabic drop,
try not to sneeze when the breeze of ballads
becomes the breath inside your lungs.
Be forewarned: the incense of words intoxicates.
There’s a peppermint odor to odes
and no lemons, no melon emanates from palindromes.
As for lack of predictability, free verse is the worst:
who knows what stench will attack the old olfactory,
what fragrance will rejuvenate your young but numb nostrils?
That’s the adventure to savor in this flavor extravaganza.
Keep following the trail of scent to sniff out the meaning.

These initial interactions then “open the door,” not only to sensory details, but also to such poetic tools as couplets, personification, alliteration, similes and metaphors, line breaks, paradox, and the like. But wait, I said no boring definitions, right? Sure, Inside Out includes a glossary, but wouldn’t it be a lot more enjoyable to experience these poetic tricks through poems that model them? Here’s what I mean:

Couplet

Poetic twins all dressed in rhyme
stroll side-by-side in two straight lines.

In Inside Out, the poems are the definitions. Learn how to write a villanelle by reading the poem “How to Write a Villanelle.” Relax and cast your line with the poem “Fishing for Sestinas.” English and Italian sonnets, clerihews, dramatic monologues, triolets—and more—they’re all here for the meeting. Allow them to introduce themselves.

Come on in! It’s no secret that many of us learn best by doing. It’s one thing to admire a house (or a poem) from the outside. It’s another to open the door and strut on in, blast the music a bit, settle into a comfy chair, or completely rearrange the furniture. No sitting on the sidelines (or outside and across the street) with poetry. That’s why Inside Out also includes nine Insider Exercises based on the previous poems.

Here are some teasers:

After reading the poem “Getting Ready with Iambic,” have your students try their hand at writing one line in iambic pentameter. Start a silly competition. Here’s a line to get you started: Do not forget to wash the bathtub out!

Ask your students to write similes for eating spaghetti, watching a scary movie, or hitting a home run. What about that noise a cat makes when she’s really happy? Describe that using a simile or metaphor. Need help? See the poem “Simile explains Metaphor.”

After reading the poem “Tug of War between Concrete and Abstract,” have everyone write down one abstract word (something that you cannot see, hear, smell, taste, or touch—like joy, democracy, freedom, anger). Put the words into a bag. Have each student pick a word and, without telling anyone what the word is, write a poem describing that word. What animal is it? What does it sound like? What is it, well, like? The catch? When writing their poems, students cannot use the abstract word they picked from the bag. Next, have them then read their poems aloud. See if anyone can guess the abstract word. No peeking allowed!

Ready for some more ideas? Me, too! All of these exercises can be adapted easily for remote learning. Leave the door open (virtually or otherwise) and invite your students and friends inside the poem. I’ll get the popcorn—and some extra paper and pencils. Stay as long as you like. After all, it’s fun in here, and I’m already enjoying your company.

Published March 31st, 2020

Marjorie Maddox knows poetry. If I had to pick one book to introduce students to the joy of writing poems, this would be it. Maddox creates a book full of original poems to show us the inside out of every kind of poem you could ever want to write. I dare you to read a page or two without reaching for your pen and composing a poem of your own. From alliteration to sonnets and the villanelle, Marjorie Maddox makes metaphors meaningful and memorable.
—Charles Ghigna – FatherGoose®

It is clear that Marjorie Maddox loves poetry and loves her audience. The poems of the book—“How to Write a Villanelle,” “How to Touch a Poem,” to name two—illustrate the topics. For instance, “How to Touch a Poem” starts with “Forget distance or that anemic wave / you save for mere acquaintances and great aunts.” Sometimes people may not write poetry because they don’t know how to approach it, and Maddox removes the barriers. If you have ever thought about writing poetry and needed concrete tips, this is the book for you.
—Kim Bridgford, editor, Mezzo Cammin

Inside Out … combines original poetry with inviting activities to guide young people in writing poetry themselves. More than two dozen inventive poems present key concepts, elements, and forms of poetry, each … accessible and engaging. For example, her poem, “Simile Explains Metaphor,” cleverly uses the teen-speak of “like” to illustrate how similes and metaphors work in just six lines. Puns, paradoxes, and alliteration, as well as clerihews, acrostics, and sonnets are all presented in pithy poems that provide a laser focus on the poetic element being introduced. Then Maddox offers nine in-depth “insider exercises” grounded in the previous poems with helpful steps and fun challenges for young writers. It’s a unique combination of playful poems about poetry and crackerjack exercises for aspiring writers.
— Sylvia Vardell, author of Poetry Aloud Here! and co-editor of the Poetry Friday anthologies with Janet Wong

About the Author: Winner of America Magazine’s 2019 Foley Poetry Prize and Professor of English and Creative Writing at Lock Haven University, Marjorie Maddox has published 11 collections of poetry—including Transplant, Transport, Transubstantiation (Yellowglen Prize); True, False, None of the Above (Illumination Book Award Medalist); Local News from Someplace Else; Perpendicular As I (Sandstone Book Award)—the short story collection What She Was Saying (Fomite); four children’s and YA books—including  Inside Out: Poems on Writing and Readiing Poems with Insider Exercises and A Crossing of Zebras: Animal Packs in Poetry, Rules of the Game: Baseball Poems , I’m Feeling Blue, Too!, Common Wealth: Contemporary Poets on Pennsylvania (co-editor); Presence (assistant editor); and 600+ stories, essays, and poems in journals and anthologies. She is the great grandniece of Branch Rickey, the general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers who helped break the color barrier by signing Jackie Robinson to Major League Baseball. The chair of the jury of judges for the 2020 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Book Award, she gives readings and workshops around the country. For more information, please see www.marjoriemaddox.com

Thank you, Marjorie! Poetry is often tough in classrooms, so this is such an in with all students! 

Blog Tour with Author Q&A: Legends from Mom’s Closet by Sasha Olsen

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Legends from Mom’s Closet
Author: Sasha Olsen
Published May 19th, 2020

Summary: In Legends from Mom’s Closet, 10-year-old Sasha Olsen documents how she spent a rainy summer indoors using her creativity and imagination. After reading a stack of books about women like Frida Kahlo, Audrey Hepburn and Billie Holiday, Sasha’s imagination ran wild and she ended up in her mom’s closet picking through her clothes and her grandmother’s vintage pieces to dress up like all the female legends she had been reading about. Complete with photos of the looks she created and tips for other young girls on how they, too, can emulate these iconic women, Legends from Mom’s Closet will inspire readers to delve into the lives of truly remarkable women from the past to learn a thing or two about what it means to be legendary in today’s world.

About the Author: Sasha Olsen is a 10-year-old author, environmental activist, ballroom dancer, bookworm, pianist, and enjoys anything artistic. She always finds new hobbies and things to do, which usually ends up in her trying to juggle everything. She lives with her family in Bal Harbour, Florida, where she also spearheads the conservation movement “I Want My Ocean Back.” Legends From Mom’s Closet is her first book.

Q&A with Sasha: 

In your book, Legends from Mom’s Closet, you share tidbits about and dress up like legendary women you read about during a rainy summer spent indoors. A lot of kids your age would spend a rainy summer watching TV or playing video games. What made you decide to start reading books about famous women?

Well, I actually love to read, especially biographies. I don’t usually spend a lot of time using any devices. I didn’t specifically start reading books about famous women, but I started looking around for books to learn more about legendary people. I just happened to meet these iconic women through their amazing stories and spending a day in their shoes! 

Who was your favorite female legend to read about?

My favorite legend to read about was probably Frida Kahlo! I felt like she had a very inspiring story. She had a lot of difficult times in her life, but no matter what, she worked hard to achieve her dreams and become an artist. 

What is the biggest lesson you learned from getting to know all of these female legends?

I learned many lessons! Most of all though, I learned that women are super strong. Women work very hard and can get through anything that might stand in their way of achieving their goals. Women are so inspiring!

What inspired you to use your mom’s clothes and your grandmother’s vintage pieces to recreate all of their iconic looks?

Actually, I just went into my mom’s closet and started trying on her shoes and dresses. This was after I read about Frida Kahlo. So, I just got the idea to try and dress up as her! I thought my mom might be really upset with me for playing with her things, but she loved the idea. If the legend was wearing something like I really couldn’t figure out where to get, I would call my grandma for advice. Most of the time, she had exactly what I needed!

Who was your favorite legend to dress up as and why?

My favorite legend to dress up as was definitely Yayoi Kusama. I love her bright artwork, and I was able to get even more creative to dress up as her!

How did you decide which legends to include in Legends from Mom’s Closet?

I didn’t choose them before. I just started to read about people who I didn’t know much about yet and it ended up being all women! After, I just decided to share them in this book.

Your other passion is the environment. Tell us what you learned about vintage fashion versus fast fashion.

When I was started my movement Iwantmyoceanback and this project, I was doing a lot of research during that time. I wanted to know more about what are the biggest things that pollute our oceans and cause problems for our planet. I found out like clothing is one of the biggest ocean pollutants and some fabrics, like polyester, have plastic in them so it breaks down and hurts our sea animals. After finding this out, I realized that it’s very harmful to buy fast fashion because people just buy the clothes and throw them away soon after. It inspired me to learn more about vintage and how we can buy secondhand instead, and just reuse clothing! 

Ultimately, what do you hope your readers take away from your book?

I hope readers learn how important it is to let your creativity run wild! I want other kids to know that we can get inspired and have fun while also learning new things and growing our knowledge. It’s also very important that we learn more about how fast fashion affects our oceans and that we stop it! We need to win the war against fast fashion to help save the planet.

Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about the book or what you learned while writing it?

I just want to share that this book project is super special to me! It means a lot to me, and I worked very hard on it. I hope that everyone enjoys my stories and experiences dressing up as these legendary women. Most of all, I hope readers try it themselves and that it inspires them to think outside the box! I learned a lot from reading and getting to know these women, especially that we can do anything if we believe in ourselves.

For additional details, visit www.legendsfrommomscloset.com.

Visit the other blog tour stops: 

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**Thank you to Nicole at PR by the Book for providing the blog tour materials**

Author Guest Post: “Engaging Your Reluctant Readers” by Sarah S. Reida, Author of All Sales Final

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“Engaging Your Reluctant Readers”

Some kids don’t read anything beyond what is required, and even the best Harry Potter book can’t beat the movie in their opinion. That’s unfortunate for a bookworm parent, but it’s also not the worst thing. Those kids are probably much better than we were at science and math.

As a new(ish) parent, I’m finding that some kids are natural readers. Some are not. While we should always encourage kids to read, the reality is that some are never going to find curling up with a book a fine way to spent a Saturday afternoon. Still, there are ways you can trick–er, engage a reluctant reader by making reading an actual experience. Here are five suggestions:

#1 Attend an event

I have a three-year-old. Even though books don’t hold her attention, she still has her favorites, and the Bad Kitty alphabet book is one of them. Nick Bruehl was supposed to come to our local bookstore (Anderson’s of Naperville), but cancelled due to COVID-19. I know Brooke would have loved to have met Nick (who is very pleasant; I met him at a conference once), and she would have been thrilled to see the actual author sign her copy. Many authors attend events, have book signings, have contests, etc. If a kid attends an event and has a good time, that good time is linked to books. Also, if they personally like an author because that author was kind to them, they may bother to read that particular author’s books in the future. (I can say that seeing the actual writer pen his name to her book would have blown Brooke’s mind).

#2 Form a very exclusive book club

Read a book at the same time as your child. Let them pick the book, and when you’re both done, let them pick a lunch place to talk about the book. Maybe you can make them think about something in the book they haven’t considered, or vice-versa. If you’re reading the book with them, they’ll feel like it’s less of a chore.

#3 Create a book project

You can’t do this with all books, but for some, you can create an associated non-reading project. For instance, with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, you could create your own golden tickets. With Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library, you could devise a scavenger hunt. In All Sales Final, its nefarious owner Ruth keeps a collection of snow globes, each symbolizing a town where the shop has been. A child could make a snow globe, selecting items that best represent their town (though, of course, that snow globe would be a decorative piece and not used for the same purpose as Ruth). For Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, a shoebox may be used for the mouse’s habitat.

#4 Book versus movie

Plenty of good books have been made into movies. After reading a novel with your child, Friday night movie night can feature the film version. In the morning and over pancakes, discuss the differences between the two, and why any deviations were an improvement or not.

#5 Join the celebration

Each year, our local library celebrates the Harry Potter series with an all-day event that takes over the entire library, to include an actual Quidditch game, the Honeydukes Express food trolley, book-themed arts and crafts, a scavenger hunt, and dozens of other activities (which have expanded over the years). You can even take the Hogwarts Express via Platform 9 ¾, as my little Brooke is doing below:

Some books are so awesome they have droves of fans who celebrate them. If your kid gets excited, it could result in them dabbling with similar books they might never have read.

Not every kid is a reader, but every kid likes to be entertained and to feel special. There are plenty of reading-related projects that can serve these ends, and perhaps even make a kid discover a new author or realize that reading isn’t such a chore, after all.

In All Sales Final, my second middle grade novel, only eleven-year-old Anna can save her town from the dark magic of a secondhand shop that opens on Main Street. In its starred review, Kirkus Reviews referred to it as “. . . [a] delightful, safe read with insidious dark edges . . . An enchanting fantasy for middle-grade readers who like a touch of magic in their fiction.”

About the Book:What price would you pay for everything you’ve ever wanted?

11-year-old Anna has always wanted to be extraordinary, but she feels as ordinary as her sleepy Midwestern town of Longford. Then a secondhand shop opens in Longford – a shop full of magic that only Anna can see. When the shop’s owner, Ruth, offers Anna a job not just anyone can perform, Anna feels that her dream is finally coming true. Proudly, she spreads the news of the shop, charming others into visiting and helping match each person to the perfect item.

Then Anna sees what Ruth’s bargains take away from her customers. Ruth’s magic is darker than she let on, and so is the life she’s offered Anna. Even worse, if Anna doesn’t stop Ruth, Longford will be doomed. But what chance does one ordinary girl have against someone like Ruth?

Thank you, Sarah, for some fun ways to engage our readers who may not be engaged yet!

Blog Tour with Q&A and Readers’ Guide!: One Last Shot by John David Anderson

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One Last Shot
Author: John David Anderson
Published May 5th, 2020 by Walden Pond Press

Summary: For as long as he can remember, Malcolm has never felt like he was good enough. Not for his parents, who have always seemed at odds with each other, with Malcolm caught in between. And especially not for his dad, whose competitive drive and love for sports Malcolm has never shared.

That is, until Malcolm discovers miniature golf, the one sport he actually enjoys. Maybe it’s the way in which every hole is a puzzle to be solved. Or the whimsy of the windmills and waterfalls that decorate the course. Or maybe it’s the slushies at the snack bar. But whatever the reason, something about mini golf just clicks for Malcolm. And best of all, it’s a sport his dad can’t possibly obsess over.

Or so Malcolm thinks.

Soon he is signed up for lessons and entered in tournaments. And yet, even as he becomes a better golfer and finds unexpected friends at the local course, be wonders if he might not always be a disappointment. But as the final match of the year draws closer, the tension between Malcolm’s parents reaches a breaking point, and it’s up to him to put the puzzle of his family back together again.

About the Author: John David Anderson is the author of some of the most beloved and highly acclaimed books for kids in recent memory, including the New York Times Notable Book Ms. Bixby’s Last Day, Granted, Sidekicked, and The Dungeoneers. A dedicated root beer connoisseur and chocolate fiend, he lives with his wonderful wife and two frawsome kids in Indianapolis, Indiana. He’s never eaten seven scoops of ice cream in a single sitting, but he thinks it sounds like a terrific idea. You can visit him online at www.johndavidanderson.org.

Q&A: Thank you so much to John David Anderson for answering these questions for us!

What was your inspiration for writing this novel?

One Last Shot is somewhat autobiographical in nature. As an adolescent once myself (so many eons ago) I can empathize with Malcolm’s (the protagonist’s) conflicts and concerns: the desire (or is it burden?) to please others, the need to find something you’re good at, anxiety over a potential parent split, the ache for a friend that just gets you—these are all feelings I struggled with as well. So think the emotional core of the book is definitely informed by my childhood.

At the same time, I literally just sat down one day and said, “I’m going to write a sports novel. Hold up…I don’t play sports! But I do play miniature golf. Wouldn’t it be cool if somebody—i.e. me–wrote a book about miniature golf and made it exactly eighteen chapters?” I think a lot of my stories start this way, as artistic challenges or experiments, though the real challenge is turning these exercises into full-fledged narratives.

Why mini golf?

Um…because it’s awesome! Honestly I picked mini-golf because it worked well as a metaphor for the coming-of-age story I was telling. On the one hand it’s so whimsical and random—windmills, barns, pirate ships—but at the same time its so methodical and predictable. It’s basic geometry. For Malcolm that’s appealing because it’s something he can control; it’s a problem with an easily discernable solution—the cup is right there. It’s also individualistic. Nobody is counting on him to catch the fly ball or safely get on base. His successes and failures are entirely his own—though that comes with its own pressures, of course.

Could you tell us some about your writing process?

Anyone who knows me already knows that chocolate is involved. Beyond that, though, it’s 6-8 weeks of pure writing fury followed by 6-8 months of torturous revision. My initial drafts are explorations—my editor says they are me laying out miles and miles of track hoping that it leads somewhere (it doesn’t always)— but the most important thing for me is to maintain momentum so I can push through the difficult middles to get to the rewarding ends. I just have to trust myself that the exhaustive revision process will bang all the pieces firmly into place, fashioning my mess of a first draft into something presentable.

I also have come to realize that the process never really stops. Even if I’m not in front of the laptop, I’m still writing. When I’m working on a novel my brain never fully steps out of that world. So much of the process happens in the ongoing dialogue I have with the characters inside my head (much like the voices Malcolm hears in his).

Of course this particular book afforded me the chance to do some fun hands-on research: I’ve visited my fair share of mini-golf courses in the last couple of years.

What is one thing you hope readers take away from ONE LAST SHOT?

The world is unpredictable. It throws obstacles at you right and left. You don’t get to make the course, you just have to play it.

But you also have more than one shot. Not everything is going to be a hole-in-one. You are going to doink off the rock or stick yourself in the corner or even hit it way too hard, somehow jump the wall and end up in the parking lot. But that’s okay. I want my readers to know its okay. You learn from your mistakes, and you take a better shot next time.

Readers’ Guide:

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May 4   Nerdy Book Club
May 7   Teachers Who Read
May 8    A Library Mama
Kirsti Call
May 10 Bluestocking Thinking
May 12 Unleashing Readers
Maria’s Mélange
May 14 The Book Monsters

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**Thank you to Walden Pond Press for providing the Q&A and a copy for giveaway!**

Author Guest Post: “Studying the Past, Writing the Future: Some Thoughts on the Study of History” by Todd Hasak-Lowy, Author of We Are Power: How Nonviolent Activism Changes the World

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“Studying the Past, Writing the Future: Some Thoughts on the Study of History” 

Before I even finished co-writing Roses and Radicals: The Epic Story of How American Women Won the Right to Vote (Viking, 2018), I knew I wanted to write another book like it.  By “like it” mean:

A book of history for younger readers.

  • A book that tells the story of incredible, genuinely heroic, and underappreciated people.
  • A book that, despite its younger audience, still captures the nuance, complexity, and, above all, rich profundity of some important chapter from the past.

It took me many months, many long walks, and many conversations with many people before I stumbled upon the subject of nonviolence.  As had been the case with suffrage a few years before, I knew next to nothing about this topic, but as I began reading my way into it, I could tell that it would make for a great book.

There was a more specific link connecting the two projects as well: Alice Paul, who led the American women’s suffrage movement during the final decade of its long struggle.  I had grown utterly fascinated with the intense, truly radical, and somewhat mysterious Paul while working on Roses and Radicals.  As I began reading about nonviolence I came to understand that she herself was a nonviolent activist, even though only a tiny fraction of the scholarship about Paul views her work in this context.  So the writing of my book, We Are Power: How Nonviolent Activism Changes the World, would begin by retelling her story, yet again, but this time in order to establish her rightful place alongside Gandhi, MLK, and Cesar Chavez.

But as I did this, I learned that We Are Power would be crucially different than Roses and Radicals.  For one thing, it would tell more stories—and would thus require considerably more research.  More important, however, these stories would be tied together not by a common set of characters, a single movement, or a shared setting, but by the strategy of nonviolent activism itself.

In this regard, We Are Power is not only a book of history, but a book of political theory, or, more precisely, a book about a half-dozen instances of this political theory being put into dramatic, inspiring practice.  The book, as narrative, would be propelled by characters and conflicts, but the spine holding it all together would be the theory itself: the way nonviolence rethinks the very nature of political power and social change.

Unfortunately, I found this theoretical material, all on its own, dense, abstract, and, when read separately from the history, extremely dry and perhaps even boring.  I knew that the parts of my book dedicated directly to this theory would have to be brief or I’d lose my readers.  And yet, these parts, I learned as I wrote my various chapters, were in a sense the very point of the book.  As they were interwoven into the various narratives I was constructing, they often found their place in and around the climaxes to each story.

The historical events were, I realized, the occasion to present the timeless truths at the center of nonviolent activism.  This would explain why the title to my book of history—We Are Power: How Nonviolent Activism Changes the World—contains not one but two present tense verbs.  It also explains why the book is able to pivot, in its conclusion, from past movements to a present struggle—the fight against climate change—that is very much ongoing.

Ultimately, We Are Power isn’t a book of history, or only a book of history.  It’s a book about power and the way those who don’t appear to have power can claim it, in order to change the world in which they live.  The truth about power at the center of this book is timeless.

I don’t have a lesson, per se, to offer teachers here, but instead a rather large bit of advice I encourage teachers to keep in mind when working on history with their students: studying the past is worthwhile not because there’s value in knowing, all by itself, what happened in earlier times, but because understanding history helps us see our present more clearly.  This great, meta-historical truth needn’t receive a lot of attention in lessons, but it should be there, I believe, as an often-silent motivation for the entire enterprise.

Our responsibility to study the past is inseparable from our responsibility to apply what we learn to our actions in the present.  When we teach young people history, we’re giving them a crucial tool in becoming informed citizens capable of transforming our present into a better future, and I can think of no lesson more important than that.

Published April 7th, 2020 by Abrams Books for Young Readers

About the Book: Author Todd Hasak-Lowy’s We Are Power is a stirring introduction to nonviolent activism, from American women’s suffrage to civil rights to the global climate change movement.

What is nonviolent resistance? How does it work? In an age when armies are stronger than ever before, when guns seem to be everywhere, how can people confront their adversaries without resorting to violence themselves? Featuring leaders Gandhi, Alice Paul, Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez, Václav Havel, and Greta Thunberg, We Are Power brings to life the incredible movements that use nonviolent activism to change the world.

By answering the question “Why nonviolence?” and challenging the notion of who makes history and how, author Todd Hasak-Lowy shows the ways key movements have succeeded again and again in all sorts of places, using a variety of methods and against overwhelming odds. Breaking down nonviolent resistance into digestible lessons for next generation of activists, this book is an inspiring call to action, a reminder that true power ultimately rests in our hands.

We Are Power also includes an overview of other movements from the last one hundred years, a bibliography, and an index.

★ “Hasak-Lowy’s writing gives life to both the people and issues involved, taking time to explain historical backgrounds and the ways the lessons from one movement affected future ones.” — Booklist, STARRED REVIEW

★ “Highly recommended for its outstanding treatment of the history of social justice. A good resource for student activists.” — School Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW

★ “There has never been a time when a book is more relevant than this one.” — School Library Connection, STARRED REVIEW

“A striking and very timely conclusion highlights teenage Greta Thunberg’s bold challenge to fight global climate change.” — Publishers Weekly

“This excellent, timely overview will open eyes and deserves a wide readership.”— Kirkus

About the Author: Todd Hasak-Lowy is the author of several books for young readers, including the novels 33 Minutes and Me Being Me Is Exactly as Insane as You Being You. He is a professor in the department of liberal arts at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has a PhD from University of California, Berkeley. He lives in Evanston, Illinois, with his wife and two daughters. Visit his website at toddhasaklowy.com.

https://www.toddhasaklowy.com/
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https://www.abramsbooks.com/product/we-are-power_9781419741111/

Thank you, Todd, for this look at how history helps write the future: good and bad!