Teaching Authors and Planet Middle School

I was recently interviewed by April Halprin Wayland about Planet Middle School and teaching writing in schools on this website. And there's a book giveaway if you enter by 11:00 pm (CT), September 30, 2011.

If you like a good laugh, and maybe shedding a tear or two, read my newest novel.

PLANET MIDDLE SCHOOL

Joylin was doing just fine, playing basketball every day, hanging with her best friends, Jake and KeeLee, and walking, talking, and dressing like one of the guys. Then, something happened. Well, actually, a few somethings. Her body started to change, without her permission. She discovered boys, as in they could be "cute." And she entered middle school. All of a sudden, Joylin felt like an alien, and she knew her life would never be the same.

The book is a Junior Literary Guild selection and it's gotten great reviews. EnJoy!

Pennsylvania Chooses Dyamonde Daniel ... and So Does Minnesota!

Thanks, Pennsylvania for choosing Make Way for Dyamonde Daniel for your Young Readers Choice Master List for 2011-2012. You'll have some great discussions with your students about this book and the other Dyamonde Daniel stories.

Make Way for Dyamonde Daniel was nominated for the Maud Hart Lovelace Book Award, given by Minnesota Youth Reading Award. Students in grates 3-5 will read all nominated titles, then vote on their favorite in March 2012. I win either way, since kids in Minnesota will be reading my book. Yay!

Horace Mann Upstanders Award

I am really tickled to have won this award for Almost Zero: the new Dyamonde Daniel book. I'll be accepting the award at their conference in Culver City, California, on June 25, 2011.

Antioch College, which bestows the Horace Mann Upstanders Award in honor of its first college president, defines an Upstander as "a person who recognizes injustice and acts in a way to right the wrong. The goal of this award is to provide children with examples of Upstander behavior and to encourage them to be one themselves. Being an Upstander is a foundational skill necessary in the support of a democracy." Previous winners include Mrs. Marlowe's Mice by Frank Asch, Violet the Pilot by Steve Breen, and The Dunderheads by Paul Fleischman.

Read Almost Zero. I think you'll agree that she's an Upstander. Although I didn't write the book with this in mind, I believe in Dyamonde's decisions to pursue right over wrong.

Thanks to the committee for recognizing this quality in my fictional character.

Watch the Book Trailer

My newest book, A Girl Named Mister, debuts on August 6th. You're going to like this story of the two Marys. Get a sneak peek by watching the book trailer on YouTube.

National Poetry Month

Look for my interview on The Miss Rumphius Effect, a wonderful blog by Tricia Stohr-Hunt, who is the chair of the Education Department at the University of Richmond in Virginia. My interview first appeared on April 2, 2010.

NCTE Notable

Rich: A Dyamonde Daniel Book is one of the NCTE's notables for 2010.

CCBC Choices

Both Dyamonde Daniel books, Make Way For Dyamonde Daniel and Rich, made the CCBC Choices list.

Interview and Article on Teaching Books.net

Nick Glass at TeachingBooks.net interviewed me recently about my books and writing. You can read that interview by clicking here. You can also read an article by Carin Bringelson about the writing process, posted on the TeachingBooks.net Blog.

Exquisite Corpse Now on View

My episode of the Exquisite Corpse Adventure, titled "In Arm's Way," is now live on the Library of Congress website. How can you resist this beginning? "Nancy was none too fond of thunder. (It had something to do with her being shot out of a cannon one time too many as a young child.)" I hope you'll read the whole episode right here!

Coretta Scott King Book Award Curriculum Resource Center

The folks at TeachingBooks.net have been hard at work creating the Coretta Scott King Book Award Curriculum Resource Center. This is a fabulous multimedia, online database for educators and families featuring more than 250 original recordings with award-winning authors and illustrators and hundreds of lesson plans. If you search on my name, for instance, you'll get a comprehensive listing of all my books associated with this award, along with links to interviews with me and online resources like teaching guides and activities related to those books. I think this will be invaluable for teachers, and I'm proud to be a part of it!

Thanks!

Thanks a Million just went back for another printing. Thanks a million for your support!

Washington Post Interview

The Washington Post ran a piece on children's books about Barack Obama and how race is or is not addressed in those books. They included my Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope, and I got to share my views about why race was important to the message of my book.