Read Local in New England!

October 7, 20151 Comment

New England’s a great place to be a children’s/YA author. We have a fantastic network of enthusiastic readers, booksellers, educators, librarians and fellow writers; we’re the kind of people who show up for book events even during a winter of 100+ inches of snow.

So what better place than to read local? New England educators, librarians, and readers, take the Read Local Challenge!

The logistics, from wonderful New England author Jen Malone:

The challenge is open to any school, library, homeschool cooperative, or book club and will run throughout the 2015-16 school year. Working off the poster to the right (contact me to request a free copy by mail), groups work together to read the featured titles. Each book featured is written by an author who calls New England home and is appropriate for middle school readers. (Note: some titles are classified as Young Adult. Please contact me with any questions about possible content within a particular title.)

If at least one student in the school/library/group completes a book, mark it off on the poster. In April 2016, groups will send in their tally and we’ll award the top four groups an author visit by one of the four sponsoring authors. If more than four groups achieve the highest possible score of 30/30, we will hold a drawing to select the winning group.

How cool is that? I’m beyond excited to see The Chance You Won’t Return on the list, along with awesome books like Monstrous, Fish in a Tree, Becoming Jinn, The Hunger Games, and more.

To get started, click through, get the poster, and start reading local!

Links Galore

July 27, 2015Leave a comment

Start the week with some good link-age:

The delightful Amber Lough on The Blind Wish and writing even when “all I want to do is curl up on the floor of my office.”
In case you’re looking for a fantasy series to dive into.
I’m a big Lumberjanes fan.
And speaking of summer camp books.
Or maybe you’re more into the idea of a summer road trip.
You could also map out your own trip to see American literary landmarks.
Dr. Seuss could have hung out with Don Draper.
I love the idea of expanding a known universe (in this case, Twilight) with mini-movies.
This fairy tale illustration exhibit sounds awesome.
David Bowie is the coolest.
Dropping out of art school.
“If you liked something, there was this real sense of solitude with your interest. It was so rare to find someone who shared your interest, and when you did find someone, you clung to that person, even if you weren’t the best match, because it was so rare to find someone.” Rainbow Rowell on how great the internet is for fans of all kinds.
And John Green on how great the internet is for learning communities.
Some fantastic feminist YA reads.
Welcome to Hufflepuff, Newt Scamander.
The Librarian of Congress position is about to be open.

You’re a Monster!

November 27, 2012Leave a comment

(comic: Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal)

Learn All the Things!

August 9, 2012Leave a comment

John Green talks about why education is awesome:

I’d also add that even though you might not love everything you learn in school, you never know what bit of awesome information will touch you or come into play in other parts of your life. Being a writer means that you need to know everything. Who knows when you character could want to build a catapult, or go to Neptune, or live in feudal Japan, or quote Shakespeare.

School for Rare Books (and the People Who Love Them)

July 24, 2012Leave a comment

Sometimes Alderman Library inspires silliness instead of scholarship.

This article combines three of my favorite things: books, libraries, and Charlottesville, VA. The Rare Book School, a summer program at the University of Virginia (wahoowa!), is an intensive course about the study, care, and history of the written word. How cool is that? Also cool:

And rare books aren’t just a matter of leather and fine paper. Mr. Suarez has added a number of classes about digitization and likes to begin his own course, Teaching the History of the Book, by passing around a box of Harlequins. Romance novels, he notes, are the biggest part of the publishing industry, and the part that has been most radically transformed by e-books.

“I tell my students to follow the money,” he said. “If you don’t understand the money, you don’t understand the book.”

Would love to hear the Rare Book School’s take on children’s literature. Make sure to check out the rest of the article. If you’re like me, you might be getting started on the application for next summer’s Rare Book School session.

That Old Black Hole

May 31, 2012Leave a comment

Love this video of a second grader asking Neil deGrasse Tyson about black holes colliding:

I like that he takes the question seriously and talks about how cool the physics of this situation would be without condescending to this boy. Kids at that age are just starting to learn about the universe, and it’s a great time to get them inspired by astronomy. I remember doing an astronomy unit in second grade and it was the best. More funding for science and space research/education, please!

Also, now I have this song in my head:

Do the black hole, everybody!

(via swissmiss)

Annie Cardi

Tag: education