This book is about teaching writing and the gritty particulars of teaching adolescents. But it is also the planning, the thinking, the writing, the journey: all I’ve been putting into my teaching for the last two decades. This is the book I wanted when I was first given ninth graders and a list of novels…
Popular Tenth Grade Creative Writing Printables
Short Story Sequencing by Joy Evans contains 20 stories of familiar How to activities, each told in four or six brief segments, that your students can cut and paste into a logical sequence. Each of the 20 stories is illustrated with line art of a fuzzy bear doing fun things like washing his dog, painting…
10th and 11th Grade Creative Writing Syllabus
High School students need teachers who encourage self-confidence and who help them develop an honest writing voice. They also need to hone their skills in proofreading, revision, and correct word and style usage, according to Creative Writing Handbook by Jay Amberg and Mark Larson. Here is a syllabus that I will use this summer: Course Description: …
Middle School: My Brother Is a Big, Fat Liar FREE Preview
From blockbuster author James Patterson comes the third installment in the #1 New York Times bestselling Middle School series! Georgia Khatchadorian plans to excel at Hills Village Middle School in all the places her troublemaking brother failed. She’s even bet him that she’ll quickly become one of the most popular girls in school. But Rafe…
Editing Without an Editor Workshop
A fabulous workshop is being offered by two experienced editors: Eileen Robinson, creator of F1rst Pages; and Harold Underdown, author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Publishing Children’s Books. Do you have a manuscript—picture book, novel, or nonfiction—that needs work? Do you wish you could learn techniques that would help you revise not only this…
Artists Create Stunning Tribute To Maurice Sendak
“Once a little boy sent me a charming card with a little drawing on it. I loved it. I answer all my children’s letters — sometimes very hastily — but this one I lingered over. I sent him a card and I drew a picture of a Wild Thing on it. I wrote, “Dear Jim:…
JANE ADDAMS CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARDS ANNOUNCED
Recipients of the 2013 Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards were announced by the Jane Addams Peace Association. Each Kindness, written by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by E.B. Lewis and published by Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin, is the winner in the Books for Younger Children Category. We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s…
The maternal effect: How mother deer protect their future kings
Do mothers invest more care in their sons if they believe their child is destined to be a king, president or a high-powered leader? The answer is definitively yes – as long as those mothers and their sons happen to have hooves. It always comes up when people are comparing their most traumatic movie experiences:…
Paperback version of “Soldier of Rome: Journey to Judea” is now available
This compelling novel, written for a general audience, is ideal for young adults. Soldier of Rome: Journey to Judea: Book Five of the Artorian Chronicles (Volume 5) The year is 31 A.D. It is five years into the Judean governorship of Pontius Pilate and the province ever stands on the edge of a knife. The…
Are you an author who visits schools? Come to Boise!
I’m going to be helping to book authors for tours including my daughter’s schools in the Boise area; talks at Boise State University, and other engagements in the Pacific Northwest. Please email me at youngpeoplespavilion@gmail.com with press kits and suggestions. Sincerely, Michael Strickland
Young People's Pavilion 