Taking a poll

My writer pal, Sarah Miller and I were chit-chatting the other day about some of our favorite books...

...and some of our favorite authors...

...and what makes them favorites....

....which made us curious to hear from other book folks.

Who do you consider to be some of the most skilled writers for young people?

By "skilled", I mean, writers you think are particularly good at one - or all - of the elements of the writing process, such as dialogue, setting, character development, plotting, etc.

Any particular books that stand out with regard to one or more elements?

A big shout-out

Just wanted to give a big shout-out and a thank you to the 4th and 5th grade students at High Meadows School in Roswell, Georgia - along with their teacher, Ms. Portis.

Thanks so much, y'all!!!!

They're holding their favorite books, which, um, look familiar. :-)

Thank you, Mr. Mailman

Look what the mailman brought me!

Bound galley of The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis!

Baby pictures

Here's the first photo of my new puppy.

She was born Wednesday night.

Her name is Ruby.

Isn't she cute?

I dare you.....

.....to buy this.

Only $49.99

I like to died

Here's a great letter that is a perfect example of how kids can learn about other parts of the country (and the world) by reading books:

Hi our names are C--, Z--, and K--.

We are in the Fifth grade at -- Elementary School in --, New Jersey .

We are reading your book How to Steal A Dog and we are enjoying your book so far! Our favorite part so far is Mookie who is living in the back of the vacant house.

We are writing because two things have caught our eye and we wanted to know if they were on purpose. The first one occurs on page 116 and says, “It like to broke my heart to look at it.” Should it be “It broke my heart to look at it?” On page 117 it says, “I like to swallowed my gum when he said that.” Should it say, “I almost swallowed my gum when he said that?”

We are fascinated with what you have to say.

Please let us know if it was done on purpose or was it a mistake. Thank you for your time and we can’t wait to hear from you.

Sincerely. C--, Z--, and K--

P.S. We would take $500 dollars if we are right about the mistake :)

And the winner is.....

The winner of the Useless Information Contest is.....

Diddy!

(She always did beat me at Jeopardy. Dang....)

Show me the money

My husband is a serious car guy.

Last night at the dinner table he showed me a picture in a car catalog and said, "I'll give you $100 if you name this part."

I did it!

HA!

Can YOU name this part? (But I'm not giving you $100.)

P.S. It's amazing what useless information you absorb after 25 years of marriage.

P.P. S. Hmmm....this would have been a good contest for a free arc of my next novel. Problem is, I don't have any arc's yet. I'll have to come up with something equally as enthralling.

Huh?

Arlington Part 5

The students at Anderson Elementary School really got into the spirit!

They made great posters. This one shows how much they have thought about the elements of the story, such as main characters, time, place and goal.

They wrote terrific letters and even drew pictures of me! (I look pretty good!)

This boy had made a graphic novel-type version of my visit, with photos showing me receiving cards and letters, writing books, and even students cheering for me:

And a wonderful welcoming banner:

Thanks so much, Anderson!

Arlington, Texas Part 4

I had a great visit with the gang at Corey Elementary School.

They had a fabulous mural in their library.

The kids were fantastic and really got into the spirit by dressing as characters from Fame and Glory in Freedom, Georgia. Thanks, Corey!



Here I am showing the Danish version of Fame and Glory in Freedom, Georgia to the students of Larson Elementary.

They had great questions and had really thought about the stories.

Thanks, Larson!

Arlington, Texas Part 3

Then it was off to Short Elementary School.

They have a fireplace in their library! Here I am (center) with librarians Linnette (left) and Julia (right), who did an amazing job helping to prepare for my visit.


Here I am showing the students my sixth grade report card.

Thanks, Short Elementary School!

Arlington, Texas Part 1

The folks at the Arlington Independent School District in Arlington, Texas, sure know how to roll out the red carpet for an author!

Here I am with the readers who took part in the Battle of the Books at Butler Elementary School:

Signing books for students at Butler Elementary School:

Thank you to Butler Elementary School!

Arlington, Texas Part 2

Here I am trying to get the students at Amos Elementary School to guess how every book starts. (They got it right.)

The fourth grade reading class of Amos Elementary School presented me with a fantastic book of drawings from Fame and Glory in Freedom, Georgia:

Thank you to Amos Elementary School!!

See ya...

Today I'm headed to Arlington, Texas for three days of school visits.