Author Feature

Today, I’m sharing my interview with debut verse novelist Meg Eden. Her middle grade novel, GOOD DIFFERENT, is out from Scholastic in April. The interview is up at the Diverse Verse blog.

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Thursday, 2 February 2023

It’s clear that this chick is not a loon at all. She is a duckling, who takes to her loon parents’ ways like … a duck to water!

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Thursday, 29 December 2022

“It became clear to me very quickly when I started expanding on the ‘waiting for the right resources’ parallel between poems and seeds that spring brought many of the things a seed needs to move from dormancy into active growth. “

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Thursday, 10 November 2022

Happy Poetry Friday, everyone. I haven’t been able to join the party in a while. We have been dealing with some health issues since the summer — including our first experience with Covid. Now that everyone is on the mend, I’m glad to be back with an author highlight. Today, I’m featuring a middle grade […]

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Thursday, 6 January 2022

Happy first Poetry Friday of 2022! Today, I’m featuring my favorite middle grade book of 2021 — the brilliant (and hilarious, and sad) climate emergency satire, ONE SMALL HOP by Madelyn Rosenberg. Here is an abbreviated description of the story from Goodreads: Perfect for fans of Carl Hiaasen’s classic Hoot, this humorous adventure story set in […]

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Happy Poetry Friday, everyone! Today, I have an interview with one of my favorite people in the children’s literature community, author Tricia Springstubb. Thanks to Tricia for giving away a copy of her middle grade novel The Most Perfect Thing in the Universe. Leave a comment and I will draw a winner (U.S. only, please) before […]

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I usually keep this blog focused on three things: poetry, children’s books, and arts education. But every now and then, I come across an adult book that begs to be shared. This week, that book is Griffin’s Heart: Mourning Your Pet with No Apologies, by actor Reagan J. Pasternak. As most of you know, our […]

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Thursday, 6 May 2021

It’s Poetry Friday! I have been featuring Asian American authors on my blog as part of the annual #AuthorsTakeAction initiative. In each post, I’ll share a recommended middle grade or YA novel by an Asian American author and a read-alongside poem. Before we get to today’s featured book, though–a quick announcement. This month, on May 18-19, author and poet […]

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Thursday, 15 April 2021

Happy National Poetry Month, everyone. According to Poets.Org, it’s the 25th anniversary! For the next few weeks, I will be featuring Asian American authors on my blog as part of the annual #AuthorsTakeAction initiative. In each post, I’ll share a recommended middle grade or YA novel by an Asian American author and a read-alongside poem. […]

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Friday, 30 October 2020

Hi, poets and poetry lovers! We have two big events coming up in the next few days. Tomorrow is Halloween. (Check out this Baltimore Sun article about how Halloween was celebrated during the 1918 flu pandemic.) And, of course, Tuesday is Election Day. After the 2016 presidential election, I signed up for election judge training. […]

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Laura Shovan

Laura Shovan is the author of the award-winning middle grade novel, The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary. Her second book, Takedown, is a Junior Library Guild and PJ Our Way selection. Look for A Place at the Table, co-written with Saadia Faruqi, in 2020. Laura is a poet-in-the-schools Maryland.

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