5 Questions for the Author

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, 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, 3 June 2021

Happy Poetry Friday, everyone! I am super excited to welcome my friend, verse novelist Chris Baron to speak with us today. Chris is the author of the verse novel ALL OF ME. His follow up middle grade book, THE MAGICAL IMPERFECT, come out on June 15. Chris is very generously giving away *not only* a […]

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You know how there are friends in your life who you’re fond of, but who drift away for one reason or another? And then, years later, serendipity intervenes. You reconnect and that friend becomes an important person in your life. For me, that person is debut author Naomi Milliner. We’ve known each other for more […]

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Thursday, 5 October 2017

Autumn is here at last! Goodbye, sweating buckets at the Baltimore Book Festival. Hello, sweaters and crunchy leaves. I’m cozying up with a pumpkin spice latte (just kidding — flavored coffee is truly frightening) and some spine tingling stories. The first novel on my October Boo!shelf is Shannon Parker’s ghost story, The Rattled Bones. Here […]

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It was the solstice this week, Poetry Friday friends. Summer is here. I’m not a hot weather person, but there is one thing I will go outside for: baseball. I love going to Camden Yards for an Orioles game on a hot summer night, eating crab cakes, drinking beer or Icees, and spending time with […]

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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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