It’s Poetry Friday! This week’s host is Jama Kim Rattigan at Jama’s Alphabet Soup. She is celebrating National Chocolate Cookie Day. Stop by for some treats and all of this week’s Poetry Friday links. During the Covid-19 pandemic, many events have been cancelled. From big-arena concerts (I had tickets to see Ringo Starr in June) […]
Middle Grade Novels
Thursday, 14 May 2020
Thursday, 6 February 2020
This week, I’d like to thank Margarita Engle for her activism and advocacy during her term as Young People’s Poets Laureate and beyond. I recently read her sweeping history of Latin Americans in what is now the United States, Dreams from Many Rivers: A Hispanic History of the United States Told in Poems. I shared […]
Thursday, 2 January 2020
Happy New Year, Poetry Friday friends! I am a member of the middle grade ARC sharing group, #BookExpedition. We are 12 educators — classroom teachers, librarians, and one visiting teacher (me) — from all around the U.S. We request Advanced Reading Copies of middle grade books from authors and publishers, then share them within the […]
Tuesday, 28 May 2019
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 […]
Thursday, 27 December 2018
I am a dog mom. Sam the Schnauzer is my best furry friend. But three years ago, our family decided (with much convincing) that 8-year-old Sam needed a brother. Not a puppy. An older dog. A calm dog to show our very barky, anxious guy the joys of being chilled out. I went to the […]
Thursday, 29 November 2018
I’ve got a great read-along this week: a work of historical verse to pair with a wonderful new middle grade novel, coming out in February. First up: The verse. A few months ago, Linda Mitchell of the blog A Word Edgewise recommended a fabulous book: Countdown, 2878 Days to the Moon, by Suzanne Slade. I […]
Friday, 16 November 2018
NCTE attendees, this is where you’ll find me at this weekend’s conference. Stop by and say hello! Coming to “Becoming the Leaders: The Power of Female Protagonists to Empower All Student Voices”? — You’ll find a recommended reading list at the bottom of this post. Have a great conference! Becoming the Leaders: The Power […]
Monday, 12 November 2018
This thoughtful review of my middle grade novel Takedown comes from former Howard County, MD librarian Barb Langridge. Barb is the founder of the website A Book and a Hug, which I wrote about in a post for All the Wonders a few years ago: “Discover Your Reading Personality: A Book and a Hug.” *** Two […]
Thursday, 1 November 2018
Welcome, readers and fans of Takedown. I have something special to share with you — an extra scene from the book! This road trip mini-chapter takes place at the end of Chapter 30, when Lev is taking a week off from wrestling. Go to the end of page 212 (in hardcover editions), and you’ll find […]
Thursday, 9 August 2018
Have you ever picked up a prose novel and — surprise! — at the start of every chapter there’s a poem to greet you? When prose novelists incorporate poetry in any form, I’m happy. In Possession, A.S. Byatt’s wonderful novel, modern literati uncover a secret Victorian romance. The whole story hinges on verses written by […]
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.
