This Week’s Greatest Thing Ever . . . Awkward Family Photos
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 Posted in Around the Web | 5 Comments »Just found this site: Awkward Family Photos. It is everything it purports to be -- plus funny captions. Here's five samples, sans captions, to wet your whistle. Alert readers will know that I put up this link last week, under ...
“Bystander” Reviewed, Sort of, by Author Andrew Smith
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 Posted in Bystander | No Comments »Author Andrew Smith, in addition to writing YA novels and teaching in a high school, writes a lively, informative, open-hearted blog. He's nothing if not tireless. Though we've never met, Andrew and I seem to share a lot in common. ...
Hiccups for Elephant: The Play
Sunday, June 14th, 2009 Posted in In the Classroom, School Visits | No Comments »On a recent school visit to Middleburgh Elementary, I was handed the day's schedule by librarian Jeni Friedland. Besides time for lunch, book signings, and the usual author presentations for grades PreK-5, the schedule read: 2:00: Surprise! I imagined all sorts of ...
Hammertime
Friday, June 12th, 2009 Posted in Fun Clips | 1 Comment »[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfxCnZ4Dp3c] Have a great weekend.
Pennsylvania Young Readers Choice Awards
Friday, June 12th, 2009 Posted in Six Innings | No Comments »Good news. I just stumbled across the fact that Six Innings was named to the Master List for the Pennsylvania Young Readers Choice Awards. It's a great feeling to see my name on a list that includes Jon Scieszka, Gordon Korman, ...
Bullies and Bystanders
Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 Posted in Bystander, Greatest Hits, Readings | 3 Comments »Photo: Igor Dutina There was a good article in yesterday's Science Times section of The New York Times. Written by Perri Klass, M.D., it looks at bullying from a pediatrician's point of view, and provides news about how the American Academy ...
Hodge-Podge Books Closing Its Doors
Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 Posted in Current Events, Jigsaw Jones, Uncategorized | No Comments »My local newspaper, the Albany Times-Union, ran an article today on a local legend of sorts, Frank Hodge, who has successfully operated the independent bookstore, Hodge-Podge Books, for the past 27 years. Written by Chris Churchill, it begins: ALBANY -- By now ...
Fan Mail Wednesday #49 (Tuesday Edition)
Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 Posted in Fan Mail, Six Innings, the writing process | 2 Comments »Get out your old Kool & The Gang records, people, and let's bust a move -- it's Fan Mail Wednesday! But first, let's just take a moment to be awed by the amazing fact that I receive any fan mail at ...
Fan Mail Wednesday #48 (Tuesday Edition)
Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 Posted in Current Events, Fan Mail | 1 Comment »I was all set to go with a different piece of fan mail when I opened this note from a school librarian. I've deleted her name and school district, for the sake of privacy: Dear Jimmy, It is with much regret that ...
Research: Finding Gems
Monday, June 1st, 2009 Posted in Along Came Spider, the writing process | No Comments »I want to tell a quick story about doing research. Specifically about Crayola crayons and the book, Along Came Spider. But first, a little back story: As I was writing Spider, I did a lot of research in different directions. As ...