“Bystander” on the Blogs
Friday, March 5th, 2010 Posted in Bystander | 1 Comment »My friend, author Kurtis Scaletta, said it well in a recent interview. Regarding reviews, he explained, "I mostly just want people to know I exist, I think." And because he thinks, he does exist, or so I've gathered. Cogito ergo sum. ...
The Bystander Effect
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 Posted in Around the Web, Bystander | No Comments »Very interesting short video -- maybe it seems a little familiar at first -- which makes a couple of keen observations about bystander apathy, "the diffusion of responsibility," and how one person can create a new group (at 2:36 in ...
Fan Mail Wednesday #77
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 Posted in Bystander, Fan Mail, the writing process | No Comments »Let's cut the preamble and get right down to it. Dear Mr. Preller, I am an English Major. Your novel, Bystander was brought back by my professor as a 'prize" when she attended an annual English Teacher Conference. I didn't get the ...
Children’s Books That Address Intolerance . . . On Several Fronts
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010 Posted in Bystander | 1 Comment »Kendal Rautzhan, a nationally syndicated columnist, recently ran an article about children's books that addressed intolerance. The article featured three books: Let's Talk About Race by Julius Lester, illustrated by Karen Barbour Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up By Sitting Down by ...
SLJ Starred Review!
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009 Posted in Bystander | 3 Comments »I learned last week that Bystander earned a starred review from School Library Journal. I believe it will be in their January edition, but don't hold me to it. My editor, Liz Szabla, sent me an advance copy of the ...
Fan Mail Wednesday #71
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 Posted in Bystander, Fan Mail | No Comments »I'm gong to interrupt my interview with Deborah Kovacs -- click here for Part One -- because "Fan Mail Wednesday" is upon us. Come back tomorrow for Part Two of the interview. This one isn't exactly fan mail -- it's more ...
“Bystander” Reviewed: The Reading Zone, etc.
Monday, December 7th, 2009 Posted in Around the Web, Bystander | 5 Comments »My thanks to Sarah at The Reading Zone for her thoughtful review of Bystander, which you can read in full here. I thought this passage was particularly interesting: What I really loved about this book is the fact that it doesn’t end ...
Around the Web: Bystander, The Kidlitosphere, and a Grand Conversation
Monday, November 30th, 2009 Posted in Around the Web, Bystander | 3 Comments »I confess: I sometimes have misgivings about the kidlitosphere. At times it feels like just another clique, and one dominated by women. I recognize that one woman's ceiling is another woman's floor; a "clique" could easily be described as a ...
Bystander: Chapter 2 (and some thoughts on adverbs)
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 Posted in Bystander, the writing process | 6 Comments »Click here in case you missed Chapter 1 a couple of weeks back -- that is, I mean, if you want to. And don't worry, there are 34 Chapters in the book; I'm not going to give away the entire ...
Bystander: Chapter 1
Monday, November 9th, 2009 Posted in Bystander | 1 Comment »1 [ketchup] THE FIRST TIME ERIC HAYES EVER SAW HIM, David Hallenback was running, if you could call it that, running in a halting, choppy-stepped, stumpy-legged shamble, slowing down to look back over his shoulder, stumbling forward, pausing to catch his breath, ...