The Soft Pretzel Bacon Burger . . . Just Seems Wrong
Sunday, August 1st, 2010 Posted in Bystander, Current Events | 4 Comments »No one goes to Friendly's anymore. Honestly, I don't know how they stay in business. No. One. Goes. There. But still, you see the restaurants all over the place, parking lots empty except for a few battered Fords and some wind-blown litter, ...
Absent Parents in Children’s Literature
Tuesday, July 13th, 2010 Posted in Bystander, Jigsaw Jones, Six Innings, the writing process | 2 Comments »A friend of mine, author David Klein -- whose debut novel, Stash, is due out later this month -- alerted me to a recent interweb discussion about absentee parents in children's literature. Literary agent Nathan Bransford summarized the debate here, while ...
Essential Reading: “On Facebook, you can be as mean as you want.”
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010 Posted in Bystander, Readings, bullying | No Comments »I realize not everyone receives The New York Times. Or if you're like me, sometimes you don't get around to reading it thoroughly. So I refer readers to this long, thoughtful, well-researched article from June 27, 2010. It explores the ...
Class Discussion Guide, Talking Points, and Other News About “BYSTANDER”
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010 Posted in Bystander, bullying | 2 Comments »Some exciting things have been happening with my book, Bystander. I'm hearing from schools that wish to purchase multiple copies, make it a school-wide read for an entire grade, and so on. Some perceive the book as an accurate, realistic ...
“Bystander” on 2011 Kentucky Bluegrass Award Master List
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 Posted in Bystander | 3 Comments »Still pleased about the good news from Vermont, I'm happy to announce that Bystander has been also named to the 2011 Kentucky Bluegrass Children's Book Award Master List. It is an honor to be one of the few titles selected for ...
“Bystander” Named to Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children’s Book Award Master List
Friday, May 21st, 2010 Posted in Bystander, bullying | No Comments »"A mother is not a person to lean on but a person to make leaning unnecessary." -- Dorothy Canfield Fisher. A few things about Dorothy Canfield Fisher. She was not named after the Vermont State Children's Literature Award; the Award was ...
Six Critical Life Messages in 90 Seconds: Barbara Coloroso
Tuesday, April 13th, 2010 Posted in Bystander | 1 Comment »"You're listened to, you're cared for, and you're very important to me -- children need to hear that in lots of different ways every day." -- Barbara Coloroso. In previous blog entries, I praised this book by Barbara Coloroso . . ...
Fan Mail Wednesday #84 (Bully Edition)
Monday, April 12th, 2010 Posted in Bystander, Fan Mail, bullying | No Comments »Usually, I use this recurring feature to respond to letters from young readers. But at the risk of self-aggrandizement, I thought I'd share this topical letter I received last week: James- I just finished reading your newest book last week. As a ...
Cyberbullying in BYSTANDER: An Excerpt
Monday, April 5th, 2010 Posted in Bystander, Uncategorized, bullying | No Comments »As I dug deeper into my research for Bystander, a bully-themed novel set in a middle school, I realized that I could write a hundred different stories on the subject. There are so many manifestations, so many different approaches to ...
Bullies in the News: Feature Article on BYSTANDER
Sunday, April 4th, 2010 Posted in Bystander, Interviews & Appreciations | 2 Comments »The news has been so sad, so disturbing, so upsetting lately. It's as if the world has woken up and suddenly, wherever you look, there's news and columns about bullies and victims and bystanders. On that note, I was recently the ...