MORE 'GUEST-POSTS' POSTS
I hope my work will encourage others to think about disability in a broader context, whether that’s rethinking how disabled characters are portrayed or creating more opportunities for disabled writers to tell their own stories.
Book lovers can't help but feel enchanted upon walking into The Curious Reader. After my first visit several years ago, I got the same magical feeling as seeing The Shop Around the Corner in You’ve Got Mail.
In the book, Claire, Billie, Raelynn, and Tasha are the leftovers. The kids no one else wants to associate with. They are, for me, a celebration of the kids who got me through middle school. And high school. And honestly, who still help me today.
So here’s my challenge: I dare you to get outside, in your community. Connect with your neighbors. Make a project out of it — get some extra credit or community service hours in.
In Finally Fitz, I wanted to write a mental health representation that felt true to my experience, one where the symptoms aren’t so obvious in a culture that conflates perfectionism with ambition.
My mission is to create stories that teens can see themselves in and be entertained by so I can help them find a way through life despite what may have happened to them so far.
Bear and Olivia show us that with small changes in our lives, we can and should protect these animals and our small corner of the world.
You know, what we’re really talking about is empowerment—feeling like even the smallest parts of us have power and worth. That could be super important to a middle school kid.
These books all share anxiety as a theme, but in conversation with each other they feel like they are capturing something essential about the power of middle grade books.
At the end of 2023, I established a 501©3 organization called A Book of My Own. There are so many things out of our control in this ever-challenging world - but getting books to kids who need them? That is something I can do.
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