He Said, She Said: The Fine Art of Dialogue Attribution

I have just spent the last year being in and out of classrooms, and I noticed that many of the English classrooms (especially in middle school) displayed posters that provided synonyms for the word “said.” In one room I saw poster that extended horizontally over half the length of the wall, listing over 300 “synonyms” …read more…

Atherton: The House of Power by Patrick Carman

The only world eleven-year-old Edgar has ever known is that of Tabletop. In the center of Tabletop are the cliffs that lead to the Highlands, but climbing those cliffs is strictly forbidden. At the outer edge, sheer cliffs descend to the unknown Flatlands. As an orphan, Edgar has always had to work for Mr. Ratikan, …read more…

Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez

Twelve-year-old Anita has always had a happy life, living with her extended family in the Dominican Republic. Her middle class family live a life that few in her country can afford, with household servants and private schools for their children. And always, they are surrounded by portraits of “El Jefe,” whom Anita has always thought …read more…

I Can’t Keep My Own Secrets

Literary legend has it that someone once challenged Ernest Hemingway to write a novel in six words. His response was “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” I’m not sure if this is true or not: the whole thing sounds a little too neat for me. I’m not a huge fan of Hemingway, so I’m not …read more…

Strange Happenings by Avi

At some point in our lives, we all have a desire to become someone or something else. What would you do if that wish became true? The five short tales contained in this book all have transformation as a central plot device: A bored twelve-year-old boy turns into a cat. A young princess in a …read more…

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Update as of 26 October 2011: This book continues to be controversial. Only this past spring, I was asked to help fight a push to not just remove this book from the twelfth grade curriculum of a public high school, but to remove the book from the school library, as well. The irony is that …read more…

April is National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month. I know I’m getting this out a bit late, but better late than never (a cliché that I’m sure all aspiring poets will be careful to avoid in their work). If you don’t know what National Poetry Month is, it was inaugurated in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets …read more…

Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman

Living in a village in ancient Norway, twelve-year-old Odd has had his share of bad luck: his father died in an expedition to Scotland; a tree fell on him and shattered his leg, leaving him lame; his mother married a man who has no use for him; and to top it off, winter is not …read more…

The Savage by David Almond

Blue Baker is just like any other kid who recently lost his father. Except that Blue is writing a story about a savage who lives in Burgess Woods, a savage who doesn’t speak but only communicates through grunts and growls. Blue’s savage terrorizes people like Hopper, who lives to terrorize people like Blue. Despite what …read more…

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

If you are lucky, a book will come into your life at precisely the moment that you need it. I had been missing the Harry Potter books for some time, and while I didn’t want to read a clone, ripoff, or wannabe of that series (of which there are many), I did want to read …read more…

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