Reading and I didn’t have a great start. Writing and I have an even more complicated history. I wasn’t a big reader when I was a kid. I know…when I tell students this at class visits they usually give their teachers a look like, “You’ve been lying to us! This guy doesn’t like reading!” That’s … Read more
In books and television and life, popularity is a common theme, especially in the realm of kids trying to find their place in the world, or in their microcosm of the world, school. Popularity can mean different things to different people. For some, it’s being the first selected for kickball teams at recess, or for … Read more
I don’t remember exactly when I first read Christina Rossetti’s poem “Goblin Market.” It might have been in college; it might have been when my husband, a literature professor, taught it in a class and shared it with me. But as someone who has long been fascinated by fairy tales, I was immediately enthralled by … Read more
When I was in the sixth grade, my class had a special Language Arts unit called, Writing Workshop. It was incredible. At eleven and twelve years old, we were given forty-five minutes a day to just—write. I know some writers, who don’t even get that much free time to sit with their words! After this … Read more
Carlo Levi – Italian socialist, painter, doctor to the poor, politician, writer, editor – is remembered chiefly for Christ Stopped at Eboli (1945), a memoir of his time as a political prisoner under Mussolini, in 1935-6, in the remote village of “Gagliano” (Aliano) in the province of Lucania (now Basilicata), southern Italy. Arrested as an … Read more
One of my favorite blurbs about my book is “The most fun book about murder you’ll ever read,” because it gets to the heart of what I wanted this book to be: touching on the darkness of a serious, important topic but bursting with fun, humor, sweetness, and joy. In Murder for the Modern Girl, … Read more