In celebration of National Reading Month, The Week Junior collaborated with Read Across America (RAA) to create a list of middle-grade titles with one book set in each state. There are some familiar names on that list. (see below)

The National Education Association’s Read Across America project is a year-round celebration of reading that introduces readers to diverse books with characters to whom they can relate and to worlds that are different from their own. I was thrilled to see my book Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe named as the Mississippi selection and The Turn of the Tide, by fellow Mixed Up Files contributor Rosanne Parry, named as the Oregon selection. The list is full of amazing books and equally amazing authors and interviews with many of the authors can be found in our Mixed Up Files (see below for links).  

Below are ten activities to help celebrate reading across America all year long. These activities can help readers connect with diverse characters and dive into stories set across our nation. 

Visiting the Setting  

Invite readers to create a visitors’ guide to the book’s setting. Before they begin, discuss the setting’s geography, climate, culture, economy, history, landmarks, attractions, and other unique features. Encourage readers to research elements about which they are curious. Next, identify points of interest and significant places within the story. Readers can use this information to create their visitor’s guide with detailed descriptions and interesting facts about each location. For bonus points, invite readers to illustrate their visitors’ guides with artwork and photos.  

Charting the Course  

Invite readers to create a map based on the book’s setting that highlights the impact that the setting has on the book’s main character(s). Which locations are important? Why? What landmarks or features define these locations? How has the history of the setting shaped the main character(s)? Readers can use symbols, labels, and colors to create a map key to represent different elements.  

Creating News  

Invite readers to create a “hometown newspaper” from the perspective of leaders in a community that serves as a significant setting in the book. What would the community’s slogan be? Challenge readers to write at least three articles describing the story’s action and include illustrations of significant events in the book. Invite readers to consider where the main character(s) fit in the overall societal structure of that community. Would the main character(s) agree or disagree with the newspaper’s version of events? If the answer is “no,” challenge readers to write a “letter to the editor” providing the perspective of the main character(s).  

Creating a Character Scrapbook 

Invite readers to choose a character from the story and create a scrapbook for that character describing their daily life and story adventures. The scrapbook can include drawings, quotes, receipts, tickets, and other items that the character would have encountered along their journey. For bonus points, invite readers to write a reflection about the things they have in common with the character they chose, and to create a list of three things from the main character’s culture about which they would like to learn more. 

Sell It!  

Invite readers to create a persuasive sales pitch for the book. To begin, readers can identify themes, characters, and plot elements to highlight. Invite readers to brainstorm ideas and plan their pitch, being sure to include features they think will most appeal to other readers. Readers can then present their pitch to an audience in any form they choose, including an article, podcast, or video. 

Nature Scavenger Hunt 

Go on a nature scavenger hunt. Invite readers to search for at least five items from the natural world of the RAA book selection. Readers can search until they find all the items or for an allotted amount of time. When they’re finished, invite readers to share their items. For bonus points, use non-fiction resources to look up at least three interesting facts about each item.  

Create a Nature Journal from the Point of View of the Main Character(s) in the RAA book  

Readers can create their own journals using art supplies. When their journals are ready, invite them to research the natural world in which the story is set, including the geography, plant and animal life in the area, and the time(s) of the year in which the action takes place. Readers can use this research as inspiration for the nature journal from the perspective of the book’s main character(s). Invite readers to make notes in their journals of the details that would be important to the story’s character(s) on each day of the story’s action. Each entry should include the time, date, place, natural elements, including flora and fauna, and weather, plus any additional information the reader believes is important. Journals can include a narration about what the character(s) did while outside and drawings of things the character(s) saw, heard, smelled, touched, or tasted. The journal also can include nature-inspired poems, quotes, questions to research later, pressed leaves or flowers, or all of the above. For bonus points, invite readers outside to observe their own natural setting. Are there any elements in the reader’s own world that are also found in the natural setting of the book they are reading? If so, list and illustrate them. 

Vibing with Verses 

Host a poetry slam for your class or group of friends. Invite readers to create their own original poems from the point of view of the book’s main character(s). Invite readers to recite their poems in poetry-slam fashion for the rest of the group. Readers will learn about poetry, performance, and how to be a supportive audience member. 

Taste Across America  

Invite the readers in your life to pick out at least one food mentioned in the RAA title they are reading. Invite them to create a tasting menu including that food, with additional items inspired by the culture of the book’s main character(s). Need ideas? You can check out a sample Southern tasting menu here. 

Listen Across America 

Divide the readers in your life into groups. Invite each group to research the music of the state and the time period in which a RAA title is set. Invite them to create a playlist featuring artists and songs from that setting and time period. The playlist may be chapter-by-chapter or section-by-section (beginning, middle, and end). Either way, it should reflect the story’s action and the mood of the main character(s) in response to what is happening in the story. Need ideas? You can check out a sample playlist here. 

Below are links (listed alphabetically by the state represented) to some recent Mixed Up Files interviews with RAA authors.  

• James Ponti’s book City Spies: Golden Gate was chosen as the California title. You can read Patricia Bailey’s interview with him here. 

• Avi’s The Secret Sisters was chosen as the Colorado pick. You can read Amber Keyser’s interview with him here. 

• Caroline Starr Rose’s book May B. is the Kansas pick. You can read Kate Hillyer’s interview with her here. 

• The Minnesota selection is Erin Soderberg Downing’s Just Keep Walking. You can read her interview with Natalie Rompella here.  

• The Nevada selection is Julie Buxbaum’s The Area 51 Files (illustrated by Lavanya Naidu). You can read her interview with Ines Lozano here.  

• Dan Gutman’s Dorks in New York! is the (you guessed it!) New York selection. For writing tips from Dan, read his Mixed Up Files interview here. 

• The North Carolina selection is Sheila Turnage’s most recent release, Island of Spies. You can learn more about the book and Sheila here. 

• Roll With It by Jamie Sumner is the Oklahoma pick. To learn more about Jamie and Roll With It, check out her interview with Andrea Pyros here.  

• Varian Johnson’s historical fiction novel The Parker Inheritance is the South Carolina selection. You can find Jacqueline Houtman’s interview with him here.  

• The Vermont selection is Kate Messner’s The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z. You can find her interview with Jennifer Swanson here.  

I hope you’ll pick up some of these RAA titles for yourself and the young readers in your life. For the full list, follow this link. I’m wishing you many fun reading adventures exploring diverse settings and characters as you read across America.  

The post A Reading Journey Across the United States with Read Across America appeared first on From The Mixed Up Files.

In today’s Author Spotlight, Jo Hackl chats with author Sheila Turnage about her new children’s historical fiction book, Island of Spies. She’ll share the real historical events that inspired it, the setting that influenced it, and even give us a hint about her next writing project.

Book Summary:

Twelve-year-old Stick Lawson lives on Hatteras Island, North Carolina, where life moves steady as the tides, and mysteries abound as long as you look really hard for them. Stick and her friends Rain and Neb are good at looking hard. They call themselves the Dime Novel Kids. And the only thing Stick wants more than a paying case for them to solve is the respect that comes with it. But on Hatteras, the tides are changing. World War II looms, curious newcomers have appeared on the small island, and in the waters off its shores, a wartime menace lurks that will upend Stick’s life and those of everyone she loves. The Dimes are about to face more mysteries than they ever could have wished for, and risk more than they ever could have imagined.

Interview with Sheila Turnage

JH: Island of Spies takes a little-known historical detail about World War II and turns it into an intriguing and un-putdownable mystery featuring the Dime Novel Kids. Can you tell us about the inspiration for the story?  

ST: Right!  Island of Spies is historical fiction for kids, set on Hatteras Island, NC, in 1942 – in the first months of World War II.  At its heart lies a secret bit of US history – the many attacks of Nazi U-Boats, or submarines, on supply ships and passenger ships moving up and down the East Coast.

Those U-Boats not only sank ships, they also put Nazi spies ashore.  The U-Boats’ favorite hunting area?  The tricky waters off the coast of Hatteras Island.  The Graveyard of the Atlantic.

In Island of Spies, three island kids who dream of being famous detectives realize someone on Hatteras Island is a spy, and they do what any brave, smart kids would do: They set out to identify and help capture the spy, to protect their home and the people they love.

I first caught a glimpse of this little-known history when I was about nine years old.  As I walked along the Hatteras Island shore with my father, I spotted a large, black blob on the white sand beach.  What was it?

 “That’s oil,” Daddy said. “In World War II, German U-Boats sat right out there, torpedoing our ships. The ships still sit on the bottom of the sea, releasing oil for the ocean to churn ashore. That’s our secret history. So are the spies.”

 I was hooked.

 A bit later, my family climbed the Hatteras Lighthouse.  At the top I stepped into what becomes, in Island of Spies, the office of our heroes –Stick, Neb, and Rain—the Dime Novel Kids. I saw what narrator Stick Lawson sees when she looks out the window, scanning for U-Boats and spies…

Bit by bit, through research and interviews, the story fell in place over the years.

And now here it is, in Island of Spies.

JH: I love how you took inspiration from these historical events and created an immersive mystery. What appeals to you about writing mysteries? 

ST: I love mysteries in general because I like solving them along with the characters.

As a writer, I find a good mystery makes you think beyond character interaction to the rise and fall of the mystery’s storyline.  So the emotional storyline rises and falls with the mystery’s plotline.  And to me that’s fun – and also a challenge, as a writer.

On a personal and possibly devious note, I also enjoy hiding clues from my readers.

JH: Speaking of characters, each of your characters comes alive and seems to jump off the page and into readers’ hearts.  Can you tell us about your process for creating such original and memorable characters, each with unique talents and perspectives?   

ST: Wow, thanks for saying that.  I’m glad you like them.  I like them and I think readers do too – one reason the book pops up on SIBA’s bestsellers list from time to time, and possibly one reason it also won the Grateful American Book Prize Honor for historical fiction for middle-grade readers.

When I write, I first listen for my characters’ voices in my imagination, and try to capture their rhythm and their voice.  I listen, I write.  I call it creative eavesdropping.

It usually takes lots of drafts to get it right.  At first, I write without worrying too much about balance.  I just try to capture the voices.  In a later draft I look at the characters more objectively, to make sure they aren’t too similar, and to make sure I know what each character fears most, and what each character wants most in this world.

Once I know those things, I start fine-tuning the characters.  I make sure each character changes in the course of the book.  It seems to work out.  And of course, I make the details within the story fit the place and times.

JH: Congratulations on your Grateful American Book Prize Honor!  So well-deserved!  Sticking with the theme of characters for a bit more, Neb, Rain and Stick are perfect and evocative names.  Can you tell us about the inspiration for each character’s name?

ST: Sure!  I love character names.  And since they get repeated so much in a book, I like for mine to carry a double meaning, a reminder of who the characters are as the story moves along.

Neb is short for Nebuchadnezzar.  His Biblical name reflects his mother’s character, and the idea that he’s trapped a bit by his family’s traditions and history – especially by the fact that his father used to be the keeper of the Hatteras Lighthouse.  Religion was huge on the Islands, and it is in Neb’s mother’s life.  And I like the name shortened to Neb because that’s a stubborn sound, and a determined one.

Neb is both stubborn and determined.  He’s also very funny.

Stick’s name is an unusual name, one that “sticks” with you.  I think her name reflects her originality, and courage.  She’s a stand-up kid, plainspoken and true.  She’s determined to be a scientist at a time when girls rarely had that opportunity, for instance, and she will not be denied.  And at the same time Stick is a shortened version of a family name, Stickley.  So, both old and new.

Rain’s name I love because in the story, the word bridges Rain’s mother’s world and Stick’s mother’s world.  It also connects water, air and land.  The name Rain feels soft, innocent, and nourishing.  Like Rain herself.

Together, those three characters are the Dime Novel Kids, and the heart of this book.

JH: You created complex characters, not only in the Dime Novel Kids but also with the authorities and potential spies with whom they interacted. Can you tell us a bit about your process for creating the adult characters?

ST: My process is the same regardless of the character’s age.  First, I listen for the character’s voice in my imagination and make quick notes.  As I get to know them, I uncover their secret fears and hopes.  Knowing those things lets me focus the characters, which makes them consistent, and that helps them come to life.

In this case, I also used history sources and island ethnographies compiled by the National Park Service to help define the details of the characters’ lives, so they were true to that very specific time in our history.

 JH: Who was your favorite character to write and why? 

 ST: Rain was the most complex because of the language barrier and her relationship with her mom, who suffered so during her shipwreck.  I love writing all of my characters, but Rain was a particular delight because she was such a mystery in the beginning.

Stick was the most fun because she is so funny and smart, and so vulnerable in her own way.

JH: Your story is set on Hatteras Island, a North Carolina barrier island, and features a little-known aspect of WWII history. Can you tell us about your research process? 

ST: The story evolved over the years, through beach trips, through an interview with a man who grew up in the lighthouse compound like Neb does, through old-timers’ stories of blackout curtains and sinking ships, through tons of research, museum trips, and more beach trips.

Once I decided to write the story, I did lots of deliberate research on the era – reading books, studying internet sites, studying CIA reports, spy information, etc.  All of the spy gizmos and codes in this book are based on things spies really used, information that was fun to work with.

And because I live in Eastern North Carolina, I’ve heard stories all of my life of the Nazi spies who came ashore and of the ships being torpedoed. I heard those stories from people who saw those things – who heard the explosions, who saw the ships burning out on the sea.  So I relied on first-person, anecdotal information, too.

JH: What was the most surprising thing that you learned in your research process? 

ST: I don’t think I really understood how terrified Americans were at the beginning of World War II.  Think about it: They had already been attacked by Japan at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii – to the west of mainland USA.  And weeks later, as this story opens, Nazi Germany’s U-boats attack the rich shipping lanes off of North Carolina, to the east, where tricky currents made those ships sitting ducks.  Boom!  Boom!  Boom!

Ship after ship went down.

I also didn’t fully realize that the US couldn’t respond to the U-Boat attacks at first, because so much of our Navy had been damaged at Pearl Harbor.  And I didn’t realize the government deliberately kept news of the German attacks as low-key as possible, to keep America from panicking.  I didn’t realize just how alone the people on Hatteras Island must have felt.

And frankly, I didn’t know there were so many spies in the United States.

JH: I never knew that either. And now your readers have an insight that many Americans didn’t. What was your favorite scene to write?

ST: I loved writing them all.  But maybe the scene where the first ship goes down, just offshore.  That was fun to write because it was so scary!

JH: What would you most like for readers to take away from Island of Spies? 

ST: I’d like for them to have fun solving the spy mystery along with the Dime Novel Kids, and to learn something about our history along the way.

JH: What’s next for you in terms of writing projects?

ST: I’m hard at work on a new mystery, set in North Carolina.  In it are one murder and two miracles.  I don’t know the title yet, but as soon as I uncover it, I will let you know!

JH:  It sounds intriguing! I can’t wait to read it!

Lightning Round!

No MUF interview is complete without a lightning round, so. . . .

Favorite cities (besides the one in which you live):  Chicago,  Savannah, and Florence, Italy.

Favorite musical group or artist:  I like so many, I don’t really have a favorite.  As I wrote Island of Spies, I listened to lots of 1940’s music.  Swing, jazz.  The Andrews Sisters, Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller…

Would you rather be able to speak every language in the world or talk to animals? 

 Talk to animals, of course!

Favorite ice cream flavor?  Banana walnut.

Do you prefer mountains or beaches or somewhere in between?  I love both but if I could visit only one, it would be the beach.  I feel so content there.

Favorite childhood TV show?  Superman.  And Mighty Mouse.  Hmm.  Maybe it’s the cape.

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received?  Just sit down and write.  Keep writing to the end even if the first draft’s ugly, because you can always go back and polish it up.

JH: Excellent advice!  Many thanks for making time to visit with us today!

About the Author

The post Author Spotlight: Sheila Turnage appeared first on From The Mixed Up Files.

In today’s Author Spotlight, Jo Hackl chats with author Landra Jennings about her new middle-grade novel, Wand (Clarion Books, October 31). She’ll share her inspiration behind writing it, the works of literature that influenced it, and the surprising muse for the bird characters! Plus, there’s a chance to win a finished/signed copy of Wand if you enter the giveaway. Scroll down for details.

Book Summary:

A dazzling story of grief and found family wrapped in a spellbinding fairy tale, perfect for fans of Anne Ursu and Jodi Lynn Anderson.

Eleven-year-old Mira wishes everything could go back to the way it was. Before she changed schools and had to quit gymnastics. Especially before Papa died. Now she spends her days cooking and cleaning for her stepsisters and Val—who she still won’t call mom and still won’t forgive for the terrible thing she did.

When a mysterious girl named Lyndame appears out of the woods wielding a powerful wand, she makes Mira an offer she can’t refuse: she will grant Mira three wishes.

What if magic isn’t just pretend after all? What if these wishes could fix everything? But in the quiet town of Between, Georgia, where secrets lurk and rumors swirl of strange creatures, nothing is as it seems, and everything comes at a price.

Rising talent Landra Jennings weaves together an enchanting, modern fairy tale with eloquence and compassion about finding hope after loss—and finding belonging in the places we least expect.

Interview with Landra Jennings

JH: Welcome to the Mixed-Up Files, Landra! Thanks for joining us today.

LJ: Thank you so much for having me.

JH:  First I have to tell you how much I loved Wand. The story felt gothic and suspenseful, like your first book, and I loved the adventure. I enjoyed  the fairy tale elements. Can you please tell us about your inspiration to write it?

LJ: Thanks so much! You’re right about the fairy tale elements. I’d say I had three areas of inspiration. Firstly, this is my take on Cinderella for middle grade. I wanted to figure out what a happy ending looked like for eleven-year-old Mira, whose story starts in in modern-day Georgia. Her father has passed away, leaving her with a stepmother and two step sisters, and she’s still grieving. Similar to other modern interpretations of Cinderella, I wanted Mira to figure out her happy ending for herself versus finding a literal ‘prince.’ Secondly, I’ve also realized in the process of writing that I start stories with some big emotion and build from there. My first book was focused on the difficulty in detaching from that one friend (or sibling) that you’ve become too dependent on and learning how to become an independent person. Wand is about grief; how once we’ve experienced the pain of losing someone, whether it be through death or some other way, we can build those walls around ourselves to protect from future pain, and how that can isolate us from the world. We might really want something magical to fix everything and take our pain away versus facing the pain head-on. I wanted to explore the process of breaking down those walls from the perspective of a child. Finally, while I was editing Wand, I read The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert, an amazing YA portal fantasy and that book started me on a binge of reading and re-reading portal fantasies, mostly middle grade works. So those other fantasies were also influential as I developed the plot.

Portal Fantasy Influences

JH: Why a portal fantasy? Please tell us more about that.

LJ: Portal fantasy is a very broad category, really. A character travels from one world to another through a “portal,” a passageway of some sort, whether it be a tornado as in L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz, or a mysterious wooden door, as in Neil Gaiman’s Coraline.

Sometimes the characters stumble onto the portal as in C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. Sometimes they deliberately seek it out, as in the Hogwarts Express train in J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Or sometimes (and this is really fun) they create the portal themselves as in Philip Pullman’s The Subtle Knife or in Kwame Mbalia’s Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky.

I’ve mostly been reading about portals where characters travel from our ordinary world to the fantasy world. Sometimes they’re escaping a bad situation or boredom, and other times they’re searching for something specific. As readers, a book can be an escape to begin with and I love the function of a portal in taking the reader that much further away from their reality. It’s a very different world readers enter and they can work out their big emotions in a place far removed from their own problems. In Wand, the portal to the other world is a pond. My main character, Mira, is searching for her true family and a place she can belong. Mira has built up those emotional walls, protecting herself. Leaving the modern world and going to a new one by jumping into the pond is a way of avoiding confronting her powerful emotions.

The Role of the Wand and Magic

JH: Let’s talk about the wand. It’s in the title obviously, and I noticed its significance in the story. What is the role of the magic wand in the book?

LJ: The wand in my book represents the wish to “magic away” your problems. And the use of the wand in the narrative tracks along with Mira’s journey of processing her grief. In many versions of Cinderella, like Disney’s version, the heroine does not have the ability to use the magic wand herself. She is dependent on powerful others, such as a fairy godmother, who can wield it. The fairy godmother character in Wand is a teen named Lyndame who offers to grant Mira wishes, misrepresenting the power of the wand and her purpose in offering the wishes. Once Mira figures that out, she does get the wand for herself and she can wield it. Even though Mira’s intuition tells her that she shouldn’t use it, she does use it, to disastrous effect.

Favorite Character

JH: Who was your favorite character to write?

LJ: Lyndame, the antagonist. She’s so independent, yet so angry. She is processing her grief very differently than Mira, becoming a cautionary tale and demonstrating the emotional wreckage that can happen if an individual can’t work through grief and move on.

Favorite Scene

JH: What was your favorite scene to write?

LJ: I think one of my favorites is the girls together, upstairs in Mira’s bedroom. Mira’s been sent to her room without dinner and her stepsisters bring up a board game and some mushy microwave pizza. There’s not a whole lot of dialogue and it’s not a complicated scene, but there’s a lot of sub-text about demonstrating care for someone else.

Inspiration for the fascinating bird characters

JH: Can you tell us about the inspiration for the bird characters in the book? I noticed there are actually two in the main cast!

LJ: I love birds of all sorts. That love started as a child. I remember when I was 10 years old, using my last 50 cents to buy a used bird cage at a garage sale and begging my mother to let me have a parakeet. She didn’t! (I now recognize the wisdom of this decision). As an adult, I was finally able to get a parakeet: Momo. He became a tiny and beloved member of our family, moving with us from Chicago to Greenville, and living for 11 years.

Lately, I’m fascinated by wild birds, like hummingbirds and crows. I loved the idea of a crow to support Mira in her journey. As Bandit the crow is from the ordinary world, it was important to me that he be an ordinary crow. However, there’s no reason to enhance crows from the way they actually are. They are extraordinary to begin with, very intelligent, and there is so much research available from which to draw. I read about some crow species using found objects as tools and I knew I had to include that behavior in the book.  Source: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2019/08/like-humans-crows-are-more-optimistic-after-making-tools-to-solve-a-problem/. I had a little more leeway with the character of Edwin, the golden bird who made it into the cover art. He’s from a magical land so I could make him a little more human-like. Overall, I enjoyed the parallel of having both the protagonist and the antagonist having bird companions.

To the Heart of Wand

JH: What would you most like for readers to take away from the book?

LJ: At its heart, the book is about family. However, you define family—whether it be the family you are born into or the one you find along the way. About recognizing that your family might not be perfect (can’t be perfect) but might be what you need to support you in your life, anyway.

Lightning Round!

No MUF interview is complete without a lightning round, so. . . .

Favorite cities (besides the one you live in):

Chicago. My kids were both born there.

 Scale of 1 to 10—How good of a driver are you?

Eh. Maybe an 8. I’m very cautious and slow (careful about distracted driving!) but my reflexes aren’t what they used to be.

Would you rather be able to speak every language in the world or talk to animals?

Talk to animals!

 Favorite ice cream?

Mint chocolate chip.

 Dawn or dusk?

Dusk. Such a gorgeous and mysterious time.

 Favorite childhood TV show?

Well, that really dates me. My favorite was Space Giants. When I look back on that now, it’s kind of an embarrassing choice because the scripts and special effects weren’t exactly top notch.

 What’s the best advice you ever received?

Be accountable. Follow through on what you’ve promised and if you make a mistake, apologize.

 JH: How can readers obtain a copy of the book? And for our educators and librarians, do you offer reading guides?

LJ: The book can be preordered at your local independent bookstores, Barnes and Noble, or Amazon, or any place books are sold. Personalized copies can be preordered at Fiction Addiction in Greenville, SC: https://www.fiction-addiction.com/quicksearch/author/landra%20jennings. And yes! I have an amazing curriculum supplement, with tons of fun and educational activities, to accompany my first book, and a curriculum supplement is soon to come for Wand. My multi-talented and multi-credentialed (EdS and M.Ed.) sister, Kinla Nelson, created both of these. And both will be available on my website.

And now. . . .

For a chance to win a signed copy of Wand, comment on the blog—and, if you’re on Twitter/X, on the Mixed-Up Files  Twitter/X account, for an extra chance to win!  (Giveaway ends September 18, 2023, MIDNIGHT EST.) U.S. only, please. Book will be mailed after publication. To enter, click here. 

About the Author 

Landra Jennings is a Greenville, South Carolina-based writer, author of middle-grade fantasy novels The Whispering Fog and the forthcoming Wand (October 31, 2023) published by HarperCollins Clarion Books. She holds an MBA from Northwestern University and an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Hamline University in Minneapolis where she won the Anne Tews Schwab Scholarship for Excellence in Critical Writing and the Walden Pond Press Scholarship in Middle Grade Fiction and Non-Fiction. She is passionate about encouraging a love of reading and writing in children. You can learn more about Landra on her website. You can follow her on Instagram and Goodreads.

The post Author Spotlight: Landra Jennings + a GIVEAWAY appeared first on From The Mixed Up Files.

• Get outside! Lean into the nice weather and explore outside reading spots. This could be the front porch, the shade of a tree, or a local park. This can make summery books come alive even more, gives readers some fresh air, and can turn reading into a place-based habit. Patricia Bailey’s Take A Hike: An Outdoor Adventure Book List article provides excellent recommendations for books to read in the great outdoors.

• Read for the season! Summer is known for road trips and you can go on a virtual road trip by reading one of the road-trip themed books highlighted in Road Trip Roundup: Adventurous Reads for Your Summer List by Chris Low.

• Have special snacks! Whether it’s popsicles or homemade lemonade, having a refreshing summer treat reserved only for reading time can solidify the joys of reading for young readers. This Easy Homemade Lemonade recipe from Lovely Little Kitchen is something young readers can help make too!

• Take a weekly trip to your library! Many local libraries host summer reading programs with reading suggestions and prizes included. This turns summer reading into an exciting event, fosters a reading community, and encourages the discovery of new books. For more information about reading challenges (and how to make summer reading fun), check out Stacy Mozer’s post on Encouraging Summer Reading.

• Plan it out! Make an activity out of selecting a summer reading list. You can cut stiff paper into 3 x 6 inch rectangles and invite each young reader in your life to print the names of the books they want to read this summer on the front of it and decorate the back with drawings of their favorite summer place to read. Now they have a visional representation of books they want to read and a bookmark all in one. For a free printable bookmark with other summer reading ideas, you can check out my No Rules Reading.

Summer reading can define the season and creating traditions that celebrate reading can help create lifelong readers. Plus, summer reading is something the whole family can enjoy!

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Nest, by Esther Ehrlich, can be adapted into real-life activities in many ways. Set in the 1970’s, this is the story of a family dealing with mental illness. Despite these heavier tones, there’s still a lot of joy in the story from which to pull inspiration. Young readers could go birdwatching just like the main character Chirp and look up the birds they spot in a field guide. Similarly, Chirp creates a dance routine to the song Help! by the Beatles. Young readers can do this too. It doesn’t need to be anything professional or elaborate but getting up and moving to a song (Beatles or not) provides a lot of physical fun and memorizing a dance routine is a good brain exercise, too! And it’s even more fun if it’s performed outdoors.

Kimberley Griffiths Little’s novel The Time of the Fireflies also provides more opportunities for readers to engage more fully with the novel.  A picnic dinner to watch fireflies would be ideal for bringing Larissa’s story to life. Other  ideas for bringing her book to life include exploring one’s family history through word of mouth or old pictures and objects or, like Larissa, experience some time travel. Pick a year, help your readers do some research, and then spend an hour or two as though you’ve slipped through time!

Winner of the Newberry medal, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, by Jacqueline Kelly, is another novel rich in the natural world and centered around a loveable, strong female protagonist. Readers of Calpurnia’s story can follow in her footsteps by exploring their yards, neighborhoods, or local parks with a notebook and pencil in hand. Walk slowly and observe with all the senses, taking notes and making sketches of what kinds of flora and fauna are found. A field guide could come in handy for this as well, as some young readers  might want to learn the scientific names of plants and animals they observe. This is a great activity to encourage mindfulness, art skills, and offer a foray into being a naturalist.

The First Last Day, by Dorian Cirrone, is also perfect as the weather is warming up. Main character Haleigh finds herself in the midst of a never-ending summer…literally! One activity to bring this novel to life is to encourage young readers to paint memories of their favorite days or to keep a journal of their life through paintings. The passage of time might not freeze as it does for Haleigh, but this is a great way to encourage artistic creativity as well as personal reflection. Other art supplies and mediums can be added or substituted, too.

Finally, in my novel, Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe, the main character Cricket goes on a wilderness adventure to try to find her mother. A series of clues leads the way. There are several ways Smack Dab could be brought to life, but one idea is to create a clue-based scavenger hunt for your young readers to solve. This could be as simple as leaving hand-written notes with riddles or descriptions that lead from one location to the next. You can also create more complicated clue trails involving cyphers or clues that relate to poetry or history. Even better if the clues incorporate the outdoors or wilderness! A small prize could be added at the end of the clues or simply solving the scavenger hunt can be the victory. Plus, older kids could orchestrate clues for one another. You can find some activities here.

These are a few ideas to get started. Once you start reading with potential outdoor adventures in mind, the sky is the limit. –literally.  Happy reading!

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• Read books aloud together. Find holiday-themed books, some mugs of hot chocolate, and read a little bit aloud each day during the month of December. Reading also can be turned into an advent calendar experience with a picture book to read for each day.

• Learn about holidays around the world through books. No matter what holiday(s) you celebrate, learning about the practices of other cultures, religions, and countries encourages a diverse view of the world.

• Re-read classic books. Whether its A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens or something entirely unrelated to holidays, creating a ritual of reading the same book during December creates a sense of stability and is grounding. It also teaches the value of revisiting literature and learning or noticing new things upon each re-read. To take it a step further, you can create a bookmark that records the year, each child’s name, and their observations or reactions to the story. This can create a keepsake to pass down to the next generation.

• Read to build empathy. As we all know, books encourage us to empathize with characters and thus allow us to see and appreciate different perspectives and diverse life experiences. The holidays can be a hard time for many people. Reading at least one book in which the main character comes from a very different background and life situation than your family can build greater awareness of the needs and perspectives of others.

• Spark a love of reading by giving books. Whether it’s a book you’re ready to part ways with or something brand new, a thoughtfully given book during the gift exchanges of the holiday season feels personal to the receiver. Here’s a list of new books just in time for the holidays. A brief personal note from you, written on the book’s inside front cover with the date and why you think that they will enjoy that particular book, can make the gift even more meaningful.

• Create decorations with old books. Do you have any books that are falling apart at their seams? If so, you can repurpose them into great holiday decorations. For example, a stack of green books can be made into a “tree,” cut-up pages from a book can be put into a clear round container to create a unique holiday ornament, and you can make a paper chain from pages of an old book.

• Bring books to life. Pick an element of a book that you’re reading as a group or family. You may focus on recipes the main character enjoys, a tradition in the main character’s family, or a craft that the main character enjoys. Then spend an evening cooking, trying out a new tradition, or enjoying a new craft. You also often can find a book playlist on the author’s website and here’s a sample one from my website here. You might even decide to act out a holiday play together featuring a scene from the book your family is reading.

• Library scavenger hunt. Make a game out of going to the library and searching for holiday books whose title begins with each letter of the alphabet. No computers to help. Just peruse the shelves and have fun!

• Holiday book club! Pick a book to read as a group throughout the holiday season. On New Year’s Eve, you can discuss the book and pick some books to read in the coming year.

These are just a few ideas—you can bring reading more fully into the holiday season in many ways and I’d love to hear from you about the reading traditions that you create. I’m wishing you happy reading in the holiday season and beyond!

The post Holidays are for Books: Nine Bookish Ideas for the Holiday Season appeared first on From The Mixed Up Files.

In today’s Author Spotlight, Jo Hackl chats with author Landra Jennings about her debut middle-grade novel, The Whispering Fog (Clarion Books, September 13). She’ll share her inspiration behind writing it and the real-life elements upon which she drew. (Spoiler alert: it just might include a dog).  Plus, there’s a chance to win a signed Advance Reader Copy of Landra’s book if you enter the giveaway. Scroll down for details.

Book Summary:

The Whispering Fog combines a mysterious South Carolina swamp, a determined sister, an endearing dog, and three friends who join together on a common mission. In the book, a twelve-year-old girl, Neve, moves to the fictional town of Etters, South Carolina with her mom and older sister, Rose, after their parents separate. Only eleven months apart in age, the sisters are in the same grade and do the same activities. Quiet, creative Neve is used to having Rose take the lead in most everything. Things change, however, when Neve witnesses Rose being swept away by a mysterious fog and must figure out what to do. The only people who believe Neve about the fog are two classmates who’ve each had their own supernatural encounters in the town. The trio work together to figure out what happened to Rose and how to bring her back.

Interview with Landra Jennings

JH: Welcome to the Mixed-Up Files, Landra!  Thanks for joining us today.

LJ: Thank you so much for having me.

JH:  First I have to tell you how much I loved The Whispering Fog and devoured it in one sitting. Your book evokes the swamps of the South—brimming with mystery, magic and abundant heart. Neve is the perfect guide to this strange and unsettling world and I couldn’t put her story down.  Can you please tell us about your inspiration to write the book?

LJ: Thank you, thank you, thank you! There were several things that led me to this story. One was a fairy tale I read as a child: Snow-White and Rose-Red by the Brothers Grimm. I particularly remember a picture book with gorgeous illustrations. I enjoyed the tale of inseparable sisters who never fought and were endlessly good, but I always thought it would be more interesting if the sisters seemed more like real sisters. Why were they so very attached? Why did they never even get frustrated with each other, not even once? I have three sisters and though I love them dearly, we definitely did not always get along. I even used the names from the fairy tale—the name Neve is a derivation from the Latin word nivis which means ‘snow.’ Second, I wanted to set a story in South Carolina, where I live. The more things I took from my own life, I figured, the less I would have to research or invent. Third, I love spooky and fantastical stories. I had been trying my hand at those types of stories for a long while but I couldn’t find the right angle. I always thought that fairy tales in their original forms (not the animated versions!) were scary and at times even disturbing, so I leaned into that. I wanted this story to have a spooky edge.

The Appeal of Spooky

JH: Why spooky? What appeals to you about that?

LJ: I love spooky stories in general. I’ve been reflecting on why that is. I think that, for middle grade fiction, it’s because I believe it is important for kids to see young protagonists facing big, scary things and finding their own strength in getting through it. Overcoming fear is an important life skill because, let’s face it, life can be pretty scary at times. I also like dealing with strong and deep-seated emotions, and scary situations in books can bring out that adrenaline rush or visceral reaction that is related to the big emotions I’m exploring. The spookiness then ends up serving a larger purpose in the story. In The Whispering Fog, the scary situations Neve must face represent the fear she has of separating from her sister.

Research

JH: You mentioned research. What was your research process like?  What is the most interesting fact that you learned?

LJ: I did have to do research. I mixed the real world with fantastical elements, so I was asking the reader to take a leap with me. I wanted to anchor the reader in the “real” part of the story with as much authenticity as I could so that the leap into fantasy felt believable. So many of the research sources are online these days, which can at times yield questionable results, but I tried to make sure sources were credible ones. There were many things I had to research, including: The small differences in the climate between upstate SC and the midlands of SC, where the story is set. The science of Mutualism for the class project (I loved reading about futuristic designs for communal living with animals, for instance). And tomatoes, because of Piper’s love for them. Lots of tomato research was done! I was very surprised to discover that the tomato is the world’s most popular fruit (yes, it is a fruit!). According to WorldAtlas, tomatoes compete with bananas for popularity, but tomatoes are the clear winner with 182 million metric tons harvested annually. Although I loved the research, my editor was firm on reining in any fact-sharing that wasn’t used in service to the story. Tomatoes, for instance, are important to Piper for a very specific reason, which becomes clear in the story. And Mutualism is another way of thinking about the evolution of the relationship between Neve and Rose.

JH: The book is set in a South Carolina swamp. What was the most surprising thing that you learned about swamps in your research process?

LJ: Maybe how badly they can smell? That peat smell is something to get used to, for sure. But I’ve always been fascinated by swamps and the important role they play in the environment. There are over 500 swamps in South Carolina! But I had to go a little south of where I live to find them. There are no swamps in the upstate. The ones in Kershaw Country in the middle of the state are the most similar to the fictional one in the book. An interesting fact about swamps is there is a misconception that swamps have standing water all of the time. They have water long enough to support certain plants that need wet soil, but many wetlands are seasonally dry. They come and they go. Naturally, this led me to imagine an evil fog that soaked up all of that water and went creeping around.

The Role of Magic

JH: That brings us to the magic, because the fog is obviously magical. What role does magic play in the book? Why did you include it?

LJ: First of all, I wanted to amplify that power imbalance. Neve has to face a very powerful opponent—the witch in the swamp who has access to magic. Neve must face the witch with just her regular old self; she doesn’t have any magical powers and she can’t solve her problems using magic. Secondly, I like including magic because I think fantastical stories can be more palatable mediums for readers to work out big emotions; the situations seem much more removed from real life. Thirdly, I used magic to get the parents and other potentially helpful adults out of the way so that Neve would have to solve the problem. And, finally, greater-than-life fantastical elements have always appealed to me in signaling a powerful change in the hero.

Favorite Character

JH: Who was your favorite character to write?

LJ: Piper. I loved Piper from the beginning. Her smarts, her determination to find her sister, her love of tomatoes, her streak of independence. Piper is who she is with no apologies. That part of her I felt was a role model for Neve in learning to become her own person.

Favorite Scene

JH: What was your favorite scene to write?

LJ: The climactic scene where everything comes together ended up being my most favorite to write but also my least favorite. That was because it was the most difficult to write. It was the most rewritten scene in the entire book. But that moment when I finally found the right lines and felt Neve come into her own…yes! It was a very nice moment for me.

To the Heart of The Whispering Fog

JH: What would you most like for readers to take away from the book?

LJ: At its heart, the book is about believing in yourself and following your own instincts. No one should require someone else to guide them in everything they do in life. There is a difference between healthy attachment and dependence / co-dependence. I would love my readers to realize they are enough just as they are and to search for their own voice.

Fairy-Tale Inspiration for an Intriguing Dog

JH: Can you tell us about the inspiration for the dog character in the book?

LJ: The name of the dog in the book is Bear, as the dog character is my interpretation of the heroic prince from the original fairy tale (who was bewitched into bear form). I was also inspired by our family’s Labrador, Lucky. If you know Labradors, you know that food is their love language and they are most attached to the person who feeds them, which is me. Lucky has been my constant companion and shadow for 13 years now. He’s gotten me through a lot of things—not an evil fog exactly—but a lot of difficult times. Lucky IS a prince of a dog, incredibly calm and understanding, who also loves to be scratched behind the ears, much like the dog in the book.

Lightning Round!

No MUF interview is complete without a lightning round, so. . . .

Preferred writing snack: Dark Chocolate with mint

Coffee or tea? Tea! Green decaffeinated

Favorite animal? I am fascinated by birds of all sorts

Zombie apocalypse: Yea or nay? Nay, zombies are not for me, although I do love vampires

Superpower you’d love to have? Telekinesis, to bring my tea and chocolate in from the kitchen

Favorite place on earth? Mountains—Snowmass might be my favorite

Hidden talent? I can predict future happenings with the power of my anxiety

If you were stranded on a desert island and could pack three things, what would they be? The practical answer is probably a knife, but I’d also have to say my abridged copy of Les Miserables and dental floss

JH: How can readers obtain a copy of the book?

LJ: The book can be preordered at your local independent bookstores, Barnes and Noble, or Amazon, or any place books are sold. Personalized copies can be preordered at Fiction Addiction in Greenville, SC: https://www.fiction-addiction.com/quicksearch/author/landra%20jennings.

And now. . . .

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For a chance to win a copy of The Whispering Fog, comment on the blog—and, if you’re on Twitter, on the Mixed-Up Files Twitter account, for an extra chance to win!  (Giveaway ends August 27, 2022, MIDNIGHT EST.) U.S. only, please.

About the Author 

Landra Jennings writes fantasy novels for preteens – ages 8 through 12 – but appreciates readers of all ages! She loved books before she could read – as a toddler she’d turn the pages of books for hours. As a preteen, she’d strictly manage the list of library books checked out by her and her younger siblings. She turned this love of management and list-making into an adult career as a management consultant, working in Atlanta and Chicago. However, these days she has returned to her love of books and story, writing fairy-tale influenced fantasy like the stories that so fascinated her as a child. Landra has an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Hamline University where she won the Anne Tews Schwab Scholarship in Excellence in Critical Writing and the Walden Pond Press Scholarship in Middle Grade Fiction and Nonfiction. Today, Landra lives with her husband and sons in Greenville, South Carolina. You can learn more about Landra on her website and follow her on Instagram.

The post Author Spotlight: Landra Jennings + a GIVEAWAY appeared first on From The Mixed Up Files.

Below are six easy ways for you and the students in your life to get started.

• Begin by collecting several books in which a significant part of the action takes place outdoors. Research shows that students are more engaged when they have a choice in their reading. Allowing them to select a book with a setting that they’d like to explore also sets the groundwork for their natural curiosity to drive their inquiry.

• Ask students to read with nature in mind. As students read, invite them to take note of details of the natural world of the book’s setting. What do the characters see, hear, smell, taste and touch from the natural world in that setting? How do these interactions affect character development, story arc, plot, pacing, and other elements of the story?

• Take nature journaling to the next level. Begin by providing students with a notebook and challenge them to create a day-by-day or week-by-week nature journal from the point of view of a fictional character in the book they have selected. Students can make notes about what would most likely be of interest to the character at each point in the story action. Students can use non-fiction resources to answer questions about plants, animals, geography, weather and other elements of the fictional character’s world at that time of year in that location. They can add drawings and notes about those elements to their journals. You also might challenge students to consider how these elements affect the main character’s ability to achieve their goal. For example, does the weather present an obstacle? If the character is surviving on their own in the natural world, what plants or animals present opportunities or contain threats? If the setting of the book is similar to the natural world found in your community, you might invite students to go on a field to a local park to explore that environment and add to their nature journals.

• Invite students to create a diorama of their favorite part of the natural world of the book’s characters. As students read, you might invite them to select their favorite part of the natural world described in the story. You can challenge students to create a diorama of that setting, with footnotes about how each element in the setting affected character development, plot, pacing, and the overall story arc. This provides additional motivation to access non-fiction resources and to expand student knowledge.

• Create a guided outdoor scavenger hunt featuring natural elements mentioned in the book. Many items are common across ecosystems. You might select several items mentioned in the book your students are studying and create a scavenger hunt of those items. For example, in My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George, the main character created whistles out of willow, made salt from hickory limbs, and ate parts of wild violets. You might challenge students to see if they can find those things at a local park or other natural area where they have permission to take small samples of natural materials. You can find an example of a book-inspired scavenger hunt list here.

• Create a discovery center and a tradition of a nature wonder hour. Once students have found items from their scavenger hunt, they can create a discovery center to house them. You can make a discovery center out of an old printer’s tray, a box, a basket, or another item that you have on hand. Invite students to consider the questions they have about those items. They can then explore answers in non-fiction resources during a regular Nature Wonder Hour. That time can be as long or as short as you’d like. The key is to let student curiosity guide their research. You can find a sample set of questions here.

Whatever activities you do, I hope that you and the students in your life enjoy diving even more deeply into the world of book settings. You can learn more about new releases at https://fromthemixedupfiles.com/mixed-up-files-book-lists/ and find a list of books by Mixed Up Files contributors at https://fromthemixedupfiles.com/about/contributor-books/. I’m wishing you and the students in your life lots of reading and outdoor adventures.

The post Engaging Readers by Exploring the Natural World of Book Settings appeared first on From The Mixed Up Files.

• Invite students to consider books as not only works of literature but also as works of art. Begin by showing students several well-known hardcover books and discussing how the text, images, and other design elements on the front and back cover, the spine, and inside flaps relate to the central themes of each book Then invite students to rewrite and redesign the front and back cover, the spine, and inside flaps of the book they’re reading. Students can select a color palette that they believe best fits the book, create new images, and re-write the front and back flap copy to highlight things that they believe would appeal to potential readers. They can put those elements together in a new book design. Ask students to also consider elements such as text, font choice and placement, and how themes and design elements from the front cover continue onto the spine, back cover and flaps. Students can even choose a new book title.
• Invite students to create a playlist including a song for each chapter with a short paragraph explaining why they selected each song and how it relates to the chapter. I recently put together a playlist for my book Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe featuring artists from Mississippi, where the book is set. Even for someone like me who is not musically inclined, putting the list together was surprisingly fun. I discovered new artists and thinking about chapter pairings gave me the opportunity to re-examine the central theme of each chapter. Limiting the playlist options to artists from Mississippi also allowed me to highlight the talented musical artists from that state. You might try a similar approach with your students. You can ask them to select songs from the historical period of the book, to feature only artists from the geographical region where the story is set, or to limit their choices to a particular genre of music.
• Invite students to create a graphic novel presentation. If the book your students are reading is not already a graphic novel, you can invite students to select what they consider to be the five most pivotal chapters and to present those chapters in graphic novel form.
• Invite students to create a poem to have a conversation with a book. Another idea is to invite students to create a poem inspired by questions that they had about a book they’ve read. First ask students to consider why the writer chose certain elements in the book. Then invite students to create a poem that explores the meaning of those elements or that asks questions about the writer’s choices. Students can use any poetry form that they wish, including free verse. Sometimes limiting options is the best way to inspire creativity. If students get stuck, they can write the letters of the book title vertically down the left side of a page. They can then use each letter as the beginning of a word in a line of their poem.
• Use art to explore and express the way the main character changed. Novels involve change and growth. One way to engage readers in exploring the changes in the main character over the course of a novel is to ask them to create an illustration of the main character at the beginning of the book (utilizing elements of composition including setting, choice of color palette, clothing and accessory choices and other items to show the main character’s traits). You can then invite students to illustrate that same character at the ending of the book, again using elements of the composition to show how the character has grown and changed.
• Turn students into book ambassadors. You can invite students to imagine that they are booksellers and ask them to create a short video sales pitch for the book. What types of readers do the students believe would be interested in the book? What elements of the book did the students find most appealing? What would they tell someone to try to persuade them to read the book?
• Challenge students to become book marketers. Once students are comfortable becoming book ambassadors, you can invite them to take the next step and become book marketers. Challenge them to create at least five new taglines for the book they’re studying. As you know, taglines are short phrases included on the front or back cover or inside flaps intended to intrigue potential readers. For example, the tagline for Refugee by Alan Gratz is “Three different kids. One mission in common: ESCAPE.” The tagline for When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller is “Some stories refuse to stay bottled up.” The tagline for All of the Above by Shelley Pearsall is “When all the pieces fit together, dreams can come true.” As you can imagine, creating a tagline takes lots of brainstorming. If students get stuck, invite them to create lists of key words that capture important elements of the story. Student then can combine the words in different order and phrasing to come up with potential taglines.
• Invite students to create a word-inspired poem. Ask students to pick a number at random that is smaller than the number of pages in the book they are reading. Then invite them to turn to that page, select at least seven words that intrigue them, and create a poem about the book that uses each of those seven words.
• Invite students to immerse themselves in the setting of the book. You can invite students to research the setting of the book. They can then create an annotated map of the place where the major story action occurred.
• Invite students to get social. You can invite students to create fictional social media posts from the point of view of the main character in the story at key action points.

Whatever activities you choose, I hope that you and your students enjoy diving even more deeply into the world of books. You can learn more about new releases at https://fromthemixedupfiles.com/mixed-up-files-book-lists/ and find a list of books by Mixed Up Files contributors at https://fromthemixedupfiles.com/about/contributor-books/. I’m wishing you and your students loads of reading and creative adventures.

The post Embracing Diverse Talents and Perspectives: Using Creative Projects to Dive Deeper into Fiction appeared first on From The Mixed Up Files.

Our guest today is Lesley Roessing, the author of Talking Texts: A Teachers’ Guide to Book Clubs Across the Curriculum.  As students head back to school, Book Clubs can be an important tool to promote social and emotional learning and to foster a love for reading and for learning. Parents as well as educators can use the techniques in the book to start and facilitate Book Clubs. 

Thanks so much, Lesley, for joining us at the Mixed Up Files of Middle-Grade Authors!  I love how Talking Texts  provides practical guidance about how to use Book Clubs to engage students more fully. Your book also provides templates for doing exactly that. Can  you share with us  your inspiration for this book?

My inspiration was seeing readers, especially “reluctant” readers, engaged and motivated by collaborative reading and the small-group discussions that Book Clubs allow. This was true both in my middle school classes and classes from grades three through high school that have invited me to facilitate Book Clubs. Book Clubs give readers a choice of books at their individual reading and interest levels and a social, safe space in which to discuss their reading. Most classroom teachers agree that, in whole-class discussions, only three to four students talk and it is usually the same students. In small groups that have had training in social skills, I observe all students talking. Because of peer pressure or a wish to take part in their group, students keep up with Book Club reading.

Talking Texts provides detailed support for every recommendation in your book.  Why it is so important that students be allowed choice in reading?

There is a decline in, or even a halt to, reading both for pleasure and academics at the middle grades, sometimes earlier. Aliteracy occurs when students are capable of reading, but choose not to read. Many students have told me that they don’t read, mainly because they don’t like the books the teacher chooses. We first have to grow readers, students who think of themselves as readers and are on their way to becoming life-long readers. I had many eighth grade students who admitted they previously never had read an entire book or had read only one or two books in the previous grades or rather fake-read those books. Those same students became readers of twenty to thirty books by the end of that eighth grade year. Choice was the prime motivator. There are very few topics or writing styles or genres that interest everyone.

This has been verified by research: “A meta-analysis of 41 studies examined the effect of choice on intrinsic motivation and related outcomes in a variety of settings with both child and adult samples. Results indicated that providing choice enhanced intrinsic motivation, effort, task performance, and perceived competence, among other outcomes.”– (U.S. National Library of Medicine)

What is another advantage of Book Clubs?

After students have read and discussed their novels, Book Clubs can prepare a presentation of their books for the rest of the class through skits, puppet shows, narrative poetry, talk shows, and a variety of other means explained in Talking Texts. This synthesizes text for the readers while sharing texts with students who haven’t had the chance to read. This is particularly effective when clubs read articles about a topic being studied in class.

Can you tell us about your experience and review of research that resulted in your book and its appendices?

I would call it action research. During my time at the Summer Reading Institute of the Pennsylvania Writing Project, I read all the “experts” in reading. In my role as Director of the Coastal Savannah Writing Project facilitating our Summer Reading Institute as well as teaching reading strategies to pre-service and in-service teachers, I kept up with the research, but most of my “research” was in my middle grade classroom and when facilitating Book Clubs in classrooms to which I was invited.

Can you share with us some best practices in setting up a Book Club?

a. Let the students choose their books, after a teacher book talk and a few minutes to read a page or two, and form Book Clubs based on the books rather than the other way around.

b. Teach social skills: how to prepare for a discussion with reading notes and bringing a well-designed discussion question (Book Clubs should be student-led); how to hold a discussion; how to extend a conversation when everyone agrees; and how to respectfully disagree.

c. Provide a range of reading levels and characters but if the books have something in common—a topic, a genre, a format—it allows for whole-class focus lessons and for inter-club discussions.

Can you provide insight on how educators can use Book Clubs to teach subject-matter content in any discipline?

Book club strategies and techniques can be used with articles and nonfiction books in any discipline as I explain in Talking Texts. My college students would meet for the first 15 minutes of class in Textbook Clubs, discussing what they had read for that class meeting and resolving any questions they had about their reading. Any questions they still had, they could write on the board to be covered in class. This would work for any grade level in any subject.

Book Clubs can be customized to any genre or interest. You regularly update your social media with lists of books organized by a variety of factors to provide a wide range of options for educators, parents and readers.  Where can we find your book lists?

I’ve included some lists in Talking Texts and I regularly post on Facebook when I think of a topic, like Bullying or Kindness, or format, such as verse novels, or genre, such as Historical Fiction. I share with other Facebook groups but always post on mine.

Do you have any advice for people organizing virtual Book Clubs?

I would suggest keeping those groups small. Educators who have held on-line Book Clubs said that they followed the strategies in my book and students meet in breakout rooms. If the teacher feels they need to observe, each Book Club would have to meet at a different time or day.

What would you most like for educators and parents to take away from Talking Texts?

That we need to not teach reading but reach readers. Students of all ages, but especially adolescents, are social and if we can make learning social, they will be more engaged. Also the power of Book Clubs is that they are student-led. If teachers put the students into groups and give the students questions to answer, they are no longer student-led.

What has been your favorite part about seeing Talking Texts make its way into the world?

I am happy that Talking Texts provides me with opportunities to share strategies and what I have learned through my many experiences. I really love that teachers who were nervous about trying Book Clubs say they feel confident and are excited to start Book Clubs and  that veteran teachers who have included Book Clubs in the past write that Talking Texts gave them new strategies and new ideas, such as article and poetry clubs.

How do you have students prepare for Book Club meeting other than reading?

Reader need to come to meetings with notes from or reflections on their reading. Short informal written reflections cause students to interact with text, thereby increasing comprehension. Having notes give readers something to refer to, a basis for discussion beyond the member-prepared discussion questions, and proof that they have completed the assigned reading for that meeting. Talking Texts includes many reader response forms that readers can use as well as forms to reflect on their Book Club meetings.

Thank you, Lesley!  To learn more about Lesley and her latest book lists, you can follow her on Facebook- @Lesley Roessing and Twitter @LRoessing.  We are offering a giveaway of Talking Texts  to one lucky winner. Enter here by August 16 for your chance to win.  Note:  Only residents of the contiguous United States, please.

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