Welcome to my Blog!
This is where I put my musings that don’t make it into my paper journal. I try to write about things that might interest other writers and readers, including reviews of MG books I’ve been reading.
How Writing is Like Sailing
Sailing in the Flying Scot North American Championships Writing well is hard. So many elements go into it: pacing, structure, vocabulary, voice, not using filter words (words like feel/smell/saw). I...
A Sporting Chance: How Ludwig Guttmann Created the Paralympic Games
“A Sporting Chance: How Ludwig Guttmann Created the Paralympic Games,” by Lori Alexander, is an outstanding book about someone who made a phenomenal difference in countless lives. Although I was...
A Little Bit of Encouragement Goes a Long Way
It is mid-September. We have all been in various stages of lockdown for six months. That’s half a year. Does it feel longer than that to you? Less long? Protests supporting Black Lives Matter and...
Song for a Whale
Watching a panel on portraying deaf and hard of hearing characters in middle grade novels made me realize I had not yet posted my review of panelist Lynne Kelly's book, "Song for a Whale," which I...
July Newsletter
At the Corner of Doom and Gloom: Doomscrolling Vs Curate Your Brain I recently came across the term “doom scrolling” or “doom surfing.” As you can imagine, these phrases refer to the practice of...
“My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich” and “Finding Orion”
Both “My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich,” by Ibi Zoboi, and “Finding Orion,” by John David Anderson, are about grandfathers. In one case it’s a beloved grandfather who is far away, and in another...
Other Words for Home
“Other Words for Home,” by Jasmine Warga, is a novel in verse about the grief and happiness of trying to adapt to an entirely new culture, while living an ocean away from your loved ones and...
What Can White People Do?
I was planning on talking about the simple pleasure of holding physical books again, as my local library is now delivering books curbside. And that is a simple pleasure that I am grateful for. But...
Looking For Silver Linings and Finding Puppies and Webinars…
Hellooooo out there!! Do you wake up every morning and forget for an instant that we are living in the midst of a pandemic? I often do and it can be so jarring. The other day I heard that...
Magic vs Logic: A Field Guide to Getting Lost
What happens when two adults with children start dating? In “A Field Guide to Getting Lost,” by Joy McCullough, we can enjoy what happens when two such kids fit together like “chalk and cheese.” In...
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