One of the greatest joys of writing for middle grade readers is collaborating with passionate, caring educators who work so hard to connect kids with books they’ll love. Educators, thank you for all you do to nurture students’ love of stories and validate their experiences. I hope you find some useful activities, discussion questions, video lessons, and other resources here. And check out my visits & events page if you’re interested in booking me for a virtual or in-person school visit!
Curriculum Guides:
Craft Lessons and Activities:
- Original First Chapter and Editorial Suggestions for Keeping Pace: Compare and Contrast with the Published Version
- How Writers Control Time with Examples from Coming Up Short
- How to Choose the Right Narrative P.O.V. with Examples from Saint Ivy
- How Should a Story Begin? with examples from Up for Air
First Chapter Read-Aloud Videos:
Fun Stuff:
Selected Essays:
- How Stories Make Hard Parenting Conversations Easier, a guest post on Imagination Soup
- How to Write Novels that Engage and Delight Middle School Readers, an article for Writer’s Digest
- Puberty, Power Dynamics, and the Story I Needed: Behind the Book on BookPage
- How Books Help Us Love Ourselves, a Guest Post on Nerdy Book Club
- Collaboration Celebration: The Low-Down on Co-Writing, on MGBookVillage
- MG at Heart Writer’s Toolbox: Writing a Fallible Narrator