I’m celebrating a book birthday today! This picture book biography has been a long time coming – almost seven years – so I woke up with happy tears in my eyes, and a few sad ones, too. Here’s why…

ONLY THE BEST: THE EXCEPTIONAL LIFE AND FASHION OF ANN LOWE is co-authored by Margaret Powell, illustrated by Erin Robinson, and published by Chronicle Books, and it’s about one of the first African American fashion designers – a woman whose work was so amazing and sought-after that she designed Jackie Kennedy’s wedding dress (and never got credit for it at the time – the elaborate press write-ups of the wedding simply mentioned that “a colored dressmaker” had created Jackie’s gown.)

I’m so excited to introduce you to Ann’s work, and I’d also like to take a few minutes to introduce you to my friend and coauthor, Margaret Powell. Margaret passed away in early 2019, and oh my goodness, how I wish you could have met her. She was one of the smartest, loveliest people I’ve ever known, and she made it her life work to make sure people would know about Ann Lowe’s amazing talents.

It was Ann who led me to Margaret. I’d see one of Ann Lowe’s stunning gowns at the Smithsonian and made a note to look her up to learn more about her work. When I read about her history – how she’d learned to sew alongside her mother and her grandmother, an enslaved seamstress in Alabama, and how the fabric flowers she crafted from scraps as a child became a hallmark of her debutante gowns – I could immediately see her story as a picture book.

As a writer, when I have a “spark moment’ like this, the first question I ask myself is, “Is there enough information – and enough conflict and interest – here for a picture book?” As soon as I starting digging into the research, I realized that the answer to that question was a resounding yes.

The next question I ask is “Am I the best person to tell this story?” And that answer was, well, no – probably not. Ann’s life work was shaped by her history – by the talent that she inherited and honed through hard work, and by the racism that she encountered every step of the way. That’s not something I’ve experienced, and it’s not something I can write about with the same emotional depth as someone who has.

Often, when I come across a story idea like this, I’ll simply put it out to the writing community with a note – “Hey, friends! Check out this amazing person – I’m not the right person to tell this story, but maybe you are. Let me know if I can help!” And it’s great when an author who’s just the right voice for that story ends up finding it.

In this case, though, my research also led me to the person who was really meant to tell Ann’s story – Margaret. I’d come across this interview with her, in which her expertise and unbridled passion for Ann’s designs simply overflowed.

Margaret had already written her masters thesis on Ann’s work and was working on a museum exhibition of her gowns. When I reached out to her to ask about reading her Masters thesis, she shared that she was working on her own book about Ann’s life – one for adult readers.

I asked if she might want to also consider collaborating on a picture book biography for young readers – or if she’d like some help just writing it herself. We met up for brunch in New York City in December 2015 and spent two happy hours talking about Ann and gushing over her work. Margaret let me know that she’d like to work together on this book – she knew everything about Ann’s life and was excited to learn the craft and business of writing for kids.

That meeting launched months of back and forth emails and collaboration via Google docs. I had a very rough outline in mind, but Margaret had interviewed Ann’s granddaughter and understood that there were other pivotal moments in her journey that should be lifted up. We went back and forth with our editor Melissa Manlove, bringing out the poetry in the story and choosing just the right illustrator, the amazing Erin Robinson.

And while that was all happening, Margaret was diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer. She worked on our book and her adult title (which she’d sold to Simon & Schuster!) along with her museum exhibition, all through her treatments and found so much joy in that. Just a couple of months before she died, she sent me an email from DC, where she was visiting some of Ann’s gowns for her upcoming exhibition.

I so wish Margaret were here to celebrate this beautiful book with us today. This is her publishing debut, so I’m lighting a candle and taking some time to remember her this morning. I hope you’ll pick up a copy of the book and share Ann’s amazing story with some young readers. And please tell them about Margaret, too.

LitWorld’s amazing World Read Aloud Day is coming up on February 1, 2023! One of the fun traditions of this day of sharing stories is for authors and illustrators around the world to Zoom into classrooms & libraries for short read-alouds. For a while now, I’ve helped out by compiling a list of author and illustrator volunteers so teachers & librarians can connect with them to schedule virtual read-aloud sessions on that day.

Teachers & librarians: Please hold tight for right now… the list will be coming soon! Sign up for my email newsletter if you’d like to get the link in your in-box as soon as it’s ready!

Authors & Illustrators: Are you a traditionally published* author or illustrator who would like to be listed as a WRAD virtual read-aloud volunteer? Please read the information & follow the directions below…

WRAD VISITS AREN’T LONG OR FANCY PRESENTATIONS. USUALLY, THEY LAST 10-15 MINUTES AND GO SOMETHING LIKE THIS:

• 1-2 minutes: Author gives a quick introduction & talks a little about their books.
• 3-5 minutes: Author reads aloud a short picture book, or a short excerpt from a chapter book/novel
• 5-10 minutes: Author answers a few questions from students about reading/writing
• 1-2 minutes: Author book-talks a couple books they love (but didn’t write!) as recommendations for the kids

Interested in volunteering? If you’re a traditionally published author or illustrator, just fill out this form to sign up! 

*Why traditionally published? Honestly, it’s to limit the size and scope of this list because I’m one person with limited time. But this year, the wonderful Judy Campbell-Smith is coordinating a list of self-published authors & illustrators who are volunteering as well – check out her post to sign up!

Linda Urban’s first young adult novel TALK SANTA TO ME is out this week! It’s a hilarious and heartwarming romantic comedy about first kisses, family, and the true spirit of the holidays. This is an absolute delight of a book that I talked about in yesterday’s post and today, I’m sitting down with Linda to talk about the story behind this magical holiday novel. 

Linda and I chat online most mornings; we’re always going back and forth about books and the craft of writing them, and we’re approaching this conversation the same way. Feel free to pull up a chair and get yourself a latte or a cup of tea, and join us! I’ll start the way we typically greet one another…

Kate: Hello, friend! Are you ready to Talk Santa to Me? (Clearly, I’ve been waiting years to use that line.)

Linda: Excellent work, friend.

Yes, I went to santa school.  And to tell the absolute truth, I wasn’t entirely sure why I wanted to go.  I did think that maybe I’d get a picture book out of it – but I wasn’t sure.  Still, it was one of those things that strikes your interest and you just have to follow it.  So I filled out the application.  

Later, when I actually got in and felt like I needed to justify the trip to people around me, I started saying I thought it would be funny, and I started imagining what it would be like through a kind of David Sedaris, semi-cynical lens.  By the time I arrived, I had my mind made up about what I would find.

And then, the whole thing started with about 150 of us in a hotel conference room and we were asked to introduce ourselves.  Believe me, I had my notebook out, ready to record proof for my expectations, and then the first man stood up and told everyone his name and how many years he had been coming to the school.  And then he told us how he had become a santa because his brother had been one.  And when his brother died and he had to clean out his closet, there was the suit, hanging there, and he knew he had to keep doing the work that his brother had in honor of his memory.

Dang.

Well.  Maybe the next one would be more Sedaris-like, I thought.

But it wasn’t.  None of the stories were like that.  There were people who volunteered at children’s hospitals, who fill December with visits to foster homes, who learn sign language so they can connect with deaf families, who specialize in working with refugees and kids in crisis.  

Kate, these were not a bunch of cynics looking to make a few extra holiday bucks.  These were deep-hearted, dedicated, child-centered people who wanted, more than anything, to give children a few moments of love and attention and hope.  The way they talked about their work, and about kids, reminded me of the way we talk about the work we do for kids. 

Kate: Yes! I remember you telling me about this when you got home, and I remember thinking, “Well, there goes Linda’s snarky book idea…” But honestly, the stories you brought home made me tear up.

Linda: Which is not to say that it wasn’t sometimes funny, too.  The santas were great storytellers and they love their themed clothing and punny t-shirts. And, yeah, it was a hoot to watch them tint their eyebrows white and try on fake bellies and discuss the merits of yak hair beards. The santa school president had us all over to his home for an evening of songs and cookies and the over-the-top holiday decor made me chuckle, too.  These people even had real live reindeer in the yard, in the same way that some folks have sheep or ponies.  (It was pretty great, I have to say.)

They also had daughters in their late teens and twenties who helped out with things and while those girls seemed quite happy, I couldn’t help but imagine what it was like for them when they were a few years younger.  What would it be like to have friends over and have to excuse yourself to feed the reindeer?  To have a dad who was the town Santa?  

When I got back from santa school I did write a picture book about it.  It was a good picture book, too, I think – and a few publishers liked it very much, but there was no way they would publish a book which in any way might cast doubt on the idea of a one true Santa.

Kate: I remember that picture book manuscript! Part of me understands the response (kinda) but the rest of me remains upset that I’m the only person who got to read it. It was such a breath of fresh air, and we don’t really have that kind of wonderful holiday nonfiction. But nevertheless, I was delighted when you used that research in an entirely different way. But it took some time for that to happen, right? 

Linda: It wasn’t until a few years later that I got the notion to write something about a Santa school that would appeal to older readers – but I knew that my middle grade readers were sometimes as young as nine, which might pose the same problem.  Thankfully, the voice of Frankincense Wood – Francie – arrived on the scene and as soon as she started talking it was clear that this was the story of a fifteen year old.

Kate: I will honestly never forget the first time I got to read that opening page. Francie’s voice is pitch-perfect and so wonderfully funny. I love her so much.

You can pick up your copy of TALK SANTA TO ME at your local independent bookstore. Or order a signed copy from Linda’s local store Bear Pond Books. 

When an author whose work I love branches out into a new genre or age group, I always have two immediate thoughts. Make that three. 

Thought #1 – OMG YAY!!!! 

Thought #2 – But I love (author’s) books SO much…. What if this new project is different? What if I don’t love it? Gah! 

Thought #3 – Still…yay!!!! (and at this point, I start counting down the days to book release)

Lately, I’ve experienced a lot of yay moments with authors-I-love-writing-something-new, so my worries have been for naught. 

I loved Justina Ireland’s YA novel DREAD NATION so much that I will admit I worried a little about reading her MG debut, OPHIE’S GHOSTS. What if I didn’t love it as much? Spoiler: I loved it even more. OPHIE’S GHOSTS was every bit as amazing for its age group – a pitch-perfect middle grade ghost story that’s also steeped in history and social justice. Yay!! 

And Sara Zarr has long been one of my favorite YA authors, so I had all those same mixed feelings when I learned that her first MG novel was coming out this year. Could A SONG CALLED HOME possibly be as wonderful as SWEETHEARTS and THE LUCY VARIATIONS and ONCE WAS LOST? 

Well, yes. A SONG CALLED HOME was just as great. This heartfelt and honest story about a girl finding her way through family changes made me laugh and cry in all the best ways, and I can’t wait to read more middle grade from Sara. Once again…yay!

So that brings me to the next story of an author branching out. You probably know Linda Urban for her pitch-perfect middle grade voice. Like me, you probably laughed along with Zoe in A CROOKED KIND OF PERFECT and felt so much empathy for the painfully shy Maddie in HOUND DOG TRUE. Linda’s latest MG novel, ALMOST THERE AND ALMOST NOT, might be my favorite of her middle grade novels. It’s about a girl who’s sent to live with her aunt, only to find that the ghost of another aunt is living there, too – and so is a very cute ghost dog. This tender, funny novel broke my heart and put it back together again. Have Kleenex ready when you read it. 

Linda isn’t just an author whose writing I admire. She’s also a beloved friend. So when she told me some time ago that she was trying something new and writing a young adult novel, I said “Yay!!” and told her to go for it. But a tiny part of me worried I might not love it quite as much – because after all, I love Linda’s MG novels a whole lot. 

I didn’t have to wait for this book to come out to know there was nothing to worry about. As soon as Linda shared the opening pages of TALK SANTA TO ME, I was hooked, laughing out loud, smitten with the main character, and dying to read more.

Linda wrote and rewrote and revised and revised this book again and again, over several years. Every scene she shared with me made me wonder how someone with a perfect MG voice could have such a perfect YA voice in her pocket, too. Thankfully, you’ll be able to read this new book soon, and I promise – you don’t have to worry. You’ll love it just as much as Linda’s middle grade novels. 

TALK SANTA TO ME is out today! Here’s what it’s about: 

(from the publisher) 

A teen girl gets the perfect second try at a first kiss in this hilarious, romp-filled young adult romantic comedy perfect for fans of Jenna Evans Welch and Hallmark Christmas movies.

Francie was born in a stable. Really. Granted, it was the deluxe model with the light-up star on the roof, one of the many Christmas items for sale at her family’s Hollydale Holiday Shop. Their holiday gift empire also includes the Santa School, which was founded by Francie’s beloved grandpa, who recently passed away.

Francie’s always loved working in the shop, but lately Aunt Carole has been changing everything with her ideas for too-slick, Hollywood-inspired Santas and horrible holiday-themed employee uniforms. Aunt Carole’s vision will ruin all the charm and nostalgia Francie loves about her family’s business…unless she does something about it.

But this winter is about more than preserving the magic of Christmas. Francie is saving up for a car and angling to kiss the cute boy who works at the tree lot next door—hopefully it will be good enough to wipe her fiasco of a first kiss from her memory.

As the weather outside gets more and more frightful, can Francie pull off the holiday of her dreams?

Ever since I read an early draft of this book, I’ve been asking Linda, “How did you DO that?” It’s what I wish I could ask every writer whose book I love. I want all the nitty gritty craft details, and this time, I was lucky enough to sit down with Linda to talk about her writing process. Our interview will be posted tomorrow, so be sure to check back then.

In the mean time, you should probably go pick up your copy of TALK SANTA TO ME from your local independent bookstore. Or you can order a signed copy from Linda’s local store Bear Pond Books. Or request it from your library. Or all of the above! And don’t forget to stop back tomorrow for our interview.

Good morning, friends! I hope last week’s adventures in world building were fun and productive for you, whether or not you choose to return to any of those settings for future writing. This is our last week of summer camp, so I want to send you off with some activities and tips to carry you through the school year (and bonus! You’ll be able to share these with your kids who need a little creative boost, too!) 

I visit schools and libraries all over the world to talk about books and writing with kids, and the most common question I get – hands down – is “Where do you get your ideas?” 

The answer, of course, is “Everywhere!” But that’s not super helpful to a kid staring at a blank piece of paper, so this week, we’re going to play around with a favorite brainstorming strategy. Here are your assignments for this week: 


1. Make yourself a three-column brainstorming chart! 

If you’ve participated in Teachers Write in the past, you might be familiar with it, and that’s okay. It’s great, in fact – because this is one of those activities that gets better and more productive the more often you try it.  It’s one of dozens of writing prompts featured in my book for educators, 59 REASONS TO WRITE. 




2.  On another day, spend a little more time adding ideas to your three-column brainstorming chart. Then step back and take a look at your options. What would happen if you took that character from column 1 and dropped them into an unexpected setting from column two? Or what would happen if you imagined exploring that big idea from column three in a setting that doesn’t, at first glance, seem to fit? Play around with this until you’ve come up with three ideas that seem like fun to explore. Then let all that writing rest for a day or two.

3. When you come back to your chart and scribbled ideas, we’re going to pull a trick from the Laura Ruby playbook. Laura is the author of many books for young readers, from YA novels like 13 DOORWAYS: WOLVES BEHIND THEM ALL to her charming new picture book ME AND MS. TOO, which came about because of the strategy Laura’s sharing this week.



Laura says:  If you’re struggling with a short story or a novel, write it as a picture book instead. This will help you figure out your main story arc and the emotional journey of your main character.

So even if you’re thinking your idea might be a novel, try drafting it as a quick picture book right now. (Don’t worry – it can be terrible! That’s part of the fun of drafts.) If you’re thinking of it as a picture book, do a little writing about what it might look like fleshed out as a novel. Or what if you made it a graphic novel? Playing around with unexpected formats is another way to stretch as a writer and find the perfect fit for an idea. 

Whatever else you choose to work on this summer and beyond, here’s one more revision tip – it’s an especially great one to share with student writers as well, and it comes to us from Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, the author of OPERATION SISTERHOOD. 



Olugbemisola says: Talk it Out: tell your story to someone else. Don’t let them read any of it, don’t read it yourself, no notes, nothing.

See what elements they react to. Make note of what they get excited about, what resonates, what confuses them, what bores them, what they have more questions about. 

What parts do you get excited about? What feels fuzzy? Why is it there? 

Then make a list of your observations from this conversation and bring that back to the next read of your story. (When I was working on OPERATION SISTERHOOD, this strategy helped me move the story to Bo’s point of view!)

We have one last chance to connect with fellow campers on Jen’s blog this Friday if you’d like to check in.

Otherwise, that’s a wrap for this summer – other than to say that I’m so, so glad you chose to join us for this season of exploration and play. We were all due for some fun, weren’t we? I know that many of you worked through the summer, and those who didn’t will be heading back to school soon. Please know that as you fight for your kids, providing them with the stories that will sustain them through this school year and beyond, I’ll be cheering for you. I’m so, so grateful that you’ve chosen this essential work.

We’ll be back next summer with another season of Teachers Write. Until then, please feel free to reach out if you ever have questions about my books or author visits. And if you’d like signed copies of any of my books, personalized to you and your readers, you can always order them through my local bookseller here.

Thanks again for joining us – and especially for sharing stories with your kids.

All best,
Kate

Good morning, friends! This week at camp, we’re going to ramp up the fun factor by doing some world building. If you’re a fan of science fiction or fantasy, you already have an appreciation for the amazing worlds created by authors like Dhonielle Clayton, whose MG novel THE MARVELLERS is set at a global magic school in the sky, and Justina Ireland, whose DREAD NATION characters live in an alternative history, in which the dead rose from the battlefields of Gettysburg, changing the United States forever.

But just HOW do authors make these imaginary worlds feel so real and fully developed? The answer is, with a whole lot of world building. This is work that happens largely off the page, where writers craft every detail of the world in which they’re writing. Often, we get a sense for this world – this place we’ll be exploring in the story – in the very opening pages of the book. Anne Ursu is a master of the perfect opening scene. This one grounds us firmly on the continent of Dovia, the world in which her MG fantasy THE TROUBLED GIRLS OF DRAGOMIR ACADEMY takes place. 

    There were few women pictured in the great tapestries of Illyria — besides the witches, of course. The tapestries depicted moments of heroism, epic battles of good and evil, of powerful sorcerers and brave noblemen protecting the kingdom from the monsters that had threatened it throughout its history. 
    That is not to say that girls and women did not matter to Illyria: behind every great tapestry was a woman who wove it, just as behind every great sorcerer was a wife to tend to his domestic affairs, a governess to teach his children, a cook to warm his gullet, a maid to keep his fires lit. 
    And behind every boy who dreamed of being a sorcerer was a mother who raised him to be brave, noble, and kind. And perhaps that boy even had a sister, who, right before the Council for the Magical Protection of Illyria finally visited his humble home to test him for a magical gift, made sure the chicken coop was spotless. 

                              ~From THE TROUBLED GIRLS OF DRAGOMIR ACADEMY

From just a few paragraphs, we learn who has the power in this world, who is revered and who is quietly taken for granted, as well as how boys come of age and grow into their power. It’s pretty amazing, right? 

In order to write this kind of opening page, a writer must have a firm handle on what their world looks like. And one way to do that is by doing a lot of pre-writing about the world and how it works. That’s what we’re going to play with in this week’s assignment. 

1. Think of at least three different worlds you might like to write about someday. These can be science fiction, speculative fiction, or any kind of fantasy. Maybe your story is set in a colony on Mars or on a floating futuristic city set up to rescue the population from rising oceans. Or maybe you’d like to have your own magical school for wizards or dragons or monsters from mythology. Brainstorm a few possibilities and explore what those worlds might look like — both visually and in terms of how things work. 

2. On another day, choose one of those worlds to develop more fully. Write a bit in response to each of these questions. (They’re from a world-building worksheet I created for myself while I was working on my futuristic MG novel EYE OF THE STORM!)  

What are the non-negotiable rules of this world?   Are there any exceptions?

What laws does society impose?  What happens to people who break them?

What kind of government is in place?  Consider local & national levels as well as international cooperation. How does government impact citizens’ everyday lives?

What official document is in place to define that government? If it is a future version of a current document (i.e.Constitution), how has it changed? What amendments have been added?

What rights do people have?  What rights are they denied, and why?

What are this society’s most closely held values?

What social ladders exist? Who has power and why? What are the tangible symbols of that power? Who is at the bottom of this society’s social ladder, and why?

What kind of diversity exists in the population?

What role, if any, does religion play in this society? What are the dominant religions? What religions are marginalized?

What do international/inter-group relations look like? What wars are going on?  What countries or groups are fighting, and why? Which ones are allies? Which are enemies?

What’s in the history books? What’s left out?

What climate and weather patterns are prevalent?

What does agriculture look like? Where do people get food?

What foods are considered standard fare? What foods are delicacies, and why?
 3. Then, on another day, after you’ve had a chance to ponder all of your writing about this world, do a little writing to see what kind of story might emerge. 

What current issue/problem is at the heart of this imagined world?  From what spark of our modern reality was this world born?

How could the setting of this story impact the main character?And finally (this is the question from which your story tension will emerge) What rules or laws could your main character in this world choose to break or challenge?  Why?  What are the consequences?

Spend a bit of time playing around with these ideas, and you’ll have developed a solid story concept or two! 

This week’s writing tip is worth thinking about both when you’re drafting and when you’re revising. It comes from the amazing Tracey Baptiste, author of THE JUMBIES series (check these out for great world-building, too!) and the historical NF picture book, BECAUSE CLAUDETTE.

Tracey says: Stories move forward when actions are connected: “because of x, y happens.” But we teach kids that they should NOT start sentences with “because.” In the case of BC, deliberately using “because” repetitively helps the reader understand that all of the events were a chain reaction. Exercise: write an outline using “because.” Because of a, b happened, because of b, c…” etc.

That’s all for this week, but don’t forget to check in on Jen’s blog this Friday if you’d like to report on your progress and connect with other campers. 

Happy writing, and I’ll see you next week! 

All best,
Kate

One more note… Teachers Write has always been, and will always be, free, but I do have a favor to ask. If you’re taking part this summer and you’re able to, please order some of my books from your local bookstore  – or you can order signed copies from mine, The Bookstore Plus in Lake Placid, NY. Thanks! 

Teachers Write Week 2 – The Power of Place

Welcome back to Teachers Write! How did our first week go for you? Hopefully, you found some time to dust off your notebook or laptop and do a little playing. Don’t forget that this is summer, so we’re all about making this a low-stress creativity boost! That means it’s never too late to go back and try out or revisit a prompt or assignment from weeks past. But for those who are ready for more…

Today we’re going to talk about the power of place in stories. Many of my books have grown out of settings, from the snowy northern landscapes of my picture book OVER AND UNDER THE SNOW  and MG novel THE SEVENTH WISH to the warm buzz of summer in OVER AND UNDER THE POND and CHIRP.

And the interesting thing about setting is that it can draw our sense of wonder both outward and inward. 

My OVER AND UNDER nature books are all about paying attention – from the tickle of a dragonfly landing on your knee to the silence of falling snow. But in a novel, those same kinds of moments can reveal not only details about the setting but about the character. When 12-year-old Mia walks into her grandmother’s cricket farm in CHIRP, hears the cacophony of a million crickets chirping all at once, and then learns that only male crickets chirp — that females are silent — it’s more than just a fascinating nature fact. It’s a detail that settles over her, at a time when she’s been keeping quiet about the gymnastics coach whose sexual harassment drove her out of the sport.  

In Renee Watson’s SOME PLACES MORE THAN OTHERS, details of the busy Harlem setting serve not only to underscore Amara’s fish-out-of-water experience as she visits New York City from Oregon but also to connect her with her father’s history. 

The streets aren’t as crowded as I thought they would be. The sidewalks are wide, and even with a few vendors on the edge of the sidewalks, there’s still plenty of room to walk. I am thinking maybe Mom was exaggerating about how busy New York is, with its bustling streets, but then we get to the corner of 125th and Lenox. There’s a crowd of people crossing the street going both directions and cars forging their way through and whizzing by. There’s a Starbucks on the left and a subway station on the corner. I want to take a picture of the subway entrance, but I know Ava will think I’m making a big deal out of nothing, so I just act like it’s not a big deal that there’s an actual entryway to an underground tunnel. I wonder what it’s like to be underground, to have a whole world moving above you. I think about the fact that we are walking on top of people who are moving around under us having a whole different experience than we are. 

I love how Renee literally crowded this lengthy paragraph with images and thoughts – jam-packed as one of those subway cars, to show how Amara’s mind is racing as fast as the city cabs. And the words she chose – the crowd crossing, the cars forging and whizzing – contribute to that hustle and bustle on the page and in Amara’s mind. 

Contrast that to the language from my own picture book, OVER AND UNDER THE CANYON where the language is literally and figuratively spread out, with lots of wide-open space to breathe. 

Here are your assignments for this week. 

1. Choose a place that you know and love. It can be home, or a place you’ve visited that somehow seems to call you back. First, write a big block of text about that place – just one long paragraph with all the ideas together. 

2. On another day, rewrite that paragraph and see how much more sensory language you can add. One trick for doing that is to set a timer for each sense. Take two minutes to read over your description looking for opportunities to add ONLY sounds. Read through, and think “What would this sound like right now? What would I hear?” Even quiet sounds can say a lot in the right setting. Then reset your timer and take two minutes just to add smells. And then think about your sense of touch. What would you feel on your skin in this place? Tickling grass? Warm wind? Pressing heat and humidity? 

3. Finally, on another writing day this week, try crafting your notes into a poem. Free verse might work well for this one, or if you’re dying to try a rhyming poem, see how that works out.

Our bonus writing tip this week may be helpful if you opt for rhyme. It comes from Laurel Snyder, author of ENDLESSLY EVER AFTER: PICK YOUR PATH TO COUNTLESS FAIRY TALE ENDINGS. 

Laurel says: When I work on something in rhyme and meter, I always try flipping the lines in revision! Sometimes, they’re exactly right to begin with, but often, I find the lines work better reversed. This is especially true when one of the end words in a line is an unusual or “tricky” word, because often in those cases, you have to really stretch and get creative to find a good match for it, right?  If the “tricky” word comes first, the creative rhyming word feels forced. If, on the other hand, the “tricky” word follows, it feels satisfying and inevitable.

Don’t forget that you can check in with your progress and connect with other campers at our weekly check-in on Jen’s blog each Friday! 

Happy writing – and we’ll see you next week. 

All best,
Kate

A quick note… Teachers Write has always been, and will always be, free, but I do have a favor to ask. If you’re taking part this summer and you’re able to, please order some of my books from your local bookstore  – or you can order signed copies from mine, The Bookstore Plus in Lake Placid, NY. Thanks! 

I’m celebrating a book birthday today!

If you’d like a copy of HISTORY SMASHERS: THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD signed to your favorite reader or to your classroom or library, just order today from my local indie bookseller, The Bookstore Plus, and leave a note in the comments about how you’d like it signed.  I’ll be signing at the store tomorrow, and I’d love to personalize a copy especially for your readers! The store will send out orders this week. Here’s a little more about the new book…

HISTORY SMASHERS: THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD is co-authored by Gwendolyn Hooks and illustrated by Damon Smyth. It tells the true story of slavery and resistance in the Americas. (Spoiler: It’s not all about the Quakers.)

This is a topic that teachers & librarians have been requesting since the series launched, and I’m so grateful that Gwen was game to work on it with me. Too often, when kids learn about the Underground Railroad, the stories center white Americans who sometimes helped freedom seekers along the way instead of focusing on the heroic people who were forced to risk everything just to be free. Gwen’s picture book ONA JUDGE OUTWITS THE WASHINGTONS is one of my favorites because it keeps the focus squarely on the freedom seekers themselves.

While Gwen and I were working on this History Smashers book, I was visiting a school in Vermont and chatting with some second graders over lunch. One boy was telling me how much he loved the picture book biographies his librarian shared, so I mentioned Gwen’s picture book to him.

“It’s about a woman who was enslaved by George Washington, and how she escaped and never got caught,” I told him.

“Wait,” he said. He looked confused. “George Washington had slaves?”

I nodded. “He enslaved hundreds of people on his plantation in Mount Vernon, both before and while he was president.”

His eyes got big. “I thought George Washington was a good guy!”

“Well,” I said. “It’s true that Washington led the Continental Army in the American Revolution and became our nation’s first president. It’s also true that he enslaved people. Both of those things are true.”

These are the sorts of stories that some people don’t want kids to learn about. They worry that kids won’t understand. But this young reader did. He nodded, asked his librarian to order Gwen’s book and some more of the History Smashers titles, and went on to tell me about his recent reading about some other historical figures and how they were heroes in some ways and not in others. That happens a lot, he said. (He’s right.)

Kids get it. They’re able to hold more than one truth at a time, and they get that history is complicated. They also desperately want to build a world that’s better and fair for everyone.

Ona Judge’s story is included in our new History Smashers book, too, one of many heroic accounts of Black freedom seekers who fought a system they knew was unjust. I’m so grateful that I get to work on this series, to have a small part in teaching kids about real history and helping them imagine the kind of future they’d like to build.

Hello, friends! Whether you’re a long-time veteran of Teachers Write or checking it out for the first time this summer, I’m so glad you’re here. Pour yourself a glass of iced tea or lemonade, pull up a chair on the deck, and let’s talk about writing.

Teachers Write is a free, online summer writing camp especially for teachers and librarians, though anyone is welcome to follow along with our weekly writing prompts, mini-lessons, and challenges. The goal — the only goal, really — is to get writing and have fun. Teachers and librarians who write for themselves are stronger mentors and more empathetic facilitators for student writers, too.

This summer is going to be all about experimenting with different kinds of writing. Never written a poem before? We have some mentor texts for you to check out. Always wanted to try your hand at a graphic novel or graphic memoir? We’ll take a look at visual storytelling, too. Each week, you’ll get an email delivered right to your in-box with a collection of writing prompts, mini-lessons, and revision tools to try out that week. There’s never any pressure, and you can write as much or as little as you’d like. And when the summer is over, you’ll have a new collection of writing lessons, prompts, and strategies to share with your kids when you go back to school in the fall.

Teachers Write 2022 will begin on July 11 and wrap up on August 5, with each week’s writing prompts and lessons delivered to your email inbox on Monday morning. Educator-writer Jen Vincent will also host weekly check-in posts on her blog, where those who wish can continue the conversation online, sharing reflections, writing, and feedback.

This is going to be a no-pressure, participate-on-your-own-terms summer, so feel free to sign up, even if you think you might only try one or two prompts, or if you’d just like to watch from the sidelines. However you choose to participate, I think you’ll come out of this season of writing feeling a little more enthusiastic about your writing, a little more joyful about the process, and full of new strategies and ideas for writing that will help your students along on their journeys, too.

Join us, won’t you? You can sign up for Teachers Write 2022 here, and then look for an email from me in your in-box on Monday, July 11th!