The first VerseDay post is up today on Versenovels.com. Pop on over there to check it out. Here’s a taste: It’s VerseDay! VerseDay is a year long blog fest celebrating all things verse. Each Thursday one of our VerseDay bloggers will post something about verse – a review, a giveaway, writing tips, anything. Other participating … More VERSEDAY #1 – THE CYBIL NOMINEES FOR POETRY

Dear Bloggers, Verse Novelists, Writers and Friends. I’m inviting you to participate in VerseDay 2013. I hope to make VerseDay a weekly event, every Thursday in 2013. Hosted by VerseNovels.com, VerseDay is a celebration of verse in all its forms, verse novels, poetry, hip hop, lyrics. Each week Versenovels.com will invite visitors to check out … More VERSEDAY 2013

I only started keeping careful records of what I read this year, largely as a result of Goodreads, but also because of this blog and my presence on Twitter. I’ve always been an enthusiastic reader, for as long as I can remember anyway, and the 500 or so books I’ve rated on Goodreads represent only … More 2012: My Year of Reading Dangerously

What can I say about this epic ad? The meek shall inherit the earth suckas. These kids (and ALL kids who bug adults about smoking, as I did to my parents until they finally quit) are terrific.

So December 8, 1980 – anyone remember? I was already in bed when I got the news, via my sister calling from a bar, that John Lennon was dead – murdered. Sometimes I look back and think that was the line. December 7th I was a child. December 9th I was an adult. I think … More Imagine, December 8th again…

The other day I bought DD (8) a little Playmobil grab bag. It’s a girl themed packet with one of the pictured figures. You don’t know which one until you open it. A few minutes after opening it, DD brought the figure into my office, saying “Of all the girls on the packet I got … More Terrific Teen Tuesday – Making Toys for Girls AND Boys.

I read two very short, very quiet middle grade books this last week. The verse novel PEARL VERSES THE WORLD is one of them, which I review over at versenovels.com. The other was THIRD GRADE ANGELS  by Jerry Spinelli. (BTW, I have no idea why there are three Ls in Spinelli on this cover) I … More Marvelous Middle Grade Monday – THIRD GRADE ANGELS by Jerry Spinelli

(Originally blogged 2011/11/23 and worth revisiting) It all started, I think, with a snarky article in the Wall Street Journal, bemoaning the bleak and violent content of Young Adult literature.  The response was, among other things, a Twitter campaign called “#YA Saves”. Thousands of Tweets, hundreds of blogs, and commenters galore rallied to the support of … More From the archive: #YA Saves