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Protagonists and Logophiles
I am a bibliophile. Most of you reading this blog about books are probably bibliophiles as well, because a bibliophile is a lover of books. But I am also a logophile. Not only do I love the...
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Picture Books : Saying Good-bye to Friends
My boys have been fortunate to have lived their entire childhood in the same house—gone to the same schools, had the same pediatrician. At 25 and 20 years old, they have had many of the same friends...
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Animals Helping People
Like many of us, I have pets. In the past, when my sons were younger, we had rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils, rats, ferrets, birds, snakes, a hermit crab, and a walking-stick bug. And fish....
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New Novels in Verse for Teens
Looking at realistic fiction published for teens and tweens in 2014, it seems like the year of verse. Some people love novels in verse, and some people hate them. Wherever you fall on that spectrum,...
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Accessible High School Science
I have to admit that science isn’t my favorite subject and it definitely wasn’t when I was in high school either. But, I do enjoy learning more about what makes the world work when it is presented in a...
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A Place to Call Home
It occurred to me recently that some of my favorite children’s books are the ones that explore the idea of home and finding a sense of belonging. I think it’s because I moved around a lot when I was a...
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Author Spotlight: Joyce Sidman
This past Saturday, I had the opportunity to attend the Association of Writers & Writer’s Programs 2015 Conference where I was able to hear many different writers speak about their work. One of the...
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Teens Who Inspire
There are plenty of stories in local and national news about children and teens getting in trouble, flunking out of school, and not being good role models. But here I am going to focus on the positive,...
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Back to School Angst
Do you remember your very first day of school? The bus forgot to pick me up on my first day of kindergarten in the Baldwin-Woodville school district, and my mom had to drive me to school. So on the...
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Raising Chickens : Urban Farming for the Intermediate Grades
The term “urban farming” usually brings up visions of gardens, especially vegetable gardens, in backyards and containers and even on rooftops. Chickens might not seem a good topic for an article on...
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Darkness
Darkness has different meanings to different people, especially children. Many can relate to being afraid of the dark, and there are many children’s books out there to help kids work through that. But...
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ITEM 2015: Historical Fiction & Graphic Novels
Four days from now, at the ITEM Conference in St. Cloud, MN, a number of our Mackin Librarians will present top titles for school libraries across multiple interest levels and genres. My two areas...
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Spirits & Ghosts in Middle School Fiction
Today’s Halloween attire runs the gamut from fairy tale characters, superheroes, and smiling pumpkins, to monsters, classic ones like vampires and witches as well as current characters such as Sulley...
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Bios: The Ones Your Students WANT To Read!
https://spark.adobe.com/page-embed.js https://spark.adobe.com/page/qAXQ1AM0zbkUJ/ Zach K.
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Adult Crossover Nonfiction for High Schools
I promised a list of adult nonfiction to suggest to high school readers (or their teachers) to go with the post on crossover fiction. All of these titles can be read for interest, and many can also be...
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Popular Series Fiction for Middle School Readers
A couple weeks ago I published a post about ongoing popular elementary series, and on another blog I posted about adult crossover series that would be excellent for high school readers. Here I would...
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