• Lists

    Middle Grade Gets Real – 25 Titles About Tough Topics

    There are arguments that kids shouldn’t read about tough topics – topics that include death, adoption/foster care, childhood illness, substance abuse, disability and more. But, how do kids learn about these topics if they don’t see them in their daily life? Or, how do kids feel less alone if they…

  • Lifestyle

    Spread the Word to End the Word

    I was so happy to actually think about my week of blogging before I actually did it!  Today is Spread the Word Day.  The slogan is “Spread the Word to End the Word” – the word we’re trying to end you might ask?  “Retarded.” Although  the word used to be…

  • Lifestyle

    Diversity Focus

    I’ve posted before about the importance of diversity in children’s literature, but for the next few days, I’m going to focus specifically on diversity because it is so important in the library world.  I grew up in a small town in western Pennsylvania home to a small (very) conservative college,…

  • Reviews

    Al Capone Does My Homework

    Gennifer Choldenko has done it again with a cast of characters living on a island with the most dangerous criminals of the time.  Al Capone Does My Homework is the third in the series of books about Moose, his sister Natalie, their family and friends, and of course Al Capone…

  • Activities

    Anything But Typical – Book Discussion

    Nora Raleigh Baskin’s Anything But Typical is about Jason Blake, a 12-year-old boy diagnosed on the autism spectrum.  He’s not very good in social situations and often misunderstands facial expressions, but he is also an amazing writer.  He becomes friends with a girl on the Storyboard website where he posts…

  • Lifestyle

    Spread the Word to End the Word

    Spread the Word to End the Word is a campaign that I promote every year because it is so important to me.  My parents are both professors of Adapted Physical Activity, teaching students going into majors such as physical education, special education, therapeutic recreation, among others how to adapt physical…

  • Reviews

    Wonder

    Wonder written by R. J. Palacio is a beautifully written novel for middle school readers about being different – something almost everyone can relate to on some level.  The main character is a 5th grade boy named August Pullman who was born with severe facial deformities that prevented him from going to school…

  • Lifestyle

    Spread the Word to End the Word

    What word, you may be asking?  The R-word, or as others have heard it “retarded.”  Why am I posting about this?  Well, many of you may not be aware of a book award presented by the American Library Association called the Schneider Family Book Award.  “The Schneider Family Book Awards…