Write a book with Monica and Julie! When two homeschooling best friends team up to enter a novel writing contest, things get busy fast! Through planning for birthdays and getting ready for Halloween, Monica and Julie’s writing adventure becomes one novel concept!
Hole in My Life
Becoming a writer the hard way
In the summer of 1971, Jack Gantos was an aspiring writer looking for adventure, cash for college tuition, and a way out of a dead-end job. For ten thousand dollars, he recklessly agreed to help sail a sixty-foot yacht loaded with a ton of hashish from the Virgin Islands to New York City, where he and his partners sold the drug until federal agents caught up with them. For his part in the conspiracy, Gantos was sentenced to serve up to six years in prison.
In Hole in My Life, this prizewinning author of over thirty books for young people confronts the period of struggle and confinement that marked the end of his own youth. On the surface, the narrative tumbles from one crazed moment to the next as Gantos pieces together the story of his restless final year of high school, his short-lived career as a criminal, and his time in prison. But running just beneath the action is the story of how Gantos – once he was locked up in a small, yellow-walled cell – moved from wanting to be a writer to writing, and how dedicating himself more fully to the thing he most wanted to do helped him endure and ultimately overcome the worst experience of his life.
River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams
An ALA Notable BookA New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s BookA Charlotte Zolotow Honor BookNCTE Notable Children’s BookWhen he wrote poems, he felt as free as the Passaic River as it rushed to the falls. Willie’s notebooks filled up, one after another. Willie’s words gave him freedom and peace, but he also knew he needed to earn a living. So he went off to medical school and became a doctor — one of the busiest men in town! Yet he never stopped writing poetry. In this picture book biography of William Carlos Williams, Jen Bryant’s engaging prose and Melissa Sweet’s stunning mixed-media illustrations celebrate the amazing man who found a way to earn a living and to honor his calling to be a poet.]]”
Just Ask (Diary of a Teenage Girl: Kim, Book 1)
What’s a girl to do when caught between a rock and a hard place? The “hard place” — losing her car; the “rock” — her immovable dad. In order to regain driving privileges, Kim Peterson’s dad talks her into writing an advice column for teens in his newspaper. Kim reluctantly agrees. She answers letters about stuff that’s everyday and stuff that’s not: parents, piercings, dating, drugs, depression, and people who are just users. Nothing Kim can’t handle.
But when a classmate is killed, the letters turn to questions about life, death, and what it all means. And Kim starts to wonder if she really does have all the answers — and if not, where to find them. The Christian faith of her adoptive family? The Buddhism of her Korean heritage? Who can she turn to — to just ask?
Revision and Self Editing for Publication: Techniques for Transforming Your First Draft Into a Novel That Sells (Write Great Fiction)
Take your first draft from so-so to sold!You’ve finished the first draft of your novel–congratulations! Time to have a drink, sit back…and start revising. But the revision process doesn’t have to be intimidating. “Revision and Self-Editing for Publication, Second Edition” gives you the tools and advice you need to transform your first draft into a finished manuscript that agents and editors will fight for.
Inside you’ll find:
Self-editing techniques for plot, structure, character, theme, voice, and more that can be applied “as you’re writing” to reduce your revision workload.
Methods for fine-tuning your first draft into a tight, well-developed piece of literature.
The Ultimate Revision Checklist, which seamlessly guides you through the revision process, step by step.
New Chapter! Exercises and techniques for “deepening” your work to engage and excite readers like never before.
Whether you’re writing a novel currently or have finished the first draft, “Revision and Self-Editing for Publication, Second Edition” will give you the guidance you need to revise your manuscript into a novel ready to be sold.
Book on Writing: The Ultimate Guide to Writing Well
Rocket Writes a Story (Rocket and the Little Yellow Bird)
This irresistible sequel to the New York Times bestselling How Rocket Learned to Read is “a perfect choice to inspire new readers and writers,” according to a starred review from Kirkus Reviews.
Rocket loves books and he wants to make his own, but he can’t think of a story. Encouraged by the little yellow bird to look closely at the world around him for inspiration, Rocket sets out on a journey. Along the way he discovers small details that he has never noticed before, a timid baby owl who becomes his friend, and an idea for a story.
The Three R’s (K-3rd Grade)
Three resources in one READING, WRITING, and ARITHMETIC! Learn how to take the mystery out of teaching the early grades with this practical, down-to-earth guidebook from Ruth Beechick. The book is divided into three sections that are tabbed for easy reference. The READING section tells how and when to begin phonics, and how to develop comprehension skills. The LANGUAGE section shows how to develop written language skills naturally, in the same way children learn oral language. The ARITHMETIC section explains how to teach understanding of math concepts, and not just memorization of facts. Bonus: A removable 2-sided wall chart for phonics and arithmetic
How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading
How to Read a Book, originally published in 1940, has become a rare phenomenon, a living classic. It is the best and most successful guide to reading comprehension for the general reader. And now it has been completely rewritten and updated.
You are told about the various levels of reading and how to achieve them – from elementary reading, through systematic skimming and inspectional reading, to speed reading, you learn how to pigeonhole a book, X-ray it, extract the author’s message, criticize. You are taught the different reading techniques for reading practical books, imaginative literature, plays, poetry, history, science and mathematics, philosophy and social science.
Finally, the authors offer a recommended reading list and supply reading tests whereby you can measure your own progress in reading skills, comprehension and speed.