Always Emily Blog Tour, Guest Post & Giveaway


Today, I welcome Michaela MacColl to Kid Lit Frenzy. She shares with readers about The Forgotten Bronte.

Michaela MacColl
Thanks for hosting a stop on the Always Emily blog tour. I’m having a blast writing about the Bronte family and how I placed Charlotte and Emily Bronte in the middle of a mystery on the moors. I have found that so many people are fascinated by the Bronte sisters – and rightly so.

The Brontes were a close-knit family who lived in a parsonage at the edge of the moors in Haworth. Their father was a reverend and they had very little money. The four children (there were originally six, but two daughters died of tuberculosis at an early age) couldn’t afford to go to school so they were educated at home. Charlotte was the eldest, followed by the only boy, Branwell, then Emily and Anne. The children began writing from an early age, devising complex poems, novels and plays about imaginary worlds. They bound their stories in tiny books that require a magnifying glass to read.


As the world knows, Charlotte went on to write Jane Eyre and Emily wrote Wuthering Heights. Anne wrote The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. These novels were acclaimed and talked about during the girls’ lifetime. But what about Branwell? What about the only boy of the family? What did he accomplish.

Not much. Although considered bright and a fine conversationalist, he struggled to find his way. He wanted to write but couldn’t get his stories accepted to his favorite Blackwood Magazine. He eventually had some poems published in a local newspaper under another name. He had some drawing skill (see the self-portrait he drew).

But he wasn’t able to make it as an artist. He went to London to go to the Royal Academy as a painting student, but he lost his nerve and drank away his tuition and returned home with his tail between his legs. He tried working as a railway clerk (but was fired for incompetence ) and as a tutor (but was fired for having an affair with his employer’s wife). He ended up becoming addicted to opiates and drinking too much before he died of tuberculosis at the early age of 31.

To many biographers Branwell represented the perfect Romantic hero. His early promise seems so wasted. Some clever researchers decided that Branwell must have helped his sisters with their famous novels. This claim has been thoroughly debunked – there’s no evidence that he even knew that the novels had been published before his death. Daphne DuMaurier, the author of Rebecca, tried to rehabilitate Branwell in her The Infernal World of Branwell Bronte. But even du Maurier who was a brilliant storyteller couldn’t make Branwell’s story compelling. She loses patience with him by the end of her biography – no doubt just as his sisters did.

Charlotte and Emily have become renowned authors, whose work is still relevant and beloved today. Branwell has been more or less forgotten. I had fun using him in Always Emily as a rather pathetic figure who needs to be protected by his big sister. But perhaps Branwell had the final word: he painted the most famous portrait of the Bronte sisters. Originally he had painted himself in the picture, but then (in a fit of 19th c. style photoshopping) he edited himself out of the picture, leaving a conspicuious void. Poor Branwell!




It’s been a pleasure. Please visit me at www.michaelamaccoll.com or follow me on Twitter at @MichaelaMacColl or check out Author Michaela MacColl on Facebook.

Check out the Official Book Trailer for Always Emily:



About Always Emily:

Emily and Charlotte Brontë are about as opposite as two sisters can be. Charlotte is practical and cautious; Emily is headstrong and imaginative. But they do have one thing in common: a love of writing. This shared passion will lead them to be two of the first published female novelists and authors of several enduring works of classic literature. But they’re not there yet. First, they have to figure out if there is a connection between a string of local burglaries, rumors that a neighbor’s death may not have been accidental, and the appearance on the moors of a mysterious and handsome stranger. The girls have a lot of knots to untangle— before someone else gets killed.

To purchase a copy: Chronicle | IndieBound | Kobo |  Apple iTunes


To read an excerpt of the book on Scribd.

To download a CCSS aligned teacher's discussion guide, click here.

Follow the Tour:

Tuesday, April 8: Actin’ Up With Books
Wednesday, April 9: vvb32 reads
Thursday, April 10: The Children’s and Teens’ Book Connection
Friday, April 11: Teenreads Blog
Saturday, April 12: Caught Between the Pages
Sunday, April 13: The Bookish Daydreamer
Monday, April 14: Forever Young Adult
Tuesday, April 15: Kid Lit Frenzy - You are here!
Wednesday, April 16: Tales of a Ravenous Reader
Thursday, April 17: YA Book Shelf
Friday, April 18: The Book Cellar
Saturday, April 19: Mother Daughter Book Club

To enter to win a signed copy of Always Emily, please fill out the Rafflecopter below.  Open to those with US or Canadian mailing addresses.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

THRIVE Blog Tour!!


by Meenoo Rami
Heinemann Publishers, March 4, 2014

Description from Publisher's Page:
As a novice teacher, Meenoo Rami experienced the same anxieties shared by many: the sense of isolation, lack of self-confidence, and fear that her work was having no positive impact on her students. In "Thrive, " Meenoo shares the five strategies that helped her become a confident, connected teacher. From how to find mentors and build networks, both online and off, to advocating for yourself and empowering your students, "Thrive" shows new and veteran teachers alike how to overcome the challenges and meet the demands of our profession.
 
Join the conversation on Twitter at #edthrive.

My thoughts:
Teachers writing books for teachers is a good thing.  Just like teachers presenting to other teachers is a good thing.  Teachers are real. Teachers are in the day to day trenches. Teachers tell it like it is.  Meenoo Rami is a teacher.  In her book, Thrive: 5 Ways to (Re)Invigorate Your Teaching, Rami gets real and shares the steps that she took to develop into the best teacher she could be.

Rami provides readers with a book that not only inspires but also shares the how-to's of finding and working with a mentor, of joining and building networks, of keeping yourself challenged, of listening to yourself, and of empowering your students.   As she shares her story, she also shares the stories of other educators.  It is this collective voice that brings strength to what she has to say and dispels any myths that she is the only one doing these things.  

In 2010, I ventured onto Twitter. Initially, I was thinking I would follow some authors and publishers and keep up with what was happening in Children's Literature. After several months, I began to find my tribe.  Other teachers and librarians and book people who also had a passion for reading and teaching and learning.  Through 140 characters and #chats, I began to learn about ideas and techniques and strategies for motivating young readers in ways that I had never been exposed to before. There was always someone that I could reach out to who had an expertise in an area that I wanted to learn more, even when I could not find that person in my local community. 

From there, I learned that NCTE was not just for High School English Teachers. I made it a point to join and to also attend the annual conference.  At my first NCTE Annual Convention, I wanted to know why we (my district) were not doing some of the incredible things that I was learning about in the different sessions. I realized that I had allowed myself to become too isolated in my own district and community that I had lost the big picture perspective.  

Despite my own epiphanies that seemed to be coming quickly, and almost daily as I became more involved in this unique online Professional Learning Community (PLC), I was having difficulty convincing others that this was worthwhile, especially worth the time it took to nurture the relationships with other educators.  As I read Meeno's story and how she connected with others through conferences and social media, I was renewed. I now have a book that I can share with other teachers and say "see, it is possible and other teachers are doing it too".

Within the pages of this thin volume, educators who come with an open heart and mind will find practical ways to expand their learning community and reconnect with their passion as teachers. Just as I met Meenoo at NCTE '12 and discovered a teacher who is passionate and caring and thoughtful,  readers of THRIVE will also experience that same teacher.  And in meeting her, they will be challenged to speak up or reach out or try something new. 

Thank you Meenoo for writing THRIVE and for sharing your story in such a real way.     

More About Meenoo Rami:
Meenoo Rami is a National Board Certified Teacher who teaches her students English at the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, PA. Mixing moments of joy, laughter, risk and encouragement, Meenoo pushes her students to think critically about their connection to the word and the world. Meenoo did her undergraduate work at Bradley University in Illinois in areas of Philosophy and English and completed her Master’s degree in Secondary Education at Temple University. Meenoo also contributes to the work of school-wide events and professional learning communities at SLA. Meenoo works as a teacher-consultant for the Philadelphia Writing Project. She has shared her classroom practice at various conferences such as: NCTE, ISTE, ASCD, EduCon, Urban Sites Conference for National Writing Project, and #140edu. Meenoo also runs a weekly twitter chat for English teachers called #engchat which brings together teachers from around the country to discuss ideas related to teaching of English. Her first book, THRIVE from Heinemann will be out in March 2014. In her free time, Meenoo can be found on her bike, on her yoga mat or in her kitchen tinkering with a vegetarian recipe.

Looking for Meenoo on-line:  Website | Facebook | Twitter |  Google+ 


THRIVE Blog Tour Stops
4/9/14
Jen Vincent at Teach Mentor Texts
4/10/14
Franki Sibberson and Mary Lee Hahn at A Year of Reading
4/11/14
Alyson Beecher at Kid Lit Frenzy
4/12/14
Kira Baker Doyle at Kira J Baker-Doyle, Ph.D.
4/13/14
Sarah Mulhern Gross at The Reading Zone
4/14/14
Christina Cantrill at Digital Is (National Writing Project)
4/15/14
Kate Roberts and Maggie B. Roberts at Indent
4/16/14
Beth Shaum Use Your Outside Voice
4/17/14
Linda Baie at Teacher Dance
4/18/14
Troy Hicks at Hickstro
4/19/14
Joy Kirr at Genius Hour
4/20/14
Tara Smith at The Teaching Life
4/21/14
Antero Garcia at The American Crawl
4/22/2014
John Spencer at Education Rethink
4/23
Kellee Moye and Ricki Ginsberg at Unleashing Readers

Going Over Blog Tour - Interview with Author Beth Kephart & Giveaway


Beth Kephart stops by to talk about her new book, GOING OVER, and shares with us about her own writing journey, favorite Indie Bookstore, and more.


GOING OVER takes place in 1983. Do you see this as a story that is told in the recent past or historical fiction? Does the difference even matter? 

I love that you ask — does the difference matter. Because I am just the worst of the worsts when it comes to labeling things. I think of GOING OVER precisely as you describe it—a story that takes place in 1983. Because I live inside that space in my imagination, it feels like right this instant.

What drew you to the story of Ada and Stefan? 

I had a conversation with my editor, Tamra Tuller, about Berlin—a city to which we have both traveled and a city with which we both fell in love. We felt it was important to tell a very personal story about the impact of the Wall. The Wall came first, then. And then I began to study geography, character, the historical record. Ada and Stefan emerged from that.

Authors doing research for books have some great tips and ideas for gaining information. Do you have one or two techniques that English teachers could adapt to make writing projects/prompts more interesting for students? 

There’s little I love more than doing the research. My gosh, it breaks my world wide open with the new. I think the trick lies in making the whole thing relevant, making it feel urgent. So, for example, Ada has pink hair. I needed to be sure that she would have access, in 1983, to pink dye, I needed to know how the pink hair would grow out, all of that stuff. I hopped on down to my hairdresser. Sat in her chair. Had her talk to me about hair color and its history. And then she began to talk to me about graffiti, believe it or not. And she gave me the details with which I begin the book.

What is your book story? (What was the book that made you a reader/writer and who was the person who recommended it if there was someone?) 

The book that made me a reader/writer! What a great question. Well. Let’s see. I was a writer (or thought I was) before I was a real reader, I hate to admit (since everything is wrong about that). Then again, I was only nine years old. But I have to say that it was a research project I did when I was sixteen (the subject: F. Scott and Hemingway) that turned me into a reader. You couldn’t stop me after that. For many years, I read only nonfiction—biography and history. (I majored in the History and Sociology of Science at Penn.) When I was in my early thirties I turned to memoir. Then I became a book omnivore.

Is there an author or authors that influenced your writing journey? 

I wish you could come to my house and see the hundreds upon hundreds of triple stacked books on my many shelves. (My house isn’t big, but my shelves are wide and long.) Every single book here has influenced me in some way — either because I loved it or because I didn’t and because, no matter what, I study the pages to understand why. But I happen to love Michael Ondaatje, Alice McDermott, Colum McCann, Chloe Aridjis, and many, many others. Really, the emphasis is on many.

What is your favorite indie bookstore? Where is it located? Why do you like it? 

I have visited many a great independent bookstore in my day. Locally I love, for example, that Children’s Book World, the Spiral Bookcase, Main Point Books, Harleysville Books, and Chester County Book Company are still here and near and proud. In Florence, Italy, I love Paperback Exchange. In California, I love Book Passage, Copperfield, and Kepler’s. In Decatur, GA, it’s all about Little House of Stories. In Larchmont, NY, it’s all about The Voracious Reader. When I’m on the Penn campus I always visit the used bookstore, The Last Word, and always bring something home (most recently Bill Bryson’s Mother Tongue). But I also have to mention the very first independent bookstore I ever frequented, as a young college girl. It’s called Joseph Fox Bookshop. Fabulously small and fabulously smart, in the city of Philadelphia. I bought every single architecture book they had, way back when. And today, at many Philadelphia events, you can count on Fox to be there.

Any new projects that you are working on that you can share with us? 

Gosh, yes. Many new projects. Next year, Chronicle will publish One Thing Stolen, a book that takes place in Florence, Italy, and West Philadelphia. In the fall, Temple University Press will re-release my river autobiography, Flow: The Life and Times of Philadelphia’s Schuylkill River, as a paperback—excited about that, because it’s such an odd, little book and because my river was just named PA River of the Year (woot) and because, after all these years, schools are beginning to assign the book in their science and literature classes. I’m also at work on an essay/photography collection about Philadelphia, based on my monthly columns for the Philadelphia Inquirer. And I have just started work on a new novel.

What is in your TBR (to-be-read) pile? Can you share a picture of it? 

Well, you just opened up a huge can of words, I mean worms. Because my TBR pile is the oddest one in the universe. I teach memoir at Penn, and so there are some old and new memoirs in there (not to mention my students’ work). I review adult novels for the Chicago Tribune, and so I’ve got some stuff I cannot show you. I’m still fascinated by Berlin and by walls in general, so I’m reading some new texts like Within Walls and Border Patrol Nation. I’m reading about linguistics and environmental science, I want to read several grand new novels like The Flamethrowers. I’m halfway through Andrew Smith’s Grasshopper Jungle. And on my Kindle reader is Boy, Snow, Bird. Yep. I’m one confused, crazy person.


by Beth Kephart 
Chronicle Books (April 2014)

To read a excerpt:



What would Ada and Stefan have listened to on their Sony Walkmen?



Check out the blog tour schedule here

 4/2/2014 My Friend Amy
4/3/2014 The Flyleaf Review
4/4/2014 The Book Swarm
4/5/2014 There’s A Book
4/6/2014 YA Romantics
4/7/2014 Teenreads Blog
4/8/2014 The 3 R’s Blog
4/9/2014 Forever Young Adult
4/10/2014 Kid Lit Frenzy
4/11/2014 Tales of the Ravenous Reader
4/12/2014 Addicted 2 Novels

Enter to win a copy of Going Over - the book and audiobook.  Please enter by completing the Rafflecopter below.  The winner must have a US mailing address and be over 13 years old. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday - New Releases for April



Thank you everyone for all of the great posts each week for the Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge 2014.  At the beginning of each month, I like to try to do a post to spread the word about recent releases or upcoming nonfiction/informational titles.  It is not comprehensive, but I do try to include a variety of titles that might be of interest to readers.  Some of them I have read and some I have yet to read.  Often I include reviews in later posts. 

Here are some April titles that I missed posting last month.  April is a huge month for nonficiton.  I also found some additional titles that came out earlier in the year.  If you missed the posts from the past three months, I have included them below.

Link to January & February Releases Post
Link to February & March Releases Post
Link to March & April Releases Post

Releases this month...
April 1, 2014


Beneath the Sun by Melissa Stewart; Illustrated by Constance R. Bergum (Peachtree Publishers)


Eye to Eye: How Animals See the World by Steve Jenkins (HMH Books for Young Readers)


Mysterious Patterns: Finding Fractals in Nature by Sarah C. Campbell; Photographed by Richard P Campbell (Boyds Mill Press)


Tooth & Claw by Jim Arnosky (Sterling Children's Books)

April 3, 2014


A Mom for Umande by Maria Fasal Faulconer (Dial)

April 8, 2014


Galápagos George by Jean Craighead George; Illustrated by Wendell Minor (HarperCollins)

New Releases for Older Students...
April 1, 2014


Every Last Drop: Bringing Clean Water Home by Michelle Mulder (Orca Books)


Secrets of the Sky Caves: Danger and Discovery on Nepal's Mustang Cliffs by Sandra K. Athans (Millbrook Press)


Schools of Hope: How Julius Rosenwald Helped Change African American Education by Norman Finkelstein (Calkins Creek Books)


Underworld: Exploring the Secret World Beneath Your Feet by Jane Price; Illustrated by James Gulliver Hancock (Kids Can Press)

April 15, 2014


Bugged: How Insects Changed History by Sarah Albee; Illustrated by Robert Leighton (Walker Children's)

Past 2014 Releases...


Benny Goodman & Teddy Wilson: Taking the Stage as the First Black-And-White Jazz Band in History by Lesa Cline-Ransome; Illustrated by James Ransome (Holiday House, January 2014)


It's Raining! by Gail Gibbons (Holiday House, January 2014)


Plants Feed Me by Lizzy Rockwell (Holiday House, January 2014)


Sea Turtle Scientist by Stephen R. Swinburn (HMH Books for Young Readers, January 2014)


Swamp Chomp by Lola Schaefer; Illustrated by Paul Meisel (Holiday House, January 2014)


Do You Know Leeches? by Alain M. Bergeron; Michel Quintin Sampar (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, March 2014)

Don't forget to link up your nonfiction reviews....

Slice of Life - Couch Potato to Marathon Reader: Building a Reading Community

Slice of Life is hosted by Two Writing Teachers on Tuesdays.  Join us each week and come to love this awesome writing community.
_____________________________________


For the past three years, I have had the opportunity to serve on the Scholastic Book Fair's Principals' Advisory Board (PAB).  I have met principals from across the country with an enthusiasm and passion for connecting children with books.  I have also met some wonderful Scholastic Book Fair staff during this time as well.  However, I have developed a very special relationship with my local Book Fair Reps.

In February, I attended a PAB meeting in Orlando, Florida.  While there, we talked about reading communities, and helping children become independent readers, classroom libraries, and summer reading plans. I wasn't sure how I would apply what I was thinking about to real life, but I knew I wanted to do something.  Currently, I am working with about eight elementary schools and it means I need to be a bit more creative when implementing plans.

When I arrived home, I emailed one of my local reps, Heather Biggs and asked to get together. As we put our heads together, I thought it would be fun to bring together teams from each school that I work with and share with them some of what I learned.  Heather was up for the challenge.


Heather and I came up with the idea of using the Couch to 5K model as a theme for our meeting. We called it Couch Potato to Marathon Reader.  We also thought it would be fun if our presentation followed along with the theme.  We created a game board, and pieces to use as we talked about each area.


It is not easy getting everyone to attend a meeting afterschool, even when you offer food and goodies, but we did have a few schools show up.  The smaller number of participants allowed us to provide each school team with more individualized attention.


Each participant received smile stickers to indicate things that they have done or are trying to do in their classrooms or at their schools.  Items ranged from showing interest in developing a reading community (coming to the meeting) to bigger things like having a classroom library with more than 300 books or hosting a Family Literacy Night at the school.


After going through our presentation, we provided teams with a form that they could use to set some goals towards creating a reading community.  We asked them to work in their school teams.  Since it was a bit late, I really did expect teams to want to rush out.  However, I was super thrilled when they stayed and engaged in some very meaningful dialogue with one another and asked Heather and I about possible support.

When Heather and I took time to debrief after the meeting, we recognized that there were things that could be strengthened.  Yet, at the same time, we were thrilled for how the evening went and in the potential for future meetings. Though we have a ways to go, I will continue to bring this group together in a Literacy PLC to explore what it means to be a reading community.