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Author Guest Post: “Fostering Empathy in Kids Through Literature” by Claire Swinarski, Author of Take it From the Top

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“Fostering Empathy Through Literature”

Most kids are, by their nature, self-centered. This is developmentally appropriate: after all, they’re learning who they are and building up their self-esteem. Children should be focused on themselves. Think of babies, who will happily ruin a wedding or concert by screaming simply because they’re hungry or uncomfortable. Their entire world is their needs and desires.

We do not, however, want kids to stay that way. A large part of growing into an adult is recognizing that there’s an entire world that exists outside of yourself, and that your viewpoint is not the be-all-end-all of a given situation.

That said, teaching empathy is one of the most difficult tasks of a parent, teacher, or caregiver. But luckily, one of the easiest tools at our disposal is a robust reading list.

In my latest novel, Take It from the Top, kids are able to see the exact same events from two different perspectives. Eowyn, who comes from a one-parent household filled with both grief and financial resources, experiences things very differently than Jules, who comes from a family that’s short on cash but rich in affection and affirmation. These two have done what children are so good at doing: looking past differences in order to create a friendship based on love, joy, and common interests. But, at the ripe age of thirteen, as they transition from being children to being young adults, those differences are feeling starker and heavier.

How do books like Take It from the Top help form empathy in kids?

  • Books give kids a safe space to discuss complicated topics. Within stories, kids are able to ask questions that might otherwise feel awkward. They can see the missteps of certain characters—like how Jules struggles to understand Eowyn’s grief, or how Eowyn misinterprets Jules’s envy—and learn from them without making them on their own. So many topics these days are heated and we require perfection in conversations. But kids are imperfect, just like us! They need time and space to learn about issues and form their opinions.
  • Books help kids see themselves. Take It from the Top takes place at a summer camp for musical theater. Will most kids go to a summer camp for musical theater? No. But that doesn’t mean they won’t be in positions where they’re competing with friends, or feeling left out of friend groups, or being disappointed by their own lack of skills in any given department. They can identify problems within books, helping to illuminate these problems in their own lives. By understanding themselves better, they can better regulate their emotional responses.
  • Books help kids explore perspectives they’re unfamiliar with. Kids are laser-focused on their own lives because at their young age, that’s all they’ve really known. Depending on their circumstances, they may be surrounded by a wide diversity of thoughts and experiences, but they may not be. Books allow kids to experience things from different points of view and understand what it’s like for kids that are radically different from themselves.
  • Books fill kids’ hearts with hope. Lastly, any good middle grade book should point kids towards hope. That doesn’t always mean a happy ending—it’s not a spoiler alert to say that Jules doesn’t win the lottery at the end of Take It from the Top, and Eowyn’s mom doesn’t suddenly come back to life. Grief and hardship are real, and kids know that. But what they need to be reminded of is that they can handle grief and hardship. They can be equipped with virtue and courage so that these difficulties become manageable burdens, not all-consuming difficulties. It’s impossible to have empathy without hope for connection.

By reading and discussing books like Take It from the Top, kids can grow in empathy and begin the complicated process of moving from me to we.

Published November 19th, 2024 by Quill Tree Books

About the Book: Set at a camp over the course of six summers, this novel dives into the falling-out of two girls from different backgrounds who thought they’d be friends forever. Claire Swinarski, Edgar Award nominee of the ALA Notable What Happened to Rachel Riley?, tackles privilege, perspective, and the power of friendship in this page-turning puzzle that readers will devour.

Eowyn Becker has waited all year to attend her sixth summer at Lamplighter Lake Summer Camp. Here, she’s not in the shadow of her Broadway-star older brother; she’s a stellar performer in her own right. Here, the pain of her mom’s death can’t reach her, and she gets to reunite with her best friend, Jules Marrigan—the only person in the world who understands her.

But when she gets to camp, everything seems wrong. The best-friend reunion Eowyn had been dreaming of doesn’t go as planned. Jules will barely even look at Eowyn, let alone talk to her, and Eowyn has no idea why.

Well, maybe she does…

There are two sides to every story, and if you want to understand this one, you’ll need to hear both. Told in a series of alternating chapters that dip back to past summers, the girls’ story will soon reveal how Eowyn and Jules went from being best friends to fierce foils. Can they mend ways before the curtains close on what was supposed to be the best summer of their lives?

About the Author: Claire Swinarski is the author of multiple books for both kids and adults. Her writing has been featured in the Washington Post, Seventeen, Milwaukee magazine, and many other publications. She lives in small-town Wisconsin with her husband and three kids, where she writes books, wears babies, and wrangles bread dough.

Thank you, Claire, for supporting our belief that books are the key to empathy!

Author Guest Post: “Heroes: One Size Does Not Fit” by Karl Fields, Author of The Accidental Warriors

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“Heroes: One Size Does Not Fit”

All It’s been said that there are no new ideas in literature, just new takes on existing ones. Some of our most beloved stories borrow heavily from their predecessors. For example, long before Harry Potter there was “The Sword In the Stone,” which tells the story of Britain’s King Arthur from boyhood and which Rowling cites as one of her influences.

Similarly, the Hero’s Journey is one of the oldest ideas in fiction, regardless of medium. From Homer’s Odyssey to the Hunger Games, it’s a story structure that’s been around almost as long as stories themselves. Dante’s Inferno. To Kill A Mockingbird. The Hobbit. Even Miles Morales: Across the Spider-Verse. All make use of the hero’s journey.

 But what makes a hero? All too often in popular media, the hero is big, tough, infallible, and would never even entertain the thought of not meeting the moment; like most summer blockbuster action heroes, for example. But these larger-than-life types have a way of sucking all the air out of the balloon, leaving no room for growth or change.

Thankfully, that isn’t the only type of hero. Some are less tough, less sure of themselves, less obvious. Often, these characters want nothing to do with this hero stuff in the first place. That’s what makes them so much fun!

When I set out to write The Accidental Warriors, I knew heroism would be at the center of the story overall and also at the heart of the route traveled by Jalen, the main character. At the outset, he’s brash and confident to a fault. In fact, early on you could say he’s more like the first type of hero. That, however, is a front he uses to camouflage some serious insecurities.

As Jalen makes his physical journey — trying to find his way back to his familiar home from a magical, mysterious land he reaches by way of a portal — his internal journey forces him to confront his fears and doubts, of which there are many. And despite the story’s title, Jalen’s ultimate heroism results from him using his wits more so than in ways typically associated with a warrior.

Jalen isn’t the only hero in The Accidental Warriors. Heroism, in all of its forms, is on display throughout the story. Ram, Jalen’s best friend who is Autistic, shows courage in the face of danger and won’t let Jalen retreat from his destiny. The kids in village show heroism beyond their years in standing up to the local nemesis.

We love heroes because they give us someone to cheer for, but a hero without a journey can easily become a character with little dimension, and therefore easily forgettable. However, a hero on a journey speaks to the growth and self-discovery that we experience ourselves and becomes the kind of character that can live in a reader’s mind for a lifetime.

Exercise 1 The Hero’s Journey consists of twelve steps. Have students identify steps of The Hero’s Journey evident in The Accidental Warriors. (For example, Jalen’s call to adventure comes when his karate instructor’s daughter is kidnapped by a monster who escapes through a portal. It is at the insistence of his instructor that Jalen pursues, albeit reluctantly. He initially refuses the call, another of the 12 steps, choosing to focus on finding his way back home.)

Exercise 2 How many heroes are there in The Accidental Warriors? Is Jalen a hero? What about Ram? The villagers? Cyrus? The ancient magicians? If yes, explain what makes each of these characters heroic. If no, what could they do to show heroism?

Bonus Exercise While not necessarily a hero in The Accidental Warriors, what are some ways in which Jalen’s father could turn out to be a hero?

Published October 12th, 2022

About the Book: Jalen Banneker has a confidence problem … as in, too much of it. But what no one knows is that it’s all an act, hiding years of self-doubt.

But when an evil monster kidnaps his friend, Jalen must overcome his fears as he travels to a mystical world where he’ll have to defeat the monster, break an ancient curse, save his friend and find his way back home in time for dinner.

With an engaging story and vivid illustrations, this book will have readers ages 7-10 turning the pages right up until the end. The Virginia Library Association said “these fun and exciting reads that have a good mix of characters are the kinds of novels we need more of,” while BookLife Reviews says it’s filled with “lightning-paced transitions and supercharged magic!”

About the Author: Karl Fields is an army brat who spent much of his youth in places like Germany, Spain, and Okinawa. Away from American television and no such thing yet as social media, he developed a love for reading that continues to this day and that also led to his desire to be a storyteller himself. He has written several books for children and adults, including the Kate Albertson mystery series. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California. The Accidental Warriors is his first graphic novel. Find him online at www.facebook.com/karlfieldsbooks and @writerkarl on Blue Sky.

Thank you, Karl, for this insight into your transformation of the hero’s journey for The Accidental Warriors!

Author Guest Post: “All in the Family” by Sarah Everett, Author of The Shape of Lost Things

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“All in the Family”

A couple of books ago, I realized I was always writing about families. Several books into my career at that point, you’d think I’d have already figured this out, but it was news to me. There is that saying that writers are often the last to realize what their own books are about, so maybe that’s why it hadn’t occurred to me all this time. Either way, that’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it.

I grew up in a fairly “straightforward” nuclear family. A first-generation Nigerian-Canadian family with two parents, a handful of siblings, and the most mischievous Golden Retriever you’d ever meet. I was an abnormally shy kid. Like, take-her-to-a-therapist shy, but no matter how much the adults around me tried to offer help, I didn’t feel safe enough or able to communicate what was happening in my world. Coming from a different culture, in a home that wasn’t always happy or healthy, there wasn’t a ton of media that explained me – to me or to other people. And make no mistake, for better or for worse, media does explain things. (Fun fact: As a kid, I [correctly] diagnosed myself with a fairly serious illness after I heard it described on TV.) In the same way I longed to see nerdy Black girls like me reflected in books, I longed to see my family reflected in books. But sadly it has taken well into my adulthood to find stories that resonate with me, stories that truly capture what it felt like to live in that structure, with those people, in these bones.

I think this is true for a lot of people, of all races, ages and genders.

When I think of family, I think of the skeletal system, the frame that the muscles and tendons and flesh hold on to and find their way around. But just like there are no two identical individuals, there are no two identical families. Families differ in structure, in relational dynamics, in history, in size, in genetics, in strengths and weaknesses and so much more. When we talk of diversity, we must also talk about the diversity of family. We don’t all grow up the same way or face the same set of challenges, and that matters. Some kids have two mothers, single fathers, blended families, multigenerational family living situations; some kids grow up in happy homes, abusive homes, neglectful homes, sad homes, and it is all worth writing and talking about.

In my book, The Shape of Lost Things, twelve-year-old Skye is dealing with an abrupt change in her family – her older brother who has been missing for four years has returned home. It’s good news. Great news. Until she starts to suspect that the boy who came home isn’t her brother after all, but an imposter.

It is unlikely that many kid readers of Shape will relate to the main plot, but my hope is that they might relate to the uncertainty that comes with parental divorce, to the difficulty of growing up with a mentally ill parent, to the pain and mental dissonance that comes with loving someone while possibly fearing them. Then, there are other things. Like first crushes, friendship breakups, scientific facts supplied daily.

It is true, of course, that family is more than just your family of origin; it is also pets, partners, friends, extended family, people who come to matter to you over time. As a writer, I consider it part of my job to keep writing about families. Different kinds of families, different configurations of families. My hope is that, someday, even one reader might find the vocabulary to describe their home life because of my work or somebody else’s. As writers, we are never going to represent every type of family that exists; it’s physically impossible. But in your role as an educator, please never doubt the power of asking kids where they come from and what their family looks like. ‘Draw [Or Write About] Your Family’ prompts can be an opener for vital discussions about families, the safety of people’s homes, the concerns that might be making learning difficult.

Family is a beautiful, complicated thing, and like the skeletal system, it can hold you upright and make you who you are. It can also suffer from breaks and frailty and a hundred different ailments. While, ultimately, you are not your family, speaking about yours and asking about someone else’s could be life-saving.

Published October 22nd, 2024 by HarperCollins

About the Book: From the award-winning author of The Probability of Everything, which has been called “one of the best books I have read this year (maybe ever)” (Colby Sharp, Nerdy Book Club) and “Powerful” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), comes a heartfelt exploration of family and change as twelve-year-old Skye reunites with her older brother, Finn, after he spent four years on the run with their father.

Skye Nickson’s world changed forever when her dad went on the run with her brother, Finn. It’s been four years without Finn’s jokes, four years without her father’s old soul music, and four years of Skye filling in as Rent-a-Finn on his MIA birthdays for their mom. Finn’s birthday is always difficult, but at least Skye has her best friends, Reece and Jax, to lean on, even if Reece has started acting too cool for them.

But this year is different because after Finn’s birthday, they get a call that he’s finally been found. Tall, quiet, and secretive, this Finn is nothing like the brother she grew up with. He keeps taking late-night phone calls and losing his new expensive gifts, and he doesn’t seem to remember any of their inside jokes or secrets.

As Skye tries to make sense of it all through the lens of her old Polaroid camera, she starts to wonder: Could this Finn be someone else entirely? And if everyone else has changed, does it mean that Skye has to change too?

About the Author: Sarah Everett is the author of The Probability of Everything as well as several books for teens. Charlotte’s Web was the first book that ever made her cry, and while she despises spiders, she still has an abiding love of stories that move her. When she is not reading or writing, she is dreaming about summer, gearing up for her next travel adventure, perfecting her tree pose, or yodeling with her dog. She lives in western Canada.

Thank you, Sarah, for this love letter to families!

Author Guest Post: “Using Objects as Inspiration and Ignition for Young Writers” by Brigit Young, Author of Banned Books, Crop Tops, and Other Bad Influences

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“Using Objects as Inspiration and Ignition for Young Writers”

In my writing workshops with kids, I teach the older writers about the difference between a strong, hook-the-reader opening and an inciting incident. The inciting incident, I explain, is the event that not only changes the protagonist’s life but also makes them choose another one. They must be compelled to action that inevitably transforms their path.

In my most recent middle grade novel, Banned Books, Crop Tops, and Other Bad Influences, a book serves as my protagonist’s catalyst for change. While the opening involves a new girl parading into school and disrupting the setting’s equilibrium, my protagonist could still choose to go on living her life as is, albeit with a new person to gossip about. But after unexpectedly seeing this new girl in synagogue on Yom Kippur, the new girl hands my protagonist a book. This book tells the story of the MS St. Louis, a ship full of Jewish refugees that was turned away by North America and sent back to Europe during World War II. For my main character, this book shakes her to her core. It changes her sense of her country and the world around her. When she finds out the book is on a list of challenged books at her school, she’s incensed, and therefore her change of paths becomes inevitable. She must act, even if it takes her much of the book to figure out how or even exactly why.

As I worked on a manuscript that employs a physical book as a tool for the inciting incident, I found inspiration for a new writing exercise for students. Like a key in the door, in this exercise students use an object to open their story. Give each writer an object, either in words on slips of paper or from pictures – sometimes photos from magazines spark the imagination in a special way. Anything works! You can assign them a mirror, a lamp, the wooden plank of a raft, a cell phone, a family heirloom, a tennis ball, or even whatever they see around the room. The students must write two scenes. The first scene is the opening, and it does not involve the object. The first scene tells us who the character is, and it sets up their flaws and inner desires. This scene can be a paragraph or ten pages, depending on how long the class is and how much gusto the students feel that day.

At the very end of that first scene, students must introduce their character to their assigned object. The second scene reveals how that object instigates a new path for the character. I’ve had one student write about finding a text on a cell phone that wasn’t meant to be sent to them, and it informed them their best friend was betraying them. Their character had to leave her previous social life behind, despite being terrified of change, and from there a story began. Another was instructed to use “a piece of jewelry” as their object, and they took some inspiration from Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift! Their first scene placed the character at a Taylor Swift concert, and someone she didn’t take any note of slipped a friendship bracelet onto her wrist. Only at the end of the second scene did she realize that the bracelet held a code telling her where her lost mother might be. These kids are little geniuses!

As a modification for the younger writer, instead of asking for two scenes, give the writer an object and ask them to write a description of the object. Then tell them to end their scene with that object changing a character’s life. You’ll be surprised at what magic comes from this – often literally! Apparently, according to my youngest students, pretty much any object in our world can turn into a magical portal that takes people to alternate dimensions. Watch out the next time you’re picking up that soda can or turning on the night light…

So often the role of a writing teacher is to help young writers find an “in.” Kids just require a way to put pen to paper. They need a nudge to tap into that vast imagination already existing within them and ready to pour out. While there are hundreds of techniques to do so, I’ve been pleased to find one more. Put that book or mirror or friendship bracelet in their mind’s eye and allow the visceral muscle and sense memory of a literal object to ignite the events in their story.

Published September 17th, 2024 by Roaring Brook Press

About the Book: Perfect for fans of Star Fish and From the Desk of Zoe Washington, a nuanced middle grade from the author of The Prettiest about two girls—one “bad” and one “good”—who join forces against book banning and censorship.

Rose is a good girl. She listens to her parents and follows every rule. After all, they’re there for a reason—right? And adults always know best.

Talia, the new girl from New York City, doesn’t think so. After only a week at school, her bad reputation is already making enemies. First on the list: Charlotte, Rose’s lifelong best friend.

So why can’t Rose stop wondering what it would be like to be Talia’s friend? And why does Rose read a banned book that she recommends? Rose doesn’t know. But the forbidden book makes her ask questions she’s never thought of in her life. When Talia suggests they start a banned book club, how can Rose say no?

Pushing against her parents, her school, and even Charlotte opens a new world for Rose. But when some of Talia’s escapades become more scary than exciting, Rose must decide when it’s right to keep quiet and when it’s time to speak out.

About the Author: Brigit Young was raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan and now lives with her husband, daughters, gecko, and dog in New Jersey. Her debut middle grade novel, Worth a Thousand Words, was a Junior Library Guild selection as well as a Best Book of 2019 from The Bank Street College of Education. The Italian translation was the recipient of the Andersen Prize for Best Book for 12-14 year olds. Her sophomore novel, The Prettiest, received multiple starred reviews and was featured on several reading lists including Best Books of 2020 from the Chicago Public Library, Seventeen Magazine‘s 50 Books for Teens That You Won’t Be Able to Put Down, and NBC News’ 9 Books to Help Young Girls Build a Positive Image. Bank Street College of Education listed her third novel, Bright, as a Best Book for 12-14 year olds with the honor of outstanding merit. Her next middle grade novel, Banned Books, Crop Tops, & Other Bad Influences, is forthcoming in September, 2024. Additionally, Ms. Young has published short fiction and poetry in journals like The North American Review, 2 River View, Eclectica Magazine, and Burrow Press, among others. She has taught creative writing to kids of all ages in settings ranging from a library to a hospital.

Thank you, Brigit, for this awesome writing activity!

Author Guest Post: “A Deep Dive into Summer Love: Bringing Characters to Life” by Robby Webber, Author of What is This Feeling?

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“A Deep Dive into Summer Love: Bringing Characters to Life”

As an author, one of the most common questions I get is: “How did you get the idea for your book?” I think this is a pretty common question for most authors, really, and I love hearing each answer and understanding the way creative minds work. For me, it always starts with a character.

Characters come to me like friends waving from across a bridge, asking me to cross and embark on a new journey with them. It might take a few drafts to fully learn everything about them, but the basics are there from the beginning and they inform the story.

In my first book, If You Change Your Mind, I knew Harry had experienced heartbreak and found himself struggling to believe love even truly existed. Naturally, his story became all about romantic comedies. For my sophomore novel, I Like Me Better, I knew Zack was the popular soccer star with more insecurities and depth beneath the surface. Naturally, his story became about authenticity and self-worth.

My newest novel is called What Is This Feeling? and from the beginning I knew Teddy McGuire was a dramatic theater star who believed in luck and destiny and miracles. His story then became about believing in himself.

Crafting characters is the most fun part of a story for me. I love immersing myself in setting nearly as much, but character work takes the cake. It’s not always easy, and in some projects it takes a lot more time and effort than others, but it’s so enjoyable and rewarding.

It’s widely accepted that characters should have a lie and a want, which should likely be challenged and (in most cases) should change by the end of the book.

When bringing characters to life, it’s important to think about them as a fully rounded person.

That woman in line at the coffee shop has had an entire morning before she opened the door and ordered a matcha latte, and she will have an entire day after. She has motivations and preferences—she stopped at this downtown coffee shop because she is going to a job interview nearby and she’s wearing her sister’s heels even though she can’t walk in them. There’s an undercurrent of cause and effect from every choice: the heels are too big, so she trips and spills her drink all over a handsome stranger…who happens to be the manager interviewing her in half an hour.

For me, that’s how a story is born. There are so many ways this can go now, but which one is most compelling and which one is right for our heroine? Is the manager her new love interest? Her new nemesis? Both?

Especially when writing romance, the love interest(s) will in many ways act as something of a mirror for both the good and bad qualities of the protagonist. So, while Teddy loves fictional pop star Benji Keaton, Sebastian finds him too over-hyped and cringe. While Teddy believes in magic and fate, Sebastian is much more grounded and logical. While Teddy loves to be on stage and perform, Sebastian prefers to stay behind the scenes. In the genre this is known as the ‘grumpy/sunshine’ trope, but that actually formed as a result of Teddy and realizing his arc.

Without getting into spoilers, Teddy’s misbelief is that he’s not truly in control of his own destiny. He is a go-getter, but he accredits his wins and talents to a lucky friendship bracelet. He believes the universe will have the final say, not him. So, throughout the book, we see his misbelief challenged.

In If You Change Your Mind, Harry must learn to trust love and himself. In I Like Me Better, Zack must learn to like and believe in himself first and foremost.

Writing young adult books—especially for queer teens—I tend to focus a lot on self-worth and confidence. It wasn’t a very conscious choice when determining the path of my career as an author, but it happens naturally every time I write. My fourth book is a rom-com set in Paris and features some similar topics. I think expressing themes and lessons through characters is both exciting and gratifying.

And themes can (and really should) be explored outside of the main protagonist’s storyline. Sometimes I know readers resonate more with the love interest or side characters and find their arcs to be more engaging for that reason, so they shouldn’t be neglected, and should be living and breathing with lives off the page.

Connecting to characters is my favorite part of any story in any medium, and I find the human experience to be an endless well of fascinating topics. The way we relate to one another is so compelling to me as a writer and reader, and I think that’s such a key ingredient in any good story.

So, when crafting characters, I’d recommend really diving deep. Who are they? What do they believe? Why do they believe that? How does it inform how they interact with the world and people around them? And what should they learn or experience?

My favorite exercise for this is journaling. I’ll write entire journal entries as my main character. Maybe it’s about a fear or a hope or even just their day. Getting in their head (especially if you don’t write in first person normally) will be a game changer as you see the world through their eyes.

Similarly, spending some time writing random scenes is also a great way to hone in on craft and develop characters at the same time. These aren’t scenes you’ll include in your manuscript, but slice of life moments to see how your character thinks and reacts to things. Maybe they’re stuck in traffic or rushing around the grocery store before Thanksgiving or nervous for their first day of school. It could be anything, but just placing them in situations and seeing what feels natural for them can be a fun and revealing exercise.

You’re going to be spending a lot of time with your characters. There is a good chance one of their voices will wake you up in the middle of the night or pop into the back of your mind when you’re doing the dishes. I’m lucky enough to feel like my characters are my friends and I’d say if you feel that way too, it’s a positive sign. After all, if you enjoy your characters’ company and find them to be interesting, dynamic, believable people, there’s a good chance readers will too!

Published September 17th, 2024 by HarperCollins

About the Book: Theater star Teddy McGuire is ready for all his dreams to come true. He and his best friend, Annie, have been counting down the days to the end-of-the-year drama club trip to New York City. To make it even more magical, if they can win the annual scavenger hunt, they’ll get a chance to meet their popstar idol, Benji Keaton.

But the universe has other plans: when Annie can’t go on the trip, Teddy is forced to room with tech crew loner Sebastian, who has no interest in the scavenger hunt—or Teddy—and seems to have a secret agenda of his own.

On a larger-than-life adventure across the city, the boys will discover a lot more than what’s on their checklist, including masquerade mishaps, obstacles of Jurassic proportions, Hollywood starlets, and, most surprisingly of all, sparks beginning to fly between them.

In a joyful romp from author Robby Weber about chasing your destiny, Teddy and Sebastian are about to learn the secret to making their own luck.

About the Author: Robby Weber is a Florida-based writer who loves sunshine, summer and strong-willed characters. He can normally be found as close to the ocean as possible with his dog, Arthur, and a novel from Reese’s Book Club. He is the author of If You Change Your Mind, I Like Me Better, and What Is This Feeling?

Thank you, Robby, for this deep dive into making romance writing come to life!

Author Guest Post: “Encouraging Kids’ Curiosity” by Sarah Albee, Author of Bounce! A Scientific History of Rubber

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“Encouraging Kids’ Curiosity”

I’ve always been curious about the origins of everyday things. I love to ask people if they know who invented the [insert everyday thing here], or where [insert everyday thing here] originated. It’s one of my favorite cocktail party games. (I am so much fun at parties!)

So it probably tracks that I also love books for kids that trace the origins of stuff most of us take for granted; books that show us where something came from in entertaining and fascinating ways. Books like these spark a kid’s curiosity. If this topic has such a cool origin story, a kid reader might think, then maybe this other thing, or that one, or that one might, too! I love these books so much I try to write them as often as possible. (Or as I might phrase it at a cocktail party, “these topics comprise a large part of my oeuvre”.)

So I’m excited to tell you about my latest book, Bounce! A Scientific History of Rubber. It was inspired by my fascination with bouncing balls. I’ve played basketball all my life, and whether a hooper is aware of it or not, anyone who becomes somewhat proficient at dribbling and shooting a basketball learns quite a bit about the laws of motion, and angles, and friction, and air pressure. But I wanted to know more, much more, about rubber itself. And I quickly realized that the modern world couldn’t function without this miraculous substance. It’s a very STEAMy book, with sidebars about polymers and elasticity and other physical properties.

Here are some excellent recent books that also trace the origins of everyday things. These are all books I wish I’d written. And they’re books that would make excellent additions to your classroom.

Concrete: From the Ground Up by Larissa Theule, illustrated by Steve Light

Confession: before I read this book I thought concrete and cement were the same thing. (They’re not.) The history of concrete—a combination of stone, sand, water, and cement (limestone and clay)—goes way, way back. With its clear and whimsical illustrations, the book explores the earliest use of concrete by the ancients as a way to hold stone and brick together, and then, later, its use by the Romans as a structural material. The Romans used it to build aqueducts and amphitheaters (such as the Colosseum) and even the dome of the Pantheon. But their recipe was lost. Many centuries later, concrete was reinvented, and civil engineers added steel rods running through it to create an even stronger material: reinforced concrete.

Perkins Perfect Purple by Tami Lewis Brown and Debbie Loren Dunn. Illustrated by Francesca Sanna

A chemist by trade, Englishman William Perkin attempted to create a synthetic version of quinine, a medication used to treat malaria. Although his effort was a failure, he discovered something else when cleaning his equipment. The leftover mucky stuff was a lovely shade of purple. This once-costly color could suddenly be made from inexpensive coal sludge. And suddenly Victorian England was awash in the color purple. It’s a great example of the unexpected consequences of scientific experimentation that can lead to new discoveries.

The Story of the Saxophone by Lesa Cline-Ransome, illustrated by James Ransome

As a kid I was semi-obsessed with the beautiful, almost voice-like sound of the saxophone. So I was beyond excited to see the history of this instrument told by my favorite author-illustrator team, Lesa Cline-Ransome and James Ransome. And it’s a fascinating history, especially as told by Lesa, a brilliant storyteller. The illustrations are equally captivating—James embeds saxophones on each spread that are collages of actual images. (Listen to their interview on NPR here.)

This is the history of an object, yes, but the larger theme is the power of curiosity.

Glitter Everywhere! Where it came from, where it’s found & where it’s going

By Chris Barton, illustrated by Chaaya Prabhat

I loathe glitter, but I love Chris Barton’s writing, and this is a perfect kid-friendly topic. It’s the history of sparkly stuff from ancient times (beetles, mica) to the present. Importantly, it includes a frank discussion about the environmental damage glitter has wrought on the environment. (Also check out his books about Day-Glo colors and SuperSoakers.)

Here are some classroom activities you might consider for your students:

  • Ask students to write “Today I Learned,” in their writer’s notebooks, and then choose a nonfiction book. They can record an interesting fact or facts about something they’ve learned from the book.
  • Have students write down the sentence “I wonder where _____ comes from.” Ask them to brainstorm a list of five everyday objects they’d like to learn more about, and then choose one object to research.
  • After reading a book about the history of an object, ask students to create an infographic, art project, or other display of their choice that traces the origins of that object (such as rubber, concrete, the saxophone, or a topic of their choosing) from its invention to the present day.
  • Ask students to film a short video in which they ask people (teachers, students, family members) if they can tell you about the origins of an object. Sometimes the answers can be hilarious!

Bounce! A Scientific History of Rubber
Author: Sarah Albee
Illustrator: Eileen Ryan Ewen
Published October 22nd, 2024 by Charlesbridge

About the Book: Ever wondered what makes rubber bounce? Or why it’s stretchy? And WHY is rubber so . . . rubbery?! Learn the fascinating science and history behind this ubiquitous material!

With sidebars, graphics, fun facts, and more, the history of rubber reveals plenty of fascinating secrets and surprises. Elementary school readers will discover that early balls didn’t bounce; that people in the rainforest made waterproof gear from rubber thousands of years before Europeans got into the act; and that sneakers, bicycles, and cars created demand for more and more rubber!

Back matter includes a time line and a bit about the complicated implications of harvesting rubber.

About the Author: Sarah Albee is the New York Times bestselling author of many nonfiction books for kids. Her most recent titles are both picture books: Bounce!: A Scientific History of Rubber and The Painter and the President: Gilbert Stuart’s Brush with George Washington. Other popular titles include Troublemakers in Trousers: Women and What They Wore to Get Things Done; Fairy Tale Science; Accidental Archaeologists: True Stories of Unexpected Discoveries; and Poop Happened: A History of the World from the Bottom Up.  She and her husband, a high school administrator, live in New York City and have three grown children. Visit her at www.sarahalbeebooks.com

Thank you, Sarah, for sparking our curiosity and inspiring us to spark our students’!

Author Guest Post: “The YA Classroom: Using Young Adult Fiction as a Means to Teach the Unteachable” by Ian X. Cho, Author of Aisle Nine

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“THE YA CLASSROOM: Young-adult fiction as a means to teach unteachable ideas”

While school is a vital place for teens to learn invaluable knowledge, lessons, and skills, there are some things in life that cannot be taught in a curriculum. But this is where YA books can serve as a fantastical additional classroom.

The illuminating power of the YA genre comes from its dynamism. Filled with interiority, emotional richness, and often written in first-person, YA books allow young readers to dive headfirst into the lives of fictional kids. Many YA stories create a heightened reality by stripping away rules and gatekeepers, which forces characters to take bolder strides toward their problems.

Often, these problems can be hard to voice in real life, but YA fiction is a creative space to illuminate complex things. Below are four random ‘unteachable’ things you might find in YA books…

MEANING IS A CHOICE: Sometimes life hits the skids. But while there’s no study plan to help kids understand misfortune, YA books can be a way to explore not only tragedy, but also, what can come of it. In Adam Silvera’s They Both Die At The End, a senselessly unfair event drives the characters of Mateo and Rufus out into the real world. Within their ensuing adventure, a key takeaway isn’t how the boys react to meaningless tragedy, but rather, how they choose to make something meaningful of their limited time.

YOUNG ADULTHOOD IS A PARADOX: Growing up is complicated and often paradoxical. In our modern world, many teenagers are simultaneously heading toward adulthood and yet somehow already adults. In the opening chapters of Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen works part-time as a hunter, which makes her an additional provider for her family; Later she chooses to stand-in for her sister at the Reaping, which makes her an adult-like protector. The liminality of young-adulthood is not only a key element in modern YA, but one source of its inner tension.

CURIOSITY CAN BE A COMPASS: Our modern world can be deeply confusing and irrational, and a clear path isn’t always visible. In Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle In Time, Meg Murry is thrown into an adventure that takes her to bizarre and often terrifying worlds. But her curiosity and intelligence are pivotal compasses that help her to navigate the darkness. When coupled with her capacity for love, these elements make her a powerful protagonist. Meg doesn’t shy away from complicated mathematical, scientific, and philosophical concepts—and in doing so, young readers are encouraged to do the same.

NO ONE REALLY KNOWS JACK ALL… BUT MAYBE THAT’S OK: For plenty of teens, it’s a rite of passage when they realize that many adults are not actually wiser or more competent. In my novel Aisle Nine, 17yo Jasper lives in a world riddled with hell portals and monsters. Without parents or school, Jasper works as a clerk in a discount store (that has a portal) and spends his days watching adults make up crap as they go along. This unspoken truth—that almost everyone is rolling with the punches—can be deeply comforting.

The journey toward stable adulthood is neither straightforward nor a straight line. But YA fiction shines in its ability to not only show zigzagging paths toward bigger lives, but the strange insights we can learn along the way…

Published September 24th by Harper Collins

About the Book: It’s Black Friday—and the apocalypse is on sale! Ever since the world filled with portals to hell and bloodthirsty demons started popping out on the reg, Jasper’s life has gotten worse and worse. A teenage nobody with no friends or family, he is plagued by the life he can’t remember and the person he’s sure he’s supposed to be.

Jasper spends his days working as a checkout clerk at the Here for You discount mart, where a hell portal in aisle nine means danger every shift. But at least here he can be near the girl he’s crushing on—Kyle Kuan, a junior member of the monster-fighting Vanguard—who seems to hate Jasper for reasons he can’t remember or understand.

But when Jasper and Kyle learn they both share a frightening vision of the impending apocalypse, they’re forced to team up and uncover the uncomfortable truth about the hell portals and the demons that haunt the world. Because the true monsters are not always what they seem, the past is not always what we wish, and like it or not, on Black Friday, all hell will break loose, starting in aisle nine. Rising star Ian X. Cho delivers an unforgettably freaky and hilarious YA debut with Aisle Nine, perfect for fans of Grasshopper Jungle or The Last of Us.

About the Author: Ian X. Cho lives on Australia’s sunny Gold Coast. He writes fiction for young adults and works as a freelance graphic designer. In his free time he enjoys creating 2D pixel animations.

Thank you, Ian, for showing the importance of YA in the journey of young adulthood!