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Last week reminded me of why I like what I do. All the 4th and 5th graders at Henry Barnard School read The Life and Times of Benny Alvarez, and all the 7th graders at Curtis Corner School read The Amazing Adventures of John Smith Jr., aka Houdini. The librarians and teachers really had the Read More …

In September I have a new story, “The Gunslinger,” forthcoming in Taking Aim: Power and Pain, Teens and Guns, edited by Michael Cart, with other stories from the likes of Joyce Carol Oats, Walter Dean Myers, Chris Crutcher, and Francesca Lia Block. These are very powerful stories about a problem that continues to haunt our Read More …

Thanks to all who nominated The Life and Times of Benny Alvarez for the 2016 RI Teen Book Award. Good luck to Benny. He’s a great kid.

I had a great visit to the YA reading club at Cumberland Library last Saturday. The kids read The Life and Times of Benny Alvarez. They had great questions about the book and about writing in general. After the Q & A we did a writing exercise on beginnings. A lot of talented writers there, and Read More …

Last Thursday, over 300 7th graders read The Amazing Adventures of John Smith Jr., aka Houdini at Dartmouth Middle School in Dartmouth, MA. Literacy coach Karen Babbitt and so many others made the visit special. But the kids stole the show, making posters and just really responding to the book on a very high level. Read More …