Maizy Chen’s Last Chance
This book has everything going for it. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll wind up caring about the characters, and you'll want to eat at the Golden Palace in Last Chance, Minnesota.
Minnesota
The Lost Forest
How many books can you name that are about surveying … and a mystery? I know. Right? And yet we see surveyors every day in fields, on busy street corners, and in our neighborhoods. What are they doing? Would it surprise you to know that nearly every acre of your state has been surveyed? That knowledge about those acres is recorded on plat books and maps that people in government and commerce consult all the time?… more
Skinny Dip with Laura Purdie Salas
Laura Purdie Salas is a poet, a researcher, and a popular visiting author in elementary and middle schools. Several of her books have turned heads and stirred up a buzz, including Water Can Be … and If You Were the Moon. She has published many books about writing for children and frequently speaks at conferences. We’re pleased that this very busy author is spending some time with Bookology this month.… more
Skinny Dip with Brenda Sederberg
Brenda Sederberg is the current facilitator of the Chapter & Verse Book Club in Duluth, Minnesota. She's an enthusiastic reader and wonderfully avid about sharing the books she reads. A retired teacher, she continues to inspire learning wherever she goes.
Skinny Dip with Loni Niles
We interviewed Loni Niles, K‑12 media specialist in the Wadena-Deer Creek public schools in west central Minnesota. She shared her thoughts about books and life.
What is your favorite late-night snack?
I love popcorn and can eat it any time during the day, even for breakfast!
Favorite city to visit?
Chicago. Even though we moved from there when I was just a baby, I still take some pride that I was born there! … more
A Story for the Ages
For the past two years my husband and I have had the good fortune to spend the waning days of summer in Door County, Wisconsin. There we have discovered a vibrant arts community. A bounty of theatre, music, and fine arts is there for the picking.
This year, as I scanned the possibilities for our visit, I was particularly interested in the Peninsula Players’ Midwest première of a new play by Kenneth Jones called Alabama Story.… more
Lisa Bullard
In this interview with Lisa Bullard, author of Turn Left at the Cow, our Bookstorm™ this month, we asked nine questions to which she gave heartfelt answers.
Lisa, thank you for your willingness to share your writing process and your thoughts about mysteries with us. Mysteries have rabid fans and you’ve written a book that’s not only smart and funny and sassy, but it’s a taut thriller.… more
Lisa, thank you for your willingness to share your writing process and your thoughts about mysteries with us. Mysteries have rabid fans and you’ve written a book that’s not only smart and funny and sassy, but it’s a taut thriller.… more
Theater: “The Story of Crow Boy”
Take heed and take heart, those of you who are makers of books for the young. Your stories matter, these works of first Art you create for children through text and through pictures. Write and draw truth and joy and friendship and power and overcoming and the exquisite natural world and human experience.
Middle Kingdom: Shakopee, Minnesota
The books that most delight middle school and junior high readers often straddle a “Middle Kingdom” ranging from upper middle grade to YA. Each month, Bookology columnist Lisa Bullard will visit the Middle Kingdom by viewing it through the eyes of a teacher or librarian. Bookology is delighted to celebrate the work of these educators who have built vital book encampments in the transitional territory of early adolescence.… more
Traveling In-Word
For this week’s writing road trip, I journeyed to the Alphabet Forest. For those who haven’t had the pleasure of visiting, the Alphabet Forest is the remarkable creation of author/illustrator/innovator Debra Frasier, who through pure passion and persistence, managed to carve out an oasis for words in the midst of the consumable craziness that is the Minnesota State Fair.… more