OneBook for Trenton

OneBook for Trenton

Stacy Sweigart, a girl I knew from high school, died tragically in a car accident last Tuesday night. Her husband, Jason, also died in the accident. Their six-year old son, Trenton, was with his grandparents when it happened.

In high school, Stacy and I rode the same bus. Over the years, I had lost touch with her, but we have many mutual friends. Now, as a friend, a parent, and a teacher and writer, I can't help but think about Stacy's and Jason's families and what they must be going through, especially little Trenton. When you imagine a six year-old boy trying to understand a situation like this, it makes your heart hurt even more.

But there is a way we can all help. 

Books provide a peaceful place. They make kids smile and laugh. They take kids to imaginary worlds, where a jungle grows in a bedroom and a tree gives itself away in the name of love. Books can help heal the deepest wounds. Books can provide bright light in dark places. 

I'm asking you (writers, readers, parents, teachers) to join the OneBook for Trenton cause. You can help by sending one of your favorite books directly to Trenton. Books should be new or gently-used and can range from your favorite picture book to your most beloved chapter book. This is also a chance for parents to get their kids or entire family involved. Feel free to write a note inside or just send the book to the address below:

OneBook for Trenton

4307 Judy Ave.

New Castle, IN 47362

  

This will only cost you postage, but helping to heal a kid's broken heart is priceless.

"Daddy, Why Did You Eat My Fries?"

Ultra Wicked Timepiece

I've started writing a new story. It's falling out of me like those kids' guts in the climactic scene of Summer School. Hopefully, I'm using much better similes in my manuscript. If not, I'm in trouble.

I'm breaking away from realistic (boy) middle grade for awhile and writing something out of my comfort zone. The story is still middle grade, but it's a lot bigger and more adventurous than BIRD NERD or CROSSING CHALK. It also has something to do with time, but it's not time travel.

I'm gearing up for SCBWI-LA. It's going to be righteous. John Green, Laurie Halse Anderson, Norton Juster, Bruce Coville, Libba Bray, Gary Paulsen. My head is going to explode just thinking about it. After gathering my brain particles from the air and stuffing them back into my skull, I'll be posting my thoughts on the conference.  Same bat time. Same bat channel.

Until then, enjoy an eleven year-old's sense of humor. Adventure Time is one of my students' favorite shows. I'm warning you, it makes no sense, but it's a riot. 

In Which I (Save to) Buy A First Folio

Romeo, Oh Romeo, how I love your First Folio. 

Nearly four hundred years after his death, Shakespeare is back in the news. Well, not him, but his words. 

If you don't know much about John Heminges and Henry Condell, then that's really okay. I wouldn't know them either if I weren't a teacher and a bit of a nerd. These two guys were actors who lived alongside Shakespeare and performed in his plays. Seven years after Shakespeare's death, Heminges and Condell compiled 18 of Shakespeare's plays in giant books called the First Folio. If it weren't for these two underappreciated actors, there would be no As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet. 

Heminges and Condell printed about 1,000 First Folios. As stated in this article, there are only 232 Folios left, 82 of them living in the Folger Shakespeare Library. Are they worth anything, you ask? The highest price paid for a First Folio was over $6 million dollars in 2001.

Long live Shakespeare, the bard who told every story there was to be told.