Avery Kalafatas is on a mission. When her cousin died in 2020 from an accidental fentanyl overdose, Avery channeled her grief into action. She founded Project One Life (project1life.org), a non-profit dedicated to promoting education about the drug and reducing deaths by drug overdose and accidental fentanyl poisoning. Through her site, she recruits and trains […]
In 1999, when Javier Zamora was 9 years old, he left El Salvador in the care of Don Dago, who was his coyote, paid to shuttle him thousands of miles and across the border to the United States. El Salvador was not yet recovered from the ravages of the Salvadoran Civil War, a 12-year conflict […]
So back in 2020, my son was 15 and we bumbled into online learning, along with all the other high school students across the country. At the time, I was working with the Job Corps program and helping try to connect all those Job Corps teenagers into online learning (not to mention support our teachers […]
For those of my generation (Gen X), although there was a lurking fear of becoming pregnant at the wrong time in our lives and the complications that would result, for Cathryn Vogeley, becoming pregnant as a young woman at the wrong time left her very few options. Pretty much just marriage or living nearly nine […]
Wylde Wings (Hope Well Books, 2022), written by Kate Ristau and illustrated by Brian W. Parker, is my favorite read so far this year. This middle grade fantasy/adventure is packed with everything I love in a contemporary fantasy, including helpful owls, a badass grandmother and lots of tacos. The story centers around Gwyn, a kid […]
We live in a country more polarized than ever before. Over the last five years, we’ve seen a sharp decline in our ability to talk about differing political opinions because this divide is so deep there seems to be no way to reach across it. People must be given rules regarding conversational subject matter before […]
I’ve never been super adventurous, myself, and I’ve never set any records. I did, however, hoola hoop in in my driveway for three hours one time. I’d been practicing each day to prepare myself to set the record. I figured my mother could throw me peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to sustain me. That was […]
Amber McBride’s novel, Me (Moth), is written in verse, sparse, delicate, weighty and thick, all at the same time. The story focuses on Moth, a 16-year-old grieving the loss of her family after a car accident. Isolated and overflowing with survivor’s guilt, Moth connects with a Sani, a boy struggling through his own pain. This […]
I live with a family of gamers. Board games, video games, D&D, Magic the Gathering – all of it. Although I was never into video games growing up (unless you count a frustrating addiction to “Space Invaders” played on a TI-99 – in case you were wondering how old I am), my husband always played […]
I’m late to this 2016 Neal Shusterman novel that’s the first in the Arc of the Scythe series, but with so many great YA books out there, who can keep up? If you haven’t read this yet, it’s a fast-paced read from the dual points of view of Citra Terranova and Rowan Damisch. These two […]
I’m thrilled to announce that my young adult novel, THE APOLOGY BOX, is coming out this winter!! I’m so jazzed to have this book out in the world. I’m especially honored be working with my long-time writing partner and colleague, Cynthia Huijgens with Idle Time Press. Cynthia and I met at an Association for Writers […]
One of my favorite authors and an all around fantastic human being is Kate Ristau. Kate is the author of the middle grade series, Clockbreakers and the young adult series, Shadow Girl. Her essays have appeared in the The New York Times and The Washington Post. Her forthcoming book, Wylde Wings will be out this […]
In my work with young adults in the Job Corps program, I’ve become well-aware of the disparities among our young people. While some are born into families with supportive, stable, loving parents, others aren’t so lucky. Those young adults not only have to work harder to obtain the opportunities they need to make a better […]
I finished this book about a month ago. I’ve been reluctant to write up my quick review, because that will mean there’s no excuse to have this book lying on the coffee table anymore. Because that will mean it’s time to put it on my shelf and my experience with this book will be over. […]
Dasia Taylor, a teenager in Iowa, likes beets. She may or may not like to eat them, but she likes to use them to save lives. When her high school chemistry teacher encouraged the students to enter a state-wide science fair, Dasia got to work on her beets. Now I usually just use beets to […]
Julie Carpenter is the author of one of my favorite books of short stories, Things Get Weird in Whistlestop, as well as the creative force behind the Sacred Chickens website. You can find all kinds of strange and wonderful tidbits there. Julie is pictured here with Uncle Morty. She’s an excellent writer, a passionate gardener, […]
One in three kids in the United States suffers from obesity. Although our country likes to blame the people for their health situations, the truth is the environment we live in contributes mightily to our health. There are personal choices we can make to improve our health, but there are other factors we have less […]
THE APOLOGY BOX By Naomi Ulsted Part One: THE SPARK CHAPTER ONE It snows in Casper County. Last winter, our first since moving here from the city, the snow piled up at least a foot. I’d clear snow from my mom’s sedan, scraping ice off in big chunks that landed silently and disappeared into the […]