Resources for Teachers, Librarians, and Parents
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If you are putting together plans for teaching remotely or homeschooling your children and are looking for resources, click below for discussion guides, activities, and more available for FREE to download.
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Meet the author of A LESSON IN VENGEANCE!
Victoria Lee Author Post
When I was in high school, I ate all my lunches in the library. Most of my friends weren’t on the same lunch schedule as I was, plus my creative writing independent study was the period right after lunch, so it kind of made sense—I could go in early, eat there, and read. Then, when the bell rang, I’d be ideally situated to start working on my book. I got to know the librarians, a couple named Mr. and Mrs. Larson, pretty well during that time; they’d frequently bring in secret doughnuts that were only meant to be shared with those of us who basically lived in the library, who came to school early so we could browse the stacks, who checked out so many books every week that the Larsons had to raise the weekly limit just for us.
I was also struggling with depression.
And maybe that had more to do with my library lunches than I could admit.
Felicity, the main character in A Lesson in Vengeance, also struggles with depression. I can see reflections of my younger self in her: the way she self-isolates, how she constructs these narratives for her own life, ones she thinks are maybe more palatable than the truth. She, like myself, loses herself in literature, in other worlds that aren’t her own, where she doesn’t have to exist in the space of her own body and life.
Featured Resource
Becoming Vanessa Classroom Activities
For readers of Alma and How She Got Her Name and The King of Kindergarten, this story will help kids just starting school transform from timid caterpillars into beautiful butterflies so they can love who they are. Use these activities created by kindergarten teacher Vera Ahiyya, also known as the Tutu Teacher, in your classroom or library!
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Book of the Month
In the Wild Light By Jeff Zentner
From the award-winning author of The Serpent King comes a beautiful examination of grief, found family, and young love.
Life in a small Appalachian town is not easy. Cash lost his mother to an opioid addiction and his Papaw is dying slowly from emphysema. Dodging drug dealers and watching out for his best friend, Delaney, is second nature. He’s been spending his summer mowing lawns while she works at Dairy Queen.
But when Delaney manages to secure both of them full rides to an elite prep school in Connecticut, Cash will have to grapple with his need to protect and love Delaney, and his love for the grandparents who saved him and the town he would have to leave behind.
Author Spotlight
Laurie Keller
Laurie Keller is the author and illustrator of many books, including The Scrambled States of America, Potato Pants!, Arnie the Doughnut, Do Unto Otters: A Book About Manners, the Adventures of Arnie the Doughnut chapter book series, and We Are Growing!, part of the Elephant & Piggie Like Reading! series and winner of the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award. When Laurie isn’t busy making books, she enjoys playing the banjo, traveling, cross-country skiing, and splashing in Lake Michigan, where as far as she knows, there is not a single shark. lauriekellerbooks.com
