So, if you remember, oh, last summer, I went through some of the books that have made me who I am today, as a writer, but also in general. (Apologies for being late AGAIN, I can’t even blame the quarantine
Foundational Books: Everything by Bruce Coville
I initially got into Bruce Coville’s books the way a lot of my generation did–through the My Teacher is an Alien series. I think they may have been the first books I read that took real life and combined it
Foundational Books: The Ancient One by T.A. Barron
Good afternoon, squiders! Today we’ll discuss The Ancient One by T.A. Barron. (To be fair, we’ve discussed before. It was part of our Adventures of Kate readalong in 2016.) My middle school had a program where they’d pick a local
Foundational Books: Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn
(What, they made a movie of this too? I missed that completely. Wonder if it was any good.) You know I love ghost stories, squiders. And Mary Downing Hahn is perhaps the best children’s ghost story/horror author out there. (She
Foundational Books: Two-Minute Mysteries (and The Society of Misfit Stories)
(As an aside, does anyone have ideas for testing out the temporary tattoo pen I bought? My stupid brain is stuck on the dark mark from Harry Potter, and since it is hot and I am around other parents a
Foundational Books: Harry Potter Series
Happy Friday, squiders! This week we’re going to talk about the Harry Potter series. Like LOTR, this is perhaps a bit obvious, but hey, it’s still true. (We’ve discussed Harry Potter here before–I think the first readalong we ever did
Foundational Books: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
I am a secret horror lover, squiders. But only a very particular type of horror. You won’t catch me watching horror movies (I had to sleep with my TV on for three nights after seeing The Ring–because if the TV
Foundational Books: The Lord of the Rings
I know this one sounds a little stereotypical, but bear with me, squiders. Somewhere in my early teens I received a box set of the Lord of the Rings trilogy (and The Hobbit). I still have the books, though not
Foundational Books: Winnie the Pooh
This one works somewhat backwards from normal because I, like many people in my generation, came into Winnie the Pooh through the Disney movies/TV shows. We had a VHS of the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh that I watched
Foundational Books: Everything by Louis Sachar
I was originally just going to talk about the Wayside School series, but here we are. Did you guys read those? They’re each a collection of short stories that take place at Wayside school, a school that, instead of being
