The characters had touched my heart in ways no other literary characters had done before. When I finished the book, I felt like I had read something really special. I read it in the sixth grade for a book report at the suggestion of my sixth grade reading teacher who I thought was the coolest teacher ever. Middle school life is still full of drama (I can never complain about a dull moment at school!), but many of them still really want to please their teachers.Īnne of Green Gables. It’s pretty hard to get sixteen-year-olds excited about Thoreau and Emerson when they’ve got so much on their plates: college visits, their part-time jobs, relationships, all their extracurricular activities. When I taught high school, I was teaching an American Literature class to juniors. Their enthusiasm! I’m lucky to teach kids who (for the most part) really love to read. What is your favorite part of teaching middle school students? I was fortunate to have input in my cover design, and I’m thrilled with the results! Also when they ask questions like, “Why is the dog on this cover black when it’s described as white in the book?” I can tell them that often the authors have little to no say in the cover design. I can explain why it’s important to format your writing correctly (editors and agents simply won’t look at it if you’re using some weird font that’s hard to read, which middle school students like to do!). However, I can bring to my classroom real-world experience about the publishing business. Sure, I studied writing and the art of teaching writing in all my education classes. As an English teacher, I can bring into my classroom a lot of what I’ve learned about writing.

If they don’t understand the book or it’s moving too slowly, they put it down. They want enough description to understand clearly what is happening, but they also want the pace to keep moving. For example, I know they don’t like books that are weighed down with description. I get to hear how the speak to and interact with each other.Īs a reading teacher, I get to hear not only what books they read, but why they like the ones they like. This means that as a writer, I am constantly in contact with my audience. So far all my middle grade stories have been in children’s magazines, and my first novel is a young adult. I started as a high school teacher and then moved to teaching middle school, and I write both YA and middle grade. I write and teach for the same age group. Tell us how one profession contributes to the other. CHECK BELOW TO SEE HOW TO ENTER TO WIN.Īmy, you are both a writer and a teacher. IS OFFERING A GIVEAWAY OF AN EBOOK COPY OF ANGELHOOD.

AMY SHARES WHAT SHE WRITES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE AND WHY.Ī.

Angelhood by A.J. Cattapan