Like most readers, we at Mackin love to meet authors. We go to conventions where they are speaking; drop by bookstores when they are on tour; and if we’re really lucky, we get… Continue reading
In June of 1958, Virginians Richard Loving (a white man) and his bride-to-be Mildred Jeter (a black woman) went to Washington, D.C. to be married. The reason? Interracial marriage in the state of Virginia… Continue reading
In 2008 & 2010, author Laurie Halse Anderson released the first two historical fiction novels of the Seeds of America trilogy: Chains & Forge. Just recently (late 2016), the finale of the series–Ashes–was… Continue reading
Juana Medina’s Pura Belpré winning book, Juana & Lucas, was based on her childhood experience of learning English while growing up in Bogotá, Colombia. In the book, Juana has no interest in learning… Continue reading
We love hearing about authors in schools. It is always so exciting to hear about kids getting excited to meet the people behind the books and about the general enthusiasm for reading that… Continue reading
We here at Mackin have been thinking a lot about makerspaces, creativity, and hands-on education in schools and libraries recently, so we are especially delighted with this guest post from Aaron Becker, creator… Continue reading
We may be trying some new things on Books in Bloom this year as you saw in Zack’s post last week, but one thing is certainly staying the same: regular author/illustrator guest posts.… Continue reading
Matt Phelan’s newest book, Snow White: A Graphic Novel, takes an old story and re-imagines it with an early twentieth century back drop. The result is an atmospheric tale that will be perfect… Continue reading
Why do you write? What drives you to create the stories you do? Last month, the National Council of Teachers of English held a day of celebration of writing in which they asked… Continue reading
Kids always want to know where writers get their ideas, and in this guest post, Vaunda Micheaux Nelson shares how she looked to her own family for her stories. Specifically, she looked… Continue reading
