KATE NARITA: CHILDREN'S AUTHOR
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Chalk + Ink: Season 2; Episode 37

4/28/2022

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Interview with Author and Educator, Kate Messner

The prolific and versatile, Kate Messner, talks about what happens when we share our writing process with our students, inviting our students to help us make our writing stronger, and taking and making time to prioritize our writing. 

Kate differentiates between writing exemplars for our students and writing alongside our students. When we write alongside our students, it's powerful for our students because they see all writers revise and struggle to master the craft. But it's not just powerful for our students, it's powerful for us as educators to feel like beginners again. When we remember "what it feels like to have the ground not so steady beneath our feet," it makes us much more empathetic educators.

One of the great benefits of simultaneously writing and teaching, is that our students can help improve our writing. Kate talks about having her students read her manuscripts and using different colors to mark boring or confusing parts. And hey, let's face it. Students get antsy during the spring months. So, now's the time to break out our writing and provide them with some new reading material.

Almost every guest talks about taking and making time to write. Kate takes it up another level. She tells us about the power of carving time out to write and then sharing our intentions with our family members. Not only will sharing our intentions with others, make it more likely that the writing time will actually happen, but it also shows our kids how it's important to set goals and communicate our needs to others.

We talk about a ton of Kate's books during this episode including but not limited to: History Smashers, Ranger in Time, The Next President, Fergus and Zeke, Breakout, Real Revision and my current favorite, 59 Reasons to Write. 59 Reasons to Write is filled with exercises that I'm using as a write another draft of my middle grade novel and Kate and her guests' tips are making my writing stronger.

Kate recommends the following writers and their work for upper elementary classrooms:

Tracey Baptiste: We started off talking about her wonderful Jumbies series, which were also part of Pernille Ripp's Global Read Aloud this year. Then, Kate talks about how Tracey wrote African Icons: Ten People Who Shaped History because she became tired of her kids always bringing home information about the same Civil Rights Era icons. In African Icons, Baptiste showcases African history before the enslavement of black people began, a history that is not only often hidden, but intentionally erased.

Anne Ursu: Kate loves The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy because it's a fantastic fantasy with a feminist theme. I don't know this title but I'm thinking it would be a fantastic addition to my classroom collection.

Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich: Operation Sisterhood looks like a super fun summer read. I'm definitely putting this one on my summer reading list.

Linda Urban: Linda's new book is Almost There and Almost Not, which Jennifer Laughran talks about on this episode of Literaticast and Michelle Knott talks about it here on her blog, Mrs. Knott's Book Nook. Jennifer Laughran and her guest talk about Almost There and Almost Not being a great gift for young readers in people's lives and Michelle Knott talks about the title being short and easily accessible for upper elementary readers. All I'm going to say about it is that it has a ghost dog. Does anything more need to be said? I don't think so. My summer reading list keeps getting longer and longer!

Kate and I also talk about Linda's humorous voice. Kate mentioned Linda's previous titles: Hound Dog True, A Crooked Kind of Perfect and The Center of Everything. I want to give a shout out to Milo Speck, Accidental Agent because I absolutely love that title and my students do as well.

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Happy listening!
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Chalk + Ink: Season 2; Episode 36

4/14/2022

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​Interview with Debut Author and High School ELA Teacher,

Michael Leali

The warm and inclusive, Michael Leali, talks about the danger of gendering books, how we miss out on the now when we try to “make up” for lost learning time due to the pandemic, and how readers rise to challenges.

As Michael says in the soundbite above, "We gotta get beyond the binary... This idea that because you identify as a certain gender you won't connect with a book because it wasn't 'written for you or with you in mind,' is bananas to me." Less than a minute later he states, "Use books to feel safe and feel seen. But also to grow and to challenge what we know. And when we gender books, we place our readers in boxes. And we limit what is possible. And the beautiful thing about storytelling is that anything is possible."

Is anyone else covered in goosebumps?

We also talk about the pressure to "make up" for lost learning due to the pandemic. This idea that time can somehow be made up is putting unnecessary pressure on students and on teachers. In so doing, we're missing out on the now, the opportunity to learn and grow from where we actually are instead of some nebulous idea of where we should be. 

Finally, we talk about the amazing structure in Michael's book, 
The Civil War of Amos Abernathy. Half of the book takes place within one day while the other half of the book takes place over the course of a year. The book alternates back and forth between the different timelines. The storyline that takes place over the course of a year is epistolary while the storyline that takes place over the course of the day is first person present. Michael loves novels that play with structure and believes readers will rise to whatever challenges authors present to them.

We talk about a ton of different books during the podcast. Michael knew he wanted to be an author in elementary school when Debbie Dadey, the author of The Bailey School Kids, visited his school. Her title Vampires Don't Wear Polka Dots inspired him to start writing.

We also talk about how we're filled with joy when our kids get excited about books in the classroom. I reminisced about a student getting excited about a book by Blue Balliet, but I blanked on the title, which is Out of the Wild Night, meanwhile his student fell in love with Elizabeth Acevedo's Clap When You Land and asked for other novels in verse. Michael passed on Poet X, also by Acevedo, Kwame Alexander's titles as well as Ellen Hopkins' work. 

Michael teaches ninth and tenth graders and he thinks that their needs are very similar to upper middle graders. So, he recommends the following titles for middle and high schoolers:

Wishing Upon the Same Stars by Jacquetta Nammar Feldman


Michael calls this title a gorgeous, middle grade, contemporary novel. The book explores a friendship between two girls, one an Arab American and one a first-generation Israeli American. I definitely want to buy this book for my classroom, and it seems like it would pair well with A Place at the Table by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan.

The Real Riley Mayes by Rachel Elliott

Michael calls this book an incredible, joyous, queer graphic novel.

All That's Left in the World by  
Erik J. Brown

This is a post-apocalyptic male-on-male slow burn romance.

Revolution in our Time by Kekla Magoon

​This is a nonfiction title about the Black Panther Party. His students used it to understand the historical context of novels they were reading.

​Kiss and Tell by Adib Khorram

I have not read this title but Michael and I gushed about one of Adib's previous titles, Darius the Great Is Not Okay.

Want to prep for our next episode? The versatile and curious, Kate Messner, will be joining us on our next episode. Kate’s written so many wonderful books, it’s impossible to think about assigning only one. But, if you’re only going to read one title, the book that’s most fitting for this podcast is 59 Reasons to Write: Mini-Lessons, Prompts, and Inspiration for Teachers.

Thanks so much for reading. If you would like to be entered to win a signed copy of Michael's The Civil War of Amos Abernathy, please leave a comment below and fill out this form.
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