Today, we are delighted to be hosting a stop on the official blog tour for Orphan Island by Laurel Snyder – a stunning new middle grade book from our friends at Walden Pond Press. Keep reading to learn more about this book, explore the teacher’s guide, and enter to win a copy. On the island, […]
It seems like everywhere you turn these days, people can’t stop talking about Alexander Hamilton. It’s Hamilton Fever! From the hit Broadway musical, to a growing roster of other creative works inspired by the revolutionary figure, it seems like Hamilton is everywhere. And yes, he’s even on the shelves of the Young Adult section at […]
One of my favorite things here at Novel Novice is when we can combine a book that readers LOVE with the opportunity to use it in the classroom. The Chronicles of the Black Tulip series by Barry Wolverton is a perfect example of this. Last year, when The Vanishing Island (book 1) was released, I […]
One of the things I loved most about The Lovely Reckless by Kami Garcia (in stores now!) is that more than being an amazing book — fun to read, fast-paced, thrilling, sexy as hell — it also gives you plenty to think about and discuss, even in a classroom setting. With that in mind, here […]
In our September Book of the Month, author Dawn Ius has re-imagined England’s most infamous king as high school royalty. But what was the real Henry VIII like? We showed you more about the real Anne Boleyn earlier this week. Today, we’re bringing you the facts about the other half of this ill-fated couple. Henry […]
Today we’re going beyond the pages of our September Book of the Month, Anne & Henry by Dawn Ius, to learn about one of the real people whose story inspired the book … Anne Boleyn. (And tune in on Friday for more on Henry VIII, too!) Anne: The Facts Born 1501 (Probably; there’s been some […]
Besides being just an AMAZING book, The Game of Love & Death by Martha Brockenbrough is filled with plenty of amazing topics that tie in beautifully with subjects you would study in school. So, of course, today we have some suggested discussion/essay topics and project ideas: Classroom Discussion & Essay Topics: A few examples of […]
Some significant scenes in The Game of Love & Death take place in one of Seattle’s largest Hoovervilles — shanty towns built by homeless people during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Today, we explore a little more about these encampments. Why Hooverville? The shanty towns that arose during the Great Depression were called “Hoovervilles” […]
When Jennifer Caloyeras first reached out to me about the possibility of reviewing her new book Strays on Novel Novice, I was intrigued – of course – by the premise of the book. But what really stood out to me was, when I perused her website, I noticed she had already put together classroom materials […]
In Martha Brockenbrough’s The Game of Love & Death, Flora dreams of being a famous pilot. But in the 1930s, women — especially African-American women — faced a lot of uphill battles to take to the skies. There were, however, some early female pioneers in aviation — including a few who inspired our Flora. So […]