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MIDDLE GRADE READING: The Fear of Failure

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Middle Grade ReadingMIDDLE GRADE READING: The Fear of Failure

Middle Grade Reading can be a starting point of how tweens can learn how to dream a bigger dream.  The problem facing most kids is they don’t think they can achieve their dream, which is why they live in fear most of the time.  

Living in fear of anything limits our ability to perform in the very thing we wish to succeed in.  Let’s say, for example, we are in middle school and we are afraid of failing the exam we are about to take even though we spent hours studying the required material.  When we sit down to take the exam, we go into a brain lock and forget…

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EVERYTHING I LEARNED ABOUT MYSELF: I Learned in Middle School

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middle schoolEverything I learned about myself: I learned in middle school.

Yes, that’s right, Middle School.  I know it sounds crazy, but it is SALTWATER TAFFY.  If you have ever been sick, injured or suffered through a battle of being super-duper bummed out (adults refer to this as being depressed), you know there’s nothing more important in life than feeling good.

The most precious thing we have in this middle school life is… Read more

MIDDLE GRADE DREAMS: Where Is Your Heart Compass?

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Middle Grade DreamsMIDDLE GRADE DREAMS: Where Is Your Heart Compass?

You middle grade dreams begin with something I like to call the heart compass.  The heart compass is that still, small voice that speaks to us during the quiet moments of our lives…IF…we are open and available to HEAR the message upon arrival.  This is what I used to write the adventure novel, Saltwater Taffy.

Have you ever been really super tired?  I mean, so tired that you can’t sleep?   Read more

MIDDLE GRADE FICTION: Thought-Watching, Not Clock-Watching

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Middle Grade FictionMIDDLE GRADE FICTION: Thought-watching, not Clock-watching

Middle Grade Fiction is one of my favorite posting headlines because sometimes, your thoughts as middle school students are simply fictional fantasies.  By fiction, I mean when you think about what you CAN’T do more than you think about what you CAN do.

Our MIDDLE GRADE years are filled with so many insecure thoughts about fitting in with the ‘in crowd,’ all we end up doing is wasting time by watching the clock, waiting for it to end.  The activity of watching the clock… Read more

MIDDLE GRADE FICTION: Bang, Bang, YOU’RE DEAD

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middle grade fictionMIDDLE GRADE FICTION: Bang, Bang, YOU’RE DEAD

Middle grade fiction, middle grade students, and middle grade literacy is the reason I became a children’s book author in the first place.  The problem I have is all the violence we are feeding our middle grade children.

Over the weekend, my wife and I walked into a pizza joint to eat dinner and this was the first thing we saw; little boys holding guns while playing the arcade games.  There is nothing wrong with arcade games, don’t get me wrong, but the image of this Tween holding a gun was…

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