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To me, anyone who has written a story is a writer! I wrote my first story when I was in fourth grade, so I’ve been a writer since then. It was about a pig named Alice.

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Make sure to check out the author interviews and the link under "Fun Stuff" about yo-yos.

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Welcome to the Fabled Stables, a magical building filled with one-of-a-kind creatures. Creatures including the Gargantula, the Yawning Abyss, the Hippopotamouse . . . and Auggie. Auggie is the only human boy at the Stables, and he takes care of all the other animals.

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“Sherlock meets Shakespeare in this time-travel, murder mystery with a twist of magic.”When an enchanted painting whisks Katie back in time to Shakespeare’s England, she lands in the middle of a perilous adventure beyond her wildest imagination.With the help of the young Princess Sophia, Katie begins to find her feet in the world of superstitious

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Each student says one word they think describes one of the characters. Use WordCloud or Mentimeter to make a visual “word cloud.”

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Free Word Cloud Generator - Create a Word Cloud Live

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Create Live Word Clouds with your audience using their smartphones. All for Free with Mentimeter!

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After each reading, everyone writes a one-sentence summary of what they read that week on a post-it note.

Share aloud for a quick recap.

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Hand out sticky notes.

Ask: What do you think will happen next? Collect them, and read aloud at the start of the next meeting.

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Sweep Novel Study | Sweep by Jonathan Auxier Book Study

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Sweep by Jonathan Auxier is a poignant tale set in Victorian England. This Sweep Novel Study helps you dive deeper into the story!

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Charlie is literally born from soot but fueled by love.

Challenge everyone to perform and share an act of kindness.

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Scroll down for the video

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Farrar Straus & Giroux, 2016ISBN 978-0-3743-0273-3Ages 8-12 Wish Available in hardcover, paperback, e-book, and audio book Eleven-year-old Charlie Reese has been making the same secret wish every day since fourth grade. She even has a list of all the ways there are to make the wish, such as cutting off the pointed end of a ...

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Give sticky notes—ask students to find one powerful or moving line and share why they chose it.

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Discuss: “What does Charlie (the monster) represent in Nan’s life?”

Have students write a quick journal response: If I had a ‘monster’ that represented something important in my life, what would it be?
Challenge members to find and share examples of symbolism in the book. Use visuals or bring items that represent these symbols.

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Learn basic survival skills like knot-tying or camouflage painting to reflect activities from the book.

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Create posters of favorite precepts from the book and explain why they are meaningful.

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1. Would you rather have a monster as a best friend or a magical talking pet?

2. Would you rather your monster change shape whenever it wants or disappear whenever it wants?

3. Would you rather explore a haunted forest at night or a mysterious abandoned mansion?

4. Would you rather your monster could make you invisible or give you super strength?

5. Would you rather have a monster that is funny and silly or mysterious and spooky?

6. Would you rather keep your monster a secret from everyone or introduce it to the whole town?

7. Would you rather your monster could speak any language or understand every creature?

8. Would you rather ride on your monster’s back anywhere in the world or have it fly you through dreams?

9. Would you rather your monster grow bigger when you’re happy or shrink when you’re sad?

10. Would you rather spend a day cleaning up a magical mess your monster made or solve a monster’s riddles to escape?

11. Would you rather your monster sing instead of roar or dance instead of walk?

12. Would you rather discover a hidden world of monsters or have your monster hide a magical treasure for you?

13. Would you rather your monster scare away bullies or make friends for you wherever you go?

14. Would you rather teach your monster a new trick every day or have it teach you a new skill every day?

15. Would you rather your monster live inside your closet or live in your backpack?

16. Would you rather your monster be invisible to adults or invisible to other kids?

17. Would you rather explore a monster’s lair or enter a monster’s dream?

18. Would you rather your monster help with homework or play pranks on teachers?

19. Would you rather your monster never sleep or sleep all the time?

20. Would you rather have your monster’s magical powers for a day or teach someone else to control them?

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Compare child labor in Nan’s world with kids’ responsibilities today.

Make a T-chart on chart paper: Then vs. Now.

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Using straws, blocks, or paper, see who can build the tallest or narrowest “chimney” structure.

Talk about why chimneys were dangerous for sweeps and connect it back to the book.

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Provide paper and chalk/pastels (to mimic soot/ash).

Ask students to create a picture of Nan and Charlie together or another moment that stood out.

Share and explain their choices.

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Ask: If you could create your own imaginary creature (like the “screechers”), what would it look like, eat, and sound like?

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Have students flip to a favorite sentence or description in the book.

Go around and read aloud.

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“Nature knows more than we do… And she probably always will.”

“Grown-ups are just boring former children.”

“I guess I’d come to understand that the world could change in a heartbeat.”

“If you’re looking for folks to make sense… you may find yourself looking for a very long time indeed.”

“Mostly I avoided the Faire, with its teeming crowds that made me feel like I was being smothered. So much noise! So much forced merrymaking! … I wondered sometimes what it would be like to have a friend. To be so comfortable with myself that I could be comfortable with someone else, too.”

“The earth is old and we are not, and that is all you must remember.”

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The book talks a lot about how animals sound.

Have each student make up the sound their imaginary screecher would make. Fun and silly, but tied to the text.

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Quick round: Name one way people in the book hurt the environment and one way they could help instead.

Link it to real life by asking, What’s one small thing we can do in our own world?

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Go around the group and share a moment in the book that made you laugh, cry, or gasp.

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ONE WRONG STEP - by Jennifer A. Nielsen - Official trailer by Escape Goat for Scholastic Books

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Resources for At-Home Learning

Please Support Indie Bookstores

If you wish to purchase any of my books, PLEASE look to your local indie bookstore first. During this mixed-up crazy time, you want your money, and those jobs, to stay in your community, and we want our bookstores to be around when this time has ended.

If you want a signed copy of any of my books, you can order through The King's English Bookshop. Otherwise, you can find a bookstore near you at Ind iebound. They will ship it straight to you!

Publisher's Guidelines for Teacher Recorded Reading

Each week, I will post a (usually) brief video with writing tips for students that you can share as part of your curriculum, or with specific students who are interested in additional writing help. Links will appear below as they are posted.

Chat 1: Creativity (11 minutes)

Writing Prompts

For teachers or students, do any of these first lines spark your imagination to write?

1. Is it possible to imagine something into reality?

2. I awoke to someone screaming in my ear, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

3. Where I live, it snows popcorn. And we just had a blizzard.

4. I can't fly. I only float.

5. I remember the day we disappeared.

6. Fluster was a very different type of ghost.

7. I wanted a dog, my brother wanted a cat. But Mom's "compromise" was the worst.

8. Guess how I discovered that Dad invented a time machine out of our microwave?

9. When Mom said to clean out the attic, I never thought I would find...

10. There's a reason I know aliens are real.

YouTube Chats

Check out my series of writing tips at the links below!

Need Something Else?

If you have any additional needs or wish to schedule a virtual or in-person visit, please contact me.

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Please Support Indie Bookstores If you wish to purchase any of my books, PLEASE look to your local indie bookstore first. During this mixed-up crazy time, you want your money, and those jobs, to stay in your community, and we want our bookstores to be around when this time has ended.

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What to do: Create a simple substitution or Morse code message that relates to the story (like a clue to a meeting place). Have members race to decode it.

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What to do: Everyone invents their own secret agent name using initials + an object (e.g., “Agent J. Teacup” or “Shadow H. Torch”).

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What to do: Each person gives a 1-minute alternative ending (What if the message had been intercepted? What if Churchill himself appeared?).

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Focus: Getting to know Charlie, her wishes, and her new setting

Discussion Starters:

What do we learn about Charlie in these first chapters?

Why do you think she makes the same wish every day?

How does she feel about moving to Colby, and how would you feel in her shoes?

Activity: Wish Jar

Each student writes a personal wish on a slip of paper.

Collect them in a “Wish Jar” for the group (you’ll return to this at the end of the book to see how wishes compare to Charlie’s journey).

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Focus: Friendships and belonging

Discussion Starters:

How is Charlie’s friendship with Howard developing?

What do you think about Howard’s family compared to Charlie’s?

What role does Wishbone play in Charlie’s life so far?

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Focus: Growth and empathy

Discussion Starters:

How does Charlie’s view of Howard’s family change?

Do you see Charlie starting to grow or soften? Where?

Why do you think Wishbone sticks with Charlie?

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Focus: Resolution, family, and themes of love & belonging

Discussion Starters:

How did Charlie change from the beginning of the book?

Which relationships ended up being the most important for her?

What do you think the book is really teaching us about family and belonging?

Activity: Reflection + Kindness Chain

Pull out the Wish Jar from Week 1—read a few aloud and compare to Charlie’s wishes.

Then, start a Kindness Chain: each student writes one kind action they can do to make others feel included.

Link them into a chain and hang it as a reminder of Charlie’s journey.

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Charlie finds ways to make wishes and makes a wish every day. Keep a running list of ways to make wishes.

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Toss a ball to each other and the one who catches has to choose a card and finish the sentence