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Discover books by authors who live in your own state – maybe even your own neighborhood! Our 2017-18 Read Local Challenge features 50 traditionally-published authors and illustrators from Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, and Washington D.C.

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Discover books by authors who live in your own state – maybe even your own neighborhood! Our 2017-18 Read Local Challenge features 50 traditionally-published authors and illustrators from Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, and Washington D.C.

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Discover books by authors who live in your own state - maybe even your own neighborhood! Our 2017-18 Read Local Challenge features 50 traditionally-published authors and illustrators from Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, and Washington D.C.

We invite all schools, libraries, homeschool groups, scout troops ... groups of any size to join us! Take the challenge to read as many of these books from local authors/illustrators as you can, then click here to tell us which books you read for a chance to win fabulous prizes, such as signed books and free Skype visits with one of our Read Local authors or illustrators. Then visit our websites to find our already-scheduled book signings and events, or to schedule a visit to your school or library.

Download the Full Read Local 2017-18 Challenge Book List

If you'd like to set up a special panel for your school or library, please click the green button above, or email All of our Read Local authors and illustrators have agreed to offer a 10% discount on their speaking fees* for any school or library participating in the Read Local Challenge. Now is the perfect time to schedule a visit. We'd love to get to know you! *Joint visits at special rates are also available. Veronica Bartles, Published and Listed Coordinator for the MD/DE/WV chapter of SCBWI at mddewvpal@gmail.com.
*If you do miss them, no worries, the video will be available here after the webinar is over. - To test your system to see if it is compatible with our webinar software, Click the image above to find out more about each author in the Picture Book level of our MD/DE/VA/DC Read Local Challenge, or visit the authors' individual profile pages:
Karen Leggett Abouraya (Silver Spring, MD) | Veronica Bartles (Baltimore, MD) | Margie Blumberg (Bethesda, MD) | Jean Heilprin Diehl (Chevy Chase, MD) | Pamela Ehrenberg (Washington, D.C.) | Rebecca Evans (Severna Park, MD) | Sue Fliess (Ashburn, VA) | Claudia Friddell (Baltimore, MD) | Laura Gehl (Chevy Chase, MD) | Maria Gianferrari (Leesburg, VA) | Erin Hagar (Baltimore, MD) | Amy Hansen (Greenbelt, MD) | Sylvia Liu (Virginia Beach, VA) | Megan Wagner Lloyd (Arlington, VA) | Ann McCallum (Kensington, MD) | John Micklos, Jr. (Newark, DE) | Anne Marie Pace (Charlottesville, VA) | Courtney Pippin-Mathur (Alexandria, VA) | Susan Stockdale (Chevy Chase, MD) | Sarah Sullivan (Williamsburg, VA) | Lois Szymanski (Westminster, MD) | Chiêu Anh Urban (Laytonsville, MD) | Timothy Young (Easton, MD)
Click the image above to find out more about each author in the Middle Grade level of our MD/DE/VA/DC Read Local Challenge, or visit the authors' individual profile pages:
Barbara Carney-Coston (Washington, D.C.) | Ginjer Clarke (Richmond, VA) | Jen Swann Downey (Charlottesville, VA) | Pamela Ehrenberg (Washington, D.C.) | Claudia Friddell (Baltimore, MD) | Leah Henderson (Washington, D.C.) | Sara Lewis Holmes (Hampton, VA) | Deborah Kalb (Chevy Chase, MD) | Amie Rose Rotruck (Mount Airy, MD) | Shelley Sackier (Charlottesville, VA) | CAP Saucier (Cockeysville, MD) | Laura Shovan (Ellicott City, MD) | Sarah Sullivan (Williamsburg, VA) | Erin Teagan (Purcellville, VA) | Elissa Brent Weissman (Baltimore, MD)
Click the image above to find out more about each author in the Young Adult level of our MD/DE/VA/DC Read Local Challenge, or visit the authors' individual profile pages:
Penelope Aaron (North Bethesda, MD) | Veronica Bartles (Catonsville, MD) | Linda Budzinski (Sterling, VA) | Vonnie Winslow Crist (Jarrettsville, MD) | Pintip Dunn (Kensington, MD) | Meg Eden (Severn, MD) | Leigh Goff (Annapolis, MD) | Christina June (Fairfax County, VA) | Kathy MacMillan (Owings Mills, MD) | Kristen-Paige Madonia (Charlottesville, VA) | Susan Moger (Edgewater, MD) | Valerie O. Patterson (Leesburg, VA) | Michelle Ray (Silver Spring, MD) | Sharon Huss Roat (Hockessin, DE) | Shelley Sackier (Charlottesville, VA) | A.B. Westrick (Richmond, VA)

Special thanks to author Jen Malone, who created a Read Local New England Challenge, and shared the challenge details with us!

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Discover books by authors who live in your own state - maybe even your own neighborhood! Our 2017-18 Read Local Challenge features 50 traditionally-published authors and illustrators from Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, and Washington D.C. We invite all schools, libraries, homeschool groups, scout troops ... groups of any size to join us!

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I use these tips before I start any writing workshop with kids. Workshops should be safe spaces for kids to feel comfortable share their work with others.

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40 Excellent Short Stories For Middle School

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40 Excellent Short Stories For Middle School

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40 Excellent Short Stories For Middle School

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Middle school is a funny place. Students can be mature and insightful one minute, obtuse and petulant the next. Yet even the most resistant scholar will enjoy a good story. The 40 stories below are sometimes surprising, other times hair-raising. They are all guaranteed to raise questions and instigate discussions in your classroom that can [...]

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Great sheet to record observations, comments or questions on reading.

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Scholastic Art and Writing Scholarships & Awards (2018 Submission Period NOW Open!)

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Scholastic Art and Writing Scholarships & Awards (2018 Submission Period NOW Open!)

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The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are presented by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. The Alliance is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to identify students with exceptional artistic and literary talent and present their remarkable work to the world through the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Through the Awards, students receive opportunities for recognition, exhibition, publication, and scholarships. Students across America submitted  more than 330,000 original works last year in 29 different categories of art and writing.

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Does Your Face Light Up (When You See Your Children)?

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Does Your Face Light Up (When You See Your Children)?

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Toni Morrison discusses the value of showing your children what your heart feels.

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Does Your Face Light Up? | Oprah's Life Class | Oprah Winfrey Network

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One of Oprah's greatest lessons in the '90s was that everybody just wants to be appreciated or validated. She had an aha! moment in 2000 when Toni Morrison, author of The Bluest Eye, was on the show asking, "Does your face light up [when you see children]?"