I was hard at work over the holidays polishing my latest illustrated MG read. This one stars Alexander Gum, a character many of you met previously in my short illustrated MG WORDQUAKE. This new book was actually inspired by an issue I saw cropping up time and again while teaching music lessons (more on that a bit later). For now, a peek at the jacket and jacket copy:
Alexander Gum, the best inventor in all of Eastwood Elementary, is naturally good at everything. He never misses a word on any of his spelling tests, his shoelaces are always neatly tied, and he never colors outside the lines.
Actually, truth be told, Alexander is not naturally clever or talented—at least, no more so than any of his classmates. Alexander’s hiding a secret. He’s getting help from the most unexpected place…
Have you ever wished for a magical wand that could make everything in your life—homework and tests and pre-algebra and jumping rope in p.e. and drawing tigers for art class—as easy as flicking your wrist?
And what would you do if your magic wand broke?
I’m currently uploading the files; subscribe to my new MG-specific mailing list to be notified of the official release.
Also, I’m looking forward to making my newsletters more interactive. While I’ll of course be making announcements of releases via my newsletters, I also want to know more about my subscribers. At the MG list, many are teachers or librarians. I want to know about your students. What are they interested in? What issues are they facing? As a hybrid author, I can fill any holes on your classroom bookshelves quickly, getting new thought-provoking work into the hands of your young readers in a timely fashion.
