Read This!: MOXIE by Jennifer Mathieu

Read This, Recommended Reading

I did a lot of reading over the summer, but I am a little behind on my reviewing! Over the next few weeks, I will be sharing my reviews of my favorite recent reads. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. First up: a feminist YA read that pairs nicely with my most recent book, She Spoke: 14 Women Who Raised Their Voices and Changed the World:

MoxieMoxie by Jennifer Mathieu
Summary: Vivian Carter is fed up. Fed up with her small-town Texas high school that thinks the football team can do no wrong. Fed up with sexist dress codes and hallway harassment. But most of all, Viv Carter is fed up with always following the rules. Viv’s mom was a punk rock Riot Grrrl in the ’90s, so now Viv takes a page from her mother’s past and creates a feminist zine that she distributes anonymously to her classmates. She’s just blowing off steam, but other girls respond. Pretty soon Viv is forging friendships with other young women across the divides of cliques and popularity rankings, and she realizes that what she has started is nothing short of a girl revolution.

I loved this book! Vivian was a such a fully-fleshed out character, with all the hopes and fears and internalized insecurities of a girl growing up in small-town America. I loved the way Viv was inspired by the zines of her mom’s Riot Grrrl past, but what I loved best about this book was how it showed that all it takes is one voice, one spark to bring out the light in others. Viv may be the one writing and distributing the Moxie zine, but the movement she starts soon develops a life of its own, and it doesn’t belong to her, or to any of the individual girls who start speaking up – it belongs to all of them, together, and what they have created is bigger than any one person or single action. Inspiring, empowering, and downright fun, Moxie is a must-read.

MOXIE is out now.

View all my reviews

Terrific Teacher Resources

American Sign Language, Nita's First Signs, Professional Development, Resources for Teachers and Librarians, She Spoke

It’s back to school time, and I’ve got some great resources related to my books for teachers!

She Spoke: 14 Women Who Raised Their Voices and Changed the World

This unique nonfiction picture book highlights 14 women who raised their voices and changed the world! Learn about these heroes and hear their inspiring words in their own voices at the touch of a button. Each entry features discussion questions ideal for the classroom.

Speak Up! Listen Up!: Using She Spoke in the Classroom: guest post at Pencil Tips: Writing Workshop Strategies from Children’s Authors and Illustrators

She Spoke Pinterest board – More links, clips, and recordings of the amazing women profiled in the book and more heroines you should know.

21 Printable Coloring Sheets That Celebrate Girl Power by Emily McCombs

 

Nita's First Signs final coverNita’s First Signs

Nita’s First Signs teaches ten essential signs for every parent and child to know, including eat, more, hungry, milk, all done, ball, play, love, please, and thank you. A simple story about Nita and her parents teaches each sign in context, and repetition throughout each story makes them easy to practice. Even better, each page slides open to reveal accurate instructions on how to make each sign, plus tabs on the side of each page make it simple to locate every sign for later reference.

Nita’s First Signs Teacher/Librarian Guide

Little Hands Signing Storytime & Craft Ideas

Teaching Sign Language to Kids with Nita’s First Signs at Babies to Bookworms

Also by Kathy MacMillan: Little Hands and Big Hands: Children and Adults Signing Together

Resources for Signing with Babies and Young Children

Resources for Signing in Storytime or the Classroom

Picture Books about ASL and Deaf Culture

Online coaching sessions for affordable, personalized professional development.

NITA’S FIRST SIGNS is a 2018 Foreword INDIES Silver Winner!

American Sign Language, Awards, board books, Little Hands Signing series, Nita's First Signs

Nita’s First Signs has been named a winner in the 21st annual Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards.

Foreword Reviews, a book review journal focusing on independently published books, announced the winners of its INDIES Book of the Year Awards earlier this month. The INDIES recognize the best books published in 2018 from small, indie, and university presses, as well as self-published authors. You can view all of the winners here.

“Being surrounded by the year’s best books from independent writers and publishers is a humbling and invigorating experience that we take seriously at every step of the judging process,” says Managing Editor Michelle Anne Schingler. “As the INDIES progress, our editors, and our librarian and bookseller judges, have the honor and the privilege of discovering and rediscovering independent titles that give us hope about the future of publishing and that, at their best, make us consider the world around us anew.”

Nita’s First Signs, written by Kathy MacMillan, illustrated by Sara Brezzi, published by Familius Press is the 2018 Silver Winner in the category Picture Books, Early Reader.

Over 2,000 entries were submitted in 56 categories, with Foreword’s editors choosing approximately 10 finalists per genre. Those finalists were then mailed to individual librarians and booksellers charged with picking the Gold, Silver, and Bronze winners.

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Founded in 1998, Foreword Magazine, Inc. is the publisher of the only review journal completely devoted to independent publishing: Foreword Reviews, a Folio: award-winning bimonthly print review journal. Foreword exclusively covers university and independent (non “Big 5”) publishers, the books they publish, and their authors. Foreword is based in Traverse City, Michigan, with staff based worldwide.

SHE SPOKE on Book Q and As with Deborah Kalb

Authors You Should Know, Interviews, She Spoke

Thank you to Deborah Kalb – author of The President and Me: John Adams and the Magic Bobblehead (Schiffer, 2018), The President and Me: George Washington and the Magic Hat (Schiffer, 2016), and co-author of Haunting Legacy: Vietnam and the American Presidency from Ford to Obama (Brookings, 2011) – for hosting me and my She Spoke co-author Manuela Bernardi for an interview at her website! Check it out here.

SHE SPOKE on The Children’s Book Podcast

Interviews, She Spoke

She Spoke: 14 Women Who Raised Their Voices and Changed the World was featured on Episode #511 of The Children’s Book Podcast with Matthew Winner!  Check it out for a freewheeling discussion spanning three continents: me in the USA, my co-author Manuela Bernardi in Brazil, and illustrator Kathrin Honesta in Indonesia! We delve into the inspirations and processes behind the book, and Matthew shares how he has used it with his students. Listen now!