I love to visit schools, libraries, and community gathering spaces to talk about books and writing and to spend quality time with the people I write for: kids! I’m open to in-person and virtual visits.
Here are the presentation options I offer:
My Author’s Journey
I tell the story of how I went from a fifth-grader who wanted nothing more to be a published book author to actually becoming one (a few decades later). It’s a tale of passion and persistence, of occasional success and frequent rejection. More practically, it’s a story of how I’ve honed my writing chops and how I finally realized not just what I wanted to write but who I wanted to write for. (Spoiler alert: it’s kids.)
Science Stories
Science is full of fascinating human stories! In this presentation, I focus on a different book based on the age of my audience: for elementary and middle schoolers I talk about Mysterious Glowing Mammals: An Unexpected Discovery Sparks a Scientific Investigation. It’s a great contemporary example of how scientists follow their curiosity, ask questions, plan and carry out investigations, and collaborate with others. For middle schoolers and high schoolers, I talk about An Astonishing Circle: The Discovery and Denial of the Circulatory System. It’s a science story from the very beginning of what we think of today as “science” that delves into medical discoveries, ethics, and science denial.
Custom Presentation
I’d be happy to work with you to create a custom program that meets your needs. You can mix and match from the subjects above, or I can work with a theme of your choice.