WHOLE NARRATIVE NON-FICTION WORKSHOP

Writing a non-fiction manuscript for young people? Does it feel like a steep grade? Are you repeating, I think I can, I think I can?

Well, of course you can. And just to help out, Highlights Foundation is offering Carolyn Yoder's

WHOLE NARRATIVE NONFICTION WORKSHOP

May 20 - 26, 2012

at 

THE BARN
near Honesdale, PA

In 2002, I attended one of Carolyn's history writing classes. As a direct result, I've published 3 historical novels and have become a rabid- or I should say- avid researcher.  Since then, I've attended several writing retreats with Carolyn. (But not nearly as many as I want to!)

Each one represents a growth spurt for me.  I gain deeper understanding about communicating history, an ever expanding group of friends and contacts in the writing world, and more insight into the book making/publishing process.

Carolyn is a treasure trove of experience and wisdom. Her reputation for being tough is both well deserved and misleading.  It's true that she demands the best of each writer she mentors.  This is why we want to work with her.  Why her retreats are instantly booked with return writers.

That and the fact that Carolyn is heart and soul. A great story teller and a nurturer.  She's funny and she's fair, treating each writer/work shopper with equal respect. 

She holds our hand as needed. 

 And celebrates our special occasions!

Yum! 

But the Highlights Foundation has more than food, friends, and Carolyn Yoder invested in this workshop.
Because they want each writer to get hands-on personal attention, they're bringing in 

multiple award-wining authors to add their power to the week! 

Peggy Thomas, author of Anatomy of Nonfiction

Susan Campbell Bartoletti - author of Hitler Youth

and Elizabeth Partridge, author of Marching For Freedom

 These ladies have written many other books.  They teach writing and bring keen insight to the writing/revising process! Your whole manuscript will be reviewed and mentored by one of the faculty members.

Special guests for the week will be Nancy Bo Flood and Barbara Krasner.

What are you doing in May?  Surely not huffing and puffing your way up the non-fiction mountain.  I hope you'll be in Honesdale recharging your narrative.

You'll get to visit this place

but most of your time will be spent on the banks of Calkins Creek where the

founders of Highlights Magazine lived.

Take it from me, it's a great place to relax, write, and boost your career!
 

For information on the workshops or scholarship program.

FOR PRESIDENT'S DAY: Farmer George Plants a Nation gets Starred Reviews

I grew up with George Washington. Didn't we all go through school with his portrait hovering on the classroom wall? He was the ultimate statesman, the brave warrior, the cutter down of cherry trees...

Wait... hold it right there! Remember that story about George telling his father, "I cannot tell a lie"? Apparently it's a myth that emerged after Washington's death.

Peggy Thomas, author of Farmer George Plants a Nation has done some amazing research on our first president. The result is an unusual portrait of a most accessible man. Perhaps I resonate with this book because the opening line could be talking about my father.

"George Washington dug his hand into the newly tilled earth and let the hard, dry clay crumble through his long fingers."

Just last week I snapped this picture of Daddy working a few pea seeds into the dirt. He always plants his peas in February!

Farmer George Plants a Nation is loaded with dozens of humanizing images of George - as a farmer devising better planting methods, as a host discussing gardening over a dinner of homegrown vegetables, as an army general writing a sixteen page letter to his farm managers, and as a president discussing manure with Thomas Jefferson!

One of the very cool things about this book is the inclusion of snippets from George's letters.

"I mean to have groves of Trees at each end of the dwelling House... to range in a line from the South East Corner to Colo. Fairfax's... (1776)

There are so many treats here that I can't possibly show you - little known details about the man with a passion for gardening and full color paintings by Layne Johnson that complement the text like a mule with a plow! (Yes, Farmer George was a breeder of mules!)

If your school library (or homeschool) doesn't own this book, then give yourself a President's Day gift. Your students will love this unexpected portrayal of our first president.

The book's backmatter includes a Timeline, George's Thoughts on Slavery, a Bibliography, and sections with info about Mount Vernon. Follow this link and I do mean, run - don't walk to Mount Vernon's website. You won't believe the amount of information you can find by following your clicker finger around.

Full confession here. I have never visited Mount Vernon. To me, George Washington has mostly been a portrait on a wall - a politician, a soldier, a chopper down of trees. But this beautiful portrayal of the gentle farmer makes me want to jump in my car and head to Virginia.

And I just returned from Virginia last night!

P.S. Sneak a peek at Farmer George on YouTube!

P.P.S. Farmer George was published by Calkins Creek Books and edited by the best of the best, Carolyn Yoder.