Author Fan Face-Off
Watch our LOM student Sydney compete on this YouTube series and then check out the AFFO Channel!
Author Heidi Schulz
Visit her website at: http://heidischulzbooks.com/
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Author Jordan Sonnenblick
Check out Jordan Sonnenblick's website at https://www.jordansonnenblick.com/.
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It's Author Jennifer A. Nielsen!!!!!!!
New York Times Best-Selling Author Jennifer Nielsen visits LOM
Mrs. Nielsen's books are WILDLY popular with our middle grade students. Find out more about her work at https://jennielsen.com/.
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World Read Aloud Day 2022
Mr. Schu Visits the Whole School!
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6th Grade Author Visit: Margaret Peterson Haddix
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5th Grade Science Visits with Author Heather L Montgomery
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On February 10, 2021, all 320 of our 5th grade science students were able to visit with author Heather L Montgomery. She had them thinking about the mysteries in nature that get them excited, that can turn into discoveries. Important questions like: who, what, when, where, and why. She discussed why it can be important to jot down questions and observation in a "piggy bank" of questions to solve science curiosities. All of our students were thinking like scientists!
This was an amazing visit and we have many of her books in our library for check out. You can also visit her website to find out more information at heatherlmontgomery.com//. |
World Read Aloud Day Author Zooms
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Virtual Author Visit with Jason Reynolds
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On December 3rd, our school was visited by THE Jason Reynolds! Over 700 students in 30 classrooms watched as our student ambassadors Jayse and Meridia interviewed Mr. Reynolds. He discussed his "Grab the Mic: Tell Your Story" campaign and told us what it is like being the Library of Congress National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. Every student and faculty member at LOM received a free copy of Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks. Our students will be talking about this amazing visit for weeks. We'd like to thank Jason Reynolds, Every Child a Reader, Children's Book Council, the Library of Congress, CBS, Simon and Schuster, and the Dollar General Literacy Foundation for making this possible for our students. I'll be posting a blog about our visit soon!
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Virtual Author Visit with Rebecca Petruck
It's always a joy to chat with author Rebecca Petruck! Her book, Boy Bites Bug, is a Louisiana Young Readers' Choice Award Nominee this year and one of our Battle of the Books selection. She spoke to us about researching her book, the practice of entomophagy (the practice of eating bugs), and even ate some bugs. The students have read her book and enjoyed asking her questions. More info on this complete lesson can be found at https://www.lomlibrary.org/pics.html. Thank you, Ms. Petruck. Visit her website at: https://www.rebeccapetruck.com/.
Purchase her books at our local bookstore: Cavalier House Books.
Also check out these two videos:
Boy Bites Bug Intro and Boy Bites Bug Taste Test
Purchase her books at our local bookstore: Cavalier House Books.
Also check out these two videos:
Boy Bites Bug Intro and Boy Bites Bug Taste Test
Virtual Author Visit with Pablo Cartaya
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On November 20th, our students visited with author Pablo Cartaya! He took us on his author journey from childhood to acting to deciding to write his own stories and share his experiences as a 1st generation Cuban-American. He discussed his name, the history of his name, and why names and cultural identify is so important. His book, Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish, is a LA Young Readers' Choice nominee and one of our Battle of the Books selections and all of his middle grade books are available in our library for checkout. You can visit Mr Cartaya's website at https://www.pablocartaya.com/.
Purchase his books from our local bookstore by clicking HERE. |
Virtual Author Visit with Paula Chase
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Today we chatted with the fabulous Paula Chase! Her book, So Done, is a LA Young Readers' Choice nominee and one of our Battle of the Books selections. She spoke about the beauty of how different books can be windows and mirrors (Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop!) in relation to the books she writes for kids in between that middle grade/YA zones. She also read an excerpt from So Done and talked about the complicated relationships of the characters. This fit right in with our 6th grade ELA unit on childhood challenges! You can visit Ms. Chase's website at https://paulachasehyman.com/.
Purchase her books from our local bookstore by clicking HERE. |
Online Author Chat with Alan Gratz
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We feel so very lucky to have interviewed New York Times Bestselling author Alan Gratz. Two of his books, Projekt 1065 and Refugee have been on our Louisana Young Readers' Choice nominees list and has has won numerous awards including a Cybils Award and the National Jewish Book Award. His books stay in our top 10 checkouts list every single year and our students are huge fans. We chatted about many of his books, his writing process, and much more. His new book, Ground Zero, will be out next year. You can visit his website at https://www.alangratz.com/.
Purchase a copy of any of his books from our local indie book store Cavalier House Books. Author Chat Video 
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Online Author Chat with Rita Williams-Garcia
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Wow! That's how I would describe our author interview with Rita Williams-Garcia (and guest Fabulous Fred). We discussed her LYRC Winning Book, Clayton Byrd Goes Underground, and she answered questions about her writing process and the blues. How fortunate are we that we got to chat with an author who has won a Newbery Honor, Scott O'Dell Award, is a National Book Award Finalist, and won multiple Coretta Scott King Awards?!? We thank you, Mrs. Williams-Garcia! You can visit her website at https://rita-williamsgarcia.squarespace.com/.
Purchase a copy of any of her books from our local indie book store Cavalier House Books. Author Chat Video
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Online Author Chat with Lamar Giles
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Today we were fortunate to speak with author Lamar Giles who talked to us about his middle grade book The Last Last-Day-of-Summer, We Need Diverse Books, touring with other authors for the Versify Tour, and much more. We thank you, Mr. Giles! You can visit Lamar Giles's website at https://www.lamargiles.com/.
Purchase a copy of any of his books from our local indie book store Cavalier House Books. Find out about the important work being done at We Need Diverse Books at http://weneeddiversebooks.org/ Author Chat Video Fun Facts with Lamar Giles (video) 
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Online Author Chat with Rebecca Petruck
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Thank you so much, Ms. Petruck, for joing us today. I've learned something new--entomophagy! Boy Bites Bug is one of our LA Young Readers' Choice nominees AND a Battle of the Books title for the 2020-2021 school year. You can visit Rebecca Petruck's website at https://www.rebeccapetruck.com/. Purchase a copy of her book from our local indie book store Cavalier House Books Author Chat Video Also check out these two videos: Boy Bites Bug Intro Boy Bites Bug Taste Test 
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Online Author Chat with Jake Burt
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Greetings From Witness Protection! is one of our LA Young Readers' Choice nominees and was a Battle of the Books title this school year. We were so fortunate during this time of distance learning and school closures to have the change to chat with author
(and 5th grade teacher) Jake Burt. Check out the video of our chat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9ZEj9nCifQ and check out his website: http://www.jburtbooks.com/. We can't wait for his new book, Cleo Porter and the Body Electric, to be published on October 6, 2020! 
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Karen Land: Iditarod Racer, Writer, and Wilderness Advocate
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Karen is a writer, public speaker, and wilderness advocate, giving Iditarod dog mushing presentations at schools and libraries across the country. To date, she has delivered over 1000 talks in 26 states. In the sport of mushing, a sled dog team is often referred to as "a string of dogs." Her current string is made up of Alaskan Huskies, Romano and Noggin; one Corgi-Springer mix named Chloe; and a 15-year old German Jagd Terrier who answers (sometimes) to the name of Jigs. Join them on their adventures... https://stringofdogs.com/author/mymusher/
Want to read some great books that inspired Karen Land on her journey? Check out Dogsong and Woodsong by Gary Paulsen in our library! Check out these websites: |
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World Read Aloud Day 2020 Author Skypes
Mariama J Lockington Visited to Discuss her book For Black Girls Like Me
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On November 1, 2019, our 6th grade students had the opportunity to meet Mariama J Lockington and she was amazing! Although this book is not a memoir, she spoke about how her family and friendships inspired the book, and also how music helped her create a mood when writing and how it was incorporated into her book. She spoke of the struggles the main character Keda faces and explained how there are lots of ways to be a girl, person, black girl, etc in the world. She read a loud a short excerpt and then autographed books for our students. For more information on Mariama J Lockington, visit https://mariamajlockington.com/.
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Nick Courage, author of Storm Blown, visited 6th Graders
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Our 6th grade students were very fortunate to meet Nick Courge and his literary agent/wife Rachel Ekstrom Courage on November 1, 2019. They spoke about the writing process, which includes pre-writing, research, focusing on your audience, and the importance of revision and "butt in chair" writing. We learned there are many steps and people involved in publishing a book such as agents, editors, illustrators, cover design, marketing, and sales. This was a fantastic opportunity for our students and we are so very thankful for this visit. To check out more on the author, visit https://www.nickcourage.com/.
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Author Tommy Greenwald Visited LOM!
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Author Tommy Greenwald visited Live Oak Middle on October 8, 2019, to disucss his book Game Changer, one of our LA Young Readers' Choice Award Nominees for next school year. He read from his book, spoke to the students about his family, and discussed the writing process, before autographing books for our students.
For more information on this fabulous author, visit http://www.tommygreenwald.com/. |
Thanks for the autographed poster, Dan Gutman!
New York Times Best Selling Author Chris Grabenstein
Author Chris Grabenstein came all the way from New York, New York to visit Live Oak Middle on September 27, 2018. Mr. Grabenstein is the author of our summer reading book Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library, the popular Wonderland series, the Island of Dr. Libris, the Haunted Mystery series, and co-author of many books with James Patterson such as Jackie Ha-Ha, Word of Mouse, I Funny series, Max Einstein, and many more!
Chris Grabenstein has written TV commercials, written for Jim Henson, participated in improv with Bruce Willis and Robin Williams, and has led an exciting life. Read more about him on his website: http://chrisgrabenstein.com/about-chris/.
Chris Grabenstein has written TV commercials, written for Jim Henson, participated in improv with Bruce Willis and Robin Williams, and has led an exciting life. Read more about him on his website: http://chrisgrabenstein.com/about-chris/.
John Couret
Captain Deadeye: The Bully Shark
Arrrrr, mateys! September 19th was International Talk Like a Pirate Day and to celebrate, we had author John Couret, author of Captain Deadeye: The Bully Shark, on deck to present his anti-bullying campaign.
Information from their website: "Both John and Dianne were bullied as kids. John is Puerto Rican and lived in Brooklyn, New York as a child. In junior high, he was bullied and beat up for being “Deadeye John” because of his lazy eyes. It was so bad that it caused John to drop out of school. He never went beyond the 8th grade. Dianne has scars from third-degree burns on her body and when she was in junior high, her peers made fun of her. It was so bad that she skipped class and hid in the girls bathroom, crying in a corner stall. Later in high school, Dianne’s self-esteem plummeted so low that she tried to take her own life. Because of their own personal experiences with bullying, John and Dianne are passionate about bringing awareness to the issue of bullying, helping students cope, as well as providing positive solutions to this pervasive problem. Why is this program so valuable? Simply put, if “Captain Deadeye Stand Up! Stand Out! Stop Bullying!” can save even one student’s life, isn’t it worth it?
Stop Bullying and Be a Lifesaver!"
Information from their website: "Both John and Dianne were bullied as kids. John is Puerto Rican and lived in Brooklyn, New York as a child. In junior high, he was bullied and beat up for being “Deadeye John” because of his lazy eyes. It was so bad that it caused John to drop out of school. He never went beyond the 8th grade. Dianne has scars from third-degree burns on her body and when she was in junior high, her peers made fun of her. It was so bad that she skipped class and hid in the girls bathroom, crying in a corner stall. Later in high school, Dianne’s self-esteem plummeted so low that she tried to take her own life. Because of their own personal experiences with bullying, John and Dianne are passionate about bringing awareness to the issue of bullying, helping students cope, as well as providing positive solutions to this pervasive problem. Why is this program so valuable? Simply put, if “Captain Deadeye Stand Up! Stand Out! Stop Bullying!” can save even one student’s life, isn’t it worth it?
Stop Bullying and Be a Lifesaver!"
Raymond Arroyo
Will Wilder Series
On March 21, New York Times bestselling author Raymond Arroyo visited Live Oak Middle to talk about his books The Relic of Perilous Falls and The Lost Staff of Wonders. He spoke about his TV show, in which he has interviewed notable figures such as Mother Theresa, President Trump, the pope, etc. He also spoke about his writing process and answered students' questions. Afterwards, the students were able to get their books autographed. What an experience!
Tamara Ellis Smith
Another Kind of Hurricane
On October 28, Live Oak Middle students were treated to a visit from author Tamara Ellis Smith, author of Another Kind of Hurricane as part of their “Washed in the Flood Unit”. Ms. Smith spoke to the students about her book, the writing process, and following their passions in life, and then the students were able to have their own copies of the book autographed. The students read several literary works, researched in the library, and completed a children’s book project. During this unit, the students read about disasters from several viewpoints to help them process the devastation in our area in a positive and constructive way. A special thanks to Cavalier House Books for setting up this amazing opportunity!
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