Family in Town . . .

My sister and niece flew in from Philly for something special . . .

Happy 85th birthday, Dad!

My dad turned 85!  We had a dinner with friends and family at Mellow Mushroom.  (Just wish our California family could have been there for the big event.  We missed you Sherry, Ben and Ethan! )

We were celebrating more than a birthday.  We celebrated Dad's resiliency.  In the past year, he's broken his arm, had triple bypass surgery and lost his wife, Dorothy.  Sheesh!

I'm proud of the life he's created for himself here in South Florida.

We had a couple days to have fun together at the zoo, the movies, Busch's Wildlife Sanctuary, kayaking, strolling the beach, etc.

My favorite photo was when my niece threw a food pellet to a crow only inches away and it caught it mid-air.  

Then, before I knew it, my niece and I went for our good-bye breakfast at Lazy Loggerhead Cafe by the beach.

 And off to the airport to hug my sister and niece. 

The visit was great!  The leaving?  Not so much!

Come back soon!

Vote for your Favorite Election-themed Kids' Book

Of these nine election/presidential-themed books, one was written by Ally Condie of the uber-successful Matched trilogy.

For fun election/presidential Web sites for kids, check out this page.  And a political word search puzzle is HERE.

Election-themed Picture Books . . .

Election-themed Chapter Book and Middle Grade Novels . . .

Election-themed YA books . . .

The Ally Condie novel is Freshman for President.

Vote for your favorite election-themed kids' book.  (Feel free to include a write-in candidate in the comments section below.)

Winner -- Back-to-School Giveaway

Thank you for participating in the Big Back-to-School Giveaway! 

And thanks to random.org for selecting the winner of ALL of the following prizes:

• An autographed hardcover of OLIVIA BEAN, TRIVIA QUEEN
• Signed paperback copies of HOW TO SURVIVE MIDDLE SCHOOL and AS IF BEING 12-3/4 ISN'T BAD ENOUGH, MY MOTHER IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT!
• A FREE 30-minute Skype visit with the author
• 30 signed Olivia Bean, Trivia Queen bookmarks
• A $25 gift card for Books-A-Million 

Congratulations to . . . NATALIE DIAZ LORENZI, who happens to be an educator and an author and is working toward becoming a full-time school librarian.

If you were not selected, you can still schedule a free 10-15 minute Q & A Skype visit, arrange a fun-filled, memorable author visit, get FREE reading/activity guides, find election-themed links for students and more at my web site, WWW.DONNAGEPHART.COM.

Thank you for stopping by and here's hoping you have an AWESOME year!

BIG BACK-TO-SCHOOL GIVEAWAY!

Welcome back!

To start the year off right and because I appreciate what you do, I'm hosting a BIG GIVEAWAY.  I'm also offering two helpful activity/reading guides to use in the classroom.

For FREE activity/reading guides for OLIVIA BEAN, TRIVIA QUEEN and HOW TO SURVIVE MIDDLE SCHOOL, click HERE.

"This tale will have readers cheering for the resilient, resourceful Olivia." -- Kirkus, STARRED review

"This funny, tender novel . . . is relatable and compulsively readable." -- Publisher's Weekly; Starred reviews from Kirkus & School Library Journal; Nominated for NY, TX, IL & LA state reading lists

FOR YOUR ELECTION CONNECTION . . .

“Timely, funny and written in a great voice.” -- Children's Book World; Winner of the Sid Fleischman Humor Award for funniest children's novel of the year.

Share these presidential links with your students and use this political word search with your class.

BACK-TO-SCHOOL GIVEAWAY . . .

One winner will receive ALL of the following prizes:

• An autographed hardcover of OLIVIA BEAN, TRIVIA QUEEN
• Signed paperback copies of HOW TO SURVIVE MIDDLE SCHOOL and AS IF BEING 12-3/4 ISN'T BAD ENOUGH, MY MOTHER IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT!
• A FREE 30-minute Skype visit with the author
• 30 signed Olivia Bean, Trivia Queen bookmarks
• A $25 gift card for Books-A-Million 

To enter, leave a comment below and mark your calendar to CHECK BACK Monday, September 10th, when the winner will be announced. 

Please share this blog post with your favorite educators and librarians.  Thank you!

And have an inspired year!!!