Avi

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Dr. Padma Venkatraman

2025 Summer Blog Series: Dr. Padma Venkatraman

As head teacher of a small school in Eng­land and as a vol­un­teer work­ing with chil­dren at an “asy­lum seek­ers cen­ter” in Ger­many, I cre­at­ed a safe har­bor envi­ron­ment, where chil­dren could share the joy of read­ing togeth­er, with­out judgment.

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Gary D. Schmidt

2025 Summer Blog Series: Gary Schmidt

I was impressed and thrilled by the idea that one of our teach­ers was com­pos­ing his own music and send­ing it in to become a pub­lished piece. I had nev­er met any­one who would dare to do such a thing — he was that seri­ous, that com­mit­ted about his art.

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Avi, photo by Kate Milford

2025 Summer Blog Series: Avi

For this sum­mer’s blog series, I’ve asked oth­er writ­ers, “What is your favorite strat­e­gy for encour­ag­ing young peo­ple to read?” Here’s my answer.

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A Very Chinese Cookbook

Read a Good Cookbook Lately?

Have you read a good book late­ly? A cook­book? For many of us, this is the kind of book we read more often than not. Some­times on a dai­ly basis. But, in my expe­ri­ence, we rarely talk about them as books, how they are writ­ten, or if they are indeed readable.

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Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's monster

Frankenstein Books

I was recent­ly at a rare book fair, which was quite fas­ci­nat­ing. A mix of com­pul­sion, obses­sion, and, to be sure, a great love of books, was on display. 

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Catch You Later, Traitor

Detective Fiction

Since all the books in the Park Hill Com­mu­ni­ty Book­store must reflect the read­ing habits and inter­ests of its local cit­i­zens, it fas­ci­nates me that the largest cat­e­go­ry of books to be found there is mys­tery and detec­tive fic­tion. Crime.

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Things That Sometimes Happen

Writers and Their Income

In April and Octo­ber, I am paid the roy­al­ties for my books. I learn what half my income for the year is, based on the sales of my books over the pre­vi­ous six months. 

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