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A Lit Life

Latest Podcast Episodes & Posts

Telling Stories That Heal: The Diamond Explorer with Kao Kalia Yang

September 12, 2024 in Kidlit Love Podcast
On this episode of the KidLit Love podcast, I’m talking with Kao Kalia Yang about her debut middle grade novel: The Diamond Explorer.  Kao has been on the podcast before to talked about Caged, her powerful picture book illustrated by Khou Vue, and...
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How to Start a Book Relay

September 10, 2024 in Get Lit(erate) Podcast
Today, I’m inviting you to create a book relay team for yourself: a group of readers who pledge to read and share books together, literally passing books to each other over a set period of time.  Book relays help us keep our reading habit high, introduce us to new books and...
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Middle Grade Horror: The Horrible Bag of Terrible Things with Rob Renzetti

September 9, 2024 in Kidlit Love Podcast
On this episode of the KidLit Love podcast, I’m talking with Emmy-award winning animation-veteran-turned-middle-grade-author Rob Renzetti.  You might know him from the popular shows he worked on, such as My Life as a Teenage Robot and Gravity Falls, and today, he’s here to talk about his middle grade horror novels. We...
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Having Fun Reading with Alan Katz

September 5, 2024 in Kidlit Love Podcast
In this episode of the KidLit Love podcast, I’m talking with Alan Katz, the hilarious author of more than 50 books for kids, including Take Me Out of the Bathtub and Other Silly Dilly Stories, the Lieography and Society of Substitutes series and Really Stupid Stories for Really Smart Kids. Listen...
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Twenty Ideas for Your Empty Notebooks

September 3, 2024 in Get Lit(erate) Podcast
Do you have a stack of notebooks around your house that you haven’t yet cracked open or only wrote a single page in? This episode is for you! Today, I’m sharing 20 different notebook ideas to start filling the notebooks you currently have (and maybe buy a new one, too!) with...
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Celebrating Ten Years of The Princess in Black with Shannon and Dean Hale

September 2, 2024 in Kidlit Love Podcast
On this episode of the KidLit Love podcast, we’re celebrating a special occasion: The 10th Anniversary of The Princess in Black series! Shannon and Dean Hale are here to talk about how The Princess in Black got started, where they get their inspiration from and why this series is so important...
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Exploring Craft: Who’s Writing This Story? With Robin Newman

August 29, 2024 in Kidlit Love Podcast
In this episode of the KidLit Love podcast, I’m talking with Robin Newman. Robin is the author of the middle grade Wilcox and Griswold series, Hildie Bitterpickles Needs Her Sleep, Don’t Call Me Fuzzybutt and Who’s Writing This Story? Today, we talk about the unexpected inspiration for her first book, how...
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Tackling Your Busy Bookshelves

August 27, 2024 in Get Lit(erate) Podcast
If you love home organization or Netflix, you’ve probably heard of Marie Kondo. This tidying-up expert has transformed households across the world by asking one simple question: Does it spark joy? Rather than view living spaces with disdain and focusing on what to remove or change, Marie focuses on what we...
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Stephanie

A book-loving, notebook-hoarding bookologist on a mission to change lives one book and one notebook at a time.

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Paperweight
Paperweight
by Meg Haston
I read this hauntingly beautiful book on the recommendation of my teenage daughter. She told me it was powerful, told me I wouldn't want to stop reading it...and she was right. Meg Haston invites readers into the mind of Stevie, causing ...
The Gifts of Imperfection
it was amazing
The Gifts of Imperfection
by Brené Brown
I haven't stumbled across anything written by Brene Brown that I did not love and this book is no exception. Written so conversationally as if Brene was literally speaking directly, and only, to me, I could'n help bu be personally moved ...
I'd Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life
it was amazing
I'd Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life
by Anne Bogel
True to its title, this book was simply delightful. I felt like I was talking with a long-lost friend, a fellow book-lover whose life was just as entangled with the plots, settings and characters of fictional books as they were those in ...
Some Places More Than Others
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Some Places More Than Others
by Renée Watson
It was almost like I was reading a book that was written just for me, even though the daily lives and locations of the characters were vastly different. The theme of love, self-worth and family connection was prevalent on each and every ...
Touching Spirit Bear
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Touching Spirit Bear
by Ben Mikaelsen
This book shook me to my motherly core. I read this with my 13-year old twins as part of a school assignment and was swept into Cole's story of literally fighting for survival and for love. My children were drawn to Cole's story of survi...

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On this episode of the KidLit Love podcast, I’m On this episode of the KidLit Love podcast, I’m talking with Marie Benedict and Courtney Sheinmel about their newest middle grade historical fiction novel: The Secrets of Lovelace Academy.

This middle grade novel is about Lainey, an almost teenager who lived most of her life at the Sycamore Home for Orphaned Children, until a chance encounter at an open house changed her life forever.

Come listen as Marie and Courtney share their origin story for writing together for the first time, discuss the powerful exterior and interior journey of the characters and the true power of learning about lesser-known historical figures. Plus, we invent a new book club along the way, too!

https://www.alitlife.com/2025/05/15/match-making-magic-the-secrets-of-lovelace-academy-with-marie-benedict-and-courtney-sheinmel/
This was a delightful little read: a short story b This was a delightful little read: a short story by a favorite author that quickly transported me to another place and season of life. 

Moving between then and now, trying to untangle how things ended up and yet could have been, this narrative was a light, yet powerful, look at relationships, the decisions we make and the paths we carve for ourselves. It’s also about letting go, trusting others to know themselves and radical acceptance of it all. 

This little story packed a powerful punch for me.

@mikegaylethenovelist
#ALitLife
#GetLiterate
#ShortStory
Oh, my goodness, this book. NEXT TO ME by Daniel Oh, my goodness, this book.

NEXT TO ME by Daniel Salmieri and Sophia Haas is a beautiful ode to all the wonderfulness around us: the people, the pets, the scenery, the community and all the things that wrap us up in wonder and in love. 

The cut-paper collages leap off the page and invite readers to consider the beauty of their own surroundings, too. 

For young readers, this is a delightful story about the many delights that surround us, big and small. For adult readers, this is a powerful lesson in staying present, staying connected and staying grounded in what matters most. 

@dansalmieri
@sophiaghaas 
#KidLitLove
#ALitLife
#PictureBooks
I recently read a book that completely challenged I recently read a book that completely challenged the way I read. 

While I usually read books at a steady pace and move right to the next one, MOTHERS AND SONS by Adam Haslett stopped me in my tracks and prompted a slower reading experience…something I didn’t realize I needed more of. 

Come listen as I talk about the three ways we can read more slowly, the research behind why it matters and the small, yet powerful, ways that you can get started.

#GetLiterate PODCAST LINK IN BIO
#ALitLife
#SlowReading
#MindfulReading
#SavoringStories
On this episode of the KidLit Love podcast, I’m On this episode of the KidLit Love podcast, I’m talking with Sean David Hutchinson about the first book in his debut middle grade series: A Home for Unusual Monsters.

In this book, 12-year-old Sam and her friends search for clues that lead them to the secret hiding places of strange and unusual monsters. It’s captivating and riveting from the outset and goes into deeper themes like prejudice, grief and what it means to be a family, too. 

Come listen as we talk about Sean’s childhood love of tinkering that is evident in the books he writes today, the importance of finding and shifting perspective through the books we read and how books can give us the tools to unleash who we really are inside. 

#KidLitLove PODCAST LINK IN BIO
#MiddleGrade
Books make Mondays better! This week, I'm startin Books make Mondays better!

This week, I'm starting THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY by Mike Gayle.

I adored ALL THE LONELY PEOPLE, so I know I'm in for a treat with this short story about exes and how to get over them. 

Or not. =)

I think it's exactly what my Monday needs. 

What books are making YOUR Monday better?

@mikegaylethenovelist
#BooksMakeMondaysBetter
#IMWAYR
#ShortStory
#FavoriteAuthor
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