Korean Azalea Has Arrived
So excited to receive my author’s copies of Azalea, Unschooled in Korean from Islandport...
read moreAzalea, International
Azalea, Unschooled is going to be published in Korea! Here’s a sneak peak at the cover. I love that they even translated the Moonbeam Award seal! According my Korean-speaking friend Annie, the banner says, “Azalea’s Secret Subject” and the rest of the title translates as “On-her-own...
read moreAzalea on Must-Read List
The education website Thoughtco.com has featured Azalea, Unschooled in their thoughtful article Must-Read Books for Homeschooling...
read moreHomeschool Chat
Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, I just had a video chat with a homeschool collective up in Lincoln, Maine. The collective is currently studying Maine authors, and I am honored to have been invited to be part of their learning. They were an energetic, curious group who ranged in age from little kid to big kid, and we had a lot of fun! They told me what they were working on, which included writing and illustrating their own books. Some kids were writing fiction, while others were working on true stories about their lives. The...
read moreAn Honor for Azalea
I am very proud to announce that OCEAR (Oxford County Educators Association Retirees), a group of retired educators in Oxford County, Maine, has selected Azalea, Unschooled as part of its Maine Books for Maine Kids program. A member of the organization says: We developed our book project 10 years ago when we realized that our county libraries were lacking children’s books by Maine authors. We call our project, “Maine Books for Maine Kids”. Members from the different communities throughout Oxford County deliver the books to the 25 libraries in...
read moreHere’s Something Cool
I am proud to be one of the Islandport Press authors featured in the Summer 2017 issue of Islandport Magazine in their “Just One Question” column. I’m in good company, with fellow Islandport writers G.A. Morgan, Gerry Boyle, Dave O’Connor, Laura Freudig, and Hope Rowan. We were all asked, “Where is your favorite place to cool off in the summer?” I won’t give away my answer, but it involves a childhood friend, sprinklers, and an exquisitely timed comedy bit about the cloudless...
read moreSee ya in Korea, Azalea
My editor at Islandport Press has given me some good news: Azalea is going to be sold in South Korea! The book has already been sent off to translators. I am very curious as to how it will translate, both literally and conceptually. From what I’ve fished off the internet, homeschooling is legal only for expats in Korea. Children with two Korean parents are legally obligated to attend school until age 15. And formal schooling is highly valued in Korean culture. So the concept of unschooling, I imagine, is something of a...
read moreSummer Reading
I was very happy to see Azalea, Unschooled on the Maine summer reading shelf at my local branch of the Portland Public Library. There’s something about summer and Maine…summer in general, I guess. It seems like a lot of kids’ books take place during the summer because it’s the time when the rules of ordinary life, the school year rules, are suspended. Funny that a lot of my book takes place in summer, even though it is about unschoolers, kids for whom the school year rules are always suspended. Maybe I just...
read moreCelebrating Books (and Sarah)
I just read that May 1-7 is Children’s Book Week, a celebration of children’s books and reading. And speaking of celebrating children’s books, the Maine Student Book Award is a collaboration among the Maine Library Association, the Maine Association of School Libraries, and Maine Literary Council. It encourages Maine kids in grades 4-8 to read and vote for their favorite books. This year, I’m proud to say that my friend Sarah L. Thomson made the list with her book The Eureka Key. Yay, Sarah!...
read moreLiza Kleinman
A writer of fiction for adults and children, and a freelance writer specializing in language arts educational materials.
Liza's latest release is the children's book Azalea, Unschooled from Islandport Press.
