Book trailer for BORN TO FLY

A student at an international school in Japan created this cool book trailer for BORN TO FLY.

Check it out.

Born to fly Book Trailer from Labrarian Laleman on Vimeo.

She also did a video book review on this page.

Born to fly Student Review from Labrarian Laleman on Vimeo.

Born to Fly is one of the books nominated for the Sakura Medal, a book award started by a network of international schools across Japan. Books in a number of different categories (chapter books, YA, picture books, etc.) are nominated by librarians and then the winners are chosen by student readers.

New BORN TO FLY Review on Next Best Book

There's a nice review of BORN TO FLY on The Next Best Book blog

Pre-Air Show Party at the International Women's Air and Space Museum

Did you know that in 1961, thirteen women pilots underwent secret astronaut testing, passing the samephysical tests as the men of the Mercury 7? The "Mercury 13" hoped to become America’s first female astronauts (though they never got the chance).

I learned about the Mercury 13 when I had the privilege of attending the annual Labor Day Pre-Air Show Party and Wine Tasting at the International Women's Air and Space Museum. There was a lot of great food, delicious wine from around the world, and wonderful exhibits about women in aviation.

Guess who?

A number of the guests dressed up in period costumes as pilots, mechanics, 20s era flappers, and baseball players.

I had a great time getting to know my fellow author, Claudia Taller who has written a fascinating book on Ohio wineries (did you know Ohio used to be the number one wine-producing state in the country?)

Here's the flight suit worn by, Harriet Quimby, the first woman pilot licensed in the U.S. who crossed the English Channel.

If you've never been to the International Women's Air and Space Museum, you should check it out. Thanks to Museum manager Heather Alexander for inviting me.

Memorial Day trip and visit to The Hill School

Last weekend I travelled to Middleburg, Virginia to visit The Hill School during their spring book fair to talk about writing and my book, BORN TO FLY.

Along the way I was passing a cemetery with civil war headstones and though I was running late, I couldn't help but stop and pay my respects on our nation's Memorial Day holiday.

I enjoyed these cozy accomodations...

...and had a great visit at the beautiful Hill School.

The students had great questions and were so enthusiastic.

They made this great display for my visit and the 6th grade even read me some of their stories which were very imaginative and fun.

The 5th graders in Mr. Daum's class had recently done storyboard posters for book reports.

Two of the students had even made poster storyboards for Born to Fly!

It was great to hear all the nice things they had to say about the story.

Here I am with Jack Tyler and Taylor Justice and their poster storyboards.

It was very cool to see their visualizations of the story.

Like a page from a giant comic book version of my book!

Young Author's Night at Menlo Park Academy

A few weeks back I ran a writing workshop for some young writers at Menlo Park Academy where Tammi Belko teaches (Tammi is in my writing group).

Last night Tammi read from some of their finished books, and parents and family (along with myself and writer/illustrator Deborah Perez-Stable) got to see what they had produced over the last month.

These are some examples of the fun and imaginative work these future authors created!

(pictured on this page :The Day I Found Out My Sister Was a Vampire by Katie Munro,

French Fries That Talk by Sathya Sundaram, and White by Olivia Wenzel)

Book Dads review: Born to Fly

I found a great site for Dads who like to read to their kids called Book Dads.

They read a copy of Born to Fly and really "got it". Here's their review by Chris Singer.

BORN TO FLY book discussion at Avon Lake Library

Had a blast with the book discussion group at Avon Lake Library last night.

I showed a little video of what it looks like to fly a real P-40 and then we dove into the book. The kids had so many great insights and comments, I felt like they knew the book better than me!

Not only were they a group of great readers, but many were also working on their own stories for the young authors program so it was like conversing with a junior version of my writers group.

Afterward, librarian Miss Sally passed around cookies and the kids all got to color and take home their very own wood model airplanes.

Thanks to everyone who came, and to Avon Lake Library for making it a fun night (even with the snowstorm outside).

Don't put away that snow shovel just yet...

This is the view out my back door today, two days before the start of baseball season.

BORN TO FLY interview and book giveaway at Literary Rambles

I did a fun online interview today with Casey McCormick at Literary Rambles, a great site about navigating the world of children's book publishing. Casey had lots of great questions and her site is aptly named 'cause I think I might have rambled on a bit myself.

She's also giving away a signed copy of BORN TO FLY. All you need to do is leave a comment in the comments section and you're entered to win.

BORN TO FLY nominated for the 2012 Grand Canyon Reader Award

I was excited to learn that BORN TO FLY has been nominated for the 2012 Grand Canyon Reader Award in the Intermediate Fiction category.

The Grand Canyon Reader Award is a reader award program for students in Arizona. Students vote annually on their favorite book in the following categories: Picture, Non-Fiction, Intermediate, Tween and Teen. One of my favorite writers, Gordon Korman was a double category winner in 2010 so I feel quite humbled to be nominated.

A big thank you to all the Arizona students who read and nominated the book.

Here is a list of the wonderful books nominated in my category:

11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass (2009)

Born To Fly by Michael Ferrari (2009)

Closed For the Season by Mary Downing Hahn (2009)

Dying To Meet You by Kate Klise (2009)

Extra Credit by Andrew Clements (2009)

Neil Armstrong Is My Uncle: and Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me by Nan Marino (2009)

A Nest For Celeste: A Story about Art, Inspiration, And The Meaning of Home by Henry Cole (2010)

The Night Fairy by Laura Amy Schlitz (2010)

The Secret of Zoom by Lynne Jonell (2009)

Star in the Forest by Laura Resau (2010)

BORN TO FLY book discussion at Avon Lake Library

My local library is hosting a Born to Fly book discussion on Wednesday March 30th from 7-8 PM.

I will answer questions about the book or writing or about my snowball-catching dog Trixie. There will be a fun craft (I think you get to build a toy airplane) and I'm told it will all be topped off with some kind of a treat. Sounds like fun.

Sign up and they will give you your own paperback copy of BORN TO FLY to read prior to the event. I will see you there!

BORN TO FLY out in paperback tomorrow!

Here's the first look at the paperback version of Born to Fly which arrived from my publisher a couple days ago! Goes on sale tomorrow, March 8th, 2011. Thanks to my daughter Clarissa for modeling and smiling.