I am thrilled to announce that TRACKING TRASH has been included on the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award List. Each year a DCF selection committee chooses thirty books for the List, which then serves as a reading guide for Vermont fourth-through-eighth grade students. At the end of the year, students vote for their favorite. You can see the complete 2008-2009 list here.

Thank you DCF Selection Committee ... and Happy Reading Vermonters!

The Boston Authors Club has honored TRACKING TRASH with its Highly Recommended Book designation. You can learn more about the awards here. I'll be attending the annual awards luncheon at the Boston Public Library on May 15.

Thank you Boston Authors Club!

More good news to share!

The International Reading Association has given TRACKING TRASH a 2008 IRA Children's and Young Adult Book Award. I'll attend the IRA convention in Atlanta this May to accept the award.

And ...

The John Burroughs Association has given TRACKING TRASH a Young Readers Award. I'll be at the American Museum of Natural History on April 7 to accept the award. Read more here.

I am thrilled and overwhelmed and very, very grateful to both the IRA and the John Burroughs Association.

More good news for TRACKING TRASH: the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) has included it on its list of Recommended Nonfiction. Thank you NCTE!

You can read the complete list of NCTE Recommended books, including the Orbis Pictus Winner and Honor Books here.

TRACKING TRASH was named a 2008 Notable Book for Children by the American Library Association. You can see the complete list here.

Many thanks to the American Library Association and the Association for Library Services to Children for this honor!

The Horn Book website now has video, audio, and print access to the ceremony celebrating the 2007 Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards for Excellence in Children's Literature.

I was thrilled to be part of the ceremony this year; you can see (or hear, or read) my acceptance speech at the links above.

TRACKING TRASH was named a Best Book for Young Readers by Natural History magazine.

Yahoo!

TRACKING TRASH has been named a finalist for the 2008 SB&F Prize. Sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Subaru, this award honors excellence in science books. You can check out the full list of finalists here.

I was interviewed recently for the Winter Blog Blast Tour. It was a thrill to talk to Colleen Mondor of Chasing Ray fame ... you can read our interview here.

TRACKING TRASH was reviewed in the NEW YORK TIMES today! You can read the full article here.

Nice!

TRACKING TRASH was mentioned in the Sunday L.A. Times yesterday. You can read the entire article, which reviews several children's books with environmental themes, here.

Enjoy!

I have been invited to participate in the Fish Tales, Tugs & Sails festival in New London, Connecticut on August 11.

The outdoor, waterfront festival runs from 11am to 6pm and looks to be a blast. I will be arriving at the festival by tugboat (!) and presenting in the Author Tent at 2:30pm.

Click the link above to read more about the day's activities, including the list of fabulous children's book authors who will be speaking and signing books. I hope to see you there!

TRACKING TRASH has been recognized by the 2007 Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards for Excellence in Children's Literature!

The book was designated an Honor Book in the Nonfiction category ... you can read about the award and all the winners here.

You can catch me on Ramona Interviews, a program on Worcester's own cable access station, TV13, during the month of June. Host Ramona Marangos and I discussed TRACKING TRASH, the problem of marine debris, and ways for chidlren and families to become citizen scientists.

The program will air on these dates:

Monday, June 4, 2007 at 10:30pm
Tuesday, June 5, 2007 at 10:00am
Tuesday, June 5, 2007 at 4:30pm
Thursday, June 7, 2007 at 6:00pm

Tune in if you can!

There have been several updates to my website recently ...

• find out what the major review journals are saying about TRACKING TRASH by visiting the Books page
• see where I am speaking or visiting on the Schedule page
• read the stories behind the creation of TRACKING TRASH on my blog
• and if you'd like to hear me on National Public Radio, click here

Not sure how to celebrate Earth Day? Consider a day of family fun and Earth Day activities at the Ecotarium. I will be there!

I'll post more details as they are announced ...

Hear ye! Hear ye!

The publication of my first book, TRACKING TRASH: FLOTSAM, JETSAM AND THE SCIENCE OF OCEAN MOTION will be celebrated on April 18, 2007 at the Barnes & Noble store in Worcester. Mark your calendars!

Wednesday, April 18, 2007
7pm
Barnes & Noble Booksellers
541 Lincoln Street
Worcester, MA

Early reviews of TRACKING TRASH are rolling in. Here's what the big review journals are saying:

"The well-written narration will keep readers engaged, and it's excellent for reports. The science is clearly explained, and the vivid and lively photographs and well-labeled charts and diagrams help to create interest and build understanding."

School Library Journal, Starred Review

". . . engaging description of research involving familiar objects . . . "

Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

"Scientific information builds from chapter to chapter, creating a natural detective story."

The Horn Book

This just in ...

The library journal VOYA has given TRACKING TRASH top marks in both quality and popularity. On their quality scale, the book was rated 5, which means "hard to imagine it being better written"; on the popularity scale the book was also rated 5, which translates to "every YA (who reads) was dying to read it yesterday".

Michele Winship's complete review will run in the February 2007 issue of VOYA.

Stay tuned for more early reviews of TRACKING TRASH!

TRACKING TRASH has been honored as a Junior Library Guild selection for 2007.

Hooray!

I am officially planning my spring book tour! I will be bringing TRACKING TRASH to the Seattle area March 2 through March 10, 2007 (or thereabouts). Tour specifics will be posted as they are confirmed.

Meanwhile, Seattle-area parents and teachers are welcome to browse my new School Visits page ... I'd love to talk to children at YOUR school about researching, writing and publishing children's books!

Kelly A. Bishop wrote a wonderful article about me and my first book for VITAE, the alumni magazine of the University of Massachusetts Medical School. You can read the full article here. (Note: you will need to scroll down to page 7.)

And now you can pre-order copies of TRACKING TRASH from amazon.com. Buy them now for the young scientists-to-be in your life!

I am official! You can now find an entry for TRACKING TRASH: FLOTSAM, JETSAM AND THE SCIENCE OF OCEAN MOTION on the Houghton Mifflin Company web page. To see for yourself, click here.

Back in March I spoke at the monthly meeting of the Society of Professional Communicators in Worcester, MA. SPC member Elizabeth Regan later interviewed me for their newsletter ... you can read her article here.

You can now access my blog from this website ... simply click the "Blog" link on the menu to your right. Voila!

I've added a list of writing books to my Suggested Reading page ... check it out!

If you are in Central Massachusetts this spring you can find me at these events:

On Tuesday, March 14 I will talk to the Society of Professional Communicators about my work writing for children. You can find more details at their website.

On Friday, April 7 I will be presenting at the Mayo School Science Exploration Night.

I am thrilled to announce that I was awarded a Work-In-Progress grant from the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). SCBWI offers Work-In-Progress grants annually in four categories and my proposal, WEE BEASTIES, won in the non-fiction category. WEE BEASTIES is a book for middle grade readers, and I will be telling you more about it soon. In the meantime, you can read more about the Work-In-Progress grant awards at the SCBWI website.

I've updated my Research Trips pages to include a summary of each trip and a collection of photographs. I hope you'll check them out!

Highlights for Children will be publishing an article I wrote about Tyler and Dean Orbison, a father and son beachcombing team in Alaska. "Surprises from the Sea" has not been given a firm publication date yet, but I will keep you posted!"