Books with author Deborah Parks

Mimi Koehl tinkers with machines. Some are so tiny they can’t be seen by the naked eye, and some disappeared millions of years ago. But Mimi isn’t a mechanic. She’s a biomechanist. Mimi Koehl uses engineering and physics to study the designs of living things that fly, swim, drift, and crawl. She loves solving riddles about how creaturesâ€"from feathered dinosaurs to flying frogsâ€"live and move. Mimi’s curiosity has led her into all kinds of natural neighborhoods. She has braved turbulent waters to explore how giant green sea anemones survive crashing waves. In Chile, while studying seaweeds, a rogue wave washed Mimi off one cliff and slammed her into another one. But nothing stops her desire for discovery. To uncover answers, Mimi has attached leashes to microscopic animals and created ingenious models using raspberry gelatin and even Silly Putty. Today Mimi searches the worldâ€"and her imaginationâ€"for answers to life’s challenging mysteries. This title aligns to Common Core standards: Interest Level Grades 6 - 8; Reading Level Grade level Equivalent: 7.1: Lexile Measure: 1080L; DRA: Not Available; Guided Reading: Z Table of ContentsSample Chapter 1: Hope Calling

Today’s digital technology allows teens to produce short films with enviable accessibility. But there is a darker side to today’s technology, too: the expectation to live and share your life online, to become an instant success with your first creations. Imagine being free to experiment and play with the medi-um, with a mentor beside you helping you craft solid, professional work that never looks like a home movie. Industry pro Deborah Patz is that mentor.Much like writers pen journals they don’t publish (aka “writing practice,” as taught by Natalie Gold-berg), Write! Shoot! Edit! mentors teens in “first film­making” ― crafting complete, scripted movies in a safe place free from public exhibition and scrutiny, experimenting with the medium, and discovering one’s own visual storytelling voice.You want to direct and edit, but your friend wants to write? Not a problem. Don’t read the book in order! Just follow the path. Write! Shoot! Edit! is written in three distinct and intertwining paths, so you can experience the book as you want to: as a writer, director / DOP, or editor.Start making scripted films today so that you can be the overnight success of tomorrow!

I had the privilege of covering a newspaper story about the Los Angeles Maritime Institutes TopSail program in San Pedro, California, cofounded by retired teacher and coast guard licensed captain Jim Gladson and a handful of friends, including Captain Alice Robinson, who is the inspiration behind the ballad. I accompanied them on a weekend trip on the hundred-foot-tall ships to Catalina Island with dozens of preteens manning the two brigantines. Many of the junior-high-age kids were considered at-risk youth. One of the girls had only house slippers to wear on deck while others were clearly neglected-looking and shy. Alices first and only rule on board ship was Everyone is friends here, meaning everyone was to put any gang-like squabbles behind them and work as a team. By the end of the weekend, under Alices funny, carefree tutelage, the bonny crew could rig and raise sails, lower dinghies into the water, cook their own meals, swap the decks, and more. The general transformation was wonderful and bittersweet to behold, and Alice set the mood.

In the Garden tells the story of three young children who explore the flowers, vegetables, insects, and birds in a garden. The book is marked by its colorful watercolor illustrations and whimsical verse that will enchant parents and kids alike. At the story’s conclusion, the three children decide to plant their own garden. In the Garden will leave young readers excited to dig in the dirt and plant a garden of their own. Each page is a work of art that will be enjoyed by first-time readers and their parents alike.

I had the privilege of covering a newspaper story about the Los Angeles Maritime Institute?s TopSail program in San Pedro, California, cofounded by retired teacher and coast guard licensed captain Jim Gladson and a handful of friends, including Captain Alice Robinson, who is the inspiration behind the ballad. I accompanied them on a weekend trip on the hundred-foot-tall ships to Catalina Island with dozens of preteens manning the two brigantines. Many of the junior-high-age kids were considered at-risk youth. One of the girls had only house slippers to wear on deck while others were clearly neglected-looking and shy. Alice?s first and only rule on board ship was ?Everyone is friends here,? meaning everyone was to put any gang-like squabbles behind them and work as a team. By the end of the weekend, under Alice?s funny, carefree tutelage, the bonny crew could rig and raise sails, lower dinghies into the water, cook their own meals, swap the decks, and more. The general transformation was wonderful and bittersweet to behold, and Alice set the mood.