Books with author Michelle Bates

Today’s Little Ditty is more than a children’s poetry blog, it’s a poetry playground. Each month, a vibrant community of writers, teachers, librarians, and poetry-appreciators gathers to take part in the Ditty of the Month Club (DMC). Writing to prompts by successful authors and editors, they participate for the camaraderie, and for the joy and craft of writing poetry.In THE BEST OF TODAY'S LITTLE DITTY, 2014-2015, thirteen “ditty” challenges by contemporary children’s authors, including Nikki Grimes, Lee Bennett Hopkins, J. Patrick Lewis, Joyce Sidman, Margarita Engle, Kwame Alexander, and others, have inspired these 75 poems, deemed “best” by their peers. They range from lighthearted to thought-provoking and appeal to a wide audience, from children to adults. Join the fun at michellehbarnes.blogspot.com. What people are saying about Today’s Little Ditty and the Ditty of the Month Club:“ ‘Poetry is prose, bent out of shape,’ I like to say, and for proof, you need only connect with Michelle Heidenrich Barnes’s Ditty of the Month Club, where children’s poets are busy flexing their poetic muscles through the use of various verse forms. They are not showing off; they’re practicing. And they invite you to do the same.”— J. Patrick Lewis, former U.S. Children’s Poet Laureate (2011-2013) and recipient of the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children“The Ditty of the Month Club . . . gives my students a way to participate and be celebrated as practicing poets.”— Margaret G. Simon, teacher of gifted studies and recipient of the 2014 NCTE Donald H. Graves Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Writing"Today's Little Ditty is an amazing resource in the blogging community of poetry for young people with more than 500 posts that invite us to learn, try, pause, write, celebrate, read, think, and revel in poetry and all it has to offer us in our uber-busy lives.”— Dr. Sylvia Vardell, professor of children’s literature at Texas Woman’s University and recipient of the 2014 Scholastic Library Publishing Award for her work in the field

A brilliant historical YA that asks: how do you choose between survival and doing the right thing? The arrival of the Soviet army in Germany at the end of World War II sends sixteen-year-old Katja and her family into turmoil. The fighting has stopped, but German society is in collapse, resulting in tremendous hardship. With their father gone and few resources available to them, Katja and her sister are forced to flee their home, reassured by their mother that if they can just reach a distant friend in a town far away, things will get better. But their harrowing journey brings danger and violence, and Katja needs to summon all her strength to build a new life, just as she’s questioning everything she thought she knew about her country. Katja’s bravery and defiance help her deal with the emotional and societal upheaval. But how can she stay true to herself and protect the people she loves when each decision has such far-reaching consequences? Acclaimed writer Michelle Barker’s second novel explores the chaos and destruction of the Second World War from a perspective rarely examined in YA fiction—the implications of the Soviet occupation on a German population grappling with the horrors of Nazism and its aftermath.

A brilliant historical YA that asks: how do you choose between survival and doing the right thing? The arrival of the Soviet army in Germany at the end of World War II sends sixteen-year-old Katja and her family into turmoil. The fighting has stopped, but German society is in collapse, resulting in tremendous hardship. With their father gone and few resources available to them, Katja and her sister are forced to flee their home, reassured by their mother that if they can just reach a distant friend in a town far away, things will get better. But their harrowing journey brings danger and violence, and Katja needs to summon all her strength to build a new life, just as she’s questioning everything she thought she knew about her country. Katja’s bravery and defiance help her deal with the emotional and societal upheaval. But how can she stay true to herself and protect the people she loves when each decision has such far-reaching consequences? Acclaimed writer Michelle Barker’s second novel explores the chaos and destruction of the Second World War from a perspective rarely examined in YA fiction—the implications of the Soviet occupation on a German population grappling with the horrors of Nazism and its aftermath.

Derrick the dark blue dragon is a very friendly dragon who likes to go on many adventures. One day Derrick moved to a new town, however Derrick wasn't always blue. This is Derricks short story of where it all began.Growing up my father would make up stories for me at bedtime. Every night Myself, my father, and Derrick would go in many adventures together. After my Dads passing I have finally started to put his stories down on paper. I hope all my readers will enjoy the stories as much as I did. There will be more adventures to come...........

At last Jordan Elliott has a gift. He can disappear, but at what price? The Beggar King never gives without taking. Jordan is about to discover that everything has an underside: even magic, even him.A political coup on Jordan's fifteenth birthday brings the disappearance of many Cirrans, including his mother. Brinnian guards have imprisoned them at an unknown location. The time is also coming for Jordan to choose a vocation and take his robes, and not a single talent has revealed itself besides a gift for mischief. On his sixteenth birthday he risks everything in a defiant act punishable by hanging. The guards spot him; he is doomed. When the Beggar King offers him the gift of disappearing, he has no choice but to accept. Who is this man, anyway? No one believes there's such a thing as a Beggar King. But there is, and he means to bring back the undermagic, a dangerous dark power from long ago. Jordan needs this power to save his mother, so he agrees to help the sorcerer. But he discovers that the undermagic is difficult to give up once you've tried it. And there is always a price, a terrible price, which the Beggar King does not name in advance.

When, Hamnet, a tiny boy trapped in a stone promises Will Blyton time travel, he thinks his problems are over. When a 14th century monk becomes his Stinking Shadow, he realises the trouble has just begun. Find out how Will stops the malicious shapeshifter, Ravensmite, from returning Hamnet to his cursed existence whilst, at the same time, plotting to send The Stinking Shadow back in time. Amidst the chaos and dark humour is the story of a boy battling with his own self worth and the start of a strange and powerful friendship.