Letter from AnnaDear Ms. Meyer, I took the AP European History Exam this past week, and I do not exaggerate when I say that your books are the only reason I passed. I took 8 hours of AP exams last week, 10 hours the week before...and I did not find time to study for the Euro Exam. However, to my great delight, there were a large number of questions on the Tudors, the Medicis, and Darwin. I had a large body of knowledge at my disposal, thanks to my childhood obsession with your books! Thank you so much for getting me interested in history--I wouldn't have survived the AP exam otherwise. Yours very gratefully, Anna B. |
Confidential to Teachers Yes, I do school visits! I'd be delighted to come to your school and talk to groups of students from 5th grade up. I explain where I get my ideas, explain how I do research, and talk about the writing (and RE-writing) process, often invoking the image of my high school nemesis, Miss Frankenberry, The Grammar Dragon.
I answer questions about getting started, getting published and even the embarrassing ones, like "How much money do you make?" In a one-day visit I'll do three major presentations (group size doesn't matter), sign books, meet informally with a small group of students, have lunch with teachers. Tell me what you need. Fee: $1,000 per day, plus expenses; 2-day minimum outside of New Mexico. To get your money's worth, students must know something about my books. I'll fill in the rest! Questions? Contact me. 
(Publishers Weekly review) Meyer imaginatively explores multicultural aspects of the American Southwest in this rich collection of linked short stories. As part of a fund-raising project, a class of 15 students attending a "magnet" school in Albuquerque decides to write and sell a volume of personal essays about life in New Mexico, past and present; each chapter here focuses on a different member of the class. The students are ethnically diverse--Native American, Hispanic, African American and Anglo--and their experiences while researching the essays prove to be as wide-ranging as their chosen topics. Rosa Gonzales plans to recount the legend of La Llorona, the wailing woman, until a run-in with the lady apparition convinces Rosa to choose a "safer" subject. Native Americans Ricky Begay and Pauline Romero turn to relatives to provide information about traditional art forms of their tribes. Others dig deep into their own families' pasts to discuss religious practices or to chronicle their favorite heroes. The mixture of contemporary voices, engrossing histories and vibrant heritages is enlightening, and will be valued not only by the target audience but by older readers as well. If you're using Rio Grande Stories in a language arts or social studies class, click below for useful Curriculum Connections. |
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