Here’s Something Cool
I am proud to be one of the Islandport Press authors featured in the Summer 2017 issue of Islandport Magazine in their “Just One Question” column. I’m in good company, with fellow Islandport writers G.A. Morgan, Gerry Boyle, Dave O’Connor, Laura Freudig, and Hope Rowan. We were all asked, “Where is your favorite place to cool off in the summer?” I won’t give away my answer, but it involves a childhood friend, sprinklers, and an exquisitely timed comedy bit about the cloudless...
Read MoreSee ya in Korea, Azalea
My editor at Islandport Press has given me some good news: Azalea is going to be sold in South Korea! The book has already been sent off to translators. I am very curious as to how it will translate, both literally and conceptually. From what I’ve fished off the internet, homeschooling is legal only for expats in Korea. Children with two Korean parents are legally obligated to attend school until age 15. And formal schooling is highly valued in Korean culture. So the concept of unschooling, I imagine, is something of a...
Read MoreSummer Reading
I was very happy to see Azalea, Unschooled on the Maine summer reading shelf at my local branch of the Portland Public Library. There’s something about summer and Maine…summer in general, I guess. It seems like a lot of kids’ books take place during the summer because it’s the time when the rules of ordinary life, the school year rules, are suspended. Funny that a lot of my book takes place in summer, even though it is about unschoolers, kids for whom the school year rules are always suspended. Maybe I just couldn’t get out of my conventional-schooling mindset,...
Read MoreCelebrating Books (and Sarah)
I just read that May 1-7 is Children’s Book Week, a celebration of children’s books and reading. And speaking of celebrating children’s books, the Maine Student Book Award is a collaboration among the Maine Library Association, the Maine Association of School Libraries, and Maine Literary Council. It encourages Maine kids in grades 4-8 to read and vote for their favorite books. This year, I’m proud to say that my friend Sarah L. Thomson made the list with her book The Eureka Key. Yay, Sarah!...
Read MoreLiza Kleinman
A writer of fiction for adults and children, and a freelance writer specializing in language arts educational materials.
Liza's latest release is the children's book Azalea, Unschooled from Islandport Press.
