With the school year about to begin (and having already begun in some parts of the country), I’ve finally got around to updating the Teacher’s Guide for The Mad Wolf’s Daughter to include some new resources, as well as discussion questions for The Hunt for the Mad Wolf’s Daughter. I realize that sequels are rarely used in classrooms as… Read more »
My Books
Student Book Awards
I love student book award programs: They encourage kids to read, and especially to read books they might not have discovered on their own. When I volunteered in my son’s elementary school library, I shelved the Maine Student Book Award (MSBA) nominees and admired the wide variety of choices the committee picked. These weren’t only… Read more »
Being an Award-Winning Author
There are some lovely huge moments in an author’s life: the moment you hold your first book, the first time you read from your first book aloud to an audience, the first time a student tells you how much your work has meant to them…and sometimes formal recognition of other kinds as well. I had… Read more »
Now Presenting…Drest’s Next Adventure!
Behold! Drest and her friends and family endure new challenges—with battles, sword fights, and action galore, all while she determines what kind of warrior—and legend—she’ll be. Presenting the trailer to The Hunt for the Mad Wolf’s Daughter:
Blurbs!
Blurbs are a lovely part of an author’s life: Another author reads your work, and writes something kind about it. It’s especially meaningful when the blurbs are from authors you admire. And these two for The Hunt for the Mad Wolf’s Daughter (which will be out on March 5 this year) are incredibly meaningful to me for… Read more »
Teacher’s Guide
I’m thrilled to share my Teacher’s Guide for The Mad Wolf’s Daughter. I hope this guide will be used in many classrooms, especially once the paperback comes out (which will be on February 12, 2019). I love inspiring students, and I’ve read a lot of educational literature, so I had an idea of how to put this together…. Read more »
Available on Edelweiss
Teachers, librarians, and critics who use Edelweiss (a great resource for an early look at an upcoming novel) can read the e-ARC of The Hunt for the Mad Wolf’s Daughter now, by following this link. And here’s a lovely review that I just saw, that captures a few of my favorite parts of the book.
Kirkus on Book 2
We authors are always a wee bit terrified to read reviews of our books, so it was with great relief that I read this review of my second book from Kirkus, which includes these lovely lines: “Magras deftly balances introspection and action as Drest proves herself willing to risk everything—and the result will leave readers… Read more »
Gender Empowerment and Risks: A Conversation Between Diane Magras and Laura Shovan
The ranks of strong girls in middle grade fiction is growing. (Thank goodness for that!) These girls come in all forms: tough, spunky, wild—and occasionally soft and gentle but with a core of steel. They’re fantastic models for girls (and boys) to see diversity in how girls are represented. And often, these days, they have… Read more »
Holiday Book Box
I love to give books for holiday gifts. This year, some of the books I give will be reaching recipients in book boxes, so a book with a few other little things that go with the theme. As I was thinking of what would go with each book, it occurred to me that I have… Read more »
Happy birthday, Mom! I wish she were still here so that I could call her and hear her lovely voice. I always rang her on her birthday, and we chatted about whatever was going on. Usually, she`d tell me a story about what her dogs were up to (she had two Rhodesian Ridgebacks who were great companions), something fun that had happened at work (she made so many friends, so the story might have been about one of them), and a thank-you for the flowers I`d sent.
Just sharing that memory and this, a picture of her that I have on my desk. She`s at Bug Point Light in South Portland, Maine, and it`s a freezing day with the wind whipping off the water, but she`s beaming because she`s with her family, including her son-in-law, whom she adored.
I miss you, Mom, but thank you for being such a warm presence in my life. I will always remember that feeling.
#Birthdays #ParentalLoss
Eight years ago today, I lost a person very important to my life, one of my best friends ever: my mom. Here`s one of my favorite pictures of her on Mount Desert Island, a place she loved. Mom was a huge support and advocate for me as I grew up on that island, and always believed in me. When I was an adult, though, we had a new and very special relationship. She`d come to visit me and we`d go on adventures, exploring the area where I lived. She had a job, but she`d leave early on Friday and spend the whole weekend with me, returning home late Sunday. Those times, just Mom and me, were so incredibly special. We joked, talked, sat in companionable silence, and just felt each other`s company. My mom loved to learn and adored history, nature, plants, and animals, and more. I miss her so much. The grief of loss softens, but it never goes away.
#ParentalLoss #Love