It’s the final day of Arachnid World Week! Here’s one last behind the scenes look at Wolf Spiders: Mothers on Guard with author Sandra Markle: Dr. George Uetz specializes in studying wolf spiders. One of the things that he’s researched is this spider’s vision. He said, “The ones whose vision we’ve measured have responded to […]Read more "Arachnid World Week Day #5"

On March 25, 1911, a fire started at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. The owners of the factory had paid little attention to fire safety, storing containers of sewing machine oil near large bins of delicate cotton and linen fabric scraps that would burn more easily than paper. There was only one old, steep fire escape […]Read more "The 100th Anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire"

It’s Arachnid World Week day #4! Here’s a behind the scenes look at Orb Weavers: Hungry Spinners with author Sandra Markle: Dr. Jessica Garb is studying spider dragline silk. She said, “While some people say it’s stronger than steel, that’s not exactly true. It’s tougher, meaning it can absorb energy without breaking. Dragline silk’s toughness […]Read more "Arachnid World Week Day #4"

It’s Arachnid World Week day #3! Here’s a behind the scenes look at Ticks: Dangerous Hitchhikers with author Sandra Markle: Dr. Tom Mather has discovered that, somehow, 70 percent of all guinea pigs bitten by ticks carrying disease organisms don’t get sick. So he’s now studying what happens at the cellular level inside guinea pigs […]Read more "Arachnid World Week Day #3"

It’s Arachnid World Week day #2! Here’s a behind the scenes look at Harvestmen: Secret Operatives with author Sandra Markle: Dr. William Shear shared that one kind of harvestman called Caddo agilis is super fast. He said, “I’ve tried to catch them and it’s like they disappear and materialize as much as two feet (0.6 […]Read more "Arachnid World Week Day #2"

In the wake of the horrific natural and subsequent nuclear disasters in Japan, I turned to our Japan in Pictures title in the VGS series to remind myself of the geography that makes this island nation so susceptible to natural disasters of this magnitude. The New York Times has posted excellent maps on its website […]Read more "Japan"

Sandra Markle’s new Arachnid World series is so amazing we decided it deserved a full week on the blog! Welcome to Arachnid World Week! Each day this week we will give you a behind the scenes look at the series and if you leave a comment on the blog or tweet “I love @lernerbooks and […]Read more "Arachnid World Week!"

So I have this crazy obsession with reading. Granted, that’s probably not unusual for an editor. But when I say obsession, I do mean obsession. As in, I read the packaging my socks come in. I read the “News that Travels” bulletins my bus driver hands out on my commute to work (and I read […]Read more "True Confessions of an OR (Obsessive Reader)"

Let’s be honest: YA insiders have an uneasy relationship with stock photography. As much as mountains of cheap stock give designers a lot of creative flexibility (does anyone really think covers have gotten worse since the arrival of cheap digital stock?), stock is also perhaps at the root of a lot of pernicious cover group-think. […]Read more "Does a stock photographer actually have something to teach writers?"