Teen Innovators: An Interview with Author Fred Estes

“When will I ever use this?” Every STEM teacher has heard this question before and will likely hear it again. Answer your students with Teen Innovators: Nine Young People Engineering a Better World with Creative Inventions. This new nonfiction profiles nine YA innovators who discovered a problem, conducted research, and used STEM to solve the issue.

Today author Fred Estes joins us to reveal his inspiration for the book, tips on increasing creativity, and his upcoming projects. Don’t miss the free downloadable teaching guide!

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Attention Hijacked: An Interview with Author Erica B. Marcus

Technology is constantly at our fingertips, and sometimes we don’t realize how too much screen time negatively impacts our health. Attention Hijacked: Using Mindfulness to Reclaim Your Brain from Tech explores exactly how technology affects consumers, dispels misinformation, and helps readers make personal usage decisions. 

Today author Erica B. Marcus joins us to discuss what sparked her interest mindful technology use, her own struggles with tech use, and the biggest surprise in her research. Read on to download a free technology survey for young readers.

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Amazing Inventions: AN INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR Blake Hoena

Who played the the first video game? Where did the first electric guitar play on stage? The Amazing Inventions series will fly off the shelf as readers discover true stories of invention behind coveted pop-culture objects—from sneakers to smartphones. With high-interest graphic novel art, these books profile the products’ creators and innovators, as well as the scientific or technical developments that made the inventions possible. The books also cover social history, revealing how people’s needs in a particular period led to creative solutions.

Today author Blake Hoena shares insight into writing a graphic nonfiction series and his research process. Read on to find out more!

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5 Kinds of Nonfiction: Karen Latchana Kenney

On the final stop of this year’s 5 Kinds of Nonfiction tour, we visit Karen Latchana Kenney and her latest YA title Folding Tech: Using Origami and Nature to Revolutionize Technology. Researchers use folding technologies to create everything from nanobots to telescope lenses that unfold to the size of a soccer field. The engineers behind these inventions take inspiration from an unusual source—origami! This book examines how the ancient art intersects with STEM. Keep reading to learn more about Karen’s writing process, Expository Literature, and the 5 Kinds of Nonfiction.

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