By Marie LeJeune and Tracy Smiles, Western Oregon University
Author studies are common in many classrooms, but studying mentor authors means that we look at those who write for children and young adults in new ways—not just a study of their work and their life, but an in depth exploration of their craft and writing habits. In What You Know by Heart (2002), Katie Wood Ray reminds us that authors can be co-teachers of literacy experiences. In The Wonder of It All (2007), Nancy Johnson and Cyndi Giorgis explore how authors and illustrators create an ideal partnership for us when teaching—we teach in collaboration–their words layer together with our words to expand meaning in the socio-cultural contexts of our classrooms. This process of studying authors has even more power in the 21st century—in today’s world, authors and illustrators are potentially closer to children and young adults than they have ever been. Students can interact with authors in “real time” via blogs, social networking sites (Facebook, etc.), video and pod casts, websites, and other digital avenues for exploring authors’ craft and their lives as writers and creators.
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Many teachers are very hesitant to use graphic novels in their classroom. Much of the hesitation has to do with a personal lack of familiarity with this specific form of literature. For some, the use of graphic novels in the classroom is foreign and scary, some might not even see it as “literature,” while others are actually beginning to see the great advantage of using them to supplement student learning.
In 
Immigrant students face significant challenges in balancing their home culture and American culture. In 
Emergent bilinguals make up 8.2% of the total population of all children under the age of 18 in South Carolina. While there are many languages spoken by immigrant children in our schools, Spanish is the most widespread language spoken by 40,000 of all emergent bilinguals (
One of the lessons that I have learned as a reader of global literature is to never read a book by itself–to always read a book alongside other books. Over and over, I find that our interpretations and connections change dramatically when we read paired books or read a book within a larger text set or collection. Throughout the next month, my blogs will focus on my experiences of reading books alongside each other, most recently within a graduate course on global literature.