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Infinity On SLJ Fuse8 Best List

Recently I found out that Infinity: Figuring Out Forever was featured in early December on the Fuse 8 Production Blog of the School Library Journal.

Here’s an excerpt of the post written by Betsy Bird, the librarian at Evanston Public Library:

“If I’m going to have a kid at my reference desk asking me for a book on infinity, by gum I want a friggin’ book on the mathematical concept itself! Except, y’know, kid-friendly. After an inordinate amount of time, I think I’ve found my match. Sarah C. Campbell does a grand job …

Read the rest and find out about more great math books here.

Infinity gets starred review from Booklist

This is exactly the kind of reception I had hoped for while working on this book. It took a long time but I’m excited for it to be in young readers’ hands at the end of August! If you are interested in pre-ordering a copy, you can do so at your local bookstore or here.

Praise

★ ”[T]he authors take a complex abstraction and make it accessible to young readers through non-technical descriptions, relatable examples, and full color, original photos that effectively reinforce the text… Like the authors’ previous titles, this current work offers solid math along with reassuring encouragement. This attractive offering will enhance STEAM collections and spark curiosity and conversation among young readers.” —Booklist, starred review

Back after a long hiatus

Much has happened in our family and in the world since I blogged regularly. Today I am back at it because I have a book coming out in August, Infinity: Figuring Out Forever, and I need to have a platform to talk about it. I feel a pretty significant sense of accomplishment having figured out how to log back in to the blog. I know there will be glitches as I get back into a routine, but I knew I had to start somewhere.

Speaking of starting somewhere, Richard and I took updated publicity photos for each other.

Portrait
Portrait

Infinity comes out on August 30th, but two other new books–paperback editions of Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator and Growing Patterns: Fibonacci Numbers in Nature–will be out on July 26th. I’ll be talking more about the new book in the next post.

Big Chill Retreat 2018

Registration opens tomorrow for the Big Chill Retreat, an annual event offered by the Louisiana/Mississippi region of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

Big chill is a retreat for creators of children’s books — both writers and illustrators. Write, draw, revise and brainstorm your work with supportive colleagues in a relaxing setting. Distance critiques for writers and illustrators will go fast. Read all about it here.

Manuscripts and portfolios for critique will need to be ready by August 28th so get busy on those works-in-progress.

Learning the New Camera


I’m learning a new camera again. My longtime camera began to malfunction and it took me a while to acknowledge the problem, get it diagnosed, and find out that the manufacturer no longer makes the part to fix it (errrrrggghhh!) I am learning to use a camera that is made by a different company so the controls for every function are slightly different.
These are some images I made recently while visiting my friend, Julie.


Interview about Growing Patterns on Naturally Speaking Blog

growing patterns over

 

Nonfiction author Nancy Castaldo invited me to visit her blog today. Head over to read an interview about Growing Patterns: Fibonacci Numbers in Nature.

Nancy recently led an excellent session on marketing and promotion at the SCBWI Annual Summer Conference. Her books include The Story of a Seed, winner of the 2017 Green Earth Award, and Beastly Brains.

Education Leaders Heard Our Plea!

I have no time to blog today, but I am so heartened by the news that the state Superintendent of Education Tom Burnham has changed his mind about a pursuing a policy I opposed in the strongest possible terms.

Read about it here.

Here’s a link to the column I wrote to oppose the policy.

Later this week I head to Philadelphia for the National Council of Teacher of Mathematics annual conference. Beth West and I will present a workshop and I’ll sign copies of Growing Patterns: Fibonacci Numbers in Nature.

 

The Other Guys

Now, for the rest of the team. (This was a boys tournament so no photos of the girls, this time.)

murrah v mcg breaking up a playmark tscottcoach dwhy?paul downmore v mcnickg kicking it awaystephen bstephen b againryan takes a shotsam takes a shot

Chastain Team Comes Second in State

The Chastain Science Quiz Bowl A Team placed second Saturday in the Department of Energy’s Middle School Science Quiz Bowl Tournament at the Mississippi School for Math and Science. The Chastain B team lost only one match all day — and that was to the Chastain A team in the round before the quarter finals. It was beautiful to watch these students handle a variety of science questions with verve and aplomb.Chastain MIddle School Science Quiz Bowl Team

You can probably tell I am one proud mama. My two younger boys, N and D (pictured in the middle), are on the A team.

Mississippi Library Association Author Award 2010

I had a wonderful time on Thursday at the Mississippi Library Association annual conference in Vicksburg.
Sarah C Campbell MLA Author Award Youth 2010
I was honored Thursday night by the Mississippi Library Association. For Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator, I won the 2010 Youth Award. I am pictured here with Chris Myers Asch, the recipient of the 2010 Nonfiction Award, and Lynn Shurden (between me and Asch), chair of the Authors Awards Committee. The other two women pictured are also members of the awards committee, (from left) Ann ?, and Donna Fite. Deborah Johnson won the 2010 Fiction Award for her book, The Air Between Us. She was signing books and not available for the photograph.

This is the first time the MLA has given a Youth Award and I was delighted to be the first recipient. During the award speech and also during a session earlier in the day, I gave a short preview of my newest project, which unlike Wolfsnail and Growing Patterns, comes out of my childhood. It was fun to see Gloria Liggans, my school librarian from 4th through 9th grades, and many other librarian friends I have made since I started writing books for children.

Irene LathamMy friend Irene Latham gave the luncheon speech for the MLA conference, telling the story behind publication of her book, Leaving Gee’s Bend, published by Putnam.

The story included everything a story must, including ever-more-difficult obstacles. She shared photographs from Gee’s Bend in the 1930s, photographs of quilts made by Gee’s Bend Quilters, and a Ludelphia doll that was made for her by a school librarian.

Irene’s next novel is a contemporary one, titled Don’t Feed the Boy, which is forthcoming from Roaring Brook Press.

It was nice to have Irene join Richard and me at the awards dinner.

Irene Latham and Sarah C Campbell

We cooked a bit of a celebratory dinner the next night, using a brand new cooking pot called a tagine. We made a lamb tagine (the meal is named after the cooking pot), masala dosas, and a spinach salad. I am no good at food photography, but these will give you an idea of what we ate and how we made it.

tagine

Emile Henry Tagine

Tagine base

Tagine base

lamb tagine

Lamb Tagine from Mark Bittman's cookbook

dosa

Dosa

masala filling for dosa

Masala filling for Dosa