Dear Friends,

I come from teaching stock. My mother was a teacher, my aunt was a teacher, my mother-in-law is a teacher, my sister is a teacher, my daughter is as well. My grandmother told stories that taught about the human condition. It's true that my grandfather was a dentist, but that did teach me to floss regularly. I come from people who went to the library, who read constantly, who told stories to understand the world, who understood the connections between pain and laughter, who felt guilty when a book was overdue -- terribly guilty. But, what can you do? Life just gets in the way sometimes.

I've created this site to hopefully make your a job a little easier when you're considering my books. I must admit, that there is guilt on my hands -- guilt that I should have been a better student in high school. My sophomore english teacher cornered me in the hall once, snarling, "I want to know why you're not trying in my class!" I wanted to know that, too. You see, I'm the one you thought had potential, but back then, I couldn't find much of that in myself. I'm the one you thought could handle advanced study, but at that time in my life I couldn't. I'm the one who didn't come back to say good-bye, but what I learned from you was waiting to spring forth at the right time.

And so I offer this resource page. It's dedicated to all the teachers I've had and especially the ones that I drove crazy. I meant to get this done earlier, I swear, but you know, life just gets in the way sometimes.

May this be a place that helps you. I hope you'll come back often.

Joan

New, concise, and gorgeous!
Teaching Resource Guides are now available for Peeled, Best Foot Forward, Stand Tall, Backwater, Hope Was Here, Sticks, Thwonk and Squashed.   Resource guide author Christine Blair served as Media Specialist at Nuttall Middle School in Robinson, Illinois, from 1973 until she retired in 2005.   She holds a B.A. from Illinois Wesleyan University and an M.S. in Ed. in Instructional Materials from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. She is the author of Let Your Fingers Do the Searching: Using Reference Sources and Their Indexes. She has been co-editor of Let's Talk About Books: Suggestions for Use of the Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award.

For a more in-depth treatment of Rules of the Road and Hope was Here see the Enhanced Reading Guides.

For additional information on several of my books, see the "All About" pages for:

• PEELED
• BEST FOOT FORWARD
• STAND TALL
• HOPE WAS HERE

For criticism and interpretation of my work, see Teen Reads: Student Companions to Young Adult LIterature -- JOAN BAUER by Alleen Pace Nilsen, Greenwood Press, 2008.