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Born in Pontiac, Michigan, Sue Stauffacher began writing when she was a child. In one way or another, she's been writing ever since. "Whatever jobs I've held, I've always become the writer. No one else wanted to do it, and I was good at it." Sue is a children’s book author with more than fifteen years experience introducing at-risk kids to the joys of reading. She does this through her work in the schools, through her speaking engagements and as a book reviewer and journalist. Sue’s recent books include: Nothing But Trouble: The Story of Althea Gibson (Knopf, 2007), Donutheart (Knopf, 2006), Bessie Smith and the Night Riders (Putnam, 2006), Harry Sue (Knopf, 2005), and Donuthead (Knopf 2003). After years of working with children who have yet to discover their love of reading, Sue has developed two new initiatives to reach them. First is Readia, a targeted blog about children’s books meant to alert parents, teachers and others who work with children and low-level readers to high quality literature that will appeal to them. Readia is trying to capture kids who aren’t reading because they prefer other forms of media or because they have low skill levels. The books that Sue features will be appropriate for all readers, but are targeted at readers from a variety of cultures and/or low socioeconomic backgrounds. You can have readia delivered to your email box by subscribing at www.readia.wordpress.com. A more long-term project is Wireman, an innovative literacy tool designed as an appealing comic book for readers of all ages. Wireman works with a variety of readers, from below-grade third and fourth-graders up through adult ESL learners. The comic engages hard-to-reach readers with a complex visual storyline, a familiar urban setting, and a plot steeped in mystery. The first volume alone teaches readers the hundred most common words in the English language, which make up 50% of all written English. See it for yourself at www.wiremancomics.com or download the first issue free at www.suestauffacher.com. |
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Nothing But Trouble: The Story of Althea Gibson ALTHEA IS NOTHING BUT TROUBLE! Everyone agrees: her mama, her daddy, her teacher, even the policeman. But when Buddy Walker, an orchestra leader and the play leader on Althea's street in Harlem, watches her play paddle tennis, he sees something more: pure possibility. Buddy buys Althea her very own stringed tennis racket, and before long, she's on her way to to taming her inner wild child and becoming a great athlete—the first African American woman to compete and win at Wimbledon. Awards |
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Wireman Andre is the new kid at Central City High and he’s getting the usual welcome. Bullies Duane and Esteven enjoy dogging him, but readers soon discover there’s something deeper bothering Andre: how to get along in life without his big brother. At Central City, he keeps to himself until he meets by chance the beautiful Maya. Esteven informs him that Maya isn’t right in the head—she hasn’t spoken since she arrived at Central City two years ago. Still, Andre can tell there’s more to Maya than meets the eye. And when Andre has a meeting with an intense stranger in an abandoned factory, he suspects Maya knows about this, too. Maybe even about his brother James. Find out more when you read Volume One of Wireman. |
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Donutheart Franklin Delano Donuthead, star of Sue Stauffacher's Donuthead, is back and life continues to throw him lots of curveballs: he's now in sixth grade which means it's time for middle school, with all of its related terrors. He has to avoid whipping pony tails in the hallways, he's forced to use school bathrooms, with eighth graders, his life science teacher makes him blush like a tomato, his beloved Glynnis Powell may be moving ahead of him socially, his mother has a boyfriend, and his unlikely best friend, Sarah Kervick, once again needs more help than he thinks he can manage on his own. But thanks to his tough but kindhearted mother, the tough but kindhearted Gloria Nelots, and a little growing self-awareness, Franklin manages what it takes to pull Sarah out of another rough situation. Awards |
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Bessie Smith and the Night Riders Even though she can’t afford a ticket to see the great blues singer Bessie Smith perform, Emmarene listens outside Bessie’s tent—that is, until she bursts into the show to warn the crowd:The Night Riders have come! Bessie marches right outside and confronts the Night Riders by giving one of her famous low moans that says, "I may be down and out, but I ain’t gonna take it no more." But will that be enough to scare them off? Based on a true incident, Bessie Smith and the Night Riders is a powerful story of facing down danger and standing up for what’s right. With John Holyfield’s luminous paintings setting the stage, readers will be cheering for Bessie and Emmarene all the way to their final bow. |
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Harry Sue Harry Sue Clotkin is tough. Her mom's in the slammer and she wants to get there too, as fast as possible, so they can be together. But it's not so easy to become a juvenile delinquent when you've got a tender heart. Harry Sue's got her hands full caring for the crumb-snatchers who take up her afternoons at the day care center, and spending time with her best friend Homer, a quadriplegic who sees life from a skylight in the roof of his tree house. When Harry Sue finds an unlikely confidante in her new art teacher, her ambitions toward a life of crime are sidelined as she comes to a deeper understanding about her past—and future. Awards |
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Donuthead Franklin Delano Donuthead is a fifth grader with a lot of problems: For starters, his last name is Donuthead. He considers himself handicapped because one arm and leg are shorter than the other (by less than half an inch), his mother is trying to poison him with non-organic foods (like salami), he doesn’t have a father, and Sarah Kervick, the new girl, who’s mean and totally unhygienic, is attached to him, warts and all, like glue. This is a hilarious and touching novel featuring a neurotic, scared boy and a tougher-than-nails girl who each help the other in more ways than they can imagine. Sue Stauffacher has crafted characters full of wit and sensitivity, with a little anti-bacterial soap thrown in for good measure. Awards |
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