Joan M. Wolf

I have loved writing since I was old enough to hold a pencil. I distinctly remember being three or four years old and pushing my dad away from his typewriter so that I could “make words” by punching the keys. Now, of course, most people don’t know what a typewriter is (I think you can find them in antique stores), but I have fond memories of writing stories on the archaic beast.

I now use a computer to write stories, poems, letters, and the occasional recipe. I still love the way letters form themselves into words and the way words can shape themselves into stories. What amazing power words can have.

I currently live in the Minneapolis area, where I write and attempt to stay warm in the winter. I love to travel, knit, walk, and try new foods at wild and funky restaurants.




			Someone Named Eva Clarion, 2007 ISBN 978-0-618-53579-8 “Remember who you are, Milada. Remember where you are from. Always.” Milada’s grandmother says these words on the night the Nazi soldiers come to their home in Czechoslovakia. But what do they mean? She is Milada, with the sun-kissed hair, the fastest runner in her school. How could she ever forget? Then the Nazis take Milada away from her family and send her to a Lebensborn center in Poland. There she is told she fits the Aryan ideal: her blond hair and blue eyes are the right color; her head and nose, the right size. She is renamed Eva and trained to become the perfect German citizen, to be the hope of Germany’s future--and to forget that she was ever a Czech girl named Milada. Awards and Recognition Junior Library Guild Selection, 2007; Society of Midland Authors Children’s Fiction Finalist, 2008; VOYA Pick, Top Shelf Fiction For Middle School Readers, 2007; CCBC Choices, 2008; West Virginia Children’s Choice Award Nominee; Maryland Black Eyed Susan Award Nominee; Rhode Island Children’s Book Award Nominee; Tennessee Volunteer Book Award Nominee; Utah Beehive Children’s Choice Book Award Nominee; Iowa Children’s Choice Book Award Nominee; Georgia Children’s Choice Book Award Nominee; Illionis Rebecca Caudill Award Nominee; Texas Bluebonnet Award Nominee; Florida Sunshine Sate Young Readers Award Nominee; Minnesota Maud Hart Lovelace Award (Division ll) Nominee



			U.S. Civic Holidays: Leveled Read-Aloud Plays Scholastic, 2007 grades 2 to 8, ISBN 978-0439582889 Did you know that Memorial Day started after the Civil War? And that Earth Day began as a small grass roots movement? Students will learn the history behind these holidays, as well as other U.S. civic holidays in this leveled book of plays.



			Journal Activities That Sharpen Students’ Writing Scholastic, 2004 grades 3 to 5, ISBN 978-0439488105 Students’ pencils fly and writing ideas abound with the unique activities in this book. Includes ways students can add strategies to their writing toolbox, such as brainstorming, selecting viewpoints, developing character, and writing effective dialogue.



			Cinderella Outgrows the Glass Slipper Scholastic, 2002 grades 3 to 5, ISBN, 978-0439271684 Cinderella as a vet? The “big bad” wolf as a kindergarten teacher? Five fairy tales get turned upside down in this reader’s theater play book for students.



			The Beanstalk and Beyond: Developing Critical Thinking Through Fairy Tales Teacher Ideas Press, 1997 grades 3 to 8, ISBN 978-1563084829 Fairy tales act as the springboard for critical thinking ideas in this book. In a multitude of activities, adaptable to virtually any fairy tale in a variety of learning environments, students are challenged to move beyond a simplistic study of fairy tales and develop writing and critical thinking ideas. Awards and Recognition Storytelling World Honorable Mention: Storytelling Resources, 1998