The writer of The City of Ember shares the writing advice she gave her students...and how she ignored some of it to finish her latest work. Kitty Felde is host.

Would you like to live your entire life underground? What happens if the lights go out and never come on again? Students from Overland Elementary School for Advanced Studies in Los Angeles discuss Jeanne DuPrau’s post-apocalyptic novel City of Ember with host Kitty Felde. They have a few questions for the author. Actress Melanie MacQueen (Robotech, Lady Luck) is celebrity reader.  FAVORITE BOOKS FROM OVERLAND ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: Valkyrie - Kate O’Hearn When You Reach Me - Rebecca Stead Spy School - Stuart Gibbs JEANNE DUPRAU’S FAVORITE BOOK: The Borrowers - Mary Norton MELANIE MACQUEEN’S FAVORITE BOOK: Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne

It’s that time of year when all you can think about is “how long until summer vacation?” So how do you keep kids engaged? Find a book they love. How? We hear from a group of 4th graders in Los Angeles who have a few suggestions. Some are Book Club for Kids podcast episodes. Just click on the links: Dog Man - Dav Pilkey The Bad Guys - Aaron Blabey Harry Potter series - J.K Rowling The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane - Kate DiCamillo Ordinary People Change the World series The Witches - Roald Dahl Keeper of the Lost Cities - Shannon Messenger Land of Stories - Chris Colfer Thirst - Varsha Bajaj The Giver - Lois Lowry The Lightning Thief: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan Baseball books Pig the Stinker - Aaron Blabey Wings of Fire (the graphic novel) - Tui T. Sutherland Wayside School series - Louis Sachar Big Ideas for Curious Minds: an Introduction to Philosophy Lots more book suggestions on our "Books We Love" page of the website. And check out Kids Radio LA, the podcast from the students at Atwater STEAM Elementary (and Mr. R!)     

The Force is with us on Book Club as we tackle a tale of middle grade angst and paper cuts. Who can rescue these hapless heroes? How about a Yoda fingerpuppet who seems to have all the right answers. Our readers from Washington, DC beg writer Tom Angleberger to write more books in the series. Cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz is celebrity reader.  Kitty Felde is host. NOTE: Kitty Felde's novel Welcome to Washington Fina Mendoza will be released in both English and Spanish (Bienvenida a Washington Fina Mendoza) on July 3rd.  Fina Mendoza is the 10-year-old daughter of a congressman who moves to Washington with her older sister Gabby and solves mysteries inside the U.S. Capitol. She also introduces civics to elementary school readers. Published by Chesapeake Press, distributed by IPG. Kitty makes free class visits. 

We asked kids around the country to answer the hardest question in the world: what's your favorite book? And why? Here's just some of the suggestions we got from YOU: Wish - Barbara O'Connor Out of My Mind - Sharon Draper A Stroke of Magic: The Dinosaur Woman - Brunella Costagliola   The Cat I Never Named -  Amra Sabic-El-Rayess and Laura L. Sullivan Percy Jackson - Rick Riordan And if you have a favorite book, you can be on the BookClub for Kids podcast, too. Just record yourself on your smartphone telling us your first name, the city where you live, the name of your favorite book and why you love it and email the voice memo to us at [email protected] We’d love to hear from you!