EveryLibrary's Executive Director, John Chrastka, discusses why he believes in libraries. www.everylibrary.org/i_believe_in... via @everylibrary.bsky.social

Join me for my first author event, Saturday 9/20 at 1 pm: Glen Lake Community Library 10115 W Front St Empire, MI 49630

It's been a long time coming, and I'm so happy NORTH OF TOMBOY is officially out in the world! Thank you to everyone who has helped and supported me and/or my book along the way.

Today's the last day for a chance to sign up to win a free copy of NORTH OF TOMBOY in my GoodReads Giveaway... www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho... #northoftomboy

Why I Chose Writing Semi-Autobiographical Fiction over Writing Memoir julieaswanson.wordpress.com/2025/08/12/w...

Do you know a child who's gender nonconforming, gender creative, or suffers gender dysphoria? A little misogynist? My book, NORTH OF TOMBOY, is for them. And maybe for you. julieaswanson.wordpress.com/2025/08/07/f... #northoftomboy

I’ve enjoyed many Lois Lowry books: The Giver, Gathering Blue, Messenger, Son, Number the Stars, A Summer to Die... So when I saw this and read what it's about–“Estrild is not like the other girls in her village; she wants to be a warrior.”–I bought it. julieaswanson.wordpress.com #NorthofTomboy

I’m giving away ten copies of my new middle grade novel, North of Tomboy, to be released September 2nd. Want a chance to win? Head over to my Goodreads Giveaway page: www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho... !  #giveaway #bookgiveaway #newrelease #middlegrade #NorthofTomboy #goodreads #booklover

www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews... #northoftomboy

SNAPDRAGON, by Kat Leyh What an interesting and strange book, story. Although graphic novels aren't usually my thing, I really liked this one! At first I thought the girl on the cover was some sort of half-deer, half-kid creature (again, not my thing, but I decided to give it a try because I'd…

“. . . a moving exploration of family dynamics and personal growth.”—Midwest Book Review julieaswanson.wordpress.com/2025/06/26/m...

Mom, the 87-Year-Old Marcher She won't like this pic, but I think it's a good one because it shows how serious she is about her exercise and how put-together she looks even when walking in the boonies with just me. She will like this one, taken on our trip to Sardinia with my daughter's family…

“Reading with Pride” In an author interview a couple months ago, I was asked, What does "Reading with Pride" mean to you?" Which really made me think--not what do I think it means to others, not what do I think it's supposed to mean, but what does it mean to me? I came up with something like this…

Back in My Happy Place I'm back up north. As you can see from the pink flags and wooden stakes all over--and the empty cement pad where the old house we had removed used to sit--we've seriously begun preparing to build another house in its place (or very nearly in its place). The stakes and flags…

My ARCs finally came! After a little shipping snafu, my ARCs finally arrived--not the greatest timing, though, just as we were leaving on a trip to go visit our daughter in Italy. It was exciting to see them, and I was pleasantly surprised not to be at all disappointed about anything about them (I…

Ollie in Between, My Favorite Read of 2025 So Far Ollie in Between is such a good book it deserved to have its picture taken where Ollie would feel at home (I loved how Ollie identified with mushrooms, and the whole mushroom metaphor, but couldn't find a mushroom growing). I have a lot to say…

My first review of NORTH OF TOMBOY came in today... readersfavorite.com/book-review/... #northoftomboy

A WORLD WORTH SAVING; a Book Worth Reading I enjoyed this middle grade novel by Kyle Lukoff. Although it felt more like YA to me, more like it's for jr. high school readers and above and not for elementary school kids--the age range given for it is 10-14 years old--it was an interesting mix of…

My Interview with Canvas Rebel I'm a month late in sharing, but here's my interview on Canvas Rebel (an online magazine, "Conversations with Entrepreneurs, Artists & Creatives")--

The Country Bunny I just read this book to my four-year-old granddaughter. She seemed to love it as much as I always have. This has long been my favorite Easter time story. Even as a little kid, I remember loving its empowering feminist message--that maybe like the Country Bunny, I could be a mama…

WE ARE BIG TIME, by Hena Khan Graphic novels are not my favorite type of book, but they're so popular now and their covers often catch my eye and and their stories sound interesting, so when I see one that I would otherwise want to read if it was not a graphic novel, I try it. This one sounded…

Purer or Puer? Yes, and Puella It occurred to me that someone searching for my blog by its title (Purer and Purer Streams...) might misspell Purer and be led to websites on the topic of the Puer. Or that someone interested in Jungian psychology and searching to learn more about the archetype of…

See You Later My dad died 17 years ago today. He was a character, a complex character who we loved so much. And he loved us. His family was the most important thing in the world to him; that was obvious. He died of cancer, and he was amazing in his dying. In fact, it was so amazing I wrote a book…

Once a Puer Always a Puer? [...continued from the last post's topic...] Puer, yes, that was me. I never wanted to grow up. I dreaded it. I convinced myself I wouldn't, couldn't. It wasn’t that I wanted to cling to the safety of home and parents, it wasn’t so much that I was afraid of change (I…

How I got to be Such a Tomboy A couple of posts back, I wrote about the word 'tomboy' and how I've come to see it differently. I've thought a lot about the whole notion of being a tomboy and have a lot to say about it, at least about the kind of tomboy I was. Why? Well, I've spent much of my life…

A Sweet Book for Younger Middle Grade Readers Born Naughty, My Childhood in China, set in 1982 in rural China, tells of a year in the childhood of author Jin Wang. I found it to be delightful, a loving tribute to family and home that takes us to a place most would never know about otherwise. "What…

Groomed to Be Transgender in School–by Books? I Don’t Think So At the beginning of this year, I viewed a reposted video on Instagram that's bothered me ever since. In it, a 25-year-old young woman stood at a podium at some type of public forum speaking about how she'd been groomed as a child to be…

SMALL SPACES, by Katherine Arden: A Fun Middle Grade Horror Story I'm not sure how a story about grief--and ghosts and zombies who are threatening to annihilate you--can be fun (I don't usually like horror stories or books with non-human characters), but this one was. Eleven-year-old Ollie has…

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers! Day 20/20 #BookSky 💙📚 #20DayBookChallenge

Free Throws, Friendship, and Other Things We Fouled Up So many fresh things about this young adult book (lower YA). I really enjoyed it! Being married to a college coach and knowing what that's like, and seeing what our kids' experience of growing up with a coach for a dad was like, I found the…

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers! Day 19/20 #BookSky 💙📚 #20DayBookChallenge

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers! Day 18/20 #BookSky 💙📚 #20DayBookChallenge

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers! Day 17/20

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers! Day 16/20 #BookSky 💙📚 #20DayBookChallenge

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers! Day 15/20 #BookSky 💙📚 #20DayBookChallenge

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers! Day 14/20 #BookSky 💙📚 #20DayBookChallenge ❤️James&Giant P/Magic Finger/Fantastic Mr. Fox/Charlie & Choc Fact/Danny Champion of World/BFG

Surprised to find NORTH OF TOMBOY already up on retailers' websites, available for pre-order now. Thanks for your patience as I spread the word about my book--Sept 2 seems a long time away & yet that’s less than 6 months. It’s happening! I appreciate your support. It means a lot to me.

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers! Day 13/20 #BookSky 💙📚 #20DayBookChallenge

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers! Day 12/20 #BookSky 💙📚 #20DayBookChallenge

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers! Day 11/20 #BookSky 💙📚 #20DayBookChallenge

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers! Day 10/20 #BookSky 💙📚 #20DayBookChallenge

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers! Day 9/20 #BookSky 💙📚 #20DayBookChallenge

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers! Day 8/20 #BookSky 💙📚 #20DayBookChallenge

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers! Day 7/20 #BookSky 💙📚 #20DayBookChallenge

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers! Day 6/20 #BookSky 💙📚 #20DayBookChallenge

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers! Day 5/20 #BookSky 💙📚 #20DayBookChallenge

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers! Day 4/20 #BookSky 💙📚 #20DayBookChallenge