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Welcome To
My Website!
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Booksignings and Events follow:
1. May 8 ---- Featured speaker at Book Club in Columbus, NE.
2. September 27 ---- Speaker at All School Reunion in Shenandoah, IA.
Note: Mary Elizabeth Anderson is available to speak to your church or
other organization regarding: "All About Books: From A to Z."
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April 2008:
New Release: "GRACIE GANNON: MIDDLE SCHOOL ZERO"
DID YOU KNOW everyday an estimated 160,000 kids in the United States don't go to school because of bullies?
DID
YOU KNOW
an estimated three out of every four American children
will experience bullying sometime during their school
years -- either as victims, bullies, or as uncomfortable
bystanders.
Gracie
Gannon deals with
the bullying from the “clique” of her sixth grade
classmates. Instead of letting the exclusions, name
calling, whispers and eye rolling get the best of her,
Gracie rises above the tormenting, develops coping
skills and becomes comfortable with who she is.
this book belongs
in every home with a middle grade child, as well as in
all middle school libraries !!!
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Ordering information:
"Gracie" can be ordered
from the publisher RAYVE PRODUCTIONS at (800) 852-4890 or by
contacting the author at
marelizand@neb.rr.com
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Reviews:
I loved the
characters. I liked the short chapters. Everyone should
read this. Brilliant.
--
Alicia, Age 10.
No one said attending
middle school would be easy, challenging--yes,
predictable--no. Gracie, the protagonist in "Gracie
Gannon: Middle School Zero", takes us through the
emotional highs and lows of school, friendships,
birthday sleep-overs, and family life in this chapter
book for readers of ages 8-12, and through the journey
puts a spotlight on the hurts and damage caused by
bulling.
-- WRITERS INFORMATION NETWORK
"Gracie Gannon: Middle
School Zero" is a story that will hit close to home for
the 'tween who feels out of sync with her world. The
book presents an upbeat story with a positive message
that while not everything can be fixed, we can meet life
with confidence and compassion. Sixth grader Gracie
Gannon reaches out and discovers that friendship means
being there for the bad times as well as the good.
-- AUTHOR'S CHOICE REVIEWS
Mary
Elizabeth Anderson has captured the feelings of what it
means to be a young teenager. "Gracie" wins your heart.
The book teaches young girls that most girls that age
have insecurities; and, you can't always judge another
by their actions. A solution to losing friends is look
for someone who needs a friend. There are life issues
that make our own problems seem less troublesome. Gracie
Gannon learns all of these lessons in this book and will
give the young reader insights into how to cope in the
"middle school" environment. I gave this book to my
granddaughters with the hope that by identifying with
Gracie, they will be able to make it through the
pre-teen and young teenage years with poise and
confidence.
-- A Must Read for all Middle School Girls,
December 12, 2007 By Kay V. Hulme "G'ma Kay" (Lincoln
NE)
Mary
Elizabeth Anderson has written a book that I look
forward to reading to my three young grand daughters
when they become "of age". Through Gracie Gannon, she
has exposed many of the problems facing young girls
today. While giving in to peer pressure, struggling to
"fit in", and going along with the crowd of bullies
would have been the easy way out, Gracie has chosen the
higher road. It is her strength of character, concern
for her ill mother, and efforts of inclusiveness that
make her character the one you would like to see more
young girls emulate. Being a friend for life is
difficult, but it is that loyalty that endears the
reader to Gracie. It is a great book about making
difficult choices and valuing others because of who they
are rather than what they have!.
-- Diana K. Frank (Lincoln, NE)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Mary Elizabeth, known as Mary, Mary Liz, or just plain Liz, can remember the first time she
started to call herself a writer. "I was around nine or ten years of age, and had a
favorite aunt who was very ill. I wanted to make my aunt feel better, so decided to create a
weekly newspaper. I filled this
newspaper with all sorts of information about my family, drew
cartoons, and
worked out some crossword puzzles. Just like the kinds of things you
find in
a regular newspaper. My aunt liked this paper so much that I soon
started
giving it out to other aunts and uncles, grandparents, and anyone
else that
wanted to read it. It took a lot of time, because everything had to
be drawn
or written by hand. I liked doing it, and decided at
that time
that I wanted to become a newspaper reporter when I grew up.
I
grew up in Shenandoah, Iowa, where I attended school from
kindergarten through high school. I spent lots of time at the public
library during my childhood. For me, the library represented a
magical place. A place where I could spend a summer's afternoon
actually sitting on the floor and pulling out book after
book--reading parts from each one, in order to find the perfect
books to check out that day. I loved to thumb through all the
magazines in the library. An exciting thing happened when I actually
started to write for them.
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My childhood library brought magic into my life. It swept me to
faraway places, filled me with the love of reading, and instilled a
dream within me to someday become a writer of children's books. In
fact, I still remember the exact day I decided I'd like to become a
writer of children's books. I can still feel the heat from the sun,
feel perspiration dripping down my forehead, and can hear the
crunching sound my sandals made walking on the gravel, as I made the
long hot walk to the library. I remember looking down at the books I
carried and thinking "Wouldn't it be the most wonderful thing in the
world to see my name on the cover of a book someday?" And then I
thought, "How cool that the book would be around for years and years
and lots of kids would have a chance to read it." |
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The
Shenandoah, Iowa Public Library |
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The author at age 13 with
older sister Pat and younger brother Dan.
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The author at age 10.
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My dream of writing didn't come to fruition until January 1991. The
night the Persian Gulf War began, I took my first writing class at
Central Community College in Grand Island, Nebraska. "Writing For Profit" intrigued me so much
that I signed up for "Writing For Profit Two". These two courses
stimulated and inspired me. They also taught valuable marketing
skills. After these two classes I jumped right into the process and
wrote an article about draft horses, which RURAL HERITAGE accepted.
I then decided to write greeting cards for Blue Mountain Arts, and
had several accepted. Many articles and stories later I started
teaching "Freelance Writing for Profit & Pleasure" at community
colleges throughout Nebraska.
Good friends from Iowa introduced me to the Lincoln Highway,
the first transcontinental highway across the United States. This
information aroused me to action. I decided to write a children's
book titled LINK ACROSS AMERICA: A STORY OF THE HISTORICAL LINCOLN
HIGHWAY. Because of this book I became acquainted with the Lincoln
Highway Association and other people interested in the route. I
started to give school visits, and also speeches about the highway
to various civic organizations and book clubs.
Soon I became busy working on many book projects. JayJo
Publishers published TAKING CEREBRAL PALSY TO SCHOOL in the fall of
2000.I dedicated the book to Chad Madson of Lincoln, Nebraska. I
gathered valuable information concerning writing through my
attendance at many writers conferences and workshops, and by
consuming a shelf full of writing books. In August of 2001 two more
book contracts IT'S ME AGAIN, GOD, and WHY DID THEY BUILD A FENCE?
came my way. Three weeks later a contract from Warner Press for my
manners book EVER WONDER WHAT TO DO.
I appreciate everyone who has decided to visit my web site.
I'd love to get to know you better. Please feel free to write, call
or email me. See the "Contact Me" page for my phone number and
addresses.
Thank you.
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