Third Grade Baby by Jenny Meyerhoff

 When Jenny Meyerhoff's sixth grade language arts teacher asked the class to write a poem, Meyerhoff, a Silverstein devotee, wrote her ode in exact Silverstein-ian style. It was so Shel-like, in fact, her teacher had trouble believing Jenny had written the poem herself. And that's when Meyerhoff knew she could write. Really write.

"Until that moment," she remembered for my October children's market column at Authorlink.com, "I don’t think I realized that writing was something I could do. I thought it was just for grown ups. So, I got myself a notebook, and I carried it with me everywhere I went, writing poems constantly," even through high school.

After college and kindergarten teaching, Meyerhoff returned to her sixth grade roots by following a dream: completing a book for children. The result? Third Grade Baby (Farrar Straus Giroux), her fun and funny tale for middle-graders exploring the tooth fairy myth, which Instructor magazine recently included in its top five new back to school reads.

Learn more about Jenny Meyerhoff, including details on her forthcoming young adult novel The Impossible Secrets of Essie Green (FSG, 2010), at her website and blog.