2015 Forum on Engaged Reading Archive
2015 Keynote Speakers
Doreen Rappaport
Author
doreenrappaport.comDoreen Rappaport is an award-winning author of children's books known to educators, parents, children and young adult readers for forty-eight fiction and non-fiction books that celebrate multiculturalism, the retelling of folktales and myths, history, the lives of world leaders and the stories of those she calls 'not-yet-celebrated.'
Her books have received critical acclaim and awards for her unique ability to combine historical facts with intimate storytelling, and for finding 'new ways to present the lives of well-known heroes‚' like Martin Luther King, Jr., John F. Kennedy, Eleanor Roosevelt, Helen Keller and the Statue of Liberty. - A dynamic writer-teacher-storyteller in the classroom, she is a frequent speaker at state and national educational conferences, universities, libraries, historical societies, book fairs, and community centers. She has been a featured author at the National Portrait Gallery, National Book Festival, the Smithsonian Museum of American History and the White House.
Matt Tavares
Author/Illustrator
matttavares.comMatt Tavares was born in Boston, Massachusetts and grew up in Winchester, a suburb just outside of Boston. Matt wrote and illustrated his first picture book,Sebastian's Ball, as his senior thesis at Bates College. Three years later, after much revision, Sebastian's Ball became Zachary's Ball, his first published picture book. Zachary's Ball went on to win an Oppenheim Gold Seal Award, a Massachusetts Book Award Honor, and was named one of Yankee Magazine's 40 Classic New England Children's Books. Since then, Matt has published fifteen more books: he is the author-illustrator of Growing Up Pedro, Becoming Babe Ruth, There Goes Ted Williams: The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived, Henry Aaron's Dream, Mudball and Oliver's Game, and the illustrator of Jubilee! by Alicia Potter, Over the River and Through the Wood by L. Maria Child, Helen's Big World, by Doreen Rappaport, Jack's Path of Courage: The Life of John F. Kennedy, written by Doreen Rappaport, The Gingerbread Pirates, by Kristin Kladstrup, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, attributed to Anonymous, Jack and the Beanstalk, by E. Nesbit, Iron Hans: A Grimms' Fairy Tale, retold by Stephen Mitchell, and Lady Liberty: A Biography, by Doreen Rappaport.
Matt's books have won numerous awards, including three Parents' Choice Gold Awards, six Oppenheim Gold Seal Awards, an Oppenheim Paltinum Award, an International Reading Association Children's Book Award, and an Orbis Pictus Award for Oustanding Nonfiction for Children. His books have also garnered starred reviews in Publisher's Weekly, The Horn Book Magazine, School Library Journal, Booklist, and Kirkus Reviews. His artwork has been exhibited at the Museum of American Illustration at the Society of Illustrators, the Brandywine River Museum, and the Mazza Museum of Picture Book Art. Matt lives in Maine with his wife, Sarah, and their two daughters.
Ally Condie
Author
allycondie.comAlly Condie is the author of the MATCHED Trilogy, a #1 New York Times and international bestseller. MATCHED was chosen as one of YALSA’s 2011 Teens’ Top Ten and named as one of Publisher’s Weekly’s Best Children’s Books of 2010. The sequels, CROSSED and REACHED, were also critically acclaimed and received starred reviews, and all three books are available in 30+ languages. Disney has optioned the film rights for the series.
A former English teacher, she lives with her husband and four children outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. She loves reading, writing, running, and listening to her husband play guitar.
Linda B. Gambrell, Ph.D.
Linda B. Gambrell is Distinguished Professor of Education in the Eugene T. Moore School of Education at Clemson University where she teaches graduate and undergraduate literacy courses. She has served as a consultant in the area of reading/literacy development through out the United States and internationally. She also serves as a reading/literacy expert for Scholastic, Inc. and ePals. From 1999 - 2006 she was the Director of the School of Education at Clemson University. Prior to coming to Clemson University in 1999, she was Associate Dean for Research in the College of Education at University of Maryland. She began her career as an elementary classroom teacher and reading specialist in Prince George's County, Maryland. From 1992-97, she was a principal investigator at the National Reading Research Center at the University of Maryland where she directed the Literacy Motivation Project. She has served as President of the three leading professional organizations for reading, the International Reading Association, National Reading Conference, and College Reading Association. In 2004 she was elected to the Reading Hall of Fame.
Dr. Gambrell is a co-author of Best Practices in Literacy Instruction, (five editions, including 5th edition, Oct. 2014), among other books. Her research has been published in major scholarly journals including Reading Research Quarterly, Educational Psychologist, Elementary School Journal, and Journal of Educational Research. She was recently appointed co-editor of Reading Research Quarterly (2013-2017).