Information for teachers . . . .

Historical Notes

If you are planning to use my Civil War novel Across the Lines with your class, you will find useful background information in my Historical Notes, available here.

For historical notes and photos to accompany books in my Civil War trilogy—as well as suggestions for using the books in the classroom—please click on the titles:

More Teaching Aids:

for Captain Kate

for Moonshiner's Son

for Grandpa's Mountain

for Shades of Gray

for Foster's War

for The Secret Project Notebook

Contacting Carolyn

You can reach me by email at Reederbooks@juno.com or by snail mail at P.O. Box 419, Washington, VA 22747. (Please use email to inquire about a school visit.)

Students who email me should put the title of the book in the subject line to make sure the message isn't rejected as spam. Students who write letters should include a stamped, self-addressed envelope.

If a number of your students are writing to me as part of a class assignment, please send all the letters in a single batch by snail mail so I can reply with a class letter that answers everyone's questions.

School and Library Visits

Here's a list of PowerPoint programs I've developed for school visits:

The Research is the Best Part—touches on all books;
The Writing Process—tailored to a specific book or sampling each of them;
Shades of Gray: From Idea to Published Book;
Across the Lines in Pictures—good for classes studying the Civil War;
The True Story of Grandpa's Mountain —especially good for 3rd or 4th who have read or listened to the book;
The Pictures behind the Words—photos that provided the images for characters and scenes as I wrote my books;
Down the C&O Canal with Kate and Seth—includes some features of (1) and (6) for Captain Kate;
Self-editing—especially good for older kids or groups of enthusiastic writers. (This is the most interactive of my programs, with oral participation from the group throughout the session.)
Cover Illustrations: An Author's Point of View—sketches, finished art, and judging a cover by its book;
Fritz, aka Franklin—The Secret Project Notebook, with emphasis on the importance of point of view and "voice."

I usually begin a program by showing "artifacts" related to my books and end it with a question-and-answer period.