Award-winning author
Simone Elkeles was a teen in the 80's and still overuses
words like "grody" and "totally," but resists the urge
to wear blue eye shadow or say "gag me with a spoon." When Simone's
not working diligently on her next young adult/teen novel, she flies all
over the country speaking to high schools, middle schools and junior high
schools about her funny journey into becoming an author (Simone admits she
was a "reluctant reader" when she was a teen) and what it's like
writing books about contemporary teens. She gives valuable writing tips
and will even do point-of-view exercises in her workshops. Simone is hilarious
and is always being told she should be a stand-up comedienne. She spoke
at Teen Read Week at the Schaumburg Public Library last year and Amy Alesio,
the young adult librarian there said, "Simone held the attention of
over 150 junior high students! She has a gift for using humor and great
stories to capture her audience!" For a list of testimonials from teachers
and administrators on Simone's talks, please visit THE BUZZ section of her
website at www.simoneelkeles.com.
For writers groups, Simone also teaches a Boot Camp for Beginning Writers workshop. Simone had one award-winning YA/teen novel released in 2006, titled HOW TO RUIN A SUMMER VACATION and two more YA/teen novels released in 2007, titled LEAVING PARADISE and HOW TO RUIN MY TEENAGE LIFE. AWARDS: Leaving Paradise: Contact Information:
Click here to return to Speakers Directory Click here to return to Main Page
|