How to Write Your Life Story

November 1, 2007
Gr 4-7-Fletcher gives readers and educators many practical and supportive tips. To get started, he suggests a few exercises, including having budding autobiographers write about their names and draw a map of their neighborhood. From there, writers must find a focus, keeping readers in mind as they write. He explains that the gist of the story should be honest, though dialogue and sometimes even characters might be invented for literary flow. He addresses telling embarrassing facts about oneself; similarly, he gives examples of times when writers reveal unflattering truths about friends and family. Interspersed within the text are interviews with Jack Gantos, Kathi Appelt, and Jerry Spinelli, along with passages from the author's own memoir, "Marshfield Dreams" (Holt, 2005). Add this title to Fletcher's "Poetry Matters" (2002) and "How Writers Work" (2000, both HarperCollins) for the budding writers out there looking to improve on their techniques."Debbie Whitbeck, West Ottawa Public Schools, Holland, MI"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2007
Fletcher, the author of several books about writing that are directed at young people, here offers some advice for those attempting to write autobiography or memoir.Students, whooften get assignments on this topic, will be pleased with the suggestions Fletcher makes in his easy style. But kids who just like to write will also appreciate the insights. Fletcher begins with a crisp yet warmly written anecdote about his father, a traveling salesman, and the way his sons would wrap themselves in his bathrobe while he was away. This leads into a discussion of how characters, place, and plot are important to memoir, just as they areto fiction, andways to brainstorm stories: making maps, finding personalartifacts, collecting family history. There are also some good writing tips that give kids simple ways to pep up their writing. Interviews with several well-known authors, including Jerry Spinelli and Jack Gantos, may be ofinterest to older readers.This will be used in many ways.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2008
In this friendly, well-organized, and informative guide, Fletcher encourages kids to draw on their own experiences when writing. He walks readers through focus, form, and craft, offering concrete suggestions and presenting age-appropriate writing samples. The book includes interviews with Jack Gantos, Jerry Spinelli, and Kathi Appelt. Lists of suggested memoirs to inspire younger, middle-grade, and older students are appended.

(Copyright 2008 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)