Neon Words: 10 Brilliant Ways to Light Up Your Writing

Written with the aim of emboldening young writers, this volume takes the reader through various writing exercises, techniques, and styles to, as the introduction puts it, “connect the word-organizing part of your brain with your free-ranging imagination.” Pellegrino and Sather speak to the reader in an approachable voice free of technical writing jargon, aiming to engage writers along the many possible stages of the writing process. Organized by chapters such as “Make It Personal” and “Remember the Details,” their guidance succeeds in being consistently lively and patient without patronizing (“Altered books use a traditional physical book as a medium for writing and art.... You get to play creatively while exercising your word, logic, art, and kinesthetic skills”). Whatever the writer’s capacity, time constraints, or creative mood, these pages offer a trove of ideas to spark inspiration, among them exercises and crafting activities such as list making, shape poems, hand-crafted haiku holders, dialogue practice, and journaling. A helpful and enjoyable desk-side tool. Ages 12–up. (May)