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Patricia Hruby Powell

Patricia Hruby Powell, formerly a dancer, storyteller, and librarian, is the author of four Junior Library Guild Selections. “Your modeled lessons will help me in my future writing classes.” “You are a dynamic speaker.” “Your energy and creativity lifted us.”

Loving vs. Virginia: Can you love who you want? Marry who you want? Can there be a "bad law?"
Loving vs. Virginia is the name of the U.S. Supreme Court case which ruled in favor of interracial marriage in 1967--not so long ago. Mildred Jeter, a black woman, married Richard Loving, a white man, in Virginia in 1958, were arrested, jailed, released and banished from Virginia, until their case went to court. Is this fair?

Patricia Hruby Powell

45 Minute Program

Struttin' With Some Barbecue: Make a rhythmic poem with the author
With the author, students will write a poem using a familiar rhythmic poem as a model. We'll explore rhythm, rhyme, alliteration, repetition, and more; after hearing a brief lively reading of an early jazz poem. The students will go away with a fun assignment to listen to their favorite music, absorb the rhythm, and write along those lines.

Patricia Hruby Powell

45 Minute Program

Struttin' With Some Barbecue: Write a rhythmic poem
Patricia will do a lively reading of a syncopated rhythmic poem, describe how she wrote it--with Power Point visuals--then with the group write an original rhythmic poem (with an anapest or triple rhythm)--using rhythm, rhyme, repetition, alliteration. She'll encourage the students to (later) listen to their favorite music and write a poem in the…

Patricia Hruby Powell

30 Minute Program

Lift As You Climb: Be an Activist, Write a Poem
Patricia will introduce herself as a dancer/storyteller-turned writer; guide students to write their own simple poems about themselves, using the poetry of Lift As You Climb: The Story of Ella Baker and Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker as models. We will discuss the question: What do you hope to accomplish? (for 1st – 5th grades;…

Patricia Hruby Powell

45 Minute Program

Patricia Hruby Powell is the recipient the American Library Associations (ALA) Sibert Honor, and Boston Globe Horn Book Nonfiction Honor, and Wall Street Journal’s 10 Best Children’s Books of the Year, among many others.

A former dancer, turned storyteller, and now author, Patricia educates as she entertains. She guides students to write poems (aligning with curriculum standards) and inspires them to social justice activism; as well as to express themselves through dancing, singing, writing, and drawing.

Her last four books are Junior Library Guild selections: Josephine: the Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker (Chronicle 2014), Lift As You Climb: The Story of Ella Baker (Simon&Schuster McElderry 2020), Struttin’ With Some Barbecue: Lil Hardin Armstrong Becomes the First Lady of Jazz (Charlesbridge 2018), and Loving vs. Virginia (Chronicle 2017). Forthcoming are a Women’s Suffrage project (Chronicle) and Cave of the Heart: The Story of Martha Graham (Chronicle Books). She has been a mentor for a WNDB and SCBWI-MI.have received multiple starred reviews and awards including two Arnold Adoff Poetry Honors, Parent’s Choice Gold for Poetry, International Bologna Ragazzi Nonfiction Honor, Society of Midland Author Nonfiction Award, and state awards as well as ALA Lists inclusion.

among many others.

Check out Patricia online:

Josephine

Lift as You Climb

Buy Online

Loving vs. Virginia

Zinnia

Struttin' With Some Barbecue: Lil Hardin Armstrong Becomes the First Lady of Jazz

Frog Brings Rain

Blossom Tales