I didn't set out to become an author. A writer, yes; an author, no. Yet sometimes our careers choose us, rather than the other way around, no? 

To date, I have written nearly 90 educational books targeted at kids in grade school, middle school, and high school. Here's some info about them ...

I am honored to say that that this book I wrote for Lucent Books was selected by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) as "Best Book for 2004" in the Energy, Environment, Natural Resources category. The following review appeared in the October 2004 issue of Science Books & Films: 

"The author has done an excellent job of bringing a historical perspective to the topic, from the industrial age to the present time. The historical aspect of the experimental data collected on surface water, ice sheets, trees, and other factors having to do with global warming from many regions of the earth is outstanding. The author brings out well the relationship of global warming to the environment, wildlife, loss of land due to a rising sea level, gulf currents, and other features is worth reading ... I recommend this book highly, as it can bring scientific literacy about global warming to many communities."

Here are three other science-related titles I wrote for Lucent Books. 
   

Lucent's Careers for the Twenty-First Century series. By the way, News Media was the first book I ever wrote. I did such a lousy job on the original outline and sample first chapter that the editor almost told me thanks but no thanks. But she gave me another chance, God bless her, and I got the contract that launched my career. When she changed jobs four years later, she wrote me a reference letter in which she called me a "star author" ... and I have never had a compliment that meant more to me.
     
 
Of all the books I have written, Lucent's Eye on Art: Impressionism was one of my favorites ... as well as the most challenging.


Here are two more I did for Lucent books in 2008.
 

Blackbirch Press Giants of Science series.

Here are some reviews of my Jonas Salk book:

"An even, straightforward rhythm that moves at a pace quick enough to hold the attention of juvenile readers... If all the books in the 'Giants of Science' series are as informative and well written as this one... they indeed represent an outstanding contribution to the field of children's literature."
-- The Anniston Star

"This book is straightforward and easy to read. The cover is attractive and the pictures along with the easy to read text provide information that sustains the reader's attention. Information can be correlated with the social studies curriculum. This book would be a great resource for elementary and middle school students. A welcome addition to most library collections."
-- Tri State Young Adult Book Review Committee

Here's one on the Joseph Lister book (no, contrary to popular opinion, he did not invent Listerine):

"Thomson's excellent series titles are fine basic picks for discriminating library collections. Peggy Parks' Joseph Lister: The Father Of Antiseptics, tells of an 1800s British surgeon who made a discovery which revolutionized medicine, producing the antiseptics which changed operating room procedures."
--Children's BookWatch

And a few nice words about my book on Robert Fulton ...

"Illustrations, photographs, and good writing make this book a fun and interesting read."
-- Science Scope  

Blackbirch Press Nations in Conflict series.
       

Blackbirch Press Building World Landmarks series.
  
Here's a review of Aswan High Dam by Sally Niezgoda, a reviewer for Children's Literature:

"This book is an excellent resource for any world studies class."

Click here for another review of Aswan Dam by a librarian in Wisconsin. 

These are all from the Blackbirch series, Yesterday & Today.
 

Another honor from the AAAS ... This book, which I wrote for KidHaven Press, was selected as a "Best Book for 2004" in the Knowledge, Data Processing category. In the August/September 2004 issue of Library Media Connection, the reviewer wrote: 

"The writing is clear and well suited to young readers without talking down to them. The color photos are well chosen and show a good balance of ages, genders, ethnicities, and settings. The book ... would make a handy classroom reference. Teachers may find the book useful in another context as well—as an example of report writing and how to present facts. The format handles footnotes, references, and the bibliography in a straightforward manner that presents a good model for students to experience and follow."

KidHaven Press Exploring Careers series. 
 


I must add here that writing these career books allows me to talk to the coolest people in the world. For Writer, I had the incredible privilege of interviewing Dave Barry, a Pulitzer Prize winner and one of my favorite humor writers of all time, as well as Ian MacDonald, an erudite journalist with the Brussels, Belgium publication The Bulletin. For the Astronauts book, I was able to interview two real-life NASA astronauts, Dr. Ellen Baker and Dr. Megan McArthur, who have both flown on space shuttles. For Fighter Pilot I talked with two U.S. Marine Corps pilots, "Barney" and "Rooster," who fly the F/A-18 Hornet, one of the sweetest little fighter jets in the sky. For Computer Animator I could NOT believe my good fortune at interviewing Dylan Brown, animator extraordinaire at Pixar Animation Studios in California. You may not know his name but you certainly know his movies. Dylan was supervising animator for Finding Nemo, and he also worked as an animator on A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, and Monsters, Inc. He's a very cool guy who has so much talent it is oozing from his veins. 

More books I wrote for KidHaven (sorry the photos look a bit discombobulated; the books are all different sizes and shapes).
  
        
 
   
   
Here's a nice review from Children's Bookwatch of the above
Loch Ness Monster book:

"If you only wish one coverage of the Loch Ness monster in your collection, it should be Peggy J. Parks' The Loch Ness Monster, which uses bright color photos of ads, explorers, 'the monster' and more to accompany a vivid text charting the monster's appearances and legends. Stories of explorations, scientific research, and analysis make the most of techniques used to discover the truth behind the myth."  

I wrote these two for KidHaven's Mysterious Encounters series.
 

After writing exclusively for Thomson Gale (now Gale/Cengage) imprints for six years, I branched out and began writing for other publishers. Here are four books I wrote for the Erickson Press Ripped from the Headlines series.


For the publisher ReferencePoint Press, I wrote these for The Mysterious & Unknown series.

Children's Bookwatch called all the books in the series "fascinating," "kid-friendly," and "outstanding," and said they are "enthusiastically recommended for both school and community library collections."   

Nice, eh?

Lately I've been writing exclusively for ReferencePoint Press because they are the best clients in the world and I love them. My primary focus is a series of titles that focus on controversial issues, diseases, and the environment, which are targeted at high school students. Here are some of them:

Then there are these, which are also ReferencePoint Press titles but for two different series:

This review of the Ghosts and Hauntings series made me smile. It was published in the November 2009 issue of School Library Journal and apparently the reviewer was partial to yours truly (notice the highlighted text).

"This set presents numerous stories of ghosts and hauntings taken from books, Web sites, and other publications. The easy-to-read books contain a good deal of text and are suitable for those who want substantial information. The quality and tone of the writing varies, with some of the titles contradicting each other. Ghosts, the strongest title in the series, does an excellent job of balancing ghost stories with a discussion of the lack of scientific evidence for them. The other books are a little more sensational and at times imply that the encounters occurred."

Ba da boom!

Yeah, I'm  busy. 



And lovin' every minute of it.

Page last updated January 21, 2010