Betsy Franco
Children's Book Author

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You Hear Me? poems and writing by teenage boys Things I Have to Tell You, poems and writing by teenage girls Compelling, uncensored poems and essays by teenage boys and girls He Shaved His Head He shaved his head to release his imagination. He did it to get a tattoo on his shiny head. He did it to lose his normality. He did it to become a freak. He did it because he was angry. He did it to make people angry. He did it for himself. --Rene Ruiz" age 13 New Honesty (excerpt) Can I find a balance between me and the box I call my family? I want equilibrium. I want change. I want to tell the Truth, not the truth of the woman who snapped on a collar and named me alive. Like a plastic ball, I toss between myself and the various identities I have been assigned. Look out—I fell in the mud. Look out—I opened my mouth, and out came ideas you don’t think are pretty. I suppose it would be scary to be a ventriloquist who found out her dummy can talk, to find the doll had a brain and opinions that will bite when provoked. I suppose it would be scary if I opened my coat and showed you all my secrets. Would you call me a flasher and file charges? Would you gaze blindly refusing to see the Truth: I’m sorry to tell you that I’m not sorry anymore. I can only run for so long and so far. I’m done, and I'm throwing up my Truth like a marathon runner at the end of a 16-year race. --Jessie Childress age 16 ALA Best Books for Young Adults, 2001 ALA Quick Picks for Young Adults, 2001 New York Public Library Book for the Teenage Booklist Top Ten Poetry Books for Young Adults To purchase call 1-800-788-6262or visit www.booksense.com

Selected Works 1. Picture book Bees, Snails, & Peacock Tails "Franco's spirited poems...Jenkins' masterful collage work." --Booklist, starred review 2. teen-written poetry anthologies You Hear Me? poems and writing by teenage boys; Things I Have to Tell You, poems and writing by teenage girls "...honest, raw and sometimes tender selections..." -School Library Journal 3. picture book Birdsongs "Celebrate the free concert that birds perform..." --Publisher's Weekly, starred review 4. picture book Mathematickles! "Word lovers might stand a better chance of becoming math lovers..." -Horn Book, starred review 5. children's poetry Counting Our Way to the 100th Day "the bouncy, humorous poems include an amazing variety of math concepts ...delivered with a light touch" --Kirkus Review Quick Links My son James Franco mentions my work on Letterman My son Tom Franco's sculptures and art collective More of my son Tom's sculptures My son Dave's imdb.com web site Email the author! Simon & Schuster Candlewick Press Interview by Patricia Newman Authors on the Web Teenreads.com interview BookSense.com for independent bookstores amazon.com

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