Birthdays: Margaret Fuller (1810), Par Lagerkvist (1891), Scott O’Dell (1898), Margaret Wise Brown (1910), Walter Bate (1918), James Blish (1921), Joan Collins (1933), Susan Cooper (1935), Peter Parnall (1936), Jane Kenyon (1947), Mitch Albom (1958), Paul Street (1958), Sean Williams (1967).

Par Lagerkvist won the 1951 Nobel Prize in Literature

Scott O’Dell won the 1961 Newbery Award for “Island of the Blue Dolphins”

Margaret Wise Brown is best known for her “Goodnight Moon” book.

Walter Bate was a literary critic who won two Pulitzers for biographies of John Keats and Samuel Johnson

Quote: “I find interesting characters or lessons that resonate with people and sometimes I write about them in the sports pages, sometimes I write them in a column, sometimes in a novel, sometimes a play or sometimes in nonfiction. But at the core I always say to myself, ‘Is there a story here? Is this something people want to read?’” – Mitch Albom

Tip: Learn how to use commas. There’s a big difference between “Let’s eat grandma.” And “Let’s eat, Grandma.”

Jumpstart: “I’m afraid she’s dead.” Who is she? How did she die? Why does it matter to you? What happened?