Janet Ruth Heller's Blog
May.04.2013
I read my award-winning book for children about bullying, How the Moon Regained Her Shape, on Sat. May 4 at 10 a.m. EST for the It's Story Time radio show over Blog Talk Radio. Here is the link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/worldofinknetwork/2013/05/04/its-story-time-with-jd-...
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Apr.20.2013
Like most Americans, I have spent the last week scouring the media for news about the manhunt for the Boston Marathon bombers. I’m very relieved that investigators and public informants have solved this terrible crime. However, I hope that we will not conclude that all young immigrants...
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Mar.28.2013
Review of Barbara Ann Mojica’s Little Miss History Travels to Mount Rushmore, with illustrations by Victor Ramon Mojica, Eugenus Studios, 2012.
This picture book for children ages 7 to 12 is chock-full of details and statistics about the carvings of four United States presidents’ faces on Mount...
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Feb.24.2013
Motivated by her concern after the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007, Kathryn Erskine wrote mockingbird (mok′ ing-bûrd) to examine how families cope after a sudden tragedy. Erksine’s first-person narrator is a ten-year-old girl with Asperger’s syndrome named Caitlin Ann Smith. Caitlin is...
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Jan.05.2013
Dear Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation:
On Sunday, December 2, 2012, I went through the security checkpoint at the airport in Richmond, Virginia. I am a handicapped 63-year-old woman professional writer and English professor with no criminal history. After I passed...
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Oct.27.2012
In October, Sylvan Dell Publishing released the third paperback edition of How the Moon Regained Her Shape, my book about bullying. The book is also now out in a “Fun eReader” iPad App. Also, Publishers Weekly recommends How the Moon Regained Her Shape in an...
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Sep.24.2012
Originally posted by Raychelle Muhammad, August 27th, 2012
1) Tell us a bit about who you are, and where you live and work.
I’m a poet, college professor, literary critic, essayist, fiction writer, dramatist, and memoir writer. I have published the poetry books Folk Concert: Changing...
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Jul.18.2012
On July 14, 2012, I read my poems at a Tribute to Barbara Gensler, my favorite high school teacher. She was retiring from teaching English and directing dramas at Shorewood High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, after 47 years. Alumni of Shorewood High School came from all over the world...
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Apr.14.2012
On April 5, 2012, the new documentary movie Bully, which had originally been rated "R," received a revised rating of "PG-13" after an extensive petition drive. The Motion Picture Association of America had designated Bully an "R-rated" film because one curse word was used six...
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Nov.16.2011
Last Sunday, I watched PBS's The Song of Lunch on Masterpiece Theatre. This drama focuses on a reunion of two former lovers, who meet for lunch in an Italian restaurant fifteen years after their affair has ended. Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson play the two central un-...
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Oct.26.2011
I'm enjoying the episodes of Case Histories on PBS's Masterpiece Theater. Each program covers several interlocking cases. The first episode involves mysteries surrounding the disappearance of two women and one little girl and the murder of a young woman. Private...
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Sep.12.2011
Two years ago, when she was penalized for a foot fault, star tennis player Serena Williams completely lost her temper in a semi-final match at the U. S. Open. She screamed at the line judge and threatened to stuff a tennis...
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Jul.04.2011
As a former editor of Primavera, a literary journal, I understand how time-consuming it is to correspond with authors who submit manuscripts. I spent a lot of time writing detailed personal letters to authors before e-mail was widespread. I even got thank-you letters for my rejection notes...
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May.19.2011
My one-act play The Cell Phone won fourth place in a national contest sponsored by the Fenton Village Players. My drama will be performed twice at the Fenton Village Players One-Act Play Festival on Friday, June 24 and Saturday, June 25, 2011, at 7 p.m. in Fenton, Michigan. This will be the...
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Feb.20.2011
In December of 2010, Finishing Line Press notified me that I was a semi-finalist in its 2010 Open Chapbook Competition, and FLP accepted my poetry chapbook, Traffic Stop. It will be out July 8, 2011. I am very excited about this! I have published dozens of poems separately or in small groups in...
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Heller uses a storytelling voice with modern, accessible language. Her well-written prose moves the reader forward as she creates reader empathy for the moon, and makes readers want to know what the moon will do to overcome the sun's bullying. The text never feels too long, but sings with a lyrical storytelling rhythm. Heller has obvious insight into how it feels to be bullied or emotionally abused, and the way hurtful words can impact on one. . . . How the Moon Regained Her Shape is both entertaining and a great tool on how to deal with the impact of bullying or emotional abuse, and how to build self esteem and confidence and belief in oneself. It encourages readers not to hold onto negative comments, but instead to seek out their friends, to seek out positive messages about themselves and to listen to them, and to build up their self esteem and hold onto their self worth. This book can spark positive discussion and bring about a greater understanding of bullying or emotional abuse and its impact. If you've ever experienced bullying, emotional abuse, or felt put-down, or know someone who has, pick up this book. You won't regret it. Highly recommended.”
—Cheryl Rainfield on www.cherylrainfield.com--Picture Book Reviews
About Janet
Janet Ruth Heller is a poet, literary critic, college professor, essayist, playwright, and fiction writer. I am a past president of the Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature, and I am currently president of the Michigan College English Association....
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Causes Janet Heller Supports
National Trust for Historic Preservation, Nature Conservancy, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Autism Speaks,






