Here I'm collecting an ever growing list of sites that I think you might find helpful for research. Some of the sites provide more information about the topics I address in my books. Others are good places to find historical information for reports or just because you're interested in learning. I've also found some sites for teachers--here you'll find ideas for lesson plans and activities.

I did a presentation on using the web for research for The Wisconsin Educational Media Specialists Association. Here are some of the sites I talked about.  

Information for Reports and General Interest:

America Writes for Kids is a great place to start when you're looking for good books to read and information on authors. "Its goal is to promote literacy and creativity by introducing young readers, parents, teachers, and librarians to the work of “real, live” children’s authors." (http://usawrites4kids.drury.edu)

Check out Ask an Expert if you're doing a report and need information to get started. This site "connects you with hundreds of real world experts, ranging from astronauts to zookeepers. These experts have volunteered to answer your question for free!"(http://www.askanexpert.com/indexframe.htm)

Interested in the Nineteenth Century?  The Victoria Research Web is a good place to find books and sites for information on this fascinating time.  It's set up for graduate students, though, so be prepared for some complexity. (http://www.indiana.edu/%7Evictoria/libraries.html)
 

More information about my book topics:

Keeper of the Light

The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum is one of the places I visited while researching KEEPER OF THE LIGHT. If you can't visit here in person, then their web site is the next best thing to being there.(http://www.shipwreckmuseum.org/)

Women Who Kept the Lights by Mary Louise Clifford and J. Candace Clifford, was a great help to me in my research. If you're interested in women lighthouse keepers, check it out! (http://www.vais.net/%7Ecypress/women.htm)

The Deeper Song

The internet didn't exist in its present form when I began writing The Deeper Song so I didn't use it for research. But here are some interesting sites about Jerusalem and the time of Solomon.

The Temple Mount In Jerusalem   As everyone is aware, Jerusalem is the heart of several of the world's religions. This site explains much about the history and religious and archeological studies of the city, including information on Solomon's temple, which is mentioned in The Deeper Song. (http://www.templemount.org/)

Take a Virtual Tour of Jerusalem .  These photos of modern day Jerusalem give a sense of what the ancient city was like as well. (http://www.md.huji.ac.il/vjt/)

Riding the Flume:

The Sanger Depot Museum Site has exhibits detailing the history of Sanger, California--the endpoint for the longest lumber flume in the United States. Visit this site to learn about the flume--an important part of my new novel. (http://www.webcitypress.com/sanger/)

California State Parks' Sierra Redwoods Site has information on these immense trees. Even though it's impossible to really imagine them--this site does a good job of giving you a taste of what it's like to see them. (http://www.sierra.parks.state.ca.us/cbt/bigtrees.htm)

For Teachers:

Learning with Lighthouses , created by Mrs. DeWire and her fifth grade class, has lots of projects for cross-curricular activities in the area of Language Arts, Math and Science. (http://204.165.160.1/WWW/cb/lwl.html)

American Memory is a web site of the Library of Congress. It includes information on historical periods as well as lesson plans, programs, and related activities. (http://204.165.160.1/WWW/cb/lwl.html)

Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site created by Carol Otis Hurst and Rebecca Otis "is a collection of reviews of great books for kids, ideas of ways to use them in the classroom and collections of books and activities about particular subjects, curriculum areas, themes and professional topics."(http://www.carolhurst.com/index.html)

Kay Vandergrift's Special Interest Page has lots of information on studying children's and young adult literature.  Dr. Vandergrift is a professor and dean at Rutgers University. "This website is a means of sharing ideas and information with all those interested in literature for children and young adults."(http://scils.rutgers.edu/%7Ekvander/)

TeachingBooks.net has thousands of teacher guides on PK-12 books, hundreds of multimedia author programs, including original productions of front-list authors and illustrators. These exclusive programs include 5-minute, projectable movies and in-depth, written interviews. (http://www.teachingbooks.net)

Some of my Favorite Writers' Web Sites:

At Sheri Cooper Sinykin's Place you can find out about all her great books--both her hardcover titles and the Magic Attic Club books she's written. (http://www.sherisinykin.com/)

Darcy Pattison's preview web site The WayFinder is a fun way to learn about her new fantasy novel and about how she writes. (http://members.aol.com/ddpattison/wayfinder/index.html)

Jane Kurtz grew up in Ethiopia, and has used her background as inspiration for many of her books.  At her web site you can find out about her books, her life in Ethiopia, the school visits she's done, and lots of other information as well. (http://www.janekurtz.com/index.html)

Caroline Arnold writes nonfiction--she has more than a hundred books for kids of all ages. It was Caroline's book on the Sequoia trees that started me on the question that led to my new novel.  (http://www.geocities.com/Athens/1264/)