9/9/2016: I’m awarding books to Laura Beth, maryy-st, and Of Glass and Books. I’ll be notifying you all shortly and sending the files. Thanks to everyone who entered.
It’s contest time! Leave a comment below and be entered to win a copy of the electronic version of Elephants Never Forgotten. Contest closes at noon (EST) on Friday (Sept. 9th). I’ll do a random drawing and award two books. To enter, post a comment below on what you most like(d) about school. What was/is your favorite class? Who was/is your best friend? Who was/is your favorite teacher (or who do you despise)? Spill! Don’t forget to leave me a way to contact you. Add your email or website where I can find you. If your icon doesn’t lead anywhere, I can’t find you!
JURASSIC PARK meets MICRO in this exciting MG adventure!
ELEPHANTS NEVER FORGOTTEN
A hundred years from now, twelve-year-old Nigella receives a shipment from her deceased grandfather. Her inheritance is a herd of micro-elephants. While a lot of her friends have micro-pets, Nigella is at a loss on how to care for hers. Why are her micros so different from everyone else’s? What was her grandfather up to? In her struggle to understand them, she learns that there might be a group of wild elephants left in a remote part of Africa. With the help of her best friend, Kepler, the girls set off on an adventure to discover the truth.
What readers are saying:
“Ellis Nelson’s superb writing made this book a joy to read. I felt like I was right there experiencing the journey, the concerns, the total adventure. Lessons about friendship and family, ecology abound.”
“Ellis Nelson has a way with tweens.”
“…buy it for the tweens in your life and let it instigate a discussion on animal conservation.”
“An intriguing, positive read for tweens.”
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ELLIS NELSON BOOKS 
I loved almost everything about school, with the exception of math. However, that attitude started to change in my freshman year of high school. I had an amazing teacher, Mrs. Zwemer, for Geometry. Almost immediately, she could tell that I was struggling and offered to stay after school with me every single day, if I needed it. She quickly became one of my favorite teachers and a confidant of sorts, since I had just started the still-fresh International Baccalaureate (IB) program at a high school that was 15 miles from home. She helped me learn to appreciate math. I didn’t have her in 10th grade for Algebra II, but I was thrilled when I was able to have her again for both junior and senior years. I still remember how proud she was of the effort and dedication I put into the Internal Assessment (IA), where I had devised a student survey of their favorite roller coasters at the Busch Gardens and Kings Dominion theme parks and then used math concepts to analyze the data.
She taught math with a fervent passion, raised a beautiful family, and fought cancer valiantly. She beat breast cancer, had an eight-year remission, and then she was diagnosed with metastatic disease the year after I graduated from high school. This diagnosis caused her early retirement in 2012, and everyone mourned, after teaching for just 18 years. I have a greater appreciation for Buzz Lightyear because of her – Anything and everything Buzz-related decorated her classroom.
She died, peacefully, on January 2, 2015. She was 56 years old. My mom and my now-husband went to her funeral with me, and both of them were lucky enough to have met her several times before the cancer took her away. I think of her every day. She lives on in all of us. To infinity and beyond!
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Wow! Amazing story about how great teachers touch us. Thanks for sharing.
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Absolutely! Thank you for reading!
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Reblogged this on ellisnelson.
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