About this item
Fourth grade scientists are not meant to be babysitters. The second book in the Nora Notebooks finds Nora Alpers in unfamiliar territory. Nora Alpers has just become a ten-year-old aunt. To prepare for the new arrival, Nora has been writing down baby-related facts in her special notebook, just like she does with her favorite subject: ants. She likes the idea that someone who studies the A-N-T is also an A-U-N-T, even though she doesn't know anything about taking care of babies. A new family member isn't the only thing stressing Nora out. At school, Nora has to write journals in the voice of a pioneer on the Oregon Trail and prepare for the annual science fair. Science is normally Nora's best subject - until Nora ends up being paired with science-hating, cat-obsessed Emma! How will Nora ever learn to be a good aunt if she's trying to survive the Oregon Trail and arguing against Emma's unscientific science-fair ideas? Readers will welcome the return of Nora who Publishers Weekly called "delightful[ly] enterprising" in a starred review.
About the Author
Claudia Mills is the author of almost 60 books for young readers. To write her books she draws on childhood memories of growing up in New Jersey as well as funny stories her two sons brought home from elementary school and middle school as they grew up in Colorado. She loves to visit schools, where she is always on the prowl for material that can make its way into a chapter book or middle grade novel.Claudia had a second career as a professor of philosophy at the University of Colorado at Boulder, specializing in ethics and political philosophy, which she left a few years ago to devote herself full time to writing. In addition to her books for children, she has published many articles on philosophical and ethical themes in children's literature, including essays on the work of Maud Hart Lovelace, Eleanor Estes, Betty MacDonald, Louisa May Alcott, and Rosamond du Jardin, and published an edited collection, Ethics and Children's Literature, as well. All of Claudia's books have been written between 5 and 7 in the morning, while drinking Swiss Miss hot chocolate at her cozy home near the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. She likes to write for an hour every day, watching little bits of daily writing grow into big piles of published books to share with children everywhere.
