We’re not even sure if this letter is real. But we kind of hope so. It’s purportedly written by a student to an English teacher at a school called McKinley. We love the response from the teacher! Real or not, it’s a great lesson in punctuation and grammar. If
Barry Jonsberg is a former lecturer and high-school teacher and author of books for young adults and kids. He has published eight books for young adults and the latest, My Life As An Alphabet, has been shortlisted in the 2014 Children’s Book Council Awards Book of the Year for Younger Readers.
Barry moved to Australia from the UK in 1999 and wrote his first novel in 2001. In 2004 his first book was published, The Whole Business with Kiffo and the Pitbull. That book was his first CBCA shortlisted novel – it made the list in 2005 list in the Older Readers category. Since then he has published 10 more books for young adults and younger readers including It’s Not all About YOU, Calma (which won the 2006 South Australian Festival Award for Children’s Literature), Dreamrider (shortlisted for the 2007 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards) and Being Here.
Start Writing Fiction
Our most popular writing course. Learn characters, scenes, dialogue and storytelling fundamentals in just five weeks.
Find out more
Follow a Clear Path
From your first story idea to a polished manuscript, our five-course pathway shows you what to do next.
Explore the program
Build Specific Skills
Strengthen characterisation, dialogue, point of view, scenes, structure, grammar and punctuation with focused short courses.
Write for Young Readers
Picture books, chapter books, middle grade or YA – discover the course that matches the stories you want to write.
