Educators
Mindy’s novels offer many avenues for conversation in the classroom. If you are interested in having Mindy visit your classroom, college, or library, please email her.
“Mindy was open and enthusiastic about her books, the writing process and interacting with our students. She worked well with both a small group and our entire student body. Both groups wished she could have spent more time discussing topics that are hard, but in a way that caught their attention.”
Mindy has done numerous school and library visits across the state of Ohio, and is also a speaker with the Ohio Humanities Council. Mindy is available to promote literacy and speak about her own books in classrooms, as well as offer writing workshops for all ages.
Not A Drop to Drink , The Female of the Species and Heroine are all Choose to Read Ohio titles, a program developed by the State Library of Ohio to promote Ohio authors and support literacy throughout the state.
The Choose to Read Ohio program creates toolkits to enhance the reading experience, with author biographies and photos, book summaries, discussion questions, related projects and activities, and links to entertaining, educational texts and websites.
Choose To Read Ohio readers’ toolkits enhance the reading experience, with author biographies and photos, book summaries, discussion questions, related projects and activities, and links to entertaining, educational texts and websites. Toolkits for all three titles are available below!
“Mindy was an absolute dream to work with, and she made it easy to host a successful event. She was extremely personable and relatable, and our students enjoyed learning about her and the writing process. She took her time visiting with students, and she made connections with each one of them.”
“Mindy’s visit with us was extremely engaging, with high interest discussions…a perfect middle school visit. Students and staff are still talking about her ! I highly recommend her for your middle school author visit. ”
Classroom Discussion Guide
The Be Not Far From Me classroom discussion guide contains chapter-by-chapter questions, as well as deeper inquiries into thematics.
Discussion Questions
The Heroine discussion guide has questions to be used throughout the course of reading the book, as well as suggested materials for further reading. Also included are resources for those who are struggling with addiction, as well as resources for family members of those touched by the opioid crisis.
Common Core
In addition, both Not A Drop to Drink and In A Handful of Dust have Common Core aligned materials designed by teachers for use in the classroom. These materials are free and can be downloaded below. As featured on NPR, Not A Drop to Drink is being used in classrooms around the country to teach students about climate change.
Not A Drop to Drink
Chapter Discussion Questions
PDF or Google Docs
Chapter Quizzes
PDF or Google Docs
Comprehensive Discussion
PDF or Google Docs
In A Handful of Dust
Chapter Discussion Questions
PDF or Google Docs
Chapter Quizzes
PDF or Google Docs
Comprehensive Discussion
PDF or Google Docs
Further Discussion Google Docs