Lisa Waller Rogers
Lisa Waller Rogers has published five popular history books. All books are available for order online at Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com and various other booksellers. Lisa has just posted her new teen mystery here on this blog in its entirety. Look at the top of this page for the tab, THE CANDY RAVERS, or click here to read!
Click on titles to learn more:
A Texas Sampler: Historical Recollections (primary source material/all levels, Texas Tech University Press, 1998) was a 1999 finalist for the Texas Institute of Letters Best Book for Children/Young People Award. It is endorsed by former First Lady Laura Bush.
Angel of the Alamo: A True Story of Texas (middle grade biography, W.S. Benson & Co., 2000) was a 2005 nominee for the Texas State Reading Association Golden Spur Award.
Get Along, Little Dogies: The Chisholm Trail Diary of Hallie Lou Wells, South Texas, 1878 (middle grade historical fiction, TTUP, 2001) was a finalist for the 2003-2004 Lamplighter Award.
The Great Storm: The Hurricane Diary of J.T. King, Galveston, 1900 (middle grade historical fiction, TTUP, 2002) won the 2002 Western Heritage Award for Outstanding Juvenile Book and was a 2004-2005 Lamplighter Award Finalist. In acknowledgment, the Texas House of Representatives adopted House Resolution No. 995 stating that “Ms. Rogers has distinguished herself as one of the premier storytellers of our time.”
With the publication of Remember the Alamo: The Runaway Scrape Diary of Belle Wood, Austin’s Colony, 1835-1836 (middle grade historical fiction, TTUP, 2003), “Lisa Waller Rogers has created a new children’s classic of Texas literature,” wrote Deborah Hardin in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly (October 2004), the oldest continuously published scholarly journal in Texas.
[...] Lisa Waller Rogers is the author of four history books, including Angel of the Alamo: A True Story of Texas. [...]
Last night my son, who is a freshman in high school, bravely approached me with some bad news. He had submitted a character analysis to his English teacher last week, and when the graded papers were distributed to the students yesterday, my son was taken to the hallway and accused of plagiarism. He was told that he downloaded his paper from the internet, and that he would not be given credit for the work. He adamantly denied the accusation, as it is completely untrue and out of character, and told the teacher that he would need to speak with his parents. I was shocked by the news, and readied myself for the inevitable confrontation.
Today, my husband, my son and I promptly entered the high school at 8 a.m. and waited for our meeting with the teacher and the principal. Once seated around the tiny table in the uncomfortably warm conference room, I proceeded to ask the teacher how he substantiated his claim for plagiarism against my son; what website had he seen the work previously published? With obvious embarrassment, he explained that he and another teacher had searched online for over half an hour, and found no supporting evidence for his claims. I explained to him that I knew that would be his answer, because my son did not plagiarize; I knew this because I had assisted him in the composition of his paper. The teacher continued to explain that the paper was just too good for a freshman paper; I replied that I felt it unnecessary to dumb his paper down and that he should be submitting college level work if he is capable of it. After speaking with us, he knew that my son had done the work, and apologized to him. Not only did he accept the paper, but asked if he could use it as a teaching tool for his class.
You see, my son is following in my own footsteps, he had found the one subject in school that didn’t bore him….Shakespeare. His character analysis was on Mercutio from Romeo and Juliet. I took great pride and joy in explaining to his English teacher that I had been blessed to have the most wonderful teacher in the world in 5th grade, I had Ms. Waller.
I had a teacher who had the bravery to not teach me the standard curriculum for language arts, and instead challenged her class to learn Shakespeare…Romeo and Juliet to be exact. We not only read the play, we understood it, we became passionate about it, and we even performed it. I played Lord Capulet, and I will never forget it. My fondest memories of my education are studying Shakespeare in Ms. Waller’s 5th grade class with Strawberry Fields Forever playing in the background. To this day, I love the Beatles, and Shakespeare, and because of her creativity, belief, and support, I am a writer. I was the news editor for both my high school and college newspapers, and though I have a boring day job, I am a freelance writer on the side….which is my true passion.
Ms. Waller changed my life for the better, and instilled in me a love of art, culture and creativity that I would not otherwise have. I think of her when I write, I think of her when I am at the opera, and I thought of her today as I sang her praises, and realized once again how lucky I am to have had her influence in my life. I am sad to say, I am not a huge history buff, but my husband is almost maniacal about it, and is doing his best to convert me into an amateur historian. Wish him luck. I love you Ms. Waller.
Wow! Ms. Waller has been a powerful influence on my intellectual development as well, but Rachel said it so much better than I ever could.
Thanks!
Shirley Kavanaugh
Shirley, you are a powerhouse.