Susan Hughes – författare

Thirteen-year-old entrepreneur Polly Corbett has a good idea—no, a great idea—for the upcoming end-of-year dance at her middle school.

While almost everyone in the seventh and eighth grades has a crush, none of them are brave enough to ask anyone to the dance. That's where Polly and her friends' matchmaking service comes in. But setting up dates for middle-schoolers isn't as easy as it seems. Polly and her friends face unexpected obstacles and uncomfortable truths as they discover the ups and downs of running a business and dating.

This short novel is a high-interest, low-reading level book for middle-grade readers who are building reading skills, want a quick read or say they don’t like to read! The epub edition of this title is fully accessible.

As a young child, Phymean Noun dreamed of learning to read and write. But growing up during the Khmer Rouge reign of terror in Cambodia in the 1970s made that dream impossible.

Formal education was not only forbidden at that time but also could result in a death sentence. When the Khmer Rouge government was eventually overthrown, Phymean was finally able to go to school and fulfill the promise she made to herself as a young girl.

Years later, when Phymean was working in Phnom Penh, she met several unhoused and hungry child laborers who were unable to get an education because they had to work to feed their families. Like Phymean, their greatest dream was to go to school. Phymean knew she had to help. She left a stable job and salary behind to start the People Improvement Organization (PIO) in 2002, an NGO that educated, fed and also housed children in need. Since its founding, PIO has helped 8,000 children accomplish their dream of receiving an education.

The epub edition of this title is fully accessible.

In this inspiring story of individual activism, a boy recognizes gender inequality when his sister must stop attending school — and decides to do something about it.

Victor is very close to his twin sister, Linesi. But now that they have turned eight years old, she no longer goes to school with him. Instead, Linesi, like the other older girls in their community, walks to the river to get water five times a day, to give their mother more time for farming. Victor knows this is the way it has always been. But he has begun learning about equality at school, and his teacher has asked the class to consider whether boys and girls are treated equally. Though he never thought about it before, Victor realizes they’re not. And it’s not fair to his sister. So Victor comes up with a plan to help.

Based on a true story of a Malawian boy, award-winning author Susan Hughes’s inspiring book celebrates how one person can make a big difference in the lives of others. It’s a perfect starting point for children to explore themes of gender inequality and unequal access to education, as well as the lack of clean water in some parts of the world. Nicole Miles’s appealing artwork in this graphic novel / picture book hybrid format adds emotional context to the story. Also included are information about education and water availability in Malawi, resources and a glossary of Chichewa words. Part of the CitizenKid collection and featuring a growth mindset, this important book has links to social studies lessons on global communities and cultures, as well as to character education lessons on initiative, fairness and adaptability.

Freelancing life is known for being "feast or famine," because all the jobs seem to come in at once necessitating that some be turned away. When the work is scarce, don''t you wish you could have some of those opportunities back?

The most successful freelancers always have work because they establish themselves as being worth the wait. Susan Hughes is an editorial freelancer who credits her business success to a series of self, skill, and business development strategies.  Primary among them is reputation building.

Hughes schedules her clients up to a year in advance and is rarely able to work people in at the last minute. If they don''t want to wait for her quality services, she''s okay with that. She says, "Clients can always find an ''editor'' who is available immediately and often at half the cost.  And those potential clients who hurried off to book one of those one-dollar-a-page editors with a two-day turnaround time? They often come back, determined to pay for professional editing and willing to wait several months to get it done right."

How does someone breaking in to the world of editorial freelancing become worth the wait? Topics in this Editorial Freelancers Association Publication include Hughes''s advice to: Know Your Stuff, Get Organized, Build Your Brand, Grow Your Social Media Presence, Ditch Your Ego, Communicate,  Be Assertive, yet Mindful, Learn to Walk the Tightrope between Serious Professional and "Real" Person, Teach Them What You Know, Surrender Your Role as Team Captain, and Charge What You''re Worth.

Revised for 2023, Hughes presents her best business practices that helped move her from fledgling freelance editor to sought-after professional. "It''s not the number of manuscripts you hurry through that makes you worth waiting for; it''s the quality of your work and the time you spend polishing your reputation that make the difference."