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CARITA GARDINER

What to Read When You're Avoiding School Work

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About

carita excited

Our Approach

This photo shows how excited I get when one of two things happens.

Either you just looked at my website and joined my mailing list, or my birthday buddy gave me a fake water bottle that will help me carry cookies and sparkly things.

Our Story

Longer Bio

I grew up in downtown Chicago, and had the privilege of attending many amazing schools. At Laurance Armour Day School, I learned to share. At Near North Montessori, I learned to solve problems. At Francis W. Parker, I learned to ask questions. At Amherst College, I learned to take care of myself. At Harvard University Graduate School of Education, I learned to follow my curiosity all the way to the moon. At Middlebury College Bread Loaf School of English, I learned to dive into literature. At Southern New Hampshire University, I learned to deliver the promises of my genres, romance and YA.

While I still learn new lessons and write every day, I also teach high-school English, walk a 110-pound Bernedoodle named after a hockey goalie (from not my team -- Go Blackhawks!), listen to podcasts on writing and science and economics, play old-lady ice hockey with the Salisbury Stingers, knit infinity scarves, eat anything with caramel rather than chocolate, mentor a Penn Teaching Fellow, enjoy studying grammar, post #hotchkiss365 photos on Instagram and FaceBook, and love my husband and two daughters. In my writing, I hope to bring the boarding school world alive with an insider's understanding of the setting and nuanced characters.

I have four books in progress, two YA novels called Jordan Crossed and Mac Daddy, a romance called You Had Me at Synecdoche and the romance novel's sequel. You can read more about them on my Writing page.

Thank you so much for being part of this community. If you have any questions about any of the topics above, please feel free to ask by clicking this link. I'll do my best to answer.

comparing silver sparkles
comparing silver sparkles
comparing pink sparkles
comparing pink sparkles
comparing sparkle shoes
comparing sparkle shoes

I've put in some photos of sparkly shoes so that you can get a sense of how much I like things that sparkle.

JOIN MY MAILING LIST HERE

IF YOU JOIN MY MAILING LIST, I WILL

  • Let you know when I publish/post something new, and
  • Keep you in the running for any giveaways I organize.

IF YOU JOIN MY MAILING LIST, I WILL NOT

  • Give your name/email address to any person, group, or organization, or
  • Send you anything I wouldn't be excited to receive, or
  • Overload your inbox. (You might get a few "Do you really want to be here?" messages in the first few days. After that, I'll stick to one email per week.)
Click Here to Join My Email List

WHAT I DO

I teach English to high schoolers at a boarding school in Connecticut. I read AP English Literature and Composition exams and serve as a teacher mentor for the University of Pennsylvania Teaching Fellows program. I’ve earned a Bachelor of Arts (Amherst College), an Education Master in Learning and Teaching (Harvard University Graduate School of Education), a Master of Arts in English (Bread Loaf School of English), and most recently a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing with a certificate in the online teaching of writing (Southern New Hampshire University).

As a writer, I hope to capture the complexity and joy of life in the New England boarding school world. On this site, I share what I know about trying to write fiction while teaching English, coaching, and doing the other tasks associated with helping to raise over six hundred other people’s children.

WHAT I CAN DO FOR YOU

Teach                    Tutor

Revise                   Edit

Entertain             Enlighten

Follow Me

  • Instagram
  • Facebook

Contact Me

  • cgardine@hotchkiss.org

Read my recent “Why” Wednesday Blog Posts

  • NetGalley Review of In the Case of Heartbreak
  • 222. Why Enter
  • Book Review of While We Were Dating
  • NetGalley Review of The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen
  • NetGalley Review of The Matchmaker
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