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Hachette Speakers Bureau presents...
Your Go-To guide on our EDUCATIONAL EXPERTS!
IA
Ashley
Merrym a
n
Kevin R
oose
C R A G I M KA
Dave Cullen
Say What?!...
Testimonials & reviews “If Kevin Roose’s finely-crafted YOUNG MONEY does not scare you straight about the life of a young financial analyst on Wall Street, it can’t be done. Roose’s frolic through Wall Street’s playpen is a must-read.”
“It was a real pleasure in having you as part of the day, you are one of the best opening speakers we have had in a while. What a home run!”
“Supernatural meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer! I didn’t just read UNBREAKABLE, I lived it. When it comes to supernatural suspense, Garcia is the Slayer.”
“Cullen has brought illumination to a dark and difficult topic, and the result is an example of literary nonfiction at its finest: masterful, clear-eyed, bold - and unforgettable.”
Table of
cont ents Hachette Speakers Bureau proudly represents the authors and speakers most relevant to your organization’s events this Fall. Speaking Of is your definitive guide to the hottest authors, the most requested keynotes, and the most inspiring storytellers on the lecture circuit. Contact us to bring one of our remarkable speakers to your next event!
3. Kevin Roose
Award-Winning Technology & Business Journalist
5. Kami Garcia
New York Times Bestselling YA Novelist
7. Dave Cullen
Award-Winning Journalist & Best-Selling Author
Merryman 9. Ashley Best-Selling Author & Award-Winning Journalist
Kevin Roose
Award-Winning Technology & Business Journalist Highly regarded journalist, Kevin Roose began as a reporter for The New York Times, covering Wall Street for the business section and Dealbox— the Times’ award-winning financial news site. His first book, The Unlikely Disciple, earned him credibility early in his career, however, his second book, the New York Times best-seller Young Money: Inside the Hidden World of Wall Street’s Post-Cash Recruits, solidified Roose as a key player in the world of business journalism. Young Money was awarded an Editor’s Choice by the NY Times Review and continues to be a success after being optioned for a TV show by Fox. Because of his versatile background and vast expertise, Roose easily engages audiences from undergraduates to executives on the ever-current topic of successful careers and good business practices. He has appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, MSNBC’s Morning Joe, among many others, and is regularly featured in GQ, Esquire, and ESPN: The Magazine.
Young Money ...an excerpt Arjun Khan straightened his tie, brushed a lint ball off the charcoal gray suit he’d bought for $179 at Lord and Taylor to wear to his high school graduation, gave his hair a final pat, inspected his teeth for food in the bathroom mirror, and bounded out the door of his apartment and into the elevator of his downtown high-rise. A confident, bright-eyed twenty-two-year-old with an aquiline nose and a slight belly paunch, Arjun was on his way to his first day of work as a mergers and acquisitions analyst at Citigroup. His neck muscles were tense and his stomach was turning over, but those were just surface nerves. Mostly, he was filled with the flinty resolve of the newly emboldened. After thousands of hours of preparation, dozens of interviews and expertly crafted e-mails, and one extremely lucky break, he had finally become a junior investment banker at a major Wall Street firm — the job he’d been chasing for years.
If there was one lesson that you believe all educators should be responsible for conveying to their students what would that lesson be?
“
Comfort is overrated. The safest choices in life are rarely the most fulfilling, and if you’re allergic to taking risks and doing crazy things once in a while, you’ll lead a very boring life.”
There is a lot of pressure on students, especially as Freshmen and Seniors. What are a few simple habits that co-eds of all levels can adopt to help reduce stress without stagnating success?
“Get more sleep. Go to the gym. Drink less coffee.”
What is your most formative or memorable school experience?
“
Traveling around the world with my college a cappella group.”
Kami Garcia
New York Times Bestselling YA Novelist Kami Garcia is the #1 New York Times bestselling co-author of the Beautiful Creatures & Dangerous Creatures series & the author of the instant New York Times bestseller and Bram Stoker Awardnominated novel Unbreakable, in the Legion Series. The sequel, Unmarked, releases on September 30, 2014. Kami is fascinated by the paranormal, and she’s very superstitious. When she isn’t writing, she can usually be found watching disaster movies, listening to Soundgarden, or drinking Diet Coke. She lives in Maryland with her family, and their dogs Spike and Oz (named after characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer). Learn more about Kami and her books at www.KamiGarcia.com & www.TheLegionSeries.com and follow her on Twitter: @kamigarcia.
unbreakable ...an excerpt
As my bare feet sank into the wet earth, I tried not to think about the dead bodies buried beneath me. I had passed this tiny graveyard a handful of times but never at night, and always outside the boundaries of its peeling iron gates. I would’ve given anything to be standing outside them now. In the moonlight, rows of weathered headstones exposed the neat stretch of lawn for what it truly was—the grassy lid of an enormous coffin. A branch snapped, and I spun around. “Elvis?” I searched for a trace of my cat’s gray and white ringed tail. Elvis never ran away, usually content to thread his way between my ankles whenever I opened the door—until tonight. He had taken off so fast that I didn’t even have time to grab my shoes, and I had chased him eight blocks until I ended up here. Muffled voices drifted through the trees, and I froze.
If there was one lesson that you believe all educators should be responsible for conveying to their students what would that lesson be? “As a former classroom teacher and reading specialist, with 17 years of experience, I’ve asked myself this question a million times. My answer: Make sure your students know they can’t be terrible at everything. Everyone is good at something—even if they haven’t figured out exactly what that something is yet. Kids need to be encouraged to try new things until they find the one thing they do well and feel good about.”
There is a lot of pressure on students, especially as Freshmen and Seniors. What are a few simple habits that co-eds of all levels can adopt to help reduce stress without stagnating success? “I give students and aspiring writers, of all ages, the same advice. Don’t try to be perfect. Creativity requires risk, and when you take risks, not all of them will pay off. Sometimes your failures will be small, but I hope some of them are big. The ability to fail big and bounce back is the difference between a person with a dream and a person who will do anything to make that dream a reality.”
What is your most formative or memorable school experience? “My biggest influence was always the books I read. For me, school was a vehicle for reading and discovering new books. My second grade teacher introduced me to Pippi Longstocking—a book I read over and over for a year, wishing I lived alone in a house with a horse and a monkey. I moved on to C.S. Lewis, Tokien, and Ray Bradbury (and spent a lot of time getting in trouble for reading in my desk instead of learning the state capitals). By junior high, I had discovered poetry, and when I wasn’t reading, I was hanging out in the hallway, writing poetry in spiral notebooks.”
Dave Cullen
Award-Winning Journalist & Best-Selling Author Often described as a cultural translator, author Dave Cullen specializes in writing about people who live in the margins of society. He spent ten years writing and researching the Columbine massacre, shed light on the private lives of two closeted gay army couples, and wrote extensively about Evangelical Christians and Barbie doll collectors. He has contributed to numerous written and visual news and journalism sources, asking questions that many simply ignore. At the podium, Cullen challenges his audiences to face these unanswered questions. He focuses on combating teen depression, raising awareness about school safety issues, overcoming adversity, advocating tolerance, and delving deep into the lessons of the story of Columbine. His writing and speeches offer advice, create a platform for discussion, and provide a learning opportunity for all who hear him speak. His work has garnered numerous awards and helps drive research toward finding solutions for marginalized populations hiding in plain sight.
Columbine ...an excerpt
He told them he loved them. Each and every one of them. He spoke without notes but chose his words carefully. Frank DeAngelis waited out the pom-pom routines, the academic awards, and the student-made videos. After an hour of revelry, the short, middleaged man strode across the gleaming basketball court to address his student body. He took his time. He smiled as he passed the marching band, the cheerleaders, and the Rebels logo painted beneath flowing banners proclaiming recent sports victories. He faced two thousand hyped-up high school students in the wooden bleachers and they gave him their full attention. Then he told them how much they meant to him. How his heart would break to lose just one of them. It was a peculiar sentiment for an administrator to express to an assembly of teenagers. But Frank DeAngelis had been a coach longer than a principal, and he earnestly believed in motivation by candor. He had coached football and baseball for sixteen years, but he looked like a wrestler: compact body with the bearing of a Marine, but without the bluster. He tried to play down his coaching past, but he exuded it.
If there was one lesson that you believe all educators should be responsible for conveying to their students what would that lesson be?
“Teen depression is the underlying cause of most school shootings--and more importantly, of so much teen misery. Depression usually lies dormant until adolescence, and is easily confused with “sadness” and masked by all the changes underway. Most teachers are how important it is to convey there is no shame this illness. But not everyone knows there are simple two-minute screening tests to identify depression, so kids can understand what’s happening and get help.”
There is a lot of pressure on students, especially as Freshmen and Seniors. What are a few simple habits that co-eds of all levels can adopt to help reduce stress without stagnating success? “Find things you love. And dive in. You need to take some classes because they are “good for you.” Of course, take those. But every year, choose at least one just because it sounds fun or interesting or the idea excites you, even if you’re not sure why. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s silly or extravagant or won’t look good on a college application. Just dive in. Do the same with books, clubs, activities, and topics for papers or projects. Find time for some guilty pleasures.”
What is your most formative or memorable school experience? “Working on my high school paper, The Guardian. There’s only one way to discover what you love doing: try it. Try many different versions of it. I wrote and edited every week for two years, so I left high school certain that writing was in my blood. I also had the basic skills to hit the ground running at my college paper, The Daily Illini, where I landed personal interviews with the sitting Illinois governor, Bono and Edge from U2, and George Bush Sr. before I was 20. It still took me many years to work my way through different forms of writing. I dabbled in magazines, op-eds and fiction before finding my true calling in book-length nonfiction with strong characters and a powerful story.”
Ashley Merryman
Best-Selling Author & Award-Winning Journalist A best-selling author and award-winning journalist, Ashley Merryman’s insights have changed the national dialogue on children-rearing. With Po Bronson, she’s written two New York Times bestselling books – Top Dog: The Science of Winning and Losing and NurtureShock: New Thinking about Children. Together, they’ve won nine national awards for reporting. From chief executives to stay-at-home moms, the most common reaction Merryman hears after a speaking engagement is: “You just changed my life.” Utilizing a unique blend of science and storytelling, she discusses tough parenting topics and educates audiences with razorsharp analysis. Merryman is an acclaimed public speaker, having appeared at dozens of conventions and venues such as the Aspen Institute, PopTech, 92nd St. Y Tribeca, and the Los Angeles Times Book Festival. Merryman’s also spoken at universities around the country – including Yale University, Cal Tech, Georgetown University, American University, and UCLA.
Top Dog ...an excerpt Scholars didn’t get away with these kinds of experiments in the United States. Why the University of Trier’s Ethics Board approved of her experiment, we still don’t completely understand. What we do know is that, at some point, Renate Deinzer received her university’s blessing. And there she stood — in the middle of a tiny airfield in the Mosel wine region of Germany — facing sixteen terrified people she had convinced to go skydiving for the very first time. In a single day, each was going from “Total novice who had never done anything like this,” to “Mastering advanced free fall.” Scaring people to death was exactly the point of Deinzer’s experiment. She was trying to discover how the body responds to incredible stressors: she wanted to know if there was a biochemical expression of fear to match the frightened expressions she saw before her....
If there was one lesson that you believe all educators should be responsible for conveying to their students what would that lesson be? There’s a buzz in education that resilience and persistence are crucial: kids need to know how to overcome failure. And I absolutely agree. But even before that, kids need metacognition – thinking about thinking. It’s about understanding under what conditions you learn the best. It’s the ability to realize when you’ve mastered material or are still struggling. Without metacognition, kids don’t have a sense of their own progress – that is a skill that’s essential in school and life.
There is a lot of pressure on students, especially as Freshmen and Seniors. What are a few simple habits that co-eds of all levels can adopt to help reduce stress without stagnating success? Stress is not an inherently bad thing. Chronic stress is bad, but temporary stress isn’t inherently a problem. Because you only get stressed about things important to you. So, when you feel butterflies, don’t say, “Calm down.” Instead, say, “I’m not anxious. I’m excited.” By interpreting your emotions in a positive light, not just your psychology– but even your heart rate and blood pressure may improve. Beyond that, get more sleep! Insufficient sleep can lead to increased depression, weightgain, and poorer grades. And tiny changes can make a difference: just five minutes of additional sleep improved kids’ scores on math tests. Not sure if you sleep enough? Here’s an easy test: If you need an alarm clock to wake up, you’re sleep deprived.
What is your most formative or memorable school experience? I attended the University of Southern California’s Cinema School, and there’s a class everyone must take, where you make five short films. You have to get a good grade, or you can’t continue as a film major. Mid-semester, I went to a required meeting with my professor, to tell him about my next film idea – a campy comedy. My professor replied, “I’ve been teaching at USC for 25 years, and I can honestly say, I think that’s the worst idea I’ve ever heard.” I was furious (at him.) and mortified (at myself. I cried.). As soon as I got back to the dorm, I threw out my comedy idea, and came up this other idea I didn’t really like, but I knew would get me the required “B” grade. After I showed the film, my professor expressed disappointment in my scrapping the comedy. He thought he’d issued me a dare to prove him wrong. Then I was furious (with myself). Still am. Two decades later. But ultimately, it taught me a valuable lesson. Use critique to test your idea, incorporate what makes it better, then move on. Don’t let naysayers kill your project. Ultimately, you have to believe in your vision. You may go down in flames, but you will always be proud of the times you did something you believed in. And you’ll always regret the times you didn’t.
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