About Us
Derri Smith
Derri is a wife, mother and life-long avid reader, with a wide variety of educational training and experience. She has an education degree and worked as reading specialist as well as classroom elementary school teacher in public schools for eight years.
She oversaw a volunteer program in an inner city school for 3 years and volunteered beside her husband, Bill, for over six years in Nottingham, England and Vienna, Austria. From there, they served refugees and aided persecuted Christians in Communist Eastern Europe. While overseas, Derri created an international library providing reading materials in a variety of languages. She is a home educator with a passion to "feed" her children only the best, including the best literature, and her articles on child training issues are published in national and regional magazines and online venues. (current as of September 2008)
Always passionate about protecting children, Derri currently serves as Director of Anti-Slavery Ministries for International Teams, bringing people together to end human trafficking and slavery.
Also contributing:
Bethany Smith is a 23-year-old writer and avid reader. She published a newsletter for girls from 2000 until 2004. She is the author of I Remember Mama, published by Sweet Home Press, and magazine articles (online and in print). Her current interests include writing, dancing, missions and pursuit of a career in Physical Therapy. Bethany has been involved in leadership with Homeschool Alumni Association. She spent the summer of 2008 living and working in the UK and, as of this writing, is in her senior year of college. (current as of September 2010)
Amy Smith is an 18-year-old who loves to read and write fiction. Her other interests include medieval history, art, baking and a Black Lab mix named Shadow. She now attends college, studying Psychology. (current as of September 2010)
Bill Smith is a husband, father and professional non-fiction writer. He enjoys creating web sites, like this one, and is at this writing President of the American Association of Grant Professionals (AAGP). Bill heads up Sweet Home Press, which publishes BookAngles. (current as of September 2010)
Guest reviewers:
Tiffany Robinson is a homeschooling mom of two children ages 7 and 4. She loves to read and encourage her children to share this rewarding passion by surrounding them with well written works--literature that supports their family values and/or promotes critical consideration (with guidance from herself or her husband) of important subjects. More generally, they enjoy taking nature walks as a family and playing games together. They also strive every day to instruct their children in the knowledge of God so that they may grow into godly adults. In all these things and more, they try to keep the relationship with Christ as the lively center of their family.
Bekah Tuggy was born and raised in the (U.S.) South, the daughter of a "missionary kid" from Venezuela and his wife, both Christians, and children from large families. She was homeschooled during the 1980's and 90's, avidly reading the entire time, and as of this writing enjoys a rich life as a Resident Director at Covenant College. After earning college degrees in engineering and piano performance, Bekah put in some time as a grad student, but is currently in an extended sabbatical from formal education as she waits to see where God will lead her career over the next years. Bekah still loves reading and hides books everywhere to be read at opportune moments. She also likes sewing clothing, yelling at soccer games, and looking for unnoticed beauty that Christ has placed everywhere. Also, she enjoys discussing as many angles as possible about the controversial issues of life, in order to find the grace of God in every relationship. (current as of January 2007)
Megan is a homeschooled highschooler who lives in the Midwest. She spends most of her time doing schoolwork, reading, writing and interning at a small film company nearby. In her spare time, she enjoys listening to music of every kind, watching movies, experimenting with graphic art and thinking about the deep things in life. She hopes to have a career in film directing, missions-oriented film, or writing. And traveling the world would be nice, too...