LouAnne Johnson

Here are some of my all-time favorites:
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the NightTime - Haddon
The House on Mango Street - Cisneros
Night of the Avenging Blowfish-Welter
Woodcuts of Women - Dagoberto Gilb
Pigs in Heaven -Kingsolver
Lamb -Moore
Veronika Decides to Die-Coelho
The House of Mirth -Wharton
Crash Diet -McCorkle
Ten Little Indians -Alexie

LouAnne Johnson is a former U.S. Navy journalist, Marine Corps officer, high school teacher, and the author of The New York Times bestseller Dangerous Minds (originally My Posse Don't Do Homework).

A native of rural northwestern Pennsylvania, LouAnne enlisted in the U.S.Navy in 1971 and served nine years on active duty, achieving the rank of Petty Officer First Class in the Navy and later, 2nd Lieutenant in the Marine Corps. She earned the Navy Commendation Medal and Air Force Achievement Award for her work as a journalist/radio-tv broadcaster.

LouAnne holds a B.S. in Psychology and a master's degree in teaching English.

In 1989, LouAnne began teaching reading and writing to non-English speakers as an intern at a high school in California. Two years later, she was appointed department chair of a special program for at-risk teens. During the government evaluation of 10 similar pilot programs, LouAnne's group was rated first in academic achievement, increased self-esteem, and student retention.

Since then LouAnne has taught English, adult basic education, developmental reading and writing at high schools and colleges. She also designs and presents workshops in classroom management and motivation.

LouAnne is the author of the following books:
Making Waves (St. Martin's, 1986)
My Posse Don’t Do Homework (St. Martin's, 1992)
retitled Dangerous Minds in 1996
The Girls in the Back of the Class (St. Martin's 1996)
School is Not a Four-Letter Word (Hyperion, 1997)
Two Parts Textbook, One Part Love (Hyperion, 1998)
Queen of Education (Jossey-Bass, 2004)
Vigilante Grandmas (self-published, 2005)
Alternative Ed (Yo! Eddie!) (self-pub 2007)
Eddie Corazon (Knopf, fall 2009)

Michelle Pfeiffer starred in the August 1995 box office hit “Dangerous Minds” which was based on My Posse Don’t Do Homework. My Posse and The Girls were both condensed in Reader’s Digest magazine, and Dangerous Minds has been published in eight languages, including Italian, German, Japanese and French.

LouAnne has presented keynote and commencement addresses to numerous organizations, including the National School Boards Association, the National Council on Curriculum Development, National University and the European Council of International Schools. She has appeared on several TV shows, including Oprah, CBS Eye to Eye, NBC Weekend Today, Maury Povich, Tom Snyder, and CNN.