For more than 20 years, Ralph Fletcher’s has been a beloved bestseller, trusted in classrooms, district inservices, and teacher-preparation programs across the U.S. Now Ralph’s second edition makes an even more powerful tool for turning students into writers—and for teachers to improve their own writing. In , Ralph presents a crash course on the elements of writing, with chapters on how to create vivid details, compelling voice, a sense of place, believable characters, tension, engaging leads and endings, just to name a few. Readers will develop a deeper, more profound knowledge of writing and will find the book eminently practical as well. In fact, Ralph has added two entirely new chapters on revision and nonfiction writing that are immediately useful for meeting Common Core writing standards. It also includes a completely updated list of suggested mentor texts, handpicked by Ralph, and sorted by the craft element each demonstrates. , Second Edition, is a desert-island book for any writing teacher. Personal and anecdotal, it includes a wealth of lively writing samples drawn both from student writers and professionals. Experience Ralph’s keen instructional insight, his careful attention to students and their work, and his experienced-honed wisdom about the essentials of great writing. Discover the pleasure of reading and teaching from . You’ll soon find out why Ralph Fletcher’s timeless classic is more timely than ever.