About The Book Mom

A smiling woman with wavy brown hair, wearing a black and white patterned top and a silver necklace.

Meet Lisa

I’ve been reading, recommending and writing about books my whole life. My son (a student in the Montclair public school system) is an avid reader, too. My goal is to help other children experience more confidence (and joy!) in reading and writing—both within the classroom and beyond it.

Here’s what I offer as an English tutor. After graduating from Duke University with a B.A. in English and an honors thesis in Creative Writing (Poetry), I earned my Ph.D. in English from Vanderbilt University, where I taught Freshman English for five years. I then moved to New York City and embarked on a 20-year career in book publicity. Successful book publicists (much like adept students) can capture the essence of a book’s meaning, convey why it’s a compelling read, and show how it resonates with our current moment in time.

Though I usually read fiction for fun, I have worked on a wide array of books. At Random House, I launched New York Times bestsellers like Nancy Horan’s Loving Frank, Jamie Ford’s Hotel on the Cortner of Bitter and Sweet, and Paula McLain’s The Paris Wife. At Fortier PR, I shifted to nonfiction with publicity campaigns for authors like podcast host Scott Galloway and former JetBlue Chairman Joel Peterson. When I became Managing Director there, I coached all the publicists in the firm on their writing.

As a tutor, I combine that experience with the empathy, patience, and care that come with being a manager at the office and a mom at home. I also read every book my students work on (fortunately I’m a fast reader!) and can recommend additional reading outside of class.

My Approach

A person in a denim shirt studying at a wooden table with an open book and a notebook, holding a pen and writing.

Every kid is unique, and I tailor my tutoring accordingly. An introductory session determines the concepts that student needs help with the most. For reading comprehension, we might spend part of subsequent sessions reading and analyzing a text together. For grammar, we’ll work through exercises on things like punctuation, tense changes, and transitions. For paragraph and essay organization, we’ll map out a 5-point essay, find evidence to support each idea, write it out, and revise it over a number of sessions. Over time, all of these steps become automatic. If a student has a relevant class assignment, we can focus on it, but I will suggest a separate essay or attendant reading assignment if needed.

I believe it’s easier to absorb and remember what you learn with material printed out rather than read on screens. I always have hard copies of the books assigned in class on hand, and I advise parents to get children their own hard copies if possible, so they can annotate and make notes freely. If we’re working on an essay, I will print out a hard copy double-spaced so we can make edits directly on it. For college testing, I use books that offer both written and digital test practice (the PSAT and SAT are only given online; the ACT still includes a print option).