It’s not every day that Nancie Atwell sends a handwritten invitation. But this one isn’t to a get-together. It’s the third edition of In the Middle.

Yes, you read that correctly. Nancie has sent us the manuscript for the new edition of In the Middle, and Heinemann is proud and excited to announce that she will be publishing it with us this fall, just in time for NCTE 2014.

Nancie writes in longhand, and this photo shows her own writing process as she was revising her chapter on teaching poetry. Why did I call it an invitation? Because Nancie herself describes the book as her “invitation to English teachers, both veterans and novices, to understand writing, reading, and the workshop from the inside and to recognize our potential to influence our students' literacy for a lifetime.”

Here also is the beautiful cover. You can’t miss the echoes of the covers of the two earlier editions. In each, Nancie has made it clear that coming out from behind her big desk has meant being with students as they work, that to teach them is to know them as readers, writers, and adolescents.

In the Middle is among the most respected books in our field, and we are honored to be Nancie’s publishing home. Join us as we celebrate the forthcoming third edition in the upcoming weeks and months. Follow Follow @HeinemannPub for sneak-preview quotes, opportunities to share your In the Middle story, and, beginning in August, exclusive blogs (on what we’re calling In the Middle Wednesdays) about the book.