• Ms. Storms
    Ms. Katie Storms
                                                                                                                               

    “If one tree fruits, they all fruit—there are no soloists. Not one tree on a grove, but the whole grove; not one grove in the forest, but every grove; all across the country and all across the state. The trees act not as individuals, but somehow as a collective. Exactly how they do this, we don’t yet know. But what we see is the power of unity. What happens to one happens to all of us. We can starve together or feast together. All flourishing is mutual.”

    Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer   


    About Me:
    When I’m not reading or writing, you can find me creating art, running the roads in my neighborhood, listening to music, hiking in the mountains, or singing lullabies and reading stories with my daughters. And maybe drinking too much coffee. I grew up in Kansas City, Missouri—I even worked for the Kansas City Royals for eight years when I was a teenager. Then I moved on to Kirksville to earn my BA in English and my MA in Secondary English Education. I currently reside in St. Louis with my husband, Johnny, and my daughters, Penelope Belle and Della Irene. I teach College Prep English One, Time Travel, and Social Issues at Clayton High School in St. Louis.

    We Read to Grow in Head and Heart

    I have always loved reading…from the moment I read Maniac Magee over and over and over, I’ve always found comfort in falling into a story. Over the years, I’ve fallen into many stories. Stories that made me think: Complex books about complex topics. And beautiful books about beautiful topics. 

    And if you asked me to tell you my favorite novels, I'd start with a list something like this:

    LaRose by Louise Erdrich

    Life of Pi by Yann Martel

    The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

    On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

    Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell

    Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

    Claire of the Sealight by Edwidge Danticat

    Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

    The Road by Cormac McCarthy

    The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

    Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

    Half a Yellow Sun by Chimanda Ngozi Adiche

    The Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez

    Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

    Life on Mars by Tracy K. Smith

    Counting Descent by Clint Smith

    Electric Arches by Eve L. Ewing

    Good Morning, Goodnight by Lin Manual-Miranda

    Where to Begin by Cleo Wade

    Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

    The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

    Just Kids by Patti Smith

    Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Kimmerer

    Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

    The North Woods by Daniel Mason

    The Overstory by Richard Powers

    Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorow by Gabrielle Zevin

    Sing Unburied Sing by Jesmyn Ward

    Tom Lake by Anne Patchett

    Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

    Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

    IQ84 by Harukui Murakami

    Never Let Me Go by Kazou Ishiguro

    and Klara and the Sun by Kazou Ishiguro

    Lavinia by Ursula Le Guin

    The Afrominimalist by Christine Platt

    Stay True by Hua Hsu

    Carry by Toni Jensen

    Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

    Beartown by Frederick Backman

    There, There by Tommy Orange

    The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

    Circe by Madeline Miller

    The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich

    Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson

    Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche

    Citizen by Claudia Rainke 

    Black Girl Baking by Jerrelle Guy

    Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

    We Should All Be Feminists by Chimanda Ngozi Adiche

    Butterfly Yellow by Thanhha Lai

    Rosewater and Orange Blossoms by Maureen Abood

    Bel Canto by Anne Patchett

    Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

    The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

    Pachinko by Min Jim Lee

    Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

     

     

    …..my list can go on forever, and I am always asking friends, family, students, and families for new titles. 


     
       
Last Modified on May 23, 2025