D. J. Renner

DJ Renner was born in 1971 in upstate New York where he still resides today. He spent eight years in sporting goods sales before beginning a teaching career in 2001. He has taught middle school Social Studies and Advanced Placement United States History over the past 15 years. His first book, The Adventures of Silas Freethorn: A Puritan Tale is a historical fiction title. Renner has recently presented at the NYSEC and NYSCSS conferences discussing the use of literacy strategies and historical fiction in social studies classrooms in collaboration with ELA teachers. He had a professional article published about the topic in the May 2016 edition of the magazine The English Record. He aspired to begin a writing career for many years. He worked very closely with the English Department at his school to find rich, relevant historical fiction books to be used for cross-curricular projects. The idea for his first book was inspired by a need for an early North American colonization adventure story that included most of the countries involved in settling along the east coast. He is currently in the final stages of his second book, a young adult mainstream fiction title.