Going back to Baltimore

Packing my Junk Poker box, my Glory Be notes, my book for a very exciting three days in Shelby County, Indiana (more on that later) and sharing a recent really fun day with kids.

I love Baltimore. Another city I think of as Home.
Is there anything more fun that returning to a place you love, speaking to young, enthusiastic readers about the book you wrote? I doubt it!

The Bryn Mawr School's Newbery program has been going on since the mid 1970s.  
It has evolved since my day as a librarian there. Now, instead of creating books for the younger students, some 5th graders create Book Trailers.  Instead of dressing in costume, acting out a scene, and writing reports, they blog about their favorite books.

But the love of literature hasn't changed.
We did a fun project with boxes, inspired by my Junk Poker Box.

At the noontime event, I was invited to speak to the students and their special guests.

Here I am going on and on about how excited I was to be back home. It was all true. I was very excited.










In anticipation of my visit, I reread and skimmed recent winners and new books that the girls might be reading and discussing. When reading an award-winning book as if I were a student, dissecting the writing, I was surprised at how picky I could be!

Parents made these beautiful tabletop decorations. Each table was different. Book jacket art from all the books the girls had read. I'm in very good company, hanging with Ivan.

It was a great, fun day. 

And, false alarm-- We didn't even need the services of this guy, thank goodness!

(Though the snows came the next week when I was safely back in sunny Florida. Whew.) 


Read more thoughts, visits, friends from Baltimore from these PAST POSTS:

http://ascattergood.blogspot.com/2012/05/another-homecoming.html

http://ascattergood.blogspot.com/2009/12/going-home-again.html

http://ascattergood.blogspot.com/2009/05/childrens-book-week.html


 Writing this is reminding me of a quote hanging over my desk:

You can never go home again, but the truth is you can never leave home so it's all right.
Maya Angelou

 What do you think about Going Home Again? Truth or myth?