Backseat Books

What a great idea! A book discussion, on the radio, for kids who are trapped in the backseat with nothing but- Alas and Hallelujah! - a REAL BOOK.

Michelle Norris's NPR Backseat Book Club has chosen some fun books, some serious ones, some award-winning novels for kids ages 9-12-ish.

And this month, July 2013, guess what they read?

GLORY BE!

When my buddies at Scholastic got the word, they were as excited as I was.
Such an honor. Such a thrill. Such an unexpected surprise!

That's my fabulous publicist from Scholastic, Emma Brockway, on the right.
With Brooke her summer intern- from Georgia!-who went with me to the taping.
Thanks, guys!

We traveled to the NPR studios in NYC.
 (Little known fact: A Tomato Plant Grows in the Window)

And a bunch of my kid readers in Como, Mississippi, got to be the Little Interrogators, as my friend Carl named them (Yes, he's an attorney. Surprise!).

Well, those interrogators were fabulous. The Como Public Library is truly remarkable.
When the show aired last week, their amazing librarian, Alice Pierotti, scheduled a listening party.
About 50 people listened in from the library. Wow.

Here are a few of the questions they asked:
 - Did you write the book to tell what your life was life?  Were you around in 1964? - Jy'kerria Barnett
 - Why did you decide not to illustrate the book? - Sylvester Bowden Jr.
 - Where did you start writing stories? Kelmisha Jackson
 - How was Glory so brave even if the grown ups around her were not? Cofield Collins
 - When you wrote the book, did you keep having to write it over and over? - Owen Collins


More pictures, from the big recording day!

Mississippi Public Broadcasting's Sandra Knispel records one of Kelmisha Jackson's questions.
From left are Knispel, Owen Collins, Cofield Collins, Jy'kerria Barnett, Jackson and Sylvester Bowden, Jr.

One of my very favorite pictures!

Of course, it being radio and the run time being SEVEN minutes instead of the HOUR they taped me, not all of those questions made it to the air.

But they were terrific questions, as were the others sent in by young listeners.

Here's the link to listen to the show. 

(I think the very well-spoken young lady reading Glory's part has a serious future in radio.)

For even more pictures, check out the Facebook page of the fabulous Como Library:
https://www.facebook.com/comolibrary