Glory Game!

How much do I love this very cool game?

Eli made it for his outside reading project at Jackson Prep. His mom, who's a teacher at the Mississippi School for the Deaf and uses GLORY BE with her students, shared it.

Some of the stops along the way--

Segregated water fountain, move back two spaces. 
Freedom Riders come to Mississippi, move forward four spaces. 
Glory writes a brave letter to the newspaper, move forward six spaces. 
Swimming pool is closed because of integration, move back four spaces. 

I'm totally impressed. Thanks, Eli and Mom for sharing and for your clever creativity!

Thank you, Grady Elementary!

One of the joys of having your book on the state reading list for your own state is that you get to visit nearby schools and hear what they think. And of course, we all know that kids LOVE to tell the truth.

Tampa's GRADY ELEMENTARY was my most recent stop. Despite the rainy weather, I was welcomed in a BIG way! Check out the sign as I drove into the school.

All the teachers and the librarian were so enthusiastic and their students were delightful.
A huge image of my cover art adorned the library.

4th grade teachers Melinda Dickens and Charlene Ritter truly made my day. The projects were fabulous!

Here are a few FLOATS, based on the Sunshine Reader list books. They'd had their own book parade! (It's all about Gasparilla in Tampa.)







4th grade kids made Lap Books, fully illustrated.

Tons of great stuff in these projects, including a letter to the EDITOR standing up for something they believed in.
Check this one!

"Naps help our health and give us energy to do our work."
Smart thinking.


And the fun continued today when I opened a folder full of letters, thanking me for sharing my book's journey with them.

Must share a few of these detailed, thoughtful notes. I'm still smiling.
(Some great advice, too...)

"Keep revising and work hard."
Okay!

"I think it's really cool that you and your editor revised together. 
I think my hand would fall off."
Yep, mine almost did.

"Now I know what Mrs. Ritter means by 'Our writing is never done!'"
Listen to your teachers, kids!

"As soon as your new book comes out I will surely be reading your newest master piece."

"Someday when I grow up I might write an autobiography and it might have your presentation in it."

"I loved your book. I'm pretty sure it was the BEST book I ever read."
Hey- I'll take Pretty Sure any day!


"I understood you like to read. I am a reading maniac as well. Now if you will excuse me, I have to do some reading myself."

On that note, I'm off to follow Jake's example and do a little reading myself.

Have a great week, teachers and librarians, and thanks for the amazing work you do to make kids so enthusiastic about books.

My Favorite Book Project

Last year, when my first novel was published, I traveled "home" to Mississippi. Thanks to Jill, my buddy at Square Books, Jr., I got to meet some amazing kids at schools in Oxford.

This is one of the best parts of being an author, I promise.

Seeing young readers celebrating your book is also pretty special.

Here's 4th grader Reagan, at her Della Davidson Book Fair this week.

At almost every single school visit and Skyping, readers (all ages!) ask how long it took me to write and/or to get my book published. When I say ten years, that sounds like forever to some of them.
But when you see your very first book appreciated like this, it makes that hard work so worthwhile. 

When I tell you Reagan won third place at her school's Book Project Fair last week, this is a huge accomplishment. I saw all the entrants on Square Book Jr's Facebook page (check the link, above, and go to the pictures page if you want to see some impressive readers). They were outstanding. So hats off and thank you to Reagan, and to her mom and to my niece, Amy, for sharing the pictures.

And because I can't resist, here's another of Reagan before the winners were announced. 

I think that's the letter Glory wrote. And that swimming pool looks three-dimensional!
Such great details.

Thank you, Reagan!

Related Posts: My Visit to Oxford, spring 2012.
Travels to Mississippi: Ten Things to Remember, including Pimento Cheese...