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Let There Be…

By on December 21, 2016   /   For Kids, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, For Writers  

“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”   Plato

This shortest day of a too-dark year seems  a good time to share a story I sometimes tell on school visits. I can’t remember where I first heard or read it, and I change it a bit every time.

Once there was a king who was growing old. Soon it would be time to leave his kingdom to one of his three daughters, so he called them all to him. Which of them could fill the throne room, wall to wall and ceiling to floor with something precious? She would inherit the crown.

The first daughter ran to the royal coffers and had the servants drag in bag upon bag of gold coins and spill them out. Yet they did not fill the room.

The second daughter ran to the royal wardrobe and had the maids carry in piles of gowns and jewels and dancing shoes. They did not fill the room either.

The third daughter stood before her father and quietly smiled. She reached into her pocket, making her big sisters laugh and sneer. As if a person could fill this grand room with something small enough to fit into her hand!

But they stopped laughing when their sister drew out …a candle. For when she lit it, its yellow glow grew and grew till it reached every corner of the room, spreading its golden warmth everywhere.

Books, I tell the kids, are a lot like that candle. Stories and poems glow and spark and warm the world with their shining light. They show us the way. They make us less afraid. They fit in our pockets, yet their light fills hearts. A book, some  poet once said, “should be a ball of light in one’s hands.”

So on this longest night of the year, let’s light candles, let’s build fires, let’s write and read and share stories. Let’s remember again some of the wisest words ever written. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that,” wrote Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

 

 

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A(nother) Love Letter to Libraries

By on December 19, 2016   /   For Librarians, For Teachers, Op-Ed  

I’ve long had a love affair with libraries. I grew up as a middle grade student wandering rows of dusty stacks and checking out piles of books. I did research in my high school and college libraries. I went to library school and  learned how to make my own library the center of our learning community. Now, I download new books from my local library. I go to write there, and dig into archives and bookstacks galore for nuggets and facts to add to my historical novels and articles.

Those are all great things and I’m so grateful for all of them. This is a different kind of love letter to libraries. I’m thinking of middle grade students today, getting ready to leave school for a long break, to spend their time sipping hot chocolate or sledding, or maybe reading all the books they got as gifts.

But what about those students whose families lack resources? What does their winter break look like? It’s cold here this week. We’ve been sick at our house. What if we had no way to deal with those issues? Worse still, what if one of your students doesn’t? I can’t get this thought out of my head. My imagination begins to run wild and I start to worry about kids like the ones in the first school where I taught, the kids who shared one coat between siblings through the winter. Who depended on a meal –  free or reduced lunch during the school year, or the sandwiches that were served in the cafeteria during the summer on the same day the book mobile came to school.

Libraries help – without regard to socio-economic status or religion or race or just about anything. Libraries help.

Here’s what my local libraries do about this problem that won’t leave my mind.

Some libraries provide cold weather shelter for homeless people. The Everett Public Library provides resources on its home page .

The Sno-Isle Regional Library system also posts resources on its site. In addition, every branch library’s home page lists the cold weather shelter in their neighborhood alongside the library contact information at the top of the page. Why is this important?

In our area, this past January’s One Night Count in Seattle showed that over 4500 people slept outside, and around 30 of those were children. Where I live and work, that is a whole classroom full of kids – or two. 

In my own county to the north, this was the most striking paragraph for me from the countywide Point in Time Survey:

“Precariously Housed Independent Children (17 & Under) Twenty-two children between the ages of 12 and 17 were found to be living on their own, in a precariously housed situation. The average age of this group was 16.3 years old. Three additional children were found living together as one household, one of them the dependent child of a teenage couple. This household stated they spent the previous night temporarily living with family or friends.”

Thinking about kids – the ones we teach and reach each week (or the ones we can’t) being outside in the cold makes me crazy. But there is hope:  alongside city and county agencies, libraries are joining the work and the conversation about homelessness. I will leave you with this document created by the American Library Association: Extending Our Reach: Reducing Homelessness Through Library Engagement 

What services does your library provide?

 

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Tips for Successful Out-of-Town School Visits

By on December 16, 2016   /   For Writers, Publishing & Promotion  

Because one of my books is nominated for the 2017 Sunshine State Youth Reading Award, I traveled to Florida for a week in November to do author visits at schools throughout the state. While I’d done many school visits in my area in the past, I’d never arranged a solid week of back-to-back visits in another state. I was part visiting author, part travel agent. It was a terrific (and exhausting) experience and I wanted to share some tips for successful out-of-town school visits.

1. Plan, plan, plan. Okay, yes, I’m a planner kind of person anyway but this skill was essential when putting together a week of visits that took me from one end of the state to another. I wasn’t super familiar with Florida so I researched everything from hotels close to the schools I was visiting to the best driving routes to tourist attractions I could check out in my downtime.

2. Prepare. I put together a detailed itinerary that included notes on each school I was visiting — a large or small group, the venue, which grade(s), and whether I was having lunch or autographing in addition to my presentation. I noted hotel check-in/checkout times, driving distances, and the name, cell phone, and email of each school contact, as well as the amount that was due for my visit fee. I emailed myself a copy of the itinerary and kept a paper version with me as well. I must’ve checked it a hundred times during the week! Having all the info in one place was key.

3. Confirm. The week before I left, I emailed confirmations to each contact, making sure I had the correct school address and none of the details or timing had changed. I went over everything so we were on the same page and I hopefully wouldn’t have any surprises.

4. Tech check. I carried two flash drives with my Power Point, just in case, and had emailed it to myself as well. Tech fails are always my biggest fear! I asked each school to have a laptop set up and connected to the projector but brought my own laptop as a backup.

5. Engage, share, connect. This goes for any school visit, of course, not just out-of-town ones. I engage the students with lots of questions instead of talking straight for an hour. Sounds like a no-brainer, but I’ve seen authors talk and talk, losing the kids’ attention. I like to share tidbits of my childhood and personal life (kids love seeing pics of your own kids or pet). And, I try to connect with kids on their level, for example by talking about how editing a book is actually sort of similar to revising an essay for Language Arts. I also wove in some observations and questions about Florida.

fl-gainesville-wms-106. Be flexible. Lots can happen! Thankfully, this didn’t happen to me, but I’ve heard of schools forgetting an author was coming, Power Points not working, and microphones failing. I did speak in one auditorium that was set up for the holiday play and I kept having to step around props and parts of the set. And one of the schools I visited flipped around the order of events. Plus, I was prepared for any kind of weather since I was traveling from north to south Florida.

7. Post-its for book signing. I love Post-its for numerous reasons, but they’re lifesavers when it comes to signing books. There must be ten different ways to spell a name like Allie (Ally, Alli, Ali, etc.) so having each kid write their name on a Post-it on top of their book is so helpful when signing lots of copies. I always make sure to bring along my favorite pen and Sharpie, too.

fl-gainesville-wms-78. Have extra books on hand. At schools where I was signing pre-ordered books, I made sure to pack a few extra copies in my tote bag for the one or two kids who’d forgotten to order and were invariably sad to miss out. And it happened!

9. Take pics on your phone. I made sure to have teachers snap a few pics of my presentation on my phone so I could post them on social media that day instead of waiting for them to email me photos they’d taken. I took lots of selfies with the kids too. They loved it and I felt like a celebrity 🙂

10. Follow up. After I returned home, I spent some time emailing the teachers and librarians I’d met, thanking them and following up on any requests I’d received.

I was honored to meet so many enthusiastic readers in Florida and I’d visit again in a heartbeat!

Michele Weber Hurwitz is the author of The Summer I Saved the World in 65 Days and Calli Be Gold (both from Penguin Random House). Her new middle grade novel, Ethan Marcus Stands Up, is coming in August 2017 from Aladdin Books. Find her online at micheleweberhurwitz.com.

 

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