ALA WRAP-UP

I met some of my favorite authors at ALA in Anaheim. These authors have become my co-teachers. I bring their books into my classroom and share them, and they become my teaching tools. Without them, I couldn't teach writing or show the power of story! Here are a few of the authors I met!

Here I am with Kazi Kibuishi. He writes the Amulet series of graphic novels. I can never have enough copies of those in my classroom. (I told him that.) They're very exciting! My students will be so amazed that I met him. (P.S. Graphic novels get kids reading!)

Smile is a very popular book in my classroom. It is read and reread over and over again! So I had a BIG SMILE when I met the author, Raina Telgemeier. (Sorry about the picture. I'm not sure why it's in a checkerboard pattern or why it's so dark! Strange! But it's the only one I have so it's going up!)

I tweeted a lot this spring about the super special book, The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. When I read this book aloud, my students hung on my every word. My students really connnected with this novel-in-verse, and Ivan, the main character in the book (silverback gorilla) won our hearts.  Our first author Skype was with the awesome Katherine Applegate, so she'll always have a place in my teacher heart. Can you tell how excited I am in this picture?

I also met Sharon Creech. I waited in line for her, and that was fine! She wrote LOVE THAT DOG, which inspired my kids to write poetry. . VOLUNTARILY. AT RECESS. JUST FOR FUN. I owe her a debt I cannot pay. I'm a little calmer in my pic with her. I think it's because I was nervous. But she was so gracious! She even took a picture of me and put it on HER blog. LOVE THAT SHARON CREECH. (I'll be blogging about her upcoming release THE GREAT UNEXPECTED in a future post.)

And for my final pic, I have a question for you. Have you read WONDER yet? If you haven't, I highly recommend it. It's a book about a boy with severe facial deformities who attends school for the first time. The book's theme is: CHOOSE KIND, and it's become a national campaign. My friend and I met RJ Palacio, and we chatted about how this book has resonated with so many.


"Authors are my rock-stars". I saw that quote on a t-shirt once, and it is definitely true for me. They craft words and sentences together into books that help me connect with my students. With their work, authors make it possible for my students to become lifelong readers -- and that is why I am SO very happy to meet them.