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February 07, 2007
The Glass is more than Half Full
What could be better than winning a Newbery Honor Award? (don't say winning the Newbery Medal because if you win that, you have to give a Very Important Speech. Jenni, Cynthia and I just get to dress up, sit at the grown up's table and party; poor Susan has to give a talk!). Okay, maybe nothing's better but there are some things that fill one's heart up just as well.
Two cases in particular:
One -- A lovely gentleman named Richard Baldwin chose to honor his late wife in a most amazing way. Since she was a former 8th grade teacher, he decided to help every single 8th grader at Meany Junior High in Seattle buy $30 worth of books. Every single kid. $30. Before sales tax. And I got to be part of this incredible gift. Today, at the University Bookstore on the Ave, three groups of smart-alecky, polite, serious, wacky, hormonal 14-year-olds heard me talk about writing Hattie Big Sky. Then they were turned loose to buy any books -ANY BOOKS -- they wanted, up to $30. They bought Manga, poetry, sports books, and Bibles. They bought vampire love stories, comic collections and picture books for siblings. Some even bought Hattie Big Sky (which killed me because it's only available in hardcover so it was one-half of their budget). I wanted to freeze frame the entire day, laminate it and put it in my wallet to carry around forever, that's how incredible it was.
Two -- I am leaving on Tuesday, February 13 for a week of Katrina clean-up work in Louisiana. This is my second trip there. I was intent on wielding my hammer, etc. but my husband got a bee in his bonnet to call the superintendent of the school district to see if they might like a visit from an author. Would they! So now I am scheduled to share my love of writing and a cup of tea with the students, all 150 of them, at Pointe aux Chenes Elementary School on February 15. I cannot wait! But there's more! I contacted the folks at Scholastic to see if they'd be willing to donate copies of Second Grade Pig Pals to the students (the book is only available through the Scholastic Book Club now). Not only did they say YES! they are donating a package of 4 books to each and every one of those 150 kids. Who come from families who rarely finish school. Whose families have been flooded out numerous times. Whose families live in an area that is sinking.
There is a lot of crappy (sorry, Mom, but sometimes one has to use strong language) stuff going on in the world. But days like today remind me there is a lot of good stuff, too.
And it's so great to be part of the good stuff!
Posted by kirby at February 7, 2007 09:09 PM
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