Read It Forward and . . . Change the World

I LOVE when enthusiastic school librarians come up with nifty ideas to get kids jazzed about reading.

Kay Hawkins, a Texas middle school librarian, is putting 70-80 copies of a certain book around her school.  (Hint:  It has to do with a hamster, Jewish apple cake and The Daily Show's Jon Stewart.)  The students are encouraged to find a book, read it, sign their name in the front cover and leave it for another student to find.

Random acts of reading!   Who doesn't love that?

To culminate the reading adventure, Kay has invited me to do an author visit at her school and another school in the area.  Whoopee!

But does she stop there?  Nope.  Because uber-librarians never stop there.

She's put QR Codes on the books, then taught the students -- during morning announcements -- to scan the codes to be directed to my Web site or to this video trailer that she created:




I love this video.  I love Kay's enthusiasm and the Read It Forward program.  Can't wait to meet Kay and visit the kids.  And it has nothing to do with the fact that she promised me good food and bowling while I'm there.  Who doesn't love good food and bowling? 

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And one more great idea to make this planet a better place (Thanks, Marsha!) . . .

Okay, young people, here's your chance to CHANGE THE WORLD (or at least your corner of it):

Youth Service America Invites Young Change-Makers to Apply for Disney Friends for Change Grants.  Youth Service America and Disney are accepting applications for its Disney Friends for Change Grants program.  This program offers young change-makers in the United States funding to help make a lasting, positive change in their communities and the world.  Youth between the ages of 5 and 18 in all fifty states and the District of Columbia are eligible to lead a project and apply for a $1,000 grant.  (Applicants younger than 13 years of age must have an older person submit the application on their behalf.)
For complete program guidelines, the eligibility quiz, and the application form, as well as information on previous grant recipients, visit the YSA Web site.
http://www.ysa.org/grants/disney-friends-change-grants.
Deadline:  February 29

Last School Visit and Book Signing of 2010

A big THANK YOU to librarian Karen Marchetto for inviting me to speak to the 6th grade students at Jupiter Middle School.

The day began with Hammy the Hamster appearing on their morning news.

I then proceeded to embarrass myself in front of more than 400 kids by telling them about my dork days of middle school, including the fact that I was a proud member of my school's ping pong club. Clearly, it would be impossible to out-dork me during those braces-wearing, pimple-erupting daze, er, days!

The evening after the school visit, I met great students, parents and teachers at Barnes & Noble, where I signed copies of How to Survive Middle School and As If Being 12 3/4 Isn't Bad Enough, My Mother is Running for President!

One girl insisted her father buy her a copy of As If Being 12 3/4 . . . even though she'd already read it. Another girl asked me to recommend books I enjoyed when I was her age. Turns out, she'd already read and enjoyed Mr. Poppers Penguins, so I told her A Hundred Dresses might be another good choice.

I love meeting and chatting with young readers. It's one of my favorite parts of the job.

It's been a fun, busy year of school visits, book festivals and conferences and I look forward to even more in 2011, but for now . . .

I'm going to relish time to finish revisions for Olivia Bean, Trivia Queen. Can't wait till she makes her way into the world Spring 2012.

WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL CONTEST

Teachers, media specialists and librarians . . .

Win one of two personally autographed, hardback copies of HOW TO SURVIVE MIDDLE SCHOOL for your classroom or library.



Or win the GRAND PRIZE -- A SKYPE visit with the author up to 45-minutes ($200 value) plus a personally autographed, hardcover copy of HOW TO SURVIVE MIDDLE SCHOOL and an autographed, paperback copy of AS IF BEING 12 3/4 ISN'T BAD ENOUGH, MY MOTHER IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT! for your classroom or library.



To enter, share the title of your favorite middle grade or young adult novel in the comments section below. (I entered the first comment as an example.)

Annoying Rule:

1) One entry per person.


Annoying Request:

1) To reach as many teachers, librarians and media specialists as possible, please blog, tweet, FB, e-mail and send smoke signals about this contest.

HURRY! The contest expires at midnight E.S.T. Monday September 20th (which is my dad's 83rd birthday).

REMEMBER to check back a couple days after the contest ends to see who WON!