Last month, I covered (no pun intended) books about female-identifying kids’ struggles with excess body hair. This month, I thought I should cover some male-identifying kids’ puberty struggles. Many books address the emotional struggles, with a side of the physical struggles, but I couldn’t find too many with a strong focus on the physical struggles. I suspect there are many more than I found, but the issues are embedded in the story as a whole and don’t merit their own subject heading. If you know of other titles that address these issues as part of the story, write them in the comments! Summaries from Worldcat or GoodReads.com.
“The voice actor for a hit animated series, thirteen-year-old Nikhil must find the courage to speak out about what’s right when a group of conservative parents protest his openly gay status.” –Publisher. Note: Nikhil’s voice is changing, which means he can no longer play the character he loves so much, and he’s struggling to face that reality.
“Still struggling with a home life edging on the poverty line, Rex can’t afford to buy the acne medication or deodorant he needs, and bullies are noticing Rex’s awkward transformation.” –GoodReads.com.
“As twelve-year-old Duane endures the confusing and humiliating aspects of puberty, he watches a newborn bird in a nest on his windowsill begin to grow and become more independent, all of which he records in his journal.” –Publisher.
“Thirteen-year-old Bobby Connor is a normal adolescent boy–at least he hopes he is–just trying to survive middle school. But it seems he’s being foiled at every turn, and even his own body is conspiring against him. And when his math teacher is seriously injured from the shock and fright of witnessing just how out of control Bobby’s changing adolescent body is getting, he starts to worry he’s anything but normal.” –Publisher.
“Jack Sprigley isn’t just a late-bloomer. He’s a no-bloomer. It’s nearly the end of Year 8, and with puberty still a total no-show, Jack’s in serious danger of being left behind by his friends. But then he comes up with a plan to solve all his problems. It’s simple: all he has to do is fake puberty…” –GoodReads.com.
“Inspired by the angelic sound of Yutaka’s voice, [his middle school] choir eagerly accepts him into their ranks. But when Yutaka’s voice begins to change as he enters puberty, the journey ahead will be one of self-discovery and reflection for not only himself, but also for those around him.” –GoodReads.com.
“Unable to accept or explain his family’s newly acquired wealth, his growing interest in sex, and a friend’s shoplifting habit, a thirteen-year-old finds the pains in his stomach getting worse and worse.” –Publisher.
“When Jay starts eighth grade with a few pimples he doesn’t think much of it at first…except to wonder if the embarrassing acne will disappear as quickly as it arrived. But when his acne goes from bad to worse, Jay’s prescribed a powerful medication that comes with some serious side effects.” –GoodReads.com.
Short story collection. Specific story: “How a Boy Can Become a Grease Fire.” A boy likes a girl, and his friends decide to help him with his BO, dry skin, and chapped lips, as well as accompanying him to her house so he can ask for her number. This one was just funny, and sweet/obnoxious of the friends. Those middle school crushes are aptly named.
As someone who grew up at a time when Judy Blume’s Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret was one of the only middle school books even mentioning menstruation, it’s refreshing to see somewhat of a proliferation of titles to help menstruators through this coming-of-age milestone. You can see some lists here and here. I’m hoping the next puberty-concern authors will bring into the light is body hair. Society levies such immense pressure, especially on those identifying as female, to eradicate any hint of body hair beyond eyebrows, eyelashes, and head hair. As someone whose genetics “blessed” her with an excess of body hair, which I’ve spent years and untold dollars painfully removing, young-me would have found such comfort in a “Margaret” book for body hair. I think there is hope, as I did find a few books when I went searching, but only a few. If you have more to add to this list, please do! Summaries from publishers/Worldcat. Links to GoodReads.com.
“High school debater TJ Powar, after she and her cousin become the subject of an ugly meme, makes a resolution to stop shaving, plucking, and waxing, and prove that she can be her hairy self and still be beautiful… but soon finds this may be her most difficult debate yet.” –Worldcat.
“A biracial Indian/Caucasian girl is nervous to begin middle school, especially since her mother is now the breadwinner of the family, her best friend may no longer be a bestie, and the appearance of the seventeen hairs over her lip that form a very unwanted mustache.” – Publisher
“Follows the endless humiliations, unrequited obsessions, and all-consuming friendships of fifteen-year-old Evia Birtwhistle as she leads a body-hair positive revolution at her school.” –Worldcat
Laxmi’s Mooch. Shelly Anand, author. Nabi H. Ali, illustrator (Picture Book)
“After Laxmi’s friend Zoe points out the hairs on her lip, Laxmi is very self-conscious until her East Indian parents help her to accept and celebrate her appearance.” –Worldcat
“Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s place in Panem’s Hunger Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weight survival against humanity and life against love.” –Publisher
I was sitting at my desk as the year wound up, students and faculty scattered to the winds, wondering what to write about for my July blog post. It was then that I heard my colleague, who was busy in the stacks, chortling away. Like me, she’s an inveterate audiobook reader, so I knew she was listening to something (rather than plotting nefarious pranks involving fake books and glitter bombs, not that I’ve ever thought about doing that, nope, never—do you know what glitter abatement costs? Me neither, but I can imagine my admins’ response to receiving that check request…). While I enjoy many books with humor, it takes a lot to get me laughing out loud, so a book with that capability becomes a precious favorite. Thus for the lazy days of July, what could be better than a book that makes you laugh so hard you re-separate a rib cartilage injury from your teens (for example)? Here are my favorites, starting with MS books and moving to YA and Adult books. I’ve included either my own GoodReads summary or a publisher/WorldCat summary, and a link to my full TL;DR GoodReads reviews. Please share your own favorite laugh-out-loud books in the comments!
The war started over Poptarts. Maybe. Whatever; the start doesn’t matter so much as what followed. Claudia and Reece were out to get each other, and things just keep escalating. There was the fish episode, and the ill-conceived video episode, and the Megaworld episode…where will it end? Told by Claudia as an audiobook, with frequent interruptions to add in text threads between the parents, chapters by Reece or just commentary by Reece, and other characters as well.
It’s 7th grade, and Rahul, an Indian-American boy from Indiana, has a pretty good life. He’s got great parents, an extended “family” of other Indians and Indian Americans who’ve known him forever and love to feed him, a wonderful grandfather who lives with them, a younger brother who can be annoying but is basically ok, good grades, and a super-best friend in Chelsea. But there are down sides, primarily Brent, the local bully, and his football cronies, one of whom used to be a friend of Rahul’s, but they drifted apart. Lately, though, Rahul finds his eyes keep drifting back to Justin, and he doesn’t know why. He does know that he’s feeling the need to be “best” at something, though, and his attempts are both hilarious and painful to watch. He’s gamely supported by his parents and Chelsea, but more and more Rahul finds himself pushing everyone away, and has developed some worrisome OCD habits. 7th grade is not turning out to be his best year…but is there a way to save it?
Ninth graders T.C., Augie, and Alejandra tell the story of their most excellent year. During this year, they all fell in love (Augie first had to realize he was gay, and T.C. had to stop taking dating advice from his dad), fought for social causes (T.C. taught Alejandra how to spam the Senate to get a baseball diamond built at Manzanar), performed brilliantly onstage (Augie’s interpretation of “Too Darn Hot” brought down the house), adopted a deaf six-year-old foster kid obsessed with Mary Poppins (he kept expecting her to come rescue him), and generally grew into their potential.
My Lady Jane. Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows. (YA)
Let’s face it: Tudor history has needed a reboot for a long time. Everyone knows all the scandals and battles and wives and what have you. Time for something new. Imagine that the world includes two kinds of people; those who can turn into animals, and those who can’t. The Tudors include many of the former, including Henry VIII (a lion who eats messengers). Because humans are human whatever their shape, there’s tension between the two types of people, which is about to come to a head. Henry VIII is gone, and his sickly teenage son Edward is on the throne, but dying slowly of ‘The Affliction.’ In a moment of weakness, he is persuaded to do two things: order the marriage of his book-loving cousin Jane Grey to the son of his most influential counselor, Lord Dudley. Gifford (or G, as he prefers), is a fine young man–when he is a man. From sunup to sundown, he’s a horse. So, Edward orders Jane to marry G, then appoints Jane his successor. What do you think the odds are for Edward at this point? Well, better than in the history we know, is all I can tell you.
“Stop. I won’t let you take your trousers off in the middle of the street. That is a terrible idea.”
“Right. Well. Shall we keep kissing until we think of a better one?” In the 1700s, 18-year-old Henry Montague, Viscount of Disley, is a terrible rake. Expelled from Eton, he spends his time drinking, gambling, and tumbling in and out of bed with boys and girls rather indiscriminately, all while nursing a painfully unrequited crush on his best friend Percy. Their last hurrah–and Monty’s last chance at his inheritance—Is a year-long Grand Tour, at the end of which Monty and Percy will likely be parted forever and Monty will be stuck at home with his monster of a father. Despite being saddled with a “bear-leader” determined to make the boys—and Monty’s younger sister Felicity, who will be dropped off (most unwillingly) at finishing school)—behave, it doesn’t take Monty long to make some spectacularly bad decisions (nudity and theft are involved) that have them fleeing Paris. Beset by highwaymen, the three young adults lose their guardians and their possessions, and then find themselves being pursued across Europe by armed guards (thanks for that, Monty). Will they survive? Will Monty and Percy ever get together? Will Felicity sell them both to pirates for being SO annoying and useless? Stay tuned…
YOLO Juliet. Brett Wright, William Shakespeare (YA)
“Imagine: What if those star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet had smartphones? A classic is reborn in this adaptation of one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays! Two families at war. A boy and a girl in love. A secret marriage gone oh-so-wrong… and h8. A Shakespeare play told through its characters texting with emojis, checking in at certain locations, and updating their relationship statuses.” –WorldCat.org
Linus Baker is different than all of the other drones—uh, case workers—at the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. For one, he’s been there 17 years. For two, he actually cares about the children in the orphanages he investigates. His job is pretty much his life. He’s 40 something and lives alone with a cranky cat and nosy neighbor, and only vaguely dreams of more. So when he’s assigned to spend a month on an island, investigating the highly classified Marsyas Orphanage, he’s puzzled, dubious, nervous, and very slightly excited. The children on Marsyas are like nothing he’s ever encountered—a female gnome who wants to bury him in her garden, a tentacled green blob who wants to do his laundry, a sprite who wants to turn him into a tree, a wyvern who wants all his buttons, a were-pomeranian who hides from him, and, of course, the antichrist who loves doo-wop. Then there’s the master, the enigmatic, kind, slightly rumpled Arthur Parnassus, who sees something in Linus that he’s never seen in himself.
Elliott’s mother left when he was young and his father basically stopped living—and stopped being a father—at the same time, leaving their snarky, too-smart, redheaded son to bring himself up, and he’s not doing the greatest job. He knows he has an abrasive personality and has no friends. Then a strange woman takes his class on a field trip to a, well, a field, and Elliott can see an immense wall the others can’t. He’s offered the chance to attend school in the Borderlands beyond the wall, and, having nothing to lose, he takes it; maybe he’ll get the chance to see mermaids? The camp that serves as a school for the Borderlands guards is nothing like what Elliott thought it would be, and he flat out refuses to be in the Guard side of the training because violence never solved anything—he’ll do the Council training course instead. His loathing of violence doesn’t stop him falling madly in love with a gorgeous elf called Serene Heart in the Chaos of Battle (“That’s so badass!”), and he pledges himself to her immediately, which doesn’t turn her off because in elf culture, women are the strong ones and men stay at home and embroider. Elliott’s not thrilled with most of the other recruits, including the impossibly charismatic Luke Sunborn, who reminds Elliott of all the boys who have everything and like to bully the kids who don’t—including Elliott. Unfortunately, Luke and Serene have already bonded over their love of sports and battle and everything else, and Elliott will have to put up with Luke if he wants to stay close to Serene. And so begin their years of training.
In the 1940s, Brooklyn Jewish kid Joey is plagued by nasty bullies and the lack of a father. He decides that Charlie Banks, third baseman of the NY Giants, will become his best friend and fill that gap. Through cunning, deceit, and smarts, he finds Charlie’s address and starts writing him. Charlie is less than thrilled, but just can’t seem to shake Joey. There’s just something about this persistent, annoying, resourceful, fearless kid that Charlie (like many, many others) can’t resist, much as he might want to. The book consists of their letters and notes, Joey’s notes to his local best friend Craig Nakamura, Joey’s report card (Obedience: F), letters to Joey from the White House Press Secretary in response to Joey’s letters, letters from Hazel, the Ethel-Merman-hating singer who is Charlie’s “Toots,” and so much more. Life is exciting and profane and sad, and a world war is just on the horizon.
“This is the story of Arthur Dent, who, seconds before Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, is plucked off the planet by his friend, Ford Prefect, who has been posing as an out-of-work actor for the last fifteen years but is really a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Together they begin a journey through the galaxy aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, with the words don’t panic written on the front. (“A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have.”).” –Publisher
Gus sometimes wonders how this got to be his life. He runs a video rental emporium (who even rents videos anymore? Very few people, which is still more than Gus wants to interact with) in a tiny town in Oregon, he has an accidental albino ferret named Harry S. Truman who goes everywhere with him (you really don’t want to deal with a pissed-off ferret if you don’t), he reads encyclopedias for fun, has a flip phone and no internet, can quote all the Oscar winners in any category for any year, and his “best” friends are three elderly, possibly-sisters-possibly-polyamorous-lesbians who drive Vespas and wear pink leather jackets (I think). It’s an okay life, it is, really, but he can’t even quantify how much he misses Pastor Tommy, his sweet, loving, outgoing, usually-totally-stoned father. Gus doesn’t interact with many people, and he’s beyond awkward when he does, so when he encounters Casey, an asexual stoner hipster who seems to think Gus is beyond awesome, Gus is completely flummoxed. Maybe the Internet could teach him how to be a normal person?
Hapless time-travel historian Ned Henry is in search of a horrendous Victorian artifact called ‘The Bishop’s Bird Stump,’ as part of a project to recreate Coventry Cathedral exactly as it was before it was bombed in World War II. Unfortunately, Ned has been doing so much time travelling that he’s suffering from time-lag, which disorients its sufferers and starts them quoting melodramatic poetry. Ned needs a rest, but the project’s financer, Lady Shrapnel, is ruthless in her pursuit of perfection–and the historians who will get it for her. Ned needs a safe place to recuperate, so travels to the Victorian era for a peaceful holiday drifting down the Thames River. Of course, nothing goes as planned, and Ned is soon embarked on a hilarious series of misadventures closely related to those encountered by the hapless heroes of Jerome K. Jerome’s hilarious ‘Three Men in a Boat, To Say Nothing of the Dog.’
“Set to have a vacation away from her home life and the tax man, young barrister Julia Larwood takes a trip to Italy with her art-loving boyfriend. But when her personal copy of the current Finance Act is found a few meters away from a dead body, Julia finds herself caught up in a complex fight against the Inland Revenue. Fortunately, she’s able to call on her fellow colleagues who enlist the help of their friend Oxford professor Hilary Tamar. However, all is not what it seems. Could Julia’s boyfriend in fact be an employee of the establishment she has been trying to escape from? And how did her romantic luxurious holiday end in murder?” –Publisher.
The town of Caerphilly, VA, finds itself in a unique position this July; their rat of an ex-mayor mortgaged the town buildings then fled, at which point the ‘Evil Lender’ evicted all town employees from the buildings–except for Mr. Throckmorton, who barricaded himself in the courthouse basement with his beloved Archives. Unbeknownst to the Evil Lender, there is a secret tunnel into the Courthouse, through which those town residents in the know have been ferrying supplies and information to Mr. Throckmorton for the past year. Now, though, the Evil Lender seems to be stepping up its efforts to get Mr. Throckmorton out–including getting him accused of murder. It’s up to blacksmith Meg Langslow and her town friends to find out the truth and save not only Mr. Throckmorton, but the whole town.
Travis and Craig met at boarding school and fell in love their senior year, 1978. After a passionate summer together in NYC, they went to the opposite sides of the country for college, and fell out of touch. Travis became an unorthodox professor of American literature, who asks his students about Alexander Hamilton and baseball, as well as what to do about his 27th boyfriend. Craig becomes a lawyer, falls in love with Clayton, and they’ve been together 12 years. Then Travis finally has a revelation in 1998 that Craig is The One for him, and starts off on a picaresque journey to find him and get him back. What does Craig think about that? Well, that would be telling…
“‘We agree that we are overworked, and need a rest—A week on the rolling deep? —George suggests the river—’ And with the co-operation of several hampers of food and a covered boat, the three men (not forgetting the dog) set out on a hilarious voyage of mishaps up the Thames. When not falling in the river and getting lost in Hampton Court Maze, Jerome K. Jerome finds time to express his ideas on the world around—many of which have acquired a deeper fascination since the day at the end of the 19th century when this excursion was so lightly undertaken.” –Publisher.
As I followed the “reading culture” thread on the listserv last month and scrawled lists of related books I need to investigate, it got me thinking about all the ways I read nowadays. More specifically, I thought about how differently I read now than I did when I was a kid. When I was the age of my current students, reading meant a print book, or maybe an article in a print magazine or newspaper. Now, though?
In the morning and evening, as I get ready for work or bed, I listen to audiobooks. I also listen to audiobooks on long car trips. For short trips, I prefer podcasts, though often that means reading-adjacent storytelling podcasts like The Moth or StoryCorps.
Professional articles I mostly read on my computer, though my school does subscribe to print versions of SLJ and Hornbook, which makes for a nice break from staring at screens all the time!
In my father’s last years, I called him daily to read him articles from The New York Times, Smithsonian, or BBC Travel, all of which I read on my computer (though I do maintain a print subscription to Smithsonian).
I review books for SLJ and Kirkus, and these days, I read all those on my computer.
For travel, or for books I need to read as soon as possible, I have a Kindle, or the Kindle app on my phone.
Before I go to sleep, I catch up on Webtoons, and read fanfic recommended by my friends’ kids or my students.
And yes, I also still read print books and graphic novels!
I’m sure that most of your reading lives are equally diverse, and I can only imagine what my students’ reading lives include! So often I think our students don’t consider themselves readers because they don’t read print books except for class, but they may well devour (or write!) hundreds of thousands of words of fanfiction online, or listen to serial stories on podcasts, or read articles in areas of interest online, etc.
So how do we celebrate all kinds of reading as we build a reading culture at school? Chris Young mentioned a few things in their recent post on using Beanstack to foster a culture of reading, with Book Bingo that included articles and audiobooks. That’s a great start! Perhaps I could start the year with a board inviting kids to write down all the ways they read, and then work from there? Perhaps I’ll get amazing ideas from books about reading culture, as well. I don’t yet know how I’ll approach it, but I know I want to take into account all kinds of reading.
Tell me in the comments all the ways you and your students read!
Covers of all the books I read in the last twelve months, flanked by my favorite Webtoons.
Welcome to the final post in this series. In part one, I covered the demographics of the authors who responded to my survey, and logistical planning for an in-person visit. In part two, I covered preparing for and promoting an author event at your school. In this final post, I will cover ensuring your author visit goes smoothly on the day. As always, many thanks to the authors who took the time to respond to my survey!
Day-Of Logistics
Asked how a librarian can make a visit day go smoothly, most authors ticked all the boxes: Keep a communication device handy in case of issues; Meet the author at the check-in point; Escort the author wherever they need to go; Make introductions; Help with any tech needs/issues; Have water available; Facilitate signings with post-its and extra pens.
In the “other” option, Margriet Ruurs suggested: “Display books on a table so kids can see the relationship between the books, the speaker and the slideshow/talk.” Kirby Larson said: “The more communication, the better!” Kelly Jones added: “I don’t need to be escorted (I know you’re busy!). But it helps if the office is aware that I’m coming and can tell me where I should go.”
Make It Special
Here are some examples of librarians who went the extra mile and made the author visit really special.
Martha Brockenbrough: “Not only did Terry Shay have the cheerleading squad, he had every kid outside with little signs to welcome me. It was over the top, but definitely incredible. The excitement made me feel good, but more important—it made the KIDS pumped for what was to come.”
Margriet Ruurs: “If they do all the things listed above, it’s awesome. But often that’s not the case and you have to make the best of it for the students’ sake. It’s a great gesture when the principal attends a session and sets the tone for the importance of reading in the school.”
Phoebe Fox: “With everything an author brings to a visit, it is especially helpful to have a parking spot reserved near the library or area of presentation.”
Dianne White: “Librarians who have prepared the kids and teachers by talking about the visit ahead of time, sharing books, and helping kids and staff get excited about the value of author visits make for the best overall experiences.”
Kirby Larson: “At one middle school in Arkansas, the librarian worked with the cafeteria to have food that was suggested by my books! Amazing. I am so grateful when librarians provide extra water for me and a little sweet snack in the afternoon; I appreciate being introduced to the principal; I’m always touched when there’s a little welcome swag bag in the hotel room. Honestly, I’m so appreciative of how hard librarians/teachers are already working; I am in total awe of all the extras they do to connect kids with books and their creators.”
Kelly Jones: “I appreciate it when librarians prepare students for my visit, but I also really love hearing any follow-ups! It’s been wonderful to hear about classes who’ve continued the writing exercises we talk about and create their own stories, or libraries who’ve created ways for students to share the stories they create with each other.” In addition, “If there’s a practice you use for library time or assemblies that works well with your students, please tell me! For instance, one library often used a “stop and share” practice for the kinds of exciting questions I was asking students to think about. The librarian would ask the question, then students would have one minute to discuss it with a neighbor before we moved on. When the librarian stopped my presentation to explain, it was a perfect addition—something I could use with that school and with others!”
Lily LaMotte: “The cafeteria serving the students lunch with the recipe from my book… I’ve also had a teacher in West Palm Beach make a whole diorama on stage. Other librarians decorated their libraries. Another teacher had a contest where students wrote essays about why they wanted to come to a small group student lunch with me.”
Dori Hillestad Butler: “I love when I pull into a school parking lot and see a sign that tells me where to park. (I especially liked the ones that said VIP AUTHOR PARKING—I’ve been to several schools that did that.) A librarian in Oregon had read that I like Diet Dr. Pepper and had a couple bottle of it (nobody has Diet Dr. Pepper on hand!). One of the best school visits I ever was in Colorado–the kids wrote a play based on one of my books and then performed it for me.”
Cautionary Tales
Sometimes, visits don’t go so well, unfortunately. Here are some (anonymous) examples, and reasons why.
“I would say that most visits are always wonderful, but I did have a visit last year that was close to the end of the school year. The multi-purpose room was full of stuff that had been recently been moved there because the year was coming to an end. There was a lot of last minute cleaning up and making room for the classes to fit. It left me with the feeling that the author visit was more of an after-thought and the assembly was just a way to occupy the kids for a short while, rather than an enrichment to the educational experience.”
“One school (a middle school) left me alone with the kids to do a workshop. For the entire period. And one of the kids basically wrote [inappropriate fiction] and then read it out loud. It’s not my job to deal with that. Now I have a line in my letter of agreement that says “author will not be left alone with students,” which is probably a good idea for any kind of liability as well.”
“I once did six visits in a day (too many), and the school didn’t provide me with lunch. I would have brought my own had they told me there wouldn’t be lunch. It made for a hard day.”
“I’ve been very lucky so far in that I haven’t had any bad visits. The only one that I can think of that didn’t go well was a virtual visit to a library during lockdown. Unfortunately each attendee was trying to get onto the facility’s WiFi from their own laptop while outside the building because they weren’t allowed in because of the lockdown. But the tech issue wasn’t the librarian’s fault. And it was the pandemic so it was a time for everyone to be more flexible than normal.”
“My presentations, in the end, are always very well received. But if there are no books displayed, no art based on books, no enthusiasm about the visit – it is much harder to achieve a positive atmosphere.”
“Though I work very hard to engage kids, if they have no idea who I am or why I’m there, it can be a slog for me to help them get the most of the presentation. I can overcome tech issues or other things but adequate prep really helps the school get the biggest bang for their buck.”
Annoyances and Frustrations
The authors gave insightful responses about things that specifically annoy or frustrate them on visit days, which I present anonymously.
“I once had a principal want to meet with me before the visit to make sure my visit would be OK for his students. I’m a published author. I do school visits regularly. I used to teach at a high school. Asking for more time and, in a sense, justifying my presence is pretty uncool.” This author added that, in addition to unprepared students, having disengaged or absent teachers makes it impossible for the teacher to build on the author’s lesson, which is intended to support the curriculum. Especially if teachers are absent, “it feels as if they want me to entertain their students for an hour and that’s it. But that is not how author talks work. A good author presentation is not reading from your book. Anyone can do that. It is sharing the excitement about writing, planning, editing – making kids want to write, too!”
“When there is no introduction made, it feels very awkward to introduce oneself.”
“Requests to do additional presentations after the contract has been set/settled are hard to deal with but, truly, I know things come up at the last minute. We’re all doing our best, that is for sure!”
“Very noisy outside environments (for instance, a really loud class on the other side of an air wall in a divided gym) can be hard to overcome.”
“It can be difficult to quickly adapt and give the students the experience I’d like them to have when the tech arrangements we agreed upon aren’t available after all—for instance, no microphone or working projector for a full-school assembly.”
“I also prefer for teachers to support students asking me questions during the Q&A, even if someone else has already asked it, or it might embarrass the teacher (such as, how much money do I make). I believe that students are trying to imagine themselves in a writer’s shoes, and trying to connect and be seen. I have answers for these situations that everyone can learn from without anyone’s attempt being shut down.”
“Before: Not getting a schedule, not getting a response from my host if I email, not receiving my signed letter of agreement back in a timely manner.”
Final Thoughts
Margriet Ruurs: “Whether it’s local or around the world, sharing your books in schools and libraries is awesome. And keep in mind that it makes it financially possible to stay home and write during other times. Author visits support the writer on so many levels.”
Kirby Larson: “I am so grateful to the teachers and librarians working so hard every day in their buildings. Though a school visit with me might not work out/fit their schedule or budget, I am in awe of all the ways they work so hard to connect kids with books and their creators. So a huge thank you to our wonderful educators!”
Last month, I found myself wondering how authors viewed in-person visits, so I sent a survey out and heard back from eight authors. Last month’s post covered the demographics of the authors who responded, and logistical planning for an author visit. This month, we cover preparing students for author events, and promoting those events.
Preparing Students
“School visits work their strongest magic when students are prepared for the author’s visit,” states Kirby Larson. If an author is coming to visit your school, you want to prepare the students so they and the school can take full advantage of that visit. How do you do that? The type of visit will probably determine your preparation in terms of teaching the book(s) or doing read-alouds for younger titles, but you can prepare in many other ways. Dori Hillestad Butler suggests students engage in some writing or drawing to prepare, then post those writings/drawings as additional promotion. She says: “I especially like to see those on the walls—and I always take time to stop and read every one!” Martha Brockenbrough adds: “The more the kids know about the author and book beforehand, the better!”
Kirby Larson thoughtfully expanded her response to say: “Learning about me and my books ahead of time certainly strengthens connections between my writing advice/experience and the students’ internalization of that information. School visit prep provides context for the students. In addition, when teachers participate in the school visits (ie, do not bring their phones, laptops or papers to correct to the sessions), they are sending a strong message to the students about the value and importance of the information the author is sharing. And it is so helpful if the librarian/teacher tells kids in advance that I can’t sign bits of paper (or body parts); I do provide a book mark template with my autograph so every kid can have that.”
Asked for other advice on making sure a visit goes smoothly, most authors checked all the boxes: Make sure teachers/kids have the schedule; Double check on necessary tech; Have payment ready to go/already sent; Be prepared for book sales (contact vendor; get volunteers); Regularly check in to make sure teachers/students are prepared.
In the “other” column, Margriet Ruurs urges: “Share my books with students. I have been in schools where the students had no idea what was happening. If a librarian and teachers are prepped, it makes the impact of an author visit that much greater. We’re not just there to entertain for an hour but to leave a message of ‘books are important, and fun and interesting’!” Kirby Larson recommends that librarians: “Make connections between the author’s work and what the students are working on/learning about.” Kelly Jones advises that librarians “double-check that any substitute teachers know what’s planned—I once had a class miss a school presentation because no one had told the substitute.”
Promotion
Another aspect of preparing your students and your school community is to promote your author visit. How can you best do that? Any and all ways, from the author’s perspective! Mount book displays in the library and elsewhere, promote the visit on the school’s website, communicate with parents and students, post on social media, and do booktalks. Other suggestions included contacting local newspapers, creating a countdown bulletin board, and setting out a box to collect student questions.
Doing It Right
I asked the authors for examples of librarians who had knocked it out of the park in preparing for/promoting their visit, and here are their responses.
Martha Brockenbrough: “Terry Shay at North Tama in Traer, Iowa. …He really prepared the kids well at every age level and assembled a squad of cheerleaders for my paperback Cheerful Chick.
Margriet Ruurs: “A Kelowna, BC librarian approached me for her school, but I explained that travel is too much for one day. She then promoted a possible visit to all local schools. She did not just pass that on to me, but arranged a two week schedule for schools, in a logical order, and made sure all schools have all information on dates, times, equipment and more. It’s awesome when a local librarian coordinates all that.”
Dianne White: “When the kids are excited, I know teachers and librarians have been talking about the visit ahead of time. When that happens, kids are always going to get more out of the experience.”
Kirby Larson: “For a recent week-long visit in a school district near Houston, the hosting librarian asked me for particular photos from which she created an “About Kirby” slide show that was made available to all of the schools involved prior to my visit.”
Kelly Jones: “I remember one library’s display—they had a big posterboard with photos of students, teachers, and staff holding books they were recommending. The week of my visit, the librarian was holding my book—a proud moment for sure! She told me everyone really enjoyed recommending books and having their pictures taken.”
Lily LaMotte: “I did the summer reading program kickoff for the Olathe, KS library. I don’t have the details of her promotion but we had a full house in their auditorium. If you mean a school librarian, I’ve had so many wonderful visits with schools. Kids were prepared and many of them had read my books or were using them in their classroom. The cafeteria at a school in Lewiston, ME even made a recipe from my book for the students’ lunch the day of my visit. So amazing!”
Dori Hillestad Butler: “A librarian in Cedar Rapids, IA, painted HUGE (5 foot tall!) pictures of my books and displayed them ahead of time. A librarian in the Chicago area had worked with the kids to make posters that said: ‘Here is what we know about Dori Hillestad Butler, Here is what we don’t know about Dori Hillestad Butler, Here is our plan to find out more: come to her presentation!’ (That’s directly out of my King & Kayla series.)”
Next month, how to ensure that your author visit goes smoothly on the day.
Recently, as I arranged an author visit, I started wondering about how authors view those events. What advice might they have for librarians planning an in-person author visit? I put together a survey which I sent to a few author friends (and friends-of-friends), and though my sample size wasn’t large, the authors offered a lot of useful information for librarians planning author events.
Due to the survey’s length, I am breaking it into three posts. Today, I will cover demographics of responding authors, and logistics planning for visits. In April, I will cover preparing for and promoting an author visit. In May, I will cover making the event go smoothly on the day it happens.
I first asked what grades they generally wrote for. Most write for elementary school students as well as other grades (see chart), and Margriet Ruurs also writes for educators and parents (“other”).
Next I asked how many in-school visits they made each year. Most landed in the 1-10 range, though Margriet Ruurs makes over 21 visits a year, and Dori Hillestad Butler may make 1-25 visits, depending on the year!
Thirdly, I asked how long they’d been making school visits. Most have been doing so for eight or more years, and Dori Hillestad Butler estimates she’s been visiting schools for over thirty years!
Preparing for an Author Visit
Contact
What’s the best way to contact an author about a visit? For all surveyed, contact information on their website is the place to start, but other ways may also work. In the “other” category, Kirby Larson uses a booking agent, How Now Booking, and Lily LaMotte is also exploring that option.
Determining Fit
When you contact an author, what should you ask to determine if they are a good fit for your school and your students? The authors offered varied answers, many of which boiled down to librarians being familiar with the author’s work, and knowing what they are looking for in terms of a presentation. As Dori Hillestad Butler says, “Not everyone who reaches out to me knows what they want,” which can make it harder to determine if an author is a good fit. While some authors list details of their presentations on their websites, that doesn’t necessarily mean they couldn’t tailor a workshop or presentation to a school’s needs.
In terms of more specific questions, librarians could ask what an author’s typical school visits look like, how many visits they’ve done, and the focus of their presentations. Kelly Jones recommends asking: “What will our students leave your presentation with that they may not have known before? What new tools might be in their toolboxes?” Practical details are also key, such as travel distances, number and age of students, and fees.
Deal Breakers
What might make an author turn down a visit? For most, it was scheduling issues, with too many sessions and too great distance coming in next, though as Lily LaMotte adds, “If the school is part of a larger trip to the general area or en route to somewhere I’m already going, then distance isn’t a factor.” Kelly Jones feels that “restrictions on what I can present that would negatively affect what I try to teach students” would be a deal breaker, and another author dislikes background checks, especially if she’s expected to pay. As she says: “It shouldn’t ever be needed because I shouldn’t ever be alone with students.” Margriet Ruurs stated, “I have never turned [a visit] down and worked through any concerns with the librarian,” so it’s always worth asking!
Time Frame
How far in advance of a visit should you contact an author? Answers varied widely, so it’s great if you know far in advance, but worth asking even if you don’t. Kelly Jones suggests: “If it’s coming right up, more date options make it more likely we can find one that works.”
Cost
How should a librarian approach asking about an author’s fees? Among the authors’ varied answers, several said their website lists their fees, or that a librarian should simply describe the number of students and number of sessions needed, and ask based on that. It would also help for authors to know your budget, if you have that available. Says one author: “This is a business conversation! I also appreciate knowing if you’re considering creative cost-saving measures like sharing travel costs with a nearby school or library.” Another author recommends that librarians also “touch base about how payments happen because that’s awkward to ask.”
What’s not okay is requesting free visits. As one author says: “Asking for free visits is never OK–it puts us in an absolutely terrible spot.” Says another: “What is discouraging on my side of things is when a librarian reaches out (expecting a visit to be free) and then never replies back when they learn that an author values their time as much as any other type of presenter would.”
Travel Needs
How does an author like to have their travel arranged? The answer varied, so it’s best to ask directly. Sometimes authors prefer the school make the arrangements, some prefer a travel stipend so they can make their own plans, and some prefer a combination. In some instances, for example, the school might have a connection with a local hotel and get a discount, so it would make more sense for the school to make that reservation.
Communication
There are many details to consider when you’re organizing an author visit. What sort of communication is most helpful for the authors before the event? I asked them to rank the importance of different kinds of information, and the many topics they ranked highly illustrate the value of clear communication!
Answers in the “other” category included knowing which of the author’s books the school has, directions and parking, goods/services tax, student safety rules (i.e., is the campus nut-free?), and whether translators will be present. Lily LaMotte likes to meet virtually with the event organizer beforehand to answer all of the outstanding questions.
Book Sales
Often, you’ll want to sell books at your event, so students can get their books signed. Asked where they prefer you get books for the event, the authors had different answers, so it’s best to check. Several said that whatever worked best for the school was fine, though Margriet Ruurs added, “Anywhere but Amazon!”
Extras
What else can happen on an author visit? Says Dianne White: “Basically, if a librarian has something in mind, they should always ask!” Several authors were enthusiastic about meeting students and teachers for lunch. Says Kirby Larson: “Those informal moments generate amazing conversations.” However, at least one author prefers quiet time during an energetic day, so ask before scheduling lunch sessions. Several authors also enjoy attending book club meetings.
Kirby Larson is “always happy to do interviews with student reporters, if the school has a newspaper/news program. And I know I can’t answer every question that comes up during Q&A so am happy to receive a list of student questions from the librarian following my visit that I can answer after I’ve returned home.”
Martha Brockenbrough enjoys “teaching teachers how to write/teach writing,” and Kelly Jones adds, “I’m also happy to talk to any available teachers or staff about how to follow up on the exercises I teach, if they have time and their students are interested. Often, I hear that the students who don’t already see themselves as readers or writers are inspired by what they learn, so it feels like a great moment to build on that excitement.”
Dori Hillestad Butler likes to do a “small group ‘critique the author’ session where I’ll read from my work in progress and ask the kids for feedback. I model how to give and receive constructive criticism and this is a great opportunity for me to connect with my audience before the work is published and see how it’s landing.”
Next week, I’ll cover preparing for and promoting your author visit. Thanks again to the authors for their time and thought!
Here’s the second part of my interview with my Overlake colleague, Kelly Vikstrom-Hoyt, about her Quiz Bowl experiences. Part I posted on February 14.
Rebecca: What’s a memorable success or achievement your teams have experienced?
Kelly: The Middle School team had just started competing in online tournaments through TQBA (Texas Quiz Bowl Alliance) in 2022. We did one tournament and entered the top division, and got 23rd out of 25 teams. The tournament director suggested that we enter the elementary bracket for the next tournament (because most of the kids were in 6th grade anyway), and we ended up getting second in the division. So for the next tournament, we moved up to the middle division and ended up winning and qualifying for nationals! Now we regularly compete in the upper division and usually place in the top 10.
Rebecca: How do you handle setbacks or disappointments with the kids?
Kelly: Quiz bowl is all in your head – literally. So it is easy for kids to get down on themselves or get psyched out by another team that buzzes quickly or knows more of the answers. I encourage the kids to get out of their heads and try to get them to be more playful. When I took the Upper School team to Chicago for nationals, we had a disappointing day with a lot more losses than we were used to. I knew we needed to shake it off, so we left the hotel and took the train to a pizza place, got Chicago pizza and took it to a park (it was a lovely day). Then the kids asked if they were allowed to go on the playground, and I told them they were REQUIRED to play on the playground. And after all the running and playing (remember these are upper school kids), they got out of their heads and were able to have fun and win more rounds the next day.
Rebecca: How do you foster a sense of inclusivity, teamwork, and participation among a diverse group of students?
Kelly: It can be really challenging because some kids are just fast and know a lot of random information. This can make the other kids feel as if they aren’t contributing as much. But since there are both tossups (which are answered individually), and bonuses (which are answered as a team), I try to get everyone involved in the bonuses, even if just as a sounding board to double check that answers are right. The other thing I try to do is encourage kids to take risks, including sometimes buzzing and getting it wrong, and praising them when they do. One of our strongest upper school players is also the person who gets the most wrong answers. And I point this out regularly so that students don’t feel embarrassed when they get something wrong.
Rebecca: Have you observed any positive impacts on academic performance or enthusiasm for learning as a result of quiz bowl participation?
Kelly: These kids are already super academically motivated. But it is interesting to see them making connections between information they learned in class and questions in Quiz Bowl. When there’s a question about something they “just did in class that day,” they love it. Students will also let the younger kids know “you haven’t learned that yet” when they know a concept is taught later in the year in that grade.
Rebecca: What advice would you give to librarians who want to support or initiate quiz bowl activities in their schools?
Kelly: We have a lot of random knowledge and information at our fingertips! This is a great way to market that and remind people that you hold the key to accessing that knowledge. I was afraid, at first, that I’d have to come up with all the questions – but there are so many resources out there already that I have literally never had to make up questions. But I do point out resources that will be helpful to kids who want to study or learn more about something. Start small – I started out with middle school just being a trivia club and we did lots of different activities related to trivia. But then they really enjoyed the more formal structure of regular quiz bowl, so we shifted to just that.
Rebecca: What has been the most rewarding aspect of running quiz bowl teams for you?
Kelly: It is another way for me to connect with kids and see them in a different way that they typically show up in the library. The relationship building is really what keeps me going, even when I sacrifice my weekend for a tournament.
“For an article aimed at librarians, I am interviewing a colleague who runs quiz bowl teams for middle and upper school, including weekly meetings and local, online, and travel tournaments. What questions should I ask her?” prompt. ChatGPT, version 3.5, OpenAI, 2023, chat.openai.com/c/dfd0c6bd-f1dd-4a59-aea9-98ffef558101.
My colleague at Overlake, Kelly Vikstrom-Hoyt, runs highly successful Quiz Bowl clubs for both middle and upper schoolers. I thought AISL librarians might be interested to hear more details, so Kelly graciously agreed to share her knowledge and expertise. Many thanks to her for taking the time, and for giving thoughtful and detailed answers in our interview. As the interview ran long, this is part one; part two will post on 2/21.
Background: Early radio game shows inspired a plethora of quiz-bowl type competitions in the US and around the world. While different iterations are easy to find, Quiz Bowl in the US usually involves four-person teams answering questions in mostly academic fields, in levels ranging from elementary through graduate school. Questions come in two different types, toss-up and bonus, and students use a buzzer system to claim a question. If students answer early in the question, with less information, they can earn additional points. Coordinators can purchase Quiz Bowl materials, including questions, from sources like NAQT (National Academic Quiz Tournaments, founded in 1996). Students ready to move beyond their school competitions can enter/qualify for local or national competitions and weekend tournaments, including online and in-person tournaments.
Rebecca:How did you get started in Quiz Bowl, and why?
Kelly: I participated in Knowledge Bowl in high school. Although my team was really strong, I wasn’t the best, but I still had fun. In my second year at Overlake a new student wanted to start a Quiz Bowl Team but there wasn’t a faculty advisor. When I saw that, I jumped all over it. I felt like it would be fun with my previous experience, and I was also uniquely qualified to find them all sorts of random sources of information if they wanted to study.
Rebecca: What is your role in Overlake’s Quiz Bowl teams, and what is your time commitment?
Kelly: I’m the primary faculty advisor for both the Upper and Middle school Teams. Upper School clubs meet every other week for an hour and Middle School clubs meet every week for an hour. We do about 5-7 tournaments a year for each team, and those are a full day on Saturday. Then, when and if we make the National Tournament, I travel to Chicago for three days in the spring with each team.
Rebecca: When do teams meet, and what happens at Quiz Bowl club meetings?
Kelly: Competing Academic Teams meet at various times. Quiz Bowl meets during our usual club blocks during the school day, but we also have after school practice on Fridays. During our meetings we primarily do practice questions and play as if it were a tournament. I will stop and offer advice and coach the kids on when and how to buzz, and when information is something that comes up frequently. I know that some teams do a lot of group studying, but I feel like doing questions is more fun and the students still retain a lot of the knowledge.
Rebecca: What’s the process for entering tournaments, and how do you choose which tournaments to enter?
Kelly: Tournaments are challenging. We started the team in 2019/2020 and Covid severely affected our ability to attend in-person tournaments (and there weren’t any in-person tournaments), but it also kick-started the idea of online tournaments. Knowledge Bowl is more prevalent in this area, so there isn’t a huge pool of other local teams to compete with in Quiz Bowl style. The University of Washington Quiz Bowl team puts on some tournaments, but that is all dependent on the club leadership, and some years they don’t do them. Basically, we look for local tournaments (on the NAQT website) and we look for online tournaments we are allowed to join. If it works with the students’ schedules, we sign up. You have to qualify for the national tournament by finishing in the top 10-15% of regular tournaments.
Rebecca: What’s it like to attend a travel tournament?
Kelly: Traveling to tournaments is interesting because it is much more intense than rolling out of bed in your pajamas to compete, or just driving down to the UW. It’s especially true for this group of kids, who has mostly attended online tournaments. Somehow, the kids get much more psyched out by the competition, and hearing side chats or other teams studying. But it is super fun to be able to bond as a team, and eat meals and do things besides answer random questions together.
Rebecca: What are some challenges you face in running quiz bowl teams?
Kelly: The biggest challenge is time. The MS team meets during club time, and that doesn’t get interrupted that often, but the US team’s club meeting time frequently gets interrupted by other events, and many of the kids are on multiple clubs and try to split their time among them. In order for us to be really top notch, we’d have to carve out a lot more practice time. But the students are already so over-committed, there isn’t any other time to carve out. We did finally find a good after school time: Fridays, and this has worked well this year.
“For an article aimed at librarians, I am interviewing a colleague who runs quiz bowl teams for middle and upper school, including weekly meetings and local, online, and travel tournaments. What questions should I ask her?” prompt. ChatGPT, version 3.5, OpenAI, 2023, chat.openai.com/c/dfd0c6bd-f1dd-4a59-aea9-98ffef558101.
I’ve been compiling booklists since I started out as a librarian. Currently, the two biggest lists I work on for school are our Holiday Reading/Gift-Giving Recommendations, and Summer Fun Reading Recommendations. How I compile the lists has morphed over the years, and I thought I’d share how I do it now, and would love to hear about others’ methods, too.
We divide our lists into three levels. Formerly we used Middle School, Upper School, and Adult, but changed that to Middle School (grades 5-7), Crossover (grades 7-10), and Upper School/Adult (grades 9-12/adult). We further divide each level by genre/category, which can be somewhat flexible; for instance, one year I found so many wonderful new short story collections that I added that as a category. Sometime genres that fit well for Middle School don’t fit so well for Crossover and vice versa. I use “Romance” as a category only in the latter, along with “Supernatural.” “Humor” as a category I use only in Middle School. MS and Crossover have eight t0 nine genres/categories, whereas we divide the Upper School lists into Fiction, Nonfiction, and Graphica. MS and Crossover genres/categories include six books each; US lists can run longer in each category.
As to how I build the lists, I start with last year’s lists, and do my utmost not to repeat a title. I have a database spreadsheet with columns for genre, main character gender(s), and diversit(y/ies). For each genre, I strive to balance the genders of main characters, and make it at least half diverse, preferably more to reflect our school population. I also strive to ensure the titles represent a diversity of diversities, including religious, disability, race/ethnicity, and LGBTQ.
When possible, I prefer to populate the lists with new or new-ish books, starting with titles from our new books lists. When I’ve exhausted those, I move to my wishlist database, best-books lists, library catalog, etc. Sometimes I struggle to find good, diverse books in every genre, and I do end up re-using older titles—occasionally even old favorites still in print—if I can’t find newer books to fill the lists.
We post our lists on our LibGuides, in tabbed boxes. Recently we’ve stopped creating new guides each year, instead shifting the older boxes to a general “Reading Recommendations” page and building the new lists in the same guides. Using our judgement about what will circulate, we buy many of the titles in eBook format. We also display print titles in the library, and advertise the lists through parent and faculty communications, among others.
