School author visit

I've made it a mission to get all of my students reading. It is no secret that I love to read anything I can get my hands on and I tell my classes that "I have a book problem." Some people adopt stray animals, I adopt stray books and hate to see them abused and euthanized (both animals and books).

This year I "force" my students in my ELA classes to read for 15 minutes at the beginning of every class. They have to complete and independent reading book project for each semester. I am so mean.

Several weeks ago I heard about an author, who was 19, scheduling school visits to talk about his book and encouraging students to read and write. I posted on here about it and looked for feedback. I didn't get any. I read his book and enjoyed it. I worked with my principal to see if we could schedule an author visit. I planned the event. We pre-ordered a few books, not enough to completely cover the cost of his visit, but enough to cut the cost. Honestly, I was hearing more "I don't read" or "I'm not a reader" than "I don't like that kind of book." My heart would break every time, but my resolve to get my school reading would solidify.

Monday, March 7th was the big day for the author visit. Students were excited to get out of class. Many girls were excited because they thought he had a "Justin Bieber look" (I don't get it either). I was excited because it was a "real author" and I had a cup of coffee after lunch (really bad idea for a high stress day, I cannot say I was "sure" that afternoon).

We had a great Creative Writing class that afternoon, because he came to work with kids on different parts of writing a story. The whole school assembly was chilling. The students were...LAUGHING! They were attentive, they were willing to answer questions (although, I'm not sure world domination is really a positive goal). After the assembly, the students who ordered books picked them up and got them signed and students could purchase books too. Several students bought books! I was beaming as my "I don't read" kids were coming up to say thank you to the author AND buying a copy of the book.

On Tuesday, the day after the event, I noticed kids carrying the book to class. I was seeing copies of The Sparks by Kyle Prue everywhere! The students in my school are starting to CARRY BOOKS...TO CLASS, and they aren't text books.

I can't wait to hear from all of you who are reading the book what you think. Please comment to share your thoughts about The Sparks and Kyle's school assembly.