Student Voices: Impact of Author Visits from Leonardo V., Faten I., and Mia G.

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Impact of Author Visits

“2023 vs. 2024 vs. 2025 Author Visits” by Leonardo V., 8th grade

As the 2024-2025 school year comes to a close, some of us will be saying our goodbyes as 8th graders will move on to high school and remember all the memories we made in middle school. One of those memories we made were the 3 author visits. They are fun days where we meet an author in person and learn about their books and about themselves! Which one was the best overall though? I will be answering this question with mine and other opinions from around the school!

2023 Author Visit: Christina Diaz Gonzalez

About Author Christina Diaz Gonzalez

The 2023 author visit (2024-2025 8th graders first one) invited Christina Diaz Gonzalez to HCMS. She had the most diverse options for books out of the 3 authors with the most genres. In HCMS, she is most known for the book Invisible and Concealed [We’ve been very lucky because she visited our two-way dual language program in 2022 then we won a] a virtual author visit in 2023 in the 2023-2024 school year [also]! She is also visiting the school again for the 2025-2026 author visit,  so the next generation can see our 1st one!

“I think it was very fun and it was a very new experience for me” Valiya T.

2024 Author Visit: Jerry Craft

The Horn Book | Read Jerry Craft's 2020 Coretta Scott King Book Award  Author Acceptance Speech American Library Association ALA Virtual Book  Award Celebration

The 2024 author visit (2024-2025 8th graders second one) invited Jerry Craft to HCMS. He is the author that visited HCMS that got the most awards like the John Newberry medal. In HCMS he is most known for the “New Kid” series. He also made a special appearance in the house meeting after that to play basketball. He does have the least amount of books out of the 3 though. 

“It was really fun and I’m really thankful that I got to meet him. Being the really successful author that he is, and all the advice he gave us for the future, it was a great time for me.” Raegen B.

2025 Author Visit: George O’Connor

George O'Connor | Authors | Macmillan

The 2025 author visit (2024-2025 8th graders final one) invited George O’ Connor to HCMS. He has the longest series out of the 3 authors which is called “Olympians” George O’ Connor is also best known for that same series in HCMS. He was the author who explained all of his books in depth and also explained the most about himself and gave a good lesson. 

“I liked his visit because I feel like I got to know his background on why he started writing his books in the first place.” Ellie M.

Conclusion

 All the author visits has their (mainly) highs and (rarely) lows and have a place in our hearts, and we should thank Ms. Moye for coordinating these! To all the next author visits and beyond!

“The Impact of Author Visits” by Faten I., 7th grade

Sometimes we get so lost in such a good book, but we never look at the magic behind it. We never really pay attention to how the author came up with the idea of the book, what inspired them to start writing, or even what their life was like. Sometimes we don’t even pay attention to the author at all! 

But HCMS decided to change that. Every year, we have authors come and visit our school. These authors share their background, what inspired them to start writing, how they came up with the ideas of their books and so much more! 

For example, last year (2024) we had Jerry Craft come and visit our school. To prepare for this, everyone and their ELA classes read his book New Kid. We also decorated the library with posters, we decorated the doors, and we displayed art from Mr. Gomez’s (art teacher) class in the front office. When Jerry Craft came some language arts came in and Jerry had a presentation about his past, books, what inspired him to make books, drew some drawings for us, told us about his journey, and even played in our staff vs students basketball game! 

This whole experience impacted so many kids and I  because we got to see an author talk about his life and what inspires him. We have some very talented artists in our school who took some of his art advice and benefited from him. He also inspired many students by pushing them to read more!

So many students and I were so amazed by the fact that one minute we were reading his book and the next minute he was right in front of us! He really did inspire students a lot especially with his drawings. He taught us so much about books, diversity, he even taught me how to draw a background which actually saved me in art. I loved this experience so much! 

This year we had George O’Connor, and I learned SO much! I never really knew anything about Greek mythology, but his presentation and the events, and decorations we had for him taught me so much!

Before George O’Connor came we prepared for him by making and hanging up posters, door decorating, having his books on display, hanging up some of Mr. Gomez’s kid’s artwork, making paper cutouts of characters from some of his books, and we even had an Olympians night where you could play games based on the Greek goddesses, purchase food drinks, and get stamps for each station you complete! I was so glad because this year as a student literacy leader I was able to help with all of this and it was so much fun.  

When Gorge O’Connor first came many students including myself knew nothing about Greek Gods or him, but throughout his presentation he shared a lot and taught us a lot. He taught us about his past, his drawing techniques, his school life, how he was when he was a kid, what inspired him to start writing books, and so much about the Greek gods. 

This experience was so cool because it taught me and other students that even if we think we  can’t do something we always can, you just have to have faith and try. He also taught me and others  so much about Greek mythology, and gods and goddesses which we all found so cool. Gorge gave a lot of kids fun memories by signing books and bookmarks for them, talking with them, showing us cool activities, etc.!  

Overall I think author visits should continue because they benefit me and many kids in so many ways and have big impacts!

“How Yearly Author Visits Impact Students” by Mia G., 7th grade

Careers

Yearly Author visits are really helpful to students when it comes to choosing careers. Many authors like to introduce careers like publishing, arts, writing, and more which can make a student feel a type of connection with that career. When authors come to schools and talk about their story/background on how they became authors it can motivate students making the idea of becoming an author or another career related to it feel more real to them.

Encourages to Read

Most of the time Author Visits encourage students to start reading by discussing their books, their characters and themes of the book making students feel more interested in their books. This motivates students to start reading more not only specific author books but similar books from different authors or by discovering which genres they like. Authors also let students ask questions which makes them more interested in reading.

Understanding the process of writing

Authors often share their process like everything they have had to go through to be where they are right now; they share their success and the challenges they have gone through over the years. This can make the students learn to understand the process of writing and make them clearly  understand that everything takes time.

Participation

Authors often let students ask questions  out loud and tell them their thoughts, questions or opinions. This activity helps students to communicate in front of a lot or a group of people making them more confident in speaking out loud

Conclusion

In conclusion, Yearly author visits benefit students in many good ways which can have a big impact on them!

Thank you so much to my student voices today and their look at our yearly author visits!

Author Guest Post: “A Writing Process, Possessed!” by Jessica Lewis, Author of Nav’s Foolproof Guide to Falling in Love

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“A Writing Process, Possessed!”

I’m a pretty simple person: I get up around the same time every day, play the same game on my phone while I eat breakfast, chat and laugh with my grandmother before I go upstairs to work. I come back briefly for lunch, sometimes take a nap, then cook dinner and write for a bit after Grandma goes to bed. On Mondays, I meet with my writing friend to write at a local coffee shop. On Saturdays (if the weather’s nice), I’ll have a water and read outside with my stray cat buddy, Butter. Every day is roughly the same for me, for better or worse. However, that consistency in routine doesn’t extend to my writing! I’m chaotic, impulsive, indecisive, and at times, infuriating to myself. It’ll be hard to quantify, but I can try to wrestle my writing routine into something other than nonsense. Let’s try!

First, I do my best writing in the mornings. If I’m on deadline for something like line/copy edits, or marketing, I make sure I crank those out in the morning while my brain is fresh. For simpler tasks that require an analytical brain and not creative, I can usually get quite a bit done in a short amount of time. I put on some music and lose myself to the task at hand until I remember I haven’t moved for four hours! I can also be a bit obsessive here, but Grandma usually keeps me grounded. When I’m editing, life is regimented and structured.

When I’m not editing…all bets are off. If I’m drafting, or thinking up a new story idea, or even thinking about substantial developmental edits, I turn into a pure goblin. I will listen to a single song on repeat and choreograph fight scenes, often before I even have a solid plot. I’ll take lots of walks and bubble baths, just ruminating on themes and characters. During this time, I don’t sleep well. One night, I’ll stay up until four am, obsessing over some minor detail. The next night, I’ll sleep for hours, in fits and starts, feverishly writing down my scraps of dreams or dialogue I thought of in the half-light of dawn. If I’m drafting, I have a bad habit of writing until my fingers and wrists ache, sometimes up to 5,000 words in a day. But then the next few days I might not write a word and just stare at the wall.

I don’t recommend my process to anyone! It feels a bit like being possessed, if I’m honest. But as much as I bellyache about the lack of sleep, or the times when I’m stuck and listless for weeks, there’s truly no better feeling than nailing a scene or coming up with a pitch-perfect piece of dialogue. I feel this way when I’m enjoying a new game I love, or a new movie or TV series I’m obsessed with. But instead of becoming obsessed with someone else’s work, it’s mine! I’m my first fan, and I think that’s wonderful. I put all my love and passion into all my books, whether that’s romance, science fiction, horror, or fantasy. It gets all of me, and I like to think that shows in the writing.

A few more fun facts about my process:

  • I write on my phone! Not just quick notes on dialogue or character traits, but the actual first draft. It’s a habit born from my college days when I’d write on my phone on the bus to school, and that just stuck. My phone is always with me, so I think it’s convenient to jot down half a chapter while I’m waiting at a doctor’s office or hair appointment.
  • Brainstorming is a huge part of my process—I like to have almost everything planned out before I start, because once the train is rolling, it doesn’t stop until I’m done. If I have to stop and think about what comes next, the momentum is gone and my wild brain will wander off to another book.
  • Grandma helps me brainstorm, but she hates it! She doesn’t like horror at all, so she’s always complaining about my scary stories. She doesn’t like romance for teens either, so she’s constantly rolling her eyes. But she valiantly listens, and she’s given me great feedback and ideas over the years!
  • My favorite part of the process is the idea before it’s fully solidified, even if my sleep schedule suffers greatly. I specifically love choosing what dog will be in this book (there’s always a dog!) because I get to look at pictures of puppies and call it work!

That’s all from me! Like my many genres, I can’t stick to one thing; sometimes I’m consistent and diligent. Other times, I’m staring at the wall for three hours, trying to figure out how to get two characters to kiss. Or escape zombies! Just depends on the day with me! Though it’s a chaotic job, I love it. Writing is where I can truly be free, and for that I’m grateful.

Published April 29th, 2025 by HarperCollins

About the Book: Nav knows how to flirt, but she also knows love is a messy losing proposition. As proof, her best friend, Hallie, is constantly getting her heart broken. And when Hallie goes to her boring academic camp this summer, Nav won’t be there to protect her for the first time in their lives.

So when shy new girl Gia asks Nav for help getting Hallie’s attention, Nav finds a way to make it work for her. In exchange for lessons in romance, Gia, whose mom runs the camp, will help get Nav a spot there. And if her coaching works, maybe Hallie can date someone who will treat her right for a change.

Except…Gia’s not just bad at flirting, she’s terrible. She’s too anxious to even speak to Hallie, never mind date her. Training Gia quickly becomes a disaster. Worse, Gia’s every awkward joke and catastrophic fake date makes Nav like Gia a little bit more…and not in a friend way. Which puts a really, really big wrench in Nav’s plans. As Nav’s feelings change, she’ll have to decide what’s more important: sticking to her plan for the perfect summer or taking a chance on learning more about love than she ever expected.

About the Author: Jessica Lewis has a degree in English literature and animal science (the veterinarian plan did not work out). She began her publishing career in horror with Bad Witch Burning, a Bram Stoker nominee for Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel, and Monstrous. She also writes cute middle grade rom-coms under the pseudonym Jazz Taylor, which include Cool Cat, Meow or Never, and Starting from Scratch. Jessica is from Alabama, where she writes full-time and lives with her hilarious grandmother. You can learn more at authorjessicalewis.com.

Thank you, Jessica, for sharing your writing process!

Author Guest Post: “Me, Myself, and My Five Senses” by Sarah Suk, Author of Meet Me at Blue Hour

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“Me, Myself, and My Five Senses”

I spend a lot of time inside my head. This is something that’s always been true about me. As a kid, one of my favourite pastimes was playing pretend, letting my imagination run loose and turning my ideas into dramatic plays for my stuffed animals to star in or for my friends and I to adopt for the afternoon. Today we are princesses and Pokémon trainers—both, at the same time. Tomorrow we’ll be spies, detectives, dragons on a mission. I could spend hours outside with a bouncy ball, just bouncing it up and down the street while I spun stories inside my head.

Now as an author, many of my days are much of the same, though the rhythm of the bouncy ball has turned into the tapping of keys on my computer. And while I can say that letting my imagination run loose and turning my ideas into dramatic scenarios for my characters to star in is still one of my favourite things to do, there are times when being in my head feels more tumultuous than not. When the feeling of stuckness seeps in and spirals into a state of overthinking and then overthinking the overthinking (as one does), I begin to feel more like I’m in the passenger seat of my own mind than the one behind the wheel.

Something I’ve been trying to do lately is to spend a little less time in my head and a little more time in my body. One of the ways I’ve been doing this is pausing to make note of my five senses in real time. I’ll ask myself, what do I see? A chunky mug, red spines on the bookshelf. Hear? Construction outside my window. Smell? Leeks in the pan, my daughter’s baby scent. Taste? Water, cold and refreshing. Feel? The couch beneath me, holding me up. It brings me back to the moment in a tangible way that reminds me that I’m not actually falling no matter how far my mental spiral seems to go. I’m simply right here.

Curiously, the senses have made an appearance as key details in my most recent young adult novels. The Space between Here & Now follows the story of a teenage girl who has a rare condition that causes her to travel back in time to her memories when she smells a scent linked to them. And in my upcoming book Meet Me at Blue Hour, memories are erased through sounds collected on a mix tape.

While I didn’t necessarily or purposefully plan to write these novels centering the senses, I found that’s where my ideas naturally took me. And in writing these stories, I found something else: leaning into the senses is great for worldbuilding! There’s nothing that makes a setting feel more alive than being able to vividly see what your characters see, hear what they hear, taste what they taste. I recall receiving this writing tip from an author friend of mine years ago, but as someone who often gravitates toward scenes with two talking heads in a description-less room, I feel like I needed to write these stories with the senses as a focal point to truly grasp my own style with it.

Now, no matter what I write, I find this exercise helps ground me in the reality of the story, just like how it grounds me in the reality of my own life. So whenever I’m feeling stuck in my head or stuck in the words, I go back to the senses. I take a breath. I plant my feet on the ground. And I remember that I’m here.

Publishing April 1st, 2025 by Quill Tree Books

About the Book: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind meets Past Lives in this gripping, emotional story of two childhood friends navigating the fallout of one erasing their memory of the other, from acclaimed author Sarah Suk.

Seventeen-year-old Yena Bae is spending the summer in Busan, South Korea, working at her mom’s memory-erasing clinic. She feels lost and disconnected from people, something she’s felt ever since her best friend, Lucas, moved away four years ago without a word, leaving her in limbo.

Eighteen-year-old Lucas Pak is also in Busan for the summer, visiting his grandpa, who was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. But he isn’t just here for a regular visit—he’s determined to get his beloved grandpa into the new study running at the clinic, a trial program seeking to restore lost memories.

When Yena runs into Lucas again, she’s shocked to see him and even more shocked to discover that he doesn’t remember a thing about her. He’s completely erased her from his memories, and she has no idea why.

As the two reconnect, they unravel the mystery and heartache of what happened between them all those years ago—and must now reckon with whether they can forge a new beginning together.

Sarah Suk profile image

About the Author: Sarah Suk (pronounced like soup with a K) lives in Vancouver, Canada, where she writes stories and admires mountains. She is the author of young adult novels Made in Korea and The Space between Here & Now, as well as the co-writer of John Cho’s middle grade novel Troublemaker. When she’s not writing, you can find her hanging out by the water, taking film photos, or eating a bowl of bingsu. You can visit Sarah online at sarahsuk.com and on Twitter and Instagram @_sarahsuk.

Thank you, Sarah, for this writing exercise to bring our writing to life!

Author Guest Post: “Using Storytelling to Flip the Script on our Fears” by Adam Rosenbaum, Author of The Ghost Rules

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“Using Storytelling to Flip the Script on our Fears”

I used to be afraid of sharks when I was a kid. Like, really afraid. And maybe still am? Okay, that’s a lie. I am definitely, 100% still afraid of sharks, across the board, all the time. I blame a way too early viewing of JAWS and a wildly active imagination. But instead of facing my fears head-on back in the day, I am now an adult with children of my own who won’t venture more than a few feet into the ocean because a 30-foot great white shark might pop out of the depths and turn me into a morning snack.

There are so many amazing ways to help kids face their fears. And while I am by no means an expert on emotional health (see: my inability to swim in an ocean), I’d like to throw out a suggestion that might help some kids view their fears from a different angle. And it involves a little creativity!

My debut Middle Grade novel, The Ghost Rules, is about a boy named Elwood who can see ghosts. But in my book, ghosts aren’t scary at all. They aren’t haunting the living or terrifying children at night. My ghosts are goofy and annoying and drool a lot and are kind of obsessed with coffee. I took another fear of mine from when I was a kid (I was an anxious child, believe it or not), put a funny spin on it, and built a story around it.

Which is exactly what you can do!

I’ve brought this simple exercise into schools and nonprofits and have been blown away at the creativity and vulnerability of the kids who participate. Not only do some of the kids genuinely confront their fears, they also end up revealing those fears to one another before turning what they’re afraid of into something a little less scary.

If that sounds like something that could be valuable, here are some suggestions for how you can encourage the kids in your life to face their fears through storytelling:

1) IDENTIFY A FEAR

Some kids are MORE THAN happy to share their fears. Other kids have kept those fears bottled up for so long that to even utter them out loud is too much. So I usually say, “Let’s pick something that can be scary. It doesn’t have to be your own fear. Maybe it’s something your little brother or sister is afraid of, or something you used to be afraid of.” And I usually give my fear of sharks as an example to kick things off.

2) FIND A WAY TO MAKE IT SILLY

For The Ghost Rules, I made my ghosts bumbling, forgetful, and covered in ghost drool. To extend my shark example, I ask the kids how we can make something like a shark a little less scary. The ideas they’ve come up with have been so fun and imaginative: a shark who can’t see underwater and needs glasses, or a shark that only wants to eat pickles.

The opportunities here for fun, creative discussion are endless.

3) BUILD A STORY

When crafting a story with kids, I narrow it down to 3 basic things: a main character, a problem, how the main character overcomes that problem.

Sometimes they build a story together in smaller groups, sometimes the kids want to go off on their own and write and illustrate by themselves.

4) SHARE OUR STORIES

The best part of the whole exercise is when we come back together to share our stories, and the kids reveal what fear they chose (individually or as a group) and how they made it goofy. I give extra points to the kids who also illustrate their stories.

To state the obvious, I doubt any child walks away completely changed and fear-free. But it’s pretty amazing to see a kid smile and laugh as they’re talking about something that just minutes earlier had made their voice quiver.

And hopefully it’s a good first step toward their own emotional health so they avoid turning into a 40-something who still can’t swim in the ocean.

Published August 13th, 2024 by Holiday House for Young Readers

About the Book: Twelve-year-old Elwood McGee never asked to have “ghost-sight,” and it involves a lot more drool-dodging than he expected. Ghosts are the WORST—and they’re all over the place in this sharp-witted middle grade debut novel.

Did you know that ghosts love coffee? They’re not trying to be scary. They’re just deprived of an appropriate amount of caffeine! They also bump into things by accident, are occasionally nosy, and get a little nervous when they’re seen by the living.

Elwood McGee knows these ghost facts because he’s one of those rare people with the gift of ghost-sight. And it turns out ghosts are everywhere! Especially in the small Tennessee town where Elwood and his family had to move following the death of his big brother Noah, which Elwood thinks was his fault.

Once Elwood figures out he can see ghosts, he becomes single-mindedly determined to use his powers to see Noah and talk to him once last time. With the help of two girls who live on his street, Elwood embarks on a journey through the surprisingly funny world of ghosts and faces the realities of letting go.

At once hilarious and heart wrenching, Adam Rosenbaum makes his middle grade debut with a supernaturalish novel about grief that’s perfect for fans of Gordon Korman and Dan Gutman.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

Thank you, Adam, for this exercise to use with students to face fears and do some writing!

Author Guest Post: “The Powerful Nature of Graphic Memoirs” by Claire Lordon, Author of One in a Million

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“The Powerful Nature of Graphic Memoirs”

I think graphic memoirs are so powerful because not only are you reading a story but you can also visualize things as well. When I was thinking of creating my graphic memoir One in a Million there never was a doubt that it was going to be in graphic memoir format. I wanted to show what I went through. I knew I would have a hard time conveying what depression felt like in writing, but with my illustration background I sure knew how to show it.

Graphic memoirs are just that, memoirs that are created with graphics. While creating this book I first called it a “graphic novel memoir” just because I hadn’t heard the term graphic memoir, and because it gave people an idea that it would be similar to a graphic novel. The term “graphic novel memoir” always seemed like a misnomer because how can something be a novel and a memoir? It was only since Jarret J. Krosoczka’s Hey, Kiddo that I started hearing the term graphic memoir in use. It fit and since then I’ve heard many other books use that term too. I made sure that the term graphic memoir was on the cover of my book because I needed people to know that it’s a true story.

Since I started working on my book I have also learned about the term “graphic medicine”. This is a subgenre of comics, graphic novels, and graphic memoirs that depict or have themes relating to healthcare. One of the interesting ways graphic medicine is being used is in the medical humanities at medical schools. Medical students can gain an understanding of what a patient’s perspective may be.

The importance on memoirs, including graphic memoirs is that they give the reader an insight into another person’s life and perspective. This can help create compassion and empathy for others. My hope is that my book helps others that are going through something similar. I also hope that others gain some understanding of what being sick as a teen can entail (especially if someone looks “normal” on the outside). Everyone has a story to share. What will be yours?

Some of my favorite graphic memoirs:

  • Smile by Raina Telgemeier
  • Hey, Kiddo by Jarret J. Krosoczka
  • A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat
  • Parenthesis by Élodie Durand
  • Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
  • In Limbo by Deb JJ Lee

Writing prompt

Everyone has a story to tell.

Create a short comic about an event in your life. It could be as simple as to your morning routine today to a big life event. Don’t worry about your art skills. Stick figures will work (see xkcd.com).

Some prompts: What is the happiest memory you have? What is the saddest memory you have? What was your day like yesterday? Draw a comic of your most recent birthday.

Create a grid on paper could be 4×4 or more, depending on how long you want your story to be (some comics are even just a single panel! I encourage starting with a 4×4 so you can show time passing). You can work on creating your characters separately or you can just jump into creating. Draw your character(s) and make sure to leave room for the text (if needed). Remember in comics half the story is in the art. So if you want to show someone putting on their shoes you don’t need to state it in the text (ex. ”…and then I put on my shoes.”) We don’t need the text because we can see it. Happy creating!

Published October 10th, 2023 by Candlewick Press

About the Book: Debut graphic novelist Claire Lordon’s medical misfortunes may be one in a million in this relatable memoir, but so is her determination, grit, and passion to beat the odds and reclaim her life.

Something is wrong with Claire, but she doesn’t know what. Nobody does, not even her doctors. All she wants is to return to her happy and athletic teenage self. But her accumulating symptoms—chronic fatigue, pounding headaches, weight gain—hint that there’s something not right inside Claire’s body. Claire’s high school experience becomes filled with MRIs, visits to the Mayo Clinic, and multiple surgeries to remove a brain tumor. But even in her most difficult moments battling chronic illness, Claire manages to find solace in her family, her closest friends, and her art. A deeply personal and visually arresting memoir that draws on the author’s high school diaries and drawings, One in a Million is also a sophisticated portrayal of pain, depression, and fear that any teen or adult can relate to. With a sensitive preface and an author’s note connecting past to present, this true story of resilience strikes a moving balance between raw honesty in the face of medical and mental trauma and the everyday musings of a teenager.

About the Author: Claire Lordon is an author, illustrator, and designer who creates children’s books, comics, murals, maps, and greeting cards. She is the author-illustrator of Lorenzo, the Pizza-Loving Lobster, the Taking a Walk series, and other picture books. One in a Million is her first graphic novel. Claire Lordon lives in Vancouver, Canada.

Thank you, Claire, for these writing prompts to get our students creating!

There Was a Party for Langston by Jason Reynolds, Illustrated by Jerome Pumphrey & Jarrett Pumphrey

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There Was a Party for Langston
Author: Jason Reynolds
Illustrators: Jerome Pumphrey & Jarrett Pumphrey
Published October 3rd, 2023 by Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books

Summary: New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Jason Reynolds’s debut picture book is a snappy, joyous ode to Word King, literary genius, and glass-ceiling smasher Langston Hughes and the luminaries he inspired.

Back in the day, there was a heckuva party, a jam, for a word-making man. The King of Letters. Langston Hughes. His ABCs became drums, bumping jumping thumping like a heart the size of the whole country. They sent some people yelling and others, his word-children, to write their own glory.

Maya Angelou, Amiri Baraka, and more came be-bopping to recite poems at their hero’s feet at that heckuva party at the Schomberg Library, dancing boom da boom, stepping and stomping, all in praise and love for Langston, world-mending word man. Oh, yeah, there was hoopla in Harlem, for its Renaissance man. A party for Langston.

Praise:

Melding celebratory text and kinetic, graphical art, the creators underscore the power of the subject’s poetry to move and to inspire. – Publishers Weekly, *STARRED REVIEW*, 8/14/2023

Evocative and celebratory words float around the dancers like strains of music, all the way to a culminating whirl of letters, laughter, and joy. Who knew these esteemed literary lions could cut the rug like that? – Booklist, *STARRED REVIEW*, 08/01/2023

Reynolds and the Pumphrey brothers take readers on a dazzling journey through Langston Hughes’ legacy … A bar set stratospherically high and cleared with room to spare. – Kirkus Reviews, *STARRED REVIEW*, 08/01/2023

This book is an absolute textual and pictorial glory of people, places, word-making, song-singing, storytelling, history-making moments, and images that are unforgettable. A beguiling, bedazzling collaboration that will send children to the shelves to learn more about all the names within, especially Hughes. – School Library Journal, *STARRED REVIEW*, July 2023

About the Creators: 

Jason Reynolds is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, a Newbery Award Honoree, a Printz Award Honoree, a two-time National Book Award finalist, a Kirkus Award winner, a UK Carnegie Medal winner, a two-time Walter Dean Myers Award winner, an NAACP Image Award Winner, an Odyssey Award Winner and two-time honoree, the recipient of multiple Coretta Scott King honors, and the Margaret A. Edwards Award. He was also the 2020–2022 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. His many books include All American Boys (cowritten with Brendan Kiely); When I Was the GreatestThe Boy in the Black SuitStampedAs Brave as YouFor Every One; the Track series (Ghost, Patina, Sunny, and Lu); Look Both WaysStuntboy, in the MeantimeAin’t Burned All the Bright (recipient of the Caldecott Honor) and My Name Is Jason. Mine Too. (both cowritten with Jason Griffin); and Long Way Down, which received a Newbery Honor, a Printz Honor, and a Coretta Scott King Honor. He lives in Washington, DC. You can find his ramblings at JasonWritesBooks.com.

Jerome Pumphrey is a designer, illustrator, and writer, originally from Houston, Texas. His work includes It’s a Sign!Somewhere in the BayouThe Old Boat, and The Old Truck, which received seven starred reviews, was named a Best Book of the Year by Publishers Weekly, and received the Ezra Jack Keats Writer Award Honor—all of which he created with his brother Jarrett. They also illustrated Jason Reynolds’s There Was a Party for Langston. Jerome works as a graphic designer at The Walt Disney Company. He lives near Clearwater, Florida.

Jarrett Pumphrey is an award-winning author-illustrator who makes books for kids with his brother, Jerome. Their books include It’s a Sign!Somewhere in the BayouThe Old Boat, and The Old Truck, which received seven starred reviews, was named a Best Book of the Year by Publishers Weekly, and received the Ezra Jack Keats Writer Award Honor. They also illustrated Jason Reynolds’s There Was a Party for Langston. Jarrett lives near Austin, Texas.

Review: This book may just be perfection. All of it–the words, the story, the inspiration, and the art.

First, we have Jason Reynolds’s verse, written with a rhythm that is screaming to be read aloud (I can’t wait for the audiobook). The story is a celebration of Hughes about a celebration of Hughes, so the love is truly emanating off the pages. And the story of Reynolds’s inspiration is just so wholesome and a snapshot into history that deserves this book.

Second, the cherry on top is the pieces of art that illustrate Reynolds’s words. The Pumphrey brothers use handmade stamps to create spreads that complete the book into the complete package that it is. I loved how they included Hughes’s words and Reynolds’s words within the art as well.

I highly recommend reading Betsy Bird’s Goodreads review because she is so much more articulate and detailed than I am about this book in all of its glory.

Tools for Navigation: This text should be combined with Hughes’s work. His words are intertwined within the book which lends directly into picking up Hughes’s work to read alongside it. Readers could also find words within the illustrations and find which of Hughes’s work it comes from and look at why that particular section would be included at that point.

Additionally, other beloved authors were introduced to the readers, not only Maya Angelou and Amiri Baraka but James Baldwin, Gwendolyn Brooks, Ashley Bryan, Octavia Butler, Countee Cullen, W.E.B. DuBois, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Alice Dunbar Nelson, Ralph Ellison, Nikki Giovanni, Alex Haley, Zora Neale Hurston, Claude McKay, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, and Richard Wright. These introductions could lend themselves to be the start of an author study, including asking why Reynolds and the Pumphreys would have chosen to include these specific authors.

Discussion Questions: 

  • Why did Langston Hughes have a party at the library?
  • What are some ways that Reynolds captured the excitement and glory of the evening with his words?
  • How did the illustrators use words in their art? What does it add to the book?
  • How did some of Hughes’s purposes relate to issues we’re still facing in America?
  • What inspired Jason Reynolds to write this book?
  • How is this picture book biography different than others?

Flagged Spreads: 

Read This If You Love: Poetry, Langston Hughes, Jason Reynolds

Recommended For: 

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**Thank you to Simon & Schuster’s Children’s Publishing for sharing a copy for review!**

Author Guest Post: “Where Story Ideas Come From & Why Personal Narrative Writing Works Best for Me” by Charlotte Offsay, Author of Challah Day!

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“Where Story Ideas Come From & Why Personal Narrative Writing Works Best for Me”

One of my favorite questions to ask other authors is where their story ideas come from. It fascinates me that everyone seems to harness creativity differently. Some authors I know will take two things that ton’s typically go together and combine them into a story, for example mashing vampires and a beach vacation lead author Laura Lavoie to write Vampire Vacation. Other authors will create lists – emotions, settings, types of narrators etc. – and challenge themselves to combine them into a story.

Personally, I prefer Personal Narrative Writing and tend to mine my own life for story ideas. I find that when I write from experience or from the heart, it shines through in my writing and brings out my best work. Since I write picture books, I like to take my own personal experiences and then channel them through a child lens and onto the page.

Take for example my upcoming picture book Challah Day! illustrated by the talented Jason Kirschner (8/1/23 from Holiday House). The idea for Challah Day! was born out of a personal experience close to my heart – my love of baking challah with my two young children.

Book Description: Challah Day! is a joyful, rhyming story about a Jewish holiday food that’s baked with love. From kneading sticky dough to gathering with family around the table, Challah Day! celebrates family, food, heritage, and tradition! Join this happy family as they bake delicious braided egg bread for their Friday night Shabbat dinner.

I began making challah with my two young children when they grew old enough to stop trying to eat the raw dough. Making Challah with them has brought clouds of flour, broken eggs, endless laughter, delicious bread and a beautiful timeless tradition into our home. Channeling my joy of baking together led to my writing the first draft of Challah Day! after one particularly giggle-filled baking session.

I sat down and wrote an upbeat, rhyming story about a family baking challah together for Shabbat. I included fun details from my own life, for example one page reads:

Crack the eggs – one… two… three… four
Extra if some hit the floor.

These lines were inspired by the countless eggs my children broke while learning to master cracking eggs.

The lines…

Chocolate? Raisins? Which to use?
It’s not hard for us to choose!

…come from my daughter who loves to try and fit an entire bag of chocolate chips into her challah dough.

And the lines…

Grandma lights the candles bright.
She and Grandpa hold us tight.

…were inspired by my in-laws who still scoop my children close every time we light the Shabbat candles together.

Mining personal experiences for story ideas can be a great way to help students create their own stories – everyone has a story to tell! Students can choose to stick close to their personal experiences the way I did with Challah Day! or they can use the concept as inspiration and then take artistic license.

Personal Narrative Writing Prompts:

  1. Write about a food that you love to cook or bake with your family.
  2. Describe a favorite tradition or holiday.
  3. Where is your favorite place to visit and why?
  4. What was the best day you have ever had?
  5. Write about your first sleepover
  6. What is something that you are proud of?
  7. What is the silliest thing that has ever happened to you?

Steps:

  1. Pick a personal narrative writing prompt.
  2. Who are the characters in your story?
  3. What are the steps or order of events in your story?
  4. What fun personal details can you add?
  5. Write an opening line that will introduce your character and make your reader want to keep reading. For example, “The silliest thing that ever happened to me was ____” Or “I am proud of ____ because _____.”
  6. Write about the events that happened in your story while keeping the action moving forward. Follow your order of events using words such as: First, Next, Then, Finally.
  7. Incorporate your fun personal details as you write just like I did for Challah Day! Add adjectives/describing words and answer the following questions within your story: Who, What, Where, Why or How.
  8. Conclude your story with one of the following:
    1. How things ended
    2. What you learned
    3. What you will never forget
    4. How the story changed you/made you look at the world differently
    5. What you look forward to doing next time

Happy creating!

About the Author: CHARLOTTE OFFSAY was born in England, grew up in Boston, and currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children. Through her work, Charlotte hopes to make children laugh, to inspire curiosity, and to create a magical world her readers can lose themselves in time and time again.

Charlotte is the author of The Quiet Forest, illustrated by Abi Cushman (Paula Wiseman Books, 2024), Challah Day!, illustrated by Jason Kirschner (Holiday House, 2023), A Grandma’s Magic, illustrated by Asa Gilland (Doubleday Books for Young Readers, April 2022), The Big Beach Cleanup, illustrated by Kate Rewse (Albert Whitman, 2021), and How to Return a Monster, illustrated by Rea Zhai (Beaming Books, 2021).

Learn more about Charlotte’s work at charlotteoffsay.com and follow her on Twitter and Tiktok at @COffsay and on Instagram at @picturebookrecommendations. Charlotte is represented by Nicole Geiger at Full Circle Literary.

Thank you, Charlotte, for this post about your process and ideas to help kids with theirs!