Looking Forward

Last week was really hard.  In fact, things have been annoyingly complicated for what is supposed to be a chillaxin' summer.  I am fully aware at how much worse things can be, but sometimes I am still consumed by life's difficulties.  Included in the week:  trying to get our insurance ducks in a row, helping my mom with a mega garage sale, Romy getting her first high fever (and she's twenty-one months old!  Oh, the magic of breastfeeding.  Which, of course, is my favorite topic to discuss with YA authors.  See here and here for more on that).  Plus, both my editor and art director were out of town, which technically meant nothing, but it also meant no fun conversations with Liz about books, or other random things I like to harass her with, or Rich about my new book covers (new paperback cover for INTO THE WILD NERD YONDER and first cover for upcoming DON'T STOP NOW).  However, as I said in my last post, I did have a really special day last Thursday visiting a high school where three classes of summer school freshmen read GET WELL SOON.  For class!  During my visit, the students presented me with some very moving artwork based on the book.  I had never seen art based on my book.  It almost made me cry that people took the time to do this.  Here are the drawings.  Excuse the bad photos; they were too large to scan.  All drawings can be enlarged by clicking on the images.:

This is a drawing of Anna in her school having a panic attack.

I have no idea why this picture posted sideways.  I didn't take it this way.  I don't have time to fix it, though.  And excuse the Britney Spears movie in the corner.  I had to use something to hold the paper down.  Not that it had to be a Britney movie.  Anyway, the picture is of Anna looking out her hospital window at the building across the street and the getaway cars.

 This is Anna and Matt O. having a conversation in the cafeteria.

This is a beautiful drawing of the hallway Anna has to sleep in during her first night in the hospital.  Her bed is at the bottom, and the darkness is the unknown waiting for her.  This one really got to me.

Every student participated in my visit.  Some students performed a reader's theater of a cafeteria scene from the book.  A bunch of students asked thought-provoking questions, both about the book and about me as an author.  Some students had to create connections they had to the text, which was incredibly powerful.  All-in-all, it was one of the best experiences I've had as an author.  It made me feel like an author, to have kids reading my book for school.  Thank you to all of the kids and teachers who made the event so incredible!

Here's hoping everyone has a wonderful week!