I think one of my favorite things about this author visit was that he really showed our students that all kinds of people with all kinds of interests and passions can be authors. While he spoke about how much time he spent as a kid in his local library, he also talked about his love of movies and video games. We don't have too many authors who admit to being gamers, and it was amazing to see our kids realize that a love of video games can inspire a love of creating stories. We always hear that kids should read all the time, which, of course, is wonderful. But sometimes kids are not the most voracious readers, and I love that they might see themselves in Terry Benton-Walker. He also mentioned that his character, Alex Wise, learns to accept who he is as this book progresses. I love that an epic fantasy adventure can also teach our students to love themselves, even if they feel different from their peers around them. Our students who feel marginalized or other should be able to see themselves in our book heroes too.
I've heard from several kids and teachers about how warm and engaging our visit today was. Every class got a copy of Alex Wise vs. The End of the World, so I hope a lot of our kids are excited to read it and get a chance to do so this year.
Thank you, Terry Benton-Walker, for a great visit! Hope we get to see you at F.AVE again.