out & about

This has been a busy week!  Part of me wants to crawl under a rock and not emerge for several weeks, but another part of me feels so blessed to have these opportunities to connect with book lovers.  On Tuesday night I was invited by Karen Alford, VP for Elementary Schools at The United Federation of Teachers, to give a talk to NYC educators.  Since both my parents were teachers, I feel really at ease around other educators and had a great time talking about how & why I became a writer.  What’s amazing about teachers is, they always have a little more to give…even after teaching all day, trudging through the rain, and listening to me blab on for more than an hour, they patiently waited in line to have their books signed and then took a moment to share words of encouragement with me.  I love teachers!

The next morning I went over to WNYC for the Brian Lehrer Show.  If you missed the show and want to listen in, you can find my segment here.  I was pretty nervous, but everyone there was very nice and boy, are those folks efficient!  It felt like a blur while I was on air, but Brian was easy to talk to and folks actually called in…thanks also to everyone who emailed me afterward with supportive comments.  I went home thinking I might have offended folks with my remarks about race versus culture, but I think listeners understood what I was trying to say…

Two hours later I got back on the train and headed up to the Bronx to give a book talk to the Literacy Group at the West Farms branch of the NYPL.  Many thanks to the two educators who set up their Smart Board despite having no advance notice…we untangled the wires and were up and running in no time.  The teens were responsive and engaged, but there were no copies of my books at their branch so we’ll have to work on that…

Back on the train…headed back to Brooklyn but got off in Park Slope so I could attend the “My Brooklyn” teen panel on gentrification.  Was very glad I went, though it felt a little strange being in my father’s old place of employment (John Jay HS).  The students were *very* impressive, and clearly articulated their feelings about the changes to their neighborhoods.  I even met Genna’s double—a feisty Panamanian teen who lives in Crown Heights!  I handed out some flyers, talked to the organizers, and then dragged myself back to the train.  My feet still hurt this morning, but it was a great day and I’ve got this morning to relax before I head out once again…