rich reward

I hope it’s not annoying that I keep posting other folks’ emails in here, but it really does a heart good to hear that your book’s out there in the world, *meaning something* to someone.  I got this message just a while ago from a teacher I met at Brooklyn College’s School of Education last spring; she ordered a set of books for her students up in the Bronx, and hopefully I’ll get to meet them next week.  Here’s part of her email:

I wanted to let you know that the kids are really diggin’ into a wish after midnight.  I get amazed at those who were most unlikely to come up to me and say that they finally like a book that is being read in the class–that they can relate to, and be interested in the story.  We are still near the beginning!!

A lot of us have had that moment—when you finally open a book and feel totally drawn in because something in the novel resonates with YOU, YOUR LIFE…you can recognize yourself in that imaginary realm.

In other news, I’ve been given yet another award!  This time it’s from Ari over at Reading in Color—thanks, Ari!

B: Beautiful
I: Informative
N: Neighborly
G: Gorgeous
O: Outstanding

I’m going to pass this one on to Evelyn N. Alfred, Wands & Worlds, BronzeWord Latino Authors, Kabiliana, and Justine Larbalestier.  And I’m going to humbly request that folks stop giving me awards!  It’s not that I’m not flattered, but I’ve gotten enough lately to last me a long time…

Lastly, I wanted to remind you that Writers Against Racism is still going on; this week’s authors include Alex Sanchez, Anna Levine, and Peter Marino.  In order to focus on my partially-written novel, I opted out of the coordinator role and asked previous respondents to invite new kidlit folks to join the discussion.  If you know someone who’d be a great addition to the series, please contact Amy over at her SLJ blog.