Two more contests to add to last week's list of contests and blog hops:
Writer's Digest
Dear Lucky Agent Contest with Victoria Marini. Ends Jan 31.
The Unexpected Benefits of Blogging: Reason #42
The seventh grade kids I teach love to read. I'm always blown away by their enthusiasm every time we spend a day talking books. On Friday, I shared with them a list of 22 books I either read last year or was dying to read this year. When I did, one of the coolest things happened...
Out of all the books I shared including
Delirium by Lauren Oliver,
Unravelling by Liz Norris,
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld,
Son by Lois Lowry, three of the books that generated the most enthusiasm were books I discovered through blogging. My kids wanted to know everything they could about
Possession by
Elana Johnson,
CassaStar by
Alex J Cavanaugh, and
18 Things by
Jamie Ayers.
They were literally angry with me when they found out our school library didn't carry these books (despite my rationale claims that
18 Things just came out last week). They had me look up where they could buy these books and how much they were so that they could get them this weekend. Let me also make very clear...I would naturally be more excited talking about books written by bloggers I know, but I didn't even give these books the hard sell. The kids gravitated towards these all on their own.
Typically, I keep my teaching life separate from my *secret* writing, blogging life (I have my reasons - another post for another time perhaps). This ended up being a very cool way that they overlapped (without me outing myself as a writer/blogger) and I couldn't be more thrilled. I get to give
my kids something shiny and new while supporting talented writers that I admire. Chalk this one up as reason #42 on my hypothetical list: "The Unexpected Benefits of Blogging."
Whoa!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteKimberly, thank you for even mentioning mine. Hope your library can get one. Wonder if the kids would like some bookmarks?
That is so so great. I just read DELIRIUM and am 100pgs into the second. I think I love it even more. I'm planning to do a review soon. How did your manuscript ever come along? (I finally sent that R&R in :))
ReplyDeleteWhat a great thing to do, Kimberly!!! How AWESOME is it when kids get excited about books? Kudos to you for encouraging them to read AND supporting your fellow bloggers at the same time!
ReplyDeleteI am not so good at keeping my teaching life separate from my writing life. I share the process of my journey toward authorhood with them all the time. Blogging though ... I am careful about what I share.
ReplyDeleteLater in the year, they will research a favorite author for an oral report. Up to this year, blogs have always been blocked by the school computer. Now, they aren't. (I'm not sure why, but I'm not complaining.) I wonder if kids will stumble upon blogs by their favorite authors and what they will learn. I'm excited for that project to start!
It's so cool that your students like bloggers' books. I use CassaStar with my boys.
ReplyDeleteI love to hear things like that. The joy of sharing a book you liked with someone is such a rush. How wonderful you found them through the blogging world.
ReplyDeleteThat's so cool to see them excited about stuff like that. And people you know even. I think it's great because this last 6 months or so, books have come out by people I know. Yes, a lot are self-published, which is a tiny bit easier :), but as we know it's not easy to do it well.
ReplyDeleteBtw, I'm #83 on Cupid's contest. I think I told you I totally (yikes-lotsa Is) changed my query. So would love to hear what you think. I've gotten 2 comments about the number of people/names mentioned as being too much. There's 4. I'd like your opinion on that. 4 doesn't seem like a huge amount, but if I can cut one, it won't hurt.
I do this all the time with my 7th graders - actually built my dystopian/utopian booklist from more recent works (altho I did include 1984 ;) I started a GoodReads private group for my kids where they're required to review so many books, and we chat about them in class and online. It's been a lot of fun!
ReplyDeleteYahoooo! Thanks again for this:-) I'm getting jacked up for my first official school visit to the 8th graders in my town on Feb. 13th! The media center ordered 10 copies today! And they told me that two of the kids in the "gifted" (ugh . . . hate that word, lol) class already picked me for their Florida Author book report--sooo cool!! I hope your students enjoy 18 Things as much as I enjoyed reading this post:-)
ReplyDeleteOoh, see, now I want to read 18 Things, too! Something your kiddos and I have in common!
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome Kimberly!!! I think kids and adults are hungry for good books, and some of them can't be found on the bookshelves of regular libraries or even in bookstores. Indie and small press books are getting better and better.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree! This blogging community is AMAZING!!
ReplyDeleteThat is so cool! And yay to you for sharing the love, with or without the hard sell. :)
ReplyDelete