Yesterday, I had the privilege and the honor of celebrating Read Across America week with the 6th Graders of my alma mater, Wagner Elementary School. Read Across America is a week-long celebration of reading, beginning on Dr. Suess's birthday. Its purpose is motivating children to read more, celebrating reading and literacy, building community, and educating people about the benefits of reading. With me in Eastern Tennessee and Wagner Elementary in Southern California, we truly embraced the concept of Read Across America.

I read a chapter from 7th Grade Revolution, then we had a Q&A session, and I also had the chance to share an excerpt from my current work in progress. I love answering questions and talking about the writing process, so the Q&A portion was so much fun. The kids asked insightful questions, and it turned into several joint teachable moments between the teacher and me.

An example was the simple question: "Which of your characters is your favorite?" Spoiler Alert: All of them. While explaining that I couldn't choose one favorite, I mentioned Katie McCabe. Katie is the character who has been living in my head the longest, so in any given scenario I know exactly how she'll react, what she'll say, and how she'll deal with the situation. The teacher jumped in and emphasized that I had mentioned how the character reacts as it is something she had pointed out to the class in previous lessons. They don't just talk and take action, they have reactions to the situation.

I could go on and on about the questions and answers, but suffice it to say that my answers supported and validated what the teacher had been presenting to the students throughout the school year. Prior to the event, I had provided some background information on 7th Grade Revolution and made sure to point out the character pictures with brief bio I have on my website and the teacher projected them on a board.

While I read, the kids, on hearing a name would check the board so they had an image to help them better imagine the story as it continued. The images had an even greater impact during the Q&A portion. We discussed the tools used to create them, and as they had used the same tools they saw different ways to apply the tools.

A huge thank you to the 6th Graders of Wagner Elementary for such a great experience. I believe we can say "Mission Accomplished" for Read Across America week for 2025.