We've Launched!

Dear Readers, Writers, Runners: I'm a jogger, not a blogger. But I've been encouraged to keep a blog for the duration of this campaign, so here I am, blogging (when I really should be jogging). Since we got the idea in August, Mark and I have been working like mad on putting this campaign together. It's both scary and a relief to finally have the website live. Sometimes I think we're crazy--that two people can't possibly pull something like this together. But with wonderful support from Random House and such positive feedback from librarians and teachers and book people, I'm inspired to keep working at making this thing a reality. I participated in a week-long literacy festival in Red Bluff, CA last week, and during a speech I gave to a roomful of educators I explained how through my books I try to convey to kids that individual efforts matter, that they should stand tall for what they believe, and that where there's a will, there's a way. With this Exercise the Right to Read campaign I'm trying to live my own advice.