Squee!

Awesome educator Mason Roulston and his movie makers

I'm probably going to regret sharing this, but for many years now I've sent complete strangers books in the mail. 

It usually happens after I've gone down an Internet rabbit hole and have found myself reading about a book group or family or librarian or track team or scout troop or school or blogger or...you know, random reader who has done something special or touching or even all around amazing with one of my books. 

I dissolve into oohs, or tears or laughter, and after I make Mark read or watch or listen, I fire up my Sammy Keyes skills and start sniffing out a mailing address. 

Sometimes that's easy. Sometimes it takes a while. Sometimes I get completely blocked and (yes) give up. 

But if I do land an address, I write a note, sign a book, and put a package in the mail. It's like reverse Hope in the Mail, and I may like it more than actual Hope in the Mail because there's no expectation of getting anything back. I'm motivated by the mental picture I conjure of the recipient opening the box and doing a little squee. That imagined squee makes me happy for days.

Anyway, that was a long preamble to a happy little story about a school project based on my book Swear to Howdy. For those of you who haven't read it, Swear to Howdy is about two boys--Rusty and Joey--and their wild antics. It's really, really funny, but also serious. It explores the power and boundaries of friendship and what it means to be a true friend.

The happy little story begins with a link sent to my website email address. It was from a teacher in Ohio. His students had made a movie that he wanted to share with me. 

Student movie. Unknown teacher. And I couldn't open the file.

New cover, still starring Tank the bullfrog!

Yes, there was the temptation to disregard the e-mail and just move on. Like everyone, my inbox is a ravenous beast and I've got a lot to do! But I wrote back and said Uh, can't open the file. That started a back and forth over opening the file.  It was a little frustrating for both of us, but finally I got to view the movie. 

It had me in stitches from the get-go. Two sixth grade girls played the parts of Joey and Rusty, and another girl played three or four other characters. It was just...funny. I swear to howdy, my jaw was a'danglin' the whole time. 

And then came the car crash scene.

I will not give further spoilers, but yes, there's a crash.

It's serious, life-changing stuff.

But in their movie, the car is one of those pink motorized Barbie cars, and the actor putt-putts it right into a tree.

It's hysterical!

If you know me at all, you know why this did me in. (Let's just say the whole idea of young girls imprinting on Barbies drives me nuts.) The crash scene from the book and that same scene from the movie yielded opposite reactions in me. With both there were tears, but with the movie it was from laughter.

"What's so funny?" Mark asked from across the office where he was trying to work.

"You've got to watch this!"

It took him a moment to adjust to the shift in casting. Yes, two girls are Joey and Rusty. The old clunker is now a pink Barbie car. 

A Barbie car!

When he was done watching it I said, "I have to send them books."

He grinned and went back to his desk. "Of course you do."

So I got to work. 

Opening the box

I started with a book for each of the three girls, but then I got to thinking...who else from the class was involved? Who wrote the script? What about the camera crew? Who built the props? Were there grips? What awesome child was willing to have her Barbie car bite wood? 

And the teacher! Yes! This incredible teacher had to get a book!

So, yeah. I went overboard. Mark just rolled his eyes, like, what else is new? And then he listened patiently as I complained about how I had to wait in line at the post office. (The line was, as usual, loooong and slooooow.) And how after nearly 20 years of mailing books through this post office, once again, I got the clerk who always interrogates me about the contents of my apparently suspicious package. "Books, just books," I assured her again with my hands up. "Swear." 

About a week after I sent the box, I heard back from the teacher. (I will paste in the article that ran in their local paper about it at the bottom of this post.) The funny thing is, I sent them a surprise to make them happy, but the pictures he sent back made me squee.

I didn't have to just imagine.

I got to feel it, way down deep in my heart. 

--------------------

Author surprises River Valley Middle School students

The old adage goes, “Showing up is 80 percent of life.”  The sixth graders at River Valley Middle School found out the other 20 percent is simply trying.

Trying, in the case of three students who put together a movie based on the novel read by the class, "Swear to Howdy." Their effort attracted the attention of the book's author, Wendelin Van Draanen.  “It was one of the best projects ever submitted in my class,” teacher Mason Roulston said.  “The thought, attention to detail, and creativity was absolutely amazing. I just knew I had to somehow show it to Van Draanen.”

After several email attempts, the movie ended up in Van Draanen's hands in California. The response Roulston received from the author was awesome, he said.  Van Draanen, a teacher for 15 years, wanted the names of the student-actresses so she could send signed and inscribed copies of the book to them. Three books turned into about 20 as Van Draanen stuffed a box full of books and other goodies for Roulston’s class. “It’s just small things like this that bring us closer together,” said Macie Snyder, one of the three moviemakers, along with Gabriele Cametti and Kayleigh Morgan.

Van Draanen knows something about trying too.  It took her ten years to get published.  She never gave up and kept writing, in fact, she wrote the first four books of the now widely popular Sammy Keyes series while waiting for her big break!  Roulston hopes that tenacity, will rub off on his own students who begin class every day with an activity aptly named, Sacred Writing Time.  “We’re a month in and already the students are coming up with some amazing stories, observations, and poems,” Roulston said.  “Who knows, maybe some of these kiddos will be published someday.  It seems like a more obtainable goal after connecting with Van Draanen. Through her act of kindness, she made the whole profession feel real and accessible.”

The package arrived adorned with the same frog found on the "Swear to Howdy" cover.  “It took everything I had not to spill the beans to Gabby, Kayleigh, and Macie,” Roulston said.  Van Draanen said in her email, “I hope it’s a party” when the books arrive.  Indeed it was:  First, Roulston replayed their movie then, with much fanfare and hype, produced the package.  The class went crazy when they saw the telltale frog on the address label and practically smothered Roulston as he opened it.  Gabby, Kayleigh, and Macie were presented with their personally inscribed and autographed copies to the delight and squeals of the class. “It really and truly meant the world to me,” Kayleigh said.  “Van Draanen is my favorite author!  I was shaking with anticipation as Mr. Roulston opened the box.”

“I seriously teared up,” Roulston recounted, “it was one of those moments that will be forever engrained in my teacher mind, it was that special and touching.

"Every day, my kiddos show up and try, to me, that’s what life and learning is all about.  Now, thanks to Van Draanen, we have confirmation and validation of our efforts,” Roulston stated.  Gabby summed it up best when she said, “Our goal was one thing, to create the best project we can, but it lead to so many other amazing things.”

This goes hand in hand with our Principal Don Gliebe’s favorite saying, "It all matters at River Valley Middle School," Roulston said. “Everything we work on and produce here might just lead to something extraordinary. I know for Gabby, Kayleigh, and Macie it’s true.  I could tell just by how they held their new treasures how much this whole experience meant to them and the best part is, we’re just getting started.”

Van Draanen’s website is http://www.wendelinvand.com/ and her story project http://hopeinthemail.com/  allows individuals to submit their own stories. 

Ready Or Not, Here We Come!

Okay, we are just about set for the Road Show.

No, that's a complete lie. We are miles away from being about set.

And where are we going to fit this mountain of stuff we've got staged for loading into the van? The back seat it removed, but it's still going to be tight. We've got customized drum heads for each of the stores, a huge box of Sammy Keyes shoelaces (not to mention ten pounds of horseshoe charms to go with them), 20 cartons of hardcover Sammy Keyes and the Night of Skulls and 10 cartons of hardcover Swear to Howdys to raffle off at stores (and give away to random strangers at red lights and rest stops...can't wait for that part!). Then there are our (large) suitcases, plus equipment, a big box of books on tape and CDs (for all that "windshield time"), bags and bags of necessary stuff, a box of road snacks and...and...and...a hose.

Yes, I packed a hose.

(We're not supposed to take the van through a car wash. It's one of those super-shrinking kind.)

Really hope to see you at one of the tour stops, but if we're not coming to your area on this loop you can follow along.on Facebook at SammyKeyesBooks, and on Twitter at @WendelinVanD (for the "she said" perspective) and @MarkHParsons (for the "he said)-- we'll be very active there. Please help spread the word!

And now I'm off to find a giant shoehorn.
Or a vanhorn.
(Wait, there's one of those on the steering wheel.)

Anyway, ready or (like me) not,  here we come!

Breakfast in Birmingham

Many years ago, when the kids were still little and it was a huge deal to leave them, the school & library director at my publishing house asked if I'd be willing to participate in an event in Birmingham, Alabama.

I had no clue how hard it would be to be to get there (very), or what participating in this event would entail (uh...breakfast?).

Yes, it took all day (and 3 planes) to get to Birmingham, and the following morning after breakfast with a small group of librarians, I went back to the airport and flew home.

"I am never going to Birmingham for breakfast again!" I told Mark (and the kids and the dogs and the dishes). And when other questionable invitations would came along, Mark would say, "Wait. Is this another breakfast in Birmingham?"

After all, it had been a colossal waste of time, and for what?

Well, the funny thing is, about a year after the infamous Breakfast in Birmingham, librarians from a group of middle schools in Homewood, Alabama invited me to come visit all their schools. As in, paying school visits.They had a bunch of them lined up.

"We met you in Birmingham!" they said, "At the breakfast!"

Well, this was an invitation for much more than scrambled eggs, so off I went again to Birmingham, where the ladies picked me up and drove me to nearby Homewood. This was in 2001, and it's when I learned what Southern hospitality is all about. It's when I got my first taste of real "swaeet tea." It's when I learned the secret to fixin' lima beans (bacon, and lots of it). And it's when I learned the phrase "swear to howdy."

I loved everything about that visit. From the kids at the schools, to the people who taught them, to the way food was always on the table, to the humorous phrases they used, to the way the whisked me into a second-hand store after I told them my little Edgar dress story. (Have I told you my Edgar dress story?)

In fact, I was so charmed by it--by all of it--that I took notes.

Notes that would become the voice and the flavor of Swear to Howdy--a book I wrote with Alabama in mind; one I had those same librarians read and weigh in on before publication.

Clearly, I got much more from my breakfast in Birmingham than I could ever have imagined. (I was in Tennessee earlier this year and a woman came up to me at a conference and said, "I'm sure you don't remember, but I met you at a breakfast in Birmingham years ago..." I about hit the floor.)

In 2006 my "Southern belle" friends had me back for more school visits, and we have stayed in touch since. I've tried to "explain them" to Mark, but really, their hospitality is something you more have to experience than can explain.

So I let them know we were embarking on this wild road trip tour, and that we would take a little detour into Homewood if they wanted to have a reunion. Almost right after I sent the message, one of them messaged back, "I'll cook!"

So after speaking at the Alabama Book Festival in Montgomery, we'll head to Homewood to meet up with the ladies. And the next day you know where I'll be dragging Mark, right?

Into Birmingham for breakfast!

Finding My Inner Fiona

The interesting thing about being a writer is that over time you realize how much the characters you create give back to you.

How much they teach you.

It's an odd realization, because you're the one who created them. It's not like an actual child whose life you initiate, who goes on to absorb the world and then reinvigorates your life with new knowledge and ideas. Everything a character is - on the page - is something you put there.

And yet...

I have learned so much from my characters.

It's astounding, really, how much I have learned from my characters.

Being a writer makes you define what you think. It makes you explore your views and those of others. It makes you face your sense of life and either redefine it, or support it. You move your fictional people around in heroic ways. And although all credible heroes are also flawed, those flaws are forgiven in the end because the hero's intentions, their direction, their purpose is ultimately good.

I have learned much from Sammy Keyes about determination and friendship, about compassion and forgiveness. From Holly in Runaway I've learned about survival (and I don't mean all the stowing away and living off abandoned movie theater popcorn). From Rusty in Swear to Howdy I've learned about courage and holding on with all your might. From Nolan in Shredderman I've learned to look at the root of hate and ask myself why? Why is this person so mean? From Juli and Bryce in Flipped, I've learned to have patience...with myself and with others...and I've learned that a parent's role is to lead by example.

These are all main characters, but it is not the protagonist in The Running Dream who serves as a model for me at this time. It's the best friend, Fiona.

I'm not at liberty to say anything more, but for those of you who look for my posts every Sunday night, please forgive this tardy entry. Know that I haven't been slacking. Far from it. I've been very busy, finding my inner Fiona.

I've learned so much from Fiona.