SKYPE AN AUTHOR

BOOK CLUBCourtney Pentland

Lead Teacher Library ServicesOmaha Public Schools

WHY WE CHOSE TO SKYPE

1) Small number of club members…

2) Skype visits are less expensive…

3) A great chance to meet many authors instead of just one…

HOW CAN WE AFFORD TO DO THIS?

Grants & book loan programs

HOW OUR PROGRAM HAS GROWN! Burke High School book club members

visited with 4 authors the 1st year and 6 authors the 2nd year.

Other OPS high schools wanted to try the same experience. 6 high schools decided to give it a try.

6 schools = 6 authors3 authors in the fall, and 3 in the springSchools covered cost of each visit and

shared a pool of books (split 6 ways)

HOW DO I FIND AUTHORS?

http://skypeanauthor.wikifoundry.com/

Visit the author’s webpage and look for school visit information and/or directly email

the author or publisher for more details.

HOW DO WE CHOOSE?Variety of Genres represented

Male and female authors

Multi-cultural authors

Student choice

Cost

Availability

AUTHORS 2011-2012… Paul Volponi

(Rooftop, Rikers High, Hurricane Song, etc.)

Jennifer Brown (Hate List, Bitter End, Perfect Escape)

Jennifer Bradbury (Wrapped, Shift)

Sara Zarr (Sweethearts, How to Save a Life, Once Was Lost)

AUTHORS 2012-2013… Suzanne Selfors

(Mad Love, Saving Juliet, Coffeehouse Angel) Teri Hall

(The Line, Away) Lisa McMann

(Wake, Fade, Gone, Cryer’s Cross, Dead to You) Neal Shusterman

(too many to list, but you’ve probably heard of him) Janet Fox

(Faithful, Forgiven, Sirens) Rainbow Rowell (IN PERSON!)

(Attachments, Eleanor & Park)

AUTHORS 2013-2014… Elizabeth Eulberg

(Better Off Friends, Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality, Prom and Prejudice, The Lonely Hearts Club, Take a Bow)

Jackson Pearce (Sweetly, Sisters Red, Cold Spell, Fathomless, As You Wish, )

Todd Strasser (Bootcamp, Mob Princess, The Wave, Fallout, Wish You Were Dead,

Famous 5, If I Grow Up, Can’t Get There From Here) Marissa Meyer

(Cinder, Scarlett, Cress) Alane Ferguson

(The Forensic Mysteries series—The Christopher Killer) Rainbow Rowell (IN PERSON!)

(Attachments, Eleanor & Park, Fangirl)

Other Visits:April Henry (Girl Stolen, The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die, The Night She

Disappeared, The Body in the Woods)Richelle Mead (Vampire Academy, Bloodlines, Age of X)

POSSIBLE AUTHORS 2014-2015

Kendare Blake (Anna Dressed in Blood)

Gayle Foreman (If I Stay, Just One Day)

Jonathan Mayberry (Rot & Ruin Series)

Lauren Kate (Fallen and Teardrop

series) Paul Volponi

(Rikers High, Hurricane Song, Black & White, The Final Four)

Cindy Pon Silver Phoenix, Diverse

Energies

L. Divine Drama High

Alexander Gordon Smith (Escape from Furnace)

Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry)

Kenneth Oppel (Airborn, This Dark Endeavor)

Curtis Jobling (Wereworld)

Gina Damico (Croak, Hell Hole)

Carrie Ryan (Forest of Hands &Teeth)

Heather Brewer (Vladimir Tod, Slayer Chronicles,

Souldbound (Legacy Tril)) Alan Gratz

(Prisoner B-3087, Samurai Shortstop, Starfleet Academy, Something Rotten/Wicked)

HOW IT WORKS FOR US…Students must read a book by the authorattend meetingswrite 3 questionsget permission from teacher

WHY IT IS WORKING… Memberships have increased!

Students are excited about discussing the books and the author information they learned.

Chance for students to hear from over 20 authors while in high school!!!

REACTIONS FROM LIBRARIANS Skyping brought authors to our students

that they would never have had the chance to meet! It helped them see that “regular" people can write books!

“Our Skyping with young adult authors helped to encourage our young, aspiring novelists to never, ever, ever give up! Each author took the time to speak directly to our students as if he or she were here in the room with us. And although we were all star-struck at moments, we all learned that famous writers are people, too. What a great authentic learning experience!”

REACTIONS FROM LIBRARIANS & STUDENTS “I was nervous to Skype the first time. I

worried about technology. I am so glad I got over it. These Skype visits are incredible. My students were able to interact with six different authors this year. Each visit was better and more exciting than the last.” Librarian

"It was the most amazing thing ever!!!! I loved hearing about how authors write their books! I think I might try to write a book!"- Student

FOR MORE INFO…Feel free to contact me at:

courtney.pentland@ops.org or mrspentland@gmail.com

You can read about our Skype book club in the Eastern Library System newsletter

http://nlc.nebraska.gov/systems/newsletters/eastern01022012.pdf