The Official Newsletter of the Association of American Publishers' Get Caught Reading Campaign

Special Issue: Adopt-a-School 2014

Dear Get Caught Reading Supporter, There was record involvement from publishers in the AAP Adopt-a-School program this year, with 23 large and independent publishers bringing diverse authors and perspectives to children in New York City schools. Now in our ninth year, almost 50 schools were matched this year. The weeklong December 1-5, 2014 event brought popular children’s and teen authors and illustrators to classrooms, libraries, and auditoriums of 21 elementary, 14 middle schools, and 12 high schools across all five boroughs to bring the joy of reading directly to the city’s next generation of readers. Adopt-a-School is an effort to schedule author visits that encourage reading for students across the greater New York City area. The program matches Association of American Publishers and Children’s Book Council member publishers with NYC public schools provided by the Department of Education’s Office of Strategic Partnerships. Each year, over two thousand schoolchildren ranging from grades K-12 were adopted and have the opportunity to meet an author or illustrator face-to-face. Some of the participating supporters are featured in this special Adopt-a-School 2014 newsletter. A big thank you to our generous publishers for giving back to the city by joining this effort to support the art of reading.

Keep giving back,

Tom Allen, President and CEO

Association of American Publishers

C.J. Farley

On Tuesday, February 10th, Intermediate School 392 in Brooklyn received a visit from C.J. Farley, author of GAME

WORLD by Akashic Books, who donated a classroom set for the visit. He spent the day in a mix of library and auditorium visits with the 6-8

th graders, talking about the writing process and leading writing activities in the smaller groups.

Magic in Harlem

Laura Pedersen, author of AVA’s ADVENTURE (Tilbury House) visited CS154 Harriet Tubman in Central Harlem on Monday, December 1

st, where she

read to 1st and 2

nd graders in a library visit and

impressed them all with a magic trick! Visit her website for more info: www.laurapedersenbooks.com

ADOPT-A-SCHOOL 2014

To the Association of American Publishers, Thank you so much for continuing to invite our schools to participate in the Adopt-a-School program. As we challenge ourselves to engage our students and encourage them to read, allowing them to experience an author visit extends the joy of reading. Not only are students able to meet the author and discuss their books, but the pre-reading and discussions that follow often piques the interest of even the most reluctant readers. School librarians have continuously expressed excitement about participating in the Adopt-a-School program, as it allows them to engage students in different literacy-based learning activities. Over the past few years, many librarians looking to enhance their library programming have been fortunate enough to be paired with an Adopt-a-School author. We look forward to collaborating with the Association of American Publishers throughout the school year.

Arlene Dominguez

New York City Department of Education Office of Strategic Partnerships

T. Neill Anderson at PS/IS 30

Time for a selfie! T. Neill Anderson, author of PEOPLE OF THE PLAGUE (the latest in Charlesbridge’s Horrors of History series) took a break from his library sessions for the 6

th, 7

th,

and 8th graders of PS/IS 30: Mary White

Ovington Middle School in Brooklyn on Thursday, December 4

th to snap a quick picture

with them.

Monster Detective Meets PS 11X

Award-winning author Jason Edwards is a teacher, storyteller, producer of entertaining educational enrichment programs for schools and libraries, such as WILL ALLEN AND THE GREAT MONSTER DETECTIVE (Rogue Bear Press). As the first author to ever adopt PS 11X: Highbridge School in the Bronx, he came for a set of presentations and storytelling on Tuesday, December 2

nd to

meet with the 2nd

, 3rd

, and 4th graders, and was so beloved by the

school that he came back on a second visit in February to meet the 1

st and 5

th graders! Here’s a quick story the librarian sent him after

his first visit: Dear Jason, There has never been a more exciting event in the history of our school than your visit. On the way home, while waiting for my bus, I ran into one of the young students who screamed, “WHEN IS HE COMING BACK?” This boy who never wants to read a book stopped me in my tracks insisting he had so much fun! Trust me, you reached our boys like no other. We are so very grateful. Deep appreciation from 530 students.

Roseanna Gulisano

Librarian, PS 11X

ADOPT-A-SCHOOL 2014

Steve Metzger Adopts Two Schools

Steve Metzger, one of Adopt-a-School’s most loyal authors, showed his huge heart again this year by adopting two elementary schools: PS 170K: Ralph A. Fabrizio School in Brooklyn and PS 62Q in Queens. For both visits, Scholastic donated a mixed box of several of his titles appropriate for Pre-K to 3

rd graders. For more

information, visit www.stevemetzgerbooks.com.

Research & Rebel Souls

Journalist and biographer Justin Martin signed copies of REBEL SOULS: WALT WHITMAN AND AMERICA’S FIRST BOHEMIANS (donated by Da Capo Press/Perseus Books Group) and spoke to 9

th

and 10th grade research classes about his process

in an auditorium visit at A. Philip Randolph Campus High School in Harlem on Monday, December 1

st.

Kiem Visits Harbor School

Elizabeth Kiem, author of the DANCER, DAUGHTER, TRAITOR, SPY series (Soho Teen) visited New York Harbor School on Friday, February 6, 2015 for an Adopt-a-School visit where she engaged with high schoolers on everything from Baryshnikov to the Bolshoi ballet and gave away copies of her new books as trivia prizes. Visit her website at www.elizabethkiem.com.

Biscuit Visits the Bronx

Alyssa Satin Capucilli, author of the best-selling Biscuit books (HarperCollins Children’s Books) visited PS 360X in the Bronx on Friday, December 11

th to speak to the younger grades. For

more information, visit www.alyssacapucilli.com.

Long-Lasting Friendship for Starr and PS 21R

In our longest-standing Adopt-a-School friendship so far, illustrator Bridget Starr Taylor returned to PS 21R: Margaret-Emery Elm Park Elementary School in Staten Island—the school that she has adopted each year since in 2011—to do library visits for their 4

th graders. As always, she led a highly

interactive art session for the kids and showed original storyboard art for THE ADVENTURES OF ISABEL by Ogden Nash (Sourcebooks). View her artwork and illustrations at www.bridgetstarrtaylor.com.

ADOPT-A-SCHOOL 2014

“Dear Carol” Visits PS 30M

Carol Weston visited PS 30M in East Harlem, Thursday December 4

th to meet with grades 4 and 5. She read them part of

her latest book, AVA AND PIP (donated by Sourcebooks for the visit), did a short presentation on how she became a writer, and answered questions from schoolchildren in the room. In a fun continuation of this Adopt-a-School visit, the librarian and teachers shared with their students that their author has been the “Dear Carol” advice columnist at Girls’ Life since 1994, the children of the school took it upon themselves to hand-write her letters. Portions from some of them are included with permission below. For more information, visit www.carolweston.com.

ADOPT-A-SCHOOL 2014 ADOPT-A-SCHOOL 2014

Giant Dance Party at PS 158M

They say it better than we ever could! Here’s the PS 158M newsletter report on their Adopt-a-School visit with Betsy Bird, author of GIANT DANCE PARTY (HarperCollins Children’s Books).

Robots & Writing On Friday, December 5

th, young adult author

Georgia Clark visited the Manhattan-based Humanities Campus Library PARCHED (Holiday House) and did a series of presentations and talk-backs with writing students from the six high schools on campus about robots, renewable resources, romance, and (of course) writing. http://georgiaclark.com

ADOPT-A-SCHOOL 2014

Reading Counts!

Alison Formento came in from Saddle River, New Jersey to visit PS 54K: The Magnet School for Environmental Science, Technology and Community Wellness on Tuesday, December 2

nd. She got the 3

rd, 4

th, and 5

th graders psyched about science

with her book THESE ROCKS COUNT! (Albert Whitman & Co.) and a bunch of fun costumes and hands-on nature props. For more info, visit www.alisonashleyformento.com.

Gae Polisner in Manhattan

Mather Building Arts & Craftsmanship High School in Hell’s Kitchen on Wednesday, December 3

rd to do two library

visits with mixed groups of 9th-

12th grade writing students. Here

they are, all smiles, at the signing of THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO, donated by Algonquin Books for Young Readers. http://gaepolisner.com/

ADOPT-A-SCHOOL 2014

Magical Objects at Mahalia Jackson

When THE GRIMM LEGACY (Penguin Young Readers Group) author Polly Shulman (www.pollyshulman.com) adopted PS/MS 123, Mahalia Jackson School in Harlem on Wednesday, December 3

rd, she brought a bag of

magical objects. From this bag, the 7th graders took turns making up stories about what they did and what they would use them for. Here are some of them: BOY #1: If this ring had special powers, I would use it to catch Bigfoot! And the world's largest cheeseburger! And then I'd give Bigfoot the cheeseburger! And then I'd do a DNA test to see if he was a savage! POLLY: What's inside this box? BOY #2: Darkness. POLLY: What happens when you open it? BOY #2: Chaos is unleashed upon all. POLLY: Oh, wow. Would you open a box that unleashed chaos on us all? BOY #2: (shrugs) Sure. BOY #3: I think it has a genie. And the genie grants you three wishes. POLLY: What are your three wishes? BOY #3: (thinks) I wish for everything to be good. POLLY: What about for the other two? BOY #5: No, just that one. Just for everything to be good.

Telling Tales with StoryCorps

Long-standing Adopt-a-School partner organization StoryCorps adopted FOUR schools in this year’s program, for visits between December 2014 and April 2015: Bathgate Educational Campus in the Bronx, IS 109Q: Jean Nuzzi in Queens, PS 721K in Brooklyn, and Martin Luther King Jr. Educational Campus in Manhattan (which is a repeat adoption from a prior successful pairing). As always, their sessions include guiding high schoolers through interviewing sessions with tips on how to listen to others people’s stories. Penguin Group USA donated copies of TIES THAT BIND for all four visits.

Battle Book Club

Tara Altebrando, author of THE BATTLE OF DARCY LANE (Running Press Kids/Perseus Books Group) stopped by PS 63M in Manhattan on Thursday, December 18, 2014, to chat over lunch with an all-girls book club who had read her book. She taught them games, handed out prizes, signed donated books, and answered questions about writing. Visit www.taraaltebrando.com for more.

Hanging with T Cooper Super-fans from East Side Community High School in Manhattan were pumped to be adopted by T Cooper, author of CHANGERS: BOOK ONE (Akashic Books) for a visit on Monday, December 8

th.

In a series of sessions with mixed grades, he led book discussions and did writing prompts with the high schoolers. For more information, visit http://t-cooper.com/.

ADOPT-A-SCHOOL 2014

The Riverman Heads to Brooklyn

Aaron Starmer met with middle schoolers at Monday, December 1

st to JHS 278K in Brooklyn to do writing

prompts, discuss his process of becoming an author, and do a reading from his book, THE RIVERMAN (Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group). http://aaronstarmer.com

Paul Visits Passages

An author with a passion for visiting teens in detention centers, Paul Griffin has a long-standing relationship with Passages Academy in Brooklyn but chose to officially adopt them for this year’s Adopt-a-School. On Thursday, January 15

th he met with three groups of teens, listened to their

stories, told his own, and stayed for pizza with the kids while he signed the donated copies of STAY WITH ME (Penguin Young Readers Group). http://paulgriffinstories.com/.

/WhatAreYou

Reading

ReadingWithAAP

#WhatAreYouReading

Brooklyn Banter

Micol Ostow, author of AMITY (donated by Egmont Publishing for this visit), chatted with groups of high schoolers at Sunset Park High School in Brooklyn on Wednesday, December 3

rd about the process of

publishing, from editing to book jacket design, and the author’s role in it all. www.micolostow.com

Cupcakes for Curato When author/illustrator Mike Curato visited PS 14Q in Corona, Queens on Tuesday, December 2

nd, he spent

his auditorium visit with the first and second graders telling them about what it’s like to make books for a living, and then he finished up by doing some interactive flipchart sketches featuring his latest character, LITTLE ELLIOT (Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group). Finally, because the children heard he was a fan, they presented him with cupcakes that they made themselves! www.mikecurato.com/

Please note that there were many other publishers and authors who participated in Adopt-a-School 2014 and were not included in this newsletter. We will look forward to recognizing them in an upcoming GCR newsletter, so stay tuned!