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Today’s guest blog post is an excerpt from avid reader, Jacquelyn Adams. She is currently in medical school where she is pursuing her dream of becoming a doctor. Education has always been an important issue for Jacquelyn. She lends her support to this issue by raising money for First Book through a virtual book drive in which she created for her love of reading.

Reading has been an enormous part of my life for as long as I can remember. I used to get sent to the principal’s office in third grade for leaving my desk to hide in the corner of the room and finish my latest Box Car Children Mystery. Without the novels of my childhood, I have no idea what my life would be like. I grew up in a world of stories, adventures, romances, and mythical creatures. It is why I am who I am today.

Last semester, I heard a story that brought me to tears. One of the surgeons I was shadowing was talking about a story he saw online. It was about a program called First Book that had come to southern West Virginia and was helping provide books to children in need. He said that over half of the middle schoolers in that area had never owned their own book. I was blown away.

By seventh grade, I had multiple bookshelves filled to the brim and more overdue library books than a thesis student. How could a seventh grader not far from my front door not own a single book? I asked him as much, and he said “That is why you are in medical school and they are struggling to graduate high school.”

Every time I think about this conversation, I feel guilt and determination. Every child deserves the joy of reading. Every child deserves the chance to live in a world of stories, adventures, romances, and mythical creatures. Every child deserves his or her own first book. That is why I am starting this fundraising page. I hope you all can help, and I hope you will choose to get involved with First Book.

Jacquelyn aimed to raise $200 through a virtual book drive and has already succeeded in reaching her goal. Just like Jacquelyn, you or anyone you know can create a virtual book drive to support First Book in an effort to get books to children in need.

Today’s blog post is from Jenny Helber. Jenny is a parent volunteer at Bonne Ecole Elementary School located in Slidell, Louisiana. She has created an initiative entitled the ‘Twelve Books program’ at her children’s school. The program ensures that the children in her community have the access to books they need to succeed.

How does a school address the “summer slump” and ensure that when the school’s doors are closed, the opportunity to read is not closed as well?  Bonne Ecole Elementary in Slidell, Louisiana came up with the idea to create the Twelve Books program which gives emergent readers twelve self-selected books to take home and keep on the last day of school.

Funding this project on a small budget and relying on outside support were the biggest challenges faced in the initial year. Thanks to First Book and funds raised from grants and community donations, Bonne Ecole’s Twelve Books program served 130 students (every first grader), distributing 1,561 books for a total cost of $3,300.

Highlights from the first year of Twelve Books’ included a week of celebrity readers, a book fair, and the year-end Twelve Books for Kids event where students received a bag of books in the style of an Oprah show giveaway.

According to first grade teacher Susan Schwaner, “you cannot imagine the incredible anticipation, excitement, and desire of the students to have twelve books of their own to read over the summer.”

The impact of giving kids access to books is demonstrated in feedback from parent Diane Ripley who said her son, “was so excited to show me the books he chose…and this is my son who ‘hates to read’ as he says almost every time he has to read.”

If you want to make the kind of difference Jenny made at your local school, talk to your child’s teacher, librarian or reading specialist about First Book and help them get signed up today!

Exciting news! There are now 35,000 schools and programs serving kids in need in the First Book network. That’s 35,000 classrooms, libraries, church groups, afterschool programs, homeless shelters, military programs and daycare centers; all with permanent, ongoing access to a steady stream of brand-new, high-quality books.

But as pleased as we are about that number, we have a long way to go.

Because there are 30 million children in the United States living in low-income homes, and far too many of them lack access to new books. We want to reach every one of those kids, to connect the schools and programs that serve them with BOOKS.

Help make that happen. If you know someone who works with kids from low-income families, tell them about First Book. Forward them this blog post, or send them to our website, where they can sign up. It’s quick, it’s free, and we have new books for their kids.

The thing that I like about First Book is that kids can have their own books in their own houses that their parents can read to them, and, later, that they can read themselves.
– Jane Greene, First Book supporter

Jane Greene is a longtime supporter of First Book. She isn’t a wealthy philanthropist, but she is the kind of person that all good causes look for – a dedicated, constant cultivator of people and projects she believes in. She’s also someone who understands the importance of helping kids in need have new books to read.

“I always send books as baby gifts,” Greene said. “The value of reading and owning books has been in my life always.”

Greene works at a nonprofit as well, the Mental Health Association of Montgomery County in Maryland. (Two of the agency’s programs – Kensington Wheaton Youth Services and Bridges to Pals – actually work with First Book to get new books for their kids, although Greene actually found out about First Book during a promotional campaign with Borders bookstore.)

“The thing that I like about First Book is that kids can have their own books in their own houses that their parents can read to them, and, later, that they can read themselves,” Greene said.

“No gift is too small,” Green added. “I just decided to commemorate special occasions, acts of kindness and holidays by sending a little something to First Book.”

Not only have Greene’s contributions put brand-new books into the hands of kids from low-income families, she typically makes donations in the name of others, many of whom, when they find out about the gift and the work First Book does, go on to become supporters themselves. (It wasn’t easy to get Greene to agree to be profiled. “I was always the one behind the scenes,” she said. “That’s the way I like to influence and educate others.”)

First Book couldn’t do the work that we do without the open-hearted generosity of people like Jane Greene. Thanks, Jane! We’re glad you’re in our corner.

Click here to help get books to kids in need in your community by supporting First Book.

Today’s guest blog post is by Teneasha Pierson. Teneasha is a proud alum of Howard University and has recently accepted an invitation to serve as a Health Education volunteer with the Peace Corps in Kenya. Find out more at www.teneashapierson.com.

At six years old, I was the princess of a magic kingdom eponymously named “Teneashaland”. I started my day greeting animals while skipping through the glittery, hot pink paths of the forest. I feasted on cotton candy plucked from the sky, and after a full day of presiding over my kingdom, I slept on a super-sized pillow made of the super soft fluff that fills teddy bears.

Teneasha Pierson

I loved fairy tales. Fairy tales taught me that I could overcome. They taught me that strength of character was a critical factor in my success. Most importantly, they gave me hope that my potential was not limited by my environment or my lack of possessions.

This lesson was priceless and changed the trajectory of my life.

I grew up in Oakland, CA in the eighties when Oakland transitioned from the progressive home of the Black Panthers to a major hub of the crack epidemic. My neighborhood unraveled quickly.

Despite my circumstances, education was always presented as a way to avoid the pitfalls of my community. In my home and in my neighborhood my love of reading was nurtured. I wore wire-framed glasses very similar to Simon the Chipmunk and was equipped with a backpack filled with the greats: Dr. Seuss and a selection of the Disney classics, among others. I was a princess in my mind and in my community I was considered a scholar.

As I grew older, I hung up my tiara but I held tightly to the contents of my backpack.

Education and reading has made good on every promise it made. I was the first college graduate from my family and my community. I have had the opportunity to work in the fields of public policy, public health, intellectual property law and I will soon have the opportunity to serve in Kenya with the Peace Corps.

Books can change lives and inspire hope. I am proof of that.

Hey everyone

I sent an email the other day to our VIP members and asked them to forward their success stories to me. I did this because I’d also announced some recent successes with our own editors, including Brian Klems, who recently secured his first agent, and Chuck Sambuchino, who’s second book with Running Press will be pubbing in the very near future. I figured you all have your own stories, so why not share them with the community.

I’ve received several responses already. Jacquie Galvin sent a note stating that her book, A Tease of Murder, is gaining a following as well as a groudswell of support to produce a second volume in the mystery series. She notes that book signings have been very important to this success, as have radio interviews. And in the latest issue of Writer’s Digest, we spotlight Dianne Warren, Nichole Bernier, and Natalie Bakopoulos, all of whom are celebrating the publication of their first novels.

If you have a writing-related success story of your own that you’d like to share, why not post it below and let the rest of the community know about it?

Keep writing!

Phil

How many times have you wished you had the power to change your school’s summer reading program? Well, maybe you do! I had all but given up on making major changes to the long list (250+ titles) that had been in place for years, but when there was a shift in the English department leadership, I jumped at the opportunity to suggest some significant changes in the list and the program.

In my first few years here, I had only managed to add a few contemporary YA titles. I also tried to move away from the paper-consuming process of printing a multi-page list for every one of our 700 students by creating a goodreads account with just the summer reading titles. It was a well-received shift and created a better visual impact – especially the “cover view” option – and also allowed for students to search for a book by genre and other tags. The paper version had been sorted alphabetically by title, with no other information except the author given. Goodreads was an improvement, but seemed like a tiny one. What I really wanted was to give students and teachers a place and time to talk books; for students to see that reading is a lifelong habit; that reading can actually be fun; AND that teachers read things that they don’t necessary teach about! To me, the writing prompt that had been used for years as a schoolwide assessment was unnecessary at best, and a hindrance to getting kids to read for pleasure, at worst.

 After the English department lost two long-time faculty members, I started talking to the other teachers about changing the list and the program. I brought some ideas to their department meetings, where the principal (a huge proponent of summer reading) was also present. I mostly wanted to focus on changing the list itself, so the choices might really entice students to read. Well, I got what I wanted, plus a whole lot more. After a lot of meetings and emails, and tons of title suggestions from me, we ended up with a list of about five choices per grade, each grade with a different overall theme.

The plan was (for me) to find or create a video book trailer for each title and present them in grade-level meetings towards the end of the school year. At that viewing, students would fill out a ballot with their top three choices and we would organize them into groups for the fall. The groups of students (and at least one teacher) who read the same book would get together in the fall and have an activity/discussion group about it. It sounded great, and it was, but it did take a huge amount of my time and energy both at the end of the school year and at the beginning. Now that the groups have been held, it appears to have been a great success, although there are several kinks to work out.

 We did open the list up to faculty input so that they could add titles they wanted to read and lead in the fall, but honestly, it was much too late in the game to really get them on board. We had only two titles added by other faculty members and those groups were both a huge success (not surprisingly). I found or created a book trailer – with the help of a librarian friend who happened to be subbing with me by chance – for almost every title. We had to teach ourselves Windows Movie Maker in order to do so, which thankfully ended up being pretty easy. It was a huge hit, and the students loved the trailers. We also set up a projector in the library and ran a loop of the trailers in case students missed the initial showing. A s