Midwest Mania!!!! (Part One)

Sit back. Relax. Make a cup of tea. Maybe a little popcorn. This is going to be a long blog entry. I will try not to go on too, too long, but I am so filled with the excitement of this past week's visit to the Midwest that I'm not sure I will be able to contain myself. Plus, there will be a few pictures here and there to keep you entertained.

And so, here we go:

I am a coastal guy. I grew up on the east coast of the United States, spent quite a few years on the west coast and now make my home on the west coast of Canada. I love the ocean, and the mountains, and the trees. I've driven through the midwest twice (from New York to California and back again) but I'd be hard pressed to tell you what states I actually drove through. I don't think it was Missouri or Omaha (but I could be wrong, in which case I apologize for lying and saying to the students that I'd never been to either state).

What I do remember from the drive were long stretches of flat lands and open fields and big skies. People from the middle provinces of Canada often say they can't spend too much time on the west coast because of all the mountains and big tall trees. They're beautiful, they say, but they can't get over the feeling of claustrophobia and being closed in.

And I can understand that, especially if you've grown up being able to see a storm rolling in from three hours away over the plains.

I got to experience some of those crazy midwestern storms firsthand on my whirlwind tour this past week. Thunder, and lightning, and tornado warnings, and powerful sheets of torrential rain.

But what I got to experience alongside all that fun weather were several groups of amazing and inspiring students, as well as quite a few warm, kind, open-hearted, and passionate teachers and librarians.

The tour started off in Gretna, Nebraska (a city of about four thousand and just a stone's throw from Omaha). Kari Bulgrin, the librarian at Gretna High School, got in touch with me when she saw on my blog that I was planning on visiting Platte City Middle School in Missouri. She asked if I wouldn't mind popping down to the Omaha area to visit her school since I was already going to be in the Midwest. And am I ever glad that I did. Kari is an incredible librarian (and an incredibly nice person, to boot) who is obviously well-loved by the students at the school. I had a chance to read and speak with three groups of fun and bright students as well as meeting and talking to many of the wonderful staff at the school over a lunch of tasty pizza.

It was a fantastic and energizing day in which I got to read aloud from BEAT THE BAND for the very first time. I read three separate pieces from the two books but I think the explosive flatulence section went over the best!

I've asked Mrs. Bulgrin to send along some photos because I was so wrapped up in doing my presentations that I completely forgot to snap some myself. I am hoping she will email me a few so that I can post them here on my blog.

Next up was my scary and bumpy flights to St. Louis and onto Kansas City. Luckily, my connecting flight was delayed because my first flight had to circle the airport for nearly an hour until the thunderstorm had passed. I had visions of having to rent a car and drive the four hours from St. Louis to Kansas City. And I would have because there was no way I could miss my visit to Platte City, Missouri - which was the whole reason I planned this trip in the first place.

The short version of the story for this visit is that Kelly Miller, a Communication Arts Teacher from Platte City, Missouri wrote me an impassioned email last July about how my book, SWIM THE FLY, had changed her students reading lives. How many of them did not enjoy reading and how now, after having been exposed to my book, these same students (particularly the boys) started actually enjoying to read. Her letter really moved me (this had been my dream for SWIM THE FLY from the very start) and so I sent it on to my publisher. Well, my amazing publisher (Candlewick Press) sent along an advanced reading copy of my (at that time) not-yet-published book BEAT THE BAND, while I wrote (at Mrs. Miller's request) a letter explaining why I thought reading was so important.

I thought things would end there. A few emails back and forth and that's it.

Well, thirty emails later and a suggestion from my editor to sponsor a contest for Mrs. Miller's class (where the boy and girl who read the most books for the year would get a character in the new book named after them), I found myself booking a flight down to Kansas City where I would visit Platte City Middle School along with several other Kansas City high schools, as well as doing a presentation for the GUYS READ series at the (incredibly beautiful) Kansas City Library.

When I finally arrived in KC I stayed at an airport hotel for the first evening and then was picked up by Mrs. Miller in the morning. She was spot on time and I knew that the day was going to be exciting when she handed me her detailed agenda (plotted out in ten minute increments, I think).

As soon as we arrived at Platte City Middle School:



I saw the first of the surprises:



And here is Mrs. Miller and I posing in front of the first surprise:



The day just took off from there. I met the principal from Platte City Middle School, Chris Miller, as well as a reporter from the Kansas City Star, Joe Robertson.

I then met the super cool librarian:



I met one of Mrs. Miller's class where a couple of the students were showing their BEAT THE BAND spirit:



Mrs. Miller's class had me take their class test on SWIM THE FLY and BEAT THE BAND (I got a hundred percent on both, thank you very much. Truth be told, I was a little scared I might not do so well, not having read the entire books for quite some time).

I was then ushered into a press conference where I was interviewed by Terra Hall from Fox 4 News (the story can be seen in my last blog entry).

This was followed by a very short lunch break and then the real festivities began.

So many exciting things happened during the assembly that I'm afraid I might not be able to remember them all but I will try.

There was a rock band:



There was a reading and some questions and answers.

There was a student dressed up like Matt when he tries to sneak into the girls' locker room.



There was a fan letter written and read by one of the students:



There was a presentation of gifts by a group of Mrs. Miller's girls—night vision goggles and a laser pen—that Cooper might like.

There was a framed pair of Matt's (pre-soiled) boxer shorts:



The band presented me with my very own BEAT THE BAND T-shirt.

I read a little more and then I signed a ton of the students' books.

It was AMAZING! Something I will never forget as long as I live. It's impossible to put into words what an incredible experience this was. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever get this kind of reception from a group of students. I am SO glad I wrote back to Mrs. Miller and that we arranged for me to visit.

And this was only day two of my trip. There was so much more to come.

TO BE CONTINUED…..