The Time Is Now

For several years before the pandemic stopped in-classroom education, I volunteered at my neighborhood elementary school coordinating a reading program; the Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB).

Each year, sixteen middle grade books were selected for kids in the program to read. The books were the very best and on a wide variety of subjects and genres, including new books, classics, fiction and non-fiction.

The Reading Champions huddle to come up with the correct answer

 

The program really motivated the children to read. The kids formed their own teams and chose their own team name. The goal was, that between all of the member of a team, all 16 books would be read. The kids really loved the battles. The competition was fierce. I found it all very rewarding, and so fun to get to know the children, the rascals as well as the star students.

 

These four awesome women called themselves, The Battling Nerds

Because I read all of the books each year, a by-product of the whole thing was that it expanded my knowledge of what makes a great middle grade book. It also gave me an insiders view of what 9 and 10 year olds really love in the books they read.

 

These kids named themselves after their teacher's favorite band; The Iron Maiden Eliminators

I had been trying my hand at writing fiction for a bunch of years. I had taken classes and workshops, and joined writer’s groups. For fun, I had challenged my self to write killer opening paragraphs, exciting passages, and interesting characters.

Savannah Banana Saves the World grew from one of those first paragraphs. When it became clear that I would not be getting back into the classroom again soon, I decided to get serious about writing the story of gutsy little girl who struggles with domestic terrorists and racism, while grappling with an absent mom, bullies, and her hesitancy about becoming a teenager.

I was putting the finishing touches on my story when George Floyd was killed and before a extremist mob stormed our nation’s Capitol. It seems that the issues in my book had became current headlines!