Sharon Draper and RFK and Four More Years

This weekend's Book By the Banks Festival had lots of surprises

I headed down to Cincinnati for the annual Books by the Banks festival this past Saturday, and boy, am I glad I went. Not only did I have a great day selling copies of both Pizza, Pickles, and Apple Pie and Checkups, Shots, and Robots, I also got to reconnect with old friends and make some new ones.

One of those people was Sharon Draper. If you don’t know who she is, you probably aren’t in education. Right when I started out teaching Draper had already established a decent amount of fame as the National Teacher of the Year. But then she started to publish wildly popular YA fiction before a lot of people were working successfully in that genre. She was a teacher! And a novelist! She proved we could have it all.

But the most amazing part of meeting her was that she told me “I know who you are. You wrote Pizza, Pickles, and Apple Pie. I really loved that book.” Mind blown. I wasn’t expecting her to know me at all.

Anyway, she was a sweet lady and I had to get a picture with her.

I also had a great time selling Checkups, Shots, and Robots, and I apologize for those who got my first signed copies because I’m still figuring out what I want to draw in there along with my signature.

It should come as no surprise that a fair number of people suggested that I should send a copy to RFK, our new head of the Department of Public Health, and apparently a source of concern for a lot of people who feel like he may need to brush up on basic health facts. Fear not! I have recorded a video offering to send RFK a copy of Checkups, Shots, and Robots for his library.

And in other exciting news, the Ohio STRS lowered our retirement age, so I only have four more years left. I’d start a chant of “FOUR MORE YEARS!” but I think I’d be using the phrase in a way it was not intended.

Have a great day!