Alex Flinn made an exceptionally successful visit to the Marlboro High
School in April of 2004 and I would recommend her without reservation to
anyone looking for an author who relates well to teens in writing as
well as in person. From start to finish, our experiences with her were
positive, professional and extremely rewarding. My initial inquiry (May
of 2003) to her publicist was answered promptly with directions to
contact Alex personally to arrange the details of the visit. There was
never any confusion regarding my financial responsibility (fee plus
shared travel and meals). From that point on, Alex and I corresponded
regularly via email or phone to plan what was to be a wonderful
experience for my students and staff. Her publicist did re-enter the
picture to provide me (very efficiently) with jpegs of the author and
her book covers.
All in all, Alex spent two days with us, bouncing from commitment to
commitment with a smile ever-present on her face and energy in her step!
The visit began with a Welcoming Dinner prior to our annual National
Library Week ReadAloud (jointly sponsored by our school and public
libraries). Alex acted as the host and master of ceremonies, intuitively
putting everyone at ease and facilitating the flow of the program. At
school the next day, she gave two (hour long) presentations to a total
of 110 students who *voluntarily* signed up to meet her, lingered
patiently after each program to sign autographs and chat with students
and then had lunch with a group of teacher/student fans.
Audience response to her presentations was uniformly outstanding. For
the first time in the many years I've been hosting author visits, fully
80% of her audience had *voluntarily* read at least one of her books and
26% had read at least two. They are still student favorites and
circulate regularly. Although I had certainly done my part to encourage
their preparation (booktalks in all English classes plus distribution of
discussion guides and teacher packets from her web site), it was the
quality of Alex's writing and the appeal of her subject matter (violence
in the lives of contemporary teens) that really lured them. In addition
to the library copies I had on hand and the classroom copies I provided
to each English teacher, we sold an additional 140 copies of her books,
which may not sound like much to some, but in my school, it's
significant. Also significant were the student and staff comments on the
evaluation forms we asked them to complete after the presentations. Some
of the following remarks are consistent with the overall response: " I
learned so much from Alex Flinn as a writer. It's a tremendous
opportunity for students to be able to interact with authors who write
books that relate to their lives. -- Alex Flinn explains how she writes
her books and helps others who want to do so, too. --She touches issues
that impact teenagers. --Her books arouse interest in reading and help
students with similar problems. --(From a teacher) Programs like this
one encourage students to read independently and to discuss literature
with peers and teachers." Most poignant of all was the comment from one
student who had found the courage to break up with an abusive boyfriend
after reading Breathing Underwater, "You don't understand how much
you've helped me through certain things."
If I had it to do all over again, I would do only two things
differently. We did not provide a microphone because we thought our
groups were small enough and wanted to allow Alex the freedom to move
around the room. However, she is soft-spoken and some students had
trouble hearing her, especially in the back. A portable mic would have
been the perfect solution. Additionally, we arranged the seating in
rows, very formally, to facilitate attendance taking. Several students
suggested that they would have appreciated a separate session with a
discussion in the round because they really wanted to talk to her about
their personal experiences with violence. I think in the future that I
will plan a "Conversation with the author" time for just those students
who desire more personal opportunities for communication. I believe it's
a great tribute to Alex that students wanted to get so close to her!
I apologize for the lengthiness of this post, but I wanted to tell you
all about our great experience with Alex Flinn. I would be happy to
speak further with anyone wishing to ask additional questions.
Marie A. Baker
School Library/Media Specialist
Marlboro High School
50 Cross Road
Marlboro, NY 12542
bakerm@marlboroschools.org
845-236-5813
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