Northboro School Visits (Part 5 of 5): Melican

On the fifth and final day of my Northboro Schools adventure, I went to Melican Middle School to speak with lots and lots of sixth graders. Here's a photo of me speaking. I don't know why I have my hand on my stomach. I think I'm reminding myself to stand up straight.

Can YOU rub your belly and give a presentation at the same time???

Aside from being awesome in its own right, this visit was super-awesome because this school is my main character Julie's middle school. In my book, Julie is a seventh grader at Northboro Middle School (which is what Melican was called in my day) and part of the book is set in this very school! I loved being able to tell the students that chapter three starts right here!

And that concludes my Week of Awesomeness. I did a total of 20 presentations and talked with 600-700 students. I ate a chicken patty sandwich that tasted exactly the same as it did when I was in elementary school (not bad, actually -- I always kind of liked chicken patty sandwich days. Now shephard's pie is another story...). I visited the Agway rooster and drove past the former Dairy Hut (now Beezer's) and the White Cliffs Restaurant (all locations in INTO THE WILD). And I only cried a couple of times ... all very happy tears.

Thank you so much to all the students, teachers, librarians, PTO enrichment coordinators, principals, booksellers, and everyone else who made this fabulous week possible!