Reed Nutmeg Readers Visited By Connecticut Author

By Eliza Hallabeck

Many of the Reed Intermediate School students in the school’s library on Monday, May 3, were ready with books in hand to meet Connecticut author Ann Haywood Leal.

Holding her copy of Ms Leal’s Also Known As Harper, fifth grader Emily Toby said, “I thought it was really good. I liked the characters. I thought they were described well.”

Emily was one of many fifth graders in the library who read Ms Leal’s book before her visit to the school, and others said they were either in the middle of reading it, or were planning to read it after hearing Ms Leal speak.

The event was hosted to recognize students for the achievement in reading Nutmeg Awarded books. The Nutmeg Awards are jointly sponsored by the Connecticut Library Association and the Connecticut Association of School Librarians.

When the 20 Nutmeg Award nominees, ten in both the intermediate reading level list and the teen reading level list, were named earlier this year, Reed students were challenged to read five or more books, and all students who met the challenge attended the Monday luncheon.

Ashley Jacobs, according to Reed library/media specialist Virginia Snowden, was the only fifth grade student to read all 20 Nutmeg Award nominees for this year. Sixth grade students Scott Alexander, Alexandra Lotko, and Sean MacMullen also read all 20 of this year’s Nutmeg Award nominees.

In recognition of their reading achievement, first fifth grade students then sixth grade students heard Ms Leal speak about how she became a writer, why she started writing Also Known As Harper, and more.

“It’s pretty good,” said fifth grader Jack Palermo. “It has a good message in it.”

After Ms Leal spoke, the author signed books and students ate pizza.

“I want to tell you just a little about how I came to write the book,” said Ms Leal, “but also about me.”

Ms Leal teaches in Waterford, and knows Reed sixth grade teacher Gael Lynch through their writing group. She wrote her first novel in sixth grade, but started writing when she was 3 years old. At 3, Ms Leal said, her writing consisted mainly of apologies to her family for things she had done.

Ms Leal told the students that her grandmother loved poetry.

“And I think that’s why I like poetry so much,” said Ms Leal, “and why I made Harper like poetry so much in the story.”

Also Known As Harper follows the main character, Harper, as her family deals with having too many bills and too little money. The family is eventually evicted, and moves into a motel. According to the author, Harper also struggles with a scheduled poetry contest at her school.

Ms Leal admitted to students that she was “a little bit of a book nerd,” and it was her sixth grade teacher, Mary Rinear, who was the first person to call her a writer.

Years later, after her first book was published, Ms Leal attended a book reading a the library in her hometown, the library in which she had received her first library card. At that event, her old teachers, including Ms Rinear, surprised her.

Ms Leal also told students she tries to look for stories everywhere she goes.

“I absolutely love anything that is broken down, kind of dirty, because I think it has a story behind it,” said Ms Leal.

While running one day, Ms Leal came across a broken down drive-through movie theater screen, and photographed it. She later also came across a broken down house with a pool still in the yard, and photographed that.

“I not only collect ideas,” Ms Leal told students, “but I also collect pictures that spark my ideas.”

In writing Also Known As Harper Ms Leal said she wanted to create a story about a girl who had a tough character because of her situation.

After speaking and sharing information about herself, Ms Leal signed books for students.

For further information about the Connecticut author, go to www.annhaywoodleal.com.