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(L to R) Cynthia Weill, Rene Saldana, Jr., Carmen Tafolla,
Diana Lopez, Lupe Ruiz-Flores, Duncan Tonatiuh,
and Diane Gonzales Bertrand
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What fun it was
doing school visits with six other authors as part of Reading Rock Stars down in the Rio
Grande Valley. In the schools I visited, Emiliano Zapata Elementary in Mission, Texas,
and Robert E. Lee Elementary in Edinburg, the students were ready to welcome me and two
other authors as soon as we walked through the door. Banners, posters,
drawings, and signs greeted us upon our arrival.
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| Lupe Ruiz-Flores "Hall" at Zapata Elementary |
Some students even
went so far as to practice doing and signing petitions just like my character,
Estela, in the book, Let’s Salsa. They put these up on a
huge bulletin board in my “Lupe Ruiz-Flores Hall.” I autographed all
the
posters on the walls as the librarians walked me through.
I enjoyed doing the
reading/presentation and interacting with the students. The big surprise came
at the end when I told them that each and every one of them would get an
autographed book of the story I had just read. Cheers went up. Smiles spread
across their faces. It was heartwarming to see student after student come up
and receive a book.
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| Librarian Ms. Carrillo at Robert E. Lee School and Author - Books! Books! |
They were extremely polite and all said thank you or
gracias. I hope I inspired the students to read and write more and hopefully to
become lifelong readers. Thank you Texas Book Festival and Reading Rock Stars. Thank you Target for providing the books. And thank you faculty
and librarians for all that you do for your students. We really appreciate you!
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| Teachers at Zapata Elementary |
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| Author "signs" petition! - Robert E. Lee Elementary |
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| Thank you, Target!
"The best books come from someplace deep inside.... Become emotionally involved. If you don't care about your characters, your readers won't either.” – Judy Blume
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