I did three back to back school visits today in Hagerstown, MD with some fabulous kids, all thanks to the wonderful resourcefulness of Pat Wishard and her team at the Washington County Free Library. They brought me in, and also provided every child with a book to keep (First Book helped with this because all of the schools were Title I). Here are some pics of me with some of the kids, as well as what they were having for lunch (oh noooooo!). The pin I'm wearing is recycled plastic and was made by the art teacher and given to me (I am so honored)!

To say THANK YOU to Vermont and Rhode Island librarians and educators, I am offering free 20-minute skype visits to all Vermont and Rhode Island libraries, reading groups and 3rd-8th grade classrooms.  Email me (erica at ericaperl dot com) and I'll try to set it up - first come, first serve, my work schedule permitting.

My Special "Juicy Thank You to Vermont and Rhode Island!" Free Skype Package contains:

• Five minutes of me talking about how my experience as a kid in New England (I actually moved from Rhode Island to Vermont!) led to me being an author and writing this book.
• Five minutes of me reading aloud from When Life Gives You O.J.
• Ten minutes of Q & A with your students.

ALSO I am waiving my usual requirement that the students read the book first. 

Although I will happily talk about the book (and the sequel, which comes out next year!) with kids who have read it, I am equally happy to introduce the book to kids who have not read it yet.  My goal is to get kids reading and excited about having a vote, whether they cast it for my book or not.  In fact, I'm hoping other nominated authors will join me so the kids can skype with a few of the finalists if possible.

In addition, I built a First Book fundraising page (it's easy! you can, too!).  While I am skyping for free, if any of the schools or libraries that book me for this have any funds available, I am encouraging them to make a donation (of any size) to First Book in honor of my visit.  These donations will provide brand new books to children in need in Vermont and Rhode Island.

Here's a videoclip of me skyping with kids in Minnesota, if you're curious whether a skype visit is right for you: 

I also discovered the answer to the question, "What do you build to house your (made-from-an-orange-juice-jug-as-in-When-Life-Gives-You-O.J.) practice pet?"

Behold, Mr. Ford's milk jug igloo (as seen on Mr. Ford's blog, and as built with his students!):

I am seriously impressed with this.  If you have photos of any other practice pets, practice pet accessories, or practice pet pavillions to promote, please pop them in the post (or email) to your pal, ESP and I will prioritize them personally!

Poetry Month -
I love you a bunth!
No grammar, no rhyme.
No problem with lines that run on and on and on and on for a very long time.
Anything goes!
Which is good, I suppose,
for people like me
who stayed up late watching tv
and didn't write poems,
despite that they owe 'em
to teachers at 9.
But guess what? I'm fine!
I'm perfect! I'm great
I wrote this poem over breakfast:
Done at half past 8!

1. My sweet husband and kids

2. Our adorable dog Clover and lovely guinea pig Violet.  Neither of whom would dream of eating things that are not food.  And if you believe that, I have a pair of partially digested shoes to sell you...

3. Our family and dear friends, near and far.

4. New friends I make through my books!

Today, I want to give a shout out to two subcategories of category #4:

ALL THE KIDS WHO READ WHEN LIFE GIVE YOU O.J. AND WERE INSPIRED TO MAKE THEIR OWN "O.J."s and M.J.'s, and in honor of today, V.J.'s like this one, which is a beaut!  Thanks to Kristen Kilpatrick for the submission (@kkilpatrick7):

AND I also want to give a heartfelt shout-out to teachers and librarians and bloggers and podcasters today.  Librarians like Mr. Schu, book bloggers like the fabulous gals at Kidsmomo and that amazing Katie Davis, and teachers like Colby Sharp and Eric Carlson, who get so excited about books and book creators that they invite them in via video chats like this:

Which is awesome because, as Mr. Carlson notes, it makes a huge connection... which is what today's all about, right? 

So, thank you guys for sharing the book love!  Big Valentine's hugs from me and O.J.!

Surprised?  Honestly, don't you people watch THE NEWS???

Thanks so much, @LibLaura5, for spreading the word.

Have a great weekend, everyone.  Read a good book!

(That's right, Clover, I said READ.  Not "eat."  Good dog!)

May I also suggest you decorate your walls with book-based art?  Authors love that!

Thanks, Mr. Carlson's class at Northwinds Elementary in Buffalo, MN!

I am happy to report that When Life Gives You O.J. is making its way onto many lists of late ("best of" lists compiled by other people, that is!).  In fact, I'm downright giddy.  Here's a quick wrap-up:

Travis Jonker and John Schumacher's Best 20 Books of 2012 (#14!)

Kids Momo's Holiday List

The Washington Post's Holiday Gift List (extra points will be awarded for referring to me as the author of "the beloved Chicken Butt series"... That's right, people, BELOVED.  Could be a typo for "bewildering" or "bizarre" but I will take it regardless).

Tablet Magazine's Best Jewish Children's Books of 2012

Many of these lists have other great suggestions, too.  Which is good because I am waaaay behind on my Hanukkah shopping.  I'm starting with Tablet's list (Marjorie Ingall's annotations are making me drool... I want ALL these books) and going from there.  You should, too.

The unexpected benefit of this was that I learned a lot about the National Monuments.  The kids had just visited them the week before, so they had a lot of stats at their fingertips.  When it was my turn, I talked about my books, read from WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU O.J. and shared my video (which the kids liked so much they begged to watch it again... always a good sign).  I donated two copies each of WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU O.J. and VINTAGE VERONICA to the school library, to add to those already on the shelves, since the kids seemed pretty pumped to read them.  

At the end, the nametag error was discovered and I was asked to come back the following week to present to the class I should've met with in the first place!  Luckily, as the assistant principal explained, "it's not just career day... it's career month here!"

They are, SLIME:

CLIMB,

and, of course,