Watermark Teacher Feature – February 24, 2010
UPCOMING
AUTHOR EVENTS:
*Rachel
Hawkins: Friday, March 6
*Andrew
Clements: Tuesday, April 6
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http://www.watermarkbooks.com/teacharchives.html
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Rachel Hawkins reading & signing. Friday, March 5, 7:00 p.m.
Greetings, all-
I've very excited about our event next week with debut
YA author Rachel Hawkins. Her book "Hex Hall" comes out Tuesday, and it is a
great big bundle of fun!
When I sat down on my day off to read the book's
opening chapters, it took me only a few minutes to make the happy
decision to spend all day in the quirky, enjoyable setting Rachel conjures
up.
Hex Hall is sort of a reform school for Prodigium:
magically gifted and misbehaving young people, including witches, fairies,
and werewolves. It's a grand, creepy Southern Gothic mansion--at least at
first. When teen witch Sophie Mercer enters its halls, it seems garish and
overdone to her. But the longer she stays, the more Hex Hall changes to suit
her. There's a magic to the place, and it's looking to win Sophie over.
I love how Rachel Hawkins takes this very simple set-up
(Hogwarts as reform school!) and fills it with an intriguing mystery (who's
attacking students and draining their blood?) and utterly winning characters
like Sophie, her oddball vampire roommate, and the perplexing golden boy who
catches her eye. As soon as I finished the book, I sat back and said to
myself, "Hmm, I'm ready for sequels right now--preferably one per week."
A reader who enjoys school stories with surprising
twists (like Ally Carter's Gallagher Girls books) will love spending time at
Hex Hall. Help me spread the word, and come to Watermark on Friday evening
next week to welcome Rachel to Wichita!
Hex Hall T-Shirt
Drawing
“Hex Hall”
will be
released on Tuesday, March 2, just days before Rachel’s visit. To pre-order or copies,
please call Watermark at (316) 682-1181 or e-mail mark.bradshaw@watermarkbooks.com
Everyone who pre-orders will be entered
to win genuine Hex Hall T-Shirts (a very cool design like a school gym
uniform) and other supernatural surprises.
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Andrew Clements book-launch events
Outstanding children’s
author Andrew Clements (“Frindle,” “Lunch Money,” “Extra Credit”) has
created a brand-new series called Benjamin Pratt & the Keepers of the School
for beginning chapter-book readers (a younger audience than with his
previous books).
The first book in this
six-book series is “We the Children,” which will be released Tuesday, April
6. Andrew Clements will visit Wichita and Watermark *on that day,* and we’ve
planned two exciting book-release events for him that we’d like you to take
part in.
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EVENTS
*
School Field Trips for second, third, fourth, and fifth grades.
Date: Tuesday, April
6.
Time: 2:00 to 3:00
p.m.
Location: Guild room
of St. James Episcopal Church, 3750 E. Douglas.
Activities: Andrew
Clements will read, answer questions, and sign books.
Reservations: to
reserve spaces for your school group, call Beth Golay at (316) 682-1181 or
e-mail beth.golay@watermarkbooks.com
- Spaces are limited,
and will be reserved on a first-come, first-served basis.
- Teachers and
librarians who bring students to the field trip will be asked to distribute
and collect book-order forms for Mr. Clements’s books.
- We’ll have a few
chairs for adults in the back, but school children will be asked to sit on
the floor.
* Evening Reading &
Book Signing.
Date: Tuesday, April
6.
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Watermark
Books & Cafe, 4701 E. Douglas in Wichita.
Activities: Andrew
Clements will read, take questions, and sign books.
Later the same day as
the field trip, Watermark will host Mr. Clements for this evening reading
and book signing. No reservations are necessary.
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PRE-ORDERS & PRIZES
You can pre-order
copies of “We the Children” by calling (316) 682-1181 or by e-mailing
beth.golay@watermarkbooks.com.
Anyone who pre-orders
will be entered in a drawing to win a free, signed copy!
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READ
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Benjamin Pratt & the Keepers of the School: We the Children
Benjamin Pratt’s
school is about to become the site of a new amusement park. It sounds like a
dream come true! But Ben wonders if he’ll like an amusement park in the
middle of town: with all the buses and traffic and slices of eight-dollar
pizza, it will change everything. And Ben isn’t so keen on all the changes
in his life, like how his dad has moved out and started living in the marina
on what used to be the "family” sailboat.
It might be nice if
the school stayed as it is. Ben likes his school. Loves it, actually. It’s
over 200 years old and sits right on the harbor. The playground has ocean
breezes, and the classrooms have *million dollar* views. And those views may
have a lot to do with the deal to sell the school property. But as much as
the town wants to believe that the school belongs to the local government,
it actually belongs to the *children,* and those children have the right to
defend it!
If you don’t think Ben
and his friend Jill (and tag-along Robert) can ruin a multimillion dollar
real estate deal, then you don’t know the history and power of the Keepers
of the School. “We the Children,” the first book in a suspenseful six-book
series, starts the battle on land and on sea. It’s a race to keep Ben’s
school from turning into a ticket booth, and he and his friends are about to
discover just how threatening a little knowledge can be.
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Later
educators,
Mark David Bradshaw
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