Posts with Category Common Reads

Austin Peay State student writes song that makes my eyes sweat

I have a new happy song: Sonder by Gina Henderson.

Gina is a student at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN, where students who read WHERE AM I WEARING as part of the university’s common reading program were asked to do a creative response. Gina wrote and performed (vocals and ukelele) her song Sonder.

Here’s how she introduces the song in a book highlighting a few of the responses:

According to the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, [Sonder] means, “the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.” This perfectly encapsulates the emotions I felt while reading Where Am I Wearing. I was a startling awakening to realize that my clothes were made not by faceless robots in some…

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Ball State Students, Want to Come to Costa Rica With Me?

Who wants to go to Costa Rica? Yep, like everyone.

This summer I’ll be joining a Ball State Class from May 21-28 to visit banana, pineapple, coffee, and cocoa farms in addition to just soaking up all that Costa Rica has to offer. The class is a Summer I program and will include a few weeks of class using my books WHERE AM I WEARING and WHERE AM I EATING as the course texts.

Seriously, this is like the best class ever.

The last time I was in Costa Rica, I spent all of my time working on a banana plantation and visiting with banana workers. I met some great people, but there is so much of Costa Rica I didn’t get to explore. So…come and explore it…

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Triple Header at Bakersfield College on Tuesday

I’m speaking at Bakersfield College in Bakersfield, California, three times on Tuesday. Three times! Apologies in advance to the third audience for not remembering what I’ve said or not said. I honestly don’t know how teachers and professors do back-to-back classes. Actually my mind shouldn’t turn to mush because I’ve got plenty of time between talks.

I’m speaking at 10AM, 2PM, and at 6:30PM. More info on the event here.

The event is part of the Cerro Visiting Author Series:

Made possible by a generous bequest by Delores Cerro, a local citizen who believed in the power of libraries to shape students’ lives, the Cerro Author program brings a prominent writer to the Bakersfield…

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Thankful for the Support of Hoosiers

Wells County selected WHERE AM I EATING? for their One Book One County community read program. Tomorrow night I’ll be speaking at the Main Library in Bluffton, Indiana, from 7-8 PM. Here are the details.

The event was made possible by the Indiana Humanities Novel Conversations program. Over the past year I’ve had the chance to interact with Indiana Humanities, The Indianapolis Public Library Foundation, and the Glick family, which supports both programs, and I’m so thankful for all the hard work all of them do.

Indiana Humanities

Indiana Humanities mission is to connect people, open minds and enrich lives by creating and facilitating programs that encourage Hoosiers to think, read and talk.

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Gustavus Adolphus selects both WEARING & EATING for Common Read Program

Releasing a book to the world isn’t like having a kid. Our first child arrived within a few months after my first book was released.  Having a new born child is way harder. For instance, a new born book has never projectile pooped on me. 

But all the same, it has been fun watching my books grow up and reach more readers.  And in many ways WEARING is still the older child that all the teachers know, blazing a path for its younger sibling, EATING, in the common read world.  WEARING has been selected at like 25 different common read programs and EATING, which is out of the gate faster that WEARING, has been selected at four.

So to have one…

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