“Unwind” Author Comes to Texas
Neal Shusterman to speak about his work with students in library on Feb. 22
Neal Shusterman won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature and the Golden Kite Award for Fiction, according to StoryMan.com
March 29, 2017
Award winning author Neal Shusterman will be giving presentations in the library on Feb. 22.
The event was made possible when librarian Dianne Moynihan contacted Shusterman and asked if he would be interested in coming to speak at the school.
“[The librarians] were just talking one day and thought ‘let’s see if we can get an author to come,’” Moynihan said. “I just emailed him, and he answered back saying he would love to come to Texas.”
Shusterman will be in Texas for a week, speaking to students about his publications and even teaching a writing workshop.
“Students who have read his books will be the ones who will get to see him speak,” Moynihan said. “He will be giving two or three presentations to at least 200 kids.”
The writing workshop will be limited to only 25 to 35 students. Shusterman requested that only the students who have read his work be in attendance at his presentation.
“That was his requirement,” Moynihan said. “He is here for the kids and wants them to be engaged.”
English teacher Kandice Trujillo introduced Shusterman’s “Unwind” to her freshman classes.
“Our classes were reading his novel,” Trujillo said. “It is very creative and it really makes you think about the outside world.”
Trujillo believes that students will greatly benefit from Shusterman’s visit.
“I think it is a great opportunity for the students,” Trujillo said. “it is very exciting and I am looking forward to it.”
The librarians feel very fortunate to have Neal Shusterman speak, being that that his book “Unwind” will be adapted to film.
“He is very popular right now because his book is going to be made into a movie,” Moynihan said. “that is one of the main reasons we wanted to get him to come.
The librarians will have copies of “Unwind” available for students to purchase and hopefully have autographed.
“We are working on a getting a backorder of his books,” Moynihan said. “We will have copies available for kids to purchase so he can autograph their copies.”
The librarians are hoping that Shusterman’s visit will help students get excited about reading and writing.
“We are trying to promote reading,” Moynihan said. “Hopefully students will have a greater appreciation for reading and writing.”
