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Wow, I wish this was a more recent post or that I had joined back then! Can't believe no one had a response for you!
I used to go read to my boys' classes back when they were in school. I didn't have any published books then, only stories I'd written and tried to get published in magazines. Then, when my youngest was in 5th grade, after I'd read my latest short story to them, and asked for questions, one of his friends asked if I would write a story and put them all in it. The whole class applauded his idea. And I accepted the challenge of putting 26 kids into a novel. Heh, heh, the teacher thought they were asking for a short story, but I knew better!
It took me the whole school year to do it. And it was only a first draft; but I printed out 27 copies of the story and delivered them just before school let out for the summer. The teacher was overwhelmed; by that and the fact he was also in the story. :) I still have the letters the kids wrote me then.
I got a phone call from one of the moms thanking me all over the place for not only coming in to read to the kids but writing the book for them as well. She said that since my first visit, her son had started to read with passion whereas before that, he'd had no interest in books at all. Told me they'd gone and gotten a special binder for the book and he'd already was nearly halfway through the story.
You can imagine how that felt for me!!!
Another boy had asked tons of questions each time I had visited the classes - which was about the second grade. He is now a journalist for one of our local newspapers. He also writes fiction and he give me the credit for getting him interested in writing.
So yes, this is a really great idea. I hope you went ahead with it and found much success in touching the lives of the kids and that some of them not only took an interest in reading, but went on to become writers themselves.
I hope this will encourage others to do similar things.
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