Marblehead students hear back from authors
For more than twenty years each fall, Mass Center for the Book (MCB) has launched its annual Letters About Literature (LAL) program, a commonwealth-wide personal and reflective writing initiative. Students in Grades 4 through 12 are invited to read a literary work of their choice and write a thoughtful letter to its author, describing their personal connection to the book’s theme, or a character, or viewpoint of the author. Over this time span, the Center has received more than 30,000 letters and has annually honored the strongest writing at an awards ceremony.
In the spring of 2022, after years of making LAL a part of the language arts curriculum at Marblehead Veterans Middle School, 8th Grade teacher Caroline Todd and librarian Elizabeth Lutwak took the annual assignment a step further for the first time. They helped interested students send the letters to their authors, and the results surprised and delighted them all.
Madeline Fagan, who had written a letter to author/journalist Dashka Slater about The 57 Bus, was the first to hear back. In a handwritten note, Slater expressed appreciation for Madeline’s thoughts about this true story about race, class, gender, crime, and punishment. She commended Maddie’s curiosity and open-mindedness and the personal response stunned the middle schooler.
In her letter to author Gary Schmidt, fellow student Molly Titus shared details of her childhood to explain why she related to the struggles of the main character in Orbiting Jupiter. In his handwritten response, Schmidt complimented the clarity and power of her writing, but it was his revelation about his own loss and grief that impressed Molly most. “I cried many times while reading this book, and Mr. Schmidt’s response brought tears again,” she said.
Olivia Niles wrote to Hillary and Chelsea Clinton after feeling empowered by The Book of Gutsy Women, stories of barrier-breaking women. She shared that the book motivated her to speak to -- not hide from – truth. On personal stationery, Hillary Clinton expressed her pleasure that the book was successfully passing along the spirit of “gutsy women” and admired Liv’s honesty, strength, and engagement in the world around her. “It scared me to share my feelings with Secretary Clinton and she responded specifically to my words!” exclaimed Liv.
Classmate Lawrence Kibaru wrote to George Takei about his graphic memoir They Called Us Enemy. Ms. Lutwak felt that Lawrence tied together history and current political events with notable sophistication for a middle school student and his letter was the impetus to try and connect with authors. “I wrote the letter around the time of the January 6th anniversary,” said Kibaru. “I saw connections between the misinformation around the time of Japanese internment and that of the 2020 election.”
Ms. Todd observed that the experience of hearing back from authors brought this assignment full circle. “I’ve participated in Letters About Literature for many years and it’s been remarkable what I learn about my students through this exercise,” she said. “It’s an honor to be allowed into their world.” Todd credited the success of the author connections to Lutwak, who had been thrilled to see that many students turned to books during remote learning and felt “this positive outcome of that period was an opportunity to take advantage of!”
With the success of this meaningful experiment, the teacher and librarian again offered assistance to their students in reaching out to authors in 2023. Damilola Graciella Olabisi, who received Honors in Level 2 at the 2023 awards ceremony for her letter to Jacqueline Woodson about Brown Girl Dreaming, was delighted to receive autographed books from the bestselling author. More importantly, Woodson included a handwritten note responding to Damilola’s expressed aspirations to write herself and Woodson encouraged the eighth grader to tell her stories and sent her love.
Learning of these student-author connections led MCB to inquire about the other side of the reader-writer equation. What is the impact on authors when they hear from young readers and learn their work has profoundly resonated with them, perhaps even transforming their lives? Stop back to learn about how Lynda Mullaly Hunt, bestselling Massachusetts author of fiction for young people, responded to our questions.