Napa Valley Opera House & Redwood Middle School

Here we are back at the Opera House. And here are some of the students who attended. I think these delightful young ladies were from Redwood Middle School. They came up to have their books signed and to strongly encourage me to write a sequel to SHIFTY! We took this picture to keep reminding me to write a sequel or companion book. Seeing their sweet faces and remembering all the student and professional artists I met that night will certainly inspire me when I'm in the midst of writing and rewriting.


I met Redwood Middle School's After School program teachers and several of the student artists.
Here is the Teacher's Statement and some of the truly wonderful planter boxes created by the student artists. Take a look and also take a look at the video made by the Napa County Office of Education and the Arts Council Napa Valley to see the students in action. At the end of the video is the Napa Valley Children's Chorus, too!

This planter was on wheels! And there's Lester!

Here is the other side of the planter on wheels. Soli would approve!

Love the colorful peace symbols below and how Lester keeps showing up again and again.

A couple of weeks after the event, a friend who attended surprised me with a gift of the red-heart planter above. Sweet! I'm using it to keep my CD's organized and every time I see it, it makes me smile.

Below, here's Lester again. Maybe Lester needs a book of his own next? Love the colorful flowers and use of buttons and objects on the Shifty-themed planters.


These two are also cool, as were the rest of the student-made planters. See the video for a view of a few more. I could have spent hours taking pics of them all and reading the artist statements.


Are these the work of student artists? Or professional artists? I'm not sure. The pictures got all jumbled on my camera, I was so excited to see them all. Either way, I love all the colors and designs and how different artists interpreted various characters, themes and scenes in the book. If you are one of the artists of any of these planters on this page or any other blog pages here and want credit for your great work, please comment below and I'll add your name. (Students, please ask your parents' permission of course)
If you bought of the planters at the auction, please comment which one. I'd love to see pics of them in their new homes, too!
The day after the Opera House event I spoke at Redwood Middle School. The venue this time was the school library, so there were not nearly as many students as at Harvest Middle School, but they were equally well-prepared, they had great questions and were very enthusiastic.

School visits, Shifty Music, and a "this is not a drill" FIRE ALARM!

Napa County Reads SHIFTY!

My first day of Napa County school visits after my Napa Valley Opera House presentation began at Harvest Middle School. I met the principal and more amazing teachers including science teacher extraordinaire, Ms. Laura Lewis. Ms. Lewis had rallied the other science teachers in the weeks prior to take a bit of time to read SHIFTY aloud to their students during their science classes because the English curriculum was filled to the max with little time for reading aloud.
That's me on the left, Laura Lewis to the right of Shifty, and another great teacher. (I met so many amazing teachers and librarians, counselors and youth advocates during Napa Reads! I hope someone reminds me of the other teacher's name.)

Ms. Lewis was great. She showed me her copy of SHIFTY with several different bookmarks, marking the slightly different progress of several science classes. Because of Ms. Lewis and the other science teachers, most of the students had heard at least half of SHIFTY read aloud. This makes all the difference for a successful author visit. She also prepared a totally cool mix of music from the songs in the book, mostly the songs of Martha's misheard lyrics. So that made me smile and put me in a good mood as the students filed in (and in, and in, and in!) Bleachers and bleachers of students! We're talking about a half-gym full of 6th, 7th and 8th graders, maybe 300-350+, which would normally make me a bit nervous to start. But like I said, the songs made me remember some funny moments in the book and put me at ease. Thank you Ms. Lewis!

Harvest Middle School students created the colorful poster below of the cover of the book which they asked me to sign. The poster will hang in their school library with several other author visit posters.

I wish I could have gone to the library to see all the posters hanging in there--but it was time to start my presentation!

The students were super responsive and engaged! They participated actively, asked great questions, and then suddenly--

--THE FIRE ALARM WENT OFF--!

Yikes! It was LOUD! I was told "this is not a drill." Okay, so it was time to leave the gym. The teachers and students were incredible as they filed safely out of the gym along with the rest of the school to the yard outside. It took some time to make sure everything was okay and to file everyone systematically back into the gym! Luckily we were in a 90 minute block period so once everyone was seated again we resumed with a teensy bit more of my presentation and Q & A (my favorite part). Again the students were lively and engaged and had really great questions.
That's me again with Dr. Barbara Nemko, superintendent of schools, admiring the poster at Harvest Middle School. Today in the mail, I received a BIG packet of letters from Barbara. She shared the letters that the students at Harvest Middle School had sent, thanking her for the copies of SHIFTY for the students to read and for bringing me to school. I'd like to thank Dr. Nemko, too!

The students' letters were fun and I'll quote some here soon, but now I need to post more pics of Shifty-themed planter planter boxes created by the after school students at Redwood Middle School.

A Great Surprise Video about Napa County Reads

This was a fun surprise to find in my google alerts!
A video about Napa County Reads.
Be sure to watch to the end to see the children's chorus!

Napa County Reads 2010

Napa County Reads Shifty: More Amazing Shifty-themed Planter Boxes

Family and friends have been asking to see more Shifty-themed planter boxes created by professional and student artists that were auctioned at the Napa Valley Opera House to support literacy by Napa County Reads. I'm happy to share the following pictures. You can see my earlier posts about Napa County Reads and more totally cool Shifty-themed planters here, here, and here.

Toby Gewertz is the artist of the amazing planter box above.

Soli loves to drive. How cool is this planter-on-wheels by Gary Snethen?

I was overwhelmed and touched with how unique and beautiful each of the planter boxes were. I loved seeing what parts of my novel spoke to the artists and how the artists brought scenes, settings, characters and themes to a different media.

When I was writing SHIFTY, I was just trying to capture the story the best I could--to bring Soli, Sissy, Martha, and Chance's story to life on the page. Seeing parts of Shifty's story brought to life in these planters was unexpected, wonderful and truly inspiring!


I'd love to match up the artist names with each of the boxes. If you created one of these planter boxes or know the artists' names, please comment, and I'll add them. Thanks!

This colorful planter box must have been inspired by Sissy's fortune cookie early in the story which said, "Keep a green tree in your heart and a songbird will come."

Below is a pic of Soli/Shifty depicted as a shape-shifter Coyote by artist Hugo Corro. See Hugo Corro's artist statement, Sissy as a rabbit, and more views of the planter box here.


I tried to take lots of pictures at the Opera House event to remember them all, but I was also meeting many amazing people that night and I was just a little bit nervous about my upcoming talk. So if you were there at the Napa Valley Opera House and you took pictures or bought one of the planter boxes, I'd love to see your planter in its new home, see more pics or hear why a particular planter "spoke" to you.

If you are one of the artists who participated, thank you, THANK you for depicting Shifty's story. The artists' statements were amazing too, but the lighting posed a challenge in getting pictures of the artist statements without too much reflection. You can see a few of them in the preview here.

Forecast: More Shifty-themed planter boxes coming soon.

And please comment below. What are your fav's and why?
Are you one of the artists? Please tell me which box you created and share your artist statement. And if you bid on one of the boxes, please tell us what drew you to that planter box. Thanks!!

SHIFTY-Themed Planter Boxes--SNEAK PREVIEW!!

Here is a sneak preview of some of the amazing SHIFTY-themed planter boxes and the equally amazing artist statements. A few of the planters are already on display at the Napa Main Library. I was so touched to see them and read the artists' thoughts on what parts of Shifty's story inspired them to create their art. These SHIFTY-themed planters will be displayed for silent auction at the free Napa County Reads Public Event on Wed. Oct. 27th at the Napa Valley Opera House. Learn more about 2010 Napa Reads SHIFTY! here.

Wow, just wow!
Take a look.

Here are the two long sides of Emily Freiman's planter box.

And here are the 2 paintings on the shorter ends of Emily's creation.

Here's another colorful planter with an artist statement by Darlene Meltzer.

I'll post some more (sneak preview) planter box photos tomorrow.
They are pretty amazing, don't you think?

Napa County Reads SHIFTY!!!

Here's my exciting news!

I am jazzed, honored, and very excited that Napa County Reads has chosen SHIFTY as their selection for 2010!

What does this mean?

Students galore (and the Napa Valley Community) will all be reading and discussing SHIFTY!


I'll be speaking to students at 9 (!!!!!!!!!) different middle schools, high schools, and to youth at community court


Napa Reads is hosting a SHIFTY-themed bookmark contest with the winning bookmarks being distributed by Napa County Libraries


Artists (both student and professional) are creating SHIFTY-themed planter boxes to be auctioned off in a fundraising event to support literacy on Oct. 27th at the Napa Valley Opera House

I'll be speaking at the historic Napa Valley Opera House for "An Evening of Art, Music, Food and a Great Book." Panelists joining me include a foster parent, a former foster youth, a foster youth advocate from VOICES, a social worker, a probation officer and a Napa County judge. Wow!

Students from the Napa Valley Childrens’ Chorus, under the direction of Kim Markovich, will entertain with a short program of favorite songs.



Oh, and I hear there is some kind of student writing contest, too!

Please join us:

Wednesday, October 27
at the Napa Valley Opera House
It's FREE!
6:00 p.m. Reception & Silent Auction
7:00 p.m. Program Begins

Here is the Napa Reads Press Release:
(Note: I'm speaking mostly at middle schools and a few high schools so I'm not sure about the "5th graders" part. Of course I'd be happy for a zillion 5th graders to read SHIFTY, too!)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Napa County Reads Public Event: October 27, 2010
Annual Literacy Program Announces 8th Annual Silent Auction Fundraiser
BY CHRISTY BORS

Napa, CA -Napa County Reads, an annual literacy program fundraiser co-partnered by Napa Valley Office of Education (NCOE) Napa City-County Library and Arts Council Napa Valley (ACNV), kicks off another successful year with the 2010 selection of Shifty, a young adult novel by Bay Area author, Lynn E. Hazen.

Now in its eighth year, Napa County Reads combines art and literacy education by selecting an inspirational book to be read by 5th grade students and the community. Along with reading the book, students are encouraged to create a bookmark themed after the selection. As in years past, four bookmarks, this year's inspired by Shifty, will be chosen to be the official "Napa County Reads" bookmarks and distributed throughout Napa County libraries for 2010.

Napa County Reads helps foster a love of reading because everyone is reading, talking about, and sharing the same book, including many adults in the community," explains Barbara Nemko, Superintendent of Napa County Schools. "Students are further motivated by knowing they will meet the author and get to ask questions about the writing process, and why the subject matter of the book was chosen."

Additionally, on display at Napa City-County Library are original artworks by local visual artists, ranging from student to professional. Arts Council Napa Valley brought this additional artistic component into the literacy program back in 2007 by presenting an interpretive art project that allowed local students and artists the chance to illustrate portions of the Napa County Reads selected novel on unique canvases.

As a finale to the program, the artwork is auctioned at the Napa County Reads Reception each fall. This year's free public reception, presented at Napa Valley Opera House as part of Napa Valley ARTS 2010, features a reading and book signing by the author as well as a special panel discussion by former foster youth. 100% of the event proceeds benefit Napa County Reads.

Shifty is the story is about a 15-year-old boy in foster care. Author Lynn Hazen, a resident of San Francisco, incorporated her love of the Bay Area into her young adult novel, bracketing Bay Area landmarks around main character Soli's misadventures as a foster teen. Shifty includes themes of resiliency, loss, love, and redefining family. Hazen's work has won numerous awards, including the Top Shelf Fiction Award from the Voice of Youth Advocates magazine, and a Smithsonian Notable Book Award. Kirkus Reviews praised Shifty as, "a realistic story that resonates."

The artists who created work inspired by the novel couldn't agree more. Thematic interpretations of Shifty were placed on planter boxes, this year's unique "canvas" chosen by ACNV. Planters were selected because they nurture the growth of roots, much like foster homes across America. With varied approaches and individual styles, the planter boxes each touch on different themes of the book. Materials used on the planters range from steel to encaustic wax.

This year's Napa County Reads Reception and Silent Auction will be held Wednesday, October 27th, beginning at 6:00pm at Napa Valley Opera House. The event is co-sponsored by the Napa County Office of Education, Napa Valley Opera House and Arts Council Napa Valley.

###

As I said at the start of this post, I am jazzed, honored, and very excited! I'm also in awe of the series of events planned by Napa Valley Reads Committee.

Next blog post up--a sneak preview of some of the totally amazing SHIFTY-themed planter boxes and the equally amazing artists' statements.