Thanks to the generosity of the Chatham Education Foundation of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, Chatham Middle School was able to host author James Preller and author/illustrator Sylvie Kantorovitz on June 10.
Mr. Preller presented to each grade level (6th, 7th and 8th) about the importance of making your mark and how his life has shaped who he is and what he writes about. He read from his works and shared tips on how to write compelling stories. While his best known work is his Jigsaw Jones series, Preller focused more on his books for middle school-age audiences, including Better off Undead, Bystander, Upstander, and Blood Mountain.
After his grade-level presentations, Preller was joined by Sylvie Kantorovitz for CMS’s Reading Celebration in the school library. This event was for students who participated in the lunchtime book club and earned enough points from reading this year. They included Ariel Thomas, Lucy Tassinari, Vinnie Sauca, Cristian Wilson, Ava Lombardi, Isla Stack, Bailey McShane, Phila Visconti, and Ellery Pierce. During this event, Ms. Kantorovitz shared her graphic novel memoir Sylvie, which captures her life growing up in France, while the students enjoyed pizza, salad and ice cream donated by the Chatham Middle School PTSO. A lively Q&A followed and students chose a book as a prize which they had autographed by the author. Lastly, the top reader in each grade - 6th grader Lucy Tassinari, 7th grader Bailey McShane and 8th grader Phila Visconti - each received a Barnes & Noble Gift Card.
“All in all it was a wonderful experience in celebration of reading and books,” remarked school librarian Donna Eager.
