Amanda Zieba, self-proclaimed word nerd and renowned author of young adult and children’s books, wasn’t the only prolific writer in the house Thursday at Lincoln Elementary School.
That was the evening River Forest School District 90 hosted its annual Young Author’s Celebration, where more than 120 students were recognized for their book-writing prowess, with award winners from first through eighth grades, and singular top authors from each school.
It’s impossible to say how many of these youngsters will grow up to become just like Zieba, in one form or another, but she’s hopeful.
“If we don’t present them the possibility, the chances are far less,” said Zieba, who gave a talk to separate lower- and upper-grade audiences, where she recounted her career, her writing process and answered questions from students.
“As I said in the presentation, when I was graduating high school and I told people I wanted to be a writer, there were very few people who thought that was a good idea,” she said. “It’s not that they were trying to be unkind or dash my dreams, they were just trying to be practical.
“It’s very important to me to show them I’m a real person, this is my real job. If it’s one you’re interested in and you want it, keep it on your list of possibilities.”
In speaking to the top authors from each school, you get the sense that writing will indeed be a big part of their futures. Take seventh-grader Maya Karmali, whose book Echoes of Pain & Resolve was the top selection for Roosevelt Middle School.
“I looked up a lot of women and I was very inspired by them,” Maya said of her book’s subject matter. “They overcame a lot of challenges, they overcame oppression and they were very inspiring to me. I also have a lot of strong women in my family, like my mom, who’s a doctor.”
The list of women she researched was extensive – the Biblical Eve, Frida Kahlo, Billie Holiday, Marie Curie, Joan of Arc and even Joan Rivers.
It took Maya “a while” to write her book because she’s a stickler for revision. She had to revise each entry five times until she felt it was good enough to include.
Historical women is one example of a heavy subject matter. So is 9/11, which was the subject of Lincoln School top author Bridget Olshesky, a fourth-grader whose book was titled Twin Tower Catastrophe.
“I like writing historical fiction a lot and sometimes I enjoy just starting a story and seeing where it takes me,” she said. “I just get a general idea from the start. It wasn’t something specific, it was just one historical event I was interested in.”
She added that she came up with the idea months before she decided to enter it into the competition, and then finished the book the night before it was due. If you’re a writer of any type, you can relate.
Third grader Lorelai McLamb was Willard School’s top author for her book The Family Tree, a tale of time travel.
“I didn’t really have anything that made me really want to do it, but I kind of got the idea of time travel and thought if I made it into looking at grandparents and relatives, it would make it more interesting,” Lorelai said.
How hard was it for her to write her book?
“If there was a scale of one to 10, with one being easy, I would say probably a five,” she said.
Bridget, Maya and Lorelai will join top student authors from across the state at the Illinois Reads and Young Authors Book Festival on April 25 in Tinley Park.
Zieba wasn’t the only adult impressed with all the student authors. So were the program teacher sponsors – Katie Till, a third-grade teacher at Willard, Danielle Brauweiler, librarian teacher at Lincoln and Jerri Gapastione, a fifth-grade English/language arts teacher at Roosevelt.
One thing is certain. With hundreds of stories to read, it was a Herculean task for those three to read all the stories, identify grade-level winners and then the top authors for each school.
“I usually read grade level by grade level, and I just kind of am looking for different story elements that stand out,” Till said. “Kind of related to what Amanda Zieba said today, you’re looking for them to show, not just tell, and how your character develops along the way.”
“It is definitely hard and there are years and grade levels where, ‘These kids are just killing it – how do I pick?’” Gapastione added. “But then there are some times when you read, and you’re like, ‘This kid is for sure a standout.’”