Penny Draper in Quebec

Will I be able to follow my complicated itinerary? Will my energy hold up? Super-organizer Carol-Ann Hoyte took care of the first worry, and the marvelous Quebec audiences took care of the second. Book Week 2011 was a wonderful experience, and my sincere thanks to all the teachers, librarians, principals, chauffeurs and volunteers who helped make it happen.

The chance to connect with readers, share stories – just talk books – is reward in itself. But there are certain memories that will stay with me forever. The driver who took me to the Kahnawake Reserve turned out to be one of the original Oka Warriors, and during the drive shared stories from the front line that made my eyes grow wide. “Maybe you could write a book about it,” he said. “No,” I replied, “but you could!”

Then there was the class in St. Agathe des Monts. The librarian had passed on my books to the classroom teacher, who chose one to read aloud to the class. But when it came to the last chapter, she stopped and made them wait until my arrival. The one hour session was filled with wonderful, pertinent questions, and we didn’t want to stop. But it was time. I picked up the book and one hundred students cheered. They cheered – can you believe it?! Then went instantly silent. As I read I could hear comments like “I KNEW that was going to happen,” “I told you so,” or “Oh, no!” A standing ovation followed. I will never be able to thank the librarian and teacher enough for that experience.

The highlight of the week came during the last session of the last day. The audience was made up of teachers, librarians, families, tutors and several adult learners. One young woman, who had learned to read in spite of incredible odds, explained that she was now a volunteer tutor. At the end of the evening, she came up and shyly whispered, “Someday I’m going to be a writer too.” Can there be any greater gift to an author?