The stunning kids of Norristown High

I never quite know what is going to happen when I enter into the world of students, and earlier today, thanks to Asha Verma of the Montgomery County-Norristown Public Library, I spent an hour and a half with the ninth graders of Norristown High School—students who had read Dangerous Neighbors as an independent reading project and who had questions they wanted answered.

We created classified ads declaring our secret ambitions or yearnings (WANTED:  Peace.  WANTED:  Fluency.  WANTED:   Summer freedom.  WANTED:  One more chance to say goodbye.  WANTED:  Sunday, Again.  WANTED:  Someone to look up to.).  We identified those 2010 world phenomena that, were the kids in charge of a contemporary world exhibition, would get top billing:  Puerto Rican culture, iPads, student grades and grading systems, a slice of ocean, a sliver of mountains, the history of cancer treatment, a display revealing the history of computer technology, a peace congress, a collage of 2010 headlines from a multitude of media, a history of music.  We talked about how books get made and why they are read.  We talked about faith in the face of rejection.  We talked about the kids' own writerly aspirations.  We talked about birds.  We talked about my character Anna's last word—the why of it, the impact.  These were beautiful kids, with wholly invested teachers, and it was an honor to share my morning with them.  It makes what I do so worthwhile.