n Thursday, April 12th, a popular young adult novelist named Jen Calonita visited the Atkinson School.  She came to help us celebrate National Drop Everything And Read (D.E.A.R.) Day by talking about the joy of reading and the process of writing.  She spent time talking to our students, inspiring them, and reading snippets of her new book Secrets Of My Hollywood Life: On Location to them.

Margaux DelGuidice, a librarian at the Atkinson School, was thrilled to introduce her classes to this accomplished author.  “This was a great opportunity for our students to realize that a love of reading can lead to great things”, Ms. DelGuidice said.  She added, “We are so happy that Jen spent the entire day meeting, reading, mentoring, and talking to our students.  We look forward to having her back in the near future!”

Jen started off by telling each class how much she loved to read when she was a child.  She also told them that she used to keep a journal and she encouraged any aspiring writers to do the same.  She also explained what she had to go through to become a writer – in the process mesmerizing students with stories of celebrities she interviewed during her stint at Teen People Magazine. 

After reading an excerpt from her new book, Jen fielded individual questions, signed autographs, handed out promotional postcards, and even found the time to sit down and do a personal interview with Atkinson’s school newspaper, Atkinson Attitude.

D.E.A.R. Day is always a special and exciting time here at Atkinson.  Thanks to Jen Calonita, our students now understand that a love of reading can blossom into a very bright future.