An EPIC day at MCA!

A huge thanks to Millennium Charter Academy for having me speak with their students today. I had a great time, and came away very impressed with their school and their students.

I spoke for an hour or so with the middle schoolers (Half of that was my talk on writing and reading, the other half was a Q&A). Then, Mrs. Kesler’s contemporary literature class had me for pizza and almost two full hours of gabbing about books. Both opportunities were a blast.

I was really impressed with the questions these young adults came up with. The things they’re learning seem far beyond what I was studying at their age. We chatted about other books they’re reading, I got to see the reading journals they’re keeping (which included reviews of the first two books), and they peppered me with plot-related questions. It was really cool to hear which characters they loved and hated (they way they argued back and forth reminded me of an SNL Twilight skit. I nearly cried!)

Speaking of Twilight, these kids aren’t fans. That’s how awesome and discerning they are. They were mad for MOCKINGJAY (the third HUNGER GAMES book), and almost equally excited about the third Molly book (more on that in a later post).

All-in-all, it was a wonderful way to spend my morning. Seeing Mrs. Kesler’s class (complete with lounging therapy dog, shelves and boxes loaded with books, and full of students eager to read and learn) made me want to either moonlight as a middle school teacher, or go back in time and live seventh grade all over again.

Once again, a huge thanks to all the kids. It was truly an “epic” day.


7 responses to “An EPIC day at MCA!”

  1. Thank you so much for coming it was really neat.

    ~ Dana Erickson student in M.C.A.’s Contempary Literature Class

  2. Thanks again for coming to visit our school! It was a truly amazing experience! I am very intrested in looking into writing reviews about books i love (getting free books was also a no brainer!). Thanks again for visiting our school and i am waiting for the 3rd one to come out!
    -Emma Harrison MCA Contempary Literature Class

  3. We enjoyed meeting you to! It was so nice to talk to such an amayzing author! After you left, I finished half of The Parsona Rescue, and it was wonderful. You are very talented!

    ~ Emily Hiatt, MCA student in contemporary literature class

  4. Hey this is Jessica Williamson, another student and avid reader at Millennium in Ms. Kesler’s Literature class! It is so cool of you to write about us on this and thanks again for coming to talk! Can’t wait until the next book!

  5. All right, Howey. Spill. More on the discussions of favorite characters!!!

  6. And HUGE thanks to the MCA students commenting–now I know Hugh didn’t make his visit with you up! ;)

  7. Thanks for commenting, everyone! I had a great time yesterday.

    Lisa: One student loved Anlyn the best (she’s gonna really dig the fourth book :D). Several students loved Edison (especially the boys). Opinions on Walter were mixed (naturally). Molly is all the rage (she kicks butt, they would say). And Cole is dreamy.

    Asked which character I most relate to, I said, “Cole. No, wait … Edison. Actually, probably a bit of Walter.” Asked who inspired Molly, I said, “My sister and my wife, both awesome and strong women that don’t get their strength from emulating men, but by just being bad-ass people.” To paraphrase.

    I spilled a few secrets from the first book (the fact that one character was killed, but that section was nixed, and that I’ll get to that character’s death soon-ish). I also teased a few things about upcoming books.

    Oh, and I asked about how language was handled, and they assured me they encountered more than I could possibly dish out. It makes me feel relieved about the extra vocab in book three. ;)

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