Friday

Markham Public Library

Jennifer Dias-Stevenson had set up two readings for me.  One for older students at the Village Branch and on for younger students at the Unionville Branch.  The students at both were great, interested, involved, asking tons of questions.  Jennifer had my books displayed which was nice. 

It was funny though, because when I first saw her, walking towards me looking like she stepped off of a magazine cover with this great outfit and cute necklace and fashionable avant-garde classy haircut, looking cool and collected.  And I thought, wow, maybe someday I’ll have the time to put myself together so nicely.

Well... She then confessed, while shaking my hand, that it had been a crazy, hectic morning and when she had been driving her two daughters, age 2 and 7 over to their grandparents house, one of them had thrown up in the car. 

Throw up in the car.  That is always fun. 

Brought back memories of my own children and their vomiting exploits.

After the second presentation we walked into town and had a quick lunch with Cheryl, the wonderful children’s librarian from the Unionville Branch.  They treated, which was unnecessary, but very much appreciated.  I was sorry it was so short, but Trevor ( who very generously gave up his day to drive me around) and I had to fly, because the next reading was a 20 minute drive away and we didn’t want to be late. 

I wish I hadn’t forgotten to take a picture though.  I found it rather inspiring that Jennifer could look so good after dealing with two young children, vomit, and a full-time job. 

George S. Henry Academy

Okay, now every now and then there is a school that just grabs your heart and doesn’t let go.  George S. Henry Academy is one of those schools.  Approaching the front doors, it’s looks pretty beat up.  There is not a lot of cash and privilege poured into this school. 

WELL…

Let me just say this… I LOVED the Henry students.  I LOVED the staff that I met.  I would not be surprised if greatness rose out of the bosom of this school.  You could feel the personal connection and commitment that the educators had.  They might not have the financial resource that some other schools have, but they made up for it in effort and heart.  They had a banner, they had pictures, they had a biography on me, they had a beautiful table laid out with all my books (minus Gemma, of course.)  There were several copies.  Some of the teachers had read portions of Porcupine to their classes, some had read some of First Time, the drama teacher had somehow managed to get her hands on a copy of Agnes of God and her class had watched it. 

When we went into the library, it was beautifully laid out, with chairs and a microphone and water.  Julia had a plate of really delicious muffins in the office and juice and water.  There were around 200 high school students, and yet, when I started reading, it got so still and quiet that I felt like I was on book tour for one of my adult books and it was an audience of adults.  I read more pieces than I normally would because they kept wanting more.  They asked interesting questions, it was so much fun.  I probably shared a few more things than society would have deemed appropriate, but they were laughing and I got carried away.  And I’m glad I did, even though.

And get this, I was happily off on some tangent or another when all of a sudden vaguely, in the dim recesses of my practical brain, I remembered hearing a buzzer sound a few paragraphs back.  “Was that thing that rang a little while back?“  I asked.  “Was that the buzzer saying, school’s over time to go home?“ 

“Yeah,“ they said, looking amused.

“Oh!“  And I was embarrassed, but I was so touched too.  The bell to go home had rung not a single student left.  I guess they didn’t want to hurt my feelings.  And there I was oblivious, blabbing on about this and that.  They might have missed their buses and yet they stayed there, in their seats.

Now, I don’t know about you, but that was not my experience in High School.  The bell rang and everybody jumped up, packed up their bags and left.  It didn’t matter if the teacher was in the middle of an explanation.  The bell rung, the day was over, that was it.

And when I was packing up, students were rearranging the library, and I realized that those neat rows of chairs and the whole mic set-up… that wasn’t permanent!  That wasn’t always that way, were they had their assemblies and whatnot.  They had made it that way, just for this visit.  And as I packed up, they disassembled it all and round tables were brought in and the chairs were rearranged around them and the speaker area was wrapped up, the microphone disconnected and put away.

I was very moved, by this school.  The Staff is wonderful and Julia Ross is an amazing librarian!

It was a delight.  A joy.  A wonderful way to end the very busy week. 

I shall leave you with a photo of Julia and me after the talk was over, standing by the book display she did.  The pink thing I’m holding is a present from the students and for those who are curious, it was a lovely mug, and a pen and some delicious cherry chocolates which were very tasty. 

Posted by Meg Tilly on Saturday, November 22, 2008 in Chewing the Fat