[Tasl] Jack Gantos to Visit Three Cities in Tennessee!

[Emily Masters]

This is an amazing opportunity for 9th-12th graders in or near
Chattanooga, Memphis or Nashville!

Jack Gantos is known nationally for his educational creative writing
and literature presentations to students and teachers.  He has won a
number of awards, including the Newbery Honor, the Printz Honor, and the
Sibert Honor from the American Library Association, and he has been a
finalist for the National Book Award.  

In his memoir Hole in My Life, this acclaimed author of over thirty
books for young people confronts the period of struggle and confinement
that marked the end of his own youth. Once he finds himself locked up in
a small, yellow-walled cell, he moves from wanting to be a writer to
writing, and this newfound dedication helps him endure the worst
experience of his life. 

In September and October Humanities Tennessee will have the privilege
of introducing high school students in our state to the book Hole in My
Life and then to the author himself.  Educators across the state will
have the opportunity to receive free books and curriculum materials, and
they will then have the opportunity to attend free events in Chattanooga
(Sept. 18), Memphis (Sept. 19), and Nashville (Oct. 11).   

Hole in My Life can be used to help students focus on a variety of
current events in the Social Studies classroom as well as to discuss the
saving power of books and reading in the Language Arts classroom.  

Please let me know by August 17th if you are interested in bringing
your students to one of these events.  If you do decide to participate,
you will receive the books by August 24th, leaving you more than 3-weeks
time to incorporate the book into your students' learning experience. 
Mr. Gantos is an engaging and interesting speaker, and he will remain
after the event to sign the students' books, so please don't miss out on
this wonderful opportunity for your students to interact with an author
of such outstanding merit and refreshing approachability.

Emily Booth Masters
Director of Tennessee Young Writers Programs
Humanities Tennessee
306 Gay Street, SUite 306
Nashville, TN 37201
615-770-0006 (ext. 15)
615-770-0007 (FAX)


Humanities Tennessee is the Tennessee affiliate of the National
Endowment for the Humanities and of the Center for the Book in the
Library of Congress. Among the opportunities offered statewide by
Humanities Tennessee are grants for humanities projects, technical
assistance for museum development, the Southern Festival of Books: A
Celebration of the Written Word, the Letters About Literature contest,
the Tennessee Young Writers' Workshop, and annual awards for outstanding
teaching of the humanities.  For more information about Humanities
Tennessee and its programming, please visit www.humanitiestennessee.org.