*Elise Broach and Ben Guterson

Thanks to the local book store Second Star to the Right, we were able to host authors Elise Broach and Ben Guterson! 

Elise shared the inspiration behind her newest book, Duet, and told students that she loves to find pre-existing mysteries in the world (like where has a valuable piano that Chopin once owned disappeared to?) and do lots of research. Then, she weaves her own story around that mystery. We also discussed some of the elements of a mystery, including suspense, clues, suspects, and solutions. According to Elise, "A novel comes to an ending but a mystery comes to a solution."

Ben shared his love of books, words, and puzzles with us. We learned that he started experimenting with word puzzles when he was little and saw the letters S-T-O-P on a stop sign. Ben shared some word and letter puzzles with our students, and we learned about the real stone tower that the tower in his book, The Einsteins of Vista Point, is inspired by. We also talked about the Morse code that's used in the book.

Both Elise and Ben shared that it takes them each about a year to write a book, but that doesn't necessarily include revisions. Elise showed us a photo of her editors' notes and reminded us that revision is the most important part of the process.  Ben's and Elise's presentations taught us that research, personal interests, and real-life experiences are all key parts of creating their stories, and both Ben and Elise mentioned some of their favorite books, including Charlotte's Web, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Phantom Tollbooth, and From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.