Author Visits- 

Past Events @ JICHS:

• Visit with Gretchen McNeil, author of Murder Trending (Oct. 2022)

• Visit with Ibi Zoboi, author of Punching the Air  (Apr. 2022)

• Zoom with Britteny Morris, author of Slay (Nov. 2021)

• Zoom with Claire McFall, author of The Last Witness (Oct. 2021)

• Zoom with Scott Reingten, author of Nyxia (Oct. 2020)

• Visit with Dashka Slater, author of The 57 Bus (Nov. 2019)

• Visit with Corrie Wang, author of The Takedown (Oct. 2018)

• Visit with Daniel Josè Older, author of Shadowshaper (Oct. 2018)

• Visit with Jason Reynolds, author of Boy in the Black Suit (Mar. 2018)

• Visit with Kimberly Derting, author of The Body Finder (Sept. 2017)

What our students are saying:

"I really enjoyed listening to (Older) and how he loved writing so much. I write for fun and am considering becoming an author. I hope we can get more authors who inspire people our age to come and talk to us again."

"I think (Older) was a really great speaker with a good presentation. He kept me interested the entire time and taught me new lessons such as things about being rejected and not giving up. I’m glad he’s putting a new light on including people of color into literature."

"Ms. Wang was very inspiring. Although I did not attend the talk, I was invited to have lunch with her and I’m so honored to have met her and to have spent time with her. Her book is absolutely amazing, and I’m so thankful that I had the chance to read it. I really appreciate this amazing opportunity."

"I think (Reynolds') story is very relatable to all kids but more importantly, less privileged kids. Both my parents have low paying jobs, and my whole life I’ve been told that I’m going to be just like them. I disagree. Jason Reynolds related to me because he did what everyone told him he wouldn’t and even though he faced hard times, he eventually pushed through it and made his dream a reality. I think kids need to hear his story because many adults preach there’s only one way to success— perfect grades and college." 

"These are necessary for reading development. Bring more authors in!" 

"(Reynolds') speech was absolutely phenomenal. Attending his talk made me rethink the way I thought about reading. I hate reading, but meeting him made things a lot fuzzier. I don't hate reading. I hate reading books that don't have diversity... his writing style is just WOW and seeing him talk about his life and motivations just transformed how I look at books."